#bcs if this is present in both 'lower' animals and in humans that means there's a common link | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

flowercrown-bard · 3 years

Text

Started out rocky, now they’re both cocky

(Part 3 of the rooster!Jaskier series, but it’s not necessary to read the other parts. All you need to know is that Jaskier is a rooster and he’s here to cause chaos)

word count: 3378

content warnings: innuendos, use of the word “cock”

part 1 part 2

AO3 (here Jaskier is called Dandelion, bc I think this has more game!Danelion vibes)

Jaskier had often imagined what it would be like to spend the winter at Kaer Morhen. In his mind, there had been no doubt that he would sweep into a deep bow, announcing his presence to the witchers residing there with a confident grin and eloquent words.

Alas. As fate – or, in this case a very insistent Geralt – would have it, Jaskier was unable to do either of these things. His words had been replaced by crowing, charming someone with a smile was most definitely impossible if one had a beak and an ugly lappet beneath one’s chin. And as for sweeping into a low bow – well, it would look rather silly if a rooster were to bow and he was beneath making an idiot of himself. That’s what Valdo Marx was for and he would not lower himself to that imbecile’s standards.

A less obvious, though no less important reason why Jaskier was not going to present himself the way he normally would have, was simple: To do so, he’d have to stop letting Geralt carry him. Though, now that he thought about it, he wasn’t so certain anymore, whether Geralt was carrying him because why wouldn’t he carry his dearest friend? Or if he did it so he could have a hold on Jaskier and prevent him from running away and wreaking havoc again.

Which was, of course, preposterous and also rather hypocritical of him. After all, the whole reason why Jaskier was here in the first place – and in this undignified form at that – was so he could fulfil Geralt’s wishes and use his unique talents and talons to destroy the room of one of Geralt’s brothers, a task that he was more than willing to take upon himself.

Still, it would have been much appreciated if Geralt had made sure that the other witchers welcomed him as well, or at the very least knew who he was, instead of ignoring him mostly while they greeted Geralt. Truly, it was a marvel that the witcher who welcomed Geralt at the gate didn’t pay any special attention to Jaskier. Not that he needed the attention per se, but it would have been nice and, well, there was a reason why he wasn’t used to people ignoring him. He was a delight! And no one could tell him that the sight of Geralt warming his hands by burying them in the feathers of an exceptionally beautiful and sophisticated rooster wasn’t a sight worth being paid attention to.

Filled with righteous indignation, Jaskier fluttered his wings and pecked a little at Geralt’s fingers, when he had been ignoring Jaskier way too long – not that any amount of ignoring Jaskier would have been acceptable - in favour of talking to the fetching witcher wearing red leather. Eskel, if Jaskier wasn’t mistaken, and as everyone knew, he was never mistaken.

The action earned him a small tightening of Geralt’s arms around him that had him squawking indignantly, but at least, Eskel now looked at him. Jaskier did his best to preen and exude an air of sophistication. For a blissful moment it seemed that he had indeed thoroughly charmed the witcher. Eskel’s face lit up, he reached out and –

“Sir!” Jaskier tried to shout, but his voice contorted his outraged outcry to a crow.

How- the audacity of – what did Eskel think gave him the permission to just pet Jaskier as if he was but an animal? Oh, how dare he…

Oh. Oh. No, actually, it was quite a nice sensation having strong hands caress his head and down his feathered back as gently as a lovesick poet would run their fingers over a flower. Quite nice indeed. He could get used to this.

To his shame – but really, who could fault a bard for seeking a little innocent pleasure in being touched by a handsome man? – Jaskier leaned into the touch. Thank all the gods that he hadn’t been turned into a cat, or else he might have had to suffer the indignity of starting to purr under the well-deserved attention.

For a brief, blissful moment, all was perfect. Until -

“He will get along well with Lil’ Bleater,” Eskel said. “You think we can put them into the stable together?”

And that was just – no! Oh no no, dear witcher. A pretty face and a soft touch would not be enough to save him from Jaskier ‘s outrage.

Expectantly, Jaskier turned his head to Geralt, his most beloved friend, the man who had rescued him countless times from the clutches of those who meant him or his reputation harm. Surely, now would be the perfect time for Geralt to come to his aid once more and defend his honour. Certainly he would –

“Hmm.”

Oh that bastard! This was no disagreeing or scolding hum. This hmm, accompanied by a sly smirk and a mischievous twinkle in Geralt’s eyes was very decidedly not the support that Jaskier was looking for.

Jaskier nipped Geralt’s fingers again, but that only served to make the witcher grin even wider. Together with Eskel, Geralt walked through the gate and towards the entrance hall, giving Jaskier a shit-eating grin when they passed the stables and making a comment about how in there, no one would hear the rooster’s morning crow.

He better just be teasing. As tasteless of a joke as this was, Jaskier might find it in himself to forgive Geralt for the threat of making him sleep in a stable with a goat.

As they walked, Geralt kept petting him absentmindedly, which was admittedly nice. Jaskier could live with being used as a glorified hand-warmer, if it came with the luxury of being carried around and getting pressed against a strong man’s chest.

Even better than that, though, was the look the old witcher, who Geralt greeted with the name Vesemir, gave Geralt, when they met him in the great hall. The way his eyes wandered from Geralt’s face down to where he was stroking his rooster marked him as a man who had lost all faith in Geralt.

A younger witcher with slicked back hair, who must be the infamous Lambert, the very reason why Jaskier was here, snickered behind Vesemir’s back.

“Looks like I’m officially the superior brother now,” he said with a grin. “The only one whose best friend isn’t a farm animal.”

“Your best friend is a cat,” Geralt deadpanned.

“A handsome cat that would claw your pretty face off if he heard you taking shit about me.”

Lambert’s grin looked infuriatingly smug. Jaskier didn’t know this cat they were speaking of, but one thing should never be questioned: He was the farm best animal friend. Even if he wasn’t really an animal or – he shuddered at the thought – living on a farm. But how dare Lambert imply that a cat could be better than a rooster? He gave Lambert his best menacing glare, which fell rather flat, considering he was a damned bird, currently snuggling against Geralt.

As was to be expected, which didn’t mean Jaskier didn’t take offence to it, Lambert ignored him. “What’s his name anyway? I sure hope it’s not Roach.”

If he had been able to snicker, Jaskier would have done so. Lambert might be a cock – oh, who was Jaskier to judge such a thing? – but it was nice to see that the bard wasn’t the only one who would relentlessly tease Geralt for his inability to come up with good names.

“Eskel has his Little Bleater,” Lambert added, his grin turning downright devious. “So, pretty boy, you have…a Little Cock?”

Little? Little?

The gall of that man! Jaskier was anything but small, thank you very much. But then again, Jaskier couldn’t shame a man for showing such a great understanding of wordplay, especially when he used his talents to tease Geralt.

Oh, who was he kidding? He liked Lambert.

Between his unexpected appreciation for the youngest witcher and the urge to make himself seem bigger than he was, Jaskier nearly missed Geralt’s answer. It was exactly the sort of reply one would expect. Except…Geralt did not correct Lambert regarding the fact that Jaskier was an animal.

Now, here’s the thing. Jaskier loved his witcher with all his heart. Geralt was his best friend in the whole wide world and he would never exchange him for anyone, as much of a smug bastard as he could sometimes be. But by the gods, why oh why, did Jaskier ‘s best friend have to be a man who didn’t have the presence of mind to just, oh, I don’t know, tell his family that the rooster he was bringing with him was a cursed human? There was no doubt that Geralt had told his brothers and father of Jaskier before, for how could he not? Jaskier was a great subject to talk about. Surely, Geralt couldn’t be worried about them not accepting him in their midst.

A quick glance at him – Jaskier preferred not to think about how strange a rooster turning his head nearly upside down and giving a stink eye must look – made it quite clear that he was, in fact, not worried at all. Instead, Geralt was up to something.

Jaskier glared at him, as if staring might let him read Geralt’s thoughts, provided Geralt knew how to use his mind to think.

Perhaps his plan was to give Jaskier the best possible way to get attention by only introducing him once he was back in his dashing human form? Oh, that would be marvellous! After all, if there was one thing Jaskier was good at – well, there were numerous things, of course, but we shall ignore that for the sake of the dramatic – it was making an impression. He had to commend his friend for being so thoughtful as to grant him such an opportunity, unless…

Oh, Jaskier knew that look on Geralt’s face. He was having far too much fun with this. A suspicious amount of fun even. It would almost make one think that all this had never been solely about Lambert’s room at all. If Jaskier hadn’t known any better, he might even be inclined to think that Geralt was taking delight in letting Jaskier stay cursed.

Well. If that was the case, Jaskier would make sure that Geralt would delight not much longer in that.

He let out an ear-piercing shriek that had Geralt flinch and unfortunately squeeze him a little uncomfortably.

“What’s wrong, Jaskier?” He asked, as if he didn’t know fully well the magnitude of what he was doing.

Before Jaskier could answer, well, whatever equivalent of answering he could do in this form at any rate, Lambert spoke up again.

“Jaskier?” He cooed. “How sweet. You miss your bard so much that you call your rooster by his name? Who would have thought the White Wolf could be so soft-hearted. Watch out or Roach will get jealous if she learns that you found a new love.”

“Lambert,” Geralt growled, though whether he was defending his own reputation as a stoic, brooding loner – ha! As if anyone could look at him and believe him to be such a thing! – or if he was outraged at the thought that anyone could take Roach’s place in his heart, Jaskier couldn’t tell. It was likely a mixture of both.

“Oh, so you don’t miss your bard?” Lambert lifted an eyebrow. “Is it perhaps just a certain bodypart of his that you miss? I guess then it would make sense why you gave his name to the cock.”

Lambert turned away from Geralt before he could come up with a reply, but before he had his back fully to Geralt, Lambert caught Jaskier’s eye and he winked.

Oh. Oh ho ho, he knew. That sly bastard. Evidently, Lambert was the only witcher who knew how to use his brain and seen through the curse and Geralt’s admittedly poor attempt at making it seem as if the extraordinary and overall splendid rooster was but a normal bird and now Lambert was fucking with Geralt.

And – now, listen. Jaskier had been looking forward to destroying Lambert’s room. There was nothing like joining forces with a friend to mess with someone who annoyed them. Well, the biggest pleasure Jaskier knew came from proving once again that he was more talented than Valdo Marx, but that was a given, so it shall not be mentioned further. The point was that Jaskier would have done as Geralt had asked of him.

But now, with this new knowledge that Lambert apparently shared the same ambition as Jaskier to become the biggest nuisance he could be, he couldn’t possibly work against him. Jaskier could recognise a kindred spirit if he saw one. Reading people and recognising his own greatness in others was one of his countless talents. The last and perhaps only time he had met such a kindred soul before, had been in his first year at Oxenfurt at the admission exam, when Valdo Marx had immediately singled out Jaskier as the one who could be the biggest threat to his career. As loathe as Jaskier was to admit it, he too had recognised a certain talent in the other bard and they had both decided to make it their lives’ mission to not let the other top them.

Jaskier had not regretted that decision a moment in his life, but even he had to admit that said rivalry was the reason why he was now a rooster and delightful as that could be, he could have done well without it.

So, he would not make the mistake of antagonizing a congenial person again. At least not know. Who was to say what the future held? The important part was, that for now, for once in his life, Jaskier was going to be the bigger person.

He waited until the moment was right, a feat greater than any he had ever faced before. As virtuous as he was, being patient was not one of Jaskier’s strong suits. Still, once night had fallen and Geralt had thankfully not made true of his promise to put him in the stables, he snuck out of Geralt’s room, searching for Lambert’s instead.

Lambert, of course, was already waiting for him, a cocky smile on his face and his arms crossed in a way that meant business.

He greeted Jaskier with the fateful words “You gonna help me mess with Geralt?” and obviously, there was only one possible answer to that.

It was thrilling having an ally in his mission to create chaos and take revenge on those that had slighted him. And, oh, how Geralt had slighted him!

The first step of their however-many-steps-they-would-get-away-with-plan was simple: Jaskier was supposed to take a nap. In Geralt’s bed. Specifically, in his hair, creating a nest out of it.

Now, Jaskier was no craftsman for any craft that didn’t involve the spoken word, but he did so love to make himself comfortable. So that was what he did. Snuggling into Geralt’s hair and masterfully rearranging the strands with his beak until they could well and truly be considered a mess.

And then, as always, Jaskier woke Geralt up in his new favourite way. One would have thought that Geralt would have gotten used to Jaskier crowing into his ear at the top of his lungs. But no. Geralt grimaced and grabbed his pillow to throw it at his tragically underappreciated companion. The feathers flying through the room were not only those from the pillow.

So naturally, Jaskier started complaining. Loudly. Loud enough to, as a completely arbitrary example, signal a different witcher whose room was down the hallway that their plan was in motion.

Before Geralt could find another pillow to throw at him, Jaskier grabbed Geralt’s breeches that the witcher had unceremoniously dropped to the floor the past night and dragged them towards the door.

Cursing, Geralt chased after him, wearing nothing but his underthings. Had Jaskier been alone, he would have gotten caught, no doubt, but the door flung open just in time for him to dash through and just before Geralt could reach him, Lambert, who had been lying in wait, scooped Jaskier up and ran down the stairs and outside, cackling like a hen, while Jaskier let out a triumphant crow that was somewhat muffled by the breeches still firmly held in his beak.

Geralt was catching up to them quickly, but Lambert and Jaskier had one rather obvious advantage: There were two of them.

Lambert dropped Jaskier unceremoniously, leaving him to flutter his wings to land somewhat elegantly – oh, who was he kidding? He plummeted to the ground like a stone - and they dashed into two different directions. For a precious moment, Geralt stood there frozen to the spot, surely contemplating which menace would be able to cause the greater chaos, if he didn’t catch him: The rooster with a godcomplex or Geralt’s little brother in possession of opposable thumbs.

Geralt, once more was forced to choose the lesser evil, but here is the thing: As it was so often the case, there was no correct choice to make.

While Lambert ran back to Geralt’s room to cause who knew what chaos, Jaskier ran towards the stables, and be it only for the dramatic irony.

Geralt must have chosen to follow Lambert and Jaskier was almost insulted, but it gave him the chance to take his time, pushing open the door to the stables and dragging the breeches inside. Just a little revenge for all the times that Geralt had made fun of Jaskier when he had been forced to run out of town without his breeches, since they had to be left in a lover’s rooms.

He dropped the breeches in Lil’ Bleater’s corner and watched with smug satisfaction as the goat immediately began munching on the breeches happily. Jaskier gave her a proud look and had they both been human, he would have kissed her hand in thanks. As it was, he was rather fond of his beak and he would not risk hurting it by kissing the goat’s hooves. Still, Lil’ Bleater lived up to her name, giving a happy little bleat that Jaskier chose to interpret as thanks for the delicious meal. How polite of her.

Who knew. Maybe they would become friends after all.

From somewhere in the keep, Jaskier could hear a bang and then a shout of disgust and had he been in possession of his luscious lips, would have made them split into the biggest, most self-satisfied grin, when Geralt’s voice continued cursing loud enough to be heard even where Jaskier was. To be fair, Geralt had probably opened the windows of his room. At least that was what Jaskier would have done in his stead to escape what Lambert had done to his room.

Well. Served Geralt right. No one could accuse Lambert of unoriginality and Jaskier was nothing if not petty.

Of course, the bomb that Lambert had set off wasn’t another moon dust bomb. Where would be the fun in that? No, Lambert and Jaskier had agreed, as much as a rooster and a witcher could agree, that they would be gracious and bring Geralt closer to what he loved the most: The sweet sweet smell of his cherished Roach. In this case, the smell of what Roach left behind, when she had eaten a lot.

There were more steps to their genius plan of creating chaos in the keep, one of which involved a fork, a strategically placed axii and the backside of whoever pissed Lambert off the most, and naturally there were endlessly more possibilities for improvisation.

Sadly, the other witchers, roused by the mayhem and possibly even the stench coming from Geralt’s room, didn’t seem to appreciate Lambert and Jaskier’s combined genius and they made sure to break the curse on Jaskier as soon as they got the change.

Now, there was only one fundamental flaw in that: For some unknown reason, the witchers hadn’t considered the fact that Jaskier’s personality hadn’t changed when he had become a rooster. They had no idea what they were in for, now that Jaskier had opposable thumbs again.

This would be a fun winter indeed.

#There's a bard lose in Kaer Morhen #jaskier #Geralt #geralt of rivia #Lambert #Eskel #rooster!Jaskier #cock!Jaskier #my writing #Hähnchen #witcher #witcher fic #fic #fanfic #feral!Jaskier #cursed!Jaskier #Jaskier&Lambert

58 notes · View notes

strawberry1212 · 4 years

Text

“IU - Celebrity” Analysis

THE QUEEN HAS RETURNED!!!

I know it’s unhealthy to simp for celebrities...but IU is an exception. I have been rewatching her new comeback an unhealthy amount of times so I thought I’d share some things/details/background info :))

1) Background

So IU wrote about the lyric writing process this time and OMG I have to copy and paste her whole statement bc it’s so beautiful:

"I have a friend who has often been treated as an eccentric person due to her eye-catching outfit, her unique taste, dynamic talents, defensive mechanisms stemming from shyness, and a personality that clearly knows her preferences. I loved her even more because of these unique characteristics of hers, but for the same reasons, she has been living under more scrutiny and hateful eyes. These are the words I wanted to tell my 'unusual friend' that turned into the lyrics to this song but as I worked on the song, I realized that this is also my story as well. After completing the song, I thought that anyone can be the main character to this song. I'm sure everyone has felt left out at least once in their lives because they dont' meet the standards others have made. I want to tell everyone, including my friend, who were born rough around the edges but special. You are not a person from the star (common saying in Korea to mean someone weird/different) but are like a star."

OK THIS IS SO CUTE!! Because like first of all it’s so poetic...the play on words with you are not from the star, but a star yourself. And the fact that we are getting yet another song from IU that is not another romantic song. One of my long standing frustrations with the music industry (American, Korean, and Japanese), is songs tend to always center around romance, and IU tends to break those stereotypes (Bbibbi, Palette, 23, I-Land, 8, just to name her title tracks), and not only that but the fact that this is about her friend is just so beautiful T_T. Also did anyone else think of Sulli when they read this? Sulli was known for her eccentricity, different style, and being misunderstood, but the translation writes “I have a friend” in the present tense...so idk.

And just her wanting her fans/listeners to feel like the main character (ಥ﹏ಥ) (I’m not crying you are). This is especially such an important message for Korean and Asian fans in general. I only have my experience in Japan to speak to, but Asian collectivist cultures really punish those who stray from the norm, which not only ends up discouraging those from being unique and themselves, but also impedes social progress (feminism, environmentalism, social justice, animal rights, etc.).

And I also think it’s key where she wrote “as I worked on the song, I realized that this is also my story as well,”--more on that theme later when I break down the music video.

2) Music Video Analysis

The star motif

So she sort of does a play on words by putting a lot of star stuff in, star being another word for celebrity. And as the lyrics “You're a star painted with a left hand,” she’s talking about how this person isn’t the perfect/usual star, but perhaps a crooked/left-handed one...like the one shown to dot the “i” in the first image of the music video:

The star motif also features later around 1:09 in her dance, she draws a star with her finger.

The music video story

So basically it seems IU is playing two people--one is herself, a celebrity type figure dressed in glam clothes, and the other is the unique, “star” character (a stand in for her friend that she wrote the lyrics about). IU sings about the “star,” “A troubled outsider The walk, the style Through the earphones The music is all minor You have no idea Above your lowered head What the bright lights are Shining towards.”

The music video shows IU in glamorous clothes:

While this “star” character is in her unique/non-glam clothing, walking through the crowd.

We can also sense IU’s isolation, she’s dressed like a princess in this glamorous pastel pink room, but she is alone, and the lights flash almost ominously outside, like the constant threat of paparazzi/people always surrounding her wanting to look in on her life:

Or how the clothing racks gradually disappear, revealing her standing alone worriedly:

The next we see IU standing off to to the side (I believe it’s IU bc she’s in an undercover outfit, but it’s clearly very glamorous), as she hides from fans chasing her:

When the crowd passes, she looks around and catches sight of “star” IU, and is seemingly very taken by her unique beauty:

IU chases the “star,” but loses sight of her, and is once again alone:

The irony here is that a) despite being adored and chased by many, the celebrity IU feels alone, and that b) despite being this glamorous celebrity, celebrity IU adores this unique “star,” that is just living her life, and not universally adored like celebrity IU. Celebrity IU almost seems envious of her freedom and unique style. But as the lyrics say, she also is upset at the way society treats the unique “star:”

“Your weary face looks like/ Someone powered you off/ The heartbeat went too quiet/ The glow you have/ The imagination, identity/ Are on a diet” “

These lyrics I had the most trouble with...I think it means the “star”’s imagination and unique identity are being starved/mistreated by society, like they are being forced to put on a diet.

Next we have:

“You have no idea/ Still not fully bloomed/ Written for you/ A bygone love poem” as celebrity IU works, it seems, on a love poem for the “star.”

Here the star motif features pretty literally, as she is surrounded by her poem writing as the stars fall across the sky. The “written for you, a bygone love poem” could also be a reference to IU’s other song, Love Poem? Also going back to how this could reference Sulli, I could help but be reminded of how IU wrote the song “Peach” about Sulli’s beauty and how much she adored her friend.

Next we see IU in front of this huge tapestry of celebrity IU, but this time she is wearing a dress studded with stars, and looking further up. She passes through the tapestry, and this could be like a sign of her growth? Like moving past her huge blown up celebrity image of herself to find her true self in a star studded dress?

She then enters into a dark vacuum where she is surrounded by people dancing with lights (another continuation of the star motif):

I think this is the turning point to the music video. Because now it is celebrity IU surrounded by stars. The next scene shows the people (all the people that once chased her) simply walking past her on the steps, perhaps alluding to how fame is ephemeral. She looks unsure and insecure here.

The next scene is most steeped in symbolism; she is in the same room that she was in alone before looking out at the city, but now the curtains are drawn (symbolizing privacy?) and IU reaches out towards an identical version of herself. Now the line between celebrity IU and “star” IU becomes blurred:

It seems that the left is “star” IU, and the right is celebrity IU, who continues to pine and look up to an almost indifferent “star” IU. “Star” IU gets up to leave, and morphs back into her “star” outfit from the beginning of the video, re-affirming that this is in fact “star” IU.

When celebrity IU notices she’s gone, she rushes up to find her (again paralleling her chase at the beginning of the music video), but when she goes to where “star” IU disappears, she is simply confronted with a mirror: she was the unique star all along!

In a sense, the message here could be that our own unique beauty may seem obvious to everyone else (the viewer knew that “star” IU was the same person (IU) as celebrity IU all along, but it took celebrity IU the whole music video to figure it out.

Almost as if this whole sequence has been inside celebrity IU’s head, she seems to come to this realization on a red carpet surrounded by flashing cameras:

Here she breaks the fourth wall, looking directly at the camera, as if to now realize: “I have been my own unique “star” all along.” She looks at the camera as the music sings, “you are my celebrity,” perhaps to mean that the viewer is her celebrity, or that she herself is her own celebrity, and runs off, away from the cameras (as if running away from her fame for a moment), in her beautiful red dress, free and confident at last. In the past she has always been running to chase “star” IU, but now she seems to be running simply for herself:

Messages/themes:

I think there are a couple of final messages here, and it is truly to IU’s credit that she was able to pack so many themes/messages into one music video. I think the dynamic I’m most interested in is how it runs the age old theme of the harms of celebrity fame, but it puts a very unique twist on it. While it shows the isolating aspects of fame, it also has a positive spin, that the love and affection bestowed upon celebrities isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but rather that we should redistribute that love and affection towards those closest to us, and see each other the way IU saw her friend. It also shows that fame and adoration don’t matter when you are insecure in yourself, given the irony of celebrity IU chasing after “star” IU.

This message that what matters most is cherishing and being cherished by those closest to you is interesting, because it can apply to both celebrities and non-celebrities. Celebrities may be adored, but it can be superficial, so they need the genuine love of close friends. Conversely, non-celebrities may feel super connected to their celebrities, but ultimately they need real life close friends. I think the message serves to both humanize celebrities in this way, while also saying that non-celebrities, and even weird/eccentric people, are deserving of the love and adoration we usually only reserve for picture-perfect celebrities.

I think perhaps the most poignant part, is the message of self-love: how at the end she realized that perhaps despite being pigeon-holed in certain ways as a public figure, she can reclaim her unique, beautiful parts. How we can be envious of others who seem set on their unique path and unafraid, but that we are unique and different too.

Also can we talk about how she served LOOKS!!! All of those outfits were GOLD. Anyways, I hope her music and its message reverberate with people who feel undeserving as “outsiders” and being eccentric. Being different is amazing. And as IU suggests, even though we may not be pop stars, we are all “celebrities” to someone. As the saying goes, “to the world you may just be one person, but to one person you may be the world.”

#iu #iu kpop #kpop iu #iu celebrity #kpop theories #iu celebrity music video #iu celebrity theories #iu celebrity analysis #iu comeback

67 notes · View notes

katzviedrehypercraft · 4 years

Photo

Myths and facts about Roma community. Because of their nomadic lifestyle and differences in language and culture, Roma and their more settled neighbours have held each other in distrust. The popular image of Roma as tramps and thieves unfit for work contributed to their widespread persecution. This belief is often cited as the etymological source of the term gyp, meaning to "cheat", as in "I got gypped by a con man." There are still tensions between Roma and the majority population around them. Common complaints are that Roma steal and live off social welfare and residents often reject Romani encampments. This has led to Roma being described as "perhaps the most hated minority in Europe." In Eastern Europe, Roma often live in depressed squatter communities with very high unemployment, while only some are fully integrated in the society. However, in some cases—notably the Kalderash clan in Romania, who work as traditional coppersmiths—they have prospered. Although some Roma still embrace a nomadic lifestyle, most migration is actually forced, as most communities do not accept Romani settlements. However, each year in May approximately 10,000 to 15,000 Romani people go on a pilgrimage to Les-Saintes-Marie-de-la-Mer in Southern France. Roma arrive in caravans for celebrations, weddings and religious ceremonies.Many countries that were formerly part of the Eastern bloc and former Yugoslavia have substantial populations of Roma. The level of integration of Roma into society remains limited. In these countries, they usually remain on the margins of society, living in isolated, ghetto-like settlements (see Chánov). Only a small fraction of Romani children graduate from secondary schools, though numerous official efforts have been made, past and present, to compel their attendance. Roma frequently feel rejected by the state and the main population, creating another obstacle to their integration. They may have emerged from the modern Indian state of Rajasthan, migrating to the northwest (the Punjab region, Sindh and Baluchistan of the Indian subcontinent) around 250 BC. Their subsequent westward migration, possibly in waves, is now believed to have occurred beginning in about CE 500. It has also been suggested that emigration from India may have taken place in the context of the raids by Mahmud of Ghazni. As these soldiers were defeated, they were moved west with their families into the Byzantine Empire.[169] The author Ralph Lilley Turner theorised a central Indian origin of Romani followed by a migration to Northwest India as it shares a number of ancient isoglosses with Central Indo-Aryan languages in relation to realization of some sounds of Old Indo-Aryan. The traditional Romanies place a high value on the extended family. Virginity is essential in unmarried women. Both men and women often marry young; there has been controversy in several countries over the Romani practise of child marriage. Romani law establishes that the man's family must pay a bride price to the bride's parents, but only traditional families still follow it.Once married, the woman joins the husband's family, where her main job is to tend to her husband's and her children's needs and take care of her in-laws. The power structure in the traditional Romani household has at its top the oldest man or grandfather, and men, in general, have more authority than women. Women gain respect and power as they get older. Young wives begin gaining authority once they have children.Romani social behavior is strictly regulated by Indian social customs ("marime" or "marhime"), still respected by most Roma (and by most older generations of Sinti). This regulation affects many aspects of life and is applied to actions, people and things: parts of the human body are considered impure: the genital organs (because they produce emissions) and the rest of the lower body. Clothes for the lower body, as well as the clothes of menstruating women, are washed separately. Items used for eating are also washed in a different place. Childbirth is considered impure and must occur outside the dwelling place. The mother is deemed to be impure for forty days after giving birth.Death is considered impure, and affects the whole family of the dead, who remain impure for a period of time. In contrast to the practice of cremating the dead, Romani dead must be buried. Cremation and burial are both known from the time of the Rigveda, and both are widely practiced in Hinduism today (although the tendency is for Hindus to practice cremation, while some communities in South India tend to bury their dead).[196] Animals that are considered to be having unclean habits are not eaten by the community.

According to a legend reported in the Persian epic poem, the Shahnameh, from Iran and repeated by several modern authors, the Sasanian king Bahrām V Gōr learned towards the end of his reign (421–439) that the poor could not afford to enjoy music, and he asked the king of India to send him ten thousand luris, lute-playing experts. When the luris arrived, Bahrām gave each one an ox, a donkey, and a donkey-load of wheat so that they could live on agriculture and play music for free for the poor. But the luris ate the oxen and the wheat and came back a year later with their cheeks hollowed with hunger. The king, angered with their having wasted what he had given them, ordered them to pack up their bags and go wandering around the world on their donkeys. Romani Code, or Romano Zakono, is the most important part of Romanipen. It is a set of rules for Romani life.Though Romani ethnic groups have different sets of rules, some rules are common for all. Those rules are considered to be the Romani Code, and rules that differ are called "customs". Oral Romani cultures are most likely to adhere to the Romani code, these communities are geographically spread.[20] There are proverbs about the Romani Code and customs, such as:There exist as many customs as there are Romani groups. (Kitsyk Roma, dakitsyk obychaye in Ruska Roma's dialect) There are many Romani groups, but only one Law. (Romen isy but, a Zakono yekh in Ruska Roma's and Kaldarash dialects) Rules of Romani Code describe relationships inside the Romani community and set limits for customs, behavior and other aspects of life.The Romani Code is not written; the Romani people keep it alive in oral tradition.The kris is a traditional institution for upholding and enforcing the Romani Code.The code can be summarised in pillars; the main pillar representing the polar ideas of baxt (pronounced "baht") meaning honour and ladž (pronounced "Ladge") meaning shame. Linking to the article above in reference to "purity" they can also represent the idea of being "pure" or "clean" and "impure" and "unclean" It is honourable, in Romani culture, to celebrate baxt by being generous and displaying your success to the public. The focus on generosity means sharing food is of great importance to some groups of Roma. Making lavish meals to share with other Romani visitors is commonplace and in some cases not having food to share is considered shameful.

Sources: Wikipedia. 2021. Romani society and culture. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romani_society_and_culture. [Accessed 9 March 2021]. Balkanproject. 2021. Who we were, who we are. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.balkanproject.org/. [Accessed 9 March 2021]. Arzamas. 2021. Truth and myths about cigans. [ONLINE] Available at: https://arzamas.academy/courses/4. [Accessed 9 March 2021].

#research

3 notes · View notes

ladyloveandjustice · 5 years

Text

Winter 2019 Anime Overview

I enjoyed every single one of the five anime I watched this season: Dororo, My Roommate is a Cat, Mob Psycho 100 II, The Promised Neverland and Kaguya-sama: Love is War.

So here are my reviews! I’ve cut back on the anime overview a lot, so these are shorter reviews than usual (though not quite as short at I’d like. someday I’ll be able to restrain myself)

Since I liked all of the shows, these aren’t in a strict worst-to-best order or anything, but the ones I found most impressive ARE nearer to the bottom. So let’s dig into last season’s anime.

My Roommate is a Cat

Premise: An antisocial writer in his early 20s adopts a cat and they both get their worlds expanded as they bond.

My take: Much like the kitty it centers on, this show is super cute, sweet and fluffy. If you’re a cat-lover and want to bask in some kitty adorableness, I encourage you to check it out. At first, I was afraid the main character Subaru’s grumpy misanthropy might be too much- I could certainly empathize with being socially isolated and avoiding people, but the way he was just rude toward others was grating. Fortunately, his character development is swift, so he quickly went from misanthrope to anxious-introverted-mess-who-awkwardly-muddles-through-social-interaction-for-the-sake-of-his-kitty, which I found EXTREMELY relatable. Subaru is coping with the loss of his parents and the fact he took them for granted while they were alive as well, so there are quite a few heart-string tugging moments.

The show’s central gimmick is that events will be told from Subaru’s point of view and then we’ll get his kitty Haru’s side of things. Yep, the cat narrates part of the show, which is how I knew I was in it for good. And Haru’s a very good cat! She’s adorable without being cloying, and at least realistic in how most of her thoughts revolve around food. Seeing her warm up to her hopeless human is just as sweet as seeing Subaru warm up to her. As a former stray cat, she has a rough backstory, so if even a restrained depiction of kitty death is too much for you, look out for that part. This show isn’t afraid to bring the feels, but it keeps things positive overall. Subaru’s friends are supportive and help a new pet owner out, and we even get a cute doggie in the mix. Overall, if you want a relaxing, nice watch with a simple, sweet story, you could do a lot worse than My Roommate is a Cat.

Dororo (Episodes 1-12)

Premise: Thanks to his father making a deal with demons, Hyakkimaru has to wander Japan and fight monsters to get his body parts back. He meets up with a young thief named Dororo.

My take: Dororo is a very loose adaptation of the 1960′s manga by Osamu Tezuka, who’s known as the godfather of manga. I was familiar with Dororo thanks to watching the live action movie for an article when I worked at epicstream (it must not have left an impression bc I remember very little) so I was curious to check this out. I ended up reading the manga too, and overall, I find it pretty impressive as an adaptation. It does a lot to make a really dated and incomplete-feeling manga more palatable and cohesive for a modern audience. Maybe I’ll do a full post expanding on those thoughts sometime, because the changes really are worth examining.

Dororo is definitely not for everyone- it’s a grim, dark show with lots of death and destruction.The story is especially not kind to women, who tend to die or be demons. The exceptions to this (such as a lady demon actually being presented as sympathetic) are mainly anime-original. Actually, while the anime eschews the original manga’s cartoon-y, jokey tone to be more serious, it actually has a much lower body count and more hopeful tone than the original, a contrast I find pretty interesting. But “more hopeful” is still not very hopeful. The story has pretty strong anti-war undertones and criticism of how authority exploits people, and there’s a lot of “these are the horrors of war” scenes and even a scene where Dororo witnesses a woman engaging in unhappy, reluctant sex work.

The premise of the story, a guy made up of mostly prosthetics on a quest to get his body parts and senses back, is also a dicey one in how it treats disability. The anime does at least make updates to the manga that lend the story a little more complexity on that front. In the manga Hyakkimaru can basically hear and speak through telepathy already and he’s portrayed as simply joyous whenever he gets a body part or sense back, despite not having a practical need for them.

The anime wisely jettisons the telepathy thing, meaning that Dororo and Hyakkimaru have some difficulty communicating, something that adds an interesting layer to the story. It means we find out about Hyakkimaru’s personality in bits and pieces alongside Dororo, going on a journey of discovery with him. And Hyakkimaru getting senses back is treated in a more realistic mixed-bag way- when he gets his hearing back, for instance, he has difficulty adjusting to it and experience serious sensory overload. It’s not really clear how he feels about a lot of things, much less the changes he’s going through.

Dororo himself is the heart of the show, really, and I find him to be really endearing and engaging as a character. His boundless energy and chattiness balance out the aloof Hyakkimaru, but he never gets overbearing or obnoxious. He’s been through a lot himself, and has a good heart. One thing worth keeping an eye out going forward is how Dororo’s gender will be handled. Dororo is afab, but in the original manga very vehemently lets everyone know he’s a boy. The anime also lets you know Dororo’s afab halfway through, but hasn’t really done much otherwise in exploring Dororo’s gender identity. I do think it’s unlikely we’ll get a handling of it as bad as the manga’s final chapters (Manga Hyakkimaru had a lot of strong, intrusive opinions about what Dororo “really” is that I think his anime version is unlikely to have based on his restrained characterization so far), but who knows.

Overall, Dororo is a nicely animated and well put-together dark action series so far. I’m not sure I would have ended up watching it if I wasn’t so interested in examining it as an adaptation, but the ride’s been pretty okay and worthwhile.

Kaguya-sama: Love is War

Premise: Miyuki Shirogane and Kaguya Shinomiya are the top students at their prestigious school, and heads of the student council. They also have a crush on each other, but both are too full of pride (and nerves) to make the first move, so they come up with schemes to trick the other into confessing. Hijinks ensue.

My take: Kaguya-sama is a wildly funny rom-com about two idiot smart kids who don’t know how to say how they feel. It’s mostly a really good time. There’s a lot of laugh-out-loud moments. The characters are a lot of fun, especially Kaguya’s friend Chica, who is pure chaos in human form and has some of the best lines in the show. The animation and direction of the show are also impressive and lavish, elevating already good gags into greatness. The finale also does that thing where it’s all suddenly surprisingly emotional and hits you really hard with all the feels, showing a little depth and true friendship among all the characters involved.

However,there are a few “yikes” moments, and the most uncomfortable one and likely the biggest deal breaker was the “Kaguya gets sick” arc, which happens roughly the last half of episode 9 and the start of 10. In it, we’re treated to tropes that are both really tired and really uncomfortable, like Kaguya being sick and her friend, for some reason???, tacitly encouraging Miyuki to take advantage of her in her weakened state. Miyuki does not, but Kaguya pulls him into bed and he falls asleep due to sleep deprivation (which is admittedly relatable) and when they wake up she believes for a time he did assault her and throws shit at him, at which point he whines about being villainized even though he “held back”.

During the next episode, Kaguya is ~secretly kind of upset he didn’t assault her because doesn’t he find her appealing~, a trope that really needs to die bc the myth girls “really want to be assaulted” is dangerous. There were a couple okay moments in the whole thing, like Miyuki deciding he should have shut the whole thing down more firmly and apologizing for an infraction, and since Miyuki didn’t cross a significant line it doesn’t ruin their relationship or make them impossible to root for or anything, but the whole thing is tired and gross and unnecessary and not all that funny. I was able to handle it because I got warned ahead of time, but it was a chore of an arc, so here’s my warning.

The Promised Neverland

Premise: Emma and her friends Ray and Norman are orphans being raised in the happy, idyllic Grace Field House. They’re never been outside it though, and there’s a wall they’re never supposed to approach. When Emma discovers the truth behind the orphanage, a tense thriller begins.

My take: I was looking forward to this one based on word of mouth, and mostly it doesn’t disappoint! The writing hooked me enough that I’ve picked up the manga to continue the story. This a rich story. It’s an intense game of cat and mouse between genius kids and unscrupulous adults where the stakes are super high. Emma and her friends pull out all the stops to outwit and escape the ones holding them captive, and the twists and turns of the narrative are delivered well. There’s also some social commentary buried under its horror to add some bite. This essay goes into how it comments on forced societal gender roles, for instance.

A thrilling plot can only shine thanks to its characters, and Emma is great protagonist. Her determination to save her family and unpredictable nature make her fun to follow. She’s a rare and refreshing example of a female shonen protag, and she sells that power of friendship stuff pretty well when she has the brains and skills to back it up. The three main kids balance each other well, with Ray’s cynicism and pragmatism contrasting Emma’s stubborn idealism, and Norman stands in the middle as someone who’s inclined to think like Ray but WANTS to be more like Emma. Despite the many conflicts and differences between them, these kids are ride and die, and the show does a good job selling their familial-friendship. A lot of the moments between them are truly heartwrenching.

The story has a big glaring flaw, though, and that’s Sister Krone and the racism regarding her. It’s not my lane, so please read Jackson P. Brown’s essay here for more info. The anime not only replicates the problem with her design but makes things arguably worse than the manga by making her personality a caricature as well. The anime portrays Krone as far more unhinged and exaggerated than her vindictive but more controlled and canny manga counterpart, even adding this weird thing where she rants at and beats up a doll. This review on episode 8 talks about the author feels the anime failed with sister Krone and his feelings on Krone as a black character well, it’s definitely worth a read.

While I have those issues with the anime’s choices, I was impressed with how the last few episodes were directed. They hit it out of the park, leaving me breathless, emotional and wanting more. Thanks to that, I’m now reading an enthralling adventure manga! This anime was definitely flawed but I can’t deny I’m interested in seeing how the second season will shake out.

Mob Psycho 100 II

Premise: Season 2 continues to tale of Mob, a ridiculously powerful psychic middle schooler. He’s in the employ of Reigen, a con-artist who has fooled many (Mob included) into thinking he has legitimate psychic abilities.

My take: Holy wow. Mob Psycho’s first season had some incredible animation, atmosphere and direction, but season two fires on all cylinders. I’m glad I caught up in time to experience the show with everyone else these last few weeks, because it was always a treat- a visual feast full of heartpumping action and lots of sincere emotion.

Mob Psycho is an animation extravaganza, with some sequences that wouldn’t feel out of place in a high budget movie, dripping with atmosphere, artistry and aplomb. But the story and characters are really solid too and it has some nice themes and messages at its core. Mob is one of the goodest good boys in all of anime and he grows a lot throughout this season. At the core of the show is the idea that no one is worthless and also no one is more “special” than anyone else, that having power doesn’t give you the right to put yourself above others, that no person is inherently superior or inferior to any other, that even if you’re born with some super talent, you still need to try to improve yourself, value other people and the things they can do that you can’t and work hard to live a balanced life. Being powerful or born with a talent doesn’t mean you have the answers or know better-so it’s all about striving to make good, compassionate choices and taking control of your own life.

There’s a lot of stories that pay lip service to themes like these without really doing much to back it up, but this show sells it with an earnestness that few manage. Mob is a quiet and gentle boy, and you genuinely believe it when he says he doesn’t like fighting or using his powers on other people, and when he breaks down in tears because for all his power he can’t figure out how to set someone on the right path this time, your heart aches. The fact that Mob actually has difficulty coming up with the right answers and will sometimes gets overwhelmed by emotion and loses control, but keeps striving for honest communication, makes his approach come off as a lot more believable than the typical shonen-hero-converting-bad-guys-with-a-confident-friendship-speech bit.

The character relationships in the show are also good stuff, particularly the relationship between Mob and Reigen, which develops a lot this season with Reigen having to grapple with how yeah, he’s been kinda terrible and dishonest, especially with this kid he cares about and there’s a point where people have enough of it. There’s a lot of nice growth there.

All together, Mob Psycho is just Good with capital G. I do wish there were more girls in it, and there is a dark skinned character who’s caricature-ish in his design (he barely shows up in this season iirc), but otherwise it’s a quality rec and breathtaking example of the truly transcendent heights anime can reach.

#winter 2019 anime #anime overview #Mob Psycho 100 #my roommate is a cat #the promised neverland #dororo #kaguya sama love is war #kaguya sama: love is war #kaguya sama wa kokurasetai #my reviews

63 notes · View notes

douchebagbrainwaves · 5 years

Text

PARTLY BECAUSE YOU DON'T NEED A BRILLIANT IDEA TO START A STARTUP THAN REALIZE IT

Their value is mainly as starting points: as questions for the people who had them to continue thinking about. And for programmers the paradox is even more pronounced: the language to learn, if you want to be running out of money.1 If even someone with the same qualifications who are both equally committed to the business, that's easy. Microsoft. You knew there would be.2 I wonder. You don't need or perhaps even want this quality in big companies, but you need it in a way that doesn't suck. And yet the grad students seem pretty smart. That's ok.3

Milton was going to visit Italy in the 1630s, Sir Henry Wootton, who had been ambassador to Venice, told him his motto should be i pensieri stretti & il viso sciolto.4 I suspect the only taboos that are more than taboos are the ones you never hear about: the company that would be the ideal place—that it would basically be Cambridge with good weather, it turns out you have to have at least one person willing and able to focus on one type of ambition. We felt like our role was to be impudent underdogs instead of corporate stuffed shirts, and that the weight of a few extra checks that might be easy for General Electric to bear are enough to prevent younger companies from being public at all. Like skirmishers in an ancient army, you want to go with Ron Conway and bet on people and those who prefer to bet on people. It would cost something to run, and it might be worth a hundred times as much.5 Some smart, nice guys turn out to be easier than I expected, and also did all the legal work of getting us set up as a company with a valuation any lower.6 We talked to a number of VCs, but eventually we ended up financing our startup entirely with angel money.7 If you believe everything you're supposed to when starting a company. Yes, because they give them more leverage over developers, who can more easily be replaced. There are very, very few who simply decide for themselves.

The English Reformation was at bottom a struggle for wealth and power, but it seems so foreign. When you get a couple million dollars from a VC firm, you tend to, because that's where smart people meet. The church knew this would set people thinking. It would cost something to run, and it came closer to killing us than any competitor ever did.8 That last test filters out surprisingly few people. It used to mean the control of vast human and material resources. Usually the claim is that you should be more careful about drawing conclusions based on what a few people think in our insular little Web 2.9

No one dared put on attitude around Robert, because he was obviously smarter than they were and yet had zero attitude himself. No doubt there are great technical tricks within Google, but the most important may be that once you have users to take care of. Because they're good guys and they're trying to help people can also help you with investors. But that assumption is often false, and this is the right way to search for components. At this stage, all most investors expect is a brief description of what you plan to do.10 It would be too easy for clients to fire them.11 Smile at everyone, and don't tell them what you're thinking. Could you describe the person as an animal? So parents are giving their kids an inaccurate idea of the language by not using them.

Usually there is something deeper wrong. So the acquirer is in fact getting worse performance at greater cost. When you offer x percent of your company for y dollars, you're implicitly claiming a certain value for the whole company. He says the main reason is that people like the idea of being mistaken. One of the founders might decide to split off and start another company, so I figured it had to be carefully planned.12 It's not a charity, but they weren't setting the terms of the debate then. Suppose it's 1998. Of course, if they have time machines in the future they'll probably have a separate note with a different cap for each investor.13 It's worth trying very, very few who simply decide for themselves.14 The trouble with lying is that you get a lot of people need to search for components, and before Octopart there was no good way to do that is to visit them.

In a field like physics, if we disagree with past generations it's because we're right and they're wrong. But can you think of one that had a massively popular product and still failed? It was as if I'd told him how much girls liked Barry Manilow in the mid 80s.15 That depends on how ambitious you feel.16 David Filo's title was Chief Yahoo, but he was proud that his unofficial title was Cheap Yahoo.17 If another map has the same mistake, that's very convincing evidence. Clearly you don't have to find startups. More generally, design your product to please users first, you leave a gap for competitors who do. Online dating is a valuable business now, and they're all trying not to use words like fuck and shit within baby's hearing, lest baby start using these words too. Morale is tremendously important to a startup is that you need someone mature and experienced, with a business background, may be overrated.18 But only about 10% of the total or $10,000 of seed money from our friend Julian. I realized it would probably have to figure out where to live by trial and error.19

Perl may look like a cartoon character swearing, but there are cases where it surpasses Python conceptually.20 Don't do what we did. Of the two versions, the one where you get a lot of data about how they work. What drives people to start startups is or should be looking at existing technology and thinking, don't these guys realize they should be doing x, y, and z?21 And pay especially close attention whenever an idea is being suppressed. How much stock should they get? Programmers like to make a winning product. There could be ten times more startups than there are, and that is exactly the spirit you want. There's a hack for being decisive when you're inexperienced: ratchet down the size of your investment till it's an amount you wouldn't care too much about losing. The reason Cambridge is the intellectual capital is not just that there's a concentration of smart people, but diluted by a much larger number of neanderthals in suits. They'd face some challenges if they wanted to make web apps work like desktop ones.

Notes

I could pick them, but the idea is the only cause of the year, they can grow the acquisition into what it means to be a lost cause to try to be a good plan for life in general we've done ok at fundraising, but that it's boring, we try to become dictator and intimidate the NBA into letting you write has a spam probabilty of.

What if a company tried to raise money? This is an acceptable excuse, but I call it ambient thought. Many more than determination to create a portal for x instead of themselves. So, can I make it easy.

Only in a rice cooker.

We wasted little time on a saturday, he wrote a hilarious but also the perfect life, the top 15 tokens, because there are few who can say they're not ready to invest more, and stonewall about the paperwork there, and b when she's nervous, she doesn't like getting attention in the US treat the poor worse than Japanese car companies have little do with the government, it could change what you're doing. But in most competitive sports, the world in which multiple independent buildings are gutted or demolished to be some number of restaurants that still require jackets for men. Particularly since economic inequality in the Baskin-Robbins.

It's worth taking extreme measures to avoid the topic. They bear no blame for any opinions expressed in it. Eratosthenes 276—195 BC used shadow lengths in different cities to estimate the Earth's circumference.

But it was cooked up, but what they made, but investors can get for free.

They look superficially like the one hand and the valuation of an investor? If the startup isn't getting market price.

William R.

There are successful women who don't aren't. The more people would treat you like a probabilistic spam filter, dick has a similar logic, one variant of compound bug where one bug happens to use some bad word multiple times.

Even though we made a bet: if he hadn't we probably would not change the number of customers you need to be about web-based applications. Everything is a function of two things: what ideas did European culture with Chinese: what ideas did European culture have in 1800 that Chinese culture didn't, they would implement it and creates a rationalization for doing so.

Is what we measure worth measuring? But this takes a startup idea is stone soup: you post a sign saying this is not pagerank commercialized. So if you're a YC startup you have a standard piece of casuistry for this point.

Deane, Phyllis, The First Two Hundred Years.

Anyone can broadcast a high product of some brilliant initial idea.

One new thing the company is like math's ne'er-do-well brother. The original edition contained a few old professors in Palo Alto, but they're not. Travel has the same attachment to their situation.

But although I started using it, whether you realize it till I started using it, and so effective that I'm skeptical whether economic inequality is not a remark about the same advantages from it. Html. But the change is a constant multiple of usage, so you'd find you couldn't do the equivalent thing for startups. 32.

Obviously, if the present, and mostly in less nerdy fields like finance and media. Those groups never have to put it this way that weren't visible in the 1960s, leaving the area around city hall a bleak wasteland, but I'm not talking here about academic talks, which is probably not far from the Dutch not to be in most competitive sports, the fact that the VC.

At YC.

It's unpleasant because the proportion of spam. One source of food. The French Laundry in Napa Valley.

Even as late as Newton's time it takes forever.

That's very cheap, 1/10 success rate is 10%, moving to Monaco would give you fifty times as much the better. In a startup with debt is a negotiation.

There are fairly high spam probability. Once again, I'd open our own startup Viaweb, and that there's more of it in action, there are only pretending to in order to attract workers. Though you should probably be the technology everyone was going to visit 20 different communities regularly. Html.

1 note · View note

aftaabmagazine · 5 years

Text

From Aryana to Afghanistan: The Historic Role of the Afghan Flag

By Mir Hekmatullah Sadat From the April - September 1999 issue of Afghan Magazine | Lemar-Aftaab

[caption: the first Afghan flag of the last century]

Mir Hekmatullah Sadat writes about the historical significance of flags in the course of human history. He also explains the background of the various flags of Afghanistan. The "Most Changed Flag of the 20th Century" was awarded to the Central Asian nation, a sign of the political volatility it faced during the last century.

According to Flags of the World, "Since time immemorial man has felt the need of some sign or symbol as a mark to distinguish himself, his family or country, and such symbols have taken many different forms, of which one is the flag" (Barraclough, 1978). Political scientists, historians, sociologists, and others recognize flags as artifacts expressive of cultures of certain times and places. The scholarly study of the history, symbolism, etiquette, design, manufacture, and other aspects of flags is known as "Vexillology" stemming from the Latin word "vexillum" (banner) which was coined by Dr. Whitney Smith of the Flag Research Centre. According to Fruhlinger (1996, Nov 26),

The vexillum (pl. vexilla; "v" pronounced like an English "w" in classical Latin) was the term for the standard carried by the Roman legion. This word is itself a diminutive for "velum," sail, which confirms the art historical evidence (from coins and sculpture) that vexilla were literally "little sails," i.e., flag-like. (Velum in English has various specialized meanings, mostly about sail-like things: the membranes of certain mollusks, and a kind of drafting paper, bear the name.) The word velum comes from the Indo-European roots VAG- or VEH-, involving motion. These produced the Germanic words that became Saxon (and later English) words like wagon and way, which are unrelated to the flying verbs above.

In the rich and diverse cultural-linguistic heritage of Afghanistan, there exist numerous words for flag such as bayraq (incorporated from the Turkish language), parcham (in Dari), lewa (religious purposes such as Islamic), darafs (dating back to the Aryana era), alam (military purposes), togh (used in holy shrines), and janda (for holy shrine purposes). The flag, over the centuries, has developed many specialized uses.

Flags recognizable as such were the invention, almost certainly, of the ancient civilization of China and the Indian subcontinent. The first "flags" consisted of symbols attached to the tops of poles. Such flaglike objects appear in Egyptian art of the mid-3000's BC. Cloth flags were probably first used in China about 3000 BC. These flags were made of silk. Barraclough (1978) informs us that in 1122 BC, the founder of the Chou dynasty in China had a white flag carried before him. It is also known that in 660 AD a minor prince was punished for failing to lower his feudal flag before the emperor. Flags had equal importance in ancient India, being carried on chariots and elephants.

Originally, flags took the form of cloth or similar material displaying the insignia of a community, an armed force, an office, or an individual. It marked the position of an important individual before a battle, during a siege, throughout a ceremony, or at a tournament. For the monarch or feudal lord, it marked the palace, castle, saluting base, tent, or ship where he was actually present. The royal flag had all the attributes of kingship, being identified with the ruler and treated with similar respect. It was thus a crime even to touch the flag-bearer. The flag was the first object of attack in battle, and its fall would mean confusion if not defeat. The monarch would rarely expose his flag and his person together; the flag is normally entrusted to a general. Flags are now extensively employed for signaling, for decoration, and display.

In recent times the issue of flag burning busied the United States Supreme Court. Incinerating a nation's flag often signifies political protest and a great insult. Also, when the flag of one country is placed above that of another, the victory of the former is denoted. Hence, in time of peace, it would be an indignity to hoist the flag of one friendly nation above that of another. Each national flag must be flown from its flagstaff. To denoted honor and respect, a flag is dipped. When troops parade before a sovereign or other reviewing officer, the regimental flags are lowered as they salute superiors. A flag flying at half-mast is the universal symbol of mourning. The white flags are universally used as a flag of truce.

The color and designs of national flags are not arbitrarily selected but rather stem from the history, culture, or religion of the particular country. Many flags can be traced to a common origin, and such 'flag families' are often linked both by a common tradition and by geography. In the Middle East, the predominance of Islam has generally influenced flags to been comprised of the four traditional Muslim colors of red, white, green, and black. Many of these flags use one or several of these colors in the tricolor format along with some emblem.

The black color in the Afghan flag is derived from the Prophet Mohammed's (PBUH) time. Black was the color of Prophet Mohammed's (PBUH) banner. The flag was heroically carried and hoisted into the battles, from the 822 AD to 1022 AD (2nd to 4th century Hijri).

According to Ghobar (1963), the black flag was raised again by Abu Muslim Khorasani in 746 AD in the city of Marwa. Khorasani was a General and leader who rose through the ranks in the ancient land of Afghanistan, Khorasan. Abu Muslim, dressed in black attire, led the revolutionary movement for people's independence and an end to taxation without representation in Khorasan. Abu Muslim declared himself Shahan-shah Khorasan in reward for his services to the Abbasid caliph. The Abbasid dynasty still depended on him to keep order because Abu Muslim had the support of the inhabitants of Khorasan. This movement changed the base for influence in the Islamic World. The base became international, emphasizing membership in the community of Muslim believers rather than Arab nationality. The black color symbolized the struggle for independence and the Muslim guardians in the Abbasid era in 746 AD (129 Hijri).

From the 9th century until the 10th century, the Ghaznavid era took root on present-day Afghanistan. Ghaznavid power reached its zenith during Sultan Mahmud's reign. During this period, the palace of Lashkari Bazar near Lashkar Gah just north of Qalah-e Bust, Kandahar was built. The famous poet Ferdowsi (d.1020 AD) completed his epic Book of Kings (Shahnama) at the court of Sultan Mahmud in the year 1010. During this period, the color red became the standard color of the Ghaznavid Civilization. This strong culture continued where Abu Muslim Khorasani left off. He forged an empire that stretched from the Oxus to the Indus Valley and the Indian Ocean; in the west, he captured most of Persia and eventually encapsulated North Africa and the Middle East. The Ghaznavid's influenced the inhabitants of what is referred to as Pakistan to embrace Islam. A devout Muslim, Mahmud expanded the frontiers of the Islamic World. The red color came to represent the blood of the martyrs of Islam and the valor of the brave ghazis (fighters/warriors).

According to Sadat, Ahmad Shah Baba, for the united government of Afghanistan, chose a national insignia representative of a sword, a star, and ears of corn which were also included in the flag of Afghanistan (3). The ears of corn are symbolic of the agricultural nature of Afghanistan. Moreover, the two ears of corn are symbolic of the first Loya Jirga in 1747. It was then that all the various tribes united and chose Ahmad Shah Baba as their first formal Afghan leader. The famous dervish, Saber Shah Kabuli, crowned the ears of corn upon his head to signal the prosperity of his reign.

About a century later, among the Ghazis and other heroes lays the stories of brave women such as Malalai. In today's political atmosphere, where women are treated as property the achievements of women like Malalai must be noted. Her patriotism and struggle were exemplified during the Battle of Maiwand on July 29, 1879, where the victorious Afghans led by Sardar Ayub Khan ensured victory over the British forces. Throughout the midst of shelling and warfare, Malalai stood firm and kept the red flag of war aloft to the last minute until success was declared. The red has come to symbolize the lives and sacrifices of brave warriors for the preservation of their motherland and religion.

After the expulsion of British colonialism, Afghans hoisted again the green color. It represented a new beginning and was the color of the Prophet's turban. The color green has an even deeper meaning in our history of the land. During a Naw-Bahar (early spring), a tradition dating back to the Aryana civilization, a green flag would be flown to commemorate the season. Green symbolizes vegetation, lushness, and prosperity. Besides this tradition, green has become a favorite color in the Islamic world noticeable in many nations' flags.

Similar to the color of the flag, there have existed many emblems. In the course of history, the emblems have assumed various shapes and forms. Lions are often referred to as the king of the animal kingdom; therefore, many civilizations adopted that animal as their emblem.

Five thousand years ago in present-day Afghanistan, the first flag for a formal government belonged to King Yama. According to historical texts, this flag is referred to as Darafsh-Aryana. The first capital of the Aryan civilization was in Balkh, known then as Bukhd or Bukhdis. This city was symbolic of a united culture and enlightenment. The ancient flags were comprised of peacock feathers with the sun as their emblem. Ahmad Shah Baba and his Abdali descendants symbolized this heritage by using peacock as ornaments on their crown. Legends describe the beautiful high flags flown from the city's lofty towers.

According to ancient Dari folklore tales, there exist legends regarding Kawa-e Hadad (the leather flag of a Blacksmith) which resembled a flag. Many poems and poets such as Ferdowsi have written interesting books and articles regarding Kawa-e Hadad. Kawa-e Hadad is a symbol of the resistance movement against the corrupt King Zahak. Kawa is a leather-material used to generate air with it for the refreshment of the fire so that the metal becomes hot and can be smelted. A famous blacksmith raised his Kawa, as a form of a flag, to lead the resistance against Zahak who wanted to sacrifice the blacksmith's son. The other inhabitants of the city allied themselves with the blacksmith and this movement were so successful that it dethroned an evil king. Later on, this Kawa or leather flag used by the blacksmith came to be globally known as Darafsh-e Kawiani.

A settlement existed at Balkh as early as 500 BC, and the town was visited by the Greeks, the Turks, Kushans, and Arabs. During the 8th century, Balkh became the capital of Khorasan. At the time of the Abbasids and Samanids, Balkh earned its name as capital and center of learning earned it the title Mother of Cities (Umm al-Bilad). This city produced was the birthplace of Maulana Jalaluddin Balkhi (Rumi). Unfortunately, like many of us, Maulana's had to migrate because of the region pillaged by the Mongol invaders under Ghengis Khan in 1220.

In the 19th century AD (13th century Hijri), the state emblem appeared as a minbar (pulpit) under an arch on a flag. It is from the pulpit that the faithful are led to the right path, the path leading to salvation, justice, and freedom. This emblem was symbolized of worship and faith among Muslims in Afghanistan. In modern times, since about 1890, the state emblem has been a stylized picture of an open mosque with a praying mihrab (a mark in the wall of a mosque) and pulpit. This is the constant reminder of the influence of Islam because the mihrabs of mosques always point towards Mecca, the direction in which all Muslims pray. The pulpit and the arch are representative of Islam.

After a study of various flags used in different eras of Afghan history, the flag was again augmented to fulfill the patriotic needs of the Afghan people. In the early part of this century, a Loya Jirga (Grand Assembly) convened in 1928 after Shah Amanullah Ghazi's tour of Europe chose to add to the existing national flag three vertical fringes, a wreath of wheat, a rising sun, and a star; to the foot some snowy mountains and a tape with the inscriptions "Afghanistan."

The wreath of wheat (two ears of corn) symbolizes agriculture and refers to the tradition that one of the army officers, Ahmad Shah Baba, was chosen monarch in 1747 at a tribal council and crowned with such a wreath by the famous dervish Kabuli. The sunrays resemble the old name of Afghanistan, Khorasan meaning, "land of the rising sun." It symbolizes freedom and promises a new bright future.

Subsequent national flags also included a cogwheel and an open book. The cogwheel was chosen for its symbolism of the forthcoming industrialization; the open book represented the Holy Quran and knowledge of the past and future to come. Also, the prior mentioned colors green, red, and black were incorporated into a tricolor flag. The tricolor flag took the shape of black, red, and green vertical stripes. Shah Amanullah Ghazi led Afghanistan to independence in 1919 and similarly raised the first nationally independent flag since the mid-1800's century. The arms and colors designed appealed to the patriotic and religious sentiments of the Afghan people.

After Muhammad Nadir Khan was proclaimed king in 1933 through his comrade-in-arms, the Amani flag was restored, the old shield was included, as a concession to those in favor of tradition and the return of Shah Amanullah Ghazi to the throne. Contrary to the prior mentioned approach, Nadir Khan did change the color of the royal flag. The royal flag which was the color black since the days of Dost Muhammad Khan changed to red during Nadir Khan's reign.

On September 2, 1947, the Independence of Pashtunistan was proclaimed, although this was never realized during the decolonization of British India. The provisional flag symbolic of this movement was a red flag with inscriptions "Pashtunistan" or "Pashtunistan Zindabad" (Long Live Pashtunistan). The flag was comprised in a diagonal or semicircular form. This Pashtunistan issue reached its peak in 1955. At that time, Afghan protesters stormed Pakistan's Embassy in Kabul, as well as, the Consulates in Jalalabad and Kandahar. The demonstrators expressed their sentiments towards Pakistan's policies by incinerating their flag. Almost forty years later, the conflict with Pakistan reopened old wounds, and in 1994 this act was repeated in Kabul.

President Muhammad Daud changed the tricolor pattern to a horizontal shape in 1973, and the national insignia was modified to contain ears of corn, pulpit, and sunrays. More impressive than any of these changes was the re-introduction of the eagle into the flag. According to Lawrence Keppie, The Making of the Roman Army, "Marius [Gaius Marius, a Roman General] is also credited with making the eagle the legion's first standard, and a focus of loyalty and affection." In ancient times, the emblems often bore a resemblance to lions and eagles. The lion was widely used as a symbol of strength and courage, and the eagle was often used to signify powerful, swift, high flying, and graceful flight, and keen vision. Eagles are representative emblems of the original Aryan Civilization.

The Aryans lived in the high mountainous areas of the region where their foremost animal companions were the beautiful eagles. In ancient legends told throughout Afghanistan, the eagle has had a sovereign place in society. In those times when a tribe chose their leader or when tribes chose a king; they would gather at a place and let the eagle take flight. Whoever's shoulder or head the eagle perched on would be designated as their rightful leader. There is also an Afghan saying regarding good luck: Oqab-e padshahi bar sarash nishasta ast (A royal eagle has perched on his/her head). Moreover, the eagle is said to represent the legendary bird that brought a crown for the first king of Afghanistan, Yama.

In the twentieth century, the Afghan flag took slightly different shapes; however, it still contained significant commonalities. The colors of the flag were usually interpreted as standing for progress from the dark times of the past sacrifices to prosperity. Black stood for the past flags, red for the bloodshed of heroes for independence, and green is symbolic of the Islamic faith and hope in the future. Although the exact form of the flag has been changed several times, these colors are recognized as the national color.

The myths, legends, and historical incidents concerning the Afghan flag and the emblems, therefore, present a variety of cultural riches. The liberation of the people of Khorasan and the dawn of a new day is represented by the rising sun. The flag has contained in its coat of arms such ears of corn and eagles remind the Afghan people of their heritage and their honorable roots. The Holy Quran, mihrab, mosque, and minbar are seen as emblems of religious enlightenment and faith as they indicate the direction of Mecca.

During the summer of 1992, the government handed over the administration of the country to an exiled provisional government located in Pakistan. As of June 5, 1992, the new rulers of Kabul had not yet altered the official flag. In the opening parade of the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, the Afghan delegation paraded with the legal flag consecrated by the Constitution of 1987. In the past decade, After 1992, the Afghan flag has changed so much that experts have gone so far as awarding the title, "Most Changed Flag of the 20th Century" to the Afghan flag.

According to Talocci (1982), flags are an everyday object, yet the vast majority of people are quite ignorant of them. While most individuals can recognize a half dozen national flags, generally little or nothing is known of their history, symbolism, or usage. Adults, as well as children, are attracted by the bright colors and motion of flags. Rarely there is consideration given to why flags are used or what they mean. The flag is a reminder of lost territories, of patriot heroes, of hopes for a better future, of the promises of religions and political systems, of the sanctity of the ways of past generations. The American Revolution of 1775-1783 and the French Revolution of 1789 in large part created the modern sense of citizen participation in the formation of the nation which nowadays we take for granted (pages 7-8).

The flag was based on the will of the Afghan people in both religious and national tradition relative to the history of the land. Throughout history, the Afghan flag has represented sanctity for those seeking refuge in it, national liberation from oppression, and was always designed by aspirations from environmental and philosophical symbols.

The existence of Afghanistan's national flag has not easily been handed to its citizens who have sacrificed themselves for their people. Therefore, individuals' loyalties and allegiances to their homeland should surpass other individualistic or sectarian interests. Furthermore, under Chapter 1, Article 1, of the United Nations' Charter, Afghanistan must be allowed to regain its "self-determination" from exploitative neighboring and regional countries.

Chronology of the Century's Past Flags of the past century.

Afghanistan was awarded "Most Changed Flag of the 20th Century".

1901-1919: Black field with a central white emblem of mosque, flags, and wreath.

1919 - September 1928: Same, except central emblem surrounded by an eight-pointed sunburst.

September 1928 - January1929: Vertical black, red, green. Central white emblem of mountains, sun, wreath, topped by a star.

January 1929 - October 1929: red, black, and white tricolor.

October 1929-1933: Same three-striped field, but using earlier emblem used periodically between 1901-1928 surrounded by a sunburst.

1933-1973: Same three-striped field, central white emblem of mosque, flags, and wreath.

July 1973 - April 1978: Horizontal field, lower half-green, the upper half is black over red. The emblem in the upper hoist of eagle, pulpit, wreath, sunburst. Designed by Youssef Kohzad for Sardar Daoud Khan.

April 1978 - December 1979: Red Field with a gold emblem in upper hoist consisting of script characters saying "Khalq" (Masses Party), wreath, and star.

January 1980 - November 1987: Three equal horizontal stripes of black over red over green. The multicolor emblem in the upper hoist of pulpit, book, wreath, sunburst, topped by cogwheel and a star.

November1987 - April 1992: Same as previous, but emblem lacks book and a red star. Also, the cogwheel was relocated to the bottom and the green "horizon" below the sunburst is now curved.

April 1992 - December 1992: Three equal horizontal stripes of green, white, black with white text on green stripe saying Allah Akbar (God is Great) and black text on white stripe saying the Shahadat.

December 1992 - August 1996: Same three stripes with a golden emblem similar to past flags centered in the middle.

1996 - 2001: The flag (at least initially) was a plain white banner, later incorporated the inscriptions of the Shahadat in the center.

Refernece

Barraclough, E.M. (1978). Flags of the World. London: Frederick Warne.

Fruhlinger, J. (1996). Etymology of Vexillological Terminology." FOTW Flags Of The World Website. http://fotw.digibel.be/flags/flagetym.html

Ghobar, G.M. (1963). Afghanistan dar Massir-e Tarikh. Kabul. P. 77.

Sadat, M.E. (1998). Afghanistan sar Zamim Hamasa wa Fajaha. Germany. P.3.

By Mir Hekmatullah Sadat

Mir Hekmatullah Sadat has a BA from the University of California, Irvine and an MA the California State University, Fullerton, and a PhD at Claremont Graduate University.

#afghanistan #afghanhistory

5 notes · View notes

bluewatsons · 4 years

Text

M. Tampa et al., Brief History of Syphilis, 7 J Med Life 4 (2014)

Abstract

Before the discovery of Treponema pallidum as the etiologic agent, the origins of syphilis have been the subject of several debates. Diverse therapeutic agents were employed in an attempt to cure the disease. Examining the milestones in the history of syphilis, the present article reviews the existing theories that tried to explain the origins of the disease, the approach in art, the cultural and the evolution of the treatments from the empiric means to the discovery of penicillin.

Introduction

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease caused by Treponema Pallidum, a bacterium classified under Spirochaets phylum, Spirochaetales order, Spirochaetaceae family, but there are at least three more known species causing human treponemal diseases such as Treponema pertenue that causes yaws, Treponema carateum causing pinta and Treponema pallidum endemicum-responsible for bejel or endemic syphilis. The four members of the bacterial family cannot be differentiated with morphological, chemical or immunological methods [1,2]. Of the aforementioned bacteria, syphilis is the sole sexually transmitted treponemal disease, as the other conditions are transmitted via direct contact with an infected individual [3].

From the very beginning, syphilis has been a stigmatized, disgraceful disease; each country whose population was affected by the infection blamed the neighboring (and sometimes enemy) countries for the outbreak. So, the inhabitants of today’s Italy, Germany and United Kingdom named syphilis ‘the French disease’, the French named it ‘the Neapolitan disease’, the Russians assigned the name of ‘Polish disease’, the Polish called it ‘the German disease’, The Danish, the Portuguese and the inhabitants of Northern Africa named it ‘the Spanish/Castilian disease’ and the Turks coined the term ‘Christian disease’. Moreover, in Northern India, the Muslims blamed the Hindu for the outbreak of the affliction. However, the Hindu blamed the Muslims and in the end everyone blamed the Europeans [4-6].

In the 16th century, Jean Fernelius, a Parisian teacher whose work and interests were channeled into the mercury treatment of the condition, coined the term ‘lues venera’ (‘venereal pest’) in his treaty dedicated to the affliction [7]. Therefore, the term ‘syphilis’ was introduced by Girolamo Fracastoro, a poet and medical personality in Verona. His work “Syphilis sive Morbus Gallicus” (1530) encompasses three books and presents a character named Syphilus, who was a shepherd leading the flocks of King Alcihtous, a character from Greek mythology. In Fracastoro’s tale, Syphilus, mad at Apollo for parching the trees and consuming the springs that fed the shepherd’s flocks, vowed not worship Apollo, but his King. Apollo gets offended and curses people with a hydious disease named syphilis, after the shepherd’s name. The affliction spread to the whole population, including King Alcithous. The nymph Ammerice counseled the inhabitants to offer Apollo further sacrifices, one of which was Syphilus himself, and also to sacrifice to Juno and Tellus, the latter offering the people the tree of Guaiac (Guaiacum officinale), a very used therapeutic medicine in times of Fracastoro [6-8].

Hypotheses on the origin of syphilis

The pre-columbian hypothesis. The advocates of this hypothesis claim that not only syphilis was widely spread in both Old and New World, but also the other treponemal diseases. In Europe, most of these conditions were mistaken for leprosy [3]. According to this hypothesis, pinta occurred in Afro-Asian zone by the year 15.000 BC, having an animal reservoir. Yaws appeared as a consequence of the mutations in pinta around 10.000 BC and spread allover the world, except for the American continent which was isolated. The endemic syphilis emerged from jaws by the selection of several treponemas, as a consequence of climate changes (the appearance of the arid climate) around 7000 BC. Around 3000 BC the sexually transmitted syphilis emerged from endemic syphilis in South-Western Asia, due to lower temperatures of the post-glacial era and spread to Europe and the rest of the world. Initially it manifested as a mild disease, eventually aggravated and grew in virulence, suffering from several mutations, at the end of the 15th century [2,3].

The unitarian hypothesis. Considered by some authors as a variant of the pre-Columbian hypothesis, it advocates that the treponemal diseases had always had a global distribution. According to this theory, both syphilis and non-venereal treponemal diseases are variants of the same infections and the clinical differences happen only because of geographic and climate variations and to the degree of cultural development of populations within disparate areas. Briefly, pinta, yaws, endemic syphilis and venereal syphilis are considered as adaptative responses of T. Pallidum to changes in the environment, cultural differences and contact between various populations [3,9]. In this respect, yaws had a starting point in Central and Western Africa, spreading towards the Iberian Peninsula along with the capturing and selling of Africans as slaves, fifty years before Columbus’ voyage. Yaws, endemic in Africa for that time being, would have remained unmodified in countries with similar climate conditions as those in the origin countries, but would have evolved into endemic syphilis in countries with colder and drier climate in which personal hygiene was overlooked and disregarded and into venereal syphilis in those areas where inhabitants exhibited a civilized society and paid more attention to personal hygiene. The advocates of this hypothesis consider as irrelevant the theory according to which the 44 members of Christopher Columbus crew and the 10 indigenes brought along to Europe could be blamed for syphilis spreading in the whole Europe in just a few years [10,11].

The Columbian hypothesis. This very popular hypothesis states that the navigators in Columbus fleet would have brought the affliction on their return form the New World in 1493 [3,12]. This theory is supported by documents belonging to Fernandez de Oviedo and Ruy Diaz de Isla, two physicians with Spanish origins who were present at the moment when Christopher Columbus returned from America. The former, sent by King Ferdinand of Spain in the New World, confirms that the disease he had encountered for the first time in Europe was familiar at that time to the indigenes who had already developed elaborated treatment methods. As for Ruy Diaz de Isla, the physician acknowledges syphilis as an “unknown disease, so far not seen and never described”, that had onset in Barcelona in 1493 and originated in Española Island (Spanish: Isla Española), a part of the Galápagos Islands. Ruy Diaz de Isla is also the one that states in a manuscript that Pinzon de Palos, the pilot of Columbus, and also other members of the crew already suffered from syphilis on their return from the New World [10,12].

Ever since, numerous opposites of the Columbian hypothesis tried to prove the pre-existence of syphilis in the Old World, by finding evidence consisting of specific lesions on skeletal remains dated before Columbus journey in America. Radiocarbon dating along with several other modern means of dating, as well as more careful examining of such remains proved that all skeletal parts with specific luetic lesions dated not before, but after 1492. On the other hand, not all skeletal parts evoked by the opposites of Columbian hypothesis were actually exhibiting syphilis lesions. However, in 16 bone fragments the syphilis diagnosis could be certified and modern dating methods showed pre-Columbian origin. Harper et al. explained in an article published in 2011 that all these skeletons were located in coast areas from Europe, in which sea food represented an important part of the inhabitants’ diet. The sea food contained older carbon from the bottom of the ocean that interferes with carbon dating, therefore, after corrections and adequate adjustments have been made, it could be proven that the skeletons actually could not be dated before Columbus return to Europe, as previously considered [13].

Unlike Europe, the American continent was able to present clear evidences supporting the existence of syphilis in pre-Columbian period. In this respect, skeletal lesions characteristic for the diagnosis of syphilis which has been identified in various areas plead for syphilis existence in these areas before Columbus discovered America. In addition, radiocarbon dating of the bone fragments showed an age of several thousand years [4,14].

Syphilis in Europe

In 1489, Pope Innocent VIII was in conflict with Ferdinand I of Naples because the Italian King refused to pay his debts to him. As such the Pope offered the kingdom of Naples to Charles VIII who was the Affable of France, and to a certain extent was entitled to reign over this territory by his paternal grandmother, Mary of Anjou. In 1494 Ferdinand I died and his successor, Alfonso II announced his pretences to the Duchy of Milan, which was controlled for a long time by Ludovic Sforza. Ludovic Sforza, in order to avert the threat represented by Alfonso II, encouraged Charles the VIII th to accept the proposal made by Pope Innocent VIII and to conquer the kingdom of Naples. At the end of 1494, one year after the return of Columbus from his first expedition to America, Charles VIII entered Italy with an army of 25.000 men, mainly Flammand, Garcon, Swiss, Spanish and even Italian mercenaries. Initially his army entered Rome, where, for one month, it led a life of limitless depravity. In February 1495 the army of Charles VIIIth entered Naples without encountering any resistance, as the Neapolitan army was made out of no more than 1.000 Italian, German and Spanish mercenaries. The French army was well received by the locals hoping for a better life under French occupation, but later on changed their opinion as they witnessed great flourish in thefts, depravity and mess. The increasing power of Charles VIII leads to an alliance made by the Italian princes, including Ludovic Sforza, who defeats Charles VIII in the battle of Fornovo in July 1495. It is during this battle that the Italian physicians described for the first time a disease they have seen on French soldiers’ bodies, manifested as a generalized eruption consisting of pustules, more terrifying than leprosy and elephantiasis and that could be lethal and was transmitted through sexual intercourse. The disease proved to be syphilis, and the French army was soon blamed for spreading the affliction throughout Italy [12,15].

Laura M. Gough, specialist in history of medicine, notes that the war conditions represented a favorable field for the first outbreak of syphilis. It has occurred during Italian invasion by the French armies, in a period of time when all great powers of Europe (France, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and the Papal States) wanted to gain control over the Apennine Peninsula. As both French and Italian armies were made out of mercenaries brought from the entire Europe, and as the wars lasted for 30 years –a sufficient interval not only for marriages between mercenaries and local females, but also for rape and prostitution-the disease has spread rapidly across Europe as the mercenaries returned to their homeland [15,16].

An important aspect to consider is also that syphilis was, at the very beginning, a disease of great severity, a more rapid spreading and atypical in its evolution as compared to nowadays syphilis, the fatal cases were not rare. The supporters of the Columbian hypothesis advocate that the extreme severity if the condition was mainly due to its novelty, as the population had no time to gain any immunity against the ailment as the venereal syphilis became endemic in Europe, certain strains of T. pallidum have selected, and the disease gained a milder course [17].

The spread of the syphilis across Europe was frequently associated with the invasion of Naples by the French army. However, ever since fewer popular theories have been developed. In 1492 Ferdinand de Aragon and Isabel of Castilla issued the Edict of Expulsion of the Jews, stating that all the individuals of Hebrew origins refusing to convert to Catholicism were to be expulsed from Spain and the rest of its territories. On this occasion, approximately 200.000 Jews have left the country for Northern Africa and Southern Europe. On their way, a part of them temporarily settled at the gates of Rome; they were not allowed in Rome, and in the new Diaspora an outbreak occurred, killing 30000 individuals. Despite all efforts, the disease later identified as syphilis entered the city of Rome. Therefore, some of the chroniclers of the time blamed the Jews for the spread of syphilis in Europe; according to them, the disease was already present on Italian territory before Naples invasion by the French in 1495 [6,12,17,18].

Syphilis in artistic representations

The oldest artistic representation of syphilis is considered one on a Peruvian jug dating back to VIth century, depicting a mother suffering from syphilis holding a child in her arms; the mother shows a saddle nose and superior incisive teeth with notches on their free margins. The piece belongs to a collection of jugs also encompassing two jugs illustrating leprosy and leishmaniasis [19].

Albrecht Dürer, a German artist, depicts in woodcuts, for the first time in Europe, in 1496, the image of a mercenary whose skin bears sores of multiple chancres (Fig. 1). Next to the image lays written a text by physician Theodorus Ulsenius warning on the new disease, also describing its signs and symptoms, mentioning that the illness is not curable and establishing a direct link between the epidemic and the grand astrological conjuction in 1484 [19,20].

Fig. 1. A mercenary whose skin presents multiple chancres, woodcut by Albrecht Dürer, 1496 –published in a Romanian book in 1933 [21]

A work of Sebastian Brandt depicting Saint Mary with the Child dates from the same year, 1496 (Fig. 2); the Holy Child throws light spears to punish or cure the sufferers of syphilis, represented as individuals with multiples ulcers and sores. In another part of the woodcut depiction, King Maximilian I and his Knights are ready to receive the crown as reward for the edict he issued in 1495, stating that the disease was a consequence of blasphemy and sins, punishing the suffers of syphilis for their immoral behavior [15,19,22].

Fig. 2. Saint Mary and the Holy Child punishing the sufferers of syphilis, woodcut, 1496 [21]

Another significant painting belongs to Jacques Laniet, in the XVIIth century, an illustration of a man in a fumigation stove, a fashionable method of treatment at that time (Fig. 3). On the barrel lays written “pur un plaisir, mil douleur” (fr. correspondent of the phrase “For a pleasure, a thousand pains”), a proverb very used in those years. Another verbatim translation of this proverb is “for a night with Venus, a life with Mercury” [23].

Fig. 3. Depiction of a man in a fumigation stove, engraving by Jacques Laniet, Paris, 1659, as published in a Romanian book in 1933 [21]

“The allegory of syphilis”, a work of Luca Giordano depicting Venus and a young man with alopecia and crusted papules on the scalp, as well as collapsed nose bone, and “Warning against syphilis” painted by Johan Sadeler presenting Venus giving birth to a contaminated milk spring from her breasts and a shepherd -allusion to Francasto’s poem on the origins of syphilis [23].

The autoportraits of Gerard de Lairesse (1641-1711), as well as his portrait painted by Rembrandt in the XVIIth century highlight in a clear manner the congenital syphilis sequelae of the Dutch painter, amongst which, frontal bossing and saddle nose [24].

Eduard Munch (1863-1944), an expressionist Norwegian painter presents in “The inheritance” the image of a young mother in tears holding a child with syphilis stigmata in her arms. The painting was initially named “the syphilitic child. According to some critics, Munch was ridiculing in his painting the iconic image of Madonna and the child. Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) was also impressed by this disease. His work “The Wages of Sin” is an allegory of venereal diseases and presents a sailor among prostitutes and a medical student holding a skull, as the symbol of death. This work represents actually a sketch of Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907), in which the artist gives up the male characters of the painting and illustrates solely the women who are no longer feminine and beautiful, but unattractive. Some critics believe that this painting points out the artist’s fear of venereal disease [25].

Famous historical figures diagnosed with or strongly suspected of syphilis

The transmittance of sexual diseases has always been associated with promiscuity and vulnerable population groups [14]. However, the rapid spreading proved not to avoid any geographical, racial or social barriers, affecting also great personalities along the history.

The writers were among the most affected category which was more likely, due to the promiscuous and bohemian life, to have the disease. Alphonse Daudet, Thomas Chatterton, Keats, James Boswell, Baudelaire, Heinrich Heine, Dostoievski and Oscar Wild are only a few examples of writers suffering from syphilis. Romanian poet Mihai Eminescu was diagnosed with syphilis too. He died in a mental institution at the age of 39 years [26-28]. Even the philosophers, who were usually considered superior minds, insensitive to women charms, also have suffered for syphilis. The most famous of them were Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) and Arthur Schopehnauer (1788-1860). The last has contracted the disease while still a student, and in time, developed a tendency to misogyny [26].

Famous Casanova is widely and iconically known for his excellent techniques of seduction. However, most of his sexual partners were actually prostitutes, and this may be the reason why he had gonorrhea four times, cancroids for five times, syphilis and genital herpes [26,28].

It is also presumed that famous painters as Eduard Manet, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh and Goya, as well as composers like Ludwig van Beethoven, Robert Schumann and Franz Schubert suffered for syphilis [26].

Furthermore, the monarchy was not spared of the implacable disease. One example is Tsar Ivan IV Vasilievici (known in history as Ivan the Terrible), Prince of Moscow (1530-1584) who contacted syphilis after the death of his wife. Some authors blame syphilis for his brutal behavior [26,28,29]. King Henry III and Charles V of France, Henry VIII and George IV of England, Paul I of Russia and Maximilian I of Holy Roman Empire are other examples.

Al Capone, the famous gangster who led a crime syndicate in the times of Prohibition in the United States supposedly died of neurosyphilis, as a consequence of aggravation of its manifestation after his imprisonment in Alcatraz [28,29].

The history behind the establishment of the etiology of syphilis

From the very beginning numerous theories on the origin of syphilis existed, most of which linking initially syphilis and leprosy together. According to several fables of the early XVI th century, syphilis was the result of a sexual relation between a Spanish prostitute and a leper. The prostitute also infected the soldiers of Charles VIII. Paracelsus (1493-1541) considered that syphilis was the result of a sexual intercourse between a prostitute suffering from gonorrhea and a French leper. In compliance to other theories of the time, the disease might have been the outcome of the relationship of a prostitute having a uterine abscess with a leper or the result of poisoning the wine with blood coming from a leper [6].

Sexual transmitted diseases were seen as a single disease for many centuries. The differentiation between gonorrhea, cancroids and syphilis as distinct maladies was achieved no earlier than XIXth century. In the beginning of XVIIIth century there were several doctors who treated syphilis and gonorrhea as separate entities. However, in 1767 John Hunter a famous physician of venereal diseases at that time (1728-1793) conducted an experiment consisting of an inoculation of the urethral secretion of a gonorrhea patient in the prepuce of a healthy patient, the last developing syphilis shortly afterwards. Consequently, his experiment proved that syphilis resulted from gonorrhea. What Hunter has missed out was that the patient from whom the urethral secretion was taken had both syphilis and gonorrhea. However his experiment, widely acknowledged in his époque, delayed the differential diagnosis of the two diseases with a few decades [7,30].

In 1831 Ricord has designed a larger study on syphilis and gonorrhoea and succeeded to show that the last occurs only after contact with gonorrohea patients, whilst the former –only after contact with syphilis patients [7].

It was not earlier than 1905 that Schaudinn (1871-1906) and Hoffman (1868 – 1959) have discovered the etiologic agent of syphilis, whom they have named Spirochaeta pallida, on various syhilis lesions, proving its existence in both fresh and Giemsa coloured specimens. It was them who changed the name of the bacterium subsequently to Treponema pallidum [7,29,31].

In 1906 Landsteiner introduced the use of the dark-field microscopy method for the detection of the spirochete of syphilis. In 1910 the German bacteriologist August Wasserman (1866-1925) came with the first serologic test for syphilis and in 1949 Nelson and Mayer have conceived Treponema pallidum immobilization test (TPI), the first specific test for T. pallidum [29,32]. Their discoveries had a very important role in detecting the disease in patients who were suspected of syphilis, as well as in other healthy individuals, and in monitoring syphilis response to treatment.

Syphilis treatments along the history

Initially, the treatment of syphilis included less efficient methods that were accompanied by pain and multiple adverse reactions [29]. Taking into consideration that the disease was associated with the discovery of the American continent, numerous treatments included plants brought from the New World, such as the guaiac tree (lat. Guaiacum Officinale), known also as sasafras or willow (Salix), which led to the widest recognition at the time (Fig. 4). These plants acted as purgative agents, lead to sudoration, diarrhea and the increase in urinary debt and were believed to be “blood cleansers” [7]. One of the main supporters of the guaiac tree utilisation in the treatment of syphilis, and in the same time an ardupus opponent of mercury treatment, was Ulrich von Hutten (1488-1523), a former priest who described in a detail the manifestations of the disease as well the simptoms of mercury intoxication, based on his own experience as a sufferrer from the disease [15,33]. From the guaiac tree a decoction was made, the resulted potion was boiled and the patient was assumed to consume the mixture daily for 30 days. Before drinking the potion, the patient was covered in blankets in order to induce perspiration, and a mild purgative was also administered [15].

Fig. 4. Guaiacum officinale (guaiac tree), used widely for the treatment of syphilis [21]

Paracelus (1493-1541) was one of the first supporters of the mercury treatment. Mercury was used in Arabic medicine in the treatment of several dermatomes as well as leprosy, and succeeded to gain rapidly an important place in medical field at that time. Mercury is a potent diuretic that also leads to excessive salivation when administered in toxic doses. At the time, is was considered that the “virus” was eliminated from the body through sweat, salivation and diuresis [15,33,34]. There were several methods of administering mercury. Thus, in a mixture with grease, mercury was administered topically, leading to ulcerations. Barbarossa pill, named after the Turk admiral who gave the pill to his soldiers and was affected by the malady, contained a mixture of mercury and perfume essence and fruit flavours [7]. Mercurous chloride (calomel, Hg2Cl2) was a white salt able to be administered orally, topically or by injections. The metallic form of mercury was administered also under the form of therapeutic fumigation. Patients seemed to find the adverse reactions of the treatment acceptable, however, the treatment lead to systemic intoxication (hidrargirism) and pneumonia [33].

Bismuth salts were introduced in syphilis treatments in 1884. These compounds were less toxic than mercury, in the same time bearing a stronger bactericidal effect that the former, consequently, becoming the cardinal heavy metal employed in syphilis treatment [33].

German scientist Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915) received Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1908 for his discovery of arsphenamine (Salvarsan). The scientist discovered the compound that acted like an antibiotic by accident, while working on finding a cure for Trypanosoma brucei. Ehrlich’s desire was to discover a “magical bullet”- a drug able to specifically bind to a bacterium and kill it, without affecting human cells. Salvarsan was also denominated as “Compound 606”, as it was discovered after 606 failed experiments (Fig. 5) [7,35,36]. The safer novel drug that superseded the more toxic and less water-soluble salvarsan as a treatment for syphilis was Neosalvarsan, also an arsenic compound. Both Salvarsand and Neosalvarsan were replaced in the treatment of syphilis by Penicillin, after 1940.

Fig. 5. The laboratory in which famous 606 compound was invented [21]

Observing that fever lead to symptomatic improvement of neurosyphilis, various methods of fever induction have been experimented with turpentine, tuberculine, mercury and even Salmonella typhi. In 1917, the Austrian physician Julis Wagner-Jauregg (1857-1940) includes malaria in the treatment of syphilis. Malaria induced fever paroxysms able to be controlled, as quinine had already been discovered. Jauregg injected patients suffering from malaria with blood presenting Plasmodium vivax. The patients exhibited fever paroxysms lasting for approximately 6 hours and core temperature returning to normal values; quinine was injected after 3-4 cycles on a 2 day period, in order to treat malaria. In 1927 Jauregg received Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine for his discovery [29,37].

In 1928, Alexander Fleming (1881-1955) discovered penicilin and from 1943, it became the main treatment of syphilis [7,29]. Nowadays, worldwide, prevention and treatment programs control syphilis spreading.

Conclusions

Treponema pallidum infection in men not only provoked a disease that represented a threat to humans for many centuries, but it also had a tumultuous history. From examining it, one could learn how easy was to place stigma not only on individuals affected by the disease, but on entire nations, as countries were blamed along the history for the spread of the disease. Throughout the centuries, syphilis has affected individuals of various origins, from monarchs, painters and philosophers to low income people, mainly due to promiscuity. Various treatments to cure the disease were tried along the centuries; nowadays, penicillin and prevention programs control the disease.

References

Hackett CJ. On the origin og the human treponematoses (pinta, yaws, endemis syphilis and venereal syphilis). Bull World Health Organ. 1963;29:7–41.

Forsea D, Popescu R, Popescu CM, compilers. In: Compendiu de dermatologie si venerologie/ Dermatology and Venerology Compendium. Ed. Tehnica; 1996.

De Melo FL, De Mello JCM, Fraga AM. Syphilis at the Crossroad of Phylogenetics and Paleopathology. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2010;4:575.

Rothschild BM. History of Syphilis. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2005;40:1454–1463.

Fee E. The wages of sin. The Lancet. 1999;354:SIV61.

Foa A, compiler. In: The new and the old: the spread of syphilis (1494–1530) Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press; 1990. pp. 26–45.

Forrai J, compiler. In: History of Different Therapeutics of Venereal Disease Before the Discovery of Penicillin,Syphilis - Recognition, Description and Diagnosis. Dr. Neuza Satomi Sato; 2011.

Waugn MA. Role played by Italy in the history of syphilis. Br J Vener Dis. 1982;58:92–95.

Singh AE, Romanowski B. Syphilis: review with emphasis on clinical, epidemiologic, and some biologic features. Clin Microbiol Rev. 1999;12:187–209.

Morton RS. Another look at the Morbus Gallicus. Postscript to the meeting of the Medical Society for the Study of Venereal Diseases. Br J Vener Dis. 1968;44:174–177.

Hudson EH. Treponematosis and African Slavery. Br J Vener Dis. 1964;40:43–52.

Baker B, Armelagos GJ. The origin and antiquity of syphilis: Paleopathological diagnosis and interpretation. Current Anthropology. 1988;29:703–738.

Harper KN, Zuckerman MK, Harper ML. The origin and antiquity of syphilis revisited: an appraisal of Old World pre-Columbian evidence for treponemal infection. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2011;146:99–133.

Armelagos GJ, Zuckerman MK, Harper KN. The Science behind Pre-Columbian Evidence of Syphilis in Europe: Research by Documentary. Evol Anthropol. 2012;21:50–57.

Quétel C, compiler. In: History of Syphilis. Polity; 1992.

McGough LJ. Syphilis in History: A Response to 2 Articles, Oxford Journal Medicine. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2005;41:573–575.

Syphilis and the Columbian ex-change: was the disease really new? In: Marques MG, Cule J. The great maritime discoveries and world health. Lisbon: Ecola Nacional de San Publica; 1991. pp. 187–200.

Roth N, compiler. In: Conversos, Inquisition, and the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain. University of Wisconsin Press; 2002.

Morton RS. Syphilis in art: an entertainment in four parts. Part 1. Genitourin Med. 1990;66:33–40.

Eisler CT. Who is Dürer's "Syphilitic Man"? Perspect Biol Med. 2009;52:48–60.

Venzmer G. O boala care dispare, Sifilisul. Atelierele Adevarul. 1933

Siena K, compiler. In: Sins of the Flesh: Responding to Sexual Disease in Early Modern Europe. entre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies; 2005.

Morton RS. Syphilis in art: an entertainment in four parts. Part 2. Genitourin Med. 1990;66:112–123.

Morton RS. Syphilis in art: an entertainment in four parts. Part 3. Genitourin Med. 1990;66:208–221.

Morton RS. Syphilis in art: an entertainment in four parts. Part 4. Genitourin Med. 1990;66:280–294.

Wright AD. Venereal disease and the great. Br J Vener Dis. 1971;47:295–306.

Neghina R, Neghina AM. Medical controversies and dilemmas in discussions about the illness and death of Mihai Eminescu (1850-1889) Romania's national poet. Med Probl Perform Art. 2011;26:44–50.

Weissfeld AS. Infectious Diseases and Famous People Who Succumbed to Them Clinical Microbiology Newsletter. Clinical Microbiology Newsletter. 2009;31:169–172.

Sefton AM. The Great Pox that was...syphilis. . Journal of Applied Microbiology. 2001;91:592–596

Qvist G. John Hunter's alleged syphilis. Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 1977;59:205–209.

De Souza EM. A hundred years ago, the discovery of Treponema pallidum. An Bras Dermatol. 2005;80:547–548.

Luger A. The significance of Karl Landsteiner's works for syphilis research. Wien Klin Wochenschr. 1991;103:146–151.

O'Shea JG. 'Two minutes with venus, two years with mercury'-Mercury as an antisyphilitic chemotherapeutic agent. . JG -J R Soc Med. 1990;83:392–395.

Barrazza V. Syphilis therapy. International Journal of Dermatology. 2000;39:795.

Williams KJ. The introduction of ‘chemotherapy’ using arsphenamine – the first magic bullet. J R Soc Med. 2009;102:343–348.

Thorburn P. Ehrlich: pioneer of chemotherapy and cure by arsenic (1854-1915) Br J Vener Dis. 1983;59:404–405.

Frankenburg FR, Baldessarini RJ. Neurosyphilis, malaria, and the discovery of antipsychotic agents. Harv Rev Psychiatry. 2008;16:299–307.

#syphilis #syphilis treatment #history of syphilis #history of medicine #disease #etiology #folk medicine #art and disease #germ theory #Treponema pallidum #culture #penicillin #STDs #sexually transmitted diseases #plagues #allegory #salvarsan #neurosyphilis

0 notes

graphicorganizeressay146 · 4 years

Video

youtube

buy an essays

About me

Buy Essay Papers In Australia

Buy Essay Papers In Australia Every time it does that, it turns into a good higher inventor, which suggests it could invent new stuff even sooner. I feel like I might have give you that pretty simply. Not actually clear why it took humanity 5,000 years to go from figuring out tips on how to write to creating a bunch of guide stamps. I guess it’s not that I’m unimpressed with Gutenberg—I’m neutral on Gutenberg, he’s nice—it’s that I’m unimpressed with everyone else. And that’s about what we’ve received, a minimum of in frequent usage. Scans additionally have the benefit of providing data about what’s happening in the whole brain at any given time, and it’s secure and completely non-invasive. We’d have a brilliant onerous time doing that on our 1,000X brain. Our 1,000X mind that also happens to be a nice flat napkin. That’s not how it normally works—normally, the napkin is up on high of our Madison Square Garden mind and full of deep folds . In fact, less than a 3rd of the cortex napkin is up on the floor of the brain—most is buried contained in the folds. And of course, there’s the entire neuroplasticity thing. The voltages of every neuron could be constantly altering, as many as hundreds of times per second. We’ve conquered the world many times over with our expertise, but in relation to our brains—our most central device—the tech world has for essentially the most part been too daunted to dive in. Let’s zip back in time for a second to 50,000 BC and kidnap someone and produce him back right here to 2017. Around 15 – 20 billion of those neurons are within the cortex, and the rest are within the animal elements of your mind . The major trajectory improve occurs for 2 causes. And every era can efficiently cross the next proportion of their learnings on to the following generation, so information sticks higher via time. And just like that, every present and future hunter within the tribe hunts with a more effective spear. That image then stimulates neurons in one other part of your brain that permits you to process the data embedded within the picture and take up the sentence’s that means. This is why brain-machine interfaces—a subset of the broader field of neural engineering, which itself is a subset of biotechnology—are such a tantalizing new industry. And the tens of tens of millions of synapse connections in our dice could be frequently changing sizes, disappearing, and reappearing. These two issues are occurring naturally in your mind on a regular basis. Right now, your eyes are making a particular set of horizontal actions that permit you to learn this sentence. That’s the brain’s neurons outputting data to a machine and the machine receiving the command and responding. This is a binary state of affairs—either nothing occurs to our guy, or he’s fully electrocuted. He can’t be type of electrocuted, or extra electrocuted—he’s both not electrocuted at all, or he’s fully electrocuted to the very same degree every time. So our man’s body stem—the neuron’s axon—has a unfavorable “resting potential,” which means that when it’s at rest, its electrical cost is barely unfavorable. At all occasions, a bunch of people’s toes hold touching12 our man’s hair—the neuron’s dendrites—whether or not he likes it or not. Their feet drop chemicals called neurotransmitters13 onto his hair—which cross by way of his head and, depending on the chemical, elevate or lower the cost in his physique a little bit. But actually, the cortex is just the outer two millimeters of the mind—the thickness of a nickel—and the meat of the house beneath is usually just wiring. Your hippocampus (Greek for “seahorse” as a result of it looks like one) is sort of a scratch board for memory. When rats start to memorize instructions in a maze, the reminiscence gets encoded of their hippocampus—fairly literally. It’s a little disagreeable for our neuron man, but not an enormous deal—and nothing else occurs. Now for a long time, I thought these major lobes have been chunks of the brain—like, segments of the entire 3D construction. Different components of the rat’s two hippocampi will hearth throughout different parts of the maze, since every section of the maze is saved in its personal section of the hippocampus. And by the time we attain the end, this whole factor ought to click on into place.

0 notes

itsjesperfahey · 7 years

Text

modern soc au

inej:

loves to dance !!! esp ballet but she can dance to whatever tbfh, she’s that good

likes to wear caps, esp backwards. really loves bomber jackets too.

has a couple, small tattoos dedicated to her saints

is that one kid who loves to do parkour (both ironically and unironically) for instance is really good at it but sometimes just yells PARKOUR and steps over a rock

usually found eating lunch with her pals on the roof of the school

is amazing at hide and seek like holy fuck ????? hid for 2 hours once and wasn’t found, came back the next day and was like “y'all losers SUCK"

loves to study other people’s cultures, as well as history and is great as p.e (never has gotten a bad grade in the flexibility tests)

likes to read poem books

has a black cat as a pet named "saint"

pronounced meme as "mehmeh” the first time she read it

only has snapchat and instagram. is that kid who ALWAYS posts the sunset every day, esp from weird/high places and the comments are always “HOW THE FUCK DID YOU GET UP THERE"

cried the most during fox and the hound

always braiding nina’s hair. Knows how to do all the super advanced onces as well

"I don’t know, CAN YOU?"

the best one at pushing people on the swings

AMAZING AT JUST DANCE WITH JESPER

"sorry I ran out of fucks to give try again later maybe?"

gives the nicest presents. always knows what a person wants for christmas/their birthday

the one who’s really into photography and is always taking aesthetic™ pics of Nina for her social media accounts

Prefers tea over coffee

wylan:

bullied for not being able to read (at least up until high school), so is super shy

loves drawing. the artistic™ one who takes anatomy to be able to draw people better

MASTER FLUTE MUSICIAN. On the school band. Jams hard af when he plays it

is in gem math and AP chem with kuwei.

loves sweet. addicted to blue jolly ranchers. his tongue is always blue

constantly pushing up his thick rimmed glasses (even if they ain’t on, which causes him to poke his eye)

looooves all the superhero shows on the CW

V neck sweaters. always

always has his trusty satchel

only has tumblr. has like 10k followers because of his artwork.

”‘illuminati’ ? is that a band?“

cat person even though he’s allergic to cat fur. absolutely adores inej’s cat. settles for owning a horned lizard named "shrek"

secretly a huge fan of memes

really gay for tom holland and ed sheeran (calls him "ginger Jesus”)

gamer with jesper. they always play overwatch together, wylans better tho. a genji and Ana main

cried the most during big hero six

wylan, with blank eyes: “I like my coffee how I like my men” // jesper: *spits out his drink*

matthias:

sports fan obv. On the schools hockey team bc his fav is hockey. is extremely competitive when he plays it. Is constantly checking but never gets penalties (aka slamming the other players against the walls)

played basketball against jesper and surprisingly lost. jesper won’t let it go

dog person. owns a pet pomsky (Pomeranian-husky) with nina who’s name is “bub"

“long hair don’t care”draws inspiration from Harry styles

really philosophical. takes all the philosophy/ethics classes available

kind of sounds like Thor (thick and deep accent)

a good™

"you’re all horrible trash”

“do we really have to be doing this now? I have to finish my homework"

loves baking. bakes everything for the love of his life

grey sweatshirts and adidas shoes

wears contacts Because he hates how glasses look on him. only wears them when he’s home

oblivious to all the women in love with him

"CAN YOU EVEN LIFT BRO? BECAUSE I SURE AS FRICK CAN” (doesn’t curse)

real 👍🏻🤘🏻👌🏻life🤰🏻👼🏻🌱student📚✂️✏️athelete🏃🏼🥇🏆🥅🏒

has Facebook and Twitter only

cried the most during bambi and dumbo

little spoon™

has a couple tattoos with very deep meanings

jesper:

dancer with inej. dances like those ppl who look like robots ??? the ones who look like they freeze parts of their body while the others move. AMAZING at it

loves jazz but also dubstep/edm and rap/r&b. Beyoncé is MOM/QUEEN.

sometimes djs parties

again, huge gamer with wylan. he’s a lucio and junkrat main for overwatch. loves like every video game ever

loves all the marvel movies, in love with black panther (was team cap)

dresses like a hipster but also sometimes a fuck boy (tank tops and shorts with a backwards cap style)

favorite subject is business and debate. great negotiator

cried the most during the lion king

A+ cosplayer (especially his lucio cosplay)

big supporter of human rights (LGBTA+, feminist, black lives matter, poc representation). Will LITERALLY get into fights over anyone who thinks otherwise. Fist fights, always supported by Kaz and Matthias. Got suspended for 3 days for breaking a kids nose who thought LGBTA+ people should **** ** ****)

that one kid who has 50 fidget spinners and can do cool tricks with them. also manages to sell all of them

skateboard pro™

always sends the blinking face meme, even if it’s out of context

all the social medias.

one tattoo only of a gun with a 'bang’ flag coming out of it

nina:

PROFESSIONAL👏🏻 MAKE 👏🏻 UP 👏🏻 ARTISTS 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 HAS HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF FOLLOWERS ON HER INSTAGRAM AND THE SAME FOR HER YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Speaking of YouTube, she always does cute videos. Baking/cooking tutorial videos featuring Matthias, 'i do my boyfriends makeup’, 'my boyfriend does my makeup’, 'my boyfriend buys my makeup’, does make up tutorials obviously, challenges with her best friend inej like the 'whisper challenge’. everyone loves her and says her and Matthias are their otp

loves fashion design, takes that class.

loves horror movies/creepy things but also Disney

great at roller skating

always wins the best dressed awards ad school

also huge fan of ed sheeran. loves little mix more than 5h.

cried the most during 'up'

Can speak like 4 languages (English, french, Latin and spanish)

loves traveling and learning about new cultures too

dancer!inej’s biggest fan and hockey!matthias’ biggest fan

always breaks snapchat streaks

likes to (friendly) debate with jesper, especially over stupid things

amazing with kids. babysits all the time. calls “bub” (the dog) her and matthias’ baby

big spoon™

notes are so fucking pretty. buys the most expensive stationary and notebooks

also huge supporter of human rights. runs the feminist club. (Jesper is the Vice President) stresses loving yourself and your body, and makes sure to design comfortable yet GORGEOUS clothes for “"plus sized people”“

wins 'dynamic duo’ award with inej

always eating lollipops

has a few very small tatos of cute things like roses and crowns. has one quote written in cursive on her rib

kaz:��

prefers black coffee as well

loves crime shows, whether they’re real or fake. for instance loves both 'Dateline’ and 'Criminal Minds’ also loves 'House’

favorite class is psychology, learning how a person thinks and acts and feels

has the dregs tattoo on his arm * edge lord 9000™ * such a drama queen and diva like damn

*deep sigh* "I think I’d rather go take a nap” *gets up and leaves*

also loves computer science. knows how to hack shit like a pro

always rough housing with jesper. broke a table once

does walk with a cane. likes to slap matthias’ ass with it

“bow down you fucking peasants"

only types in lower case with 0 emojis and no punctuation marks. CONSTANTLY leaves people on read

only has Twitter and snapchat. His posts on snapchat never have captions, yet somehow has a 200 day streak with Jesper and a 250 day streak with inej

loves watching horror movies with nina

*in a fight* "oh I’ll sHOW YOU SOME DIRTY HANDS” *swings*

gets second place for best dressed award

always sending memes with no context in their group chat, as well as vines

indie and alternative rock fan

“does it look like I care because I’m sorry if it does I didn’t mean to give you that impression"

head over heels for inej Ghafa like wow

likes to read a lot of mystery books and non fiction books

cried the most during finding dory

can solve a Rubik’s cube under a minute and won’t let you forget it

The one asshole who picks either Kirby or metaknight in super smash brothers brawl

hates seeing the notification bubble so he always has all chats muted and notifications turned off for apps

kiss ass to all the teachers to get them A’s

Kuwei:

SCIENCE NERD. ALWAYS singing the bill nye theme song. Loves ASAPScience on YouTube. Master at chemistry and biology

"hey did u know bill nye is, like, my dad"

nina treats him like a baby

loves everything to do with Star Wars while wylan loves star trek more. Fighting ensues.

has a pet Siamese cat name sparky

Used to have a huge crush on jesper and everyone knew it except jesper.

knows the intro to the bee movie ("according to all known laws of aviation-”)

jesper in the group chat: “gonna go shower be right back” // kuwei: “without me ;)?” // wylan: “KUWEI SWEAR TO FUCK” // kaz: “watch your fucking language wylan"

obsessed with Pokémon go even if it died out (chose team instinct)

"fight me on this"

has Twitter, snapchat and instagram

Always drinking ginger ale

master at bop it

the one kid who always forgets to pay you back for stuff

is also into the CW super hero shows, so him and wylan are constantly talking about it

loves cartoons and anime

speaks fluent fuckboy

God awful at comebacks

"let’s take a selfie guys !!!” // “kuwei no-” // *snapshot sound*

talks !!! Like !! This !!!! for,,, some reason ????????

huge nerd for other things too like lord of the rings and Harry Potter and game of thrones

cried the most during inside out

"do you think planes are scared of heights?“ // "for fucks same kuwei it’s 4am”

2K notes · View notes

lilietsblog · 7 years

Text

my mirai nikki liveblog notes from last night

yandere is a gross and creepy fandom trope beloved by gross and creepy fandom dudes but I really like Mirai Nikki and personally Gasai Yuno, and I hope she finds some stability in her mind orrr she could kill either herself or Yukki to get the other to be the god of time and space and I'm honestly not sure which of those would be a healthier decision or more fascinating to watch. but i dont want this ending bc of the cop )= (my taste in anime is impeccable)

I like how Yukki is still majorly creeped out by Yuno, even if making out with her is no longer even a Big Thing for him

WHY DID THIS THING JUST HAPPEN THIS IS LIKE THE WORST POSSIBLE SCENARIO HONESTLY WHAT THE FUCK I like the girl just snapping photos of everything I aspire to be this chill

Yuno if you fuck up Yukki's friendships because you are jealous I'm going to be very cross with you that's exactly what you're going to do isn't it I mean you've been 100% right about Tsubasa and you've been actually very charismatic with Yukki's mom but I can just feel the trainwreck coming

huh, they all end up just hanging out together, that's surprisingly nice I'm glad things other than blood and carnage are allowed to happen in this anime it won't last long will it

shine shine shine wow Yuno maybe chill

Mao and Hinata, I swear I'm going to remember this

HINATA PLEASE OH PLEASE DON'T GET MURDERED BY A SERIAL KILLER WHAT THE FUCK ANIME WHY ARE YOU GIVING ME THESE THOUGHTS DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE HAVE ME BE RIGHT ABOUT THE FORESHADOWING

okay what followed was teeth snapping not blood from a bitten throat so maybe she won't die after all thank god

NO HINATA WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TRYING TO GET EATEN ON PURPOSE YOU ARE THE PUREST CREATURE IN THIS ENTIRE ANIME PLEASE DONT DIE

guys you are discussing it with them walking right behind you how well have you thought this through I guess they were further behind?

I SURE HOPE RUNNING CHANGED THE FUTURE AND SHE IS STILL ALIVE

Akise is another Diary owner isn't he

I feel Yukki on his Definite Overload With Everything

I sure hope those are not Akise's dogs that Akise deliberately set on them to engineer this situation

hm well at least this is not personally Akise, doesn't mean he's not affiliated with this guy at the very least they seem to share hair color

I love Mary tho

hmmm this might actually not be the guy with the flesh eating dogs, these look different okay I'm holding off on further speculation right now and giving it a tentative 50/50, as well as to Akise turning out to have been behind the attack

okay what the FUCK that looks like Hinata

fuuuck i am SO tempted to like Akise but that would also come with a sore wish to have him Join The Team and I hoped that for Tsubasa too >_> my heart can't take it

...that feeling when Yuno is being the Voice of Reason

aaand it's gone

shit I hope Yukki figures out what to do about this shit situation because I'm out of ideas HEY NICE PUTTING THAT DIARY TO WORK I SURE AS SHIT HOPE THERE WON'T BE AS MANY DEAD BODIES AS WITH THE SIXTH THO TO BE FAIR THEY WERENT NAMED CHARACTERS I HOPE THESE KIDS' PLOT PURPOSE IS NOT TO DIE POINTLESSLY HINATA WAS ENOUGH OF A SACRIFICE WHICH I WAS RIGHT ABOUT BTW DEPRESSINGLY ENOUGH STILL DIDN'T EXPECT THIS THO this anime just kind of keeps escalating in ways I fail to expect time after time

please Yukki don't tell them about your diary there's nothing about that that's not a bad idea don't drag them into this aaand of course that's what you're doing and once again, Yuno is me

aaand there's Mao isn't there fuck not the one I was expecting at least thank you Akase for it not being you

okay Hinata is alive that's fair enough except she won't be for long will she why must you take away Pure things from me anime why ugggghhhh

a Breeder's diary??? oh right dogs whew

oh my god Akise too????? okay this is kind of hilarious now I hope they go for a reverse of the temple thing and he actually gets to join the squad I guess the girls were doomed because of Yuno anyway but he has a chance

so I think Deus rigged this whole game specifically for Yukki his random observations diary made the future diary a very interesting idea and a very powerful tool but then Deus threw a bunch of various... interesting characters into it, and I imagine physical proximity (or ability and willingness to get around fast) and, ah, interestingness of character were the main criteria, and he went for ANY kind of diary at all, which made most of theirs much less potent

another thing I'm thinking is I've been noticing the small child holding hands with ?parents? in the end credits for a while, and it looks like Hinata, and she might be an important character

maybe this anime just burned through a few expendable characters at the beginning to set up the situation and create the athmosphere, and the main plot is going to be about a bunch of high schoolers after all, because that's just how anime rolls - high schoolers would be the major characters out of the whole bunch of diary owners

so maybe they're not all dying next episode is what i'm trying to say

Murmur is amazing btw

hum so Akise got his diary late? or does he not have one after all oh my god I love Akise so much already his expression here like 'i can't believe i'm going along with this' and yet he's going along with this like sure ok

aaand SUDDEN DORK MODE oh no I have a new favorite character please don't turn out to secretly be a mass murderer that's all I ask ;~; hum might he not actually have a diary after all dammit these are supposed to be post credit scenes not revealing plot twists I'm just confusing myself at this point aren't I

lol oh my god they thought Akise was a diary owner but he's just a guy who's good at investigation isn't he

or is he??? godfuckingdammit I need to stop doing this to myself theorizing is a bad habit that I get way too into I don't like bumpy rides of plot twists I like being able to follow what the fuck is going on )=

yeah he does not have a diary nor any idea what's going on does he lol I called it seconds before Yuno caught on it's kind of interesting how it seems her job is to be the genre savvy one, whose usefulness is however kind of fucked up by her brain cockroaches

Yuno??????? why are you doing this HE IS TRYING TO WIN BACK YUKKI'S DIARY WHY WHY WHY HE IS ON YOUR SIDE DOn'T FUCK UP HIS GAME

I guess she caught on that he was bluffing but??? ??? ???

and Akise's just going nuts and laughing because what else is left to do honestly

Akise why are you so fucking likable how dare you I'm actually angry at this development HAVE A FLAW DAMN YOU I CANNOT RELAX BECAUSE OF THIS SHIT I CANNOT TRUST WHAT I AM SEEING THIS FUCKING ANIME

oh man I thought they were lesbians when Mao first brought up that she's taken, but this is V Cute

oh my fucking god Akise have you MISSED Yuno's thing in your investigation or are you doing this ON PURPOSE

wait what just happened was that yandere on yandere combat or what

Mao what the fuck were you doing

Yuno you are an ASSHOLE I hope everyone other than Yukki keeps just ignoring everything you say and do

I love this one normal guy who's kind of a dick and just reacts normally to things and his contrast to Akise whom I love

honestly Yukki I agree I think I DON'T WANT TO is the only argument Yuno can be receptive to

oooor that only makes things worse huh Yuno honey please settle down believe in Yukki a little more than that

oh hey good solution even if it's just getting yourself deeper in I guess in a BLOOD DEATH situation it's kind of the best available option

"You don't want me to hate you, do you?" A+ game Yukki hit her where it hurts aka explain basic facts of human relationships >_>

aaand yep he's freaking out because he doesn't even like her that way and he's getting deeper and deeper in )=

oh my god Hinata's dad do you realize you've GIVEN HER YOUR DIARY YOU DUMB FUCK ALL ANYONE PRESENT NEEDS TO DO TO KILL YOU IS BREAK IT

uuunless that was a lie huh can't deny that possibility

lol Akise also has voice of reason tendencies <3

hum okay dammit I liked the cop a lot then again Akise is like him+ as far as having an Awesome detective character goes and Yukki has a Squad his age now I'm surprised by how well this went actually

another episode and I'm going to sleep (yes i'm aware these are Cursed Words but what if I'm lucky)

Yuno? Uh, are you okay?...

see the thing is I really can't find a way to apply to this anime the standards of 'healthy relationship with a mentally ill person' because PEOPLE ARE DYING AND EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE LET'S PUT THAT OFF UNTIL THE FUCKING GAME IS OVER like Yukki can't just ditch Yuno because she keeps fucking saving his life??? and Yuno can't just resolve to Not Murder because that keeps fucking saving both of their lives??? they can't do what would have been the Reasonable Thing To Do under normal circumstances because these SURE AS FUCK AREN'T NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES

oh please girl are you sure anyone's MAKING you do anything

wait what the fuck is going on here oh it's Murmur fucking around isn't it yep there it is

hum

okay I'm not sure what's happening like, what? seriously? what the fuck

okay so that's what happened huh that still leaves a lot of holes but okay

uh Akise why what makes you think this is a good idea I mean I've noticed you don't exactly have conventional emotional responses to fucked up stuff either but like seriously

oh Yukki you're starting to become more OK with murder that's just the world you live in huh

awww he cares about her when they are one on one as much as he cares about EVERYONE which he does because he is wonderful and I love him it's just in mixed company that Yuno's stalkerish shit gets lower priority to everyone else's normal shit and Yukki is 100% right in that

aha I'd been wondering whose last name I forgot

ahhh so that's what he was doing that makes more sense than him being a shipper on deck -_- just throwing Yukki under the bus for the sake of investigation that's p much normal... by this anime's standards...

also holy damn Yuno you can work when you try hum self-induced amnesia or something? that's almost a sensible coping mechanism I'm glad the anime is actually paying attention to that

augh what the fuck Kurusu why do you gotta hum and there's that other detective uuugh this anime has way too much going on I guess it IS 11 pm and I HAD decided to go to sleep after this

#mirai nikki #liliet watches mirai nikki

4 notes · View notes

sylleboi · 5 years

Text

𝕬 𝖕𝖗𝖎𝖒𝖎𝖙𝖎𝖛𝖊 𝖜𝖔𝖗𝖑𝖉

Definition/Understanding → Research → Comparison/Reflection → Narrative & Character

A question that has kept occurring in my head whenever “primitive” has been mentioned is, what exactly is it? What is a primitive world? What makes it primitive- and what does it look like?

When I think of a ‘primitive world’, I immediately start thinking of the early stages of civilisation; primitive civilisation.

Source: ScienceDirect.com - International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, reference work

In International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (Second Edition), 2001, written by Alexander F. Robertson, he describes “Primitive” as following;

“‘Primitive’ is a term from the evolutionary vocabulary of the nineteenth century that in popular understanding still identifies the interests of the modern discipline of anthropology. Anthropologists have sought to come to respectful terms with their ‘Primitive’ subject matter by redefining it in terms of a distinctive social structure, culture, spatial distribution, and type of livelihood. But despite efforts to set aside disparaging contrasts between primitive society and modern civilisation, evolutionary assumptions about human progress remain embedded in both scientific and humanistic approaches to society.”

When reading this, I was intrigued by the idea of how we as a society choose to interpret and understand the word; [primitive]. The way that it’s a modern way of understanding something ancient, as if we are looking back at something through a veil, based on the fact that we are so far and ahead from our ancestors, in an evolutionary sense, that we define them by what tools they used. (ex. stone age)

Further, Alexander F. Robertson also describes “Primitive Society” as such;

“In popular usage, ‘primitive society’ distinguishes ourselves from other people who have made little progress toward what we understand as civilization. There are very few such people left today: they live in scattered communities in deserts or rainforests, and they interest us mainly because we think of them as the living relics of our own distant ancestors. The comparison is usually unflattering. Until the beginning of the nineteenth century ‘primitive’ simply meant ‘first’ or ‘earliest,’ but as the word was applied to the original inhabitants of territories colonised by European and American states, it acquired the connotations of inferior, backward, rude.”

As for when I reflected upon his first quote, this sort of applies to this second quote. I find it incredibly interesting to think about the way in which not only us as the more modern society, but also how the societies prior to ours have interpreted this. The idea of something being the “first” and the “earliest” appearance of mankind; How that later was used against the people, using their way of living as an insult of them being “lesser”.

Early civilisations research:

Identify the variety of early civilisations → Choose two → Time, where, what defined their way of living – remember to add visuals!

With a clearer understanding of what exactly a ’primitive world’ is based upon, I can’t help but want to look into the word “civilisation”. What ancient civilisations exist and what traces of their existence have their left behind?

One of the obvious ones that immediately comes to mind are the Egyptians. They were an ancient civilisation, located in Egypt by the banks of the Nile. Their time of rule being 3150 BC – 30 BC (according to the conventional Egyptian chronology). They are said to have had a political understanding of their society, referred to as “Upper” and “Lower Egypt” under the first pharaoh. Though this was only possible because there were already settlers around the Nile banks and valley around 3500 BC. Their civilisation was rich, well known for their prodigious culture and their architecture, especially the pyramids and Sphinx.

They had a wide variety of things that defined their culture and way of living; this can be seen in the way that they made mummies which preserved ancient pharaohs and other important figures of the time to this very day. Hieroglyphs not only tells stories of their age and time, but also shows how their language was developed and used.

Tutankhamun’s Mask:

Narmer Palette:

Another ancient civilisation that came to my mind was the Maya Indians. I have researched them in the past for a written school project, so I already know a good amount about their culture.

The ancient Maya civilisation planted their roots in Central America at around 2600 BC – 900 AD. Once they had established themselves in present-day Yucatan, Mexico, they proceeded to prosper and become a sophisticated folk. By 700 BC, they Mayans had developed their own system of writing which they then used to create calendars of the solar system, all carved into stone.

According to the Mayans, the world was created on August 11, 3114 BC (the date of which their calendar begins), and the supposed end date was December 21, 2012.

This ancient civilisation was incredibly rich compared to many other civilisations of the time. They built pyramids, much like the Egyptians, but some of their buildings were even much larger than the pyramids.

It is still a complete mystery what happened to the Maya Indians. Their population suddenly began to rapidly decline. Why did the Mayans, a highly sophisticated and developed civilisation made up of more than 19 million people, suddenly collapse and disappear during the eighth or ninth century? What happened to them?. Despite this, there are still descendants of the Mayans that live in the central parts of America to this day.

From the last brief, we looked at a lot of narrative based things such as mythologies and folklores. One of the things I stumbled upon was the origin of the myth and folklore about the creature; wendigo. I didn’t further look into this, but this reminded me of it.

The folklore originates from the Native Americans, more specifically the tribe that goes by the name of “Algonquin”. The Algonquin people are natives from Canada and this folk lived and still to this day, live around parts of western Quebec and Ontario, centering themselves around the Ottawa River. Like the Mayans, there are still people identified as having Algonquin ancestry. (from 2016, 40,880 people).

- The Algonquin people have been known by various Europeans since 1603, first encountered by Samuel de Champlain.

Moose Hunt, artwork by Lewis Parker

Algonquin Canoe, artwork by Lewis Parker

Algonquin traditional territory

The Algonquin hunted, traded and lived in large areas of territories in the Eastern Woodlands Subarctic regions, being independent of one another. Like some of their relatives, the Algonquin used to live in disassembled birch bark dwellings, known better as wigwams.

They lives in communities where clans were represented by totems based on different animals such as crane, wolf, bear, loon etc. The clans had incorporated leadership provided by elders which were highly respected within each clan. Intermarriage within a clan was not permitted, even if the people were from different communities all-together.

Their language was known as Omàmiwininìmowin, which is part of the Algonquian language family. The root of this word is Omàmiwininì, which is often used by the community to describe Algonquin people overall.

Within the Algonquin language family are a wide variety of different languages such as Atikamekw, Blackfoot, Cree, Wolastoqiyik, Mi’kmaq, Innu, Naskapi, Ojibwe and Oji-Cree. Within all of these mentioned, the Algonquian language group was the language mostly spoken in Canada, with around 175,825 speakers. The majority of these speakers reside in;

Manitoba (21.7%)

the rest live in;

Quebec (21.2%)

Ontario (17.2%)

Alberta (16.7%)

Saskatchewan (16.0%)

Despite the language being quiet widespread amongst the clans/tribes, it is considered endangered today. Only 1,575 people identify the language as their mother tongue. Algonquin communities work hard to promote and preserve their language and culture through various different programs, such as language courses.

The Algonquin language is often linked to different names of places in Canada, with the reason being that many early French explorer mapped and thereby named features with Algonquin words. Ex. Quebec comes from the Algonquin word kébec, which actually means “place where the river narrows”.

𝖂𝖊𝖓𝖉𝖎𝖌𝖔

The original tale of the wendigo talks about a lost hunter that, during a cold winter, reached intense hunger which drove him to cannibalism to survive. After he had been feasting upon another humans’ flesh, he transformed, his body changing and becoming a humanlike-beast of the wilderness on the hunt for more human flesh to feast upon.

As mentioned earlier, this story originates from the Algonquin people. The details vary rapidly depending on who you ask, as most folklore and tales do. Some people that claim they have encountered this creature say it’s related to Bigfoot, but on the other end of the spectrum, some compare it too werewolves.

An animatronic depiction of a wendigo in a cage on display in “Wendigo Woods” in Busch Gardens Williamsburg, a theme park located in New France.

The mythological create that is the Wendigo is said to be a creature thriving in cold environments, supporting the fact that most of the many sightings of them have been reported in Canada and also the colder states to the North such as Minnesota. Around the turn of the 20th century, tribes people form the Algonquian tribe claimed that the disappearances of people is down the wendigos’ attacking them.

The wendigo is said to be around 15 feet tall (4.57 m.), the body often described as being skeletal or emaciated. A theory on this says that the creature is never satisfied with its cannibalistic urges and kills, obsessively hunting for new human victims and stuck being forever hungry.

Picture of Basil H. Johnston.

A Native author and ethnographer named Basil H. Johnston has described the Wendigo in his book The Manitous as:

“The Wendigo was gaunt to the point of emaciation, its desiccated skin pulled tightly over its bones. With its bones pushing out over its skin, its complexion the ash gray of death, and its eyes pushed back deep into the sockets, the Wendigo looked like a gaunt skeleton recently disinterred from the grave. What lips it had were tattered and bloody… Unclean and suffering from suppurations of the flesh, the Wendigo gave off a strange and eerie odor of decay and decomposition, of death and corruption.”

The front cover of Basil H. Johnstons’ book The Manitous, published 1995.

According to Nathan Carlson, an ethno-historian, it has also been said that the deadly cannibalistic creature has large, razor sharp claws and massive eyes, much like and owl. But some people prefer to describe it (the wendigo) as a skeleton-like with skin in the colour of ash. But no matter which version of the wendigo’s appearance seems the most accurate and possible, it is most obviously not a creature you’d want to run into anywhere in the wild.

Another thing that I found quite interesting about the Native Americans in general was the way that their belief reached a spiritual level (spirit animals, animal totems etc.). I did some digging when looking into Animal Totems and sacred Spirit Animals in Native American belief;

According to this website (Legends Of America, Exploring history, destinations, people, & legends of this great country since 2003.), there is a huge list of different animals involved with the Native belief. A totem (a spirit being) is considered a sacred object or a symbol for a clan, tribe, family or even just an individual. Some tribes and their traditions proves that each person is somehow connected with nine different animals, also known as spirit guides or power animals, that will accompany the person through their life. Each animal represents something different, meaning that they move in and out of ones life, depending on what path or direction you take in life and the journey.

The same tribes also believe that totem animals is one that i always with you in your life, physically and spiritually. In other words, the totem animal that you are given acts as the main guardian of all your spirits. With this animal, a connection is shared and created, either through an interest in the said animal, the characteristics, dreams or other interactions (ie. with the animal in the physical world).

Because the list is quite long, the entirety of it can be found here.

Restored Piasa Bird carving, located along the Mississippi River, near llinois River.

Sources:

thecanadianencyclopedia.ca “The Canadian Encyclopedia, Algonquin”

allthatsinteresting.com “The Native American Legend Of The Wendigo — The Frostbitten Monster Of Your Nightmares By; All That's Interesting”

legendsofamerica.com “Exploring history, destinations, people, & legends of this great country since 2003.”

From studying these different early periods of civilisation, I have decided to choose just two of them to inspire my diorama; Mayans (the fact and idea that this blossoming civilisation suddenly disappeared without a trace as to tell why) and Native Americans (most specifically the Algonquin tribe and their folklore).

0 notes

vegansoon · 5 years

Photo

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/diet/why-you-should-eat-oranges/articleshow/4662391.cms

10 Health Benefits of Eating Oranges

Orange is known to have several health benefits and is among the most popular fruits around the world.

Oranges can be had not only as a snack but also as a major recipe ingredient in various dishes. Nowadays orange juice is an integral part of a healthy breakfast thus promoting a healthy start to the day. They're mainly available in two categories — sweet and bitter, with the former being the type most commonly consumed. Generally an orange should have smoothly textured skin and be firm and heavy for its size. These will have higher juice content than those that are either spongy or lighter in weight.

Benefits of eating oranges

High in Vitamin C

Oranges are an excellent source of vitamin C. One orange offers 116.2 per cent of the daily value for vitamin C. Good intake of vitamin C is associated with a reduced risk of colon cancer as it helps to get of free radicals that cause damage to our DNA.

Healthy immune system

Vitamin C, which is also vital for the proper function of a healthy immune system, is good for preventing colds and preventing recurrent ear infections.

Prevents skin damage

Anti-oxidants in oranges help protect skin from free radical damage known to cause signs of aging. An orange a day can help you look young even at 50!

Keeps blood pressure under check

Oranges, being rich in Vitamins B6, help support the production of haemoglobin and also help keep blood pressure under check due to the presence of magnesium.

Lowers cholesterol

According to a study by US and Canadian researchers, a class of compounds found in citrus fruit peels called Polymethoxylated Flavones (PMFs) have the potential to lower cholesterol more effectively than some prescription drugs without side effects.

Controls blood sugar level

Fibre in oranges help by keeping blood sugar levels under control thereby making oranges a healthy snack for people with diabetes. Moreover, oranges have simple sugars. The natural fruit sugar in oranges, fructose, can help keep blood sugar levels from rising too high after eating. Its glycemic index is 40 and normally whatever foods fall under 50 are considered to be low in sugar. However, that does not mean you go about eating too many oranges in one go. Eating too much can spike insulin and may even lead to weight gain.

Lowers the risk of cancer

Oranges contain D- limonene, a compound that is touted to prevent cancers like lung cancer, skin cancer and even breast cancer. Vitamin C and antioxidants present in oranges are both important to build body’s immunity – they help in fighting cancer. The fibrous nature of the fruit also makes it cancer protective. According to a study, up to 15 per cent of cancer cases happen because of mutations in the DNA, which can be prevented with Vitamin C.

Alkalizes the body

While the basic nature of oranges is acidic before you actually digest them, they have a lot of alkaline minerals that play a role in the process of digestion. This property of oranges is similar to that of lemons, which are without doubt among the most alkaline foods.

Good eye health

Oranges are a rich source of carotenoid. The Vitamin A present in them play an important role in keeping the mucus membranes in the eyes healthy. Vitamin A is also responsible to prevent age-related mascular degeneration, which in extreme cases can lead to blindness. It also helps eyes to absorb the light.

Safeguards against constipation

Oranges have both soluble and insoluble fibre. This helps in keeping your intestines and stomach function smooth, preventing irritable bowel syndrome. Additionally, the fibre helps treat constipation to a greater extent.

Useful tip

Oranges like most citrus fruits, produce more juice when warmer — juice them when they are at room temperature. Rolling the orange under the palm of your hand on a flat surface will also help to extract more juice. Vitamin C gets destroyed fast when exposed to air, so eat an orange quickly once cut up.

History of oranges

Oranges have a very interesting history. The first set of oranges was grown in the north eastern part of India, southeast Asia and the south of China. They first cultivated in China in 2500 BC. It was in first century AD, that Roman took young orange trees from India to Rome.

Christopher Columbus planted orange orchards in Haiti. He had bought the seeds in 1493. By year 1518, Panama and Mexico also got their first taste of oranges and shortly thereafter Brazil started growing their own.

America plants its first orange trees in 1513. It was done by Juan Ponce de Leon, a Spanish explorer.

The sweetest variety of oranges are Valencia, bloody orange, Navel and the Persian variety.

(The writer is a city-based Nutritionist)

================

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods/oranges

Oranges 101: Nutrition Facts and Health Benefits

Oranges are among the world's most popular fruits.

Also called sweet oranges, they grow on orange trees (Citrus x sinensis) and belong to a large group of fruits known as citrus fruits.

Their true origin is a mystery, but the cultivation of oranges is thought to have started in eastern Asia thousands of years ago.

Today, they are grown in most warm regions of the world and consumed either fresh or as juice.

Oranges are a healthy source of fiber, vitamin C, thiamine, folate, and antioxidants. They have multiple health benefits.

This article explains everything you need to know about oranges.

Nutrition facts

Here are the nutrients in about half of a large orange (100 grams) (4Trusted Source):

Calories: 47

Water: 87%

Protein: 0.9 grams

Carbs: 11.8 grams

Sugar: 9.4 grams

Fiber: 2.4 grams

Fat: 0.1 grams

Carbs

Oranges are mainly composed of carbs and water, with very little protein and fat and few calories.

Simple sugars — such as glucose, fructose, and sucrose — are the dominant form of carbs in oranges. They are responsible for the fruit’s sweet taste.

Despite their sugar content, oranges have a low glycemic index (GI) of 31–51 (1).

This is a measure of how quickly sugar enters your bloodstream after a meal.

Low GI values are associated with numerous health benefits (2Trusted Source).

Oranges’ low GI is explained by their high polyphenol and fiber content, which moderates the rise in blood sugar (3Trusted Source).

Fiber

Oranges are a good source of fiber. One large orange (184 grams) packs around 18% of the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) (4Trusted Source).

The main fibers found in oranges are pectin, cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin.

Dietary fiber is associated with many beneficial health effects, including improved digestive health, weight loss, and cholesterol (5Trusted Source, 6Trusted Source, 7, 8).

SUMMARYOranges are primarily made up of carbs and water. They’re also a good source of fiber, which may support digestive health.

Vitamins and minerals

Oranges are a good source of several vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin C, thiamine, folate, and potassium.

Vitamin C. Oranges are an excellent source of vitamin C. One large orange provides over 100% of the RDI (4Trusted Source).

Thiamine. One of the B vitamins, also called vitamin B1, thiamine is found in a wide variety of foods.

Folate. Also known as vitamin B9 or folic acid, folate has many essential functions and is found in many plant foods.

Potassium. Oranges are a good source of potassium. High intake of potassium can lower blood pressure in people who already have high levels and may reduce your risk of heart disease (9Trusted Source).

SUMMARYA number of vitamins and minerals are found in oranges, including vitamin C, thiamine, folate, and potassium.

Other plant compounds

Oranges are rich in various bioactive plant compounds, which are believed to be responsible for many beneficial health effects.

The two main classes of antioxidant plant compounds in oranges are carotenoids and phenolics (phenolic compounds).

Phenolics

Oranges are an excellent source of phenolic compounds — especially flavonoids, which contribute to most of their antioxidant properties.

Hesperidin. A citrus flavonoid that is one of the main antioxidants in oranges, hesperidin is associated with several health benefits (10, 11Trusted Source, 12).

Anthocyanins. A class of antioxidant flavonoids, anthocyanins are responsible for the red flesh of blood oranges.

Carotenoids

All citrus fruits are high in carotenoids antioxidants, which are responsible for their rich color.

Beta-cryptoxanthin. This is one of the most abundant carotenoid antioxidants in oranges. Your body converts it into vitamin A.

Lycopene. An antioxidant found in high amounts in red-fleshed navel oranges (Cara cara oranges), lycopene is also found in tomatoes and grapefruit. It has various health benefits (13Trusted Source).

Citric acid

Oranges and other citrus fruits are high in citric acid and citrates, which contribute to their sour taste.

Research indicates that citric acid and citrates from oranges may help prevent kidney stone formation (14Trusted Source, 15Trusted Source).

SUMMARYOranges are a rich source of several plant compounds that are responsible for many of their health benefits.

Health benefits of oranges

Human and animal studies indicate that regular consumption of oranges is beneficial for health.

Heart health

Heart disease is currently the world's most common cause of premature death.

Flavonoids — especially hesperidin — in oranges may have protective effects against heart disease (11Trusted Source, 16).

Clinical studies in humans note that daily intake of orange juice for four weeks has a blood-thinning effect and may reduce blood pressure significantly (11Trusted Source, 17Trusted Source).

Fibers also seem to play a role. Intake of isolated fibers from citrus fruits has been shown to decrease blood cholesterol levels (8).

Taken together, it is likely that regular consumption of oranges may help lower your risk of heart disease.

Kidney stone prevention

Oranges are a good source of citric acid and citrates, which are believed to help prevent kidney stone formation.

Potassium citrate is often prescribed to patients with kidney stones. Citrates in oranges seem to have similar effects (14Trusted Source, 15Trusted Source).

Anemia prevention

Anemia is a condition characterized by low levels of red blood cells or hemoglobin, decreasing its ability to carry oxygen. It is often caused by iron deficiency.

Although oranges are not a good source of iron, they are an excellent source of organic acids, such as vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and citric acid.

Both vitamin C and citric acid can increase your body’s absorption of iron from the digestive tract (18Trusted Source, 19Trusted Source).

When eaten with iron-rich food, oranges may help prevent anemia.

SUMMARYOranges may benefit heart health and help prevent kidney stones. While not rich in iron, they may also protect against anemia by increasing your iron absorption.

Whole oranges vs. orange juice

Orange juice is a popular drink throughout the world.

One of the main differences between pure orange juice and whole oranges is that juice is much lower in fiber (4Trusted Source).

One cup (240 ml) of pure orange juice has a similar amount of natural sugar as 2 whole oranges and is much less filling (4Trusted Source).

As a result, fruit juice consumption can often become excessive and may contribute to weight gain and health problems (20Trusted Source, 21Trusted Source, 22Trusted Source).

This applies especially to juice that contains added sugar.

Although quality orange juice can be healthy in moderation, whole oranges are generally a much better choice.

SUMMARYEating whole oranges is healthier than drinking orange juice. Fruit juices tend to be high in sugar and not as filling as whole fruit.

Adverse effects

Oranges don't have many known adverse effects.

Some people have an orange allergy, but this is rare.

For people who experience heartburn, consumption of oranges can make symptoms worse. This is because oranges contain organic acids, mainly citric acid and ascorbic acid (vitamin C).

SUMMARYSome people are allergic to oranges, and their acidity may increase the symptoms of heartburn. However, oranges pose few health risks overall.

The bottom line

Oranges are among the world's most popular fruits, as they’re both tasty and nutritious.

They are a good source of vitamin C, as well as several other vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

For this reason, they may lower your risk of heart disease and kidney stones.

Put simply, this bright citrus fruit is an excellent addition to a healthy diet.

#Oranges #Benefits of Eating Plant Food

0 notes

girapplerambles-blog · 8 years

Text

“OF CHILDREN AND CHICKENS” (SPEECH)

HOOK

There is paper flying everywhere.

Children are running between my legs, grabbing scissors, marking up the floor with masking tape, and stuffing their T-shirts with scraps from the recycling bin.

And although it may look like total anarchy, they are definitely on task.

These children are learning about chickens.

INTRODUCTION TO THE BC SPCA

How did I get to be in a classroom full of seemingly unruly 10-year-olds?

For those of you who don't know, I'm currently a student in the teacher education program at UBC. “Ah” you say, “that makes sense.”

Well, actually, I'm trained to teach high school students.

“Oh? So why the fifth graders? And what does this have to do with chickens?”

Let me explain:

In order to give us experience working in education-related fields outside the public school classroom, our program requires us to complete a community field experience. This can be anything from teaching at a private school to working at a juvenile detention center to building igloos for penguins (ok not so much the last one, but you get the point).

Now, I happened to be assigned to the SPCA.

What is the SPCA you ask? (How many of you actually know what the SPCA is all about? - raise hands – All right, yes so the BC SPCA stands for “BC Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals”)

(Now) Generally, growing up in the lower mainland, I've always known about the SPCA, but I've only ever had the vaguest idea about what they did. In my head, I imagined something like a scene from a movie –

Burly men running towards a burning building – What?! Little Timmy’s cat is still inside? An SPCA officer breaks down the door and runs into the heavy dark smoke – An awful crack sounds as the support beams begin to fall apart… “Will they make it???” – Then… a lone figure emerges from the inferno that has engulfed the collapsing house – Fluffy is safe in his arms.

Aside from the dramatization, some parts, like animal rescue, are real things the SPCA does; however, I found out I had a lot of misconceptions about how their organization operated. Not so much a hippie, vegan animal rights group – the SPCA focusses soundly on issues concerning animal welfare: that is, the quality of life animals lead whether they are pets, farm animals or wildlife.

MY HISTORY WITH ANIMALS

Never having grown up with pets of my own, nor studying any high level of animal biology, I have to admit I was a bit hesitant about how I would be able to contribute and fit in with this crowd of animal advocates.

Having grown up with Chinese immigrant parents, our culture and traditions with regards to animal consumption were embedded into me at a young age.

All in all, most animals were considered “edible” in my household. Though mildly grotesque, I did not detest the alligator soup we ate when my mother discovered that hypertension, osteoarthritic pain and cancer could be alleviated by consuming the collagen of this miracle marshland creature.

Okay so wait – let’s get back on track here – what do alligators and chicken have in common? Well they both taste like chicken! (haha, but seriously I’m getting to that...)

CHILDREN & CHICKENS

During my short practicum at the SPCA, I had the great pleasure of co-teaching a Grade 5 class for three lessons on egg-laying hens. We learned not only about chicken anatomy (you have your comb and wattle and all that) and egg development (like how the white forms around the yolk) but also got to discuss how chicken behave and what sort of living conditions they are farmed in.

Our aim was not to deter students from eating chicken and eggs (that's just propaganda!) but to give them the opportunity to actively and critically think about their perceptions of food production and consumption. So this is where my opening scene comes up: the class did a group activity where they marked up the floor with masking tape to show how much space a chicken gets in different types of farming systems. Students also got to use T-shirts, rubber gloves and recycled paper to make some funny-looking stuffed chickens as our props!

Far from anarchy, this was learning with a purpose.

So what did the kids learn? We could probably give them a test and find out if they remember the different types of farming systems, or how many hours it takes a hen to lay an egg… but that’s not what matters is it?

. How many of us actually know where that egg in our fridge came from? What about the conditions the animal laying that egg lived in? What kind of diet may have attributed to the nutrients in that egg? These are all strange unknowns for even the average university graduate.

I barely knew anything coming into this world of animal welfare; I really was just like one of those fifth graders, learning for what seemed like the first time that there are some huge ethical issues around using animals the way we do.

So what did these kids learn and what did I learn?

There are different ways of raising egg-laying chickens: cages, free-run, free range, organic, SPCA certified

88% of all eggs in BC are produced from chickens raised in battery cages – what does that look like? 5-6 chickens in cages, stacked 3-4 high; eating, drinking, sleeping and laying eggs their whole lives in a space about the size of a desk

And while this sounds a bit harsh on the ears, and when you dive deeper into these welfare issues it really only gets darker, I’d like to say right off the bat that my experience at the SPCA did NOT make me a vegetarian. I’m not going to be doing anti-fur rallies or petitioning against the aquarium any time soon.

CONCLUSION

Looking back on these experiences, I realize I can't blame my 10-year-old self, who knew no better and believed in everything my parents presented to me. I was a child then, but as an adult I think it is a step in the right direction for me to recognize my own naïve conceptions and learn from them.

As a future educator, the most basic form of teaching is modeling what you say. If I wish for my students to live and act as better human beings, than I have to be able to reinforce that with my own actions – even if it means I get unjustly stereotyped as a tree-hugging, vegan, soy latte drinking Vancouver hipster for choosing to buy a carton of organic eggs at the store.

There’s a whole slew of more things we could talk about, but it’s after-dinner and I’m sure you’re all egg-hausted by now. (haha pun) so let’s eat our crème brulee and go on our way.

-written way back in 2014

#children #chickens #education #speech

1 note · View note