The memory of this brave soldier has lived on for generations to honor.

Hubert Rochereau was a second lieutenant for the French army during World War I, who died on April 26, 1918, from wounds he incurred while fighting in Belgium, according to the Guardian. His parents, who left his room untouched since the day the soldier left for war, sold the house in 1936, and included a clause in the deed that the room should be preserved that way for 500 years, according to the Telegraph. It’s been almost a century since Rochereau died, and his room has stayed exactly the same as he had left it.

The bedroom is still filled with Rochereau’s possessions, including a gun collection, a tattered moth-eaten military jacket and a small memorial vial containing, “the earth of Flanders in which our dear child fell and which has kept his remains for four years” according to its label, the Telegraph reported.

The house’s current owner, Daniel Fabre, told Nouvelle République newspaper that the deed’s special clause does not have a legal basis, though the two owners of the house since Rochereau’s parents sold it have upheld the request.

While the room serves a touching tribute to the veteran, it isn’t the only way he is remembered. Rochereau was posthumously awarded the Legion of Honor for his bravery, the Guardian reported. The soldier’s name also appears on a monument in Libourne, France, where his regiment was based.

Twenty-five hundred years ago, well before Christ, Hippocrates, the Greek father of medicine, identified melancholia as a common condition of dark mood and physical malaise. He even attributed melancholia, which today we think of as clinical depression, to a biological disturbance, namely an excess of a bodily fluid he called “black bile.”

Melancholia — severe depression that is no passing phase or simply a bad day — continues today to haunt the human condition. No race, ethnicity, age or socioeconomic group is spared its grip. We find depression in every country on Earth. It causes great psychic pain, physical distress, and functional impairment. It aggravates any coexisting chronic health condition, including asthma, heart and lung diseases, diabetes, Parkinson’s and other neurological disorders and pain syndromes.

Depressed patients also have twice the risk of developing cardiac and artery disease (CAD) and stroke. They are four times more likely to die within six months of a myocardial infarction (MI or heart attack). They are three times more likely to be non-compliant with treatment — a reflection of how the illness diminishes our ability to, or interest in, taking care of ourselves, as well as its harmful effects on the body’s stress response, immunity and hormones.

Those people with diabetes and depression average health expenditures that are four times greater than those who are not depressed. Individuals with major depression make an average of twice as many visits to their primary care physicians as do non-depressed patients — not for their depression, but for myriad other symptoms, which are explainable when the depression is uncovered.

Depression is highly associated with the excessive use and abuse of alcohol, prescription pain and tranquilizing medications, and illegal substances. The dysphoria of depression prompts its sufferers to seek relief through these substances. But any relief is short lived and the user finds himself in a deeper hole.

Depression, as well, is found in more than 80 percent of people who take their lives by suicide. The vast predominance of people over 60 (still the highest risk group, especially among men) visited their primary care doctor’s office in the past month. In other words, a chance to reach them was lost.

Yet of the estimated one in 15 who suffer with this condition annually (one in six lifetime) fewer than half are diagnosed properly or at all, and only half of those get any treatment. One in eight gets good care. This is not because of bad doctors or bad patients. It is the unfortunate consequence of stigma, persistent views of a disease as a character fault, and a very broken health and mental health system. (See my two viewpoints in JAMA: “Fixing The Troubled Mental Health System,” and JAMA Psychiatry: “What Does It Take For Primary Care Practices To Truly Integrate Behavioral Health Care?”) Depression is a treatable disorder. Like any serious illness, it takes comprehensive, ongoing, scientifically based care, an effective working patient-clinician relationship, and the support and patience of loving others.

It is hard to turn away from depression after losing (as their family, friends, and we the public just did) two iconic figures — Robin Williams and Philip Seymour Hoffman. We have in the wake of their respective tragedies, a moment to face squarely the demon of depression, and to try to ensure the fate of others affected is not a deadly one.

There was a time when you or a loved one would have gone to a family doctor and you would not have had your blood pressure measured. A time when we did not measure blood sugar (much less the ongoing measure of glucose control, the hemoglobin A1c), or cholesterol. A time when “care paths” were places to walk in shaded glens, not treatment protocols. That not need to be the case today.

The Huffington Post will be adding its voice to improving the recognition, care, and social acceptance of people suffering from depression. An effort like this, of course, pertains to the many other mental disorders that exist — but let’s start with this most common one.

Stronger Together will take a 360-degree view on what it’s like to live with depression in America today. We want to lessen stigma by fostering a conversation that includes all voices. We want to hear from people who struggle with depression — what do they wish others knew about their condition? What are they proudest of in terms of their management of the disease and their lives? There also will be articles from our staff, essays and blogs on personal experiences from thought leaders, as well as op-eds from mental health professionals.

Some day we will look back and wonder how we did not measure and treat depression, and other behavioral health disorders more effectively. We are on the transformation road now. It will be uphill and bumpy. So is all change.

Inter-shelters were designed to provide a comfortable place to stay just about anywhere. They’ve been used in deserts, deep in the forest, and even on the side of glaciers, providing sleeping shelters, pop up first aid headquarters and observation centers in a flash. The durable pieces can be assembled and reassembled over and over, with a life expectancy of over 30 years. They’re tough enough to withstand hurricane-caliber winds, are fire resistant and will keep interiors dry and mildew-free.

Made from prefab panels of high-tech aerospace composite material, the pieces are comfortable in hot desert climates or in sub-zero degree weather. Transportable in a pick up truck, the domes can pop up to provide a semi permanent home for the homeless, giving a sense of security and an address while they get back on their feet.

When assembled in a group, the Intershelters create an adorable community of domed homes that can be connected to make larger layouts. Ample lighting from the windows and glass doors keep the interiors bright, and the homes can be equipped with solar panels or plugged into the grid to provide power. Intershelters can provide relief not only to the homeless, but can also be used to provide comfortable, private shelter when natural disasters strike.

Many of us love our dogs, but not many of us have them to thank for our success.

John Dolan, a 43-year-old artist living in England, struggled with poverty, drug addiction and homelessness for much of his life, Reuters reported. Then, one day, a fellow homeless woman gave Dolan a Staffordshire Bull Terrier puppy who she had traded for the price of a can of beer. The dog’s name was George, and he would have a transformative effect on his new owner’s life.

Dolan quickly formed a deep bond with George, and realized that he had to clean up his act if he wanted to keep him, according to The Guardian. Dolan, who had a record, knew that if he wound up in prison again he would lose his canine companion, and so he turned to begging and selling sketches on the street to make ends meet.

“It was only because I had the animal and he’s a responsibility,” he told the outlet. “He’s like my child in a sense and I feel obliged to keep a roof over his head and keep him warm.”

For three years Dolan sold sketches of George and the surrounding buildings to passersby for a few dollars, until he was approached by a gallery director named Richard Howard-Griffin. Howard-Griffin discovered him and helped him put on his first art show in September of last year. It was a huge success.
“I mean, John’s rise has been really meteoric in the art world,” Howard-Griffin told Reuters. “It’s like watching an artist’s career in fast-forward — that’s what a lot of artists say so his first show was a sell-out, he’s got a second show now coming out which is really, really amazing.

Dolan, who used to sell his sketches for pocket change, now makes 3,000 to 4,000 British pounds (about $5,000 to $6,800) for them, the outlet reported. He will be heading to Los Angeles soon for his first show abroad, and has also written a book, called “John and George: The Dog Who Changed My Life.”

It’s undeniably a huge change for Dolan, but no matter where success and fame take this artist, you can be sure that his best friend George won’t be far behind.

“I feel like he’s a guardian angel.” Dolan told the Guardian. “If it hadn’t been for him I’d have never picked up my pen.”

 Recently I received a letter from a company called Health Net informing me that I was now under their care. When I called to find out what the hell was going on because I had not authorized anyone to change my  current Medicare plan. I was informed that I had been assigned to them because I had not selected a plan offered to me and further that my Doctor would no longer be allowed to see me because a new one had be chosen for me.

After many calls to Health Net complaining bitterly that I did not want to change plans and further that by no means did I want to change my Doctor, I was shunted back and forth to different departments until I was half crazy, so,  I told them that all of the disruption was causing me great mental  stress and I was almost suicidal from the pressure.

The next day I received a call from a very nice supervisor (presumably to see if I was still alive) who told me that I did not have to be enrolled in their plan and that I could stay with my own doctor after all.  

So, if you get a similar call from a company like this remember that you do not have to change your Medicare plan no matter what anyone tells you, just say “I would like to retain my current Medicare status and please take me off your call list”

If you are lucky enough to have a doctor like mine, you do not want to have any other so stick to your guns when the Medi-Scam phones sharks call.

TIRED OF LONG WAITS IN THE DOCTORS OFFICE?

DOCTOR WILLIAM B. DAVIS WILL VISIT YOU IN THE COMFORT OF YOUR OWN HOME.

For Superior Healthcare

Call: M D For You Mobile Practice 619-567-7152

Doug Sandom: ‘Leaving The Who was the biggest mistake of my life’

While the legendary rock band celebrate 50 years in music, original drummer Doug Sandom recalls the bitter row that led him to walk away

“Even the birds chirping can sound like fingernails on a chalkboard or the sound of laughter brings only sadness to him. He is suffering from deep depression”

A. R .Graham

Depression is a common, serious illness and not a personal weakness. Major depressive disorder is one of the most common mental disorders in the United States and according to the National Institute of Mental Health, 16.5% of the U.S. adult population will experience at least one episode of clinical depression within a lifetime. Depression can happen to anyone, at any age, and to people of any race or ethnic group. It is never a “normal” part of life, as it is a serious condition that can devastate one’s life, health, and well-being. Depression can be treated with the help of experts and professionals and proper treatment. e.

Many things can lead to clinical depression. Often it is triggered by a combination of genetic, psychological, and environmental factors.

Factors that can contribute to the illness:

• Biological – People with depression may have too little or too much of certain brain chemicals. Changes in these brain chemicals may cause or play a role in clinical depression.
• Cognitive – People with negative thinking and low self-esteem are more likely to develop clinical depression.
• Co-occurrence – Depression is more likely to occur along with certain other illnesses, such as chemical dependency, eating disorders, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and hormonal disorders.
• Medications – Side effects of some medications can bring about depression.
• Genetic – A family history of clinical depression increases the risk for developing the illness.
• Situational – Difficult life events, including divorce, financial problems, loss of a job, or the death of a loved one can contribute to clinical depression.

Signs Of Depression

• Depressed or irritable mood
• Loss of interest or pleasure in activities, such as hobbies, work, sex, or being with friends
• Sudden changes in weight such as weight loss without dieting or gaining more than 5% of body weight in 1 month
• Noticeable change in appetite, sudden urges to overeat, or lack of interest in food
• Insomnia/Inability to sleep
• Sleeping too much/Not having motivation to get out of bed
• Frequent feelings of worthlessness or inappropriate guilt
• Difficulty concentrating or making decisions
• Frequent thoughts of death or suicide, or making a suicide attempt or plan

Anxiety

For people with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), daily life becomes a constant state of worry, fear, and dread. Anxiety thoroughly dominates the person’s thinking, and consequently, interferes with daily functioning, including work, school, social activities and relationships. People with symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder tend to expect disaster, and have difficulty stopping their frequent worried thoughts about money, relationships, family, health, work, or school.

Signs of Anxiety

• Excessive, ongoing worry and tension
• Restlessness or a feeling of being “edgy”
• Muscle tension
• Headaches / Nausea
• Difficulty concentrating
• Trouble falling or staying asleep
• Being easily startled

Researchers have discovered a subtle twist in the primeval light that formed shortly after the universe came into being. They hope it can reveal new secrets about the moments after the Big Bang.

This afterglow, called Cosmic Microwave Background, or CMB, was created out of hot ionized plasma some 13.7 billion years ago, when the universe was just 380,000 years old. A small fraction of this light is polarized (meaning the light waves vibrate in one plane).

Researchers had already detected this polarized light in one pattern, known as “electric” or E-mode polarization. But using the South Pole Telescope in Antarctica and the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Herschel space observatory, researchers for the first time detected polarized light from the CMB in the “magnetic” or B-mode.

speed of light, doubling in size 100 times or more in just a few tiny fractions of a second. (Einstein’s theory of special relativity holds that no information or matter can travel faster than light through space, but this rule does not apply to inflation, which was an expansion of space itself.)

The new detection should provide a sort of baseline that will aid future efforts to measure B-modes produced by gravitational waves, which in turn could reveal a great deal about how our universe grew in its earliest moments, researchers said.

“This measurement was made possible by a clever and unique combination of ground-based observations from the South Pole Telescope — which measured the light from the Big Bang — with space-based observations from Herschel, which is sensitive to the galaxies that trace the dark matter which caused the gravitational lensing,” Herschel researcher Joaquin Vieira, of the California Institute of Technology and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, explained in a statement.

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Alan Graham

PTSD triggers may be all around you. Even though it may sometimes feel like PTSD symptomscome out-of-the-blue, PTSD symptoms rarely spontaneously occur. Instead, whether you are aware of it not, PTSD symptoms are often triggered or cued by something in our internal (anything that happens within your body, such as thoughts or feelings) or external (anything that happens outsideyour body, such as a stressful situation) environment.

Because certain thoughts, feelings, or situations can bring up uncomfortable PTSD symptoms, such as memories of a traumatic event or feelings of being on edge and anxious, one way of coping with these symptoms is by increasing your awareness of these triggers. You can prevent or lessen the impact of certain PTSD symptoms by identifying what specific types of thoughts, feelings, and situations trigger them, and then, take steps to limit the occurrence or impact of those triggers.

Kinds of Triggers

Triggers can fall into two categories: Internal Triggersand External Triggers. Internal triggers are things that you feel or experience inside your body. Internal triggers include thoughts or memories, emotions, and bodily sensations (for example, your heart racing). External triggers are situations, people, or places that you might encounter throughout your day (or things that happen outside your body). Listed below are some common internal and external triggers.

• Internal Triggers
  • Anger
  • Anxiety
  • Sadness
  • Memories
  • Feeling lonely
  • Feeling abandoned
  • Frustration
  • Feeling out of control
  • Feeling vulnerable
  • Racing heart beat
  • Pain
  • Muscle tension

• External Triggers
  • An argument
  • Seeing a news article that reminds you of your traumatic event
  • Watching a movie or television show that reminds you of your traumatic event
  • Seeing a car accident
  • Certain smells
  • The end of a relationship
  • An anniversary
  • Holidays
  • A specific place
  • Seeing someone who reminds you of a person connected to your traumatic event

Identifying Your Triggers

Try to think of when your PTSD symptoms usually come up. Ask yourself the following questions to identify your triggers: What types of situations are you in? What is happening around you? What kind of emotions are you feeling? What thoughts are you experiencing? What does your body feel like? Get out a sheet of paper and write down as many internal and external triggers as you can.

Coping with Triggers

Now, the best way of coping with triggers is to avoid them altogether. However, this is almost impossible to do. Why? Well, you cannot really avoid your thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations. Much of these are out of our control. In regard to external triggers, we can take some steps to manage our environment (for example, not going to certain places that we know will trigger us), but we cannot control everything that happens to us.

Rules for Display of the American Flag

Display Outdoors

Over the Middle of the Street
It should be suspended vertically with the union to the north in an east and west street or to the east in a north and south street.

Flown at Half-staff
Should be first hoisted to the peak for an instant and then lowered to the half-staff position. The flag should be again raised to the peak before it is lowered for the day. By “half-staff” is meant lowering the flag to one-half the distance between the top and bottom of the staff. Crepe streamers may be affixed to spear heads or flagstaffs in a parade only by order of the President of the United States.

Flown on the Same Halyard with Non-Nation Flags
The American Flag should always be at the peak. When the flags are flown from adjacent staffs, the flag of the United States should be hoisted first and lowered last. No such flag or pennant may be placed above the flag of the United States or to the right of the flag of the United States.

Suspended Over a Sidewalk
The flag may be suspended from a rope extending from a house to a pole at the edge of the sidewalk, the flag should be hoisted out, union first, from the building.

From a Staff Projecting Horizontally or at an Angle
The flag may be projected from the window sill, balcony, or front of a building, with the union of the flag placed at the peak of the staff unless the flag is at half-staff.

In a Parade with Other Flags
The flag, when carried in a procession with another flag, or flags, should be either on the marching right; that is, the flag’s own right, or, if there is a line of other flags, in front of the center of that line.

With Non-National Flags
The flag of the United States of America should be at the center and at the highest point of the group when a number of flags of States or localities or pennants of societies are grouped and displayed from staffs.

With Other National Flags
When flags of two or more nations are displayed, they are to be flown from separate staffs of the same height. The flags should be of approximately equal size. International usage forbids the display of the flag of one nation above that of another nation in time of peace.

With Another Flag Against a Wall from Crossed Staffs
Should be on the right, the flag’s own right which is the viewer’s left, and its staff should be in front of the staff of the other flag.

Display Indoors

From a Staff in a Church or Public Auditorium on a Podium
The flag of the United States of America should hold the position of superior prominence, in advance of the audience, and in the position of honor at the clergyman’s or speaker’s right as he faces the audience. Any other flag so displayed should be placed on the left of the clergyman or speaker (to the right of the audience).

From a Staff in a Church or Public Auditorium off the Podium
Custom and not the flag code hold that the flag of the United States of America should hold the position of superior prominence as part of the audience, in the position of honor at the audience’s right.
Used to Cover a Casket
It should be so placed that the union is at the head and over the left shoulder. The flag should not be lowered into the grave or allowed to touch the ground.

Other than being Flown from a Staff
The flag should be displayed flat, whether indoors or out. When displayed either horizontally or vertically against a wall, the union should be uppermost and to the flag’s own right, that is, to the observer’s left. When displayed in a window it should be displayed in the same way, that is with the union or blue field to the left of the observer in the street. When festoons, rosettes or drapings are desired, bunting of blue, white and red should be used, but never the flag.

Prehistoric Amphibians – The Story of Amphibian Evolution

The Evolution of Amphibians, from Ancient to Modern Times

Here’s the strange thing about amphibian evolution: You wouldn’t know it from the small (and rapidly dwindling) population of frogs, toads and salamanders alive today, but for tens of millions of years spanning the late Carboniferous and early Permian periods amphibians were the dominant land animals on earth. Some of these ancient creatures achieved crocodile-like sizes (up to 15 feet long, which may not seem so big today but was positively huge 300 million years ago) and terrorized smaller animals as the “apex predators” of their swampy ecosystems. (See a gallery of prehistoric amphibian pictures.)

Before going further, it’s helpful to define what the word “amphibian” means. Amphibians differ from other vertebrates in three main ways: first, newborn hatchlings live underwater and breathe via gills, which then disappear as the juvenile undergoes a “metamorphosis” into its adult, air-breathing form (juveniles and adults can look very different, as in the case of baby tadpoles and full-grown frogs). Second, adult amphibians lay their eggs in water, which significantly limits their mobility when colonizing land. And third (and less strictly), the skin of modern amphibians tends to be “slimy” rather than reptile-scaly, which allows for the additional transport of oxygen for respiration.

The First Amphibians

As is often the case in evolutionary history, it’s impossible to pinpoint the exact moment when the first tetrapods (the four-legged fish that crawled out of the shallow seas 400 million years ago and swallowed gulps of air with primitive lungs) turned into the first true amphibians. In fact, until recently, it was fashionable to describe these tetrapods as amphibians, until it occurred to experts that most tetrapods didn’t share the full spectrum of amphibian characteristics. For example, three important genera of the early Carboniferous period–Eucritta, Crassigyrinus and Greererpeton–can be variously (and fairly) described as either tetrapods or amphibians, depending on which features are being considered.

It’s only in the late Carboniferous period, from about 310 to 300 million years ago, that we can comfortably refer to the first true amphibians. By this time, some genera had attained relatively monstrous sizes–a good example being Eogyrinus (“dawn tadpole”), a slender, crocodile-like creature that measured 15 feet from head to tail. (Interestingly, the skin of Eogyrinus was scaly rather than moist, evidence that the earliest amphibians needed to protect themselves from dehydration.) Another late Carboniferous/early Permian genus, Eryops, was much shorter than Eogyrinus but more sturdily built, with massive, tooth-studded jaws and strong legs.

At this point, it’s worth noting a rather frustrating fact about amphibian evolution: modern amphibians (which are technically known as “lissamphibians”) are only remotely related to these early monsters. Lissamphibians (which include frogs, toads, salamanders, newts and rare, earthworm-like amphibians called “caecilians”) are believed to have radiated from a common ancestor that lived in the middle Permian or early Triassic periods, and it’s unclear what relationship this common ancestor may have had to late Carboniferous amphibians like Eryops and Eogyrinus.

Lost Prehistoric Code Found in Mesopotamia

Scientists are using CT Scans and 3D modelling to peer inside sealed clay balls, often called “envelopes” by researchers. Only about 150 intact examples survive worldwide today and they contain, within them, tokens in a variety of geometric shapes. Their purpose was to record economic transactions but how exactly they did this, before writingwas invented, is unknown. The examples the team scanned were excavated from the site of Choga Mish, in western Iran, in the late 1960s and are now at the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute. They date back about 5,500 years, roughly two centuries before the invention of writing. The exterior of each ball contains an “equatorial” seal running down the middle and, often, two polar seals running above and below.

By Alan Graham

JERUSALEM (from ‘Milton’)

And did those feet in ancient time” is a short poem by William Blake from the preface to his epic Milton a Poem, one of a collection of writings known as the Prophetic Books. The date of 1804 on the title page is probably when the plates were begun, but the poem was printed c. 1808.[1] Today it is best known as the anthem “Jerusalem”, with music written by Sir Hubert Parry in 1916.The poem was inspired by the apocryphal story that a young Jesus, accompanied by his uncle Joseph of Arimathea, a tin merchant, travelled to what is now England and visited Glastonburyduring the unknown years of Jesus.^[2] The legend is linked to an idea in the Book of Revelation (3:12 and 21:2) describing a Second Coming, wherein Jesus establishes a new Jerusalem. The Christian Church in general, and the English Church in particular, has long used Jerusalem as a metaphor for Heaven, a place of universal love and peace.^[3]

In the most common interpretation of the poem, Blake implies that a visit by Jesus would briefly create heaven in England, in contrast to the “dark Satanic Mills” of the Industrial Revolution. Blake’s poem asks four questions rather than asserting the historical truth of Christ’s visit. Thus the poem merely implies that there may, or may not, have been a divine visit, when there was briefly heaven in England.^[4][5]

JESUS’ VISITS

Of Jesus’ visits to England, scattered evidence abounds. Here’s a short scenario from C.C. Dobson

“As a boy He was brought merely for a visit by Joseph of Arimathea on one of his voyages. Later as a young man He returned and settled at Glastonbury for the purpose of quiet study, prayer, and meditation. Here He erected for Himself a small house of mud and wattles. ” Dobson goes on to present historical evidence.

In a letter to Pope Gregory, St.Augustine states that there was a church “constructed by no human art, but divinely contructed (or by the hands of Christ Himself), for the salvation of His people.”

The historian, Gildas, says Jesus’ “Light and precepts” were “afforded…to this island during the …last year of the reign of Tiberius. Tiberius retired to Caprae in A.D. 27.

William of Malmesbury includes in his writings the contents of a letter given by King Ina to Glastonbury, 700 AD.”To the ancient church, situate in the place called Glastonbury (which Church the Great High Priest and Chiefest Minister formerly through His own ministry, and that of angels…..” This confirms Gildas’ statement that Jesus had a ministry at Glastonbury.

The historical records called the Domesday Surveys, also bear witness to Jesus’ presence in Glastonbury. These surveys state that Glastonbury contained 12 hides (160 acre parcels) of land that “have never paid tax.” This was because the King Arviragus gave these parcels to Joseph of Arimathea when he arrived in England in 37 AD.

TRADITIONS

Four of the many traditions of Jesus coming to England are discussed in Capt’s book.

Ancient carvings on the stone arch of Place Manor Church has an insignia of an anchor, a lamb and cross. The accompanying pictographs tell the story of Jesus and His uncle coming to Place for tin.

Another traditional story is that of Jesus teaching the miners of Cornwall how to smelt tin from ore.

Old Cornwall mining Ordinance maps show two interesting names. “Corpus Christi” (Body of Christ), and “Wheel of Jesus” (wheel is a Cornish name for mine). Also found in abundance in Cornwall’s mining area are “Tunic Crosses.” These crosses picture a Christian cross on one side and the image of a young lad dressed in a short tunic; obviously not a picture of a crucified or risen Christ.

This quote from Capt relates the Mendips mining area to Joseph and Jesus. “Traditions among the hill folk of Somerset relate that Joseph, after first seeking tin from the Scillies (islands) and Cornwall, came to the Mendips and was accompanied on several occassions by the boy Jesus. At the parish Church of Priddy, high on top of the Mendips, they have an old saying: ‘As sure as our Lord was at Priddy.’ And a carol sung be the children of Priddy begins: “Joseph was a tin merchant, a tin merchant, a tin merchant, and goes on to describe him arriving from the sea in a boat.”

Much has been written about the Lost Years of Jesus. Many accounts place him in India. One South American tradition sounds very much like Jesus visiting that continent. In fact, many say that the complete and speedy success of the Spanish invaders was due to this tradition; that the Visitor prophsied that He would return.

Consider. If Joseph had a fleet of ships, that gave Jesus access to worldwide travel. Do not doubt for even a second that world travel to ALL lands was possible. There is abundant evidence to prove the fact.

The traditions of Glastonbury and Cornwall form the following scenario:

Joseph of Arimathea was an uncle of the Virgin Mary, being a younger brother of her father. He gained his wealth as an importer in the tin trade, which existed between Cornwall and Phoenicia. On one of his voyages he took Our Lord with him when a boy. Our Lord either remained in Britain or returned later as a young man, and stayed in quiet retirement at Glastonbury. Here he erected for himself a small house of mud and wattle. Later Joseph of Arimathea, fleeing from Palestine, settled in the same place and erected a mud and wattle church there.

The contents of these several pages on the Cradle of Christianity will be found to over lap. That can’t be helped, as the whole topic takes in many areas of study which all relate importantly to each other. So the study of Jesus in Britain touches on the Royal family, the establishment of the Church, Paul’s visit to Britain, and even the founding of the Roman church.

And did those feet in ancient time

Walk upon Englands mountains green:

And was the holy Lamb of God,

On Englands pleasant pastures seen!

 

And did the Countenance Divine,

Shine forth upon our clouded hills?

And was Jerusalem builded here,

Among these dark Satanic Mills?

 

Bring me my Bow of burning gold:

Bring me my arrows of desire:

Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold!

Bring me my Chariot of fire!

 

I will not cease from Mental Fight,

Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand:

Till we have built Jerusalem,

In Englands green & pleasant Land.

Jerusalem Willam Blake

from: Milton 1810

Isaac Newton today is venerated as one of the greatest scientists who ever lived — the father of classical mechanics and co-creator of calculus. But in his day, Newton was known for many things, including some very bizarre behavior and a personality that might be considered quirky at best.

Consider these 10 fascinating facts about Newton:

Fact #1: Newton was a big-time sinner. At least he thought he was. At the tender age of 19, the future mathematician committed to paper a list of 48 sins of which he was guilty. Transgressions ranged from “peevishness” at his mother to “having uncleane thoughts words and actions and dreamese.” He also confessed to “eating an apple at Thy house,” though he gave no word as to whether it was THE apple (see #9 below).

Fact #2: He stuck a needle in his eye socket — on purpose. In Newton’s time little was known about the properties of light. In fact, people weren’t even sure whether the eye created light or collected it, James Gleick, author of a 2003 biography of Newton, told HuffPost Science in a telephone interview. Curious, Newton embarked on his own detailed study of optics — and he wasn’t above acting as his own guinea pig, probing his eye with a blunt needle known as a bodkin. As he wrote in his journal :I tooke a bodkine gh & put it betwixt my eye & [the] bone as neare to [the] backside of my eye as I could: & pressing my eye [with the] end of it (so as to make [the] curvature a, bcdef in my eye) there appeared severall white darke & coloured circles… 

Fact #3: He had two nervous breakdowns. In 1678, after engaging in a dispute over aspects of his theory of optics, Newton is believed to have suffered a nervous breakdown. In 1693, he had another, after which he retired from scientific research. Newton blamed his second breakdown on lack of sleep, though historians mention other possible causes, including chemical poisoning from experiments (see #8 below) as well as the accumulated effects of chronic psychological depression.

Fact #4: He was born a preemie to poorly educated parents. Newton was born in the English county of Lincolnshire, the only son of a farmer, also named Isaac Newton, and his wife, Hannah Ayscough. Born three months premature, he was so small at birth that he could have fit inside a quart mug, his mother reportedly said. His father was illiterate, and his mother was barely able to read, Gleick told HuffPost Science. “He was able to go to university because his mother remarried and so there was some money,” Gleick said.

Fact #5: He waited tables. As a student at the University of Cambridge, Newton had to wait tables. He was a “sizar,” Gleick said, referring the term used to describe an undergraduate who received financial assistance in return for performing menial duties. In Newton’s case, that included being a waiter and taking care of other students’ rooms.

Fact #6: He was a lonely guy. Some have speculated that Newton suffered from a mental illness (perhaps bipolar disorder) or autism. That’s hard to know for sure, but one thing that is clear is that Newton was chronically lonely. “We can see this when he was a child and when he was an old man,” Gleick said. “He got into fights.”

Fact #7: He escaped the Great Plague. When a devastating outbreak of bubonic plague hit Cambridge in 1665, Newton and his classmates were sent home to ride out the epidemic. But the budding mathematician made good use of his time — by inventing calculus.

Fact #8: He practiced alchemy. Though rightly celebrated for his scientific genius, Newton also dabbled in alchemy — a pseudoscience whose aim is to turn lead and other base metals into gold.

Fact #9: He didn’t think up his theories after seeing an apple fall to the ground. “Most people think that Newton was hit on the head with an apple,” Gleick told HuffPost Science. “But it’s probably not true.” What likely was true, he said, is that Newton realized that the same invisible force that caused apples to fall to the ground also affected the movements of the moon.

Fact #10: He died a virgin. Newton never married and, though it’s impossible to verify, is widely believed never to have had sex.

The number of rockers who were taken from us too early in life — whether by accident, violence or misadventure — is obviously far too large. The fact that so many of the biggest and most influential talents in rock history died at the age of 27 is even more bizarre, and when you think about it, downright creepy.

Over the years, the stories behind the deaths of the members of this so called “27 club” have grown more and more inflated and outrageous, with everything from legal cover-ups to elaborate hoaxes and even deals with the devil trotted out to try and make some sense of these tragic losses and distinguishing fact from fiction regarding these sad  Rockers Who Died at Age 27.

Scene of 1,500-Year-Old Massacre in Sweden

Archaeologists have discovered skeletons lying in their death pose inside an island fort in Sweden. The researchers think these ancient people were victims of an ambush. Wilhelmson, an osteologist at Lund University said that the site of an ancient island fort in Sweden, archaeologists have uncovered the victims of a sudden massacre, whose bodies were frozen in time for centuries much like the victims of Pompeii.

Researchers think hundreds of people once lived in single-family stone houses within the walled settlement on Öland, a long narrow island off the southeast coast of Sweden in the Baltic Sea. But the fifth-century fort seems to have been left in ruins after an ambush, recent excavations suggest

“It’s more of a frozen moment than you normally see in archaeology,” Wilhelmson added. “It’s like Pompeii. Something terrible happened and everything just stopped.”

In an initial investigation at the site in 2010, researchers found jewelry boxes with finely-crafted gilded broaches and sets of beads, hinting at former occupation. Later, researchers found traces of a house within the fort. In the doorway, they uncovered two feet peeking out, Wilhelmson said.

The archaeologists eventually excavated the full skeleton, which had signs of blunt force trauma to the head and shoulder. So far the researchers say they have found five sets of human remains, all belonging to people who seem to have met a sudden death.

“I don’t think anyone dared to go near it for a very long time,” Helene Wilhelmson, an osteologist at Lund University said in a video. “It’s like Pompeii. Something terrible happened and everything just stopped.”

A howl pierces the calm night, its eerie majesty a signal that wolves are afoot. But what is the purpose of wolf howls, and what do they mean?

As might be guessed, wolves howl to establish contact with one another. Perhaps more interesting, researchers have now found that wolves howled more frequently to members of their pack with whom they spent more time. In other words, the strength of the relationship between wolves predicted how many times a wolf howled, said Friederike Range, a researcher and co-director of the Wolf Science Center at the University of Vienna in Austria.

Keeping in touch

In the study, detailed today (Aug. 22) in the journal Current Biology, the researchers removed one wolf at a time from a captive wolf pack kept inside a large enclosure at the Wolf Science Center. They then took each wolf for a 45-minute walk into the surrounding woods while measuring the howling rates of the animals left behind.

The howling rate, they found, was directly related to how much “quality time” the howler and the removed wolf spent together, as defined by positive interactions like playing and grooming. Howling rate was also related to each wolf’s status within the pack; the pack’s howling rates were higher when more-dominant animals left. That makes sense, given that dominant animals have significant control over the group’s activities; separated wolves could understandably want to establish contact to ensure the cohesion of the group, Range said.

But the link between howling and relationship strength remained even when the dominance factor was taken into account, Range said.

“We found that the amount of howling is dependent on the relationship the howler has with the animal out on a walk,” Range said.

Stress?

The researchers also measured levels of the stress hormone cortisol from saliva samples of each howling wolf. This allowed scientists to show that howling rate wasn’t strongly tied to stress levels. Some scientists think that animal vocalizations like howling may be a sort of automatic reaction to a stressful condition or emotional state — an idea that this study refutes, Range said. Or, at least, stress is not the primary driver of wolves’ howls, she added.

Little is known about what wolf howls mean or what information they contain, Range said. Future studies could investigate the meaning of wolf howls, she added. Wolves are difficult to study because they are not simple to raise, travel long distances and, for much of their history, have been considered as predators unworthy of research. But that attitude is changing, as more studies have shown that wolves are quiteintelligent and have strong family ties and complex social relationships.

This study confirms some researchers’ predictions, said Dave Mech, a wolf researcher at the U.S. Geological Survey who wasn’t involved in the study. “I wrote, in 1966, ‘One function of howling may be to aid in assembling,’ after I observed such howling in a pack of 15 split up by the hunt. After howling, the pack was then able to assemble again. Now, after half a century, [this study provides] experimental evidence supporting that interpretation.”

Air

Doctors discover ‘super honey’ with amazing power to treat soldiers’ wounds and kill superbug inflections

The bio-engineered product Surgihoney was tested on babies, new mothers, cancer patients and the elderly for over a year in Hampshire hospitals.

Wounds and ulcers, including those infected with the superbug MRSA, healed within days, while the number of women who suffered infections after giving birth by caesarean section has halved.

It has also healed the wounds of soldiers returning from Afghanistan, and been used to treat acne and to protect the skin of cancer patients fitted with a catheter for chemotherapy.

Dr Matthew Dryden, consultant microbiologist at the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: ‘It will revolutionise wound care around the world.’

Honey has been used for its healing powers for thousands of years, although doctors favour penicillin and antibiotics.

However, Surgihoney, which is stored in 10g sachets, can kill bacteria, parasites and fungal infections while also encouraging wounds to heal.

Dr Dryden said: ‘I have conducted numerous laboratory tests and compared it with honeys from around the world.

‘I found Surgihoney better for treating every type of bug. So for the past year I have been using it on patients and the results have been amazing.

 ‘There are plenty of products that can kill bacteria but they often don’t help heal tissue.

‘Honey is a fantastic natural medicine. The important extra is that it kills the bugs but doesn’t damage the tissue.’

Surgihoney is being developed by Ian Staples, a businessman who once owned the Halfords motor accessories chain.

He bought an organic farm in southern Chile, set up beehives then funded scientific researchers in Ireland to identify the unique health elements.

The honey has been licensed  by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority in the UK but is not yet commercially available.

The Snowball Viburnum, also known as the Guelder Rose or the Snowball Flower, produces tubular, star-shaped blooms that are less than an inch across in thick clusters. Native to Northern Asia, Europe and North Africa, the woody stems of the white flowers may reach up to 28 inches long.  This is a gorgeous and unique addition to any garden not only because of the flower’s beautiful color but also because of it’s unique shape.

Poppy plants are commonly referred to as “poppies” and are flowering specimens from the Papaveraceae family. The blooms have four to six petals with a cluster of stamens in the center. Poppy flowers come in various colors, including red, yellow, pink and white, and some have markings on the petals or in the flower’s center. Flower petals remain crumpled during the bud stage, with the petals lying flat once the poppy is in full bloom.

Bluebells have many different subtypes ranging from the Spanish bluebell to the Scottish bluebell. The different variations of this flower make this beautiful flower, all the more beautiful because of the variety. In the United Kingdom, bluebells are protected by law, and homeowners in their surrounding area are not allowed to disturb them.

There’s a logical explanation for the sudden, mysterious appearance at the site of a car accident in Missouri of a priest who prayed with the teenage victim of the wreck, comforting the youngster and the responders until it became possible to rescue her.

Despite the fact that the police had blocked the highway for three miles in each direction and weren’t letting anyone through and that none of the 80 pictures taken at the scene by the rescuers showed the priest in any of them, there’s an easy explanation for the priest’s presence that we’re all missing, right?

“The fire chief, Raymond Reed, had stepped back and came up to me and said he was concerned because he was out of options. His tools weren’t working and by that time, it was almost an hour and said I don’t know how we’re going to get her out,” Ralls County Sheriff’s Deputy Richard Adair told KHQA.

At this point, Fox4KC reports Lentz asked the rescuers to pray with her. Then the priest appeared – although the highway was blocked for two to three miles and emergency responders were not letting anyone past the roadblocks.

“He came and he asked to anoint the girl in the car,” Adair said. “My first thought was that it would possibly send the wrong message to Katie that maybe we had called a priest and thought she wasn’t going to make it. So I went back and talked to the priest and told him we were worried she would think we’d given up hope. He said, ‘I just want to anoint her’ and so we just let him come up to the scene.”

Witnesses said he anointed Lentz and her rescuers with oil, prayed with them and asked them to remain calm.

The Hannibal fire department then pulled up with fresh equipment and was able to free Lentz. After getting her in the Air Evac helicopter, rescue workers said the priest was nowhere to be found.

Fire Chief Reed said the department took 80 photos of the scene and the priest did not appear in any of them.

A witness who said she and her husband held Lentz’ hand after the accident tells KHQA she remembers the priest well.

“He was dark complected,” she said. “He had an accent, but I’m not sure what nationality. He was probably 5 feet 6 inches maybe. He was not heavy set, but he probably weighed close to 200 pounds. He had dark hair.”

The Diocese of Jefferson City says it has not located the priest involved and does not plan to search for him.

Reason no. 4,763 that dogs are absolutely the best

Despite all the empirical evidence clearly illustrating dogs’ inarguable superiority over felines, man’s best friend is somehow still less popular than on the internet than cats. Which is odd, considering dogs are vastly more intelligent, more capable (there is a reason there aren’t “seeing-eye cats”), and unwavering in their loyalty.

New research from the University of Tokyo, in fact, points to physiological proof that man’s best friend is remarkably in tune with your emotional needs. More specifically, researchers found that when an animal’s owner yawns, a dog is inclined to yawn in response.Previous research suggests that yawning’s contagious nature is a tell-tale indicator of empathy and social aptitude; as anyone who has ever sat through a three-hour microeconomics lesson can tell you, it doesn’t take much for a chorus of yawns to ripple through a lecture hall. It is at least partly why, as Danielle Elliot atCBS News notes, “People with empathy disorders, such as autism, are often not prone to contagious yawning.”

For this study, researchers tested 25 different animals — ranging from pit bulls to poodles — and recorded their heart rates as they yawned in front of both their owners and strangers. They discovered that the animals were five times more likely to respond to their owners with a yawn compared to a person they weren’t familiar with. Furthermore, the consistency of the animals’ heart rates seemed to indicate that the yawns weren’t stress-related, either.

Results show that the emotional bond between people and their dogs is reciprocal,” Teresa Romero, an animal behavior researcher at the University of Tokyo, tells NBC News. “This attachment can shape the dog’s responses in a way similar to humans, that is, to be more sensitive to a familiar yawn than to a stranger.”

So: It isn’t too much of a stretch to say that your dog yawns when you yawn because it loves you. Which, again, is why they’re the best.

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/6-flowers-that-smell-like-candy.html

A decades-old local urban legend claims the center span of the Coronado bridge was engineered to float in the event of collapse, allowing Naval ships to push the debris and clear the bay. The construction of the 1,880-foot-long center span as a hollow box of steel-reinforced concrete may have contributed to the development of the myth, but Caltrans and the bridge’s principal architect, Robert Mosher, maintain that the legend is false.

• Principal architect: Robert Mosher
• Opened on August 3, 1969
• In 1970, it won the Most Beautiful Bridge Award from American Institute of Steel Construction
• 3.4 kilometres (2.1 mi) long
• cost $50 million to build
• retrofitting cost $70–150 million
• 20,000 tons of steel (13,000 tons in structural steel and 7,000 in reinforcing steel)
• 94,000 cubic yards of concrete
• 900,000 cubic yards of dredged fill
• some caissons for the towers were drilled and blasted 100 feet into the bed of the San Diego Bay
• 4.67% grade from Coronado to San Diego
• side railings are concrete blocks only 34 inches high

Over 50 people worked to maintain the bridge and take tolls; tolls have since been discontinued.

The grade, 200 foot clearance at peak, and the 90-degree angle turn is to create clearance for an empty oil-fired aircraft carrier to pass beneath it – it is not sufficient for Nimitz-class nuclear aircraft carriers.

The bridge is the third largest orthogonal box in the country – the box is the center part of the bridge, between piers 18 and 21 over the main shipping channel.