////////////No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence."
– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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//////////////////Bob Marley: A Life by Garry Steckles
by geoffreyphilp101@gmail.com (http://geoffreyphilp.blogspot.com/)
One of the twentieth century’s most revered cultural figures, Bob Marley was responsible for carrying reggae music far beyond the Caribbean and establishing it as an international force. He set attendance records that still stand in Europe and his 1977 Exodus album was hailed by Time magazine as the greatest of the 20th Century, but Marley was no mere pop star: His combination of politically and socially conscious lyrics, unforgettable melodies, uncompromising Rastafarian beliefs and fierce hostility to the injustices of "Babylon" made his music the voice of the poor and dispossessed all over the globe.
In this new biography, Garry Steckles tells Marley’s story from his birth in rural Jamaica to his tragically early death in 1981, by which time he’d overcome poverty and prejudice to become the Third World’s first superstar.
Steckles, who has been intimately involved with reggae for more than three decades as a writer, concert promoter, broadcaster and fan, transports you into the smoky Kingston studios where Marley made his first recordings, documents his often turbulent relationships with reggae legends like studio pioneer Clement "Coxson" Dodd, fellow Wailers Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, and the wildly eccentric producer Lee "Scratch" Perry, introduces you to behind-the-scenes legends like Island Records founder Chris Blackwell and the volatile PR genius Charles Comer, and takes you on the Rasta roller-coaster that carried Marley to the cover of the Rolling Stone and global adulation.
////////////////////Sensory Integration - The more senses you can use in learning something the easier it is to remember. If you can listen to a lecture, watch a video, and touch and feel something you want to learn you will remember far more easily than when using a single sensory input. Experiments have even shown that replicating the smells that were present when something was learned improves memories. You can remember the plot of a movie you saw in the theater better when the smell of popcorn is surrounding you.
Exploration - Our brains are wired to learn by exploring. Creating an environment that allows the use of creativity is powerful. Google’s practice of letting people spend 20% of their time pursuing projects that come from employee’s own curiosity is one example of this.
//////////////////Flu Was Not the Real Killer in the 1918 Pandemic
by Dr. Joseph Mercola
Strep infections, rather than the flu virus itself, may have killed most people during the 1918 influenza pandemic. This suggests that some of the most dire predictions about a potential new pandemic could be exaggerated. Scientists looked at the available information regarding the 1918 flu pandemic, which killed anywhere between 50 million and 100 million people globally in the space of about 18 months. Some research has shown that on average it took a week to 11 days for people to die, which fits in more with the known pattern of a bacterial infection than a viral infection. People with influenza often get what is known as a "superinfection" with a bacterial agent. In 1918 it appears to have been Streptococcus pneumoniae. Many projections for a new pandemic have been based on a worst-case 1918 scenario, in which tens of millions of people would die globally. However, since strep is much easier to treat than the flu using modern medicine, a new pandemic might be much less dire than it was in the early 20th century.
/////////////////////Why Getting Dirty Will Do You a World of Good
by Bean Jones
Wake up and smell the dirt! You'll feel better if you spend some time outdoors.
A study published in the journal Neuroscience may very well boost the popularity of gardening.
Scientists discovered that bacteria found in soil, Mycobacterium vaccae, increases the brain's serotonin production in the part of the brain that controls moods. Serotonin is likewise credited for strengthening immune function.
Surprisingly, the study also reveals that a lack of exposure to the friendly bacteria found in soil has been known to increase a person's vulnerability to asthma and allergy.
In this light, the experts advise: "If you want to feel happy and healthy, do some gardening, eat root crops (such as potatoes and carrots), and spend some time outdoors."
Knowing this now, I am reminded of my grandfather's unwavering defense of my boyhood antics. You see, my mother threw a fit each time I got muddy from playing outside. He'd say, "Oh, stop it! It's good for the boy to get some dirt on him." I don't think my grandpa actually knew the scientific data detailing dirt's good side, but, hey, he was right after all.
This just goes to prove that while cleanliness may be next to godliness, a little dirt certainly wouldn't hurt either.
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Military to use new gel that stops bullets
A new "bullet-busting" shock-absorbent gel is set to save the lives of British soldiers by substantially reinforcing their helmets.
By Thomas Harding Defence Correspondent
Last Updated: 2:34PM GMT 27 Feb 2009
d3O gel: New gel to stop bullets
Richard Palmer invented the D3O shock absorbing material that locks instantly into a solidified form when it is hit at high impact Photo: REUTERS
The Ministry of Defence has awarded £100,000 to a small company that has developed a special substance that hardens immediately on impact.
It is hoped that the shock-absorbing substance will soon be fitted onto the inside of soldiers' helmets reducing in half the kinetic energy of a bullet or piece of shrapnel and hopefully making them impenetrable.
The gel, called d3O locks instantly into a solidified form when it is hit at high impact.
"When moved slowly, the molecules will slip past each other, but in a high-energy impact they will snag and lock together, becoming solid," said Richard Palmer, who invented the gel. "In doing so they absorb energy."
The d3O gel has already expanded into a range of sporting goods and is found in ski gloves, shin guards, ballet shoe pointes and horse-riding equipment. The substance relies on "intelligent molecules" that "shock lock" together to absorb energy and create a solid pad. Once the pressure has gone they return to their normal flexible state.
The gel is stitched into clothing or equipment that is supple until it stiffens into a protective barrier on impact.
If the product is taken on by defence contractors it could be used to reduce the current bulky and restrictive armour used by troops in on the frontline with gel pads inserted into key protective areas.
Mr Palmer said it was the equivalent to comparing "cumbersome" RoboCop to Spiderman with the latter's protection "nimble covert and flexible".
//////////////////But with his latest film, Gran Torino, Eastwood makes his repentance explicit. He plays Walt Kowalski, a cussed old widow and Korean war vet living alone in a neighbourhood that is increasingly populated by immigrants. Walt could be Harry Callahan in retirement: he curses the "babbling gooks" who move in next door and clings to his fat guns.
But one day, Walt sees a gang attacking his Hmong-immigrant neighbours, as they stumble on to his lawn – and he scares them off with a gun. The Hmong family begin to shower him with gifts and affection, as the gang circles every closer. It becomes clear that Walt is broken by the violence he committed more than fifty years ago in Korea. "You want to know what it's like to kill a man?" he asks. "It's gooddam awful and the only thing worse is being given a medal of honour for killing a guy who just wants to live."
Yet it becomes clear that Walt will fight back against the gang to defend his neighbours – and it seems like progress from Dirty Harry, but not much. Yes, liberal vigilantism is better than illiberal vigilantism, but only by inches.
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