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Az 1960-as Formula–1-es szezon volt a 11. FIA Formula–1 világbajnoki szezon. 1960. február 7-étől november 20-áig tartott. Utolsó évükbe léptek, a 2500 köbcentis motorok, 1961-től az 1500 köbcentisek váltották fel őket. A Ferrarinak nem volt ebben versenyképes motorja, már a jövőre készült. A hatodik helyezett is kapott egy pontot, megszüntették viszont a leggyorsabb körért járót. Visszavonult a versenyzéstől az első női versenyző, Maria Teresa de Filippis. Az indianapolisi 500-as versennyel együtt tíz futamból állt az idény, visszakerült az Argentin és a belga nagydíj a naptárba. Hárman versenyeztek a világbajnoki címért Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham és Bruce McLaren, Moss a belgiumi Spában hatalmasat bukott, két helyen eltört a lába, ezért a fél idényt ki kellett hagynia. Öt egymást követő versenyen győzött Brabham és világbajnok lett. Az olasz nagydíjra a rossz pálya miatt a brit csapatok nem mentek el, az amerikai nagydíjat meg a Ferrari hagyta ki. Véget ért az orrmotoros autók dominanciája.

A szezon menete

Mivel a brit farmotoros autók nagyon versenyképesek voltak az előző évben, a Ferrari is elkezdett építeni egy ilyen autót, de az 1960-as évadot a régi Dino 246-osokkal kezdték. Colin Chapman már egy farmotoros autóval, a Lotus 18-assal indult az évadnyitó argentin nagydíjon. Az első versenyt a korábbiakhoz képest később rendezték, de így is többségében előző évi autók indultak. Az egyetlen jelentős változásnak számított, hogy Graham Hill a BRM csapathoz csatlakozott.

Buenos Airesben Stirling Moss állt a pole-pozícióban a Rob Walker Racing Cooperjével. Az időmérésen 1,6 másodperccel volt gyorsabb a második Innes Ireland Lotusánál. Mellettük Graham Hill és Jo Bonnier BRM-je indult az első sorból. Ireland jó rajtjának köszönhetően átvette a vezetést, az első kör végén vezetett Bonnier, Graham Hill és Phil Hill előtt, aki a második sorból indult Ferrarijával. Moss rosszul sikerült rajtja után nyolcadiknak esett vissza. A második körben Ireland megcsúszott, eközben Moss gyorsan zárkózott előre. Moss megelőzte Carlos Menditéguy Cooperjét, José Froilán González Ferrariját, Jack Brabham Cooperjét, Hill Ferrariját, Ireland megelőzése után pedig már harmadik volt. A 10. körben Moss megelőzte a második Graham Hillt, majd öt körrel később átvette a vezetést Bonniertől. A svéd a 21. körben sikeresen megelőzte Mosst, aki 15 körrel később ismét visszavette a vezetést. A 42. körben törött felfüggesztés miatt kiállt, Bonnier majdnem egy kör előnnyel vezette a mezőnyt ekkor. Irelandé lett a második hely, míg Graham Hill és Brabham kiesésével Bruce McLaren feljött a harmadik helyre. 12 körrel a leintés előtt Bonnier motorproblémával küzdött, Ireland pedig váltóproblémával küzdött, így visszacsúszott a mezőnyben. McLaren így az élre állt és győzött a Cooper T51-essel Cliff Allison Ferrarija előtt. Moss a harmadik helyen ért célba, mivel kiesése után átvette Maurice Trintignant autóját. A vezetőcsere miatt egyikük sem kapott pontot a verseny után.

A május 29-én rendezett monacói nagydíj előtt Rob Walker úgy döntött, Moss jobb eredményt érhet el a Lotus 18-assal, így a Cooperről a Lotusra váltott. A Ferrari vásárolt egy Cooper autót, ennek alapján pedig megépítették a farmotoros 246P-t, amelyet az újonc Richie Ginther vezetett Monacóban. Új csapatként jelent meg a Scarab, amellyel az amerikai milliomos Lance Reventlow és Chuck Daigh indult. A gyári Cooper csapat már az új T53-as típussal indult a nagydíjon. Moss szerezte meg a pole-t Brabham és Chris Bristow BRP Cooperje előtt. A startnál Bonnier szerezte meg a vezetést Brabham és Moss előtt. A brit versenyző az 5. körben megelőzte Brabhamet, majd a 17. körig szorosan követte Bonniert, amikor az élre állt. Brabham a 20, körben megelőzte Bonniert, de a svéd a 27. körben visszavette pozícióját. Mikor elkezdett esni, Brabham megelőzte Bonniert, majd Mosst is. Hat körrel később a vezető Brabham a Ste Devote-kanyarban a falnak csúszott. Ismét Mossé lett a vezetés, de ki kellett állnia szerelőihez, hogy visszacsatlakoztassák az egyik vezetéket autójában. Mivel a vezető Bonniernek eltört a felfüggesztése, Moss nyerte a versenyt, McLaren második, Phil Hill harmadik, Tony Brooks negyedik lett.

Egy nappal később rendezték az indianapolisi 500 mérföldes versenyt, amelyen egy európai versenyző sem vett részt. Jim Rathmann győzött Rodger Ward előtt, ebben az évben számított bele a Formula–1-es bajnokságba utoljára a verseny.

A holland nagydíjon a magas indulási díj miatt több csapat visszalépett az időmérés után a versenytől. Stirling Moss indult ismét az első sorból, Brabham és Ireland mellől. Bonner és Graham Hill BRM-je osztozott a második soron. Brabham rajtolt a legjobban, Moss és Ireland előtt. Alan Stacey a gyári Lotus 18-assal a negyedik helyre jött fel, majd a 2. körben megelőzte Irelandet is, de Innes hamarosan visszavette helyét. Dan Gurney az ötödik helyen haladt, de a hajtűkanyarnál balesetet szenvedett BRM-jével. Egy néző a tiltott területen tartózkodott, és meghalt a balesetben. Az első versenyén induló Jim Clark a Lotusszal gyorsan zárkózott fel az első körökben, Gurney ötödik helyét megszerezve csapattársai: Ireland és Stacey mögött haladt. A 17. körben Brabham autója feldobta a rázókő egy részét, amely a mögötte haladó Moss autójának ütközött. A brit defektet kapott és ki kellett állnia szerelőihez. Graham Hill megelőzte Clarkot, aki hamarosan váltóhiba miatt kiesett. Később ugyanígy járt Stacey is, ezzel Hillé lett a harmadik hely a kiállása után gyorsan előretörő Moss előtt. A versenyt Brabham nyerte Ireland előtt.

A belga nagydíj a sportág történetének egyik legtragikusabb versenye volt, a hétvégén két versenyző halálos balesetet szenvedett, két másik pedig súlyosan megsérült az edzésen. A pénteki edzésen Moss tengelye meghibásodott és versenyző kiesett az autójából. Moss mindkét lába eltörött. A debütáló Mike Taylor kormányműve meghibásodott, Lotusa a pálya szélén lévő fák közé csapódott. Számos sérülést szenvedett, ami karrierje végét jelentette. Jack Brabham 2,5 másodperc előnnyel indult az első helyről a BRP által benevezett Cooperes Brooks és Phil Hill előtt. Brabham a rajttól a célig vezetve győzött. A belga Olivier Gendebien a második sorból indulva jó rajtjának köszönhetően a második helyre jött fel. Később Irelandé lett a második hely, de hamar kiesett kuplunghiba miatt. A 17. körben a BRP Cooperrel haladó Chris Bristow a hatodik helyért támadta Willy Mairesse Ferrariját, de elveszítette uralmát autója felett, a Malmedy-kanyarban kiesett belőle, és meghalt. Öt kör múlva Alan Stacey arcának a Masta-egyenesben egy madár ütközött. A brit balesetet szenvedett, kiesett autójából és meghalt. Brabham nyerte a versenyt csapattársa, McLaren előtt. Graham Hill az utolsó kört Gendebien előtt teljesítette, de a boxban befejezte a versenyt. Mivel autója a szabályok értelmében nem haladt át a célvonalon, nem rangsorolták a futam végén, így a harmadik helyet az egy kör hátrányban célba érő Gendebien szerezte meg.

Három héttel a katasztrofális belga nagydíj után Rheimsben gyűlt össze a mezőny. Moss lábtörése miatt egy ideig a versenyeken nem tudott részt venni. Tony Brooks a BRP Cooperről egy Vanwall VW11-esre váltott, míg a Lotus Ron Flockharttal helyettesítette az előző futamon elhunyt Alan Stacey-t. Az edzések mindkét Scarab motorja tönkrement, így a két versenyzőjük nem tudott indulni a versenyen. Jack Brabham indult az első rajtkockából, amelyet 1,4 másodperc előnnyel szerzett meg Phil Hill Ferrarija előtt. Graham Hill a harmadik helyről indult, de BRM-jével nem tudott időben elindulni a rajtnál, ezért összeütközött Trintignant Cooperjével. Szintén összeütközött Brooks és Lucien Bianchi is. Az elsőségért P. Hill és Brabham harcolt, körönként többször váltották egymást az élen, amíg Hill ki nem esett az erőátvitel meghibásodása miatt. Hasonló hiba miatt esett ki a másik ferraris Wolfgang von Trips, valamint Mairesse. Irelandnek törött első felfüggesztése miatt kellett kiállnia. Dan Gurney és Jo Bonnier a BRM motorjának meghibásodása miatt esett ki. Ezek után Gendebien szerezte meg a második helyet a győztes Brabham mögött. Bruce McLaren harmadik, Henry Taylor negyedik helyének köszönhetően a Cooper autói értek célba az első négy helyen. Őket Jim Clark és Flockhart Lotusa követte az ötödik és hatodik helyen.

A brit nagydíjat Silverstone-ban rendezték, ahol Tony Brooks visszatért a BRP Cooperhez. Az Aston Martin a DBR5-öseivel Roy Salvadori és Maurice Trintignant indult a nagydíjon, míg az újonc John Surtees a monacói nagydíj után ismét jelen volt a mezőnyben a Lotus csapattal. Az időmérőn Brabham volt a leggyorsabb Graham Hill, McLaren és Bonnier előtt, így az első soron két Cooper és két BRM osztozott. A rajtnál három autó is a rajtrácson ragadt: Graham Hill (akivel ez már sorozatban másodszorra történt meg), valamint Brooks és Henry Taylor BRP Cooperje. McLaren az első kör végén második volt, de visszaesett Bonnier és Ireland mögé. Ireland ezután megelőzte Bonniert a második helyért. Hill csak a mezőny után tudott elindulni és gyors tempóban zárkózott fel. 37 kör után megelőzte Irelandet, majd a közönség örömére Brabhamet is utolérte, az 55. körben pedig megelőzte és az élre állt. A mezőnyben hátrébb Surtees megelőzte Irelandet a harmadik helyért. A vezető Hill egy ideje fékproblémával küzdött és a 72. körben kicsúszott a Copse-kanyarban, kiesett. A vezetés így Brabhamé lett, öt kör múlva pedig elsőként intették le Surtees és Ireland gyári Lotusa előtt.

Egy hónap szünet után rendezték a portugál nagydíjat Oportóban. Stirling Moss belgiumi lábtörése után visszatért a mezőnybe. A pole-pozíciót John Surtees szerezte meg néhány századmásodperc előnnyel a második Gurney előtt. A harmadik helyről Brabham indult. A rajtnál az ausztrál vette át a vezetést, de Gurney hamar megelőzte. Brabham az egyik kanyarban ezután ki is sodródott, így hatodiknak esett vissza. Moss a második helyre lépett fel, Surteesszel és Phil Hill-lel harcolt pozíciójáért. 10 kör után Gurney visszaesett olajszivárgás miatt és Surtees vette át a vezetést. Mögötte Moss haladt, de gyújtógyertyájának meghibásodása miatt ki kellett állnia a boxba, a mezőny végére esett vissza. Később kizárták, mivel a menetiránnyal szemben haladt egy megcsúszása után.
Brabham Phil Hill-lel harcolt, míg az amerikai ki nem esett baleset miatt, majd a 36. körben a vezetés is az övé lett, mivel Surtees pedáljaira olaj szivárgott, aki emiatt kiállt. Bruce McLaren második helyének köszönhetően a Cooper kettős győzelmet aratott a harmadik Clark előtt. Brabham ötödik győzelmével bebiztosította második világbajnoki címét.

A bajnokság eldőlése után az olasz vezetőség úgy döntött, hogy az olasz nagydíjon a gyors és veszélyes ovál részt is belekombinálják a monzai pálya vonalvezetésébe. Emiatt a legnagyobb brit csapatok, mint a Cooper, a Lotus és a BRM, bojkottálták a versenyt. A mezőny gyári Ferrarikból, és privát Cooperekből állt. Hogy emeljék a mezőny létszámát, Formula–2-es autókat is indítottak. Így részt vett a Porsche is Hans Herrmann-nal és Edgar Barthtal.
A Ferrarik domináltak: Phil Hill, Richie Ginther és Willy Mairesse indult az első sorból. A versenyen Ginther vezetett Hill előtt, míg Mairesse lassított, hogy a negyedik Ferrari (Wolfgang Von Trips F2-es autója) elszakadjon a két Porschétől. Ez Giulio Cabiancának sokat segített, aki így a harmadik helyen haladt egy Cooperrel. Mairesse végül visszatért a harmadik helyre, míg Hill megelőzte Ginthert, és győzött. A Ferrari autói az első három helyen értek célba, a versenyképtelen ellenfeleknek köszönhetően. Utoljára szerzett győzelmet a sportágban orrmotoros autó.

AZ utolsó bajnoki futamot 10 héttel ezután tartottak. Az amerikai nagydíjat Sebring után a kaliforniai Riverside-ban rendezték. Bár a Ferrari nem vett részt a versenyen, Phil Hill egy BRP Cooperrel, Von Trips pedig a Scuderia Centro Sud Cooperjével indult. Ron Flockhart ezúttal a harmadik számú gyári Cooperrel indult. Jim Hall első versenyén indult privát Lotus 18-asával, míg Chuck Daigh ismét jelen volt Lance Reventlow egy Scarabjével. Moss szerezte meg a pole 0,6 másodperc előnnyel a bajnok Brabham és Gurney előtt. Bonnier a második sorból indult, Clark Lotusa mellett. Brabham rajtolt a legjobban és az első négy körben vezetett Moss előtt. Ekkor robbanást hallott autójának hátuljából, emiatt kétszer is kiállt szerelőihez, hogy megoldják a problémát. Autójából kifutott a üzemanyag, ami a Climax motor forró kipufogócsöveihez ért. Moss haladt az élen, és a leintésig ott is maradt. Az elején Gurney üldözte, majd Bonnier volt a második, de mindketten kiestek technikai hiba miatt. A második helyet így Ireland szerezte meg a Team Lotusnak, McLaren a gyári Cooperrel harmadik lett. Brabham negyedikként végzett, körhátrányban. Jim Hall jó versenyt futott, mivel a negyedik helyen haladt, de hetediknek esett vissza végére, amikor az erőátvitel meghibásododott, és át kellett tolnia az autót a célvonalon.

Brabham 43 pontot szerezve lett az 1960-as világbajnok. A második McLaren 34-et, a harmadik Moss 19 egységet gyűjtött. A konstruktőri bajnoki címet a Cooper-Climax szerezte meg 48 ponttal a 34 pontos Lotus, valamint a 26 pontos Ferrari előtt.

Nagydíjak

Bajnokság Végeredménye

Versenyzők
Pontozás:

Konstruktőrök

További információk

 Az 1960-as szezonról a formula1.com honlapon

1960


Crewe Alexandra will travel to Hyde United in the Cheshire Senior Cup semi-final after the draw was made.
The victor will face either Nantwich Town or Warrington Town in the final, who face off in the other semi.
The Alex have made the Semis after defeating Stockport Town 6-0 in the preliminaries, Stalybridge Celtic 1-0 in Round One & Stockport County 2-1 in Round Two.
Hyde have negotiated a route through to this stage by receiving a bye through the preliminaries, knocking out Chester FC on penalties in Round One before defeating Altrincham 2-1 in Round Two.
The match is set to be played week commencing March 6 2017 & more information will be announced in due course.


Last October, Microsoft officially welcomed Skype onboard, after the deal was approved by U.S. regulators, and the European Commission. But interested parties had until Thursday to appeal the European Commission's approval, and that's just what Cisco did today. European VOIP-seller Messagenet has also signed on to the appeal.
The move could dump some serious red tape on Microsoft's lap.
"Imagine how difficult it would be if you were limited to calling people who only use the same carrier or if your phone could only call certain brands and not others," wrote Marthin De Beer, Senior Vice President of Cisco's Video and Collaboration Group in a blog posting. "Cisco wants to avoid this future for video communications."
Skype doesn't seem to think the appeal will work. "The European Commission conducted a thorough investigation of the acquisition, in which Cisco actively participated, and approved the deal in a 36-page decision without any conditions," Skype said in a statement. "We're confident the Commission's decision will stand up on appeal."


Relocating after nine plus years of history from one office to brand new facility has been an extremely challenging scenario for the Synnex operations team. Typically, businesses complete this process in incremental stages by running in parallel from two sites before merging the operation, what we have achieved over a single weekend is something that is definitely not without its complexities.
We take this opportunity to give a heartfelt thank you for remaining patient and positive during these most challenging times, words cannot express our deepest gratitude towards the positivity that you have shown us. With the initial move complete, it is the first step of several new infrastructure developments that Synnex are working hard to complete in the upcoming months.
Our contractors have completed our dedicated customer collection room for our Resellers. The collection room will be accessible as Resellers navigate through our one-way drive through.
Our aim is to provide an end-to-end service for both our vendors and our Resellers who are looking for agility, flexibility in an all-in-one business package. Synnex is extremely excited to add another dimension to our current ICT distribution model.
We are currently working with our current vendors to provide our Resellers with a story to tell, by having the latest technologies all housed within a demonstration room. This will provide an excellent opportunity for you to try out the latest and greatest products from our wide-ranging selection of brands.
We will keep you up to date on the progress of our new facilities; we are extremely excited in opening up new avenues to add value to the New Zealand IT market.


The Mooresville Community Children's Theatre (MCCT) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to providing theatre, performance, education, production and viewing experiences for Mooresville, Lake Norman region and surrounding communities with an emphasis on including children ages 6-18.
March 23: Acting 101 – Jumpstart!
Be sure to follow us via social media to keep up with the latest news!
CLICK HERE to see the NCTC 2017 AWARD WINNERS!


We've been hard at work over the last few months developing new features to our Magento 2 and Amazon connectors, Brightpearl POS, plus a whole host of platform upgrades!
We've changed the log status from ERROR to NO_RESULT for order status imports where this is not mapped for greater clarity.
We have now downgraded a log entry to prevent spam email alerts being sent. This occurred when the order status update interactions ran and found orders on an unmapped status.
This setting will allow you choose between a calculation that includes all open sales credits and sales orders (including partially paid ones) under the contact record or showing the calculation of all open sales credits only.
Turning this on will mean that the balance available for store credit will be the total of any open store credits reduced by the amount on any open invoices. If it is turned off then only the total of open store credits is considered. It can be found under Settings > Brightpearl Apps > Point of sale and is called Include open sales invoices in redeemable balance calculations?
By default it is set to No. Turning this to Yes will mean that the balance available for store credit will be the total of any open store credits reduced by the amount on any open invoices.
Following feedback, we have increased the limit on Amazon listings per channel from 40,000 to 100,000 (or a 20mb upload).
In Brightpearl you can clone a sales order from a purchase order and have that item be allocated to its parent sales order when it is received. This month will be expanding that functionality allow to the batch creation of purchase orders from multiple sales orders. With the new functionality, when you use the batch create purchase orders when the purchase order is received you can pick to allocate the goods to their original parent sales order. When receiving goods in on purchase orders there is the option to "allocate inventory to parent orders" and this will auto allocate to those sales orders for you.
You are able to either manually do this action on each order or set it to be default. There is a setting under Settings > Purchase > Purchase settings and is called When receiving a purchase order created from a batch of sales orders, automatically allocate stock to the parent orders?
Also coming this month is the ability to create GTINs (Global Trade Identification numbers). You'll be able to create them under each product record, and also when creating variants. The GTINs will be seen in the EAN field on the product. GTINS will not be created unless specifically picked within the product or on creation on the Product variance.
Also coming this month is ad-hoc check printing. Our US customers can now create checks on the fly without needing to create a purchase invoice. Using the Accounting > Money out > Expense payments you can now pick to create a check where you can add a name and check number. When you go to your vendor payments, you will now see BP payment types (and be able to filter between PP and BP types as needed).
You'll also be presented with a new option when printing to print sequential check numbers automatically, meaning you can leave check numbers blank and give the system a starting check number and we will auto increment the check number for you. There is also the option to overwrite check numbers you have entered or used to use sequential printing if required, helping to reprint checks as needed.
The audit trail also has the Movement ID as a new filter to let you filter for the inventory movement ID.
That's all for this month! More great new enhancements next time. We would really value your feedback on these changes on the Brightpearl Community.


I believe that it is correct to, in a work-off, trot very close to a trot fence. However, I've seen different riders handle a counter-canter challenge differently. Ideally, I think a rider should try to land on and hold the counter lead. However, if the horse instead lands on the usual lead, what is the best moment to change to the counter lead? Earlier, to demonstrate one's ability to hold the counter lead longer, or closer to the next jump, to demonstrate your confidence in asking for the counter lead with less room to spare? Thanks!
It shows more ability to break to a trot nearer to the jump than farther away, as long as you can produce a good trot and quality jump. For the counter-canter, the difficulty factor lies in how early you can get the counter lead and hold it. Again, the quality of the pace, line, distance and jump are the most important.
But all things equal, landing and holding the counter lead is best, followed by a flying change to the counter-canter, then simple change through the walk, then simple change through the trot. Earlier the better!
Missy reveals the exercise that she uses to make both her equitation horses and jumpers comfortable with downward transitions and trot fences. Missy has designed a drill that, with practice, will lead to the mastery of this sophisticated test that often appears in equitation classes.
Ask a Stallion, Tell a Gelding, Negotiate With a Mare… Myth or Truth?
Linda Allen and Julie Winkel discuss if a horse's temperament and/or rideability is affected by their gender.


In the 10 years that we have managed this Meadowlands event, there has been resurgence in the number of families that attend and enjoy the various attractions that this annual event has to offer. Over 99 percent of the respondents to our exit survey stated that they absolutely had fun and planned to return to the fair in subsequent years. This high percentage of satisfied patrons has been earned by a lot of hard work and dedication to our patrons and our vendors.
Mailing/Shipping Address: 50 State Hwy 120, East Rutherford, NJ 07073, LOT F – FAIR OFFICE – Remember to include the recipient's name.


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How This Designer Paves the Way for Gender-Fluid Fashion
Despite Animal-Welfare Concerns, Down's Popularity Still Up
Ecoalf is calling foul on fowl.
As part of its commitment to "people, animals and planet, the Madrid-based brand is swapping out the goose down in its puffer jackets, coats and vests with a synthetic alternative. Its goal? To become "100 percent feather-free" by 2020, according to Javier Goyeneche, its founder and president. To that end, Ecoalf has been tinkering with a handful of insulation alternatives, each with a different loft, hand and performance.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) quickly hailed the move, awarding Ecoalf's down-free pieces, which currently make up 75 percent of its outerwear range, with its PETA-Approved Vegan seal of approval. Its praise in a press release issued last month was equally full-throated.
"Today's shoppers are rejecting cruelty to animals, and that includes ripping out birds' feathers and leaving the animals bloody so that the feathers can be stuffed into coats," Anne Brainard, director of the animal-rights organization, said in a statement. "PETA-Approved Vegan designs like Ecoalf's stylish jackets are putting compassion into fashion, and kind-hearted consumers will take notice."
Down has long been in the sights of the animal-rights group, which has purchased billboards, mobilized protests and enlisted celebrities like Alicia Silverstone to highlight the graphic and violent pluckings millions of birds reportedly endure for their feathers every year.
"No matter where it comes from, down is a product of cruelty to birds," Silverstone said in one video. "We like to imagine that birds are walking around and their feathers are falling off and we just collect them in little baskets and be so lovely. That ain't happening."
It was a PETA investigation, in fact, that led a raft of high-street brands, including Asos, Boohoo, Topshop and Topman, Miss Selfridge, Primark, Oasis and Whistles, to denounce down en masse in 2016.
Size-Inclusive Fashion Startup Picks NYC for First Store
Sandro Owner Forsakes Feathers as PETA Fights 'Responsible' Down
Footage obtained by activists showed workers on Chinese farms linked to suppliers to Eddie Bauer and Lands' End pinning down struggling geese, ripping fistfuls of feathers from their bodies and leaving behind raw and gaping wounds. Per PETA, the exposé not only served as an indictment of the down industry, but it also revealed the shortcomings of so-called ethical certifications such as the Responsible Down Standard (RDS), which assures the humane treatment of the geese and ducks whose plumage we use.
"There's simply no guarantee that the feathers inside any jacket or pillow weren't ripped out of a screaming goose's skin," Ingrid Newkirk, president of PETA, said at the time.
But Textile Exchange, the sustainability nonprofit that manages the RDS, has never been able to corroborate PETA's findings, according to Ashley Gill, senior manager of industry integrity at the organization. Of the many misconceptions that surround down, she said, live-plucking ranks at the top.
"In most cases, this material is collected from the birds after they are slaughtered for their meat, meaning down can be considered a byproduct of the meat industry," Gill told Sourcing Journal. "While there is not good data to support how prevalent live-plucking actually is, we do know that it is not a commonplace occurrence."
That's not to say that live-plucking or force-feeding for the production of foie gras doesn't happen, of course. But the RDS, which covers more than 500 million birds across the globe, strictly prohibits any practice that causes "unnecessary harm." Without it and standards like it to track raw down material through every stage of the supply chain, Gill said, the industry would have zero oversight whatsoever, which would bode ill for the birds.
"Should the market demand for responsibly sourced down cease to exist because brands simply ban it from their product lines, there would be no incentive for meat producers and down suppliers to apply the RDS," she said. "Which means that ducks and geese being raised for their meat will no longer be covered by a global standard that demands responsible animal-welfare practices."
Still, even RDS stalwarts like Timberland are rethinking their use of down. Beginning this fall, the outdoor-wear maker will begin phasing out down in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa as part of its commitment to responsible sourcing, according to Colleen Vien, its sustainability director. Where it once blended PrimaLoft with RDS-certified down, Timberland will adopt only PrimaLoft or other alternatives for those markets. Down will only be employed in a "tight collection" in Asia, where customer perception about down's superior performance relative to other types of insulation "remains a challenge."
"We are working to phase out in Asia, where we have a very small assortment, but first we need to educate our business partners that many down alternatives actually perform better, in addition to being more ethical," Vien said. "With their understanding and support, we will be on our way to being down-free on a global basis."
It's easy to draw a line between the rise of synthetic substitutes and the burgeoning interest in veganism. A quarter of Americans aged 25 to 34 years old now identify as vegans or vegetarians, according to the Economist. Though the movement is by and large diet-driven, vegans are increasingly dressing the part, too.
"Vegans are looking to incorporate this lifestyle into their wardrobes and are shopping for alternatives to leathers, wool and skins," Charlotte Yau, a content marketer at retail-analytics firm Edited, wrote in a blog post in February. Recent technological advances that make faux practically indistinguishable from real are also hastening this trend.
For brands eschewing feathers, options abound beyond the typical plastic. Manufacturers like PrimaLoft and Polartec offer off-the-shelf polyester fibers that are recycled, recyclable, biodegradable or some combination of all three. There's DuPont Sorona, which is partly plant-based, and 37.5, (formerly known as Cocona), which blends recycled polyester with active carbon derived from coconut shells.
Some companies have chosen a more bespoke tack, as in the case of Save the Duck, a Italian company that engineered its Plumtech technology as a warmer, more breathable, more waterproof and more hygienic alternative to down. California's Marmot developed its Thermal R insulation to meet the thermal performance of 700-fill power down while reducing the effects of perspiration, condensation and humidity. Fortress, which hails from Utah, invented a polymer foam called Aeris that promises to keep its wearer warm even when wet. And Pangaia, a nascent "global collective," stuffs its puffer jackets with an ersatz down made with wildflowers.
Synthetic insulation can offer additional benefits over down because it can maintain a high level of performance even when wet, said Mike Joyce, president and CEO of PrimaLoft, which originally developed its polyester-based stuffing for the U.S. Army in the 1980s.
"Goose and duck down lose much of their warming capabilities when exposed to moisture, whether from external conditions like rain and snow, or internal factors like sweat," Joyce said. PrimaLoft products, on the other hand, maintain up to 98 percent of their thermal efficiency when wet. Plus, with its down-mimicking ThermoPlume technology, brands can achieve the "loft, look and feel of a puffy down jacket" without compromise.
But feather-free down isn't always a perfect replacement for the regular stuff—not without some trial and error, anyway. Goyeneche of Ecoalf, for instance, says the company had to make many adjustments before it could match the quality and performance of natural down. It hasn't always been successful. "For some kinds of jackets, we are not currently able to get the same volume we can create with real down," he said.
Duck and goose down's appeal isn't going away anytime soon, either. Forecasters at Transparency Market Research expect down's market share to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 7 percent to reach $8.2 million by 2025. For a certain segment of the population, a down product means a premium product.
Indeed, the average consumer isn't exactly stewing over bird welfare. Though demand for down has fallen 14 percent compared with last year, it's still performing nearly twice as well as alternative fibers, according to Sarah Barnes, a digital strategist at New York intelligence firm Trendalytics, who pulled the numbers at Sourcing Journal's request.
"That was interesting even for me because I'm all for sustainable and ethical sourcing," Barnes said. "But it looks like, unfortunately, that consumers may not necessarily care about the origin of their down as much as industry insiders think."
Certainly the overwhelming popularity of Canada Goose—as much a luxury commodity as it is a defense against the loss of body heat—hasn't helped. Neither has the viral spread of the feather-filled parka known by fans simply as the "Amazon jacket." Consumers, as a rule, want to be prepared for the worst, even if they're scaling sidewalks, not mountains.
But even aspiring Arctic pathfinders who insist on down or bust have options that rate higher on the morality scale, such as Patagonia's "silent down," which comprises a 650-fill power blend of goose and duck down from pillows, duvets and other castoff items that can't be resold. Nau, which employs 700-fill recycled down in select items of outerwear, says the material offers the same warmth-to-weight ratio as its virgin counterpart but "at a fraction of the environmental cost." And Mountain Equipment, whose Earthrise range of jackets contains 650-fill reclaimed down, plans to create a fully closed-loop system that recycles down clothing and equipment and turns "waste into warmth."
Could reclaimed feathers help cold-weather purists and animal activists arrive at a détente?
"It's just a little bit more of a humane approach," Barnes said.
Responsible Down Standard
Textile Exchange

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Home Cannabis News
New Poll Shows Overwhelming Support for Cannabis Banking Legislation
by MJ News Daily
in Cannabis News
Nearly two-thirds of U.S. voters support legislation to allow the banking industry to provide financial services to legal cannabis businesses, according to the results of a recent poll. The survey commissioned by the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) also found that a strong majority believe that allowing cannabis companies to access financial services would reduce the risk of robbery and other crimes at marijuana businesses.
The survey, which was conducted by the polling firm Morning Consult on behalf of the ICBA, found that 65% of U.S. voters support allowing cannabis businesses to access banking services in states that have legalized marijuana. The ICBA said the results of the poll indicate broad bipartisan support for the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, a federal bill that would allow such access to financial services for cannabis companies. The legislation has been passed by the U.S. House of Representatives seven times but has failed to gain the approval of the Senate.
"U.S. voters have made clear that current law inhibiting access to the banking system for cannabis-related businesses has a negative impact on local communities," ICBA president and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said in a statement from the industry group. "With a supermajority of U.S. voters voicing support for allowing cannabis-related businesses access to the banking system, the Senate should act now on bipartisan cannabis banking legislation that the House has passed seven times."
The SAFE Banking Act would permit banks and other financial institutions to provide traditional business banking services to the legal cannabis industry. Under current regulations, providing such banking services including loans and payroll, checking and deposit accounts is tightly regulated by the federal government, resulting in few financial institutions agreeing to work with marijuana businesses. Critics note that the current policy forces cannabis companies to operate primarily in cash, leaving businesses vulnerable to robbery and other crime.
The SAFE Banking Act was first introduced in Congress in 2013 by Democratic Representative Ed Perlmutter of Colorado. Since then, the House of Representatives has passed the bill seven times as either a standalone bill or attached to other legislation, most recently as an add-on to a China competition bill that was later dropped from the legislation. Each time the cannabis banking bill or its provisions have been approved by the House, however, the legislation has failed to gain the approval of the Senate.
Voters Believe Cannabis Banking Bill Will Reduce Crime Risk
The ICBA poll also found that 71% of voters believe that allowing legal marijuana companies to access the banking system would help reduce the risk of robbery and assault at cannabis-related businesses, which the industry group said is an indication of the importance of cannabis banking access to public safety. A majority (55%) said that with some cannabis-related businesses owned and led by people of color, women, and the LGBTQ community, providing financial services to the weed companies could help foster equity in the cannabis industry.
Sahar Ayinehsazian, a partner in the cannabis law firm Vicente Sederberg's Los Angeles office and the co-chair of the practice's Banking and Financial Services Access Group, agreed that public support for cannabis banking legislation suggests the issue is an important public safety issue for the electorate.
"It's encouraging to see that 71% of voters support giving banking access to cannabis businesses – this is not only a business issue, but also a serious public safety matter. We are approaching a decade since the passage of Amendment 64, which ushered in the current model of the national cannabis industry," Ayinehsazian wrote in an email to High Times. "During this decade, cannabis businesses have proven themselves to be beacons of compliance and safe and material cornerstones of their communities and economies."
"Continuing to provide hurdles to banking access is, therefore, a harm to the community at large," she added. "Such broad bipartisan public support is reflective of the positive impacts the cannabis industry has had nationally and should motivate the Senate to get cannabis banking done."
[Original Source]
King's College London Begins 6,000-Person Study on Cannabis, Mental Health
Inspections of Washington, D.C. 'Gifting' Shops Put on Pause
MJ News Daily
Inspections of Washington, D.C. 'Gifting' Shops Put on Pause


SEOUL: South Korea has accepted a last-minute invitation from China to a conference on a new Silk Road, days after a new president took office pledging to engage in discussions with Beijing to ease tension over a US anti-missile system. Chinese President Xi Jinping extended the invitation to the Belt and Road conference in Beijing during a telephone call on Thursday with new South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Moon's spokesman, Yoon Young-chan, said yesterday.
Ties between South Korea and China, which are important trade partners, have been strained by Seoul's decision to host the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system in response to a growing missile threat from North Korea. China has protested against the deployment saying the system's powerful radar can probe deep into its territory, undermining its security, destabilising the regional security balance and doing little to deter North Korea.
Leaders of 28 countries and senior officials from many more gather in Beijing tomorrow to discuss Xi's initiative to expand trade links between Asia, Africa and Europe through billions of dollars in infrastructure investment. But until Thursday, South Korea had not been invited. Moon will send a delegation headed by Park Byeong-seug, a veteran member of parliament and a senior official of Moon's liberal Democratic Party, Yoon said.
In their telephone call on Thursday, Moon told Xi he "understands China's interest in the THAAD deployment and its concerns", Yoon said earlier. Moon spoke to Xi about the difficulties faced by some South Korean companies doing business in China facing discrimination in retaliation for the THAAD deployment. China denies it has done anything to hurt South Korean businesses.


Gent and McWilliams(1990) proposed a parameterization for the effects of mesoscale eddies on the large-scale flow for use in ocean climate models. It proposes that eddies advect tracers in addition to mixing them along isopycnal surfaces. This parameterization can be considered as a generalization of the residual-mean meridional circulation of (1976) to three dimensions. The resulting Eliassen-Palm fluxes have to be parameterized in order to determine the momentum equation used in non-eddy-resolving ocean climate models. The Antarctic Circumpolar Current region of the ocean is most like the atmosphere in that there are no continents to block the zonal jet. The nonacceleration theo rem would suggest that the eddy-induced advection of tracers should oppose mean flow advection at the latitude of Drake Passage, and this is confirmed in global ocean model simulations.


text:
/*
 * $Id$
 */

// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
//  Includes
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
#include <xercesc/util/XMLFloat.hpp>
#include <math.h>

XERCES_CPP_NAMESPACE_BEGIN

// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
//  ctor/dtor
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
XMLFloat::XMLFloat(const XMLCh* const strValue,
                   MemoryManager* const manager)
:XMLAbstractDoubleFloat(manager)
{
    init(strValue);
}

XMLFloat::~XMLFloat()
{
}

void XMLFloat::checkBoundary(char* const strValue)
{
    convert(strValue);

    if (fDataConverted == false)
    {
        /**
         *  float related checking
         */

        // 3.2.4 The basic value space of float consists of the values m × 2^e, where
        //    m is an integer whose absolute value is less than 2^24,
        //    and e is an integer between -149 and 104, inclusive
        static const double fltMin = pow(2.0,-149);
        static const double fltMax = pow(2.0,24) * pow(2.0,104);
        if (fValue < (-1) * fltMax)
        {
            fType = NegINF;
            fDataConverted = true;
            fDataOverflowed = true;
        }
        else if (fValue > (-1)*fltMin && fValue < 0)
        {
            fDataConverted = true;
            fValue = 0;
        }
        else if (fValue > 0 && fValue < fltMin )
        {
            fDataConverted = true;
            fValue = 0;
        }
        else if  (fValue > fltMax)
        {
            fType = PosINF;
            fDataConverted = true;
            fDataOverflowed = true;
        }
    }
}

/***
 * Support for Serialization/De-serialization
 ***/

IMPL_XSERIALIZABLE_TOCREATE(XMLFloat)

XMLFloat::XMLFloat(MemoryManager* const manager)
:XMLAbstractDoubleFloat(manager)
{
}

void XMLFloat::serialize(XSerializeEngine& serEng)
{
    XMLAbstractDoubleFloat::serialize(serEng);
}

XERCES_CPP_NAMESPACE_END

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


For more than 40 years New Life has maintained the same natural approach to diet and health. The cuisine at New Life emphasizes cleansing of the body to get rid of impurities and toxins by using the freshest most wholesome foods available. The menu focuses on weight loss or maintenance by providing a nutritional balance of complex carbohydrates for the energy and fuel of an active vacation and enough protein and fat to meet individual needs.
It's all in the name — New Life Hiking Spa. We are well known for our accessible hiking program tailored to all fitness abilities. The weight loss retreat at New Life starts you out with beginner nature walks and classes appropriate for your current level of fitness and progressively challenges you at the right intensity. You become stronger, feel better and are amazed at what you can accomplish by the end of your stay.
To assist you in continuing with a healthy lifestyle after your weight loss retreat New Life offers nutrition and wellness workshops and individual counseling.
Jimmy LeSage, M.S., the founder of New Life Hiking Spa, has recently published 40 years of Authentic Wellness to help everyone on their journey. It is a great read either in preparation for your vacation with us or once you get home.
What makes New Life's Weight Loss Retreat stand alone in its class?
We excel at taking you from where you are now to the next level of wellness and beyond.
Our non-clinical approach uses mountains, clean air and lush greenery instead of a treadmill, and wholesome natural food instead of a diet.
Professional down to earth staff that cares about you and understands your needs.
A life-changing experience that gives you the tools to realize your goals.
The diversity of guests and well-balanced environment provides for a casual camp- like atmosphere rather than a fat farm.


text:
Leigh Griffiths
Sportopinion
Leigh Griffiths is Celtic's superstar but it's asking a lot for him to be Hoops Euro hero again - Chris Sutton
Chris has his say on Griffiths' return to action as he showed his natural striking instincts.
Updated 10:26, 6 JUL 2019
Leigh Griffiths is showing that he retains all of his old natural instincts for scoring goals.
If he can somehow manage to get back to his blistering best it might turn out to be a huge shot in the arm for manager Neil Lennon and save Celtic an absolute fortune in this transfer market.
Right now I don't think there is any question the club needs another striker.
Odsonne Edouard is talented but inconsistent and Vakoun Issouf Bayo's injury record since signing hasn't been great. Only this week Lennon praised the Ivorian while explaining that he has picked up another injury.
But Griffiths has it in his hands to change the scenario instantly.
(Image: SNS)
The Scotland striker couldn't really have done any more during the pre-season tour of Austria and Switzerland.
By scoring six goals in three friendly matches the hitman showed his natural ability for putting the ball in the net hasn't been lost.
I saw his lob from 40 yards during the final game where he scored four and it was sublime. Lennon dished out the praise and rightly so because it was a massive step in the right direction.
The way Griffiths spoke about the off-field issues from last term which kept him out for seven months will also have cleared his mind.
But the next step is the biggest one for Griffiths. It's not just about having the ability, it's about having the fitness and the physical edge to really make it work.
Celtic are going into the Champions League qualifiers next week with a run that goes for eight straight midweeks.
That's a tough run of games, yet Griffiths has shown in the past that he is up to the job. During the Brendan Rodgers era the Scotland star made some massive contributions during those key fixtures.
You look back to the big goals he scored against the likes of Astana and Hapoel Beer Sheva which propelled the champions into the group stage and it's obvious he can make a mark in these Euro qualifiers.
But let's be perfectly honest here, it's a massive ask for him at this stage of his comeback. It would be extremely tough for anyone to get back to their peak levels after such a long period out of the game.
Hoping someone can do it in the space of a couple of months might just be too big an ask.
Griffiths and Celtic deserve great credit for the way they managed the player's situation through his difficult period in the second half of last season.
When Rodgers took the decision to take the attacker out of the firing line it was a big move and the player himself has made it clear it was really important to help him get back on the right track.
But the fact of the matter is that Griffiths was never really at it at any point of last season.
Through the early weeks of the campaign he didn't look as fit as he could have been and it was clear he wasn't his real self.
Obviously, we found out further down the line why that was the case but the point is he hasn't really been fully fit, firing and sharp for the best part of a year. That's an awful long time for any player but I'd suggest even more so for a striker.
Playing up front it's about that tiny edge, that little half-yard to open some space, that little dart of sharpness that gets you an opening. It's tiny margins that can separate a 40-goal-a-year striker to a 10-goal-a-season man.
That's a mammoth difference and when it comes to the situation Lennon finds himself in as he assesses his squad it might be the difference between having to spend £10m or not.
If Griffiths can get back to his sparkling best in the coming weeks it solves a huge problem because it's unclear whether or not the gaffer can really rely on the other two.
Edouard has shown his talents in the past with big goals in big games but I see matches where he looks almost lazy and floats round the periphery of things.
Add to that a penchant for picking up injuries and it makes you think he can't be fully relied upon, despite his outstanding natural talent.
Bayo spent more time in the treatment room last term than he did
on the park, which
wasn't hard.
Lennon appears to have liked what he has seen on pre-season yet Bayo returned to Scotland with another niggle or a strain. The manager needs guys he can count on with over 60 games in a season.
Mikey Johnston has been superb in pre-season and this kid really looks as though he could develop into the real deal. But he's not an out-and-out striker.
Celtic won trophies without strikers at times last term but they surely won't get away with it two years in a row.
If Griffiths can get back to what we know he can do it will be huge for the club. Hand on heart I really hope he does so because he's obviously had a rough time.
But the reality and the facts are that, as yet, it's an unknown.
And it's now down to Griffiths and Griffiths alone to take the mystique out of the situation and give Lennon the definitive answer.
Odsonne Edouard


text:
Popular Science Monthly/Volume 68/April 1906/Extra Digits and Digital Reductions
< Popular Science Monthly | Volume 68 | April 1906
←Making Geography While You Wait
Popular Science Monthly Volume 68 April 1906 (1906)
Extra Digits and Digital Reductions by Charles W. Prentiss
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1218730Popular Science Monthly Volume 68 April 1906 — Extra Digits and Digital Reductions1906
EXTRA DIGITS AND DIGITAL REDUCTIONS
By Dr. CHARLES W. PRENTISS
ALTHOUGH the mammalian extremities are nicely adapted by their structure to the functions they perform, the number of digits frequently varies from the normal. Moreover, different degrees of digital reduction may be observed in the extremities of animals whose habits are apparently identical. It is generally recognized that the digits of many mammals have been reduced to adapt the foot to rapid locomotion, but the evidence is chiefly circumstantial. In the present paper the writer will attempt to reconcile the various theories accounting for supernumerary digits, to call attention to certain evidences of reversion which may be daily observed, and to point out some little recognized factors concerned in the evolution of the mammalian foot.
We may assume that the primitive and typical mammalian foot was pentadactyl, in spite of Bardeleben's contention that the progenitors of the mammalia possessed not five but seven digits. Bardeleben's assumption was based upon the observation that certain mammals, the whale, for example, have more than five digits; that among five-toed forms six and seven digits occasionally occur; and that in many species small cartilages are present on each side of the hand and foot. These cartilages Bardeleben regards as digital rudiments, and the occurrence of extra digits is explained by him as reversion, a 'turning back' through heredity, to ancestral conditions. Unfortunately, the facts do not support this beautiful theory. Paleontology tells us that the forerunners of the mammalia possessed only five toes. Embryology has shown that the sixth digit of the whale, and the cartilages which Bardeleben supposes to be digital rudiments, develop secondarily some time after the typical five digits have appeared. Finally, observations have proved that the extra digits which occur in polydactylism do not develop from Bardeleben's 'digital rudiments,' but originate in an entirely different manner. We may, therefore, assume that the primitive mammalian foot was pentadactyl, and this being so, the occurrence of six or seven digits on a foot normally five-toed can not be attributed to reversion, unless we assume with Albrecht that it is reversion to the many-rayed fins of the Elasmobranch fishes, an absurd supposition. Such cases of polydactylism are, nevertheless, of frequent occurrence on the appendages of man and the cat. They have been explained as due to bifurcations or duplications of one of the typical five digits. Dissections show that this is really the case, for, though the skeletal elements are often distinct from each other, muscle tendons and nerves are bifid, and in many cases the bones of the extra digit are more or less closely united to those of a normal toe. The question next arises as to whether these digital bifurcations are due to external influences or to internal variations of the germ plasm. Ahlfeld has observed that digital duplications may be caused 'in utero' by pressure from the thread-like outgrowths of the amnion. He attempted to make this explanation cover all cases of polydactvlism, but there are several serious objections. In the first place, the extra digits generally occur on both hands or on both feet, often on all four extremities (Fig. 1, A-D). The middle digits, moreover, arc not generally affected, but the duplication is chiefly of the first and fifth. Finally, and most important, the abnormality is strongly inherited and may increase in degree during successive generations. Thus Fackenheim cites the case of a woman born of normal parents. She had the little finger duplicated on each hand. Of two sons, one inherited the mother's extra fingers and the other had besides extra small-toes on both feet. Of eight children, three were normal, three had six toes and two had six fingers on both right and left extremities. In three succeeding generations the abnormality appeared, now on the hands, now on the feet, and in two cases on all four extremities; in two cases seven toes were present on both feet.
Similar observations have been made by Poulton and Torrey in families of cats. It is evident that extra digits produced by the chance pressure of amniotic threads would not be inherited, and that such chance pressure would certainly affect now one digit, now another; whereas, we have seen that the first and fifth digits are chiefly affected. Of twelve cases studied by the writer all were of the latter type.
It will be observed in Fig. 1, A-D, which represent the extremities of one child, that the fifth digit is affected differently in each case. In fact, it has been pointed out that occasionally no extra digit may be produced, that the first or fifth digit may simply be abnormally large. These facts, together with the frequent inheritance of the extra digits, show that we have to do here with variations of the germplasm. The first digit of man has been modified, and the fifth slightly reduced. Variation most often affects organs whose structure has been recently changed, and the variation or duplication of these digits might be naturally expected.
We are warranted, then, in assuming that the abnormal occurrence of six or seven digits on the five-toed extremity is not due to reversion. They are rather duplications of the normal digits, produced either by external influences or, more frequently, by germinal variation.
As the five-toed extremity is the primitive type of mammalian foot it is but natural to conclude that the appendage with less than five toes has lost some of the original number of evolutionary changes. The circumstantial proofs of such reductions are too well known to require more than a brief statement. Rudiments supposed to represent the absent first digit are found in the pes of the dog and the manus of the pig (Figs, 2, A, 3, C). The feet of sheep and cattle exhibit pairs of vestigial bones and hoofs, called the rudiments of digits 2 and 5; the splint bones of the horse are believed to be the vestiges of the second and fourth digits. These rudiments are often better developed in the embryo than in the adult. Thus of the dog's hallux only the upper part of the metatarsal bone remains. According to Bonnet, all the skeletal parts of this digit are formed in the embryo. The second and fifth digits of the sheep, represented by mere vestiges of the phalanges, are fully developed in the land). The foot of the adult horse shows only the metacarpals and metatarsals of digits 2 and 4; but in the embryo the writer has observed two cartilaginous phalanges on the metacarpal bones. Paleontology completes the ring of circumstantial evidence
Fig. 1. X-ray photographs of a child's extremities showing duplication of the fifth digit in both hands and both feet. Va, Vb, the digits produced by duplication.
by showing us that the ancestors of the swine had five instead of four toes and that the forerunners of the ruminants and the Equidæ had three, four or five functional digits.
The question now arises as to whether the occurrence of extra digits on extremities normally possessing less than five toes is due to duplication, as in pentadactyl animals, or are the extra digits developed from the rudimentary structures we have described? If it can be shown that the supernumerary toes are due to reversion, we have no longer
Fig. 2. A series showing the normal and polydactyl structure of the skeletal elements in the pes of the dog. A, normal pes with the rudimentary metatarsal bone of digit I.; B, a polydactyl pes, the hallux represented by two phalanges and the distal end of the metatarsal bone; C, polydactyl pes with hallux (I.) completely developed.
circumstantial evidence, but direct proof that the extremities of the ungulate have been derived by evolution from a five-toed type. This is an important point, but one about which investigators have been at variance. Bardeleben, Kollman, Marsh, Blanc and others recognize all cases of polydactylism as due to reversion. Gegenbaur warns us against such general conclusions, but admits that the extra digits sometimes found on the extremities of the horse are developed from the digital rudiments. Weismann, Bateson and Wilson ascribe all such abnormalities to germinal variation. But germinal variation may affect the rudimentary as well as the functional digits; if through such variation the supposed rudiment of a thumb develops into a digit with two phalanges, germinal variation and reversion are one and the same thing.
To attempt to reconcile the conflicting statements of various investigators the writer has made a comparative study of polydactylism in mammals normally possessing less than five toes. It was found that in the majority of cases the extra digits are developed from the so-called digital rudiments. This is most frequently observed in the pes of the
Fig. 3. A series to show the reversion of the pig's manus to the pentadactyl condition. A, carpals and metacarpals of the fossil Ancodus; B, of a polydactyl pig; C, of a normal pig. I.-V., first to fifth digits; trz., trapezium, the carpal element of the pollex.
dog. Normally the hallux, or great toe, is represented only by the proximal end of the metatarsal bone (Fig. 2, A). Not infrequently, a claw and one or two phalangeal bones may appear at the point where the hallux should be; occasionally the distal end of the metatarsal bone is also represented, and sometimes a complete digit with all the bones and articulations of a functional hallux may be developed. Such cases, which may be regarded with certainty as reversions to the five-toed type of foot, occur not rarely on the pes of the Scotch collie, St. Bernard and Newfoundland (Fig. 2, B, C).
In the foot of the pig the hallux is gone and the pollex is normally represented by a small carpal rudiment (Fig. 3, C). A small pollex was, however, present in the manus of Ancodus, one of the fossil swine
Fig. 4. X-ray photographs of the pig's manus showing normal structure and reversionary polydactylism. A, bones of normal manus; B, manus in which the pollex is represented by two phalanges and the distal end of the metacarpal bone (I.); C, manus with pollex completely developed; trz., trapezium.
(Fig. 3, A). It is, therefore, an interesting fact that in the polydactyl swine observed by the writer the extra digits were in every case located upon the manus, and in most instances were undoubtedly developed from the rudiment of the pollex; for the extra digit was attached to the carpal bone as a normal pollex would be, and careful dissections of muscles and nerves gave no evidence of duplications. This does not support Gegenbaur's assertion that the extra digits of swine were developed by the splitting of the second toe. His conclusion was based on the dissection of two 'pig's knuckles' cut off below the carpus. Consequently he could not tell how the extra digit was attached. In any case this was scanty evidence on which to base a general conclusion. The writer was fortunate enough to obtain for study thirty-six perfect specimens. In one type observed, a small hoof, two phalanges and the distal end of the metacarpal bone were developed (Fig. 4, B) and in several cases a perfectly formed pollex was present (Fig. 4, C). In its general structure the manus of such polydactyl pigs resembles closely that of the fossil swine Ancodus, as may be seen by comparing A and B
Fig. 5. A series of four X-ray photographs showing variations and duplications of the pollex (I.) in the manus of the pig. A, a manus in which the pollex is represented by an abnormally large digit of three phalanges; B, the phalanges of the extra digit are duplicated: C, all the bones of the extra digit are duplicated, but both sets of phalanges are enclosed within a single hoof; D, two extra digits are present, articulating with a single trapezium (trz.).
of Fig. 3. In other instances not a pollex, but a digit of three phalanges, was produced, and these in turn exhibited all stages of duplication up to the formation of two large extra toes. But in each case the two extra toes were developed by the variation of the rudimentary pollex (Fig. 5, A-D).
Fig. 6. A, calf's manus with digit II. fully developed (from X-ray photograph); B, manus or sheep with two extra digits (II. and V.) present (after Chauveau); C, manus of horse with two extra digits (I. and II.) (after Marsh).
The writer has also observed two cases in which the second digit of the ox was developed into a functional toe (Fig. 6, A), and in the foot of the sheep four complete digits sometimes occur (Fig. 6, B). As far back as Roman times the horse is known to have possessed extra toes. Suetonius alludes to a horse given to Julius Cæsar 'which had feet that were almost human, the hoofs being cleft like toes.' Two cases were described by Winter in 1703, and Marsh has since observed the development of an extra digit from one of the splint bones (Fig. 6, C); four or five digits may sometimes occur, but all of these are not completely developed.
It is thus clear that the vestiges regarded as digital rudiments are really such, and that mammals possessing these vestiges must at one time have had a greater number of functional toes, some of which later became useless. It is a well-known theory that this reduction in the number of digits was in adaptation to some special function like that of locomotion. It has been carried to the extreme in the foot of the hoofed mammals; and of living forms, the swine and ruminants afford a beautiful series of digital reductions (Fig. 7, A-H). Even among living carnivora, forms like the cat and dog have the pollex reduced and the hallux absent, and, as we have seen, the forerunners of the swine had a reduced pollex on the manus (Fig. 7, A), and only four digits on the pes. The first digit is vestigial among the hippopotami; the second and fifth are slightly smaller than the third and fourth (Fig. 7, B). The difference in the size of the two pairs of digits is more marked in another fossil pig, but the small outer digits still articulate firmly at the wrists and ankle joints (Fig. 7, C). The third and fourth toes of the swine are relatively much larger and have taken unto themselves the whole articular surface of the carpus and tarsus (D).
Like the pig, the little water-deer (Dorcatherium) possesses four distinct functional toes, but in Tragulus, a closely related form, the outer toes are exceedingly slender and do not articulate proximally (E). The upper ends of these small digits have been reduced in the foot of the roebuck (Capreolus carca); in the extremities of the red deer (Cervus elaphus), these digits are represented only by the bones of the phalanges and vestiges of the metacarpals and metatarsals (F). In the foot of the sheep the outer digits are reduced to two small phalanges (G); these are absent in the foot of the ox and the antelope. Finally, the small hoofs, the only vestiges of the second and fifth digits of the ox, disappear in the extremities of the giraffe and the camel (H).
This series of extremities thus shows a reduction from five to two digits. The gradual atrophy of these three toes has been ascribed to the specialization of the foot as an organ of rapid locomotion. Primitive
Fig. 7. A series of arterio-dactyl extremities showing successive reduction of the digits from five to two. A, Ancodus (fossil); B, Hippopotamus; C, Hyopotamus (fossil): D, Sus; K, Tragulus; F, Cervus; G, Ovis; H, Camelus.
mammals were plantigrades, resting the whole surface of the foot upon the ground in running. This posture is not favorable for rapid locomotion, as instanced by the lumbering gait of the bear. It has been retained only by animals which, through burrowing, swimming, climbing or means other than speed are enabled to escape their enemies or obtain their food. But both to beasts of prey and to their quarry increased speed and leaping power would be of great advantage in the struggle for existence. To obtain this advantage they had recourse to the same expedient to which on occasion plantigrade man still resorts—they ran upon their toes. If by variation, the digitigrade position became gradually, or suddenly, the fixed posture of the foot in progression, the structure of the digits would soon be affected. Provided that the feet were used only in locomotion, the shorter digits would not reach the ground. Being useless, they might soon disappear. The reduction of the digits has, therefore, been ascribed simply to the adoption of the digitigrade posture. This is, indeed, the chief, but it is not the only factor. It does not explain why the hallux of the dog and cat has atrophied, while the pollex persists; why the pig and waterdeer have four digits, the giraffe and camel only two, though all are digitigrade.
There are evidently three factors upon which the degree of digital reduction depends: (1) the specialization of the extremity for locomotion; (2) the degree of perfection to which the digitigrade posture is carried; (3) the character of the ground which the animals traverse.
The hallux of the dog and cat has been reduced, because the pes is used only for progression and in the digitigrade position. The pollex of these animals has been retained, as the claw is useful to the cats in climbing and in catching their prey—to the dogs and wolves in burrowing and in holding their prey. It is interesting to note that the pollex is no longer a functional organ in the manus of the hyena, an animal which feeds chiefly on carrion.
To the Carnivora, which are beasts of prey, a padded foot and sharp claws are necessary structures. We, therefore, find that the digitigrade posture is not developed to the extreme. These animals run upon the ball of the foot; whatever may be the character of the country traversed, all four toes are used in progression, and no further reductions have taken place.
To the herbivorous ungulates claws are useless structures, and in escaping from their foes noise is no drawback. Speed is their chief requirement and this is increased by leaping from the tips of the toes. This method of progression would blunt the claws, which would then be modified to protect the toes.
If the digitigrade position is not well developed (as is the case with the slow, heavy ungulates like the elephant, tapir and rhinoceros) all the toes, or all but the first, may reach the ground and function in locomotion. But if the digitigrade posture be extreme, the fate of the digits will depend upon the habitat of the animal. Should the region ordinarily traversed offer smooth, firm footing, an animal running upon the tips of its toes would use chiefly the longer third digit; this digit would naturally be strengthened and increased in size, while the other digits, being useless, might gradually disappear. Such changes have taken place in the foot of the horse, and in this way the perissodactyl, or odd-toed, type of foot has arisen. As is well known, the habitat of the horse family is the dry rolling plain, and what evidence we have goes to show -that the remote ancestors of the horse ranged a similar country. The fact that the digits of the horse were first reduced at their distal extremities points to the same conclusion. For, as we shall see, digits which do not support the weight of the body. may. if the animal frequents swampy regions, keep the foot from sinking too deeply. In such cases the reduction of the digits begins always at the upper or proximal end, just the reverse of conditions in the foot of the horse. We may conclude then that the odd-toed foot resulted from digitigrade locomotion over firm, comparatively level ground.
For rapid progression over swampy ground, the structure of the foot must conform to two requirements. It must be prevented from sinking too deeply and must be easily withdrawn. Any one who has attempted to walk across a mud flat can appreciate the importance of these two factors. It is in adaptation to these requirements that the artiodactyl, or even-toed, type of foot has evidently been developed. If an ungulate was of semi-aquatic habits, or attached to swampy places, all four digits, by spreading, would prevent the sinking of the foot; its withdrawal would be facilitated by making the foot occupy as little space as possible, and this could be accomplished by shifting the proximal articulations of the outer digits inward and posterior to the middle digits. The toes would then be arranged in pairs, the outer pair lying somewhat behind the other. Now in a semi-aquatic animal each pair of digits would be subjected to the same usage in walking or running through boggy ground; the digits of each pair would tend toward the same structure on this account. But as the middle digits would support the greater part of the strain brought to bear upon the foot, this pair of digits would naturally become larger and stronger than the other. Should our hypothetical ungulate change its habitat from the swamp to the firmer footing of the plain or upland, the outer pair of digits would not reach the ground, and unless they proved of use to the animal in some other way we should expect them to speedily disappear.
This theory as to the origin of the artiodactyl foot is supported when we examine into the habits of the even-toed ungulates. The more primitive forms are attached to the water. The amphibious hipppotamus possesses, as we should expect, four digits, arranged in pairs of equal size. The wild swine, although attached to water and to boggy ground, are nevertheless swift runners, and spend most of their time on more solid footing. The outer digits are retained because they are useful in keeping the foot from sinking in the mud, though they are not functional a good share of the time. The greater strains brought to bear upon the middle digits have resulted in their increased size (by variation) and their monopoly of the carpal and tarsal joints, firm articulation with which is no longer needed by the little-used outer toes. That these changes were advantageous to the swine is shown by the fact that related forms, less adaptive in this respect, have become extinct.
Of the deer family, the water chevrotain and its relatives are the only forms possessing four complete digits. Again we have to do with animals attached to swampy places, and the outer digits, though slender, are retained intact because of the extra support they offer in traversing boggy ground. The fusion of the metacarpal and metatarsal bones of the middle digits, which characterizes the foot of other ruminants, has evidently been prevented in the water deer by the spreading of the toes.
The red deer is one of the swiftest of runners and its usual habitat is the wooded plain and upland. It, however, readily takes to the water, as a large part of its food consists of aquatic plants. In roaming the more solid floor of the forest only the middle digits support the body. These have become relatively larger than those of swine, and are further strengthened hy the union of the metacarpal and metatarsal bones. The outer digits are perfectly useless in ordinary locomotion, but still perform two important functions: they serve to support the foot in yielding ground and give the deer a firm footing when running rapidly, especially down-hill. Any one may observe that in walking on fairly firm ground the foot of the deer leaves but two hoofprints, but that the foot of a running deer leaves four distinct marks. The performance of these functions has caused the retention of the lower portion of the outer toes. But as these digits no longer support any part of the weight of the animal, no proximal articulation is necessary and we find that the upper part of the metacarpal and metatarsal bones has atrophied.
Wild goats and sheep are mountain animals, feeding on rugged and precipitous slopes where the footing is precarious. Both sheep and goats are expert climbers and leapers, but in their ordinary habitat only the middle digits are used for supporting the weight of the body. The outer digits have, therefore, been reduced, but the hoofs and rudiments of two phalanges have been retained, because these small toes are used in climbing, and render the animals more sure-footed. No such function is performed by the second and fifth digits of the antelope, bison and ox; these animals roam the open plain and upland, and the outer toes would be of no use except for the occasional support of the foot when these animals enter the water to drink. We find, therefore, that only the small hoofs of the reduced toes persist. In the foot of the camel and giraffe even these vestiges have disappeared, as their habitat has long been the dry, sandy plain.
From these observations it seems plain that among ungulates the functions of the digits have been affected by the habitat of the various animals; and that there is a direct relation between the degree of digital reduction and the character of the country traversed. The use of the foot as an organ of locomotion alone, and the assumption of the digitigrade posture, were the primary factors producing reductions of the toes; the degree of such reductions and the type of foot produced have been dependent upon the habitat of the animals. The artiodactyl foot was formed in adaptation to semi-aquatic habits, and as the animals changed their habitat to 'terra firma' a further reduction of the digits resulted. The perissodactyl, or odd-toed, type of foot, began with the assumption of the digitigrade posture by animals which traversed solid ground, and the digits were further reduced as the digitigrade posture was developed to perfection.
It has been assumed that those digits which were useless would disappear. There is evidence that if they were not reduced they would be not only useless, but of distinct disadvantage to the animals. The writer has observed that the extra hallux rarely occurs on the pes of hunting dogs; when it does occur it is frequently injured and sometimes completely torn away. It is also noteworthy that the extra toe is most often found on the pes of the St. Bernard and Newfoundland, in which breeds it may be of some use for swimming, and walking through deep snows. It has been observed, too, that the small hoofs of the sheep and deer grow rapidly on the second and fifth digits, but are normally worn away by daily use. If these animals are kept in unnatural surroundings, as when sheep are deprived of rocky pasture, or deer kept in zoological gardens, the hoofs of the reduced digits will grow long, curved and twisted to such an extent as seriously to impede locomotion. We can readily see that should the wild deer or sheep change its habitat to the smooth footing of the open plains, the same abnormal growths might occur and hinder rapid locomotion. Variations tending toward the reduction of these digits would favor the survival of their possessors, and give rise to the type of foot found among the antelopes, cattle and giraffes.
In conclusion it may be of interest to speak briefly of the digital reductions which have taken place in the foot of the running birds (Ratitæ). The most primitive of the birds exhibited the digitigrade posture, but walked upon the ball of the foot. This may have caused the reduction of the fifth digit (which early disappeared), and certainly had to do with the reduction of the hallux. The hallux has, however, been retained by most flying birds because it is used in perching, in prehension and in swimming. As the legs of birds are set well forward on the body, they are more widely separated above than below. This position has thrown the greatest strains upon the outer or fourth digit, which is always longer than the second toe. Now in the foot of running birds like the emu, the digits are used only in locomotion and the hallux has disappeared, as it was useless in progression. But the digitigrade posture of the emu is the same as that of the flying birds; the ball of the foot touches the ground and the remaining three digits, being all functional, are well developed. The ostrich, however, has increased its swiftness by running (and walking) upon the tips of its toes. This posture would throw the weight of the body and the work of locomotion upon the longer third and fourth digits. As the foot of the ostrich is used only in locomotion, and as the birds traverse the smooth floor of the desert, the shorter second digit would fail to reach the ground and eventually disappear. As a result we find that the ostrich has only two functional digits.
The digits of birds, therefore, show structural changes which are exactly paralleled by those exhibited by various ungulates, and the digital reductions which have taken place may be attributed to the same factors in each case.
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Popular Science Monthly Volume 68
Zoology articles in Popular Science Monthly
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Knee osteoarthritis is the most common type of osteoarthritis. More than 10 million Americans have this type of osteoarthritis. It is also a common cause of disability in the United States. Early diagnosis and treatment help manage knee osteoarthritis symptoms. At All American Orthopedic and Sports medicine Institute our physicians specialize in many treatments of osteoarthritis.
Our All American Orthopedic physicians will take an extensive medical history, perform a physical examination, and order x-rays to diagnose knee osteoarthritis. X-rays are very helpful, allowing the doctor to see evidence of joint space narrowing but if more detailed imaging is needed, an MRI may be ordered. Arthroscopic knee surgery is another way to view the condition of the knee.
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Our physicians at All American Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Institute state that diagnosis and treatment is most helpful while knee osteoarthritis is in the early stages. When treated early, many people can often manage mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis.


Quizfreak - Can You Guess 13 70s Films From These Iconic Scenes?
Can You Guess 13 70s Films From These Iconic Scenes?
So, are you up to the 70s movie challenge? We have 13 iconic scenes lined up, and all you have to do is name the film!


Abstract: Informed by institutional ethnography, and taking the problematic from disjunctures in teacher/participants' experience between actual practice and official policy, this study is an intertextual analysis of print/electronic documents pertaining to students 'at risk.' It unpacks the Student Success Strategy in Ontario secondary schools as organized around discourses on risk and safety. Discriminatory classing and racializing processes construct students 'at risk' in ways that reproduce socio-economic inequities through premature streaming into pathways geared to post-secondary destinations: university, college, apprenticeship and work. This study questions the accounting logic that reduces education to skills training in workplace literacy/numeracy, and contradicts the official 'success' story that promotes Ontario as a model of large-scale educational change. The follow-up intertextual analyses reveal ideological circles that promote 'evidence-based research' and 'evidence-informed practice,' while actually gearing education to improving 'results' on large-scale standardized tests and manufacturing consent for government policies. Questions arise about the lack of transparency and selective use of educational research. A web of behind-the-scenes activities are made visible at public policy think-tanks (e.g. Canadian Council on Learning; Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network), and two little-researched bodies in educational governance — the Council of Ministers of Education Canada (CMEC) and OECD. Although invisible to teachers, the infrastructure for the Student Success Strategy is the Ontario School Information System (OnSIS); this web-enabled data-management technology has built-in capacity to profile students 'at risk' and to instigate accountability and surveillance over teachers' work, with implications for re-regulating teaching practice towards test scores and aggregate statistics. With the intention of transforming education towards genuine equity, and linking the re-organization of social relations in large-scale reform locally, nationally and globally, this study contributes to critical scholarship on the effects of reform policies on people's lives and extends knowledge of how translocal text-mediated ruling relations operate in education.


Do you want to make a nice snack? You can bake some waffles! A real nice and sweet snack. A waffle is a batter-based or dough-based cake cooked in a waffle iron patterned to give a characteristic size, shape and surface impression. Follow the instructions of this game and make some delicious waffles!


Tell the world what you feel with your awesome T-shirts. Do it with your designs.
Printrove has introduced T-shirts a couple of months ago. And now we have come up with a new element. Till now, you were printing your designs only on the front side of the T-shirts. Now, you can print on both the sides, i.e. Back printing.
Back printing is enabling the customer to print on the backside of the t-shirt.
You can now create orders using SKU. This will be helpful when you'll have repeated orders of the same product. You can save it as an SKU with the product and design information and just paste the SKU while placing the order in future.
Printrove has designed the process in an optimized manner, merchants can have it at the minimum cost with absolutely no pain of uploading files, sharing links to place orders and maintaining multiple excel files.
This new service can help you bring in more customers. Innovative design can help you turn your ideas into interesting and competitive products that are suitable for your target market.
We are working towards simplifying the processes so that you can focus on designing, make your business processes more efficient and strengthen your marketing approach.
Everything is optimized. You must give this new service a shot!


Bassnectar by Ryan and Karin Keranen - 14.000" x 6.625"
Bassnectar acrylic print by Ryan and Karin Keranen. Bring your artwork to life with the stylish lines and added depth of an acrylic print. Your image gets printed directly onto the back of a 1/4" thick sheet of clear acrylic. The high gloss of the acrylic sheet complements the rich colors of any image to produce stunning results. Two different mounting options are available, see below.
Congratulations for your sale, Ryan and Karin!
Bassnectar melting Madison, WI. This was part of the 2012 Va Va Voom Tour. Lighting by Michael Austin Smalley.


text:
12437 Ladue Rd
STL JEWISH COMMUNITY
RABBI'S BLOG
Israel, A Zoom Kabballat Shabbat, Class Reminder, & Last Week's Parashah
1. Israel -- Today is Yom ha-Zikaron -- Israel's Memorial Day for its fallen soldiers -- sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, relatives and friends. The War of Independence (1948), the Suez Campaign (1956), the Six-day War (June 1967), the Yom Kippur War (1973) and defending against various uprisings and terror attacks.
Tonight begins Yom ha-Atz'ma'ut -- Israel's Independence Day -- May 14, 1948, but the Hebrew Iyar 5.
This year, as in the US, the celebrations will be private. The rebirth of the State of Israel is, in my view, the second greatest story in history -- after the Exodus. Form what was created, how people unfit for its climate worked the land and died there, under the conditions it was created, including 6 million murdered and so many displaced, because of what happened in the UN and how it might never have been, and how Hebrew was revived, how the nation survived and thrived, one of the world's most giving countries -- and the most per capita (medical technology for one), how it took in so many immigrants from such diversity, how it fulfilled Prophecy and gave further life to ancient Jewish history, how it did so even though it was then poor, and now it is anything but poor -- in only three-five generations ... the list goes on and on ... that's my take.
Today is the 19th day of the Omer.
2. A congregant suggested Zoom learning of Shabbat Z'mirot; others have asked for some services.
Beginning this Friday, I will lead abbreviated Kabballat Shabbat services (including L'cha Dodi; though not Shabbat evening services) and the singing of a few Zemirot @ 6:30 to about 7:00. The benefits include -- spiritual ones as we enter Shabbat, congregational togetherness before Shabbat, and learning about something that we will sing. You will need to register for this series: Click here to register. Please sign on to Zoom each Friday at least 5 minutes before so we will not be delayed.
3. This week's new classes begin Wednesday night and Thursday noon. Our registration numbers are good; if you would like to join, click here to register for Parashat Ha'Shavua (Wednesdays, 7:00 PM) and click here to register for Mitzvah 613 (Thursdays, 12:00 noon).
4. Last week's Parashah -- Tazria-Metzora -- is one of those which many find so ancient, so technical, and perhaps so irrelevant, that they have trouble engaging in it. In some ways, it may be one of the most relevant during this coronavirus pandemic period in our lives.
Leviticus 13:1-3 -- When a person has on the skin of his body a swelling, a rash, or a discoloration, and it develops into a scaly affection on his body, it shall be reported to Aaron the kohen or to one of his sons, the kohanim. The kohen shall examine the affection on the skin of his body ..." (NJPS; I retain the Hebrew kohen instead of their translation, "priest.")
The Torah goes on to describe in detail various types of swelling, rashes, or discolorations that manifest themselves on our bodies. The kohen investigates the skin for one category -- tzara'at. If it is a certain type, tzara'at, the kohen pronounces him to be "impure" and the affected person is sent out of the camp. Sometimes the kohen determines it is not tzara'at, and in other cases, it is yet unknown, and the person is quarantined for seven days, and re-examined. Tzara'at even extended to clothes (13:47-59) and, when finally in the Promised Land, to houses (14:33-57). Aside from separating the potentially contagious person, a ritual for purity is described in 14:1-32, and the person was declared "pure" and permitted to re-enter the camp.
We are most familiar with other roles of kohanim, such as offering the offerings (Leviticus 1:1ff). But kohanim had a teaching and ruling role in the biblical age, well before religious leadership transferred to Rabbis, students of the Torah texts. Here, he determined whether one was "pure" or "impure" or, as other translations have it, "contaminated" or "not contaminated," and contagious.
The narrative appears to be a mix of ancient medical procedure -- diagnosis, including noting subtle differences, and with deep concern for contagion, as well as ritual means to provide religious meaning and transition. The terminology of "pure" and "impure" reflects a ritual aspect, as does the role of the kohen, even as the situation has all the characteristics of being medical.
ArtScroll, reflecting a right-ish rabbinical take, abandons any notion of the medical aspect. (Note that ArtScroll employs the Ashkenazic "tzaraas" in contrast to the Israeli Hebrew, which employs the Sephardic and undoubtedly ancient pronunciation (or much closer to it) "tzara'at.")
ArtScroll: "For hundreds of years, the popular translation of צרעת [tzaraas] has been "leprosy," and it was commonly accepted that the prevention of the disease's spread was the reason for the quarantine of a suspected victim of tzaraas and the exclusion from the camp of a confirmed מצורע [metzora], the person smitten with the malady.
"R' Hirsch demonstrates at length and conclusively that both of these notions are completely erroneous. … if the reason for the metzora's confinement is to prevent contagion, then some of the laws would be ludicrous. … if there were a danger of contagion, it would be irrational for the afflicted household items to be excluded from quarantine! In perhaps the most telling example, the Talmud teaches that if the symptoms of tzaraas appear on a newlywed or during a festival season, the Kohen does not examine the affliction or declare it to be tamei, in order not to interfere with celebration. But if the purpose of these laws is to prevent the spread of disease, it would be absolutely imperative to enforce the laws at times of great overcrowding and mingling!
"Clearly, as the Sages teach, tzaraas is not a bodily disease, but the physical manifestation of a spiritual malaise, a punishment designed to show the malefactor that he must mend his ways. The primary cause of tzaraas is the sin of slander …"
It is true, that linking tzara'at with slander, as is done with Miriam in Numbers 12, is a part of Torah teaching and rabbinic understanding. Rabbinic teaching emphasized meaning. But we do not have to dispense, as ArtScroll does, with the p'shat, that contagion from disease, even if the science was unknown, was a serious consideration in last week's parashah.
Such an approach reflects the Torah teaching that danger to health is a serious and legitimate concern of our religion. We do not minimize it, and depending on its severity, safeguarding life can and does override other aspects of ritual laws. On Shabbat, for example, all laws are suspended when there is a reasonable judgment that life is threatened, and some laws are suspended when non-life-threatening health is impaired. In some less serious cases, the law remains and we are required to bear it.
We can find great meaning in both -- (a) the serious concern for health and (b) the legitimate rabbinic approach to seek within ourselves what signals disease or other harm provide us to ask, "How can we be better in the eyes of God?" Surely, the ills of our society are challenged -- unrestrained and pervasive slander, excessive materialism, gratuitous hatred, crude immorality, neglect of the most vulnerable in our society, the taking for granted of the worth of faith and religion -- among them.
This period of our lives, and the lives of the entire world, requires us to safeguard both our physical and moral health. May God bring us relief from the physical threats and may we seek God for our souls and the collective soul of our communities, our nation, and our world.
Working to End Racism and BLM
George Floyd and Racism in America -- June 2020
Parashat Naso – Sotah: Modern & Rabbinic Relevance
Delightful Music with a Meaning; and my article on Coronavirus and Halachah published by the UTJ tha
Interesting News Items, A Personal Reflection and Jeremiah (the prophet, not the bullfrog)
Yom ha-Sho'ah, more figures with personal reflections, a teaching from the Talmud
Pesach eve during Coronavirus 2020 -- with 2 artistic videos to enjoy
2-3 Weeks into Physical Distancing from Covid-19; Prayer & Pesach, and more
Man Proposes, God Disposes--Returning From Israel in 2022
Rosh Chodesh Sivan, this week's classes, and Yizkor
Yom Yerushalayim/Interesting Articles
Compare and contrast: These Weeks in Jewish Life to These Weeks of Covid-19
Covid-19 Pandemic -- Extraordinary News from Israel
Ari Shavit
Bus stop library
Dennis Ross
Heschel
Jeremy Bernstein
Jewish Motorcycle Alliance
Lone Soldiers
Modi'in
Rabbi Riskin
Religion vs. Secularism
Schechting
Shammai
Six Day War
Sotah
Tiferet Avot
Traditional Congregation
Creve Coeur, MO 63141-8100
Email: tradcong@sbcglobal.net
Go to smile.amazon.com and choose "Traditional Congregation of Creve Coeur" as the charity you support. Start at smile.amazon.com and log in
as usual each time you shop--


In the book Brat: Kids of Warriors during the German American Week celebration there is a demonstration of a tank engine being replaced on the battlefield. In the demo a helecopter lowers down a new tank engine. I don't have a photo of that, but thought this picture would show the amazing capability of these work horse helecopters.


text:
Boynton Beach Man Claims He Was Assaulted Over Trump Flag in Yard
Jeff Good says he was watching fireworks in the driveway of his Boynton Beach home on Wednesday when a man approached in a car.
After exchanging words, Good says the man punched him in the face and drove off with his arm stuck in the door.
A Palm Beach County man says his July 4th holiday was ruined after he claims a man attacked him for having a flag in his front yard showing support for President Donald Trump.
Jeff Good told NBC affiliate WPTV that he was watching fireworks in the driveway of his Boynton Beach home on Wednesday when a man approached in a car and started yelling at him about the president.
After exchanging words, Good says the man punched him in the face and drove off with his arm stuck in the door. Good says he was dragged for about 30 feet and has bumps and bruises from the incident.
"My political goal here is just to express my love for this president and for somebody to punch you in the face for just presenting the flag to the public, that is enough said right there," said Good.
Boynton Beach Police are asking for anyone with information about the attack to contact them. Good said the car was a silver, two door vehicle – and says he will continue to fly the flag.
"He still will be the president tomorrow and the day after so might as well keep the flag there today tomorrow and the day after," said Good.


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