text:
Experience:Unknown Dose DOC (Insufflated) - Overdosing and Terifying Ego Death
From PsychonautWiki
Experience reports - DOC
Weight: 65kg / 140lb
Setting: Alone in the woods, at daytime
I'm fairly experienced with psychedelics, especially Phenethtylamines, less so with Tryptamines. I've had very heavy dosages of some, including LSD, DXM, 2C-P and DOM, of which I've never had any serious problems that I couldn't handle, but this experience was the single most intense and frightening drug experience I've ever and nothing I've ever had even slightly compares to this. I've been thrown into a state of madness and fear and for the first time thought I was legitimately dying.
I unknowingly overdosed, alone, which is very bad on it's own, but I can imagine it being way more traumatizing and dangerous if I was around people (especially friends, especially the wrong ones) at the time (this would probably have scarred friendship if anyone I knew saw me and I am very happy today that this was not the case).
I have a ton of experience with DOC, using it every weekend about a year ago, since it's insanely cheap, potent and strong. My highest dose was 8 milligrams oral and my last dose of DOC nearly a year ago was 3 milligrams snorted. Both of these experiences (actually all to an extent) were intensely paranoia-inducing and I was always very scared and uncomfortable around people or alone (I had hidden social anxiety at the time), yet I still chose to do it every weekend, for what reason except being high I don't know.
My reason for this was simply exploring the power of psychedelic amphetamines, what actually lies above the standard doses. I always do my research although I focus more on the good things than the bad ones, which it took some time and a good friend in a similar situation to realize. I guess that's just how addiction slowly reprograms your brain. I will never go back to that place again.
T+0:00 Being the slightly junkie-like person I was back then, I settled somewhere in the woods (which was unusually crowded and windy) and as fast as possible I put my line on my phone, "to be safe" about three quarters of a capsule weighed as 10 milligrams (which was displayed on my scale, but only now I know that such small dosages on scales are practically unreliable, so I have no idea how much was actually in there). Probably one half of a milligram of what was on my phone was also blown away from the wind. I suspect the dose to be anywhere between 8 to 12 milligrams (with analyzing what it looked like eyeballed and what was left in the capsule). Note that I originally planned to take the whole thing...
I snorted. There was no initial burn. Upon looking behind me, there was some guy walking his dog coming towards me, so I quickly got up and went. Pretty sure he saw me but not what I was doing. I put on my beats, decided to play some trap music (say Trapcity etc).
T+0:05 It took about five minutes before I felt anything. Now it started to burn slightly in my nose and in what felt like an instant the visuals just popped up, comparable to what you would see on 200 mics. Already there were strange body sensations and I was unable to talk with the guy from before, which said something to me about his dog being shy and stuff. Luckily he didn't question me anything.
T+0:10 By now I was on top of the hill, had a nice view and then I knew I was tripping pretty hard, but was not dysphoric yet (in fact I don't know what exactly I felt then). Everything looked extremely surreal, colors were way brighter, almost blinding and simplified. There were also some patterns which displayed themselves on the field, transparent lines which swirled into each other. I only have that one image of what the field looked like, but not anything else I looked at, which makes me believe these were the first hints of amnesia or memory encoding failures. The one word I thought of then to describe these visuals was "cheap". Similar to the motive on Hoffman blotters.
T+0:15 I was still walking, I still don't know what I was feeling then, it was kinda an empty, hollow soul within me, no emotions felt, no questions asked. I couldn't feel my whole body and my lips and mouth were getting uncomfortably numb. What I could feel was the burn in the back of my nose which felt very caustic as if my skin starts to crack up and dry out, I had the feeling I was about to get a nose bleed but I didn't which further confused me. I start fidgeting with a piece of paper in my one pocket and the volume buttons of my phone in the other without realizing it. The weather was weird, there were occasional strong winds of coldness and mist, which I couldn't feel but still aggravated me. I got slightly fearful by now, which was probably mostly due to the music, which since I pressed the volume buttons sounded very faint and distant and everything that I did hear were screeches and hollow melodies and bass from the trap (not really happy music).
T+0:20 I had to sit down for a moment. I wasn't myself anymore, looking around I realized that something is wrong, my brain is massively overloaded, and so was my body and vision. I had some Etizolam with me, and Flunitrazolam, of which I took 0.5 and 0.125 milligrams, respectively, which isn't that much. I got up and started walking straight into the woods, where several new effects such as fear, panic and amnesia took me. My actions were now controlled by these. As I started walking i instantly tried to take a final full Etizolam pill of 2mg, but the pill was in a tiny plastic baggie, which zipper was impossible to open. I tried to rip it off but that didn't help much. I didn't know the position of my fingers in space. I kept trying to open it, not realizing I could just chew it or whatever. Eventually it fell down, I tried searching for it but was unable to. The baggie was orange, the floor was white.
As time went on while I was walking I didn't know who or where I was, just that I am in big trouble and am probably dying. The music was now disturbingly quiet so I ripped off my headphones, but this didn't help. Somehow the fact that I was still walking or at least standing kept me convinced I was still alive.
T+0:30 I had my first blackout I believe. I'm pretty sure I was conscious during it but thinking back as to why I was inside the woods I immediately knew there was this short gap in my memory. I didn't know what to do, honestly no idea what you should even do in such a situation. I was basically just standing around mid-road observing the insane visuals, giant comical eyes swirling around me in medium-fast speed, tons of brown birds in the trees which also looked straight out of a comic book. I wasn't blinded but couldn't really see anything either. Suddenly the thought that I might die if I don't get help now strikes me and my goal now was to find someone to call an ambulance. I walked quickly to get out of the forest, while the effects still get stronger and stronger.
T+0:40? My entire field of view is filled with big-sized green and white rectangles, which embedded comical eyes swirling around my center of view accompanied by insane distortion. Strictly 2D but extremely huge in size. They were unavoidable and different from typical geometry, as I didn't know what was actually geometry and what was the insane drifting of the outside world. Delusions overtake me, I somehow had the belief that what I took wasn't DOC, but some failed research chemical which is now going to kill me because this shitty vendor wanted me to. This is probably one of the most horrifying deaths I could imagine. There is no pain, but an overloaded brain which cannot handle anything it perceives, eventually seizing until the load is so big it fries. It's like losing your mind. I had no idea who I was, just that I'm about to die.
I started running in a very desperate attempt to find someone. It was very hard to actually recognize anything, and I actually ran past a few people at a fireplace, only to look back about 400 feet further and then running towards them as fast as I could.
My first line was something I don't remember, followed by "-i need an ambulance". There was some discussion I don't fully remember, but I told them that I'm seriously not feeling good at all. Talking with them was very weird. I was like a child again, only using simple words and being very shy. Somehow I got the feeling they couldn't understand the current situation, I was clearly overdosing and they still kept questioning what exactly the problem is. They called the ambulance and told me to sit down, which I did, putting my face in my hands stooping into my legs. I was feeling less panicked since I knew help was on the way but still I was heavily delusional.
T+?? I blacked out until the ambulance came. The hospital is on the other side of town, it literally must've taken them at least 15 minutes to arrive, but my sense of time then was practically nonexistent, it just seemed so quick, almost instantly. There is one memory of that period of this which is very hard to describe, it's that whatever my current state is is only temporary, and that I will return back to control and then know who I am again. This thought was mixed with a vision of the states, first a line, then a scrambled-appearing green tint and then again a line (symbolizing the initial effects, the part where I was gone and the part where I return to myself). This is very hard to put in words, nor even I can't completely make sense of it. Synaesthesia? I can't say!!!
I've had an acid trip before which also had the initial high, then it turned into a bad trip and then I was feeling good again (roughly), this was what I thought of.
As the ambulance arrived I woke up, looked around me, I thought that now I was back to normal, but this just another delusion. Everyone was still here, their faces very distorted, but one of them I still think I know how he looks like. I again asked in a very slurred manner that I need an ambulance. The guy told me it was here, that this is what I wanted, right? I don't think he was worried in any way and I got the impression he was slightly pissed. I looked back and saw the ambulance driving down the road. Stuff from here on is very blurred in my memory. There are only bits and pieces, and every one does not make any sense nor can I place these in a timeline. I don't remember seeing any of the staff from the ambulance, getting into it, getting out of it, nor anything that happened in the hospital.
Side note: From the reports I've got, somewhere between be getting picked up and me falling asleep in the hospital I was needed to be injected with a total of 3 milligrams of Midazolam IV over three separate doses. My heart rate peaked at 160 BPMs, my blood pressure was negligibly raised, which actually surprised me.
By now I had no idea who is was, nor did I know what reality was. My existence was within hallucinations only. There was nothing I knew about myself, I just existed in this horrifying place outside the main world. Everything is dark and these scenarios just played with me being the lead entity living in this place. Interestingly I did know for example who the voices were that I heard, as well as if something was a human entity or not, or who it was. Maybe this is what you could call an ego death, at least partial.
My memories are as followed, they are very hard to put into words and are possibly just insanity combined with delusions on a psychedelic experience.
My first memory is getting into the ambulance and laying down, there's blood over my arms and I was feeling like shit, when later my body imploded and huge amounts of blood spilled everywhere, everyone was in shock, as if I knew what they were feeling even though I didn't see anyone. Not sure if what I saw was actually my body and the inside of the ambulance or if everything as a whole was a hallucination.
My one friend, who I randomly saw before the trip, plus another one from my school I go were now with me in the ambulance, the first said "hey yo dude" and the latter "wow, cool" and were somewhat enthusiastic about my experience. Me on the other side was very embarrassed that they have to see me like this. Is this what was expected? The kid who does drugs finally overdoses and this is how far he has sunk? Of course that's always how it turns out! And I am that kid!! The ambulance somehow contacted them or something because they needed information from them? They were not actually present.
Now there was mainly just blackness, I was not in the ambulance anymore and have slipped out of reality. I was in a bus and saw my ex girlfriend along with my best friends girlfriend, first my best bro's GF looks at me in a very seducing way (like it's the thing we all as friends do because we like each other), with lots of beautiful eyeliner and a very cartoony appearance, followed by my own ex GF which tried to look at me but I accidentally looked away, when then I looked back and she looked back too. An awkward moment. I could feel her awkwardness alongside mine. Everything looked so unrealistic and dream like, which I cannot put to words. The movements were extremely fluid and very fixed, like how a computer renders animations, how one looks like when played forwards then backwards. The colors were very simple and everything had a rounded edge to it.
Fast forward and I was hearing my ex boss from years ago, whom I pretty much never think of, and my mom crying in the distance while I saw the ambulance I was in driving away from the place I was, but at nighttime. Neither of them were present as well. The crying of my mom really scared me, it sounded like as if she just saw me dying. I also have no idea how I thought of my boss from that place I worked years ago. Why was this hidden memory revealed?
I don't remember what exactly the next scenes were as everything became darker. I heard several different voices of jumbled and unrecognizable words and sentences, "human sounds" of extremely varying speeds, seemingly slowing down then talking three times faster mid-word. I didn't understand a single word. Some I didn't get out of my head since them (not the voices, but the memory of them). I can't describe what they sounded like, nor can I reproduce them, it's only the memory that remains. There were some emotions tied to them when I heard them.
Back into the ambulance, my body has dissolved into my mind and somehow I got the sense that both where the same thing and that we are all the same. I don't remember much that happened then, but every few seconds two separate things (no idea what tho) merged into one and both me and the nurses in the ambulance (if there were any) again realized that everything is indeed everything, while we also questioned "why can you even explain anything?". I was somehow myself and these nurses simultaneously, again, I didn't see any but felt their presence.
T+16:00 I suddenly wake up in intensive care, completely refreshed, no trauma, no anxiety, no bad feelings at all. For the first moments I had no idea how I've got there, but I was sedated and didn't panic at all. Visuals were still pretty strong, although now very beautiful and different from before (similar to moderate dosages). I was seeing a lot of women with my eyes closes (CEVs) as well as shapes and green glows with my eyes open. The people there were really nice to me and asked me where I was, what I did etc, but something told me that inside they were very annoyed and not really happy by crashing into the hospital and staying a night. One guy asked really obvious insulting questions, such as "so, when's the next time?" or "so, when are going home?" while having this convincing grin on his face. I simply answered: "I need to work tomorrow, I'll stay here a bit until I'm fully awake". I spent some time there enjoying every second from 5 AM to 7 AM, just looking at the visuals, not using my phone and whatnot, just enjoying existence as it is. Very refreshing. My belongings were all in one giant plastic bag, notable objects include the piece of paper, which was heavily crumbled while still open, and the remaining capsule, which I am 100% sure was in my jacket pocket, but found it in my backpack. How am I supposed to interpret this? How would I have reacted? Throw it away and feed the kid's drug use or give it to him and feed his drug use?
T+21:00 Visuals still here, I get out of the hospital really fatigued like never before. I drive some bus and then a friend of me simply texted me and I went out with him. The visuals continued to probably the 24 hour mark when they disappeared. It was very exhausting to do anything, especially hanging out in bright weather.
My nose was still burning a lot, especially when moving my nose up. The skin felt very cracked and not healthy at all. This continued for a day or so.
Then the next three days or so I was completely worn out, especially at work I had difficulties performing tasks.
The next weekend I took the remaining DOC carefully, mixed carefully with LSD and had a wonderful time, at the same place on the same substance.
After this I luckily suffered no such things as trauma, flashbacks, HPPD or other cognitive or physical deficits.
I am really glad that I didn't do any permanent damage, and I really noticed how easy it is to just let yourself get caught in these ideas while not paying attention to anything around you. It was a warning sign for me; I didn't learn anything from it, nor did it change me in any noticeable way, besides that I will not be risking my life with such stuff as DOC anymore, I told myself to just be more careful, I still use drugs regularly (although it took a while to slow it down to a lesser extent). Learning from your mistakes is what makes you stronger, not hiding from them, at least for me.
I got what I wanted to know.
Effects analysis
Spontaneous bodily sensations - "Already there were strange body sensations"
Language suppression - " I was unable to talk with the guy from before"
Analysis suppression - "In fact I don't know what exactly I felt then"
Colour enhancement - "Everything looked extremely surreal, colors were waaay brighter and simplified. The one word I thought of then to describe these visuals was "cheap". Similar to the motive on Hoffman blotters."
Memory suppression - "I only have that one image of what the field looked like, but not anything else I looked at, which makes me believe these were the first hints of amnesia or memory encoding failures."
Emotion suppression and Thought deceleration - "I still don't know what I was feeling then, it was kinda an empty, hollow soul within me, no emotions felt, no questions asked."
Tactile suppression and Temperature regulation suppression - " I Couldn't feel my whole body and my lips and mouth were now uncomfortably numb."
Stimulation - "I start fidgeting with a piece of paper in my one pocket and the volume buttons of my phone in the other without realizing it."
Auditory suppression and Auditory distortion - "since I pressed the volume buttons sounded very faint and distant and everything that I did hear were screeches and hollow melodies and bass from the trap (not really happy music).
Cognitive dysphoria and Confusion - "Looking around I realized that something is wrong, my brain is massively overloaded, and so was my body and vision."
Anxiety - "Several new effects such as fear, panic and amnesia took me. My actions were now controlled by these."
Motor control loss - "The pill was in a tiny plastic baggie, which zipper was impossible to open. I tried to rip it off but that didn't help much. I didn't know the position of my fingers in space."
Derealization
Depersonalization
Feelings of impending doom - "I didn't know who or where I was, just that I am in big trouble and am probably dying."
Amnesia - "I had my first blackout I believe. I'm pretty sure I was conscious during it but thinking back as to why I was inside the woods I immediately knew there was this short gap in my memory."
Environmental patterning - "The insane visuals, giant comical eyes swirling around me in medium-fast speed, tons of brown birds in the trees which also looked straight out of a comic book. Everything centered in the middle and
Level 3 Drifting was swirling in slow, yet insanely fast speed. I wasn't blinded but couldn't really see anything either."
Panic attack - "Suddenly the thought that I might die if I don't get help now strikes me and my goal now was to find someone to call an ambulance."
Level 4? Geometry - "My entire field of view is filled with big-sized green and white rectangles, which embedded comical eyes swirling around my center of view accompanied by insane distortion. Strictly 2D but extremely huge in size. They were unavoidable"
Delusion - "I somehow had the belief that what I took wasn't DOC, but some failed research chemical which is now going to kill me because this shitty vendor wanted me to."
Psychosis - "This is probably one of the most horrifying deaths I could imagine. There is no pain, no body load, but an overloaded brain which cannot handle anything it perceives, seizing until the load is so big it fries. It's like losing your mind. I had no idea who I was, just that I'm about to die."
Stimulation - "I started running in a very desperate attempt to find someone."
Personality regression - "I was like a child again, only using simple words and being very shy."
Amnesia - " I blacked out until the ambulance came."
Time distortion - "It literally must've taken them at least 15 minutes to arrive, but my sense of time then was practically nonexistent, it just seemed so quick, an instant."
Synaesthesia - "Whatever my current state is is only temporary, and that I will return back to control and then know who I am again. This thought was mixed with a vision of the states, first a line, then a scrambled-appearing green tint and then again a line (symbolizing the initial effects, the part where I was gone and the part where I return to myself). This is very hard to put in words, nor even I can't completely make sense of it. Synaesthesia? I can't say!!!"
Amnesia - "I don't remember seeing any of the staff from the ambulance, getting into it, getting out of it, nor anything that happened in the hospital."
Increased heart rate - "My heart rate peaked at 160 BPMs."
Ego death - "By now I had no idea who is was, nor did I know what reality was. My existence was within hallucinations only. There was nothing I knew about myself, I just existed in this horrifying place outside the main world. Everything is dark and these scenarios just played with me being the lead entity living in this place. Interestingly I did know for example who the voices were that I heard, as well as if something was a human entity or not, or who it was. Maybe this is what you could call an ego death, at least partial."
Unspeakable horrors - "There's blood over my arms and I was feeling like shit, when later my body imploded and huge amounts of blood spilled everywhere, everyone was in shock, as if I knew what they were feeling even though I didn't see anyone."
Psychosis - "My one friend, who I saw before the trip, plus another one from my school I go were now with me in the ambulance, they said "hey yo dude" and "wow, cool" and were somewhat enthusiastic. I was very embarrassed that they have to see me like this. The ambulance somehow contacted them or something because they needed information from them? They were not actually present."
Internal hallucination - "Now there was mainly just blackness, I was not in the ambulance anymore and have slipped out of reality. I was in a bus and saw my ex girlfriend along with my best friends girlfriend, first my best bro's GF looks at me in a very seducing way (like it's the thing we all as friends do because we like each other), with lots of beautiful eyeliner and a very cartoony appearance, followed by my own ex GF which tried to look at me but I accidentally looked away, when then I looked back and she looked back too. An awkward moment. I could feel her awkwardness alongside mine. Everything looked so unrealistic and dream like, which I cannot put to words. The movements were extremely fluid and very fixed, like how a computer renders animations, how one looks like when played forwards then backwards. The colors were very simple and everything had a rounded edge to it."
Level 5 Autonomous voice communication - "Hearing my ex boss from years ago, whom I pretty much never think of, and my mom crying in the distance."
Perspective hallucination - "I saw the ambulance I was in driving away from the place I was at nighttime."
Glossolalia - "I heard several different voices of jumbled and unrecognizable words and sentences, "human sounds" of extremely varying speeds, seemingly slowing down then talking three times faster mid-word. I didn't understand a single word. Some I didn't get out of my head since them (not the voices, but the memory of them). I can't describe what they sounded like, nor can I reproduce them, it's only the memory that remains. There were some emotions tied to them when I heard them."
Perception of interdependent opposites - "My body dissolved into my mind and somehow I got the sense that both where the same thing and that we all are the same. Every few seconds two separate things (no idea what tho) merged into one and both me and the nurses (if there were any) again realized that everything is indeed everything, while we also questioned "why can you even explain anything?"."
Rejuvenation - "I suddenly wake up in intensive care, completely refreshed, no trauma, no anxiety, no bad feelings at all."
Existential self-realization - " I spent some time there enjoying every second from 5 AM to 7 AM, just looking at the visuals, not using my phone and whatnot, just enjoying existence as it is."
Physical fatigue - "I get out of the hospital really fatigued like never before. Then the next three days or so I was completely worn out, especially at work I had difficulties performing tasks."
Retrieved from 'https://psychonautwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Experience:Unknown_Dose_DOC_(Insufflated)_-_Overdosing_and_Terifying_Ego_Death&oldid=133791'
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National Park Arizona
Desert View Drive in Grand Canyon National Park is Closed as Rangers Clear Multiple Accidents
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Contact: Shannan Marcak, 928-638-7958
Grand Canyon, Ariz. – Grand Canyon National Park rangers and road crews continue to work on clearing Desert View Drive of multiple accidents after light snow fell on wet roads just as evening temperatures dropped below freezing on Tuesday, December 29.
At approximately 5:00 p.m., the Grand Canyon Regional Communications Center began receiving multiple calls reporting accidents in the vicinity of Buggeln Hill on Desert View Drive, also known as the East Rim Drive. Shortly thereafter, additional calls began coming in reporting the rollover of a 15 passenger van and possible car over the edge in the vicinity of Navajo Point, located between Buggeln Hill and Desert View. The National Park Service immediately paged out all available emergency responders to assist with the incidents.
Emergency crews arrived at Buggeln Hill at approximately 5:30 p.m. and found multiple accidents, involving approximately 40 vehicles, blocking the road. After determining that no serious injuries were being reported, crews began working to clear a lane so that additional emergency responders could continue on to Navajo Point.
Responders from Desert View arrived at the scene of the Navajo Pont accident at approximately 5:30 p.m. and found a 15 passenger van over the edge approximately 25 feet below the rim. The van's six passengers had already exited the vehicle and were reporting only minor injuries. Initial investigations indicate that the van slid over the edge and rolled down the embankment.
Two ambulances and additional ranger staff from Grand Canyon Village arrived at the Navajo Point accident scene at approximately 6:10 p.m. once a lane at Buggeln Hill had been cleared. After being examined by park Emergency Medical Technicians, two of the van's six passengers were transported to Flagstaff Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries. The other four passengers were transported to Tusayan where they will stay the night.
Desert View Drive is currently expected to re-open sometime tomorrow.
Those planning to visit the Grand Canyon area should be aware that winter driving conditions are expected to persist in the park as periodic snow storms are followed by daytime melting and nighttime freezing. Park visitors are encouraged to tune their radios to AM 1610 where they can hear recommendations for driving in winter conditions.
The National Park Service is investigating these incidents.
-NPS-
Grand Canyon, AZ 86023

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The yr 2018 has been excellent for the artiste O9echi, after dropping a fierce single, Maadness that includes Africa's high trending 'Slimcase'; a music which has loved enough airplay and acceptance by his followers.
An all-round performer, O9ECHI has thrilled audiences across the nation with not solely good harmonies, circulation and supply but additionally with gorgeous vitality which leaves his viewers awe stricken for weeks…!
O9ECHI holds a MSc in Info know-how and at the moment works as a Community Architect for a serious Telecommunications firm on the USA; he's truly the lead Architect in that firm. How he combines music and a fulltime job, is excellent.
New single Maadness has loved huge airplay on radio stations in Nigeria from the get go – and on its day of launch, the data garnered over half one million views on Instagram from mixed Instagram handles.
The perfect of one of the best dancers throughout Nigeria and Ghana together with Africans in diaspora have carried out dance movies for the music due to the energetic nature of the dance monitor. Going with the "maadness pattern" are ace dancers reminiscent of @Donflexx, @kaffydance, @incredibleziggi of Ghana, @Sayrahchips, @uncleAzeez, simply to point out a number of. Slimcase stated and we quote "Ogechi! Maadness is a really Huge music and I'm glad to be on the monitor".
O9echi began the primary of its type, a freestyle present that airs each Sundays on social media referred to as "Maadness freestyle present" it options o9echi dropping freestyles weekly utilizing fashionable afrobeat/rap instrumentals. This present attracts numerous feedback from followers in Africa and has been partaking ever since.
This season o9echi has determined to trill his followers everywhere in the nation to some unforgettable expertise as he might be embarking on a nationwide tour & will even be dropping the visuals to the fierce single, Maadness which he featured probably the most trending artist in Africa, Slimcase.
Be careful for the o9echi insanity storm in your metropolis.


Last major update issued on December 17, 2011 at 04:45 UTC.
The geomagnetic field was iactive on December 16. Solar wind speed ranged between 270 and 361 km/s.
Solar flux measured at 20h UTC on 2.8 GHz was 121.0 (decreasing 18.6 over the last solar rotation). The planetary A index was 0 (STAR Ap - based on the mean of three hour interval ap indices: 0.5). Three hour interval K indices: 00000000 (planetary), 00001100 (Boulder).
Region 11374 [S16W36] decayed slowly and quietly.
Region 11375 [N10W43] decayed slowly and quietly.
Region 11376 [N24E18] added many tiny spots and was quiet.
Region 11377 [N14E17] was quiet and stable.
New region 11378 [S15W08] emerged in the southeast quadrant on December 11 and was numbered by SWPC 5 days later.
December 14-16: No obviously Earth directed CMEs observed.
A small recurrent coronal hole (CH489) in the northern hemisphere was in an Earth facing position on December 16-17.
The geomagnetic field is expected to be quiet on December 17-18. On December 19-20 quiet to unsettled conditions are likely due to weak effects from CH489.


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The Department of Medical Microbiology is located in the School of Medicine at the College of Health Sciences. It is the mother of two institutes dealing with infectious diseases at the College of Health Sciences namely the University of Nairobi Institute of Tropical and Infectious Diseases (UNITID) and Kenya AIDS Vaccine Initiative Institute of Clinical Research (KAVI-ICR.
It serves the Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Dental Sciences. Besides teaching undergraduate students of these schools, the department teaches medical microbiology to postgraduate students from departments of Pathology, Surgery and UNITID. The department's Master of Science degree programme in Medical Microbiology covers medical parasitology, bacteriology, mycology, medical virology, entomology, molecular biology and immunology. Student dissertations for the Masters degree can be based on any of these broad areas of medical microbiology. The department also offers PhD programmes by research and thesis in these areas. In addition to training quality healthcare professionals in carrying out creative and innovative research, out creative and innovative research, the department also provides reliable diagnostic services to patients from Kenyatta National Hospital and other health institutions.
The Department has played and continues to play a crucial role in infectious disease research and in particular HIV/AIDS and in this regard does collaborative research with the Universities of Washington, Manitoba and Toronto.
Some of the past prominent faculty members in the Department include the Late Prof. Isaac Wamola, the Late Prof. Jeckonia Ndinya-Achola, the Late Prof. Job Bwayo, the Late Prof. Hannington Pamba and Prof. Richard Knight.


The Call invites joint, trilateral research proposals from South Africa, Mozambique and Zambia to undertake 3-year collaborative research projects. The three countries seek to invest in the development of research and innovation in Sub-Saharan Africa, specifically in the SADC region through the establishment of partnerships involving research institutions in these respective countries. The collaborative research work aims at strengthening collaborations amongst institutions in the three countries, as well as promoting greater access to resources available across the borders.
Researchers are therefore invited to apply and are encouraged to collaborate with industry partners in order to allow them to design and formulate research proposals that are innovative and have a potential for commercialisation. The involvement of SMEs is therefore strongly recommended.
A multi-institutional/ consortia approach will be preferred. Participation of an industry partner on each side will be encouraged. However, industry is expected to meet their participation costs in the project.
This Call aims to promote applied research in the above mentioned thematic areas for the benefit of society. The trilateral Call is founded on the principle of 'Science for Society' and aims to fund projects that will yield societal benefits and have the potential for commercialisation and contribute towards achieving the African agenda for the fourth industrialisation era.
The Call builds on existing research capabilities, natural resources and shared research interests in the three countries.
promoting applied research with the objective of commercialising research to the benefit of society, to contribute to the fourth industrialisation era and address the AU Agenda 2063.
For more information, please download the complete guide.


text:
Q: Refreshing Angular App takes to the default state I am creating angularjs based Dashboeard, I am using ui.router to create states from json file,
My topNavbar and states are being created by pages.json file.
My app works fine but when refresh the page with this"localhost:#/map" url it redirects to "localhost:#/dashboard" state.
how I can set the state which user enters in URL?
var $urlRouterProviderRef = null;
var $stateProviderRef = null;

 myApp.run(function ($q, $rootScope, $state, $http, navbars)
        {
           navbars.load()
            $http.get("js/config/pages.json")
                .success(function (data) {
                    angular.forEach(data, function (value, key) {
                        var state = {
                            "url": value.url,
                            "templateUrl": value.templateUrl,
                            "controller": value.controller

                        };
                        $stateProviderRef.state(value.sref, state);
                    });

                });
              }

myApp.config(function ($stateProvider, $locationProvider, $urlRouterProvider) {

        $urlRouterProvider.otherwise('/dashboard');
        $urlRouterProviderRef = $urlRouterProvider;
        $stateProviderRef = $stateProvider;
    })

pages.json
[
{
    "displayname": "Dashboard",
    "active": true,
    "name": "dashboard",
    "sref": "dashboard",
    "url": "/dashboard",
    "controller": "layoutOneCtrl",
    "templateUrl": "views/dashboard.html",
    "icon": "fa-dashboard",
    "children": [{
        "name": "dashboard"
                }]
            }, {
    "displayname": "Map",
    "open": false,
    "active": false,
    "name": "map",
    "sref": "map",
    "url": "/map",
    "templateUrl": "views/layout1.html",
    "controller": "layoutOneCtrl",
    "icon": "fa-map-marker",
    "children": [{
        "name": "map"
                }]
     }
     .
     .
     .
    ]

A: when you refresh page , your run function called and  read value from pages.json , you need to update pages.json file or you need to save the url value in localstorage or sessionstorage so whenever you refresh the page  you can access url value  from localstorage or sessionstorage.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The Theatre Performance class is responsible for the community plays that are put on in December and March. The class will also put on a Variety Show in May. The goal of the class is to be able to experience theatre, to participate in it, and have fun! Theatre will give you the chance to be creative and communicate to others different roles, thus stimulating your mind and improving your learning. Theatre will give you a chance to experience learning in a hands-on environment, and get away from traditional book learning. Theatre gives you the chance to be a star!


text:
package org.organet.michael.Connectivity;

import org.apache.logging.log4j.LogManager;
import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;
import org.organet.michael.Connectivity.Messages.AdhocMessage;
import org.organet.michael.Store.LRURepository;
import org.organet.michael.Store.Repository;

import java.io.IOException;
import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException;
import java.lang.reflect.Method;
import java.net.Socket;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;

import static org.organet.michael.App.APP_PACKAGE;

public class Manager {
  private static final Logger logger = LogManager.getLogger(Manager.class.getName());
  // Singleton reference
  private static final Manager thisInst = new Manager();

  private Listener listener;
  private GroupListener groupListener;
  private List<Node> nodes = new ArrayList<>();
  private Repository<AdhocMessage> messages = new LRURepository<>();

  private Manager() {
    // This ctor is private and empty. The reason of these is to
    // hide/avoid the instantiation of this class except itself.

    // FIXME Call this after IP address is obtained
    //listener = new Listener(this);

    try {
      groupListener = new GroupListener(this);
    } catch (IOException e) {
      logger.fatal("Could not create group listener socket. Terminating...");

      System.exit(40);
    }
  }

  public static Manager getInstance() {
    return thisInst;
  }

  void handleMessage(Node node, AdhocMessage message) {
    // Check if Manager class exists for the message
    String clazzName = org.organet.michael.Helper.toDisplayCase(message.getDomain().name()).replaceAll("\\_", "");
    Class<?> clazz;
    try {
      clazz = Class.forName(String.format("%s.%s.Manager", APP_PACKAGE, clazzName));
    } catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
      logger.error("Manager class for the message ({}) could not be found. Message will be ignored.", clazzName);

      return;
    }

    // Check if `getInstance` method exists
    Method managerGetInstance;
    Object managerInst;
    try {
      managerGetInstance = clazz.getMethod("getInstance");
      managerInst = managerGetInstance.invoke(null);
    } catch (NoSuchMethodException e) {
      logger.error("Manager class can not handle the message. Message will be ignored.", clazzName);

      return;
    } catch (IllegalAccessException e) {
      e.printStackTrace(); // FIXME

      return;
    } catch (InvocationTargetException e) {
      e.printStackTrace(); // FIXME

      return;
    }

    // Check if `handleMessage` method exists
    Method managerMessageHandler;
    try {
      managerMessageHandler = clazz.getMethod("handleMessage", Node.class, AdhocMessage.class);
    } catch (NoSuchMethodException e) {
      logger.error("Manager class can not handle the message. Message will be ignored.", clazzName);

      return;
    }

    try {
      managerMessageHandler.invoke(managerInst, node, message); // TODO Send the relevant Manager instance as the first parameter
//      managerMessageHandler.invoke(null, node, message);
    } catch (IllegalAccessException | InvocationTargetException | IllegalArgumentException e) {
      logger.error("Manager class' message handler is not suitable. Message will be ignored.", clazzName);
    }
  }

  boolean createAndAddNewNode(Socket nodeSocket) {
    Node newNode;
    try {
      newNode = new Node(nodeSocket, messages);
    } catch (IOException e) {
      logger.warn("Could not create new Node.");

      return false;
    }

    logger.info("Client connection established on port {}.", nodeSocket.getPort());

    // NOTE Threads can be controlled if stored
    (new Thread(newNode)).start();

    return nodes.add(newNode);
  }

  public void listen() {
    // NOTE Threads can be controlled if stored
    (new Thread(listener)).start();
  }

  void discover() {
    // TODO Find other nodes in the ad-hoc network
  }

  void broadcast(AdhocMessage message) {
    // TODO Iterate through the nodes and send the message to all of them
  }

  private int getNodeIndexByDeviceID(String nodeDeviceID) {
    for (int i = 0, len = nodes.size(); i < len; i++) {
      if (nodes.get(i).getDeviceID().equals(nodeDeviceID)) {
        return i;
      }
    }

    return -1;
  }

  Node getNodeByDeviceID(String nodeDeviceID) {
    for (Node node : nodes) {
      if (node.getDeviceID().equals(nodeDeviceID)) {
        return node;
      }
    }

    return null;
  }

  boolean disconnectFrom(String nodeDeviceID) {
    int targetNodeIndex = getNodeIndexByDeviceID(nodeDeviceID);

    if (targetNodeIndex == -1) {
      return true;
    }

    nodes.get(targetNodeIndex).disconnect();

    return (nodes.remove(targetNodeIndex) != null);
  }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Like the eager trout gracefully sipping a mayfly dun, we rise.
We rise to the early alarm at an hour fit only for farmers, paperboys, and milkmen. We are awake. We understand the importance, the necessity, of the early morning wake up call. It is intrinsically linked to our passion – fly fishing. Each morning, fly fishers in every corner of the world awaken their sons and daughters well before dawn to make their way to sacred spots on rivers and lakes in order to share familial traditions. Fishing buddies drive silently through dark neighborhood streets, the homes still, lifeless, the windows drawn shut like the eyes of the slumbering occupants. Guides and clients scurry to prepare for the day's adventure, readying equipment and lunch while gulping down their morning "jitter juice," overbrimming with anticipation of the day ahead. Yes, we are awake, literally, at a time and in a manner that most others will never understand. Fly fishing, if committed to as a way of life, has this effect on us. It has a way of forcing our eyes open, at first to the silence of predawn, but always to the condition of the world.
This awareness is perpetual, relentless. We are in a never-ending search for detail, minutia, the final piece to an ever-evolving puzzle. We are awake to the river long before we arrive. We monitor streamflow data – a near-daily ritual – in case the water authorities have cranked open some valve in a dam overnight increasing the cubic feet per second, sending the fish into disarray and shutting down their feeding cycle. We are concerned that the rains from yesterday morning have sent a plug of mud surging through the system like a glob of cholesterol in an artery from too many cheeseburgers rendering some water unfishable. We slow down and study every tributary on our way to our destination to gauge the conditions. We monitor online reports from fly shops, Facebook groups, state agencies, and random bloggers – but we are awake to the knowledge that reports are often exaggerations and that fishermen are notorious for hyperbole. And throughout the week, we experience highs and lows, optimism and pessimism, faith and doubt. Our attitudes rise and fall like the flows. But we are awake to that as well.
We are awake to the natural world: the crisp moisture in an autumn morning, the slightest movement of the air, the smallest insects dancing on the water, the potential for danger around each corner, the incoming thunderstorm. We must live with senses heightened to the slightest nuances of nature. When we step off the pavement, and away from our vehicles, we enter a very fragile ecosystem in which we are the tourists. We literally immerse ourselves in "the Wild" – even if we can still hear the rush of traffic nearby. While it has evolved over the millennia, and man has left his impact with roads and bridges and cars and dams, the rules of the water have remained the same. Fish must eat. They must have oxygen. They must have a sense of security. They must reproduce. This is their instinct, and we must be aware of it at all times.
We must be awake to where fish hold so they can be in balance with these four, basic rules of survival. We obsess over water, study its depth and speed, the structure below, know where fish are spending their time. We must diligently observe bug life, both that which is flying around us and that which is swimming below. We must be aware of water temperatures and the cloud cover above. We must think like a fish in order to catch a fish, and we must be awake to the laws of nature in order to think in a natural way.
And once we begin thinking more naturally, we become awake to our primordial selves and the predatory instinct that has kept us alive. Since day one on Earth, man has been a hunter, a stalker, a top-shelf predator who is rarely as strong or swift as his prey. We developed tools, weapons, conjured up in our over-sized, complex brains, in order to take our quarry and live another day. This instinct was not completely washed away by the invention of the supermarket and McDonald's drive-thru. But, for most, those senses have been dulled. A fly fisher, like his cousin, the big game hunter, must be awake to those instincts to be successful. He must be a predator.
A fly fisher, like all successful predators, is quiet, stealthy, light of foot with eyes and ears in tune with his environment. He approaches the water slowly, careful his shadow (or the shadow of his rod) doesn't stretch across the water that likely holds a fish. He waits and watches, studying the river bottom for any movement or lifelike shadow, long before he makes a cast. He approaches from behind, knowing that a fish prefers to face into the current and focus on what the river is delivering to it. He crouches so his profile does not give him away. He makes short casts first, working the water from outside to inside, covering every inch methodically so as not to "ruin" a good run with sloppy form. He must be awake to his surroundings, what is above, behind, what is below the water that might cause a fly to snag or become an impediment once a fish is hooked.
The fly-fisher is also awake to his own inadequacies. He utilizes tools that make his job easier, seeing as how the fish really has home field advantage. His rod is light and responsive and deadly accurate in skilled hands. His reel is perfectly balanced to the rod and has a drag that protects the extremely light tippet that attaches the highly-specialized fly to the business end of the line. His polarized glasses allow him to peer below the surface glare and pick up the nearly-imperceptible silhouette of an animal whose chief defense is camouflage. A slew of gadgets and dozens of different fly patterns meant to imitate dozens of bugs in various life cycle stages fill his pack or vest while his feet and legs are protected from the conditions by Gore-Tex, Vibram, neoprene, and other highly technical materials. And these can all cost thousands of dollars. But he is awake to the fact that these tools give him the best chance of fooling his prey, and as a predator, that is all that matters.
But, most importantly, fly fishers are awake to the concept of "forever." Those of us who have fly fished for more than thirty years can attest to the fact that our waters, and the fish that inhabit them, are not as healthy as they once were. Generations of pollution, overuse, mining, and gluttony have taken their toll on fish populations. We have seen first hand the large spawning migrations of steelhead and salmon in the Northwest be reduced to paltry facsimiles of what they once were. The introduction of nonnative or invasive species have created unnatural competition with native species for food sources and spawning grounds. And we are awake to the fact that this cannot continue or our beloved fish will be gone forever.
We are awake to a day in our future when one of our grandchildren hooks a brown trout on a stretch of river our own grandfathers introduced to us a half-century prior as we stand by, ready to provide a net and a snap a photo. We are awake to the need for wild places to remain not just wild, but prolific, in order for man to remember who he once was and realize who he could be. We are awake to the need for catch and release on particularly molested stretches of water, and when it is appropriate, even necessary, to harvest a few for the dinner table to cull the herd. We know it is our responsibility to be stewards of our fish and their habitat, not just to be gluttonous consumers of one of nature's truly beautiful and mystical creatures. We are quick when taking photos. We handle fish gently and return them to the water immediately. We crimp our barbs to avoid unnecessary damage. We don't target fish on spawning beds. We leave the biggest ones to go make more since their genetics have proven so worthy. We are awake to our role in the play of life.
A fly fisher who believes success is measured by the number of pounds or inches of fish he catches is still asleep to this world. When we speak of our adventures, we should speak of the fresh smell of the river at dawn or the pair of bald eagles who graced us with a fly over or the wonderful lunch eaten at streamside with our best friend as we watched risers enjoying their noon meal alongside us. We should respect the challenge of the hunt made manifest in the beauty of the tight loops of our fellow fly fisher's cast and admire every catch with awe and wonder. We should observe the intricate markings on a six-inch brookie with equal admiration as we have for a five-pound rainbow that gets to have his photo taken. We should live to pass it all on to somebody else.
It is time to awaken; you have slept enough. Rise and shake off those shadowy dreams of reality like Plato's prisoners in his allegorical cave. It is time to be meticulous, precise, to take the foot off the gas and take account of our world. Why the rush? Where are you off to in such a hurry? You are sleepwalking at warp speed. To be fully aware and in the moment, to commit yourself to something eternal is a gift too precious to cast aside. Too many of us have become anesthetized by modernity. We have taken our existence for granted because our world has been rendered more predictable by the mechanism of society. We conform to societal norms because we are designed, as animals, to adapt quickly. We seek structure to avoid hardship. We design processes to ensure repeated results. We conform in order to find security in not being alone. We consume.
But life, as it pertains to our existence, as well as to our metaphysical purpose as individuals, was never intended to be predictable, precise, or prefabricated. It has always been chaos, always been about overcoming the twists and turns, the turbulence, the all-present change inherent in being alive. Such is the world of the fish. But we can remember. We can find bliss in that ageless chaos by being in tune, by gazing long and deep into what is left of nature and, by examining it, realizing how we should act in our civilized, predicated world. As fly fishers, in committing to this way of life, this dogged search for an immutable connection to our purpose, we sustain ourselves.
We have set an alarm and risen to it.
We are alive and aware.


Everyone has their own particular brain capacity. From an early age, we are good at some things rather than others, and attracted to particular fields. Do you like detail work or big pictures? Are you good with numbers or with words? You probably had a favorite subject in school; and if you are lucky, when a first job did not suit you, you found one that did—one that well suited your native capacities. Psychologists measure our brain capacities with numbers, our IQ or intelligence quotient, which puts a big emphasis on logical reasoning abilities. But our full capacities are a whole congress of talents for figuring things out, from mathematical puzzles and chess moves to basketball plays and social interaction. In the whole theater of life, some steps are smarter than others.
Education is the widely recognized setting for upping our intelligence game, with more knowledge and more skills; classrooms are important for learning all kinds of things from better writing to the subtleties of mitosis or financial accounting. Education is a great social step for sharpening our native intellectual capacities. But there is another personal step that anyone can take without spending a dime on tuition. Pay attention. Yes, paying attention is like pressing the power button on our brains. Imagine a powerful computer that's turned off; now imagine a powerful brain with great capacities but no attention: powered off. Attention is effective intelligence. No matter your native endowments, add the sharp focus of attention to any project large or small, with interests fired up and mind drilling down on every implication and detail, and you've got intelligence to the max. Find what captures your attention, and you'll find yourself capturing more of the world.
This is a page for brief comments on the changing role of attention in American culture. See my essay "Contesting the Human Normal," https://pubclassroom.com/2016/02/12/adhd-contesting-the-human-normal/, for more on the emergence of the Attention Deficit Disorder diagnosis, revised in the psychiatric profession as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in 1987, and for an overview of debates about how to deal with these tendencies to distraction.
What's DAT offers short accounts of what Americans have been paying attention to and what is being ignored. Does attention follow love or hate, the important or the exciting? Have our capacities for attention changed as our lives have changed in speed of travel and communication, where we live, how we work, and how we play? Does attention support our thoughts or our feelings? Can others control your attention, or are you in charge? What other parts of life attract or distract for this vital gatekeeper of the human mind?


The AGM will be an opportunity for members (new and old) to learn about the plans for the future and participate in the discussion. If you have any items/issues that you would like to see discussed at the meeting please email Chris Johnson the Curracag Chair: chair@curracag.org.uk to have it added to the agenda.
New and lapsed members are equally welcome to come along and join/renew on the evening. If you are a current member and have not yet changed your standing order to cover the full amount of the new membership fee you can also come along and pay the top-up amount.
Please come along and help us make the islands' natural history thrive.


text:
A Little Girl Eva Hayden, Dies of Sepsis
Who is Billy Packer's Wife Barabara? Family is Grieving the loss of Sportscaster
liverpoolecho
A four-year-old child who died following "lost opportunities" at the hospital was a "caring little girl who loved to help people".
How did Eva Hayden Die?
Eva Hayden was transported to Alder Hey's emergency room in January 2020 after collapsing only weeks after Christmas. Eva perished despite the most significant efforts of her father and paramedics to resuscitate her. Hospitals have apologised to Eva's parents after her death after a coroner called for improvements to prevent future fatalities. It was previously reported that Eva, a little girl, experienced sepsis after her family was not advised about the hazards of a condition being studied and her vulnerability to infection.
Tributes to Eva Hayden:
"We remember Eva as such a little child, and throughout her short life, she wanted to assist people," Michelle, 50, said in a tribute to her daughter. Even at nursery, when a little girl was having difficulty settling, Eva took her under her wing to the point where she would only come into a nursery when Eva was present. "I'm sure Eva would never want this to happen to another child or family. She was unique, and that is how we will remember her: as a one-of-a-kind gift to the world for a limited time."
Eva Hayden's Illness:
Eva, from Kirkby, got an infection in her left foot in October 2019 and was transported to Ormskirk District General Hospital. Blood tests suggested she had neutropenia, and she went to Ormskirk hospital for more tests three times in November, but the results remained low. Despite this, no action was taken, and no more blood tests were scheduled for Eva, according to her relatives. Eva felt ill in January 2020, with a fever, rash on her arms and chest, and pain in her feet when walking. The family was told to travel immediately to A&E at Alder Hey Children's Hospital after visiting Kirkby walk-in centre, but she was shortly discharged with a virus.
What is Eva Hayden's Cause of Death?
Coroner Andre Rebello stated that medics "lost opportunities" in treating Eva, who died of sepsis and bone marrow hypoplasia. Families have been apologised to by Ormskirk General Hospital and Alder Hey Children's Hospital. Mum Michelle said: "We are deeply disappointed that Eva got lost in a system of two hospitals caring for her. We didn't find out about Eva's neutropenia and how terrible it was until nearly two years after her death, which affected us hard. It's difficult to imagine that a doctor did not sit with us to explain this and how things may have turned out differently.
"Eva was a lively little girl, and she relied on the hospital staff to provide her with the necessary follow-up. She simply slipped between the gaps, which is utterly unacceptable in a modern health system with norms and practises in place to prevent this from happening." Both hospital trusts stated that there were "a number of shortcomings" and that lessons had been learned. A Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust spokeswoman added: "The Trust extends its heartfelt condolences to Eva's family on their tragic loss. Following Eva's death, an early and thorough investigation was conducted, and action plans were put in place to guarantee that lessons were learned.
Read Also – Aaron Hernandez Fiancé, Accused of Misspending Money
In this article:Eva Hayden,Eva Hayden Died,Eva Hayden Obituary,Eva Hayden Parents,Eva Hayden Passed Away


2) there will be an "official" public meeting (as the earlier meeting was only a pre-application meeting) at which our concerns can be tabled.
If you are interested in getting involved with this particular development at the OMB, heed advice given by the Grange Community Association or the Barrister and Solicitor, William H. Roberts_ or the OMB website itself. The GDNA is interested in hearing about your interest(s) or concern(s); so please email us so that we can integrate your opinions with our own.


text:
In 1997, Miss Maryland Jamie Fox became the first contestant in 50 years to compete in a two-piece swimsuit at the Miss America Pageant.[111] Actresses in action films like Blue Crush (2002) and Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003) made the two-piece "the millennial equivalent of the power suit", according to Gina Bellafonte of The New York Times,[38]
This temperate Dutch island is beloved by divers for good reason. It lies outside the hurricane belt, and it was the first Caribbean island to designate its coasts and reefs a marine park sanctuary. Together, these protections have preserved the surrounding corals, resulting in reefs that remain the most colorful in the region. Moreover, of Bonaire's 89 dive sites, 63 are reachable from shore. The sites on the northern half of the island are preferable for snorkelers, as there are fewer surges, and the reef plateau starts between 2 and 10 feet deep. Top snorkel sites include Andrea I, Witch's Hut and 1,000 steps — so named for the staircase to the water. Fear not: It's really just 78 steps, but the name keeps the crowds away.
It's no surprise that the Maldives tops your list of best islands to snorkel. A chain of 26 atolls and over 1,000 islands in the Indian Ocean, it's the world's most geographically dispersed of countries, and can't be beat for underwater exploration. Seeing as each island is barely the size of a small estate in the Hamptons, we're hard-pressed to pick a top spot, but consider the Anantara Kihava Villas Maldives your first stop.
2 of the best ways is enjoy the warm waters of the Kadavu Archipelago is to snorkel or scuba dive. If you've spent any time planning a trip to warmer climates, you've undoubtedly heard and read about snorkeling and scuba diving a lot — sometimes interchangeably. So what is the difference between snorkeling and scuba diving, and which activity is best for you?
I think Panama, Costa Rica, Ecuador and the Oaxacan Coast of Mexico are all excellent options. If you're just going to these places as a tourist it can get quite expensive but if you're staying long-term you can find much cheaper accommodations that fits your budget (may be a bit minimalist). I have a friend who works in Bocas Del Toro and she absolutely loves it. Probably much better than Panama City if you just want to relax, study and recharge.
Are you a bikini kind of girl? Be sure to check out our awesome mix and match bikini tops and bottoms. Our swimwear tops come in every style you can dream up, from cute and classic halter straps to oh-so-on-trend high-neck silhouettes. And for bottoms, we've got a crazy-awesome variety of cuts, from cheeky to high-waisted bikini bottoms so you can find the best style and fit for your body type and personality.
I'm currently doing the DN thing in San Pancho Mexico, and I think we might have to spend some time in the Oaxacan coast after we're done here. We love staying in apartments and we've got a 2 level, 2 bedroom, 2 bath place here for just $400! Really sweet. We're near PV though so you still get some of the "all inclusive" crowd, but mostly you get expats who from north america who want to bring home to Mexico. Western restaurants, american music etc. Don't get me wrong, we love it, but after reading this I look forward to the authenticity of Oaxaca.
Fury Water Adventures Key West © website contains copyrighted material, trademarks and other proprietary information, including, but not limited to, text, software, photos, videos, graphic, music and sound. The entire contents of Fury Water Adventures Key West © are copyrighted as a collective work under the United States copyright laws. Users shall not publish and distribute such material (in whole or in part) and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media or technology now known or hereafter developed. This website meets AA standards set by the ADA. Please click here for more information.
Oceanic islands are islands that do not sit on continental shelves. The vast majority are volcanic in origin, such as Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean.[11] The few oceanic islands that are not volcanic are tectonic in origin and arise where plate movements have lifted up the ocean floor above the surface. Examples are Saint Peter and Paul Rocks in the Atlantic Ocean and Macquarie Island in the Pacific.
Anguilla is the eye candy of the northern Caribbean, and the stuff of dream vacation destinations. The tiny, flat island is ringed in powdery white sand beaches with sea-grape trees and coconut palms rustling in balmy trade winds and casting lazy shadows across the sand. Colorful shabby-chic beach bars and roadside grills abound, but this island is a swank, luxury destination as well.It's easy to explore the island by either bike or car, and nearby cays are a short sail away. The Heritage Collection presents Anguilla's boat-building history. Prickly Pear cay is perfect for a day of snorkeling and barbecue. Shoal Bay, ranked #1 in the world, offers a premier beach.
In a vast ocean dotted with infinite lagoons, perhaps the most striking of them all is to be found in Aitutaki. A short flight from the main island of Rarotonga brings you to a quiet little 'half island half atoll' – where nothing seems to happen and where the word 'rush' simple doesn't exist. The main reasons to visit Aitutaki is to detach from the stresses of life and to explore its magical lagoon. Once you've completed a circle island tour on a rented scooter, head to the small motu (islets) that hug the outer reaches of the lagoon. Out here, you'll snorkel in coral gardens and make landfall on beaches where fine white sand simply blinds your eyes on a sunny day. If you've always wondered where pictures of that perfect beach you see in travel magazines, posters and screensavers were taken – the answer probably lies in Aitutaki!
Another safety concern is interaction and contact with the marine life during encounters. While seals and sea turtles can seem harmless and docile, they can become alarmed if approached or feel threatened. Some creatures, like moray eels, can hide in coral crevices and holes and will bite fingers when there is too much prodding going on. For these reasons, snorkeling websites often recommend an "observe but don't touch" etiquette when snorkeling.[67]
Which of these great locations would you recommend for a family with teenagers who like to dive and surf? We have been to Hawaii, Costa Rica and Tahiti. We are looking for a safe, yet different, cultural experience with exotic plants, fish and animals. We would prefer to stay in one villa, as opposed to multiple rooms in a hotel. We don't mind if it is far away from Southern California. I realize this may be painful financially.
Surfing was introduced to San Diego at Ocean Beach in 1916 when a local lifeguard borrowed a board from Duke Kahanamoku (although it's possible that George Freeth surfed there between 1907 and 1909).[14] By 1966, the sport was sufficiently established that the World Surfing Championship was held in O.B. Nat Young won the event and was named world surfing champion.[15]
Wowzers! Tahiti is beautiful! The sunset just completes the picture along with tahiti's beautiful scenery! All of these destinations are extremely beautiful but my choice out of all of them would definitely be tahiti! I love tahiti because you get your own little hut to stay in! The huts are placed on top of the the bay of water and it would be so beautiful to wake up in the morning to an ocean right beside you! You'd look down and all you would see is ocean! Its so amazing how gorgeous things are! Tahiti will definitely be on my wish list of places to go in the future. Just need a little more money!
So with all this tropical inspiration – what do you think of the top 10 tropical islands in the South Pacific? Do you have your own secret islands to share? Just remember: touching down on a South Pacific island is a fantasy that lives in the hearts and minds of so many island lovers around the world. Only you can turn your fantasies into realities! Anything is possible, and if you need any help in planning – just let me know!
This is not a wow beach but not a bad beach. It's a beach and a big one. Found my way here in a Sunday after a morning run. It was a nice enough beach to take the time to enjoy. A lot of surfers enjoying the sets rolling in which made it relaxing. It is a nice long stretch and people let their dogs off leash to enjoy it as well. So if you don't like dogs I suggest not going here.
With the dredging and development of Mission Bay and the dismantling of the Ocean Beach-Mission Beach bridge, O.B. became geographically isolated from the rest of San Diego and the other beach communities, until the construction of Interstate 8 in 1967. The westernmost segment of I-8 from Interstate 5 to the terminus in Ocean Beach is officially labeled the "Ocean Beach Freeway".[13]
Looks like you've been to some amazing places! I've been researching many of these locations because I teach music lessons remotely over Skype, Google Hangouts, and Vsee. Problem is, I generally need REALLY fast internet to have decent connections and it needs to be residential as I can't bring my saxophone to the local wifi cafe 🙂 I've been reading that fibre optic will soon be offered in the US Virgin Islands, but it doesn't appear to be at this moment. Have you heard of any tropical islands that fit your description of being more mindfulness oriented that also have fast residential service in the range of 30/5 download/upload speed? Any tips would be greatly appreciated! Thanks a bunch.
While some snorkeling spots can be tricky the guides have an exceptional knowledge of their surroundings, constantly making sure that you remain safe. Most importantly, most of the best snorkeling sites in the Galapagos are actually quite shallow, meaning you can swim and walk out from the beach and then simply swim and follow the coastline to the vivid reefs. Not only does the water depth make it safe for inexperienced snorkelers, it keeps you close to some of the most evocative marine life.
After purchasing a new mask and for maintaining the quality of your mask, prepare a diluted solution of neutral, mild soap to wash the inside of the masks lens. If this is not done, the mask surface could easily become foggy. After the lens has been washed with the soap solution,thoroughly rinse away all soap from the mask surface with water.Use of an petroleum based or strong soap can cause the frame to deteriorate. Your mask, fins and snorkel should be rinsed thoroughly with clean water after each use. Store them in a cool place with no exposure to the sun for longer life.
Beautiful beach, always had to wear a hoodie,always prepare for the cold. Park near sloat if you want bathroom access, or just walk across the street there are well kept public bathrooms haven't tried night time for access. Enjoy the graffiti ,it helps make it. Bring a blanket. There are fire pits though pretty taken, we caught someone leaving right in time. I wanna see the algae that lights up any tips on how would be appreciated!
Thailand has some of the most beautiful islands and beaches in the world. I could do an entire tropical island pictures photo story from its off shore getaways alone! Koh Lipe is one of those islands. Located right on the Malaysian Border, the trip out to Koh Lipe is worth it. Longtail boats line every beach in Southern Thailand making for the picture perfect setting for anyone travelling to the tropics.
Brian Hyland's novelty-song hit "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" became a Billboard No. 1 hit during the summer of 1960: the song tells a story about a young girl who is too shy to wear her new bikini on the beach, thinking it too risqué.[95] Playboy first featured a bikini on its cover in 1962; the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue debut two years later featured Babette March in a white bikini on the cover.[96]
For most parts of the Middle East, bikinis are either banned or is highly controversial. In 1966, In 1973, when Lebanese magazine Ash-Shabaka printed a bikini-clad woman on the cover they had to make a second version with only the face of the model.[125] In 2011, Huda Naccache (Miss Earth 2011), when she posed for the cover of Lilac (based in Israel) became the first bikini-clad Arab model on the cover of an Arabic magazine.[126][127][128]
T.I. is a labyrinth of superlatives—it's one of the largest self-supporting halls on the planet and features the world's largest indoor rainforest; T.I. is Europe's largest tropical island resort and has the continent's biggest wellness and spa complex; the park also holds the record for Germany's highest water slide tower. I learn that the Eiffel Tower could comfortably lie down inside T.I. without piercing its dome, that the sea is the size of three Olympic swimming pools, that there are 50,000 real plants and a number of exotic fish. The air temperature is kept in the high seventies, humidity hovered around 50 percent.
The most important tip that I can give to newbie snorkelers is to RELAX. If at any point you feel panicked, all you have to do is lift up your head and float on your back. The underwater world is something else and we've had many spectacular unforgettable moments while snorkeling. From snorkeling along with millions of sardines and whale sharks in the Philippines to snorkeling with twelve giant manta rays in Indonesia. If you give it a chance, snorkeling is one of the easiest ways to explore the vast majority of what makes up the earth.
But Indonesia has more than just Bali. The nearby Gili Islands are another incredible island getaway. Both destinations make for a more active tropical vacation and the weather remains pretty constant all year round (though April to October sees slightly drier weather). Both Bali and the Gili Islands are close enough that you should be able to visit them both on your trip to really get the most out of this idyllic corner of the world.
The pair built the Cliff House, a resort hotel, and subdivided the area into lots. To promote their subdivision, Carlson and Higgins organized various activities, including mussel roasts and concerts. Despite their efforts, the development did not do well, because it was two and a half hours by carriage from downtown San Diego. They rented a locomotive, but by that time, the boom ended and the development was put on hold. The Ocean Beach Railroad, launched in April 1888, was a casualty of the economic decline.[5] Passengers could take a ferry from San Diego to Roseville in Point Loma to ride the train to the Cliff House. Later, Higgins committed suicide, and a fire started by a fallen chandelier burnt down the Cliff House in 1898. Carlson sold the Ocean Beach tract to an Eastern financier, delaying its development for 20 years.
There are two parking lots and they tend to fill up fast on weekends, so you might have to settle for on-street parking near here. The Ocean Beach Bike Path runs inland along the river from here for bikers and runners. The extreme north end of this beach is called Dog Beach and it's overrun with happy pooches. To get here, take the Ocean Beach Freeway (I-8) west to the end then follow Sunset Cliffs Boulevard to West Point Loma Blvd which ends at the beach.
The greatest danger to snorkelers are inshore and leisure craft such as jet skis, speed boats and the like. A snorkeler is often submerged in the water with only the tube visible above the surface. Since these craft can ply the same areas snorkelers visit, the chance for accidental collisions exists. Sailboats and sailboards are a particular hazard as their quiet propulsion systems may not alert the snorkeler of their presence. A snorkeler may surface underneath a vessel and/or be struck by it. Few locations demarcate small craft areas from snorkeling areas, unlike that done for regular beach-bathers, with areas marked by buoys. Snorkelers may therefore choose to wear bright or highly reflective colors/outfits and/or to employ dive flags to enable easy spotting by boaters and others.[citation needed]
Snorkels come in two orientations: Front-mounted (see Figure 4) and side-mounted (see Figure 5). The first snorkel to be patented in 1938 was front-mounted, worn with the tube over the front of the face and secured with a bracket to the diving mask. Front-mounted snorkels proved popular in European snorkeling until the late 1950s, when side-mounted snorkels came into the ascendancy. Front-mounted snorkels experienced a comeback a decade later as a piece of competitive swimming equipment to be used in pool workouts and in finswimming races, where they outperform side-mounted snorkels in streamlining. Front-mounted snorkels are attached to the head with a special head bracket fitted with straps to be adjusted and buckled around the temples (see Figure 4).
1,200,000 people visited last year. 40% of them stayed overnight with an average stay of 2 nights. Day ticket prices start at €33; an overnight stay in a tent starts at €150. There are supposedly 10 flamingos in residence, but I only saw 9 during my stay. I emailed T.I. reps to see if there'd been a death. A representative assured me they only had a double digit count and said, "[N]ow and then one of them tiptoes around to explore the rest of the hall." There are 275,000 balls in the children's ball pit and I'm sad to report that I missed something called the Space Hole at the water playground where "guests slip into a funnel that slowly sucks them down." The hall has 50,000 plants from 600 species and the work of 1 self-described "palace-slut" who moved to Bali from Australia in the seventies, renounced his name (Michael White), and went on to become a world-renowned tropical landscape architect, designing both David Bowie's estate in Mustique and Tropical Islands' lagoon before his death in 2016. I lasted about 22 hours.
Kangaroo Island houses what was voted Australia's most beautiful beach. So our tropical island pictures round up would not be complete without including it! Kangaroo Island is not only beautiful, there are so many things to see and do. Especially for wildlife lovers. Kangaroos, Koalas, Seals and don't forget about a place so remarkable, it is actually called, the Remarkables! Check it out here!
Close to this island is a little island that provides excellent snorkeling opportunities. You may even spot a few reef sharks. Bathtub-warm water and fine sand beaches kept me here for over three weeks. It will do the same for you. Visit between November and March for the best weather and the fewest people. May through October sees a harsh monsoon season that shuts the island down. The best way to get there is by boat from Pak Bara.
13 restaurants and bars offer a wide variety of dining experiences. As well as a buffet breakfast in the Sawadee Restaurant, the Palm Beach Restaurant, Wok House and Mondial Food Court offer a selection of international specialties and freshly made cocktails. Tropical Garden features multiple-course meals, while Tropino Restaurant serves children's food.
Canadian customers will be responsible for all transportation, storage, and insurance costs (the 'Shipping and Handling Fees') and will purchase the goods from Abercrombie & Fitch Ex Works ('EXW') or Free on Board 'FOB' New Albany, Ohio ' i.e., ownership and the risk of loss or damage to the goods will pass to Canadian customers when Abercrombie & Fitch makes available or delivers the goods to the carrier.


The Blind Leading the Blind, by Pieter Bruegal the Elder. 1568.
Five years ago this month, I published this essay at Aleteia. I've updated some statistics and other material, but for the most part I think its central thesis still applies, perhaps more now than in 2013: we will avoid catastrophe only by placing the common good at the center of our politics.
Several years ago, I stood in line at a Hertz rental counter and pondered the breakdown of complex systems. I had just flown into an airport that serves a large, southeastern American city. It was midday, and the line at Hertz wasn't particularly long; when I got there I was number eleven. There were three people behind the counter, but only one knew anything about the computerized reservation system, and this afternoon that system wasn't working. And so I waited, along with a growing congregation of weary and increasingly frustrated travelers. In the end, it took me an hour and a half to get to the car I had reserved a month earlier.
In the big scheme of things, the incident at Hertz was a minor annoyance, but it occurred to me while waiting that the collapse of any complex system always begins with minor perturbations, detectable only at the margins of consciousness. Unless something intervenes to restore the system's state, those wobbles deepen into wild oscillations that consume the thing itself until it comes to a shuddering, shrieking halt. Think of spinning plates slowing before their final death-wobble, or the tiny steering wheel shimmy that warns of wheels out of alignment. I saw the 90-minute wait at Hertz as a kind of warning wobble, both for the company itself as well as the nation. If we can't get rental cars right, I thought, we're in trouble.
Any complex system is by definition a "system of systems." The human body, for example, is a complex system made up of various subsystems: circulatory, digestive, skeletal, and so on. The stability of any given subsystem affects each of the other subsystems, and as a consequence, the meta-system as a whole. If the renal system fails, for instance, it has profoundly negative effects on the cardio-pulmonary, endocrine, and nervous systems, and ultimately threatens the survival of the body.
Nations are complex systems too, and there are perhaps none more complex than the United States. And yet, nearly all of our subsystems are failing, with many well beyond the wobble stage of collapse. Look at our education system: we spend more per capita on education than most nations around the world, and yet American students rank sixteenth in basic literacy among developed countries, and much worse in mathematics and science. Infrastructure? The American Society of Civil Engineers gives us a D+ grade and estimates that an unlikely $2 trillion would need to be spent on our roads, bridges and tunnels by 2025 just to keep up. The crisis in healthcare is universally acknowledged, and despite the Affordable Care Act, things are getting no better. Americans are getting sicker and dying earlier than citizens of other developed nations, and they're spending more and more of their disposable income to do it.
Our economic system isn't working either. Income and asset inequality have recently reached levels not seen since the Great Depression. The unemployment rate – currently at 3.7% – is nearing historic lows, but that's because the labor participation rate – currently at 62.7% – is also at an historic low. The United States is awash in unfilled jobs, it's true, but a large percentage of those are low-wage. Real wages in the United States have been stagnant for decades. The stock market is doing very well, but there's near universal agreement that it's all a massive, debt-fueled bubble that could pop at any time. And of course, behind everything lies the reality of climate change, the greatest, most profound system failure we face.
But perhaps no system in American life is more broken than our politics, particularly in Washington. The level of dysfunction and partisan, even personal animosity we are witnessing this very week isn't a sign of health, but of collapse. Every system requires a stock of some kind – an input – in order to fuel its internal processes and produce the desired outputs. A system without a stock has no purpose and must ultimately fail. Historically, the stock that fueled the American political system was legitimacy, conferred by the "consent of the governed" and a general acceptance of a defined set of values and norms. Yes, I'm aware that this represents a privileged point of view, and that for racial, sexual, and cultural minorities, as well as women, the legitimacy of the American system was and is far less certain. But under the influence of competing ideologies, special interests, divisive personalities, and above all money, what legitimacy the system possessed is being choked off, and what it once fed is dying before our eyes.


Gregory Ernest Wyke, age 46 of Chapel Hill, formerly of Hayesville, passed away suddenly from a prolonged illness on Saturday, January 26, 2019 at his home. Gregory was born August 31, 1972 in Hiawassee, GA to Ernest Ray Wyke and Nancy Dills Wyke. A graduate of Hayesville high school, Greg obtained a Bachelors degree in Cosmetology and became the owner and operator of "The Salon" in Chapel Hill. Greg accomplished many things in his life, he was a successful business owner, he traveled abroad and ran marathon races. He was well loved and will be greatly missed by his family, and many clients and friends.
Greg was preceded in death by paternal grandparents, Andrew and Edna Wyke, and maternal grandparents, Larry and Hazel Dills.
Survivors include his parents, Ernest and Nancy Wyke, sister, Theresa Chamer, several aunts, uncles and cousins, and his beloved dog, Buddy.
Funeral services will be held Thursday, January 31, 2019 at 2:00 pm at the Cochran Funeral Home with the Rev. Aud Brown and Rev. Robbie Moss officiating. Interment will follow in New Hope Baptist Church Cemetery. Pallbearers will be Phillip McCray, Daniel Wyke, Dale Scroggs, Bobby Shook, Glenn Matheson, and Chris Chamer. Honorary pallbearer will be Kevin Brown.
The family will receive friends at the Cochran Funeral Home of Murphy on Thursday, January 31, 2019 from 12-2 pm.
Mr. John Roy Brackett, age 93 of Cisco, passed away peacefully at his home Thursday, October 4th, 2018. He was of the Baptist faith.
Johnny was a veteran of the U.S. Army Air Corps and proudly served his country during WW II. He will be especially remembered in the community and state for his great love and knowledge of the Cohutta Wilderness due to the many long hours acquired across a lifetime of hunting and fishing. Subsequently, he acquired an impressive collection of local Indian artifacts.
After retirement from the U.S. Forestry Service, he spent most Saturdays cheering on the U.T. Vols. He was a devoted and loyal fan in both football and basketball, especially Pat Summitt's Lady Vols.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Florence Douthitt Brackett; his parents Rev. J.E. and Etta Brackett; sister Gladys Ellis; brothers: Willie (Edna), J.P. (Louise), and Herbert Brackett; sisters-in-law Phyllis (Bill) Campbell and Maxine (Roy) Kersey.
John Roy is survived by his "special grandchildren Jack and Audrey Stafford, along with his faithful and loyal companion Buddy. Nieces: Lisa (John) Stafford; Pamela (Tom) Ownby; Teresa (Steven) Suttles; nephews: Jerry (Susan) Ellis, Harold Brackett; and sister Leoma Brock; great and great-great nieces and nephews and a host of friends and neighbors.
The family wishes to thank his devoted caregivers: Jeremy and Leia Collins, Tammy Hesson, Faye Manis and Tina Flatters. Their love and kindness allowed John Roy to remain where he was most happy, at home, with his faithful dog Buddy.
Funeral services to celebrate the life of John Brackett will be 4:00 PM Wednesday, October 10th 2018 from the chapel of Jones Funeral Home with Rev. Lamar Beason officiating, remarks by Judge Shepherd Howell and Jack Stafford. Burial will be in Mt. Sumach Cemetery.
Pallbearers will be Billy Brackett, Harold Brackett, Jeremy Collins, Jerry Ellis, Tom Ownby and Jack Stafford.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Cisco School Fund c/o Becky Whaley P.O. Box 24 Cisco, Ga 30708 or St. Jude Children's Hospital 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis TN 38105.


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The objective of any shooter is to perform at the highest level under pressure. To perform under stress requires concentration. Each shooter must learn to perform in all types of conditions. For the observer/sniper this includes shooting in inclement weather, shooting at moving targets, and/or shooting in unusual positions.


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What Is a Genetically Modified Organism, or GMO?
As explained by the Non-GMO Project, a genetically modified organism, also known as a GMO, is an organism (usually a plant or an animal) whose genes have been modified or mutated in a laboratory, resulting in an organism that does not naturally occur, but has some sort of new and "desirable" trait.
This is most often done in order to make crops resistant to herbicides, so that herbicides can be used to destroy weeds and other undesirable plants, while the crop continues to flourish, according to the Environmental Working Group. GMO crops have also been manipulated to do things like resist frost, diseases, or animals.
In our society, GMOs are most prevalent in crops that are fed to livestock, but they are also used to feed humans and for a host of other functions.
How Are GMOs Created?
GMOs are created in a lab using genetic engineering or transgenic technology. Genetic engineering is when a scientist manipulates the DNA or genetic material of an organism. There are a variety of methods for doing this, which include: changing a base pair, removing some of the organism's DNA, combining the DNA with another organism's DNA, and induced mutation, as per Your Genome.
Transgenic technology is a similar process, and is done by introducing a new genetic material to an organism's germ line, according to a study published in ILAR Journal.
When Were GMO Crops Created?
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), in 1982, a tomato became the very first genetically engineered plant. However, the U.S. did not begin commercially producing GMO crops until 1996, when Monsanto began selling Roundup (more on that below).
What Does Non-GMO Mean?
Food labeled non-GMO is food that was not genetically modified in a laboratory. It is either in its natural state, or it has only been modified via crossbreeding. These foods can either be organic or non-organic.
Which Foods Are GMO?
The two most commonly grown GMO crops in the U.S. are corn and soybeans. Other GMO crops include alfalfa, canola, cotton, and sugar beets, among others. More than 90 percent of the corn and soybeans grown in the U.S. is genetically modified, according to a USDA report.
Interestingly, only about 6 percent of the world's soybeans are actually eaten by humans. About 70 percent of the world's soybeans are fed to livestock, and the remaining soybeans are turned into products like vegetable oil or biodiesel, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. So even though soy gets a bad reputation for causing so much deforestation, that doesn't mean we need to stop eating tofu — it means we need to stop raising animals for meat, dairy, and eggs.
Can GMO Foods Be Organic?
Since the point of genetically modifying a crop is often to make it resistant to pesticides or herbicides, GMO crops cannot be organic. In fact, if a food is labeled organic, that almost always means it is non-GMO, according to the USDA.
How to Know if a Food is Non-GMO?
As mentioned above, one way to determine if a food is non-GMO is if it's labeled organic. Any food that's organic, whether it's a whole plant food, an animal product, a packaged snack, or a meal in a restaurant, is by default non-GMO. If an animal-derived food is labeled organic, that means the animals you are eating was theoretically not fed any GMO feed during their lifetime.
Another way to identify non-GMO foods is by looking for the Non-GMO Project Verified seal. However, Consumer Reports did a study and found that some foods with the USDA organic or the GMO Project Verified Seal still contained up to 0.9 percent GMOs.
What Is the Non-GMO Project?
The Non-GMO Project is a nonprofit organization that runs a third-party non-GMO verification program. The organization is behind the "non-GMO verified" seal that a butterfly image that you would probably recognize from various food packaging. Any item with the official seal is supposed to be free of genetically modified foods.
What Are Glyphosate and Roundup?
Glyphosate is a non-selective herbicide, which means it kills most plants — except for plants that have been genetically modified to resist it, which are often called "Roundup Ready" crops. As explained by The Scientist Magazine, the corporation Monsanto (now owned by Bayer) began using glyphosate as an herbicide in the 1970s, commercially releasing it under the name Roundup. Two decades later, in 1996, Monsanto had developed "Roundup Ready" genetically modified crops, which were modified to resist the herbicide Roundup. That way, the crops can be doused in glyphosate and still thrive, while weeds and other unwelcome plants will be killed.
Glyphosate is highly controversial, and according to Fortune, the World Health Organization classifies glyphosate as carcinogenic. In fact, about 11,200 people who have developed cancer or other negative health conditions since using Roundup or Ranger Pro (Bayer's other glyphosate-based product) are currently suing Bayer, according to Fortune. Bayer has already been charged and ordered to pay two plaintiffs who allege that Roundup caused their cancer.
In response to the suspected ties to cancer, some countries and cities have banned the use of glyphosate. U.S. cities with glyphosate bans include various cities in Florida, California, Illinois, Maryland, Kansas, and New York, according to Baum Hedlund Law.
Are GMOs Bad for the Environment?
While the science on this varies, it's pretty clear that Roundup Ready crops can have a negative environmental effect. The point of Roundup Ready crops is that they can survive through being sprayed by an avalanche of herbicides. In fact, between 1974 and 2016, more than 1.6 billion kilograms of glyphosate have been applied across the U.S., according to a study published by NCBI.
Herbicides have a variety of negative environmental effects. According to the EWG, glyphosate can be harmful to small wildlife including birds and insects, and most importantly butterflies. Some experts believe glyphosate has contributed to the depletion of monarch butterflies, the EWG noted. Additionally, a study published on ScienceDirect found that glyphosate may be a driver of antibiotic resistance in humans. Not to mention, glyphosate can negatively impact biodiversity when the chemical seeps into the soil and then into plant roots, when it gets washed by the rain into waterways, and when it gets blown into wild animal habitats by the wind.
Are GMOs Safe to Eat?
Since GMOs are relatively new, there isn't enough data yet for a definitive answer to this question — but there are plenty of opinions and early science on the topic out there. Many environmentalists and health organizations assert that GMOs are carcinogenic and linked to other health concerns, and that eating genetically modified foods should be avoided as much as possible.
Conversely (and unsurprisingly), Bayer, other manufacturers of glyphosate, and producers of GMO crops tend to have opposing opinions on this, often claiming that there is no definitive proof that GMOs are unhealthy. All that being said, it will be interesting to see how perceptions and science surrounding GMOs continue to evolve in the future.
Photo Source: Scott Olson/Getty Images
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