The legacy of the time of the Pharaohs of the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty is being ransomed after the silence caused by intentionally misrepresented history. Now, researchers and institutions are recovering the splendour of the Nubian civilization.
The fascinating culture, history, monuments and religion of Egypt have often overshadowed another not less remarkable and surprising civilization that developed along with the Egyptian one, the civilization of the Black African people of Nubia: the biblical Kush, which due to geographical, climatic and historical circumstances remained forgotten and buried in the burning sands of the Nubian desert for thousands of years. Today the Nubian civilization is coming to light again, revealing its admirable secrets, thanks to the enormous work and efforts of archaeologists and organizations such as the UNESCO, which seek to save it from the water flow behind the Aswan Dam.
Nubia is an ancient region in north eastern Africa, extending approximately from the Nile River valley (near the first cataract, in Aswan, Upper Egypt) eastward to the shores of the Red Sea, southward to about Khartoum (in what is now Sudan), and westward to the Libyan Desert.
Nubia lies in the south of Egypt and the north of Sudan. Although it was split between two countries during the European colonization of Africa, it has a distinct culture and language. Ancient Nubia was a homogeneous and independent state. It was the seat of one of the earliest civilizations of ancient Africa with its own rulers, customs, religion and culture.
Nubians were a people of artisans, merchants, goldsmiths, very skilled archers and fierce warriors who were able to compete with their powerful neighbour to the north. At one point, the Nubian Pharaohs of the 25th Dynasty even ruled over Egypt for 75 years. Egyptians did, however, conquer Nubian territory at various times, and over centuries their influence, customs and culture overshadowed and absorbed the Nubian civilization.
To the south of the Third Cataract on the east bank of the Nile River, is the city of Kerma, which was a very important centre for trade located between northern Egypt and the kingdom of Kush, where Egyptian merchants went mainly in search of the coveted gold. Kush was known by the Egyptians as the land of gold, which was so appreciated by pharaohs.
But the kingdom of Kush was also a thriving centre for the trade of other metals, livestock, all kinds of wood, aromatic plants, incense, pottery and slaves. The city of Kerma was surrounded by walls and is home to one of the oldest and most enigmatic structure in the world and, undoubtedly in Africa: the Deffufa, a mud brick temple where ceremonies were performed on top. This complex structure is 50m by 25m, and 18 meters tall.
It is interesting to note that the Deffufa dates back to around 4,500 years ago, just like the first Egyptian pyramids. So, the time of the beginning of the Nubian and Egypt civilization apparently coincides.
The forgotten Kingdom of Kerma was re-discovered by the American archaeologist, George Reisner, during the early 20th century. Fascinated by the site’s wealth, he could not imagine it to be the work of an indigenous Nubian civilisation. Kerma was thus considered a faraway post administered by the Egyptians, who had known how to stimulate the development of the region. This interpretation nonetheless prevailed for several decades until numerous studies and new findings proved and recognized the historical value of the Nubian African kingdom of Kush.
Egypt suffered a great political, religious and moral crisis around 730 B.C. Each city or region of the kingdom had its own ruler. This fragmentation of power favoured the settlement of communities of Libyan origin, which over time, took control of the north of the country.
When the influential priests of Ammon in Karnak started to feel threatened by the presence of the Lybian communities, they urged Pharaoh Kushita Piye – or Pianji – to save the Egyptian civilization from its ultimate destruction and disappearance. Acclaimed by the priests as the son of the god Amun, the Pharaoh quickly assembled an army to invade Egypt. As ruler of Nubia and Upper Egypt, Piye took advantage of the squabbling of Egypt’s rulers by expanding Nubia’s power beyond Thebes into Lower Egypt.
Piye considered himself the legitimate successor of great Egyptian Pharaohs such as Thutmose III and Ramses II. Piye viewed his campaign as a Holy War, commanding his soldiers to cleanse themselves ritually before beginning battle.
In just over a year, all the rulers of the north were defeated, and the long-awaited political and religious union of Egypt was restored. Once he had consolidated his power and restored the unity of the country, Pianji returned to Kush, his homeland. Under his mandate Egypt regained sovereignty, and the cult of Ammon, of the other gods and the Egyptian religious culture were restored. When he died in 715 B.C., he was buried with four of his horses, in an Egyptian-style pyramid. Pianji was the initiator of the XXV Dynasty, known as that of the Black Pharaohs in the history of Egypt.
Upon his death, his brother Shabaka assumed power and chose Memphis as his residence. During his rule he had to face several uprisings by Libyans, and he had also to confront with the Assyrian king Sennacherib who attacked the fortified cities of the Kingdom of Judah. Instead of ordering the execution of his enemies, Shabaka generally ordered that they dig irrigation canals and dikes in order to protect villages from the various floodings of the Nile. He was succeeded by his nephew Taharca, son of Pianji.
By reading the inscriptions on some steles, it is clear that Taharca was remembered as one of the great Pharaohs of Egypt. In 690 B.C., he was crowned in Memphis and acclaimed as the chosen one of Amón. During his twenty-six year rule, Pharaoh Taharca was able to guarantee peace and prosperity to the kingdoms of Egypt and Nubia.
Taharca, following the path of the great Pharaohs, commissioned the building of several monuments, including two temples in the Nubian city of Napata, where the sacred mountain of Jebel Barkal, birthplace and residence of the god Amun, is located. Taharca was the most important Black Pharaoh of the XXV Dynasty and his influence in Egypt was so great and important that neither his enemies nor time have been able to erase his memory.
His successor, Tanutamani, tried to reunify the Egyptian kingdoms again. He remained on the throne in Thebes for eight years, then the Assyrians defeated him and forced him to return to Nubia, where the Kushite kings continued to reign for a millennium, first in Napata and then in Meroe.
The Black Pharaohs of the XXV Dynasty were considered the saviours and unifiers of the religious and cultural values of Egypt at a critical time in its history. Being considered as the sons of Ammon, they were guarantors of the continuity of the Egyptian divine dynasty, of all its traditions and principles. That is why they fought against invaders that endangered both unity and culture.
They ruled as authentic Egyptian Pharaohs controlling the administration, religion, priests and commissioning imposing buildings. They considered themselves fully Egyptian because of their culture and religion, although they came from a different ethnic environment. They were never seen as invaders but as an integral part of the same kingdom, Upper and Lower Egypt and, also very important, that of Kush.


I wrote my first book when I was in second grade. I think it was about a rabbit. Several sheets of grade school writing paper were sandwiched in between two pieces of decorated construction paper, hole-punched on the side and secured with yarn. I remember the writing paper, gray and textured with wide rows for writing on the bottom half and blank space for drawing on the top half.
My book, which I think may have been titled “My Book”, was filled with my simple words and crayon pictures as I held it close and marched with my class across the hall to the other second grade class. I stood in line, proudly waiting for my turn to read my story aloud. We had accomplished something big.
As Jonah and Abby have heard me talking about my writing, reading books about writing, and occasionally even writing, ( 🙂 ) they too have wanted to create words and stories. And they each now have “first books” that I hope they will remember well into adulthood.
Abby’s book is titled “The Cat, the Dog, and the Red Lego”. It’s about a cat, a dog, and a red lego. And I’m proud to say that she knows how to use her dialogue tags. “Hello” said the dog to the cat. “Hello” the cat said to the dog. She is still working on the illustrations, but she wrote on every page and carefully stapled all the pages together along the side with her name and title on the front. She was so proud to read the story to first me and then her daddy. She had that look of accomplishment that I felt. And I was so proud.
Jonah is still working on his book. So far he has written 600-700 words. Actually, he has typed the words, which I am very pleased with because we have just started working on typing this year. Because he is using the computer for his book, he has decided to also use computer images for his illustrations. Sometimes he uses the Paint program to create what he is thinking, and sometimes he searches online for an image to match his story. I have loved seeing the creation process with him because he is so detailed and likes to have everything complete for one segment before moving on to the next. He loves when I sit down to read what he has written so far.
Construction paper books and first novels typed into simple word documents. Pure and simple creation from the minds of children.
Do you remember your first book? Or your first creation that you were proud to have accomplished?


The Body Keeps the Score is a book you would read to learn about the physiology and science of trauma, people’s experience of trauma and ways that a person might recover from it. It is written by Bessel Van Der Kolk a Dutch born psychiatrist, educator and author with over thirty years of experience working with people who have experienced trauma.
What i liked about the book?
The Body Keeps the Score is written from thirty years of real-life experience and research giving it a solid grounding. This book paints a comprehensive picture of the different types of trauma as well as how it might affect the mind, brain and body. Examples include attachment trauma, abuse and big T trauma.
What I like about it is that the order and thread of the book takes the reader on the journey of trauma. Essentially our experience of it and how it affects us, to remembering trauma and what we can do to help ourselves recover from it.
If you have experienced trauma or therapy to help you process the trauma this book will have a wealth of information to help you. What is great about the book is that in my experience one of the difficulties people have when trying to get over trauma is questioning their response to the trauma or their role within it. Gaining insight from this book in relation to the commonalities of how people respond to trauma helps the reader feel normal. As a practitioner who works everyday with trauma another difficulty people might experience after trauma is their perceived inability to ‘get over it’ even many years later. This book explains why this is again normalising a person’s experience of trauma.
The book takes you on a trauma journey from the eyes of people who have experienced trauma or helped with it. What is helpful about the book is that each section or chapter of information can be read and understood as a stand alone piece making it a book that you can dip in and out of without having to begin at the beginning each time. The case studies illustrating a person’s experience help provide the relevant context needed for understanding each chapter in its own right.
The book is well indexed and each section of the book is clearly labelled maintaining the transformation of trauma thread all the way through the book. Some of the sections and chapters have a clever play on words, for example: ‘What’s love got to do with it?’ which makes the chapter memorable and keeps trauma amateur sleuth interested.
The main reason why I love this book is that it makes some complicated insights and observations and insights accessible to trauma survivors, clinicians and anyone who is interested in the subject.
In keeping with tradition and to present a balanced book review I have included a section on what I don’t like about the book. There is very little I dislike about the book however the only point I would raise is the format of the book. This could be deemed a negative or a positive depending on your viewpoint. The book is in a novel paperback format which I not necessarily the best format for such a rich abundance of informative information. A text book which was in colour with larger print would make the book more accessible for some readers. The positives of this format is that it keeps the cost down and can be read on the move.
In conclusion this book is a comprehensive guide to trauma for general interest or for a therapist working with traumatised clients. The way it is written is accessible to all readers because of the simple way it is written and practical examples used. The book takes you on an informative journey about trauma; which includes the mind and body as well as ways to heal from it. I would thoroughly recommend this book.
Notable Quotes about The Body Keeps the Score
‘Van der Kolk draws on thirty years of experience to argue powerfully that trauma is one of the West’s most urgent public health issues… Packed with science and human stories’ NEW SCIENTIST
‘Breath-taking in its scope and breadth, a seminal work by one of the preeminent pioneers in trauma research and treatment’ PETER A. LEVINE. AUTHOR OF WAKING THE TIGER
‘Dr can der Kolk’s masterpiece combines the boundless curiosity of the scientist, the erudition of the scholar, and the passion of the truth teller’ JUDITH HERMAN, AUTHOR OD TRAUMA AND RECOVERY


When you see how much some students pay for textbooks, you might be searching for some other alternatives to paying full price for textbooks. Books in college can be overwhelmingly expensive and not many people take them into account when creating a college budget. I know friends who have spent upwards of $500 on one semester’s worth of books. It is crazy how fast the cost can add up. But with these alternatives to paying full price for textbooks, you can really save a bunch of money and still learn just as much.
With the high price of textbooks being a huge source of stress for students, sharing a textbook with a friend is one of the best alternatives to paying full price for textbooks. It not only lets you pay half price for a textbook, you get an automatic study buddy. This is a great option if one of your best friends is in your class. You two can take turns reading the book during the week and then get together on the weekend to swap notes.
If you don’t need to highlight your textbooks, you could look into renting your textbooks instead of buying them full price. This option tends to be a little bit cheaper but you do have to be careful to take good care of the book during the semester. If you return it in poor condition or if you lose it, most companies will charge you a hefty fee.
This is usually what I do when it comes times to read textbooks. Most of my teachers will put textbooks on reserve in the library for students to check out for a few hours at a time. Not only does this save you tons of money on textbooks, it will help you set aside a certain time you will be focused on reading your textbook. Head to the library, check out the book, and enjoy the next two hours focusing solely on your studies.
It might seem way more convenient to stop by your local bookstore to pick up textbooks, but it will definitely make a dent in your wallet. It you want a discount on textbooks, try to shop around online for the cheapest option. Websites like Chegg.com and Neebo.com are great places to start, but if you really want a bargain, search the ISBN number of your textbook and look around for the lowest price.
Having friends in your major can come in handy when it comes time to get textbooks. Contact any of your friends you know have taken a class you’re in and see if they are willing to sell you their used textbook for a reduced price. It will save you a ton of money and you have an immediate contact if you need help in a class.
If you are high-tech, an e-book could be a great alternative for you. Because companies don’t actually have to produce and ship a textbook, e-books tend to be cheaper than a physical copy. It also helps you go green because it saves a TON of paper in printing.
If you really want to save money and don’t mind spending a while standing by a copy machine, you can always borrow the book from a friend and copy the pages you need. It may take a while, but it certainly is one of the cheapest options.
Textbooks are a huge headache for any college student. Half the time, teachers don’t even use material from the books. Save yourself the trouble of draining your bank account and use these alternatives to paying full price for textbooks. What did you think of these alternatives? What are some other alternatives to paying full price for college textbooks? What are some ways you have gotten discounted textbooks?
Please rate this article


Nito.LINQ provides several LINQ-like operators and algorithms, particularly for lists (IList<T>), sorted sequences, and sorted lists.
Much of the inspiration f
There are several motivational forces behind the development of Nito.Linq, but they all come down to
, and Expand
- Promote useful operators now defined in List<T>/Array, making them available for any IList<T> (or IEnumerable<T>, if possible).
- Example: List<T>.AsReadOnly may be applied to any IList<T>:
IList<T> AsReadOnly<T>(this IList<T> list)
- Example: List<T>.IndexOf may be applied to any IEnumerable<T>:
int IndexOf<T>(this IEnumerable<T> source, T value)
- Optimize some existing LINQ sequence operators when applied to IList<T>.
- Example: Reverse may be applied to an IList<T> without copying the sequence:
IList<T> Reverse<T>(this IList<T> list)
- Preserve indexed element access if it doesn't need to be lost.
- Example: Select may be applied to an IList<T> and still permit indexed element access:
IList<TResult> Select<TSource, TResult>(this IList<TSource> list, Func<TSource, TResult> selector)
- Expand the available operators, taking inspiration from C++ STL algorithms, Python sequences, and jQuery result sets. (Note that although the
concepts are similar, Nito.Linq operators almost always create "views" of the unchanged source rather than modifying the source directly.)
- Example: Python has a slice syntax that efficiently references a subset of the original sequence:
IList<T> Slice<T>(this IList<T> list, int offset, int count)
- Example: The C++ STL has a rotate algorithm that rotates the elements in a container:
IList<T> Rotate<T>(this IList<T> list, int offset)
- Expand the LINQ namespace by providing sorted sequence and sorted list interfaces and operators.
- Promote sort-related operators now defined in List<T>/Array.
- Example: List<T>.BinarySearch may be applied on any ISortedList<T>:
int BinarySearch<T>(this ISortedList<T> list, T item)
- Optimize some existing LINQ operators when applied to sorted sequences and lists.
- Example: Union may be applied to sorted sequences without buffering:
ISortedEnumerable<T> Union<T>(this ISortedEnumerable<T> source, params ISortedEnumerable<T> others)
- Preserve "sortedness" if it doesn't need to be lost.
- Example: Skip may be applied to an ISortedList<T>, and the result is still sorted:
ISortedList<T> Skip<T>(this ISortedList<T> list, int offset)
- Expand the available operators, taking inspiration from C++ STL operators.
- Example: EqualRange may be applied to any sorted sequence: void EqualRange<T>(this ISortedList<T> list, T item, out int begin, out int end)
Nito.Linq is currently in a pre-release state. See the note at the end of this page if you need to compile the source. The binaries are included in source control for ease of linking to other projects (using svn:externals).
It will optionally use Rx (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/devlabs/ee794896.aspx
if Rx is not used, then Rx-like operators are provided (e.g., Zip
Building the Sources
The library projects contain references to a "Source\Sources\Properties\AssemblyVersion.cs" file that is not included in source code control. This file is expected to contain just an AssemblyVersion attribute, like this:


The soil story
|Drawdown, The Most Comprehenisve Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming, ed Paul Hawken
|A detailed description of one hundred existing and available technological solutions for climate change. Each solution is examined and categories with a calculation of the amount of CO2 reduced, cost to implement and expected saving, including solutions that drawdown CO2 from the atmosphere.
|Dirt to Soil by Gabe Brown
|U.S based but one of the best and easiest to read to understand the journey away from conventional agricultrue practivces
|Call of the Reed Warbler, by Charles Massey
|Australian based covering the topic of regnerative agriculture in considerable detail, including many examples
|For the Love of Soil by Nicole Masters
|Nicole Masters provides information and a roadmap for producers to understand what to do and why they need to look after their soil and to grow profits. Also a great read for the non famrer.
|The Wooleen Way by David Pollock
|Easy to read account of the economic and political constraints as they endeavour to rehabilitate and look after their land in the Murchison area. W.A.
|The Biggest Estate on Earth by Bill Gammage
|Soil- the incredible story of what keeps the earth, and us, healthy, by Matthew Evans
|Australian based, easy to read, entertaining, and full of useful information
|Cows Save the Planet- and other improbable wasys of restoring soil to heal the earth, by Judith D. Schwartz
|U>S> based. Easy to read and full of interesting stories and information
|The soil will save us- How scientists, farmers and foodies are healing the soil to save the planet, by Kristin Ohlson
|U.S based account of her journey to understanding the complexities and possibilities of soil
|THE SOIL STORY
- The Road to Regenerative Agriculture Teaching Curriculum
|View the PDF Here
|The Regenerative Farmer, David Marsh
|Bruce and Roz Maynard- The Lazy Farmers from Narromine NSW. 8 min
|Put Carbon back where it belongs- back in the soil
Dr Christine Jones. World renowned soil scientist and adviser to farmers. 7 min
|What is Regenerative Agriculture? 4 min
|The Soil Story - produced by Kiss The Ground. 4 min
|Plant Health Cure- 12 min
Excellent description of the symbiosis between plants, bacteria and fungi
|Soil Carbon Sequestration and the Soil Food Web.Calculations on soil carbon sequestration. Elaine Ingham
|Diane and Ian Haggerty,on how they transitioned to different agricultural prtactices. In W.A. 15 min
|Profitable Regenerative Agriculture, Colin Seis
|Soils for Life. Stories of Regenerative Farmers. 12 min
|Kiss the Ground
Dynamic organisation based in the U.S with great programs and terrific resources available to download
Christine Jones articles. Christie Jones is well known and respected soil scientist who works with farmers to farm more productively
|Soils for Life. A not for profit organisation, dedicated to supporting Australian farmers and rural communities in regenerating soils and landscapes.
Includes many case studies
|Farming Secrets, Australian based organisation providing informati0n, mentoring, and courses to farmers
who are on their regenerative journey and encourage them to share and mentor the next generation of farmers making the switch to regenerative farming.
|Farmers for Climate Action.
Australian based movement of farmers and rural Australians leading the way on climate solutions
|Regenerative Agriculture Alliance, in assoc with Southern Cross University. A collaboration of Australias leading researchers and practitioners in regenerative agriculture,
RegenWA is a network of committed West Australian farmers and industry stakeholders who are identifying, implementing and sharing innovative land management practices that other farmers can adopt.
|The Rodale Institute
US based organisation advocacy, research and training on regenerative organic. Really interesting trials and research
|Charlie Arnott. The Regenerative Journey. Interviews with Australians in the Regenerative Agriculture field
|John Kempf, US based is world recognised as a leader in regenerative agriculture. Oriented towards practicing farmers. Great podcasts with best in their field regenerative practitioners.
|The Soil Food Wed. Established by Elaine Ingham.
Has great information and 5 really interesting short videos that explain concepts such as Soil carbon Sequstration, Inhibiting pests and diseases and Weed Suppression and much more
|Secrets of the Soil Podcast with Regen Ray
|Secrets of the Soil Podcast - https://www.SoilLearningCenter.com/podcast
People to follow in Regenerative agriculture
|People to follow in Regenerative agriculture
|Professor Ohio State University. Soil Scientist focus on soil fertility.
|Christine is a soil ecologist and has worked with innovative farmers and graziers implementing regenerative agricultural practices that provide benefits for biodiversity, carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, water management and productivity.
|Elaine Ingham is an American microbiologist and soil biology researcher and founder of Soil Foodweb Inc. She is known as a leader in soil microbiology and research of the soil food web, She is an author of the USDA's Soil Biology Primer.
|Eloquent and very knowledgable speaker. Founded Nutri-Tech Solutions
|Diane and Ian Haggerty
|Ian and Dianne Haggerty, cropping farmers in Western Australia, are famous for their ability to transform degraded land (that few farmers wanted) into healthy productive land. They generously share their time and insights in many presentations. A quick internet search will find them.


The Multilateral Agreement Council confirms the launching of the EA MLA for the accreditation of Reference Material Producers (RMP) with the following signatories: ACCREDIA, CAI, ENAC, INAB, RvA, TURKAK and UKAS.
Due to the important role of Reference Materials regarding the transfer of the values of measured or assigned quantities between testing, analytical and measurement laboratories, and accordingly the competence of Reference Material Producers, EA decided to launch a new scope of the EA MLA for the accreditation of Reference Material Producers.
The EA Multilateral Agreement (EA MLA) is a signed agreement between the EA Members whereby the signatories recognize and accept the equivalence of the accreditation systems operated by the signing members, and also the reliability of the conformity assessment results provided by Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) accredited by the signing members. It makes the objective ‘Accredited once, accepted everywhere’ effective.
In preparation for the MLA, the Laboratory Committee (LC) organized a workshop in 2017 on the accreditation of Reference Material Producers. The workshop was based on a train-the-trainer model with a view to share understanding of the international standard ISO 17034:2016 General requirements for the competence of reference material producers and its application in accreditation assessments. It was also largely beneficial to potential ISO 17034 peer-evaluators as it strengthened a harmonized approach to these peer-evaluations.
In accordance with EA rules, three positive peer-evaluations of EA Members were needed to launch the RMP MLA. RMP signatories were peer-evaluated in 2018 and 2019 and the EA MAC during their last meeting in May 2019 (Reykjavik, Iceland), based on the peer-evaluation reports, decided to grant the EA MLA signatory status for RMP to the following National Accreditation Bodies: ACCREDIA, CAI, ENAC, INAB, RvA, TURKAK and UKAS.
But… Who is using RMP?
Users of Reference Materials are Testing Laboratories, Proficiency Testing Providers (PTP) and, to a lesser extent, Calibration Laboratories. Purposes for the use of Reference materials include:
– Establishment of metrological traceability of measurement results
– Validation of test methods
– Quality control
The launching of the EA MLA for RMPs in May 2019 and the forthcoming ILAC recognition within the worldwide MRA for RMPs, will probably boost the number of organizations seeking accreditation according to ISO 17034.
By the end of 2018, around 57 Reference Material Producers were accredited (see EA MLA Report 2018).


As another year comes to an end, I’ve been thinking about what 2017 was for me. Strangely, though the world seems chaotic (and, at times, much worse than that), I personally feel quite grounded right now. And happy. Like, I don’t know where I’m going but I know it’s somewhere good. Maybe that’s what happens when you hit your 30s :)
Many things influenced me this year, for the better. In that spirit, I thought I’d compile a little list of the top 5 books that left an impression on me during 2017. It wasn’t an easy list to make (there’s my old friend indecisiveness rearing its head again), but these ones stand out for their beautiful prose, fantastic images, the boldness of the characters, or the life lessons I gained. Memoirs steal the show here, and I'm sorry to say that fiction doesn't feature (but I do love fiction!). And generally these relate to nature, wildlife, or art in some way... I may be a bit biased!
A Wild Life: A visual biography of photographer Michael Nichols
I honestly had to force myself to read this book slowly. I didn’t want it to end. Beautifully written, and visually brilliant, A Wild Life is an arms-wide-open story of the life of photographer Michael “Nick” Nichols. This is not really a book about photography, but rather of Nick’s coming as a person and an artist. It’s a solid account of someone who struggled through a tough childhood, difficult relationships, substance abuse, life-threatening diseases, and an intensely demanding industry, but did not fail or even slow down. It’s about the kind of people who give their all, and sacrifice many things, for the causes they believe in.
Nick is a remarkable photographer. He’s one of the rare guys and, in my opinion, one the best contemporary photographers of the natural world. His photos tell stories; deep, honest, confronting stories. They leave me questioning many things. This world. Our kindness, and also our selfishness. What we owe to other species. What it means to be human.
A Wild Life is filled with Nick’s photographs, from his earliest days trying to make a break into the industry in the 1970s, right through his time with Magnum and his decades-long career with National Geographic magazine. In the beginning, Nick’s photographs were more of the adrenalin-fuelled adventure kind. Humans doing extreme things – that sells. But as Nick established himself in the industry, he began to dictate what stories he would shoot. He had earned his place.
Thereafter came stories like the struggles of the mountain gorillas living in a world of human conflict, and the immorality of our treatment of chimpanzees in the medical sciences and entertainment industries. There are the journeys to find the ever-cryptic tigers of India, and the lions of the Serengeti, and to bring to the world’s attention the elephant poaching crisis. And then there’s the utterly crazy yet totally epic and inspiring Megatransect across Africa (led by biologist and longtime friend of Nick’s, Mike Fay, who is a key figure in the book) - to name but a few.
The evolution of Nick’s art, and indeed his heart, is there in plain view. His stories becoming ever telling and unhindered.
Though Nick’s images are typically of wildlife or conservation, he echoes my own troubles with the label “wildlife photographer”. He is also uncomfortable with being called a photojournalist, for all the constraints that imposes on an artist. To this end, Harris describes:
Nick is not, has never been, interested in simply illustrating the science. And his populist inclinations – his belief that minds and hearts can be changed through awe and empathy – deter him from focusing only on humanity’s violations of the natural world. Nick believes he must sometimes glorify what remains inviolate to express why we have to devote our resources toward its survival. And to keep people engaged, there must be storytelling – whether disquieting or radiant, tragic or ecstatic – always riveting. And it is about voice: first, the richness and clarity of his own, with which he can then convincingly give voice to his subjects.
What makes art impactful is an endlessly fascinating topic to me. In Nick’s case, I believe it’s the subtle rawness that he maintains throughout his work - which is to say that his photographs speak to person that he is and the story he is telling. There’s no cliché here whatsoever, nor is there any hint of photographic trends (yes, trends exist in art too). Even where a photograph was made using very advanced technologies (and logistics), you, the viewer, aren’t to know. Because that’s not the point - you will be moved by the image for what is it, not how it was created. In Nick’s own words:
I’m not good at finesse, I’m not good at really fine aesthetics. I’m just a hammer guy. My pictures hit you over the head with a hammer.
Talk about impact.
The Soul of the Camera: The Photographer’s Place in Picture-Making
This is a book that takes you deeper into the art of photography. It forces you to question your “why”, to be honest about your intentions. This is not a book about camera-using. Technicalities like ISO or sharpness are irrelevant to duChemin’s message. This book profoundly influenced my photography for the better.
But first, a bit of a backstory. My love affair with duChemin’s work began in 2009. I had purchased my first DSLR about a year prior, and had just about found my feet with regards to using the camera to its technical potential. I had studied endlessly the ins and outs of manual shooting and the effects of different lenses and filters. I was stocked up on every version of photography magazine I could get a hold of, and incessantly trawled Flickr forums to read people’s discussions of how to make an image look like this or that.
By late 2009, however, I was feeling rather despondent. I found “wildlife photography” boring. Repetitive. Lacking meaning. Rarely did a wildlife image move me.
For Christmas that year, a friend of mine, very thoughtfully, gifted me a copy of duChemin’s new book Within The Frame: The Journey of Photographic Vision. She told me that she got what I was saying. I didn’t need any more guidance on how to use a camera, but rather on how to make art.
Within The Frame took photography as I knew it and turned it upside down. Where I would once say “I’m shooting a waterfall, so I need to use a slow shutter speed with an ND filter to blur the water till it’s silky smooth”, I began to say “What do I want to say about this waterfall?” and then manipulate the technical settings accordingly. Rules like “Shoot sharp for moving wildlife” or “Always have the sun behind you” were thrown into the trash. My goodness, was that liberating! It was a 180 in my thinking.
The way I see it, Within the Frame grew up and became The Soul of the Camera. It cuts to the chase, quickly and unashamedly. In this book, duChemin forces you to confront yourself, for that is where your art lives. Photography is not about having the best gear or being in the right place at the right time; it’s about getting crystal clear on why you do what do.
Now this was hard for me. I have two strong, equally powerful motives. One is for conservation. To use photography as a means to spread the word of the causes that I live for. The other is to make art for art’s sake– photography needn’t always tell a story. Because creativity makes me who I am. Of course, I’m drawn to photograph the natural world in both these endeavours, but my intentions and executions are vastly different.
The Soul of the Camera helped me to crystallise these two visions. It helps me separate them, but also to keep them intricately linked by my love of nature. Because that’s my fundamental motive. As duChemin writes “Why else should we be moved to raise our cameras to our eye over and over again if not because we care, because we love?”.
In my opinion, The Soul of the Camera is mandatory reading for any photographer looking to become a better artist. And aside from studying the work of masters (a practice duChemin strongly encourages in place of technical how-tos), The Soul of the Camera is definitely the most influential book on photography that I have read.
The Boy Behind the Curtain
I am a big fan of Winton’s. He writes exquisitely about Australian landscapes, people and culture. The Boy Behind the Curtain is the untidy story of how Winton came to be the person and the writer that he is today.
The book is constructed as a series of essays, each a piece of Winton’s life. He describes his growing up in the ‘burbs of Western Australia. A religious, middle-class family. A policeman’s son.
As well as making brilliant novels, Winton is well-known for his environmentalism, his career punctuated with many campaigns, including the fight to save Ningaloo Reef (which he writes about in this book).
By his own account, however, he never intended to become an activist. Things just went that way. It’s clear, nonetheless, that Winton grew up a boy with plenty of curiosity, wonder and determination – traits that, in the face of a looming crisis (environmental, social, or otherwise), make a person act. The people, places and lands that he knew and loved – and that feature so strongly in his writings - were threatened, and something had to be done. He jokes of being somewhat a pseudo-celebrity drawcard; but hey, whatever gets the job done.
This book is about much more than environmentalism, though. Winton digs into the politics, class, religion and culture. All the things that influence how our every days are spent, which are in turns binding and breaking of human connection and kindness. There’s even a story about the time Winton lived in a haunted castle in Ireland – yes, really.
While Winton’s previous memoir Island Home is equally excellent (please do read that one too), The Boy Behind the Curatin is a much more personal and open account of the stories that shaped him as a person – and how he came to create those novels we Australians love so much.
Understory: A life with trees
“I have always been a tree-woman…”
It’s not often that nature books really change the way I think about something. For the most part, I am already the converted to which they preach. Understory, wonderfully, changed this, in one of the most refreshing and touching books I read all year.
This is a memoir of sorts, but really it’s a story about one woman’s devotion to trees; to what (and who) they are. As I was reading this book, I found myself trying to identify every kind of gum tree I saw. I began to make comments about cedar furniture. Strangely, I began to see trees as individual beings too. And I’ve suddenly become far more interested in the totally enthralling world of plant cognition, and the ethical challenges that come with that – but I digress.
Simpson probably has the strongest connection to trees that I have come across. And I have met a lot of botanists in my time. She is clearly committed to them, like they are members of her extended family. The trees of her property Olvar Wood, in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, are the real characters of this book. The chapters are arranged as species that exist within the canopy, the middlestorey, and the understorey.
This memoir traces a revealing time of Simpson’s life, from commuting hours to Brisbane each day to meet to the demands of her government job and PhD studies (sounds familiar!), to throwing it all in for a simple (or so it seemed at first) writer’s life among the trees – and having that come crashing down. It’s about doing what you want, and what you do when you can’t do that anymore.
I admit that I haven’t actually read any of Simpson’s novels, but many of them make appearances in Understorey. I like the behind-the-scenes info I now have to some of her novels which, yes, are definitely on my to-read list. I mean, she even refers to some as eco-warrior stories – how could I resist?!
Understorey is a superbly written account of the life of a modern woman who’s doing what she wants insofar as she is able – amongst trees, and all that they have to offer.
Half Earth: Our Planet’s Fight for Life
Edward O. Wilson
E. O. Wilson is one of conservation’s most prominent voices in modern times. He is extensively published, both in scientific journals and popular science books, on topics of entomology (insects are his thing), ecology and evolution. He has always been a little controversial in his ideas, such as the biophilia hypothesis (that humans are biologically wired to seek connection with nature), sociobiology (that human social behaviour is a product of natural selection) and the evolutionary forces behind eusociality (where some animals sacrifice their own reproduction so that they can help raise others’ babies). Now in his late 80s, Wilson is increasingly explicit and unapologetic in his views about how we ought to treat nature if we want a bright future for this world.
The premise of Half Earth is that 50% of the world’s landmasses should be set aside for conservation. This is necessary for the survival of all species, including humans. Wilson’s message is clear:
The only hope for the species still living is a human effort commensurate with the magnitude of the problem. The ongoing mass extinction of species, and with it the extinction of genes and ecosystems, ranks with pandemics, world war, and climate change as among the deadliest threats that humanity has imposed on itself. To those who feel content to let the Anthropocene evolve toward whatever destiny it mindlessly drifts, I say please take time to reconsider. To those who are steering the growth of reserves worldwide, let me make an earnest request: don’t stop, just aim a lot higher.
Conservation is still a relatively young scientific discipline. Even so, among conservationists there is now a movement termed ‘new conservation’ which keeps humans front and centre. Think community-based conservation, as opposed to exclusionary national parks. The ins and outs of new conservation warrant a thoughtful discussion in their own right, which I won’t discuss here, but it’s clear in Half Earth that Wilson has some serious concerns about its potential to undermine conservation outcomes.
If we really want the planet to have a future, extreme though that may seem, Wilson argues we need to take a much more radical approach. Half Earth proposes that humans must be excluded from some areas. If not, the earth will not cope with the demands we place on it, which will ultimately be to our own demise.
Evidently, Wilson’s arguments are contentious. He flies in the face of some of the world’s most respected conservation scientists. Nonetheless, I believe firmly that we need to keep on open mind and, for this reason, I think Half Earth is an important read for anyone who seeks to better understand the discourse that is currently playing out about how we should manage planet earth.
The Elements of Style (illustrated)
Strunk, White and Kalman
Ok, I know it’s super nerdy of me to include a book about writing in a list of my top books of the year, but this edition of the classic The Elements of Style was such a pleasure to read and look at. Arguably the best (and most direct) book on writing of all time, The Elements of Style is a kind of magic to anyone who does a lot of writing, especially of the academic or professional kind.
The Elements of Style was first published in the 50s, with many editions since, but it began making its mark on English students decades prior as a custom textbook for a university course run by professor William Strunk Jr. I love that this book has maintained much of its old-world charm in its use of language, despite being clearly modernised to be relevant to writers today.
This book is a very straightforward and explicit account of what makes writing good. There are clear rules we must all follow (e.g. Do not join independent clauses with a comma), and there are procedures we must take to make our writing more cohesive (Choose a suitable design and hold to it). We must use definite, specific, concrete language and omit needless words. Rules where you need rules.
In its final chapter, however, the book abandons rules and embraces style – that mystical, magical quality of shockingly beautiful prose. Because there is no one recipe for that kind of thing. Who can confidently say what ignites a certain combination of words, causing them to explode in the mind? Indeed, all we are doing is trying to guide some other force that creates the magic. Writers will often find themselves steering by the stars that are disturbingly in motion.
Most importantly, they say, write for yourself. The rest will follow. Avoid language trends, especially of the advertising variety (the language of mutilation).
The illustrations in this edition are beautiful and instructive. It’s why I bought this copy. Each is a depiction of some phrase used in the text. They are clever, funny and a pleasure to look at.
So, if you’re an old time Strunk and White fan or, like me, just like reading about writing and having good art alongside it, then please do read this book.


There are a lot of cool books coming out this week! Mark and Randy will take you through the highlights in this week’s show!
Batman the Devastator #1 – Can the World’s Greatest Heroes stop a horde of deadly beings that appear to be powerful nightmare versions of familiar figures?
Black Lightning Cold Dead Hands #1 – Black Lightning is back and things are not the same!
Captain America #695 – The Redemption Tour 2017-18! Rock on!
Deadman #1 – The mystery that is Deadman continues in this mini-series from Neal Adams!
Gravediggers Union #1 – The apocalypse is coming, and only the Gravediggers Union can stop it!
Jetsons #1 – Join this postmodern family as doom rockets toward them from the outer reaches of the galaxy on a crash course of destruction!
No 1 With a Bullet #1 – “A sublime piece of futurism that is both entertaining in its absurdity and terrifying in its predictions.”–Clive Barker


International Heilkunst Association Natural Healing For Today's World
Areas of expertise: Doctor of Medical Heilkunst, DMH.
Qualifications: MLS, DHHP, DMH.
Alysa’s first introduction to healing outside of the allopathic medical model was in 1984, when she learned about Metamorphosis. Based on reflexology, Metamorphosis recognizes a prenatal timeline mapped along the spinal reflexes on the feet, hands and head. Alysa finds it the perfect coincidence that Metamorphosis can have a place in the sequential treatment aspect of Heilkunst: Working backwards through their timeline, once the patient has cleared their birth trauma, what’s next? Pre-birth!
Alysa’s undergraduate degrees in Math and Psychology, Teacher’s Certification, a Master’s degree in Library Science, and a Diploma in Human Services Counseling have all contributed to her successful career in public and legal librarianship. Helping people with their informational needs has indeed been rewarding, but she always felt she’d like to do more. After experiencing some challenging life lessons, she discovered the gentle, yet powerful effect of homeopathic remedies, thanks to a few wonderful and well-meaning naturopaths. But it was her introduction to Heilkunst and subsequent treatment that made the most significant and positive change to her physical, mental and emotional health.
She looks forward to continuing her own journey as she assists others on theirs with therapeutic regimen, therapeutic medicine and therapeutic education.


Originally released in paperback in 1999, the first hardcover edition of Invisible Monsters will be published on June 11, 2012. This edition, however, is a restructured version of the novel, entitled Invisible Monsters Remix. It contains a new author’s introduction, explaining that the linear structure of the first edition was not the novel’s original intent. Instead, this new edition of the novel presents the chapters in mixed order with instructions on which chapter to read next, similar to Choose Your Own Adventure books, and new chapters have also been added.
Ok, I’m intrigued.


To access over 400 video lessons by Luther you require a membership subscription which costs just £9.99 a month. We add new lessons each week and Luther's extensive library covers every aspect of the golf game for the novice right through to the professional. Why not try it out?
Get a 30-day free trial subscription to our membership plan - just click the button:
Our videos will appear below after you have logged in as a member or signed up for access by clicking the button above.
To preview the extensive list of existing lessons you'll have instant access to, please click here


Review request for kdelibs and Sebastian Kügler.
As requested by Sebas, this patch adds a FindQtMobililty.cmake that can be used to find QtMobility related files. It has support for minimum versions and searching for individual components.
Diff: http://git.reviewboard.kde.org/r/101568/diff
There is a simple testcase included. Furthermore I have tested the minimum version and component related options with a local test file.
|Review Request 110109: knotify does not release phonon players when complete causing excessive CPU load by knotify process||1|
|Re: QtScript considered dangerous||2|
|Review Request 120182: KIO::CopyJob: Do not query for free space when filesystem type is unknown||9|
|Review Request 122394: Fix OSX library names in kdeinit5.app||6|
|Review Request: Set the parent widget in KIO::SlaveInterface::messageBox||4|
|Maintenance of api.kde.org||2|
|Review Request 112200: Remove unused CMake qimageblitz includes and links||6|
|Review Request: Fix for potential source of crash in KJavaAppletServer||2|
|KDE Review: Move kqtquickcharts to KDE Edu||2|


Use Code: No Code Needed
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Please take a moment and "like" All About Boog on Facebook here:
All About Boog on Facebook
And don't forget we're on twitter too!
All About Boog on Twitter
I also made some new graphics and a banner last night. I'm telling you...we're the little blog that could! ;)
Thank you so much for every click, like, share, rt or anything. The more people we reach, the more people start to understand Autism and the more parents will see that they are NOT alone!
Much much love,
Friday, April 18, 2014
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Use Code: No Code Needed
This app is SO cute and fun for children of many ranges of abilities. The cute songs are great motivators. The more they work,the more fun the kids get to have. Boog loves it!
Are you there, God? You have to show me how to raise this child. Because the skills I've learned over the years just aren't working here. I'm helpless, Lord. I can't do this on my own!
Statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau report that 2.8 million children in the United States have a disability. That means more than 5 million parents, grandparents, and caregivers have probably offered up a prayer like this. Raising a child with a disability is hard work. Where do you go for solace? For rest, refreshment and renewed joy? We know where to go for our kids, but where do we go for ourselves?
Author Kathleen Deyer Bolduc knows these feelings from experience. She and her son navigated through his childhood and now approach yet another new life phase -- adulthood -- and all that entails. In The Spiritual Art of Raising Children with Disabilities, Bolduc uses the metaphor of the mosaic to life as parents of children with disabilities. How do you rearrange the fragmented and chaotic pieces of your family into a perfectly whole and beautiful work of art? Readers are walked through the process using the spiritual disciplines to help you recognize God's presence in your life and regain the balance we all need.
In this book, writer, parent, and spiritual director Kathleen Deyer Bolduc -- with honesty and humor, wisdom and wit -- invites the caregivers of children with disabilities to steep themselves in Scripture and self-reflection.
- Provides a unique perspective of a parent raising a child with disabilities -- and dealing with it through faith and spiritual direction.
- Powerful, insightful, faith-inspired stories of other families who are walking similar paths.
- Exercises at the end of each chapter allow readers to reflect to find the beauty in the pieces of their mosaic.
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
* Set up your profile for success.
* Understand the basics of eye-catching pins.
* Learn from businesses using Pinterest well.
* Improve strategies for gaining followers and increasing engagement.
* Achieve sales and marketing goals using Pinterest!


Dec. 18 – TROUBLE THE WATER
Documentary – USA 2008, 96mins
Dir: Tia Lessin, Carl Deal
Trouble the Water is the award winning film that goes inside Hurricane Katrina through the lens of unlikely heroes, Kim and Scott Roberts. A powerful and moving tale of grace and humanity.
Location: Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, 104 17th Avenue South, Seattle (corner of 17th Avenue South & Yesler Way; the #27 Metro bus stops in front)
Admission: Suggested donation of $5-$7
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, Trouble the Water is directed and produced by Fahrenheit 9/11 and Bowling for Columbine producers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal. The film tells the story of an aspiring rap artist and her streetwise husband, trapped in New Orleans by deadly floodwaters, who survive the storm and then seize a chance for a new beginning. It’s a redemptive tale of self-described street hustlers who become heroes that takes you inside Hurricane Katrina in a way never before seen on screen.
Trouble the Water opens the day before Katrina makes landfall, just blocks away from the French Quarter but far from the New Orleans that tourists know. Kimberly Rivers Roberts is turning her video camera on herself and her 9th Ward neighbors trapped in the city. “It’s going to be a day to remember,” Kim says excitedly into her new camera as the storm is brewing. It’s her first time shooting video and it’s rough, jumpy but dense with reality. Kim’s playful home-grown newscast tone grinds against the audience’s knowledge that hell is just hours away. There is no way for the audience to warn her. And for New Orleans’ poor, there is nowhere to run.
As the hurricane begins to rage and the floodwaters fill their world and the screen, Kim and her husband Scott continue to film, documenting their harrowing voyage to higher ground and dramatic rescues of friends and neighbors.
Intertwining Kim and Scott’s insider’s view of Katrina and powerful video with a mix of verite and in-your-face filmmaking, Deal and Lessin follow their story through the storm and its aftermath, and into a new life. Along the way, they discover Kim’s musical talent as rap artist Black Kold Madina when she finds the only existing copy of her recorded music survived the storm with a relative in Memphis. Kim’s performance in that moment reveals not only devastating skills as a musician, but compacts her life story into explosive poetry that paints a devastating picture of poverty.
Directed and produced by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal and Executive Produced by Joslyn Barnes and Danny Glover of Louverture Films, edited and co-produced by T. Woody Richman, with additonal editing by Mary Lampson, Trouble the Water features an original musical score by Neil Davidge and Robert Del Naja of Massive Attack, and the music of Dr. John, Mary Mary, Citizen Cope, TK Soul, John Lee Hooker, and the Free Agents Brass Band and introduces the music of Black Kold Madina.
Trouble the Water has been supported by grants from the Sundance Institute,the Open Society Institute, and is a project of Creative Capital.


Do 1,883 pages of Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), comprised of 53 different Parts, dozens of forms, and a correction page feel like something to be feared? Does it keep you from buying what you need to support your agency?
Many government decision-makers look at the FAR as a significant obstacle to their acquisitions, but at its core it provides a consolidated framework for conducting the business of acquisition in a fair, predictable, and repeatable manner while protecting the interests of both the federal government and the people who would like to do business with it, while reinforcing good use of taxpayer funds.
Let’s look at the effect of the current environment on federal contracting, and why the FAR can be made to work for you, not against you. [Read more...]


Hellman, Lilian, 1980, Dorothy Parker, John La Touche, Richard Wilbur, and Leonard Bernstein, 19561957. The centerpiece of this campaign was Voltaires lments de la Philosophie de Newton, which was first published in 1738 and then again in 1745 in a new and definitive edition that included a new section, first published in 1740, devoted to Newtons metaphysics. Voltaires philosophical legacy ultimately resides as much in how he practiced philosophy, and in the ends toward which he directed his philosophical activity, as in any specific doctrine or original idea. Along with Rousseau, Franois-Marie d'Arouet, commonly known as his pen name Voltaire, was the primary philosopher of the Enlightenment. Progressivism is the belief that through their powers of reason and observation, humans can make unlimited, linear progress over time; this belief was especially important as a response to the carnage and upheaval of the English Civil Wars in the 17th century. Sharpe, Matthew, 2015, On a Neglected Argument in French Philosophy: Sceptical Humanism in Montaigne, Voltaire and Camus, Undank, Jack, 1989, Portrait of the Philosopher as Tramp, in. He also added personal invective and satire to this same position in his indictment of Maupertuis in the 1750s, linking Maupertuiss turn toward metaphysical approaches to physics in the 1740s with his increasingly deluded philosophical understanding and his authoritarian manner of dealing with his colleagues and critics. Voltaire also identifies the good and evil that is portrayed in the world and among human nature. It was largely around Maupertuis that the young cohort of French academic Newtonians gathered during the Newton wars of 1730s and 40s, and with Voltaire fighting his own public campaigns on behalf of this same cause during the same period, the two men became the most visible faces of French Newtonianism even if they never really worked as a team in this effort. Together these constitute the authoritative corpus of Voltaires written work. In the same period, Voltaire also composed a short book entitled La Metaphysique de Newton, publishing it in 1740 as an implicit counterpoint to Chtelets Institutions. He never authored any single philosophical treatise on this topic, however, yet the memory of his life and philosophical campaigns was influential in advancing these ideas nevertheless. This made him an advocate for the freedom to question. Central to this complex is Voltaires conception of liberty. He was a French philosopher, writer, activist and political idealist. His alternative offered in the same text of a life devoted to simple tasks with clear, tangible, and most importantly useful ends was also derived from the utilitarian discourse that Newtonians also used to justify their science. The comfort of the rich depends upon an abundant supply of the poor. One is the importance of skepticism, and the second is the importance of empirical science as a solvent to dogmatism and the pernicious authority it engenders. Hume, David: Newtonianism and Anti-Newtonianism | But in 1745 Maupertuis surprised all of French society by moving to Berlin to accept the directorship of Frederick the Greats newly reformed Berlin Academy of Sciences. Iltis, Carolyn, 1977, Madame du Chtelets metaphysics and mechanics. Voltaires influence is palpably present, for example, in Kants famous argument in his essay What is Enlightenment? that Enlightenment stems from the free and public use of critical reason, and from the liberty that allows such critical debate to proceed untrammeled. Gradually, however, through a combination of artfully written plays, poems, and essays and careful self-presentation in Parisian society, Voltaire began to regain his public stature. The Craftsman helped to create English political journalism in the grand style, and for the next three years Voltaire moved in Bolingbrokes circle, absorbing the culture and sharing in the public political contestation that was percolating all around him. Voltaire, whose real name Francois-Marie Arouet (1694 - 1778), was a French author, political and social philosopher during the Enlightenment Period in Europe. Especially crucial was the way that it allowed Voltaires outlaw status, which he had never fully repudiated, to be rehabilitated in the public mind as a necessary and heroic defense of philosophical truth against the enemies of error and prejudice. Montesquieu's beliefs were often concerned with political and legal issues. Analysis: Chapters 17-19. Franois-Marie d'Arouet (1694-1778), better known by his pen name Voltaire, was a French writer and public activist who played a singular role in defining the eighteenth-century movement called the Enlightenment. Voltaire sheds light on the psychological idea of optomism versus pessimism. Voltaire offered this book as a clear, accurate, and accessible account of Newtons philosophy suitable for ignorant Frenchman (a group that he imagined to be large). First as a law student, then as a lawyers apprentice, and finally as a secretary to a French diplomat, Voltaire attempted to fulfill his fathers wishes. Historians in fact still scratch their heads when trying to understand why Voltaires Lettres philosophiques proved to be so controversial. Voltaires notion of liberty also anchored his hedonistic morality, another key feature of Voltaires Enlightenment philosophy. Franois-Marie dArouet was born in 1694, the fourth of five children, to a well-to-do public official and his well bred aristocratic wife. In the last sentence on p. 21, Voltaire introduces the rest of his discussion by suggesting that religious teachers (by "supernatural help") are the sole source of the notion of the soul: reason alone does not suggest it. During this rehabilitation, Voltaire also formed a new relationship that was to prove profoundly influential in the subsequent decades. Franois-Marie Arouet (French: [fswa mai aw]; 21 November 1694 - 30 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher ().Known by his nom de plume M. de Voltaire (/ v l t r, v o l-/; also US: / v l-/; French: [vlt]), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianityespecially of the Roman Catholic Churchand of slavery. Voltaires own critical discourse against imaginative philosophical romances originated, in fact, with English and Dutch Newtonians, many of whom were expatriate French Huguenots, who developed these tropes as rhetorical weapons in their battles with Leibniz and European Cartesians who challenged the innovations of Newtonian natural philosophy. As this polemic crystallized and grew in both energy and influence, Voltaire embraced its terms and made them his cause. Voltaire likewise worked tirelessly rebutting critics and advancing his positions in pamphlets and contributions to learned periodicals. Like Voltaire, Maupertuis also shared a relationship with Emilie du Chtelet, one that included mathematical collaborations that far exceeded Voltaires capacities. Voltaire adopted a stance in this text somewhere between the strict determinism of rationalist materialists and the transcendent spiritualism and voluntarism of contemporary Christian natural theologians. He believed that if we would focus more on knowledge and rational thought . Voltaires views on religion as manifest in his private writings are complex, and based on the evidence of these texts it would be wrong to call Voltaire an atheist, or even an anti-Christian so long as one accepts a broad understanding of what Christianity can entail. They further insisted that it was enough that gravity did operate the way that Newton said it did, and that this was its own justification for accepting his theory. The couple also added to their scientific credibility by receiving separate honorable mentions in the 1738 Paris Academy prize contest on the nature of fire. Translations of Voltaires major plays are found in: Vol. Translated by Peter Gay. The previous summary describes the general core of the Newtonian position in the intense philosophical contests of the first decades of the eighteenth century. I am a firm believer in the Voltaire quote that "the more things change, the more they stay the same". Du Chtelets father, the Baron de Breteuil, hosted a regular gathering of men of letters that included Voltaire, and his daughter, ten years younger than Voltaire, shared in these associations. They further mocked those who insisted on dreaming up chimeras like the celestial vortices as explanations for phenomena when no empirical evidence existed to support of such theories. It was during this period that both Voltaire and Du Chtelet became widely known philosophical figures, and the intellectual history of each before 1749 is most accurately described as the history of the couples joint intellectual endeavors. Yet Humes target remained traditional philosophy, and his contribution was to extend skepticism all the way to the point of denying the feasibility of transcendental philosophy itself. But in each case, he ended up abandoning his posts, sometimes amidst scandal. ), London: Longman, 1980. In addition to his works of prose, his writings focused on challenging common beliefs at the time related to topics like military and political events. Translated John Hanna. Also influential was the example he offered of the philosopher measuring the value of any philosophy according by its ability to effect social change. It also included figures such as Samuel Clarke and other self-proclaimed Newtonians. Voltaire, pseudonym of Franois-Marie Arouet, (born November 21, 1694, Paris, Francedied May 30, 1778, Paris), one of the greatest of all French writers. ), New York: Modern Library, 1992. Yet contained in the text is a serious attack on Leibnizian philosophy, one that in many ways marks the culmination of Voltaires decades long attack on this philosophy started during the Newton wars. He was known for his wit and. Niven (ed. Richard Aldington, Ernest Dilworth, and others (eds. Adam Smith would famously make similar arguments in his founding tract of Enlightenment liberalism, On the Wealth of Nations, published in 1776. Voltaires campaign on behalf of smallpox inoculation, which began with his letter on the topic in the Lettres philosophiques, was similarly grounded in an appeal to the facts of the case as an antidote to the fears generated by logical deductions from seemingly sound axiomatic principles. Overall, Voltaire had a pessimistic view of human nature. The result has been the production of three major collections of his writings including his vast correspondence, the last unfinished. Clarke, Samuel | This result was no insignificant development since Voltaires financial independence effectively freed him from one dimension of the patronage system so necessary to aspiring writers and intellectuals in the period. It was certainly true that these ideas, especially in their more deistic and libertine configurations, were at the heart of Bolingbrokes identity. Read More Example Of Satire In Candide Had Voltaire been able to avoid the scandal triggered by the Lettres philosophiques, it is highly likely that he would have chosen to do so. This article deals with the different theories related to human nature that emerged from the Enlightenment. He did the same during the brief revival of the so-called vis viva controversy triggered by du Chtelets treatise, defending the empirical and mechanical conception of body and force against those who defended Leibnizs more metaphysical conception of the same thing. He was born in Paris in 1694 and educated by the . He was, however, a vigorous defender of a conception of natural science that served in his mind as the antidote to vain and fruitless philosophical investigation. A statue was commissioned as a permanent shrine to his legacy, and a public performance of his play Irne was performed in a way that allowed its author to be celebrated as a national hero. Voltaire chose the latter, falling once again into the role of scandalous rebel and exile as a result of his writings. These horrors do not serve any apparent greater good, but point only to the cruelty and folly of humanity and the indifference of the natural world. Western philosophy was profoundly shaped by the conception of the philosophe and the program for Enlightenment philosophie that Voltaire came to personify. The occasion for his departure was an affair of honor. Her intellectual talents combined with her vivacious personality drew Voltaire to her, and although Du Chtelet was a titled aristocrat married to an important military officer, the couple was able to form a lasting partnership that did not interfere with Du Chtelets marriage. In its fusion of traditional French aristocratic pedigree with the new wealth and power of royal bureaucratic administration, the dArouet family was representative of elite society in France during the reign of Louis XIV. After his return to France, Voltaire worked hard to restore his sources of financial and political support. Electronic Scholarly Publishing Project, 1998. A very powerful aristocrat, the Duc de Rohan, accused Voltaire of defamation, and in the face of this charge the untitled writer chose to save face and avoid more serious prosecution by leaving the country indefinitely. The Voltaire Foundations series Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century changed its name in 2013 to Oxford University Studies on Enlightenment. The English philosopher and political theorist John Locke (1632-1704) laid much of the groundwork for the Enlightenment and made central contributions to the development of liberalism. The model he offered of the philosophe as critical public citizen and advocate first and foremost, and as abstruse and systematic thinker only when absolutely necessary, was especially influential in the subsequent development of the European philosophy. The philosophical authority of romanciers such as Descartes, Malebranche, and Leibniz was similarly subjected to the same critique, and here one sees how the defense of skepticism and liberty, more than any deeply held opposition to religiosity per se, was often the most powerful motivator for Voltaire. He believed people had the right to question everything to find truth. The position also legitimated him as an officially sanctioned savant. The only way to truly see yourself is in the reflection of someone else's eyes. During Voltaires lifetime, this new acceptance translated into a final return to Paris in early 1778. Taylor (ed. During this scene, when the country men decide to offer human sacrifices to prevent future earthquakes (Voltaire 14) the author exposes the prideful and depraved aspects of unredeemed, human nature according to scripture. ), Mineola, NY: Dover, 2003. The idea that Voltaire's criticism might inspire action in its readers implies the belief that humans can make the right choices; the satire is encouraging people . 1: The Huron (1771), The History of Jenni (1774), The One-eyed Street Porter, Cosi-sancta (1715), An Incident of Memory (1773), The Travels of Reason (1774), The Man with Forty Crowns (1768), Timon (1755), The King of Boutan (1761), and The City of Cashmere (1760). With the ascension of Louis XVI in 1774 and the appointment of Turgot as Controller-General, the French establishment began to embrace the philosophes and their agenda in a new way. Voltaire did bring out one explicitly philosophical book in support this campaign, his Dictionnaire philosophique of 17641770. Gardiner Janik, Linda, 1982, Searching for the Metaphysics of Science: The Structure and Composition of Mme. This framing was recapitulated by the opponents of the Encyclopdie, who began to speak of the loose assemblage of authors who contributed articles to the work as a subversive coterie of philosophes devoted to undermining legitimate social and moral order. liberty: positive and negative | Scandal continued to chase the Encyclopdie, however, and in 1759 the works publication privilege was revoked in France, an act that did not kill the project but forced it into illicit production in Switzerland. Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm | The ongoing defense of the Encyclopdie was one rallying point, and soon the removal of the Jesuitsthe great enemies of Enlightenment, the philosophes proclaimedbecame a second unifying cause. Critics such as Leibniz said no, since mathematical description was not the same thing as philosophical explanation, and Newton refused to offer an explanation of how and why gravity operated the way that it did. As he fought fiercely to defend his positions, an unprecedented culture war erupted in France centered on the character and value of Newtonian natural philosophy. Voltaire only began to identify himself with philosophy and the philosophe identity during middle age. Daniel Gordon (ed. Nicholas Cronk (ed. Voltaire believed everyone had the right to liberty and hedonism. Franois-Marie also acquired an introduction to modern letters from his father who was active in the literary culture of the period both in Paris and at the royal court of Versailles. This argument would famously awake Kants dogmatic slumbers and lead to the reconstitution of transcendental philosophy in new terms, but Voltaire had different fish to fry. Yet while Socrates championed rigorous philosophical dialectic as the agent of this emancipation, Voltaire saw this same dialectical rationalism at the heart of the dogmatism that he sought to overcome. His work Lettres philosophiques, published in 1734 when he was forty years old, was the key turning point in this transformation. How did Voltaire view human nature? But since many were incapable of such self-knowledge and self-control, religion, he claimed, was a necessary guarantor of social order. Once installed at Cirey, both Voltaire and Du Chtelet further exploited this apparent division by engaging in a campaign on behalf of Newtonianism, one that continually targeted an imagined monolith called French Academic Cartesianism as the enemy against which they in the name of Newtonianism were fighting. Diderot was the son of a widely respected master cutler. Vortical mechanics, for example, claimed that matter was moved by the action of an invisible agent, yet this, the Newtonians began to argue, was not to explain what is really happening but to imagine a fiction that gives us a speciously satisfactory rational explanation of it. Maupertuis was also an occasional guest at Cirey, and a correspondent with both du Chtelet and Voltaire throughout these years. He became reacquainted with Emilie Le Tonnier de Breteuil,the daughter of one of his earliest patrons, who married in 1722 to become the Marquise du Chtelet. In the Lettres philosophiques, Voltaire had suggested a more radical position with respect to human determinism, especially in his letter on Locke, which emphasized the materialist reading of the Lockean soul that was then a popular figure in radical philosophical discourse. Given his other activities, it is also likely that Voltaire frequented the coffeehouses of London even if no firm evidence survives confirming that he did. This made the first edition of the Lettres philosophiques illicit, a fact that contributed to the scandal that it triggered, but one that in no way explains the furor the book caused. Voltaire has deep pessimistic values on human nature which shines through the glittering portrait of the harminous utopian society. For similar reasons, he also grew as he matured ever more hostile toward the sacred mysteries upon which monarchs and Old Regime aristocratic society based their authority. The original series published over 450 volumes, many related to Voltaire, and while the new title reflects a change toward a broader publishing agenda, it remains, along with Cahier Voltaire published by La Fondation Voltaire Ferney, the best periodical source for new scholarship on Voltaire. Had it been executed, a royal lettre de cachet would have sent Voltaire to the royal prison of the Bastille as a result of his authorship of Lettres philosophiques; instead, he was able to flee with Du Chtelet to Cirey where the couple used the sovereignty granted by her aristocratic title to create a safe haven and base for Voltaires new position as a philosophical rebel and writer in exile. This entanglement of philosophy with social criticism and reformist political action, a contingent historical outcome of Voltaires particular intellectual career, would become his most lasting contribution to the history of philosophy. Although only a few of his works are still read, he continues to be held in worldwide repute as a courageous crusader against tyranny, bigotry, and cruelty. Later the same year Bolingbroke also brought out the first issue of the Craftsman, a political journal that served as the public platform for his circles Tory opposition to the Whig oligarchy in England. Voltaires Life: The Philosopher as Critic and Public Activist, 1.5 From French Newtonian to Enlightenment, Look up topics and thinkers related to this entry, Hume, David: Newtonianism and Anti-Newtonianism. It may seem at first that Voltaire views humanity in a dismal light and merely locates its deficiencies, but in fact he also reveals attributes of redemption in it, and thus his view of human nature is altogether much more balanced and multi-faceted. The only thing that is clear is that the work did cause a sensation that subsequently triggered a rapid and overwhelming response on the part of the French authorities. For one, these two sides of Voltaires intellectual identity were forever intertwined, and he never experienced an absolute transformation from one into the other at any point in his life. Some readers singled out this part of the book as the major source of its controversy, and in a similar vein the very materialist account of me, or the soul, which appeared in volume 1 of Diderot and dAlemberts Encyclopdie, was also a flashpoint of controversy. In our opinion, the phenomenon of religion should be examined in the context of human nature and basic problems related to it such as the problem of soul and the problem of free will. Here, as a frail and sickly octogenarian, Voltaire was welcomed by the city as the hero of the Enlightenment that he now personified. Had this assimilationist trajectory continued during the remainder of Voltaires life, his legacy in the history of Western philosophy might not have been so great. Part of the deep cultural tie that joins Voltaire to this dictum is the fact that even while he did not write these precise words, they do capture, however imprecisely, the spirit of his philosophy of liberty. They were also imagined as activists fighting to eradicate error and superstition from the world. Thanks, therefore, to some artfully composed writings, a couple of well-made contacts, more than a few bon mots, and a little successful investing, especially during John Laws Mississippi Bubble fiasco, Voltaire was able to establish himself as an independent man of letters in Paris. What these examples point to is Voltaires willingness, even eagerness, to publicly defend controversial views even when his own, more private and more considered writings often complicated the understanding that his more public and polemical writings insisted upon. ), New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007. This involved sharing in Humes critique of abstract rationalist systems, but it also involved the very different project of defending empirical induction and experimental reasoning as the new epistemology appropriate for a modern Enlightened philosophy. For Voltaire, those equipped to understand their own reason could find the proper course of free action themselves. In this program, the philosophes were not unified by any shared philosophy but through a commitment to the program of defending philosophie itself against its perceived enemies. But Voltaire also contributed to philosophical libertinism and hedonism through his celebration of moral freedom through sexual liberty. Voltaires inheritance from his father also became available to him at the same time, and from this date forward Voltaire never again struggled financially. Voltaire. But he was also a different kind of writer and thinker. Voltaire worked to defend Civil Liberties. Philosophie la Voltaire also came in the form of political activism, such as his public defense of Jean Calas who, Voltaire argued, was a victim of a despotic state and an irrational and brutal judicial system. Kant does think there is such a thing as human nature, namely a set of (basically biological) characteristics that is shared by all normal members of our species, and he allowed as a real possibility that there may be other species of rational beings elsewhere in the universe with a different biology. Voltaires public satire of the President of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Berlin published in late 1752, which presented Maupertuis as a despotic philosophical buffoon, forced Frederick to make a choice.


By Ephraim Radner,Stanley Hauerwas
"This publication comprises theology encouraged via life, not easily the lifetime of a selected glossy saint, however the lives of saints, of the groups that saint indwelled. it's a existence rooted within the Bible, non secular disciplines, the training and transmitting of knowledge from and into the area. The booklet explores the difficulty of the sufficiency of the gospel of affection, performed out within the problems with public debate. issues contain: the previous testomony as talking realistically of the impoverished church, the mirrored image on adventure in a biblical key, e.g. that repentance comprises wisdom because it seeks objectivity, to understand what, and the way, and why fallacious was once performed. The gracious answer via the honorand itself embodies the advantage of communal and ecclesial theology."
--Mark W. Elliott, Professor of historic and Biblical Theology, university of Divinity, collage of St. Andrews
"Philip Turner is a unprecedented missionary, priest, and pupil. His high-caliber theology of undertaking, rooted in Uganda and the Scriptures, ricocheted round North the USA. This ebook of honorable Anglican theology, tuned in friendship, is nourishing for all."
--Graham Kings, challenge Theologian within the Anglican Communion, and Honorable Fellow of Durham University
"This striking set of essays does justice to the a ways ranging pursuits of the topic right here celebrated. Philip Turner is, as Ephraim Radner notes in his creation, 'a Christian missionary, Anglican priest, student, and . . . [a] prophet of the Gospel." A relevant subject matter of the essays is what Turner identifies in his Afterword as 'a crimson thread that connects the ethical mirrored image to which i've got committed myself over the years'--'the important connection among the Gospel of Christ and how within which we're known as to reside either "in Christ" and in the societies of which we're a part.'"
--Robert W. Prichard, Arthur Lee Kinsolving Professor of Christianity in the United States, Virginia Theological Seminary
"Philip Turner has been the trainer of a new release of pastors and theologians on continents, inspiring many folks in our ministries via his highbrow engagement with the Christian culture and his willingness to grapple with the consequences of the Gospel. This positive choice of essays is a reminder of his carrying on with effect, and an indication of desire for the church."
--John Bauerschmidt, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee
Ephraim Radner is Professor of old Theology at Wycliffe collage on the college of Toronto. His fresh guides comprise A Brutal solidarity: The non secular Politics of the Christian Church (2012), Time and the note: Figural studying of the Christian Scriptures (2016), and A Time to maintain: Theology, Mortality, and the form of a Human lifestyles (2016).
Read Online or Download Church, Society, and the Christian Common Good: Essays in Conversation with Philip Turner PDF
Similar christian theology books
Whereas there isn't any replacement for private, trustworthy, and cautious Bible studying and prayer, the Bible’s huge dimension and variety could make distilling its fact a frightening job. hence such a lot Christians make the most of supplemental assets to aid examine and follow what Scripture teaches. popular theologian, Gerald Bray has produced simply this sort of source in his new systematic theology.
There will be absolute confidence that the main serious and demanding topic to grasp within the lifetime of a Christian chief is the particular individual and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. No different topic is as major or debatable because the that means of his existence and ministry. This module is designed to introduce you to a “life of Jesus” survey that concentrates at the ancient bills within the Gospels, starting on the assertion of his beginning to his ascension after his loss of life at Calvary.
It is a complete exam of Christian doctrine, virtually defined - the foundation of Scripture, the Trinity, Sin, the Incarnation, the Atonement, Justification, Christian Liberty, Baptism, the Church, the Lord's Supper, the second one Coming, the Resurrection, Hell and Heaven. It equips the reader to provide their religion intelligently to others.
Present day well known highway to knowing end-time prophecy is plagued by myths, misconceptions, misinterpretations, and outright fiction. someplace Jesus is ready makes use of Federal facts Rule 902 and a plethora of scriptural research to resolve the evangelical mysteries of prophecy by means of constructing a historic timeline from Abraham to the reigning finish of the "time of the Gentiles.
- The Dangers of Pre-Tribulationism: A Supplementary Analysis to When Will the Messiah Return?
- Explorations in Theology, Vol. 4: Spirit and Institution
- Givenness and Revelation
- A Matter of Days: Resolving a Creation Controversy
- For the Souls of Black Folks: Reimagining Black Preaching for Twenty-First-Century Liberation
- Sacramental Presence after Heidegger: Onto-theology, Sacraments, and the Mother’s Smile
Extra resources for Church, Society, and the Christian Common Good: Essays in Conversation with Philip Turner
Church, Society, and the Christian Common Good: Essays in Conversation with Philip Turner by Ephraim Radner,Stanley Hauerwas


Banff Mountain Book Competition
The 2017 Book Competition is now closed.
Entry deadline: June 30, 2017.
The Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival celebrates mountain literature and film, bringing together filmmakers, writers, publishers, editors, photographers, athletes, adventurers, and - of course - readers. Featuring film screenings, guest speakers, readings, seminars and book signings, the Festival offers a wide spectrum of experiences for the mountain film and book-loving audience.
As a key program of The Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival, the Book Competition is an internationally recognized literary competition that celebrates mountain literature in all its forms. Over $16,000 in cash is awarded annually with 8 awards selected by an international jury of writers, adventurers and editors. The shortlist of category award winners eligible for the Grand Prize is announced in October every year. In 2017, the Grand Prize will be announced on Thursday, November 2 at The Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival and category awards will be presented to winning authors.
Questions? Call the Banff Mountain Book Competition at: 403.762.6347
or email: firstname.lastname@example.org
2017 Book Competition Rules & Regulations (for reference only)
Deadline to enter: June 30, 2017
Book Competition Categories
Prizes will be awarded in each of the following categories:
(Please note: books written primarily for children and young adults are not suitable for this competition.)
Non-fiction books with a theme of travel to, and exploration of, remote and/or rugged landscapes and their cultures.
Mountain Fiction & Poetry
Includes fiction and poetry books with a focus on mountain topics. Creative narratives about climbing and mountaineering, exploration and mountain culture are acceptable.
Non-fiction books dealing with physical activities in mountain environments; including hiking, climbing, mountaineering and "how-to" books.
Includes books with a primary focus on mountain images and with text in a subordinate role. Images may include photographs or reproductions of artwork.
Articles or short form essays with mountaineering, climbing or mountain adventure themes under 7,000 words. Articles may be fiction, historical or non-fiction narratives and are invited to be submitted by publishers and editors of print publications, not by individual authors. Articles must have been printed within the last two years to qualify for submission. Scholastic, research or scientific articles will not be accepted. Please email us for more information on submission guidelines.
NEW FOR 2017: Mountain Environment & Natural History
Books that pertain to the mountain environment, specifically related to flora, fauna, geology and wildlife. Scholastic, research or scientific articles will not be accepted.
Includes non-fiction books, such as memoirs, biographies and narratives on mountaineering, climbing history, mountain exploration, mountain culture, and human experiences of any kind in the mountain wilderness.
Awarded to a book chosen from the winners in the above categories.
2016 Category Finalists
2016 Banff Mountain Book Competition – Category Finalists
We are pleased to announce the longlist of category finalists listed alphabetically by title in each award category:
$2000 - Sponsored by Banff Gondola
Across the Arctic Ocean: Original Photographs from the Last Great Polar Journey
Sir Wally Herbert & Huw Lewis-Jones, Thames & Hudson (USA, 2015)
Braving It: A Father, a Daughter, and an Unforgettable Journey into the Alaskan Wild
James Campbell, Crown Publishers (USA, 2016)
Ice Diaries: An Antarctic Memoir
Jean McNeil, ECW Press (CAN, 2016)
The Shark and the Albatross
John Aitchison, Greystone Books (CAN, 2016)
Walking Man: The Secret Life of Colin Fletcher
Robert Wehrman, Pacific Star Publications (USA, 2016)
Mountain Fiction & Poetry
$2000 – Sponsored by Fjällräven
The Broom of God
John Bragg, Backroad Press (USA, 2015)
Kim Heacox, Alaska Northwest Books (USA, 2015)
Martin Marten: A Novel
Brian Doyle, Thomas Dunne Books & St. Martin's Press (USA, 2015)
No Map Could Show Them
Helen Mort, Penguin Group (UK, 2016)
Mountain & Wilderness Literature – Non-Fiction
$2000 - Sponsored by the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies
The 9th Grade: 150 Years of Free Climbing
David Chambre, Les éditions du Mont-Blanc (FRA, 2015)
The Bold and Cold: A History of 25 Classic Climbs in the Canadian Rockies
Brandon Pullan, Rocky Mountain Books Ltd (CAN, 2016)
Simon McCartney, Vertebrate Publishing (UK, 2016)
Heart Waters: Sources of the Bow River
Kevin van Tighem, Rocky Mountain Books Ltd (CAN, 2015)
Catherine Destivelle, Hayloft Publishing Ltd (UK, 2015)
Sixty Meters to Anywhere
Brendan Leonard, Mountaineers Books (USA, 2016)
Wolf Spirit: A Story of Healing, Wolves and Wonder
Gudrun Pflüger, Rocky Mountain Books Ltd (CAN, 2015)
$2000 – Sponsored by Lake O'Hara Lodge
Claes Grundsten, Nya Vyer (SWE, 2015)
Samuel Bitton, Samuel Bitton Photography (CHE, 2015)
Yosemite in the Fifties
Dean Fidelman, Patagonia Books (USA, 2015)
$2000 – Sponsored by the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides
1001 Climbing Tips
Andy Kirkpatrick, Vertebrate Publishing (UK, 2016)
A Comprehensive Guide to Bouldering in Lofoten
Jonas Paulsson, High & Low Publishing (SWE, 2016)
Vancouver Rock Climbing
Richard Wheater, Quickdraw Publications (CAN, 2016)
$2000 – Sponsored by Canadian Mountain Studies Initiative, University of Alberta and the Alpine Club of Canada
The Black Heart of That Monster
David Roberts, Ascent (USA, May 2016)
Journey to the Centre
Margo Talbot, Canadian Rockies Annual (CAN, May 2016)
Notes from the Frontier
Maya Prabhu, Alpinist (USA, May 2016)
Searching for Superman
Jeff Long, Ascent (USA, May 2016)
Stealing Toni Egger
Ed Douglas, Rock and Ice Magazine (USA, August 2015)
$2000 – Sponsored by Sherpa Adventure Gear
All titles that are shortlisted in the categories above that have a theme of mountaineering history are eligible for this award.
Grand Prize – The Phyllis and Don Munday Award
$4000 – Sponsored by the Alpine Club of Canada
The shortlist of category award winners eligible for the Grand Prize will be announced in mid-October.
The Grand Prize will be announced Thursday, November 3, 2016 at The Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival and category awards will be presented to winning authors.


This program received 1 award
HP Active Support Library is used by 11,310 users of Software Informer. The most popular versions of this product among our users are: 2.3 and 3.1. The names of program executable files are HPHC.exe, HPAdvisor.exe, HPBC.exe, hpqdirec.exe, hprbui.exe, HPWUCli.exe and sp34016.exe. The product will soon be reviewed by our informers.
Read all › Read all ›


It has taken a long
time, but now you finally have the opportunity of reading about the experiences of people,
like myself, who were directly affected by the Tsunami of December 26th 2004.
I have written a book
with the title:
Tsunami, Tears and Humanity.
The Experience of a Southern Sri Lankan Community.
In this book, you will
find many interesting stories and photos recording our experiences of the Tsunami in
Weligama, a town in the south of Sri Lanka. You will also read about what has happened there and elsewhere during the last
two years of reconstruction and recovery. I have tried to explain how much people like
yourselves, from all over the world, helped us and how your donated funds were used. But,
in addition, I describe how a very small number of people took advantage of this disaster
and why some donated funds did not immediately reach the affected victims, people who are
in many cases still mourning the loss of close relatives.
Above all, however, I
would like to express, through this book, my sincere thanks to those many people who helped
us during these difficult times. This is surely your first opportunity to read such a
detailed and truthful account of the Tsunami by someone who directly experienced the
disaster and its aftermath.
It is also my aim in
the book to point out how humanitarian aid could be managed differently, if such a disaster
is repeated. The perspectives of people directly affected by the Tsunami differ, but they
are all useful when thinking about how future disasters should be responded to.
The book, originally
written in the Sinhalese language, has been translated into both English and German. The
book, in paperback translation, is approximately 165 pages (A5 size) long and contains 125
pictures. It is divided into 10 chapters. There are some pages as sample reading on my
How are the earnings from the book to be used?
There are still about
forty families in Weligama, directly affected by the Tsunami, whose houses, after two years
of reconstruction, have not been completely rebuilt. I would like to help them to build at
least the first floor of their two-storey houses. In addition there are about seven
fishermen who have not received an outboard motor for their boats, and I intend to help
them purchase these. I have committed myself, in addition, to pay for the living expenses
of three orphans up until the age of 18, unless sponsorship can be found for them.
(Information on my homepage)
One orphan boy I
particularly took into my heart. He lost his brother, sister and mother in the Tsunami (see
page 75 in the book). He is very badly off, because his father ran off with the money he
received for building a house to a distant town, where he now lives with another woman. His
son is still having to live in a tent with his aunt, who is looking after him.
In cases like these, I
would very much like to help, and this will be made possible through earnings from the book
I have written. In order to keep the costs of the book low, as well as to help the recovery
of the local economy, the book has been printed in Weligama, from where it will be posted
What does the book cost and how do you get a copy?
The price of the book
is £9.50, which includes postage. If you are able to pay more than this amount, by way of a
donation, this would be sincerely appreciated. The English version will be printed by the
end of January and will be on sale a few weeks later. (The German version will be printed
by the end of March).
Please place your order by e-mail to email@example.com
You will then be
informed of the method of payment and a copy of the book will be sent to you, on receipt of
payment, from the UK. Distribution
through bookshops is also planned.
The ISBN numbers are:
978-955-50032-0-9 (Sinhala), 978-955-50032-1-6 (English), 978-955-50032-2-3
Please help to
promote my book, if you are willing to do so.
thank you for your interest and remain
P.G.K. Jagath Premalal
Jaga Bay Resort
Tel. +94 41