Random questions and answers (online) part 15

No se lo digas al amo.

Don't tell the boss.

No sé lo que estoy haciendo

I do not not what I am doing

Voy a usar mi chaqueta nueva cuando haga frío.

I'm going to wear my new jacket when it gets cold.

What happened on January 22?

A Stark Anniversary for Roe v. Wade January 22 marks the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that established a constitutional right to abortion. This year, however, has a much different tenor. Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe last June, a new chapter in the debate has unfolded. Activists on both sides of the issue will take to the streets this weekend: The annual March for Life is January 20 and the Women's March is January 21. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

Estoy tan confundido

I am confused

Si ellos están aquí...

If they are here...

hectare

10,000 square meters (approx. 2.5 acres) 10,000 square meters a metric unit of square measure, equal to 100 ares (2.471 acres or 10,000 square meters).

Asset classes

A group of financial assets with similar risk and return characteristics Common Stock, Derivative Securities, Fixed Income Securities a group of securities that exhibit similar characteristics, behave similarly in the marketplace, and are subject to the same laws and regulations (Quizlet) What Are Asset Classes? More Than Just Stocks and Bonds By AKHILESH GANTI Updated February 27, 2023 Reviewed by GORDON SCOTT Fact checked by YARILET PEREZ Asset Class NoNo Flores / Investopedia What Is an Asset Class? An asset class is a grouping of investments that exhibit similar characteristics and are subject to the same laws and regulations. Asset classes are thus made up of instruments that often behave similarly to one another in the marketplace. Examples of common asset classes include equities, fixed income, commodities, and real estate. KEY TAKEAWAYS An asset class is a grouping of investments that exhibit similar characteristics and are subject to the same laws and regulations. Equities (e.g., stocks), fixed income (e.g., bonds), cash and cash equivalents, real estate, commodities, and currencies are common examples of asset classes. There is usually very little correlation and sometimes a negative correlation among different asset classes. Financial advisors focus on asset class as a way to help investors diversify their portfolios. Asset Class Understanding Asset Classes Simply put, an asset class is a grouping of comparable financial securities. For example, IBM, MSFT, and AAPL are a grouping of stocks. Asset classes and asset class categories are often mixed together. There is usually very little correlation and sometimes a negative correlation among different asset classes. This characteristic is important in the field of investing. Historically, the three main asset classes have been equities (stocks), fixed income (bonds), and cash equivalent or money market instruments. Currently, most investment professionals include real estate, commodities, futures, other financial derivatives, and even cryptocurrencies in the asset class mix. Investment assets include both tangible and intangible instruments that investors buy and sell for the purposes of generating additional income, on either a short- or long-term basis. Financial advisors view investment vehicles as asset-class categories that are used for diversification purposes. Each asset class is expected to reflect different risk and return investment characteristics and perform differently in any given market environment. Investors interested in maximizing return often do so by reducing portfolio risk through asset class diversification. Financial advisors will help investors diversify their portfolios by combining assets from different asset classes that have different cash flow streams and varying degrees of risk. Investing in several different asset classes ensures a certain amount of diversity in investment selections. Diversification reduces risk and increases your probability of making a positive return. Practice trading with virtual money SELECT A STOCK TSLA AAPL NKE AMZN WMT SELECT INVESTMENT AMOUNT $ SELECT A PURCHASE DATE CALCULATE The main asset classes are equities, fixed income, cash or marketable securities, and commodities. Types of Asset Classes The most common asset classes are: Cash and Cash Equivalents Cash and cash equivalents represent actual cash on hand and securities that are similar to cash. This type of investment is considered very low risk since there is little to no chance of losing your money. That peace of mind means the returns are also lower than other asset classes. Examples of cash and cash equivalents include cash parked in a savings account as well as U.S. government Treasury bills (T-bills), guaranteed investment certificates (GICs), and money market funds. Generally, the greater the risk of losing money, the greater the prospective return. Fixed Income Fixed income is an investment that pays a fixed income. Basically, you lend money to an entity and, in return, they pay you a fixed amount until the maturity date, which is the date when the money you initially invested (the loan) is paid back to you. Government and corporate bonds are the most common types of fixed-income products. The government or company will pay you interest for the life of the loan, with rates varying depending on inflation and the perceived risk that they won't make good on the loan. The risk of certain governments defaulting on their bonds is very unlikely, so they pay out less. Conversely, some companies risk going bust and need to pay investors more to convince them to part with their money. Equities When people talk about equities, they are usually speaking about owning shares in a company. For companies to expand and meet their objectives, they often resort to selling slices of ownership in exchange for cash to the general public. Buying these shares represents a great way to profit from the success of a company. There are two ways to make money from investing in companies: If the company pays a dividend If you sell the shares for more than you paid for them Take the Next Step to Invest Advertiser Disclosure The market can be volatile, though. Share prices are known to fluctuate, and some companies may even go bust. Commodities Commodities are basic goods that can be transformed into other goods and services. Examples include metals, energy resources, and agricultural goods. Commodities are crucial to the economy and, in some cases, are viewed as a good hedge against inflation. Their return is based on supply and demand dynamics rather than profitability. Many investors invest indirectly in commodities by buying shares in companies that produce them. However, there is also a huge market for investing directly, whether that is actually buying a physical commodity with the view of eventually selling it for a profit or investing in futures. Each asset class carries a different level of risk and return and tends to perform differently in a given environment. Alternative Asset Classes Equities (stocks), bonds (fixed-income securities), cash or marketable securities, and commodities are the most liquid asset classes and, therefore, the most quoted asset classes. There are also alternative asset classes, such as real estate, and valuable inventory, such as artwork, stamps, and other tradable collectibles. Some analysts also refer to an investment in hedge funds, venture capital, crowdsourcing, or cryptocurrencies as examples of alternative investments. That said, an asset's illiquidity does not speak to its return potential; it only means that it may take more time to find a buyer to convert the asset to cash. Asset Class and Investing Strategy Investors looking for alpha employ investment strategies focused on achieving alpha returns. Investment strategies can be tied to growth, value, income, or a variety of other factors that help to identify and categorize investment options according to a specific set of criteria. Some analysts link criteria to performance and/or valuation metrics such as earnings-per-share (EPS) growth or the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. Other analysts are less concerned with performance and more concerned with the asset type or class. Investors are often advised not to put all their eggs into one basket and invest in different asset classes to spread their bets and reduce risk. What are the most popular asset classes? Historically, the three main asset classes have been equities (stocks), fixed income (bonds), and cash equivalent or money market instruments. Currently, most investment professionals include real estate, commodities, futures, other financial derivatives, and even cryptocurrencies in the asset class mix. Which asset class has the best historical returns? The stock market has proven to produce the highest returns over extended periods of time. Since the late 1920s, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the S&P 500 is about 6.6%, assuming that all dividends were reinvested and adjusted for inflation. In other words, $100 invested in the S&P 500 on Jan. 1, 1928, would have been worth about $42,500 (in 1928 dollars) by Dec. 31, 2022, without adjusting for inflation. The total would have grown to $727,560 in 2022 dollars. By comparison, the same $100 invested in five-year Treasuries would have been worth only a little more than $7,000 in today's dollars. 1 2 Why are asset classes useful? Financial advisors focus on asset class as a way to help investors diversify their portfolios to maximize returns. Investing in several different asset classes ensures a certain amount of diversity in investment selections. Each asset class is expected to reflect different risk and return investment characteristics and perform differently in any given market environment. The Bottom Line An asset class is a grouping of investments that exhibit similar characteristics and that may be subject to the same rules and regulations. Equities, fixed income, commodities, and real estate are common examples of asset classes. Asset classes can be used to diversify portfolios and reduce risk, as they are expected to reflect different risk and return characteristics. For instance, if stocks are falling, bond prices may be rising, and vice versa. Building a portfolio with asset classes that are not highly correlated with one another is an important concept for diversification. SPONSORED Investors earned a 325% annualized return here It's not bitcoin or meme stocks, it was a sculpture offered by the fractional art investment platform Masterworks. Investors were able to collect a 15.4% net return after just 36 days, a triple-digit return on an annualized basis. And while it's not common for Masterworks to exit so fast, investors have recently secured 14%, 27%, and even 35% annualized returns from other offerings. Get priority access to their new offerings and skip the waitlist now. ARTICLE SOURCES Take the Next Step to Invest Advertiser Disclosure PART OF Future First: Money Lessons for Teens Financial Literacy: What It Is, and Why It Is So Important 1 of 30 Financial Goals for Students: How and Why to Set Them 2 of 30 Teaching Personal Finance: Tips for How to Do It 3 of 30 How to Learn About Finance 4 of 30 Principles of Building Wealth 5 of 30 Finance Terms for Beginners 6 of 30 Stock Market for Teens 7 of 30 Investing for Teens: What They Should Know 8 of 30 Saving vs. Investing: What Teens Should Know 9 of 30 Talking to Teens About Financial Risk 10 of 30 Portfolio Management Tips for Young Investors 11 of 30 What Are Asset Classes? More Than Just Stocks and Bonds 12 of 30 What Is Stock Trading? 13 of 30 How to Use the Investopedia Simulator 14 of 30 Credit Tips for Teens 15 of 30 Credit Cards vs. Debit Cards: What's the Difference? 16 of 30 Banking 101 17 of 30 Debt: What It Is, How It Works, Types, and Ways to Pay Back 18 of 30 Financial Technology (Fintech): Its Uses and Impact on Our Lives 19 of 30 What Is a Mobile Wallet? 20 of 30 What Teens Need to Know About Cryptocurrency 21 of 30 Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL): What It Is, How It Works, Pros and Cons 22 of 30 Best Ways to Send Money as a Teen 23 of 30 10 College Degrees With the Best Starting Salaries 24 of 30 What Are the 5 Purposes of Budgeting? 25 of 30 How to Read a Pay Stub 26 of 30 Teens and Income Taxes 27 of 30 How Much to Save for College 28 of 30 Renting an Apartment for the First Time: What You Need to Know 29 of 30 Personal Finance Influencers You Should Know 30 of 30 Related Terms What Are Alternative Investments? Definition and Examples An alternative investment is a financial asset that does not fall into one of the conventional investment categories. more Portfolio Management: Definition, Types, and Strategies Portfolio management involves selecting and overseeing a group of investments that meet a client's long-term financial objectives and risk tolerance. more What Are Cash Equivalents? Types, Features, Examples Cash equivalents are highly liquid investment securities that can be converted to cash easily and are found on a company's balance sheet. more Sub-Asset Class A sub-asset class is a sub-segment of a broad asset class that is broken down to provide better identification or more detail of the assets within it. more What Is Diversification? Definition as Investing Strategy Diversification is an investment strategy based on the premise that a portfolio with different asset types will perform better than one with few. more Market Risk Definition: How to Deal with Systematic Risk Market risk is the possibility of an investor experiencing losses due to factors that affect the overall performance of the financial markets. more Related Articles Investing Journey INVESTING Investing: An Introduction A young woman reviews her portfolio on a tablet FINANCIAL LITERACY RESOURCE CENTER Portfolio Management Tips for Young Investors A business person tracking the technical movement of a stock chart on a computer screen INVESTING How to Buy Alternative Investments STRATEGIES What Advisors Can Learn From Ultra-Wealthy Clients Comparing Graphs on a Board Meeting INVESTING BASICS Which Asset Classes Are the Most Risky? A man's hand pointing the marketable securities. FIXED INCOME Common Examples of Marketable Securities Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Newsletter Twitter TRUSTe About Us Terms of Service Dictionary Editorial Policy Advertise News Privacy Policy Contact Us Careers Do Not Sell My Personal Information Investopedia is part of the Dotdash Meredith publishing family. Ad (Investopedia)

Phytoremediation according to quizlet and the NIH

A method employed to clean up a hazardous waste site that uses plants to absorb and accumulate toxic materials (Quizlet) EMBO Reports The European Molecular Biology Organization Phytoremediation Andreas D. Peuke and Heinz Rennenberg Additional article information Summary Molecular biology, requirements for application, environmental protection, public attention and feasibility Over centuries, human industrial, mining and military activities as well as farming and waste practices have contaminated large areas of developed countries with high concentrations of heavy metals and organic pollutants. In addition to their negative effects on ecosystems and other natural resources, these sites pose a great danger to public health, because pollutants can enter food through agricultural products or leach into drinking water (EC, 2002; EEA, 2003). In the EU alone, an estimated 52 million hectares—more than 16% of the total land area—are affected by some level of soil degradation. The largest and probably most heavily contaminated areas are found near industrialized regions in northwestern Europe, but many contaminated areas exist around most major European cities (EEA, 2003). There could be between 300,000 and 1.5 million of these sites in the EU (EC, 2002)—the uncertainty in this estimate is due to the lack of common definitions and a scarcity of accurate data on the size and the level of contamination of affected sites. In the EU alone, an estimated 52 million hectares—more than 16% of the total land area—are affected by some level of soil degradation Cleaning up contaminated soil is a costly enterprise—the overall cost to remediate affected sites in the EU is estimated to be between €59 and €109 billion (EC, 2002). Furthermore, current methods of soil remediation do not really solve the problem. In Germany, for instance, only 30% of soils from contaminated sites are cleaned up in soil remediation facilities (SRU, 2004); the remaining soil must be stored in waste disposal facilities. This does not solve the problem, it merely transfers it to future generations. Obviously, there is an urgent need for alternative, cheap and efficient methods to clean up heavily contaminated industrial areas. This could be achieved by a relatively new technology known as phytoremediation, which uses plants to remove pollutants from the environment. Due to its elegance and the extent of contaminated areas, it has already received significant scientific and commercial attention (Salt et al, 1998; Gleba et al, 1999; Meagher, 2000; Dietz & Schnoor, 2001; Guerinot & Salt, 2001; Krämer & Chardonnens, 2001; McGrath & Zhao, 2003; Peuke & Rennenberg, 2005). Phytoremediation uses wild or genetically modified plants (GMPs) to extract a wide range of heavy metals and organic pollutants from the soil. Initial experiments with transgenic plants have shown that they are indeed efficient in drawing metals from heavily contaminated soils. However, despite this and other advantages, the progress and application of this technology to tackle widespread environmental problems is being hampered by ideology-driven, restrictive legislation over the use and release of GMPs in Europe, and particularly in Germany. Phytoremediation comes in several forms. Phytoextraction removes metals or organics from soils by accumulating them in the biomass of plants. Phytodegradation, or phytotransformation, is the use of plants to uptake, store and degrade organic pollutants; rhizofiltration involves the removal of pollutants from aqueous sources by plant roots. Phytostabilization reduces the bioavailability of pollutants by immobilizing or binding them to the soil matrix, and phytovolatilization uses plants to take pollutants from the growth matrix, transform them and release them into the atmosphere. ...there is an urgent need for alternative, cheap and efficient methods to clean up heavily contaminated industrial areas Most scientific and commercial interest in phytoremediation now focuses on phytoextraction and phytodegradation, which use selected plant species grown on contaminated soils. These are then harvested to remove the plants together with the pollutants that have accumulated in their tissues. Depending on the type of contamination, the plants can either be disposed of or used in alternative processes, such as burning for energy production. In essence, phytoextraction removes pollutants from contaminated soils, concentrates them in biomass and further concentrates the pollutants by combustion. It is also possible to recover some metals from plant tissue (phytomining), which humans have done for centuries in the case of potassium (potash), and which may even become economically valuable (Meagher, 2000). In addition to accumulating toxic minerals in their tissues, plants are also able to take up a range of harmful organic compounds, including some of the most abundant environmental pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), halogenated hydrocarbons (trichloroethylene, TCE) and ammunition wastes (nitroaromatics such as trinitrotoluene (TNT) and glycerol trinitrate (GTN)). Subsequent metabolism in plant tissues then mineralizes or degrades such pollutants to non- or less-toxic compounds (Salt et al, 1998; Meagher, 2000; Dietz & Schnoor, 2001). Compared with conventional methods of soil remediation, the use of plants provides several striking advantages. It is cheap: after planting, only marginal costs apply for harvesting and field management, such as weed control. It is a carbon-dioxide neutral technology: if the harvested biomass is burned, no additional carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere beyond what was originally assimilated by the plants during growth. Phytoremediation is also a potentially profitable technology as the resulting biomass can be used for heat and energy production in specialized facilities. A major disadvantage of phytoremediation is its relatively slow pace, because it requires several years or even decades to halve metal contamination in soil (McGrath & Zhao, 2003). Furthermore, during the process of phytoremediation, a contaminated site is not available for sale or rent, which can cause problems for economic development (SRU, 2004). The challenge for plant scientists is therefore to improve the plants' performance in removing toxicants from the soil, which will require more basic research and knowledge on the natural detoxification mechanisms of plants. These mechanisms evolved to tolerate naturally occurring heavy metals in the soil, which either disrupt or inhibit enzymatic activity by displacing other metal cofactors, or generate reactive oxygen species and free radicals that bind to the sulphur and/or nitrogen atoms of proteins (Clemens, 2001; Hall, 2002; Rea et al, 2004). Plants have several cellular structures and physiological processes to maintain homeostasis and detoxify supra-optimal metal concentrations. These include metal binding to mycorrhizal fungi, metal binding to cell walls, exudation of metal chelating compounds and a network of processes that take up metals, chelate them and transport these complexes to above-ground tissues where they are sequestered into vacuoles (Clemens, 2001; Guerinot & Salt, 2001; Hall, 2002; Clemens et al, 2002). The ability to tolerate large concentrations of heavy metals is a rare phenomenon in the plant kingdom as a whole, but is widespread in particular plant groups: some hyperaccumulating or metal-tolerant species have been investigated for several years: Silene vulgaris, Thlaspi caerulescens, Alyssum lesbiacum, Arabidopsis halleri and Brassica spp. (Clemens et al, 2002; Krämer, 2003). Their ability to accumulate high concentrations of metals was observed for both essential nutrients, such as copper (Cu), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn) and selenium (Se), as well as non-essential metals, such as cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), aluminium (Al) and arsenic (As; Salt et al, 1998; Meagher, 2000; Clemens, 2001; Guerinot & Salt, 2001; Hall, 2002; Clemens et al, 2002; McGrath & Zhao, 2003). Metal concentrations in the shoots of accumulating plants can be 100-1,000-fold higher than in non-accumulating plants: 1% for Zn (up to 4%) and manganese (Mn); 0.1% for cobalt (Co; up to 1.2%), Cu, nickel (Ni; up to 3.8%), As (up to 0.75%) and Se (up to 0.4%); and 100 ppm for Cd (up to 0.2%). Chelating compounds, most notably metallothioneins and phytochelatins, have a significant role in the detoxification of metals, and their synthesis in the plant is induced by exposure of root cells to heavy metals (Rauser, 1999; Cobbett, 2000; Clemens, 2001; Hall, 2002; Cobbett & Goldsbrough, 2002; Rea et al, 2004). These cysteine-rich polypeptides exploit the property of heavy metals to bind to the thiol-groups of proteins—one of the toxic effects of heavy metals—for detoxification. Metallothioneins are sulphur-rich proteins of 60-80 amino acids that contain 9-16 cysteine residues and are found in plants, animals and some prokaryotes (Rauser, 1999; Cobbett, 2000; Cobbett & Goldsbrough, 2002). Phytochelatins (PCs) are a family of γ-glutamylcysteine oligopeptides with glycine or other amino acids at the carboxy-terminal end, in which γ-Glu-Cys units are repeated 2-11 times. They are synthesized from glutathione (GSH) and its derivates by phytochelatine synthase in the presence of heavy-metal ions (Cobbett, 2000; Rea et al, 2004). After exposure to Cd or Cu, PCs were found in yeast, algae and lower and higher plants (Cobbett, 2000). PCs form ligand complexes with these metals, which are then sequestered into the vacuole. GSH also occupies a central role in defence against oxidative stress, heavy metals and xenobiotics. It is synthesized in two ATP-dependent steps that are catalysed by γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase (γ-ECS) and glutathione synthetase (Fig 1; May et al, 1998; Noctor et al, 1998; Foyer et al, 2001). Other low-molecular-weight chelators, including organic acids (malate, citrate), amino acids (O-acetylserine, histidine) and nicotinamine, are used in detoxification, sequestration or transport (Cobbett, 2000; Clemens, 2001; Hall, 2002; Krämer, 2003). The transformation to less harmful forms is another approach to detoxifying heavy metals, particularly As, Hg, Fe, Se and chromium (Cr), which exist in a variety of cationic and oxyanionic species and thio- and organo-metallic forms (Meagher, 2000; Guerinot & Salt, 2001). ...the progress and application of this technology to tackle widespread environmental problems is being hampered by ideology-driven, restrictive legislation... Figure 1 Figure 1 Mechanism of detoxification of heavy metals, organic pollutants and oxidative stress in plant cells by glutathione. Cys, cysteine; γ-Glu-Cys, γ-l-glutamyl-l-cysteine; γ-ECS, γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase; GSH, glutathione; ... The detoxification of organic pollutants by plants is achieved—similar to the detoxification of heavy metals—by uptake and translocation, sequestration into the vacuole and metabolization, including oxidation, reduction or hydrolysis and conjugation with glucose, GSH or amino acids (Salt et al, 1998; Meagher, 2000; Dietz & Schnoor, 2001). GSH and the glutathione S-transferase (GST) isoenzymes have a crucial role in the degradation of many pesticides, as they are able to form conjugates between various xenobiotics and GSH by nucleophilic addition reactions (Edwards et al, 2000; Dietz & Schnoor, 2001; Dixon et al, 2002). These pesticide-GSH conjugates are generally much less toxic and more watersoluble than the original molecules and are sequestered into the vacuole where they can be further degraded (Edwards et al, 2000; Foyer et al, 2001). The expression of GST-encoding genes is induced by a wide range of endogenous and xenobiotic chemicals, including phytohormones, heavy metals and herbicides (Noctor et al, 1998; Foyer et al, 2001; Kopriva & Rennenberg, 2004). ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters are the best-characterized system to transfer toxic organics out of root cells and into vacuoles after conjugation by GSTs (Meagher, 2000; Foyer et al, 2001; Dixon et al, 2002). This combination of glutathione, GSTs and ABC transporters has a prominent role in detoxifying most heavy metals and organic pollutants in plant cells (Fig 1; Noctor et al, 1998; Edwards et al, 2000; Foyer et al, 2001; Dixon et al, 2002). The time it takes for plants to reduce the amount of heavy metals in contaminated soils depends on two factors: how much biomass these plants produce and their metal bioconcentration factor, which is the ratio of metal concentration in the shoot tissue to the soil (McGrath & Zhao, 2003). The latter factor is determined by the ability and capacity of the roots to take up metals and load them into the xylem, by the mass flow in the xylem to the shoot in the transpiration stream, and by the ability to accumulate, store and detoxify metals while maintaining metabolism, growth and biomass production (Gleba et al, 1999; Guerinot & Salt, 2001; Clemens et al, 2002). With the exception of hyperaccumulators, most plants have metal bioconcentration factors of less than 1, which means that it takes longer than a human lifespan to reduce soil contamination by 50%. To achieve a significant reduction of contaminants within one or two decades, it is therefore necessary to use plants that excel in either of these two factors—for example, grow crops with a metal bioconcentration factor of 20 and a biomass production of 10 tonnes per hectare (t/ha), or with a metal bioconcentration factor of 10 and a biomass production of 20 t/ha. Two possible strategies have emerged to improve the phytoextraction of heavy metals: growing plant phenotypes that are able to accumulate large concentrations of heavy metals in their above-ground parts, or using phenotypes that are able to produce high biomass with average heavy-metal concentration in their harvestable tissue. Of course, it would be desirable to combine both features and design plants that are specialized for fast growth and hyperaccumulation. This is the fundamental aim that underlies efforts to generate transgenic plants for phytoremediation. Other than plant growth, which depends on numerous genetic and non-genetic factors, the accumulation of heavy metals is controlled by only a few gene loci and is therefore more easily accessible for genetic manipulation (Clemens, 2001). Phytoremediation strategies that have recently been put into practice are the genetic manipulation of GSH and phytochelatine production in plant tissues (Noctor et al, 1998; Cobbett, 2000; Cobbett & Goldsbrough, 2002). Trees are probably the best-suited plants for transgenic approaches to improve the heavy-metal accumulation and metabolism of organic compounds. Forest trees already have several mechanisms for stress defence, ranging from morphological changes to the synthesis of defence compounds. Tree biotechnology is thus becoming an increasingly important tool for the remediation of contaminated environments (Peuke & Rennenberg, 2005). Fast-growing trees, such as various Populus species, are also good candidates for phytoremediation applications due to their extensive root systems, high rates of water uptake and transpiration—which result in efficient transport of compounds from roots to shoot—rapid growth and large biomass production. Poplars can be grown in a wide range of climatic conditions and are used with increasing frequency in 'short-rotation forestry' systems for pulp and paper production. This raises the possibility of using plantations of transgenic poplars across several multi-year cycles to remove heavy metals from contaminated soils. In addition, a dense tree cover would also prevent erosion and the spread of contaminated soil by wind. After the first planting, the costs for field management are relatively low and the products (biomass/wood) can be used for the production of electricity and heat by burning in wood power stations. Another important point is that it is very unlikely that poplars will enter the human food chain or end up as feedstock for animals. Plant scientists who work on phytoremediation have therefore spent considerable efforts to enhance GSH levels in trees to increase their stress tolerance. The transformation of grey poplar trees (Populus tremula × P. alba) to overexpress γ-ECS from Escherichia coli resulted in higher levels of GSH and its precursor γ-l-glutamyl-l-cysteine compared with wild type (Noctor et al, 1998), and an elevated capacity for phytochelatine production and detoxification of organic pollutants. These new transgenic trees are indeed 'all-purpose performers' for phytoremediation in controlled greenhouse conditions: they showed a high potential for the uptake and detoxification of both heavy metals and pesticides (Peuke & Rennenberg, 2005). We are now conducting field trials with these poplars in former copper-mining regions with different levels of contamination and under different climatic conditions to measure their capacity to remove heavy metals from the soil (Fig 2). Further aims of the project are to assess the biosafety risk of transgenic poplars for the phytoremediation of soils by elucidating the stability of the transgene under field conditions and the possibility of horizontal gene transfer to microorganisms in the rhizosphere. Three field trials, each with low (control), middle and high amounts of heavy metals in the soil were set up in former mining areas in Germany (Saxonia Anhalt, district Mansfelder Land) and Russia (Middle Urals, Swerdlovsk oblast). Most scientific and commercial interest in phytoremediation now focuses on phytoextraction and phytodegradation, which use selected plant species grown on contaminated soils Figure 2 Figure 2 Plantation with wild-type as well as transgenic poplars on a field site with high amounts of heavy metals in the soil, in the former copper mining area Mansfelder Land, Saxonia Anhalt, Germany. Preliminary results from these trials show that the transgenic poplars are genetically stable and there are no indications so far of any impact on the environment. The transgenic trees have a higher capacity than wild-type trees for accumulating heavy metals, but only on the most contaminated soils. On control sites or sites with low contamination, there were no differences in heavy-metal concentration in the shoot between wild-type and transgenic trees. Phytoremediation, in combination with burning the resulting biomass to produce electricity and heat, could become a new environmentally friendly form of biotechnology. If genetic engineering is eventually successful in producing plants that are able to reclaim contaminated lands in tractable time frames, then we may also see a better public acceptance of GMPs with respect to environmental protection. In countries with low fossil energy resources and agricultural overproduction, such as most of the EU states, the production of biomass for wood power stations on soils that are no longer suitable for human food production may also provide financial benefits for farmers. At the moment, many farmers receive money from the EU for not using up to 15% of their land, so as to avert overproduction. At present, the main concerns about the release of GMPs are their potential impact on the environment and their risks to human health, which are reflected both in past German legislation and in European directives (EC, 2001). The present discussion in Germany on the use of GMPs shows less concern for human health and focuses more on the potential impact on the environment in general and in particular on agriculture forms that are free of GMPs and subject to ecological management (SRU, 2004). Unfortunately, these debates have largely slowed down or even halted the use of this environmentally friendly technology. As public discussions are often dominated by categorical arguments based on ideology rather than scientific facts, it makes no difference that the genetically modified poplars in our field trials are not a food plant, will not come to reproductive age within the experimental period, are female and therefore cannot produce pollen, and do not generate toxic substances. Phytoremediation, in combination with burning the resulting biomass to produce electricity and heat, could become a new environmentally friendly form of biotechnology The situation deteriorated in 2004, when the German government passed new legislation concerning the release of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), which could create legal problems for those developing and testing GMPs. Under the new law, all users of GMPs can be made legally liable if pollen or other biological material contaminates products from GMO-free agriculture. Moreover, all German sites in which GMPs are planted—scientific field trials as well as commercial cultivation—must now be reported to a governmental agency, and information on these sites and the GMPs grown there will be made publicly available. The authorities may even pass on personal data about GMP users to interested parties, which is almost an invitation for militant opponents of the technology to protest against or uproot these fields. These new policies pose an incalculable financial and social risk for research on the molecular engineering and application of GMOs in Germany, a country that relies heavily on developing new technologies and scientific innovation for economic progress due to its lack of natural resources. To undermine or block the potential of new biotechnological products based on categorical prejudices and ideological extremism, rather than leading an objective debate that is driven by scientific facts, is a significant political error. GMPs that are modified for improved performance in phytoremediation are clearly and demonstrably beneficial to the environment. Even in conventional agriculture, a strong case can be made that the use of GMPs will reduce our reliance on pesticides and herbicides and therefore improve the environmental compatibility of agricultural practices. A final irony of the current situation is that any collateral damage will hamper further research on biological safety. Germany has had extensive programmes in this field for several years (www.biosicherheit.de) and the mere presence of active biotechnology research has the potential to stimulate novel safety and containment approaches that can be applied to a broad range of biomedical and industrial hazards. It is therefore greatly disappointing that, given the rich heritage of German biotechnological research over the past decades, virtually no scientific insight was incorporated into the law-making process that led to the current legislation. In a society whose advancement is critically dependent on the informed exchange between scientists and politicians, it is imperative that people remain open to new perspectives and that knowledge is respected. The lack of these imperatives in the proceedings that hatched this legislation has probably rendered environmental health the unfortunate victim of an ill-informed political process. ​ figure 6-7400445-i1 figure 6-7400445-i2 Article information EMBO Rep. 2005 Jun; 6(6): 497-501. doi: 10.1038/sj.embor.7400445 PMCID: PMC1369103 PMID: 15940279 Andreas D. Peuke1 and Heinz Rennenberg1 1Andreas D. Peuke and Heinz Rennenberg are at the Institut für Forstbotanik und Baumphysiologie, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. [email protected] Copyright © 2005, European Molecular Biology Organization Articles from EMBO Reports are provided here courtesy of The European Molecular Biology Organization References Clemens S (2001) Molecular mechanisms of plant metal tolerance and homeostasis. Planta 212: 475-486 [PubMed] [Google Scholar] Clemens S, Palmgren MG, Krämer U (2002) A long way ahead: understanding and engineering plant metal accumulation. Trends Plant Sci 7: 309-315 [PubMed] [Google Scholar] Cobbett C, Goldsbrough P (2002) Phytochelatins and metallothioneins: roles in heavy metal detoxification and homeostasis. Annu Rev Plant Biol 53: 159-182 [PubMed] [Google Scholar] Cobbett CS (2000) Phytochelatins and their roles in heavy metal detoxification. Plant Physiol 123: 825-832 [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar] Dietz AC, Schnoor JL (2001) Advances in phytoremediation. Environ Health Perspect 109: 163-168 [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar] Dixon DP, Lapthorn A, Edwards R (2002) Plant glutathione transferases. Genome Biol 3: REVIEWS3004. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar] Edwards R, Dixon DP, Walbot V (2000) Plant glutathione S-transferases: enzymes with multiple functions in sickness and in health. Trends Plant Sci 5: 193-198 [PubMed] [Google Scholar] EC (2001) Directive 2001/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council On the Deliberate Release into the Environment of Genetically Modified Organisms and Repealing Council Directive 90/220/EEC. Brussels, Belgium: European Commission EC (2002) Towards a Thematic Strategy for Soil protection. COM(2002)179final. Brussels, Belgium: European Commission [Google Scholar] EEA (2003) Europe's Environment: the Third Assessment. Environmental Assessment Report No 10. Copenhagen, Denmark: European Environment Agency [Google Scholar] Foyer CH, Theodoulou FL, Delrot S (2001) The functions of inter- and intracellular glutathione transport systems in plants. Trends Plant Sci 6: 486-492 [PubMed] [Google Scholar] Gleba D, Borisjuk NV, Borisjuk LG, Kneer R, Poulev A, Skarzhinskaya M, Dushenkov S, Logendra S, Gleba YY, Raskin I (1999) Use of plant roots for phytoremediation and molecular farming. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 96: 5973-5977 [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar] Guerinot ML, Salt DE (2001) Fortified foods and phytoremediation. Two sides of the same coin. Plant Physiol 125: 164-167 [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar] Hall JL (2002) Cellular mechanisms for heavy metal detoxification and tolerance. J Exp Bot 53: 1-11 [PubMed] [Google Scholar] Kopriva S, Rennenberg H (2004) Control of sulphate assimilation and glutathione synthesis: interaction with N and C metabolism. J Exp Bot 55: 1831-1842 [PubMed] [Google Scholar] Krämer U (2003) Phytoremediation to phytochelatin—plant trace metal homeostasis. New Phytol 158: 4-6 [Google Scholar] Krämer U, Chardonnens AN (2001) The use of transgenic plants in the bioremediation of soils contaminated with trace elements. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 55: 661-672 [PubMed] [Google Scholar] May M, Vernoux T, Leaver C, Van Montagu M, Inze D (1998) Glutathione homeostasis in plants: implications for environmental sensing and plant development. J Exp Bot 49: 649-667 [Google Scholar] McGrath SP, Zhao FJ (2003) Phytoextraction of metals and metalloids from contaminated soils. Curr Opin Biotechnol 14: 277-282 [PubMed] [Google Scholar] Meagher RB (2000) Phytoremediation of toxic elemental and organic pollutants. Curr Opin Plant Biol 3: 153-162 [PubMed] [Google Scholar] Noctor G, Arisi A, Jouanin L, Kunert K, Rennenberg H, Foyer C (1998) Glutathione: biosynthesis, metabolism and relationship to stress tolerance explored in transformed plants. J Exp Bot 49: 623-647 [Google Scholar] Peuke AD, Rennenberg H (2005) Phytoremediation with transgenic trees. Z Naturforsch C 60: 199-207 [PubMed] [Google Scholar] Rauser WE (1999) Structure and function of metal chelators produced by plants: the case for organic acids, amino acids, phytin, and metallothioneins. Cell Biochem Biophys 31: 19-48 [PubMed] [Google Scholar] Rea PA, Vatamaniuk OK, Rigden DJ (2004) Weeds, worms, and more. Papain's long-lost cousin, phytochelatin synthase. Plant Physiol 136: 2463-2474 [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar] Salt DE, Smith RD, Raskin I (1998) Phytoremediation. Annu Rev Plant Physiol Plant Mol Biol 49: 643-668 [PubMed] [Google Scholar] SRU (2004) Umweltgutachten 2004: Umweltpolitische Handlungsfähigkeit sichern. Stuttgart, Germany: Metzler-Poeschel [Google Scholar]

How do I attain happiness?

Health and happiness go hand in hand November 1, 2021 By Matthew Solan, Executive Editor, Harvard Men's Health Watch Happy people are generally healthier. So how can you be more joyful? People who describe themselves as happy tend to have fewer health problems, a lower risk of depression, and longer lives. Yet what if you're not a naturally cheerful person? Is it possible to make yourself happy, especially during trying times? It turns out that most people can increase their happiness. Research suggests that, on average, 50% of people's general level of happiness is determined by genetics. However, 40% is under people's control, and the remaining 10% depends on the circumstances. "This implies that even if you don't consider yourself happy, there is a good chance you have some power to change it," says Dr. Robert Waldinger, director of the longest-running study on happiness, the Harvard Study on Adult Development. Put on a happy face Researchers reporting in the June 2019 Psychological Bulletin combed data from 138 studies testing more than 11,000 people worldwide on how facial expressions affect emotions. They found that smiling makes people feel happier, just as scowling makes them feel angrier, and frowning makes them feel sadder. The impact was small, but smiling can have broad appeal. Working on happiness Of course, it's a challenge for even the most happy-go-lucky person to constantly remain upbeat. Happiness, like any aspect of wellness, is a constant work in progress. But no matter your current state of happiness, there are ways to boost your outlook and give your mental and physical health a lift. Here are some strategies to try. Stay connected. The Harvard study led by Dr. Waldinger found a strong link between happiness and close relationships with family and friends. "Personal connection creates emotional stimulation, which is an automatic mood booster, while isolation is a mood buster," says Dr. Waldinger. Raise your hand. Volunteering provides a sense of purpose and improves your mood. A 2016 BMJ Open study found that the effect was especially strong in adults older than age 70. Perform regular acts of kindness. Pick a day and focus on performing acts of kindness toward others that you would not otherwise do. "It can take considerable planning in advance," says Tyler J. VanderWeele, director of the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health. "But the planning itself and the deliberate intention to do good for others can also have important effects on one's own well-being." Find your inner child. When you are older, you have a chance to revisit the activities that gave you joy as a child or young adult. What made you happy when you were younger? Pick up those hobbies, games, sports, or other interests from your youth. Buy more time. A 2017 study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggested that people who spend money on time-saving purchases, such as paying to delegate household chores, rather than material goods have greater life satisfaction. The effect was similar no matter a person's income. Invest in experiences. Another way money may buy happiness is through life experiences. It doesn't have to be a big-ticket adventure either. For instance, opt for dinner in an ethnic restaurant, a matinee at the theater, or an art exhibit. The investment can have a lasting impact, too. According to some studies, people who spend money on experiences have longer-term satisfaction, as they create happier memories. In comparison, buying material objects often provides only temporary happiness. Hang out with happy people. Happiness can be contagious. One study found that happiness can spread through social networks. Your upbeat feeling can trigger a chain reaction, whereby your contacts become happier being around you, and they, in turn, help their contacts feel more joyful, and so on. The researchers also found that sadness does not spread as robustly as happiness. See more green. A study published online May 30, 2021, by EPJ Data Science looked at urban green spaces and their effect on citizens in 90 cities worldwide. It found that people's happiness correlated with their area's amount of urban green space, such as parks, gardens, and riversides, regardless of the country's economic state. Creating your own green space can have a similar effect. Other research has shown that gardening at home improves emotional well-being in much the same way that activities like cycling and walking do. Break up your routines. People feel happier when they have more variety in their daily routines, according to a study published online May 18, 2020, by Nature Neuroscience. Even small changes can have a big impact. The results found that altering one's regular pattern—such as by trying a new exercise program every couple of weeks, listening to podcasts on some days and music other days, or just taking a different route to the grocery store or pharmacy—can add spice to your life. Count your blessings. Set aside time to write down items for which you are grateful. It could be something you usually take for granted (a roof over your head and a supportive family) or something simple like receiving a heartfelt compliment, a book you enjoy, today's good weather, or a great-tasting meal you had yesterday. Make fewer decisions. Research has found that people given more options have more opportunities for regret and worry. A simple strategy can help you ease your choice burden and protect your happiness. If a decision doesn't bring significant consequences, try limiting the amount of time you give yourself to pick, or choose between fewer options. Don't allow yourself to second-guess the decision once it's made. Save the serious deliberations for more significant issues. However, even when making those choices, try to avoid looking back. Disclaimer: As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Please note the date of last review or update on all articles. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician. (Harvard Medical School)

¿Cómo te fue en México?

How was Mexico?

Facts about Rail travel

First railroads built in England in 1825, started to carry passengers in 1830. Low-cost passenger fares gave the stagecoaches much competition. In the United States, first railroads were built in 1826 and carried coal (mainly), then passengers. (Wuizlet) VIDEO Search Menu Spain's high-speed railway revolution Ben Jones, CNN • Published 7th September 2021 Facebook Twitter Email MADRID, SPAIN - JANUARY 23: Train AVE (Spanish high speed) of the spanish rail operator RENFE on the tracks of Atocha Station on January 23, 2020 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Jesús Hellín/Europa Press via Getty Images) (CNN) — When travelers think of European high-speed rail travel, France's iconic Trains a Grande Vitesse (TGV) or Germany's elegant white ICE trains tend to come to mind. Those who've visited Italy will no doubt have encountered Trenitalia's Frecciarossa (Red Arrow) or the stunning scarlet trains of its strong competitor Italo. But Europe's longest network of high-speed railways is not in Italy, Germany or even in France. That honor is held by Spain, where billions of euros have been invested into new railways radiating from Madrid over the last 30 years. At 3,567 kilometers, it's the second longest high speed rail network in the world, although still less than 10% of that built by China over the last decade. When compared with the lightning progress made by China, the construction of new high-speed railways in Spain has been comparatively glacial, a hostage to volatile national and regional politics, wildly ambitious targets and inconsistent decision making, especially after the 2008 global financial crisis. However, new sections of railway are continuing to open thanks to significant support from the European Union as Spain works towards realizing the dream of providing fast links between Madrid and its regional capitals. Related content First cross-river railway bridge between China and Russia completed Ambitious plans Spanish state operator Renfe's l Avlo service transports passengers between Madrid and Barcelona in two and half hours. Spanish state operator Renfe's l Avlo service transports passengers between Madrid and Barcelona in two and half hours. Jesús Hellín/Europa Press/AP Since the first route, between Madrid's Atocha terminus and Seville, opened in 1992, the tentacles of this ambitious network have reached out to Malaga and Granada in the south, Valencia, Alicante and Barcelona on the east coast and Santiago de Compostela, Vigo and A Coruna in the far northwestern state of Galicia, scheduled to be completed in 2022. High speed trains also run via the historic cities of Segovia and Valladolid to Leon, which is situated in the western region of the country, and will eventually extend to Asturias and the Basque cities of Vitoria, Bilbao and San Sebastian. The construction of a "Y" shaped network linking the major conurbations of the autonomous Basque region began in 2006, but progress has been slow and the $6.8billion project is not slated to reach Bilbao until at least 2025. Up until now, all domestic high-speed trains were operated by state-owned Renfe under its stylish AVE (Alta Velocidad Espana) brand. AVE has even been successful in luring some business away from the airlines, although Madrid to Barcelona remains Europe's busiest short-haul air route. Aside from airplanes, rail also faces stiff competition in the form of express coaches and private cars -- Spain's fuel prices remain comparatively low by European standards and around four million car journeys were made between its two biggest cities in 2019. "RENFE runs some of the classiest high-speed trains in Europe," explains rail expert Mark Smith, better known as "The Man in Seat 61." "Madrid to Barcelona takes only two and a half hours by AVE, well under the three to four hours center-to-center where rail becomes as fast as flying, so I'd expect rail to dominate that market. Related content The story behind the Trans-Iranian Railway, one of the greatest engineering feats of the 20th century Stiff competition French state operator SNCF's Ouigo network has launched a high-speed rail service between Madrid and Barcelona. French state operator SNCF's Ouigo network has launched a high-speed rail service between Madrid and Barcelona. Isabel Infantes/Europa Press/Getty Images "However, Madrid to Barcelona AVE trains have typically been priced significantly higher than comparable high-speed services elsewhere and rail's market share has not been as high as it should be." But change looks to be on the way, if the launch of two new low-cost,"'no frills" high-speed rail operations in 2021 is anything to go by. Renfe's "AVLO" routes launched on June 23, offering fares as low as $8.20 (€7) for the 621 kilometer journey between Spain's two largest cities -- a significant saving over standard AVE fares, which start from $56 (€48). Approximately three return trips run between Madrid and Barcelona per day, with a fourth train pair extended to Girona and Figueres, which is positioned on the border with France. While the 330-kilometer per hour purple trains have been modified internally with second class seating throughout, passengers can purchase additional features when booking, such as extra luggage, at-seat entertainment, seats with greater legroom and on-board catering. Renfe now operates 20 trains in each direction between Madrid and Barcelona -- a journey that takes just two hours and 30 minutes on non-stop trains. The national rail operator currently offers around 16,000 seats daily on a combination of AVE and AVLO services and plans to add even more services as demand recovers after the pandemic. Despite holding home advantage, AVLO was beaten to market by Ouigo Espana, another new low-cost operator, which ran its first commercial services on May 10. Travelers to France will likely already be familiar with the Ouigo brand that provides low-cost, no-frills TGV services between major cities. Using the same successful formula, along with at least 14 500-seat double-deck TGV trains seconded from its French parent, Ouigo Espana will initially run from Madrid to Valencia and Alicante. Routes to Barcelona (in competition with AVLO and AVE), Seville and Malaga will be added in 2022 as part of a $700 million investment. Single fares start from as little as €9. There are separate charges for things like additional luggage, more comfortable seats and refreshments. "The liberalization of rail transport will increase the competition and attract more passengers to use this transport mode," Pedro Saura Garcia, Spain's transport minister, said at the launch of Ouigo Espana services in May. Related content $350M 'palace on rails' luxury train concept unveiled Successful formula The arrival of new low-cost services looks set to bring new energy to Spain's high-speed rail network. The arrival of new low-cost services looks set to bring new energy to Spain's high-speed rail network. Denis Charlet/AFP/Getty Images "This is crucial to decarbonize the transport sector and our economy and to combat climate change." His comments reflect the experiences of high-speed rail operators in Italy, where fierce competition between state-owned Trenitalia and Italo has doubled the rail market share since 2008 and helped to reduce ticket prices by 20 to 25%. Trenitalia is set to deploy that experience in Spain from next year, when it launches ILSA (Intermodalidad de Levante), the third in a trio of new high-speed operators. ILSA is a joint venture with airline Air Nostrum, which is expected to launch commercial operations on six routes in March 2022. While Renfe and SNCF have modified existing trains for their new operations, Trenitalia is investing $943 million into 23 new Frecciarossa 1000 high-speed trains with 460 seats and a maximum speed of 360 kilometers per hour. Operating 32 trips per day, the new trains will go head-to-head with existing AVE services from Madrid to Seville, Malaga, Granada, Valencia, Albacete/Alicante and Barcelona, providing passengers no fewer than four rail options between the capital and Catalonia. "It's early days, but the Spanish government's plan to open the route up to competition appears to be paying off," adds Smith. "The new entrants have been well-received by travelers, with Ouigo reporting an average 90% load factor. "Renfe has already had to lower fares to compete. I'm confident we'll now see a repeat of the experience in Italy." The introduction of these new "open access" services should begin to address one of the major criticisms leveled at Spain's high-speed rail program -- the low frequency of trains on expensive new infrastructure. Since AVE services launched in the 1990s, traffic density has generally been much lower than on similar lines in France, Germany and Italy, leading to claims that billions of euros have been wasted on "political" projects with little real value. Indeed, at the extremities of the network, particularly in northwestern Spain, some new lines with spectacular, and very expensive, civil engineering currently have just a couple of trains a day. "Spain has invested hugely in constructing a world-class high-speed network, but until very recently it hasn't made good use of the system," says Keith Barrow, editor of monthly rail magazine Today's Railways Europe. "On the three routes being opened for competition the government envisages increasing train capacity by up to 70% compared with summer 2019, offering a good indication of the latent capacity in the system." Progress has rarely been smooth. Back in the 19th century, the country's mountainous terrain also proved to be a challenge for the early railway builders. Related content 'Hotels on rails': Plans for new network of European sleeper trains unveiled Expensive process Low-cost carrier Ouigo will add new routes to Barcelona, Seville and Malaga in 2022. Low-cost carrier Ouigo will add new routes to Barcelona, Seville and Malaga in 2022. Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP/Getty Images Many lines were forced to take roundabout routes to avoid high mountain ranges and became notorious for their low speeds and long journey times. Away from the most important inter-city routes, a lack of investment meant that vintage steam locomotives and wooden-bodied coaches lasted well into the 1960s. Much like Japan after World War II, upgrading existing lines for high speeds wasn't an option, so a more radical solution was needed. That came in 1992, when Seville hosted the World's Fair, Universal Exposition, for the first time. Now known as Expo '92, the hugely-popular event provided the impetus for the construction of an entirely new 472-kilometer railway between Madrid and Andalucia. Using proven French TGV technology, the railway slashed journey times to two hours and 20 minutes, with speeds of up to 300 kilometers per hour. However, the biggest development was the completion of the 621-kilometer high-speed rail from Madrid to Barcelona in 2008. Not only did it provide much faster connections between the country's two biggest city regions, it finally gave Renfe the opportunity to compete effectively with airlines on one of Europe's busiest short-haul routes. In addition, the development of new standard gauge high-speed lines in Spain gave the country another opportunity to link its network to France. In 2012, the Madrid to Barcelona line was extended north via Girona and under the Pyrenees to Perpignan in southern France. Today, Spanish AVE (Alta Velocidad Espana) trains and French TGVs connect Barcelona with Toulouse, Marseille, Lyon and Paris. Although the trains currently use a mix of new and existing lines in France, new TGV lines are under construction that will complete an unbroken ribbon of steel between London, Brussels, Paris and the Costa del Sol. Sadly, this link is not yet being used to its full potential. "Despite being connected to the European standard gauge high-speed network, Iberia has a very poor service to the rest of the European Union," explains Barrow. "Track access charges on the Figueres to Perpignan line are exceptionally high -- around $59 per kilometer for a 500-seat high-speed train -- and as a result this key piece of international rail infrastructure is woefully underused. "As a major international tourist destination Barcelona should be an obvious target for international high-speed operators, particularly with the liberalization of the high-speed rail market in France." Hopes for a new fast rail link between Madrid and the Portuguese capital of Lisbon have fluctuated with the prevailing political winds in these neighboring countries. Related content JetTrain: The high-speed dream that never took off Overcoming setbacks Ouigo's first 10,000 return tickets went on sale for just €1 each. Ouigo's first 10,000 return tickets went on sale for just €1 each. PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/AFP via Getty Images Although Spain will complete its high-speed line to the cross-border at Badajoz by 2030, Portugal canceled its section years ago, derailing plans for improved cross-border links between the Iberian capitals. Back in 2008, Spain's high-speed rail network advancement suffered even more setbacks when the global financial crisis hit the country hard. Vigorous economic growth powered by EU support and a property bubble evaporated almost overnight and unemployment soared in the months and years that followed. Plans to build thousands of kilometers of new railways seemed like hubris. Although some ongoing projects were eventually completed, others were paused or abandoned altogether as a succession of governments sought to stabilize the economy. This political upheaval was reflected in the numerous changes and delays to plans for the program. Only in the last few years has development gained momentum once again, as the Spanish economy recovers. There's no project that symbolizes the difficulties involved in creating a national high-speed network in Spain more than the Variante de Pajares, located on the route between Madrid and Asturias. Work on the 50-kilometer bypass, including a 25-kilometer base tunnel under the mountains of the Cordillera Cantabrica, began in 2004 and should have taken five years. But seemingly endless issues caused by political and technical indecision (the plans for the base tunnels have been changed on at least 15 occasions) and inadequate geological surveys have caused costs to quadruple from $1.3 billion to around $4.7 billion. By the time the commercial services begin to use the tunnel, possibly in 2022, the project will have taken almost 20 years to conclude. As the long-planned new lines come to fruition, Spain may finally be able to achieve its goal of bringing its widely scattered regional centers within three hours of Madrid and reduce its reliance on short-hop flights. Whether that proves to be a wise investment will depend on the ability of Renfe, Ouigo and ILSA -- and possibly others -- to run more trains and fill as many seats as possible in the coming years. Read more A year of the world's Best Beaches There's a perfect beach for every week of the year. Join us on a 12-month journey to see them all Go to the best beaches Search Live TV Audio US World Politics Business Opinion Health Entertainment Tech Style Travel Sports Videos Coupons More FOLLOW CNN Terms of Use Privacy Policy Cookie Settings AdChoices About Us CNN Studio Tours Modern Slavery Act Statement Advertise with us CNN Store Newsletters Transcripts License Footage CNN Newsource Sitemap © 2023 Cable News Network.A Warner Bros. Discovery Company.All Rights Reserved. CNN Sans ™ & © 2016 Cable News Network. (CNN)

How do I live a happy life?

Harvard University The Harvard Gazette HEALTH & MEDICINE Good genes are nice, but joy is better Aging Harvard study, almost 80 years old, has proved that embracing community helps us live longer, and be happier Liz Mineo Harvard Staff Writer April 11, 2017 Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Second in an occasional series on how Harvard researchers are tackling the problematic issues of aging. When scientists began tracking the health of 268 Harvard sophomores in 1938 during the Great Depression, they hoped the longitudinal study would reveal clues to leading healthy and happy lives. They got more than they wanted. After following the surviving Crimson men for nearly 80 years as part of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, one of the world's longest studies of adult life, researchers have collected a cornucopia of data on their physical and mental health. Of the original Harvard cohort recruited as part of the Grant Study, only 19 are still alive, all in their mid-90s. Among the original recruits were eventual President John F. Kennedy and longtime Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee. (Women weren't in the original study because the College was still all male.) In addition, scientists eventually expanded their research to include the men's offspring, who now number 1,300 and are in their 50s and 60s, to find out how early-life experiences affect health and aging over time. Some participants went on to become successful businessmen, doctors, lawyers, and others ended up as schizophrenics or alcoholics, but not on inevitable tracks. During the intervening decades, the control groups have expanded. In the 1970s, 456 Boston inner-city residents were enlisted as part of the Glueck Study, and 40 of them are still alive. More than a decade ago, researchers began including wives in the Grant and Glueck studies. Over the years, researchers have studied the participants' health trajectories and their broader lives, including their triumphs and failures in careers and marriage, and the finding have produced startling lessons, and not only for the researchers. "The surprising finding is that our relationships and how happy we are in our relationships has a powerful influence on our health," said Robert Waldinger, director of the study, a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. "Taking care of your body is important, but tending to your relationships is a form of self-care too. That, I think, is the revelation." Dr. Robert Waldinger at his West Newton home with wife Jennifer Stone "The people who were the most satisfied in their relationships at age 50 were the healthiest at age 80," said Robert Waldinger with his wife Jennifer Stone. Rose Lincoln/Harvard Staff Photographer Close relationships, more than money or fame, are what keep people happy throughout their lives, the study revealed. Those ties protect people from life's discontents, help to delay mental and physical decline, and are better predictors of long and happy lives than social class, IQ, or even genes. That finding proved true across the board among both the Harvard men and the inner-city participants. The long-term research has received funding from private foundations, but has been financed largely by grants from the National Institutes of Health, first through the National Institute of Mental Health, and more recently through the National Institute on Aging. The Daily Gazette Sign up for daily emails to get the latest Harvard news. Researchers who have pored through data, including vast medical records and hundreds of in-person interviews and questionnaires, found a strong correlation between men's flourishing lives and their relationships with family, friends, and community. Several studies found that people's level of satisfaction with their relationships at age 50 was a better predictor of physical health than their cholesterol levels were. "When we gathered together everything we knew about them about at age 50, it wasn't their middle-age cholesterol levels that predicted how they were going to grow old," said Waldinger in a popular TED Talk. "It was how satisfied they were in their relationships. The people who were the most satisfied in their relationships at age 50 were the healthiest at age 80." TED talk / Robert Waldinger He recorded his TED talk, titled "What Makes a Good Life? Lessons from the Longest Study on Happiness," in 2015, and it has been viewed 13,000,000 times. The researchers also found that marital satisfaction has a protective effect on people's mental health. Part of a study found that people who had happy marriages in their 80s reported that their moods didn't suffer even on the days when they had more physical pain. Those who had unhappy marriages felt both more emotional and physical pain. Those who kept warm relationships got to live longer and happier, said Waldinger, and the loners often died earlier. "Loneliness kills," he said. "It's as powerful as smoking or alcoholism." According to the study, those who lived longer and enjoyed sound health avoided smoking and alcohol in excess. Researchers also found that those with strong social support experienced less mental deterioration as they aged. In part of a recent study, researchers found that women who felt securely attached to their partners were less depressed and more happy in their relationships two-and-a-half years later, and also had better memory functions than those with frequent marital conflicts. "Loneliness kills. It's as powerful as smoking or alcoholism." — Robert Waldinger "Good relationships don't just protect our bodies; they protect our brains," said Waldinger in his TED talk. "And those good relationships, they don't have to be smooth all the time. Some of our octogenarian couples could bicker with each other day in and day out, but as long as they felt that they could really count on the other when the going got tough, those arguments didn't take a toll on their memories." Since aging starts at birth, people should start taking care of themselves at every stage of life, the researchers say. "Aging is a continuous process," Waldinger said. "You can see how people can start to differ in their health trajectory in their 30s, so that by taking good care of yourself early in life you can set yourself on a better course for aging. The best advice I can give is 'Take care of your body as though you were going to need it for 100 years,' because you might." The study, like its remaining original subjects, has had a long life, spanning four directors, whose tenures reflected their medical interests and views of the time. Under the first director, Clark Heath, who stayed from 1938 until 1954, the study mirrored the era's dominant view of genetics and biological determinism. Early researchers believed that physical constitution, intellectual ability, and personality traits determined adult development. They made detailed anthropometric measurements of skulls, brow bridges, and moles, wrote in-depth notes on the functioning of major organs, examined brain activity through electroencephalograms, and even analyzed the men's handwriting. Now, researchers draw men's blood for DNA testing and put them into MRI scanners to examine organs and tissues in their bodies, procedures that would have sounded like science fiction back in 1938. In that sense, the study itself represents a history of the changes that life brings. Psychiatrist George Vaillant, who joined the team as a researcher in 1966, led the study from 1972 until 2004. Trained as a psychoanalyst, Vaillant emphasized the role of relationships, and came to recognize the crucial role they played in people living long and pleasant lives. "When the study began, nobody cared about empathy or attachment. But the key to healthy aging is relationships, relationships, relationships." — George Vaillant In a book called "Aging Well," Vaillant wrote that six factors predicted healthy aging for the Harvard men: physical activity, absence of alcohol abuse and smoking, having mature mechanisms to cope with life's ups and downs, and enjoying both a healthy weight and a stable marriage. For the inner-city men, education was an additional factor. "The more education the inner city men obtained," wrote Vaillant, "the more likely they were to stop smoking, eat sensibly, and use alcohol in moderation." Vaillant's research highlighted the role of these protective factors in healthy aging. The more factors the subjects had in place, the better the odds they had for longer, happier lives. "When the study began, nobody cared about empathy or attachment," said Vaillant. "But the key to healthy aging is relationships, relationships, relationships." The study showed that the role of genetics and long-lived ancestors proved less important to longevity than the level of satisfaction with relationships in midlife, now recognized as a good predictor of healthy aging. The research also debunked the idea that people's personalities "set like plaster" by age 30 and cannot be changed. "Those who were clearly train wrecks when they were in their 20s or 25s turned out to be wonderful octogenarians," he said. "On the other hand, alcoholism and major depression could take people who started life as stars and leave them at the end of their lives as train wrecks." Professor Robert Waldinger is director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, one of the world's longest studies of adult life. Rose Lincoln/Harvard Staff Photographer The study's fourth director, Waldinger has expanded research to the wives and children of the original men. That is the second-generation study, and Waldinger hopes to expand it into the third and fourth generations. "It will probably never be replicated," he said of the lengthy research, adding that there is yet more to learn. "We're trying to see how people manage stress, whether their bodies are in a sort of chronic 'fight or flight' mode," Waldinger said. "We want to find out how it is that a difficult childhood reaches across decades to break down the body in middle age and later." Lara Tang '18, a human and evolutionary biology concentrator who recently joined the team as a research assistant, relishes the opportunity to help find some of those answers. She joined the effort after coming across Waldinger's TED talk in one of her classes. "That motivated me to do more research on adult development," said Tang. "I want to see how childhood experiences affect developments of physical health, mental health, and happiness later in life." Asked what lessons he has learned from the study, Waldinger, who is a Zen priest, said he practices meditation daily and invests time and energy in his relationships, more than before. "It's easy to get isolated, to get caught up in work and not remembering, 'Oh, I haven't seen these friends in a long time,' " Waldinger said. "So I try to pay more attention to my relationships than I used to." Editor's Picks Olive oil. HEALTH The best thing about the Mediterranean diet? It doesn't taste like a diet. Olive oil - maybe not your mom's - is a good place to start, says Chan School's Walter Willett. But don't be afraid to experiment. NEWS Bob Odenkirk named Hasty's Man of the Year The actor, comedian, filmmaker will receive his Pudding Pot at a Feb. 2 celebratory roast HEALTH Study finds 'startling' inequities in end-of-life opioid treatment Fewer prescriptions for Black and Hispanic cancer patients ALSO IN THE SERIES Probe of Alzheimer's follows paths of infection To age better, eat better The balance in healthy aging How old can we get? It might be written in stem cells Plotting the demise of Alzheimer's View all of Tackling Issues of Aging Up Next HEALTH & MEDICINE Bringing big data to the farm Michael Stern, CEO of The Climate Corporation, speaks of the need for farmers to immediately react to environmental setbacks as the effects of climate change reduce the viability of farm lands across the globe. "We're going to have to figure out how to grow a lot more food on a lot less land and do it sustainably." (The Harvard Gazette)

What are some ways to improve intimacy?

Susan K Perry Ph.D. Creating in Flow RELATIONSHIPS 10 Proven Ways You Can Increase Intimacy 4. Relish the routine. Posted February 19, 2016 Reviewed by Lybi Ma What rates highest in a long-term relationship? Passion is important, certainly, but intimacy rates highest. That's what psychologist Robert J. Sternberg found in a survey of marital satisfaction among 101 adults who'd been together for as little as a year and as long as 42 years. Intimacy is the sense of another person fully knowing you, and loving you because of who you are—as well as in spite of it. This requires taking a leap into rare honesty and allowing yourself to be vulnerable. The deeper the intimacy, the more you'll have the experience of total absorption with your partner, in and out of bed. For some, intimacy is that sense of being "home" in the presence of your mate. Or it may be an increased sense of relaxed pleasure when you see your loved one's face after an absence. "If I'm out and coming back home and my guy is here," said one woman I interviewed for Loving in Flow: How the Happiest Couples Get and Stay That Way. "It's as though this is my haven. When I see him in a crowd or walking through the front door, I want to go up and hug him. One of the best parts of the day is getting in bed at night and hugging. Just being in each other's arms is reassuring, lovely, comforting." 1. Disclose more to feel closer. "Intimacy is a process of discovery with another," writes Joel B. Bennett in Time and Intimacy: A New Science of Personal Relationships. Over time, though, without continued attentiveness, it is easy to lose that urge to keep discovering all there is to know about one another. Individuals that psychologists have dubbed openers have intimate conversations with others because something about them encourages disclosure. Those who don't open up or make it easy for others to do so, known as high self-monitors, have a more difficult time with close relationships. 2. Make time for deeply emotional conversations. These are among the times people feel closest. "When we share our thoughts at the end of the day," one woman said, "when we're lucky enough to be able to do that, it feels very intimate." 3. Do something new or big together. One woman shared instances where she and her partner feel closest, including when they have a productive talk about something upon which they disagree. But also important, she told me, "is when we produce something together. 'Raising' of the cats, doing something really nice for friends or family. Like when we're in sync about 'let's do such-and-such for so-and-so.'" 4. Relish the routine. When we're new to one another, whatever we learn is unexpected, resulting in intense emotion. Gradually over time, we become more predictable to one another. But there's a positive side to this predictability, Sternberg found: It leads to intimacy, in which "the partners are so connected with each other that the one doesn't recognize the other is there, just as the air we breathe can be taken for granted, despite its necessity to life." 5. Shake up the routine. According to Sternberg, our interactions in close relationships tend to go along in well-worn grooves, called scripts. Most emotion is the result of some interruption of the script. Keep doing the same old thing, and you experience no emotion. But stop what you've always done, and, suddenly, someone feels. Sternberg says you can find out if a relationship is "live" by generating something unexpected, such as one of you going away on their own, or going on a vacation to a new place together. But sometimes it takes extreme action to realize how much intimacy there is, or was. Why not plan for occasional minor interruptions—so you don't need a major one to wake you up? 6. Make it harder to walk away. When the marriage of Susan Tyler Hitchcock and her husband was stagnating, they made a family project of a year-long sailing trip in the Caribbean. As soon as they made the commitment and began planning the extensive journey, they felt "pulled together," Susan said. Their pattern of her expressing anger or disappointment, and him withdrawing, was broken. Also, her habit had been to become terrified of a confrontation, figure she'd been pushing too hard, and drop the conversation altogether. In the confines of a sailboat, neither of them could just walk away, and they learned to talk at a deeper and more honest level. THE BASICS Why Relationships Matter Find a therapist to strengthen relationships 7. Ensure that it's safe to be open. What if you are part of a mismatched couple, where you crave a deeper level of communicative openness than your partner ever will? Comfort levels with verbal sharing typically do increase with practice in an emotionally safe context, so continue to work at becoming a non-judgmental listener. 8. Consider whether you're a better match than you think. People vary as to how much intimacy they require to avoid loneliness, and how much they can tolerate before feeling saturated. Those with stronger needs will work harder to ensure intimate contact with their partners, by listening more closely and encouraging their partners to be more expressive. If the need is weaker, then there will be a weaker correlation between intimacy and relationship satisfaction. In other words, if you don't crave the level of total closeness I'm talking about here, you probably won't mind if your partner isn't that keen on sharing his or her own inner life, either. RELATIONSHIPS ESSENTIAL READS When You've Had Enough—Have You? The Key to Greater Intimacy 9. Give credit where it's due. The free-and-easy talker can learn to recognize and give credit to a partner's preferred modes of expression. Some individuals equate communication with intimacy—in one study, more than two-thirds of divorced couples said they didn't get the level of conversation that they'd expected in their marriages. The women, especially, complained they wanted to talk about negatives as well as positives, and they especially wanted to talk about work. But the "give and take," the emotional exchange they sought, was missing. 10. Intimacy is more than words or sex. Only a third of the divorced men in the sample above said that they didn't find the emotional intimacy they wanted. What some of them missed, though, was their wives being there for them "in much fuller ways." They wanted concrete demonstrations of intimacy, such as being kissed or asked how they are at the end of the day, and being greeted with open arms at the door. As long as the less articulate demonstrate their love in their own ways, they deserve credit for their thoughtful behavior, as well as extra patience and understanding on the part of the talk-deprived. About the Author Susan K Perry Ph.D. Susan K. Perry, Ph.D., is a social psychologist and author. Her current focus is on the creative aspects of rationality and atheism. (Psychology Today)

Justin Bieber and Michael Jackson

Justin Bieber Canadian singer Actions Alternate titles: Justin Drew Bieber By John M. Cunningham Article History Table of Contents Justin Bieber, in full Justin Drew Bieber, (born March 1, 1994, London, Ontario, Canada), Canadian singer and teen idol whose fresh-faced good looks and appealing pop songs sparked a global craze beginning in 2009. Justin Bieber Justin Bieber See all media Born: March 1, 1994 (age 28) London Canada Notable Family Members: son of Jeremy Bieber son of Pattie Mallette married to Hailey Bieber (2018-present) See all related content → Justin Bieber Justin Bieber Bieber was raised by a single mother in Stratford, Ontario, Canada, and as a child he learned to play the drums, the piano, the guitar, and the trumpet. In 2007 he participated in a local singing competition, placing second, and his mother posted a video of his performance on the Web site YouTube for friends and family who were unable to attend. She later uploaded other homemade videos, in which Bieber sang popular rhythm-and-blues (R&B) songs and occasionally accompanied himself on acoustic guitar, and they soon attracted attention beyond their originally intended audience. Among those who saw Bieber's videos was Scott ("Scooter") Braun, a music promoter and talent agent, who invited the 13-year-old Bieber to record demos at a studio in Atlanta. While there, Bieber happened to encounter R&B singer Usher and arranged an informal audition with him. Impressed by Bieber's natural confidence and vocal talent, Usher helped sign him to a recording contract in late 2008. Britannica Quiz Pop Culture Quiz In May 2009 Bieber unveiled his first single, the buoyant puppy-love song "One Time," and six months later he released the seven-track EP My World, composed mainly of glossy R&B-influenced pop. By this time his audience had dramatically expanded to include countless preadolescent girls who considered him a heartthrob, and the recording sold more than one million copies. He replicated the feat with the full-length album My World 2.0 (2010), which debuted at number one on the Billboard album chart. Its lead single, the yearningly heartfelt "Baby"—featuring a guest appearance from rapper Ludacris—reached the top five of Billboard's singles chart, and several other tracks landed in the Top 40. The official video for "Baby" also became the first to amass more than 500 million views on YouTube. Bieber's enormous popularity was boosted by his allegiance to social media such as Twitter and his frequent television appearances. Justin Bieber Justin Bieber Later in 2010 Bieber released the album My Worlds Acoustic, featuring stripped-down versions of his songs, and published an autobiographical book, Justin Bieber: First Step 2 Forever: My Story. Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, a documentary film interspersed with 3-D concert footage, opened the following year. Bieber maintained his visibility with the albums Never Say Never: The Remixes (2011), a companion to the film, and the Christmas-themed Under the Mistletoe (2011), both of which hit number one in the United States and Canada. On the similarly successful Believe (2012) and Believe Acoustic (2013), Bieber introduced a more mature sound, with the hit single "Boyfriend" recalling the suave R&B of Justin Timberlake. As Bieber entered adulthood, his celebrity often overshadowed his music. His romantic relationships (with Selena Gomez, among others) and his occasional skirmishes with the law brought him considerable tabloid attention. His 2015 album Purpose found an audience beyond his youthful fan base, with each of its first three singles reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Also in 2015, Bieber contributed vocals to Jack Ü's Grammy Award-winning electro-pop hit "Where Are Ü Now." Collaborations with other musicians followed, resulting in several popular songs. In 2018 Bieber married model Hailey Baldwin, and their relationship inspired Changes (2020). His sixth studio album, Justice, was released in 2021. John M. Cunningham The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Michael Jackson Table of Contents Home Entertainment & Pop Culture Music, Contemporary Genres Soul/R&B Music Michael Jackson American singer, songwriter, and dancer Actions Alternate titles: "King of Pop", Michael Joe Jackson, Michael Joseph Jackson By Rickey Vincent Article History Table of Contents Top Questions Who was Michael Jackson? How did Michael Jackson die? Where was Michael Jackson born? How did Michael Jackson become famous? What were Michael Jackson's accomplishments? Summary Read a brief summary of this topic Michael Jackson, in full Michael Joseph Jackson or Michael Joe Jackson (see Researcher's Note), (born August 29, 1958, Gary, Indiana, U.S.—died June 25, 2009, Los Angeles, California), American singer, songwriter, and dancer who was the most popular entertainer in the world in the early and mid-1980s. Reared in Gary, Indiana, in one of the most acclaimed musical families of the rock era, Michael Jackson was the youngest and most talented of five brothers whom his father, Joseph, shaped into a dazzling group of child stars known as the Jackson 5. In addition to Michael, the members of the Jackson 5 were Jackie Jackson (byname of Sigmund Jackson; b. May 4, 1951, Gary), Tito Jackson (byname of Toriano Jackson; b. October 15, 1953, Gary), Jermaine Jackson (b. December 11, 1954, Gary), and Marlon Jackson (b. March 12, 1957, Gary). Michael Jackson Michael Jackson See all media Born: August 29, 1958 Gary Indiana Died: June 25, 2009 (aged 50) Los Angeles California Awards And Honors: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum (2001) Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum (1997) Grammy Award (1995) Grammy Award (1989) Grammy Award (1985) Grammy Award (1984) Grammy Award (1983) Grammy Award (1979) Notable Works: "We Are the World" Notable Family Members: sister Janet Jackson See all related content → The Jackson 5 the Jackson 5 the Jackson 5 Motown Records president Berry Gordy, Jr., was impressed with the group and signed them in 1969. Sporting the loudest fashions, the largest Afros, the snappiest choreography, and a youthful, soulful exuberance, the Jackson 5 became an immediate success. They scored four consecutive number one pop hits with "I Want You Back," "ABC," "The Love You Save," and "I'll Be There" in 1970. With Michael topping the pop charts as a solo performer with "Ben" and reaching number two with "Rockin' Robin," and with the Jackson 5 producing trendsetting dance tracks such as "Dancing Machine," the family's string of hits for Motown lasted through 1975. As Michael matured, his voice changed, family tensions arose, and a contract standoff ensued. The group finally broke with Motown, moving to Epic Records as the Jacksons. Jermaine remained at Motown as a solo performer and was replaced by his youngest brother, Randy Jackson (in full Steven Randall Jackson; b. October 29, 1961). As a recording act, the Jacksons enjoyed consistent success through 1984, and their sister Janet Jackson embarked on her own singing career in the early 1980s; however, Michael's solo albums took on an entirely different status. Britannica Quiz Pop Culture Quiz The "King of Pop" Michael Jackson Michael Jackson Michael Jackson Michael Jackson Michael Jackson Michael Jackson Jackson's first solo effort for Epic, Off the Wall (1979), exceeded all expectations and was the best-selling album of the year (it eventually sold more than 20 million copies). Produced by industry veteran Quincy Jones, Off the Wall yielded the massive international hit singles "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough" and "Rock with You," both of which showcased Michael's energetic style and capitalized on the contemporary disco dance fad. Three years later he returned with another collaboration with Jones, Thriller, a tour de force that featured an array of guest stars and elevated him to worldwide superstardom. Thriller captured a slew of awards, including a record-setting eight Grammys; remained on the charts for more than two years; and sold more than 40 million copies, long holding the distinction of being the best-selling album in history. The first single on the album, "The Girl Is Mine," an easygoing duet with Paul McCartney, went to number one on the rhythm-and-blues charts and number two on the pop charts in the fall of 1982. The follow-up single, "Billie Jean," an electrifying dance track and the vehicle for Jackson's trademark "moonwalk" dance, topped the pop charts, as did "Beat It," which featured a raucous solo from famed guitarist Eddie Van Halen. Moreover, "Beat It" helped break down the artificial barriers between Black and white artists on the radio and in the emerging format of music videos on television. Michael Jackson Michael Jackson Michael Jackson Michael Jackson Michael Jackson Michael Jackson By 1984 Jackson was renowned worldwide as the "King of Pop." His much anticipated Victory reunion tour with his brothers was one of the most popular concert events of 1984. In 1985 Jackson and Lionel Richie cowrote "We Are the World," the signature single for USA for Africa, an all-star project aimed at famine relief. Further solo albums—Bad (1987), which produced five chart-topping hits (among them the title song and "Man in the Mirror"), and Dangerous (1991), much of which was produced by New Jack Swing sensation Teddy Riley—solidified Jackson's dominance of pop music. In 2001 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; the Jackson 5 were inducted in 1997. Child molestation accusations, financial difficulties, and death Michael Jackson Michael Jackson Jackson's eccentric, secluded lifestyle grew increasingly controversial in the early 1990s. His reputation was seriously damaged in 1993 when he was accused of child molestation by a 13-year-old boy he had befriended; a civil suit was settled out of court. In 1994 Jackson secretly married Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley, but their marriage lasted less than two years. Shortly thereafter Jackson married again, this marriage producing children, though it too ended in divorce. While he remained an international celebrity, his image in the United States was slow to recover, and it suffered even more in November 2003 when he was arrested and charged with child molestation. After a 14-week trial that became something of a media circus, Jackson was acquitted in 2005. In the wake of these events, Jackson suffered a financial collapse that resulted in the sale of many of his considerable assets, including, ultimately, his lavish Neverland ranch. He was preparing for a series of high-profile concerts he hoped would spark a comeback when he died suddenly of cardiac arrest on June 25, 2009—prompting a widespread outpouring of grief from his fans that culminated in a memorial celebration of his life and legacy on July 7 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, featuring tributes by friends and luminaries such as Stevie Wonder, Berry Gordy, Jr., Brooke Shields, and Al Sharpton. In August 2009 the coroner ruled Jackson's death a homicide; the cause was a lethal combination of sedatives and propofol, an anesthetic. In November 2011 Jackson's personal physician was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now The documentary film This Is It, which drew from more than 100 hours of footage compiled during rehearsals for Jackson's scheduled 50-concert comeback engagement in London, premiered in October 2009. Also in 2009 Jackson's 14-minute music video "Thriller" (1983), directed by John Landis, was inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress—the first music video to be so honoured. Later documentaries included Leaving Neverland (2019), which centres on two men who allege that Jackson sexually abused them when they were children. Rickey Vincent The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Load Next Page Information from your device can be used to personalize your ad experience. Do not sell or share my personal information. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

No se lo digas lo que dije

No se lo digas what i said

Systematic exploration

Systematic Exploration A useful problem-solving technique is to list all the possible solutions and then check each solution. We might try to imagine a systematic way to explore the city — a way to ensure that we will try every possible way of crossing the bridges — and can be sure we didn't miss anything. This systematic exploration is a general problem-solving technique, and it is particularly useful in computer science — for lots of problems, computers can check possible solutions very quickly and don't get frustrated when the first few million don't work out. Due to the raw computational aspect of this approach, we often call these "brute force" solutions. (Brilliant)

Movie lines

Many Do You Know?) Meredith Hart Updated: March 11, 2022 Published: September 21, 2018 Movies can be an escape from reality or an inspiration. We often relate to the characters, situations they're presented with, or words they speak. And many famous quotes have originated from movies. Whether you're a film buff or enjoy watching the occasional movie on Netflix, memorable movie phrases have likely made their way into your everyday vocabulary, presentations, or water cooler talk. Check out the movie quotes below and test your memory to see how many you remember. Famous Movie Quotes 1. "May the Force be with you." -Star Wars, 1977 2. "There's no place like home." -The Wizard of Oz, 1939 3. "I'm the king of the world!" -Titanic, 1997 4. "Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary." -Dead Poets Society, 1989 5. "Elementary, my dear Watson." -The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1939 6. "It's alive! It's alive!" -Frankenstein, 1931 7. "My mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." -Forrest Gump, 1994 8. "I'll be back." -The Terminator, 1984 9. "You're gonna need a bigger boat." -Jaws, 1975 10. "Here's looking at you, kid." -Casablanca,1942 11. "My precious." -The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers, 2002 12. "Houston, we have a problem." -Apollo 13, 1995 13. "There's no crying in baseball!" -A League of Their Own, 1992 14. "E.T. phone home." -E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, 1982 15. "You can't handle the truth!" -A Few Good Men, 1992 16. "A martini. Shaken, not stirred." -Goldfinger, 1964 17. "Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!" -Auntie Mame, 1958 18. "If you build it, he will come." -Field of Dreams, 1989 19. "The stuff that dreams are made of." -The Maltese Falcon, 1941 20. "Magic Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?" -Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1937 21. "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer." -The Godfather Part II, 1974 22. "I am your father." -Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, 1980 23. "Just keep swimming." -Finding Nemo, 2003 24. "Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth." -The Pride of the Yankees, 1942 25. "You is kind. You is smart. You is important." -The Help, 2011 26. "What we've got here is failure to communicate." -Cool Hand Luke, 1967 27. "Hasta la vista, baby." -Terminator 2: Judgment Day, 1991 28. "You don't understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I could've been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am." -On the Waterfront, 1954 29. "Bond. James Bond." -Dr. No, 1962 30. "You talking to me?" -Taxi Driver, 1976 31. "Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads." -Back to the Future, 1985 32. "That'll do, pig. That'll do." -Babe, 1995 33. "I'm walking here! I'm walking here!" -Midnight Cowboy, 1969 34. "It was beauty killed the beast." -King Kong, 1933 35. "Stella! Hey, Stella!" -A Streetcar Named Desire, 1951 36. "As if!" -Clueless, 1995 37. "Here's Johnny!" -The Shining, 1980 38. "Rosebud." -Citizen Kane, 1941 39. "I'll have what she's having." -When Harry Met Sally, 1989 40. "Inconceivable!" -The Princess Bride, 1987 41. "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up." -Sunset Boulevard, 1950 42. "Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night." -All About Eve, 1950 43. "Nobody puts Baby in a corner." -Dirty Dancing, 1987 44. "Well, nobody's perfect." -Some Like it Hot, 1959 45. "Snap out of it!" -Moonstruck, 1987 46. "You had me at 'hello.'" -Jerry Maguire, 1996 47. "They may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom!" -Braveheart, 1995 48. "To infinity and beyond!" -Toy Story, 1995 49. "You're killin' me, Smalls." -The Sandlot, 1993 50. "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." -The Wizard of Oz, 1939 Looking for some more quotes? Check out these motivational quotes to start your day, awesome quotes for every situation, brainy quotes that will make you sound smart, and uplifting entrepreneur quotes. (Hubspot)

What's a story about recurring nightmares?

Philomel Cottage Agatha Christie "Good-bye, darling." "Good-bye, sweetheart." Alix Martin stood leaning over the small rustic gate, watching the retreating figure of her husband, as he walked down the road in the direction of the village. Presently he turned a bend and was lost to sight, but Alix still stayed in the same position, absent-mindedly smoothing a lock of the rich brown hair which had blown across her face, her eyes far-away and dreamy. Alix Martin was not beautiful, nor even, strictly speaking, pretty. But her face, the face of a woman no longer in her first youth, was irradiated and softened until her former colleagues of the old office days would hardly have recognized her. Miss Alix King had been a trim business-like young woman, efficient, slightly brusque in manner, obviously capable and matter-of-fact. Alix had graduated in a hard school. For fifteen years, from the age of eighteen until she was thirty-three, she had kept herself (and for seven years of the time, an invalid mother) by her work as a shorthand-typist. It was the struggle for existence which had hardened the soft lines of her girlish face. True, there had been romance - of a kind - Dick Windyford, a fellow-clerk. Very much of a woman at heart, Alix had always known without seeming to know that he cared. Outwardly they had been friends, nothing more. Out of his slender salary, Dick had been hard put to it to provide for the schooling of a younger brother. For the moment, he could not think of marriage. And then suddenly deliverance from daily toil had come to the girl in the most unexpected manner. A distant cousin had died leaving her money to Alix - a few thousand pounds, enough to bring in a couple of hundred a year. To Alix, it was freedom, life, independence. Now she and Dick need wait no longer. Nevertheless, when Alix envisaged the future, it was with the half acknowledged certainty that she would one day be Dick's wife. They cared for one another, so she would have put it, but they were both sensible people. Plenty of time, no need to do anything rash. So the years had gone on. But Dick reacted unexpectedly. He had never directly spoken of his love to Alix, now he seemed less inclined to do so than ever. He avoided her, became morose and gloomy. Alix was quick to realize the truth. She had become a woman of means. Delicacy and pride stood in the way of Dick's asking her to be his wife. She liked him none the worse for it and was indeed deliberating as to whether herself might not take the first step when for the second time the unexpected descended upon her. She met Gerald Martin at a friend's house. He fell violently in love with her and within a week they were engaged. Alix, who had always considered herself "not the falling-in-love kind," was swept clean off her feet. Unwittingly she had found the way to arouse her former lover. Dick Windyford had come to her stammering with rage and anger. "The man's a perfect stranger to you! You know nothing about him!" "I know that I love him." "How can you know - in a week?" "It doesn't take everyone eleven years to find out that they're in love with a girl," cried Alix angrily. His face went white. "I've cared for you ever since I met you. I thought that you cared also." Alix was truthful. "I thought so, too," she admitted, "But that was because I didn't know what love was." Then Dick had burst out again. Prayers, entreaties, even threats. Threats against the man who had supplanted him It was amazing to Alix to see the volcano that existed beneath the reserved exterior of the man she thought she knew so well. Her thoughts had gone back to that interview now, on this sunny morning, as she leaned on the gate of the cottage. She had been married a month, and she was idyllically happy. Yet, in the momentary absence of the husband who was everything to her, a tinge of anxiety invaded her perfect happiness, and the cause of that anxiety was Dick Windyford. Three times since her marriage she had dreamed the same dream. The environment differed, but the main facts were always the same. She saw her husband lying dead and Dick Windyford standing over him, and she knew clearly and distinctly that his was the hand which had dealt the fatal blow. But horrible though that was, there was something more horrible still - horrible that was, on awakening, for in the dream it seemed perfectly natural and inevitable. She, Alix Martin, was glad that her husband was dead - she stretched out grateful hands to the murderer, sometimes she thanked him. The dream always ended the same way, with herself clasped in Dick Windyford's arms. She had said nothing of this dream to her husband, but secretly it had perturbed her more than she liked to admit. Was it a warning - a warning against Dick Windyford? Alix was roused from her thoughts by the sharp ringing of the telephone bell from within the house. She entered the cottage, and picked up the receiver. Suddenly she swayed, and put out a hand against the wall. "Who did you say was speaking?" "Why, Alix, what's the matter with your voice? I wouldn't have known it. It's Dick." "Oh!" said Alix. "Oh! Where - are you?" "At the Traveller's Arms - that's the right name, isn't it? Or don't you even know of the existence of your village pub? I'm on my holiday - doing a bit of fishing here. Any objection to my looking you two good people up this evening after dinner?" "No," said Alix sharply. "You mustn't come." There was a pause, and Dick's voice, with a subtle alteration in it, spoke again. "I beg your pardon," he said formally. "Of course I won't bother you - " Alix broke in hastily. Of course he must think her behaviour too extraordinary. It was extraordinary. Her nerves must be all to pieces. "I only meant that we were - engaged tonight," she explained, trying to make her voice sound as natural as possible. "Won't you - won't you come to dinner tomorrow night?" But Dick evidently noticed the lack of cordiality in her tone. "Thanks very much," he said, in the same formal voice. "But I may be moving on any time. Depends upon whether a pal of mine turns up or not. Good-bye, Alix." He paused, and then added hastily, in a different tone: "Best of luck to you, my dear." Alix hung up the receiver with a feeling of relief. "He mustn't come here," she repeated to herself. "He mustn't come here. Oh! what a fool I am! To imagine myself into a state like this. All the same, I'm glad he's not coming." She caught up a rustic rush hat from a table, and passed out into the garden again, pausing to look up at the name carved over the porch: Philomel Cottage. "Isn't it a very fanciful name?" she had said to Gerald once before they were married. He had laughed. "You little Cockney," he had said, affectionately. "I don't believe you have ever heard a nightingale. I'm glad you haven't. Nightingales should sing only for lovers. We'll hear them together on a summer's evening outside our own home." And at the remembrance of how they had indeed heard them, Alix, standing in the doorway of her home, blushed happily. It was Gerald who had found Philomel Cottage. He had come to Alix bursting with excitement. He had found the very spot for them - unique - a gem - the chance of a lifetime. And when Alix had seen it, she too was captivated. It was true that the situation was rather lonely - they were two miles from the nearest village - but the cottage itself was so exquisite with its Old World appearance, and its solid comfort of bathrooms, hot- water system, electric light and telephone, that she fell a victim to its charm immediately. And then a hitch occurred. The owner, a rich man who had made it his whim, declined to rent it. He would only sell. Gerald Martin, though possessed of a good income, was unable to touch his capital. He could raise at most a thousand pounds. The owner was asking three. But Alix, who had set her heart on the place, came to the rescue. Her own capital was easily realized, being in bearer bonds. She would contribute half of it to the purchase of the home. So Philomel Cottage became their choice. It was true that servants did not appreciate the rural solitude - indeed at the moment they had none at all - but Alix, who had been starved of domestic life, thoroughly enjoyed cooking dainty little meals and looking after the house. The garden, which was magnificently stocked with flowers, was attended to by an old man from the village who came twice a week. As she rounded the corner of the house, Alix was surprised to see the old gardener in question busy over the flower beds. She was surprised because his days for work were Mondays and Fridays, and today was Wednesday. "Why, George, what are you doing here?" she asked, as she came towards him. The old man straightened up with a chuckle, touching the brim of an aged cap. "I thought as how you'd be surprised, ma'am. But 'tis this way. There be a fête over to Squire's on Friday, and I sez to myself, I sez, neither Mr. Martin nor yet his good lady won't take it amiss if I comes for once on a Wednesday instead of a Friday." "That's quite all right," said Alix. "I hope you'll enjoy yourself at the fête." "I reckon to," said George simply. "It's a fine thing to be able to eat your fill and know all the time as it's not you as is paying for it. Squire allus has a proper sit-down tea for 'is tenants. Then I thought too, ma'am, as I might as well see you before you goes away so as to learn your wishes for the borders. You'll have no idea when you'll be back, ma'am, I suppose?" "But I'm not going away." George stared at her. "Bain't you going to Lunnon tomorrow?" "No. What put such an idea into your head?" George jerked his head over his shoulder. "Met Maister down to village yesterday. He told me you was both going away to Lunnon tomorrow, and it was uncertain when you'd be back again." "Nonsense," said Alix, laughing. "You must have misunderstood him." All the same, she wondered exactly what it could have been that Gerald had said to lead the old man into such a curious mistake. Going to London? She never wanted to go to London again. "I hate London," she said suddenly and harshly. "Ah!" said George placidly. "I must have been mistook somehow, and et he said it plain enough it seemed to me. I'm glad you're stopping on here - I don't hold with all this gallivanting about, and I don't think nothing of Lunnon. I've never needed to go there. Too many moty cars - that's the trouble nowadays. Once people have got a moty car, blessed if they can stay still anywheres. Mr. Ames, wot used to have this house - nice peaceful sort of gentleman he was until he bought one of them things. Hadn't'ad it a month before he put up this cottage for sale. A tidy lot he'd spent on it, too, with taps in all the bedrooms, and the electric light and all. 'You'll never see your money back,' I sez to him. 'It's not everyone as'll have your fad for washing themselves in every room in the house, in a manner of speaking. 'But 'George,' he sez to me, 'I'll get every penny of two thousand pounds for this house.' And sure enough, he did." "He got three thousand," said Alix, smiling. "Two thousand," repeated George. "The sum he was asking was talked of at the time. And a very high figure it was thought to be." "It really was three thousand," said Alix. "Ladies never understand figures," said George, unconvinced. "You'll not tell me that Mr. Ames had the face to stand up to you, and say three thousand brazen like in a loud voice." "He didn't say it to me," said Alix. "He said it to my husband." George stooped again to his flower bed. "The price was two thousand," he said obstinately. Alix did not trouble to argue with him. Moving to one of the further beds, she began to pick an armful of flowers. As she moved with her fragrant posy towards the house, Alix noticed a small dark green object, peeping from between some leaves in one of the beds. She stooped and picked it up, recognizing it for her husband's pocket diary. It must have fallen from his pocket when he was weeding. She opened it, scanning the entries with some amusement. Almost from the beginning of their married life, she had realised that the impulsive and emotional Gerald had the uncharacteristic virtues of neatness and method. He was extremely fussy about meals being punctual, and always planned his day ahead with the accuracy of a timetable. Looking through the diary, she was amused to notice the entry on the date of May 14th. "marry Alix St. Peter's 2:30." "The big silly," murmured Alix to herself, turning the pages. Suddenly she stopped. "Thursday, June 18th - why that's today." In the space for that day was written in Gerald's neat precise hand: "9 p.m." Nothing else. What had Gerald planned to do at 9 p.m.? Alix wondered. She smiled to herself as she realised that had this been a story, like those she had so often read, the diary would doubtless have furnished her with some sensational revelation. It would have had in it for certain the name of another woman. She fluttered the back pages idly. There were dates, appointments, cryptic references to business deals, but only one woman's name - her own. Yet as she slipped the book into her pocket and went on with her flowers to the house, she was aware of a vague uneasiness. Those words of Dick Windyford's recurred to her, almost as though he had been at her elbow repeating them: "The man's a perfect stranger to you. You know nothing about him." It was true. What did she know about him. After all, Gerald was forty. In forty years there must have been women in his life ... Alix shook herself impatiently. She must not give way to these thoughts. She had a far more instant preoccupation to deal with. Should she, or should she not, tell her husband that Dick Windyford had rung her up? There was the possibility to be considered that Gerald might have already run across him in the village. But in that case he would be sure to mention it to her immediately upon his return and matters would be taken out of her hands. Otherwise - what? Alix was aware of a distinct desire to say nothing about it. If she told him, he was sure to suggest asking Dick Windyford to Philomel Cottage. Then she would have to explain that Dick had proposed it himself, and that she had made an excuse to prevent his coming. And when he asked her why she had done so, what could she say? Tell him her dream? But he would laugh - or worse, see that she attached an importance to it which he did not. In the end, rather shamefacedly, Alix decided to say nothing. It was the first secret she had ever kept from her husband, and the consciousness of it made her feel ill at ease. When she heard Gerald returning from the village shortly before lunch, she hurried into the kitchen and pretended to be busy with the cooking so as to hide her confusion. It was evident at once that Gerald had been nothing of Dick Windyford. Alix felt at once relieved and embarrassed. She was definitely committed now to a policy of concealment. It was not until after their simple evening meal, when they were sitting in the oak beamed living room with the windows thrown open to let in the sweet night air scented with the perfume of the mauve and white stocks that grew outside, that Alix remembered the pocket diary. "Here's something you've been watering the flowers with," she said, and threw it into his lap. "Dropped it in the border, did I?" "Yes; I know all your secrets now." "Not guilty," said Gerald, shaking his head. "What about your assignation at nine o'clock tonight?" "Oh! that - " he seemed taken back for a moment, then he smiled as though something afforded him particular amusement. "It's an assignation with a particularly nice girl, Alix. She's got brown hair and blue eyes and she's particularly like you." "I don't understand," said Alix, with mock severity. "You're evading the point." "No, I'm not. As a matter of fact, that's a reminder that I'm going to develop some negatives tonight, and I want you to help me." Gerald Martin was an enthusiastic photographer. He had a somewhat old-fashioned camera, but with an excellent lens, and he developed his own plates in a small cellar which he had fitted up as a dark room. "And it must be done at nine o'clock precisely," said Alix teasingly. Gerald looked a little vexed. "My dear girl," he said, with a shade of testiness in his manner, "one should always plan a thing for a definite time. Then one gets through one's work properly." Alix sat for a minute or two in silence watching her husband as he lay in his chair smoking, his dark head flung back and the clear-cut lines of his clean-shaven face showing up against the sombre background. And suddenly, from some unknown source, a wave of panic surged over her, so that she cried out before she could stop herself. "Oh! Gerald, I wish I knew more about you." Her husband turned an astonished face upon her. "But, my dear Alix, you do know all about me. I've told you of my boyhood in Northumberland, of my life in South Africa, and these last ten years in Canada which have brought me success." "Oh, business!" Gerald laughed suddenly. "I know what you mean - love affairs. You women are all the same. Nothing interests you but the personal element." Alix felt her throat go dry, as she muttered indistinctly: "Well, but there must have been - love affairs. I mean - If I only knew - " There was silence again for a minute or two. Gerald Martin was frowning, a look of indecision on his face. When he spoke, it was gravely, without a trace of his former bantering manner. "Do you think it wise, Alix - this - Bluebeard's chamber business? There have been women in my life, yes. I don't deny it. You wouldn't believe me if I did deny it. But I can swear to you truthfully that not one of them meant anything to me." There was a ring of sincerity in his voice which comforted the listening wife. "Satisfied, Alix?" he asked, with a smile. Then he looked at her with a shade of curiosity. "What has turned you mind onto these unpleasant subjects tonight of all nights? You never mentioned them before." Alix got up and began to walk about restlessly. "Oh! I don't know," she said. "I've been nervy all day." "That's odd," said Gerald, in a low voice, as though speaking to himself. "That's very odd." "Why is it odd?" "Oh, my dear girl, don't flash out at me so. I only said it was odd because as a rule you're so sweet and serene." Alix forced a smile. "Everything's conspired to annoy me today," she confessed. "Even old George had got some ridiculous idea into his head that we were going away to London. He said you had told him so." "Where did you see him?" asked Gerald sharply. "He came to work today instead of Friday." "Damned old fool," said Gerald angrily. Alix stared in surprise. Her husband's face was convulsed with rage. She had never seen him so angry. Seeing her astonishment, Gerald made an effort to regain control of himself. "Well, he is a damned old fool," he protested. "What can you have said to make him think that?" "I? I never said anything. At least - Oh, yes, I remember. I made some weak joke about being 'off to London in the morning' and I suppose he took it seriously. Or else he didn't hear properly. You undeceived him, of course?" He waited anxiously for her reply. "Of course, but he's the sort of old man who if once he gets an idea in his head - well, it isn't so easy to get it out again." Then she told him of the gardener's insistence on the sum asked for the cottage. Gerald was silent for a minute or two, then he said slowly: "Ames was willing to take two thousand in cash and the remaining thousand on mortgage. That's the origin of that mistake, I fancy." "Very likely," agreed Alix. Then she looked up at the clock, and pointed to it with a mischievous finger. "We ought to be getting down to it, Gerald. Five minutes behind schedule." A very peculiar smile came over Gerald Martin's face. "I've changed my mind, he said quietly. "I shall not do any photography tonight." A woman's mind is a curious thing. When she went to bed that Thursday night, Alix's mind was contented and at rest. Her momentarily assailed happiness reasserted itself, triumphant as of yore. But by the evening of the following day, she realised that some subtle forces were at work undermining it. Dick Windyford had not rung up again, nevertheless, she felt what she supposed to be his influence at work. Again and again those words of his recurred to her. "The man's a perfect stranger. You know nothing about him." And with them came the memory of her husband's face, photographed clearly on her brain as she said: "'Do you think it wise, Alix, this - Bluebeard's chamber business?" Why had he said that? There had been warning in them - a hint of menace. It was as though he had said in effect - "You had better not pry into my life, Alix. You may get a nasty shock if you do." True, a few minutes later, he had sworn to her that there had been no woman in his life that mattered - but Alix tried in vain to recapture her sense of his sincerity: Was he not bound to swear that? By Friday morning, Alix had convinced herself that there had been a woman in Gerald's life - a Bluebeard's chamber that he had sedulously sought to conceal from her. Her jealousy, slow to awaken, was now rampant. Was it a woman he had been going to meet that night, at 9 p.m.? Was his story of photographs to develop a lie invented upon the spur of the moment? Three days ago she would have sworn that she knew her husband through and through. Now it seemed to her that he was a stranger of whom she knew nothing. She remembered his unreasonable anger against old George, so at variance with his usual good-tempered manner. A small thing, perhaps, but it showed her that she did not really know the man who was her husband. There were several little things required on Friday from the village to carry them over the week-end. In the afternoon Alix suggested that she should go for them whilst Gerald remained in the garden, but somewhat to her surprise he opposed this plan vehemently, and insisted on going himself whilst she remained at home. Alix was forced to give way to him, but his insistence surprised and alarmed her. Why was he so anxious to prevent her going to the village? Suddenly an explanation suggested itself to her which made the whole thing clear. Was it not possible that, whilst saying nothing to her, Gerald had indeed come across Dick Windyford? Her own jealousy, entirely dormant at the time of their marriage, had only developed afterwards. Might it not be the same with Gerald? Might he not be anxious to prevent her seeing Dick Windyford again? This explanation was so consistent with the facts, and so comforting to Alix's perturbed mind, that she embraced it eagerly. Yet when tea-time had come and past, she was restless and ill at ease. She was struggling with a temptation that had assailed her ever since Gerald's departure. Finally, pacifying her conscience with the assurance that the room did need a thorough tidying, she went upstairs to her husband's dressing room. She took a duster with her to keep up the pretence of housewifery. "If I were only sure," she repeated to herself. "If I could only be sure." In vain she told herself that anything compromising would have been destroyed ages ago. Against that she argued that men do sometimes keep the most damning piece of evidence through an exaggerated sentimentality. In the end Alix succumbed. Her cheeks burning with the shame of her action, she hunted breathlessly through packets of letters and documents, turned out the drawers, even went through the pockets of her husband's clothes. Only two drawers eluded her - the lower drawer of the chest of drawers and the small right-hand drawer of the writing desk were both locked. But Alix was by now lost to all shame. In one of those drawers she was convinced that she would find evidence of this imaginary woman of the past who obsessed her. She remembered that Gerald had left his keys lying carelessly on the sideboard downstairs. She fetched them and tried them one by one. The third key fitted the writing-table drawer. Alix pulled it open eagerly. There was a cheque-book and a wallet well stuffed with notes, and at the back of the drawer a packet of letters tied up with a piece of tape. Her breath coming unevenly, Alix untied the tape. Then a deep burning blush overspread her face, and she dropped the letters back into the drawer, closing and relocking it. For the letters were her own, written to Gerald Martin before she married him. She turned now to the chest of drawers, more with a wish to feel that she had left nothing undone, than from any expectation of finding what she sought. To her annoyance none of the keys on Gerald's bunch fitted the drawer in question. Not to be defeated, Alix went into the other rooms and brought back a selection of keys with her. To her satisfaction, the key of the spare room wardrobe also fitted the chest of drawers. She unlocked the drawer and pulled it open. But there was nothing in it but a roll of newspaper clippings already dirt and discoloured with age. Alix breathed a sigh of relief. Nevertheless she glanced at the clippings, curious to know what subject had interested Gerald so much that he had taken the trouble to keep the dusty roll. They were nearly all American papers, dated some seven years ago, and dealing with the trail of the notorious swindler and bigamist, Charles Lemaitre. Lemaitre had been suspected of doing away with his women victims. A skeleton had been found beneath the floor of one of the houses he had rented, and most of the women he had "married" had never been heard of again. He had defended himself from the charge with consummate skill, aided by some of the best legal talent in the United States. The Scottish verdict of "Non proven" might perhaps have stated the case best. In its absence, eh was found Not Guilty on the capital charge, though sentenced to a long term of imprisonment on the other charges preferred against him. Alix remembered the excitement caused by the case at the time, and also the sensation aroused by the escape of Lemaitre some three years later. He had never been recaptured. The personality of the man and his extraordinary power over women had been discussed at great length in the English papers at the time, together with an account of his excitability in court, his passionate protestations, and his occasional sudden physical collapses, due to the fact that he had a weak heart, though the ignorant accredited it to his dramatic powers. There was a picture of him in one of the clippings Alix held, and she studied it with some interest - a long- bearded scholarly-looking gentleman. Who was it the face reminded her of? Suddenly, with a shock, she realised that it was Gerald himself. The eyes and brows bore a strong resemblance to him. Perhaps he had kept the cutting for that reason. Her eyes went on to the paragraph beside the picture. Certain dates, it seemed, had been entered in the accused's pocket-book, and it was contended that these were dates when he had done away with his victims. Then a woman gave evidence and identified the prisoner positively by the fact that he had a mole on his left wrist, just below the palm of the left hand. Alix dropped the papers from a nerveless hand, and swayed as she stood. On his left wrist, just below the palm, Gerald had a small scar ... The room whirled round her. Afterwards it struck her as strange that she should have leaped at once to such absolute certainty. Gerald Martin was Charles Lemaitre! She knew it and accepted it in a flash. Disjointed fragments whirled through her brain, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle fitting into place. The money paid for the house - her money - her money only; the bearer bonds she had entrusted to his keeping. Even her dream appeared in its true significance. Deep down in her, her subconscious self had always feared Gerald Martin and wished to escape from him. And it was to Dick Windyford this self of hers had looked for help. That, too, was why she was able to accept the truth so easily, without doubt or hesitation. She was to have been another of Lemaitre's victims. Very soon, perhaps ... A half cry escaped her as she remembered something. Wednesday 9 p.m. The cellar, with the flagstones that were so easily raised! Once before, he had buried one of his victims in a cellar. It had been all planned for Thursday night. But to write it down beforehand in that methodical manner - insanity! No, it was logical. Gerald always made a memorandum of his engagements - murder was, to him, a business proposition like any other. But what had saved her? What could possibly have saved her? Had she relented at the last minute? No - in a flash the answer came to her. Old George. She understood now her husband's uncontrollable anger. Doubtless he had paved the way by telling everyone he met that they were going to London the next day. Then George had come to work unexpectedly, had mentioned London to her, and she had contradicted the story. Too risky to do away with her that night, with old George repeating that conversation. But what an escape! If she had not happened to mention that trivial matter - Alix shuddered. And then she stayed motionless as though frozen to stone. She had heard the creak of the gate into the road. Her husband had returned. For a moment Alix stayed as though petrified, then she crept on tiptoe to the window, looking out from behind the shelter of the curtain. Yes, it was her husband. He was smiling to himself and humming a little tune. In his hand he held an object which almost made the terrified girl's heart stop beating. It was a brand-new spade. Alix leaped to a knowledge born of instinct. It was to be tonight ... But there was still a chance. Gerald, still humming his little tune, went round to the back of the house. Without hesitating a moment, she ran down the stairs and out of the cottage. But just as she emerged from the door, her husband came round the other side of the house. "Hallo," he said. "Where are you running off to in such a hurry?" Alix strove desperately to appear calm and as usual. Her chance was gone for the moment, but if she was careful not to arouse his suspicions, it would come again later. Even now, perhaps ... "I was going to walk to the end of the lane and back," she said, in a voice that sounded weak and uncertain to her own ears. "Right," said Gerald, "I'll come with you." "No - please, Gerald. I'm - nervy, headachy - I'd rather go alone." He looked at her attentively. She fancied a momentary suspicion gleamed in his eye. "What's the matter with you, Alix? You're pale - trembling." "Nothing," she forced herself to be brusque - smiling. "I've got a headache, that's all. A walk will do me good." "Well, it's no good you're saying you don't want me," declared Gerald with his easy laugh. "I'm coming whether you want me or not." She dared not protest further. If he suspected that she knew ... With an effort she managed to regain something of her normal manner. Yet she had an uneasy feeling that he looked at her sideways every now and then, as though not quite satisfied. She felt that his suspicions were not completely allayed. When they returned to the house, he insisted on her lying down, and brought some eau-de-Cologne to bathe her temples. He was, as ever, the devoted husband, yet Alix felt herself as helpless as though bound hand and foot in a trap. Not for a minute would he leave her alone. He went with her into the kitchen and helped her to bring in the simple cold dishes she had already prepared. Supper was a meal that choked her, yet she forced herself to eat, and even to appear gay and natural. She knew now that she was fighting for her life. She was alone with this man, miles from help, absolutely at his mercy. Her only chance was so to lull his suspicions that he would leave her alone for a few moments - long enough for her to get to the telephone in the hall and summon assistance. That was her only hope now. A momentary hope flashed over her as she remembered how he had abandoned his plan before. Suppose she told him that Dick Windyford was coming up to see them that evening? The words trembled on her lips - then she rejected them hastily. This man would not be balked a second time. There was a determination, an elation underneath his calm bearing that sickened her. She would only precipitate the crime. He would murder her there and then, and calmly ring up Dick Windyford with a tale of having been suddenly called away. Oh! if only Dick Windyford were coming to the house this evening. If Dick ... A sudden idea flashed into her mind. She looked sharply sideways at her husband as though she feared that he might read her mind. With the forming of a plan, her courage was reinforced. She became so completely natural in manner that she marvelled at herself. She made the coffee and took it out to the porch where they often sat on fine evenings. "By the way," said George suddenly, "we'll do those photographs later." Alix felt a shiver run through her, but she replied nonchalantly, "Can't you manage alone? I'm rather tired tonight." "It won't take long." He smiled to himself. "And I can promise you you won't be tired afterwards." The words seemed to amuse him. Alix shuddered. Now or never was the time to carry out her plan. She rose to her feet. "I'm just going to telephone to the butcher," she announced nonchalantly. "Don't you bother to move." "To the butcher? At this time of night?" "His shop's shut, of course, silly. But he's in his house all right. And tomorrow's Saturday, and I want him to bring me some veal cutlets early, before someone else grabs them from him. The old dear will do anything for me." She passed quickly into the house, closing the door behind her. She heard Gerald say, "Don't shut the door," and was quick with her light reply. "It keeps the moths out. I hate moths. Are you afraid I'm going to make love to the butcher, silly?" Once inside she snatched down the telephone receiver and gave the number of the Traveller's Arms. She was put through at once. "Mr. Windyford? Is he still there? May I speak to him?" Then her heart gave a sickening thump. The door was pushed open and her husband came into the hall. "Do go away, Gerald," she said pettishly. "I hate anyone listening when I'm telephoning." He merely laughed and threw himself into a chair. "Sure it really is the butcher you're telephoning to?" he quizzed. Alix was in despair. Her plan had failed. In a minute Dick Windyford would come to the phone. Should she risk all and cry out an appeal for help? And then, as she nervously depressed and released the little key in the receiver she was holding, which permits the voice to be heard or not heard at the other end, another plan flashed into her head. "It will be difficult," she thought. "It means keeping my head, and thinking of the right words, and not faltering for a moment, but I believe I could do it. I must do it." And at that minute she heard Dick Windyford's voice at the other end of the phone. Alix drew a deep breath. Then she depressed the key firmly and spoke. "Mrs. Martin speaking - from Philomel Cottage. Please come(she released the key) tomorrow morning with six nice veal cutlets (she released the key again) It's very important (she released the key) Thank you so much, Mr. Hexworthy: you don't mind my ringing you up so late, I hope, but those veal cutlets are really a matter of (she depressed the key again) life or death (she released it) Very well - tomorrow morning - (she depressed it) as soon as possible." She replaced the receiver on the hook and turned to face her husband, breathing hard. "So that's how you talk to your butcher, is it?" said Gerald. "It's the feminine touch," said Alix lightly. She was simmering with excitement. He had suspected nothing. Surely Dick, even if he didn't understand, would come. She passed into the sitting room and switched on the electric light. Gerald followed her. "You seem very full of spirits now," he said, watching her curiously. "Yes," said Alix, "my headache's gone." She sat down in her usual seat and smiled at her husband, as he sank into his own chair opposite her. She was saved. It was only five and twenty past eight. Long before nine o'clock Dick would have arrived. "I didn't think much of that coffee you gave me," complained Gerald. "It tasted very bitter." "It's a new kind I was trying. We won't have it again if you don't like it, dear." Alix took up a piece of needlework and began to stitch. Gerald read a few pages of his book. Then he glanced up at the clock and tossed the book away. "Half-past eight. Time to go down to the cellar and start work." The sewing slipped from Alix's fingers. "Oh, not yet. Let us wait until nine o'clock." "No, my girl - half-past eight. That's the time I fixed. You'll be able to get to bed all the earlier." "But I'd rather wait until nine." "You know when I fix a time, I always stick to it. Come along, Alix. I'm not going to wait a minute longer." Alix looked up at him, and in spite of herself she felt a wave of terror slide over her. The mask had been lifted. Gerald's hands were twitching; his eyes were shining with excitement; he was continually passing his tongue over his dry lips. He no longer cared to conceal his excitement. Alix thought: "It's true - he can't wait - he's like a madman." He strode over to her, and jerked her onto her feet with a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, my girl - or I'll carry you there." His tone was gay, but there was an undisguised ferocity behind it that appalled her. With a supreme effort she jerked herself free and clung cowering against the wall. She was powerless. She couldn't get away - she couldn't do anything - and he was coming towards her. "Now, Alix - " "No - no." She screamed, her hands held out impotently to ward him off. "Gerald - stop - I've got something to tell you, something to confess - " He did stop. "To confess?" he said curiously. "Yes, to confess." She went on desperately, seeking to hold his arrested attention. A look of contempt swept over his face. The spell was broken. "A former lover, I suppose," he sneered. "No," said Alix. "Something else. You'd call it, I expect - yes, you'd call it a crime." And at once she saw that she had struck the right note. Again his attention was arrested, held. Seeing that, her nerve came back to her. She felt mistress of the situation once more. "You had better sit down again," she said quietly. She herself crossed the room to her old chair and sat down. She even stooped and picked up her needlework. But behind her calmness she was thinking and inventing feverishly. For the story she invented must hold his interest until help arrived. "I told you," she said, "that I had been a short-hand-typist for fifteen years. That was not entirely true. There were two intervals. The first occurred when I was twenty-two. I came across a man, an elderly man with a little property. He fell in love with me and asked me to marry him. I accepted." She paused. "I induced him to insure his life in my favour." She saw a sudden keen interest spring up in her husband's face, and went on with renewed assurance. "During the war I worked for a time in a Hospital Dispensary. There I had the handling of all kinds of rare drugs and poisons. Yes, poisons." She paused reflectively. He was keenly interested now, not a doubt of it. The murderer is bound to have an interest in murder. She had gambled on that, and succeeded. She stole a glance at the clock. It was five and twenty to nine. "There is one poison - it is a little white powder. A pinch of it means death. You know something about poisons perhaps?" She put the question in some trepidation. If he did, she would have to be careful. "No," said Gerald, "I know very little about them." She drew a breath of relief. "You have heard of hyoscine, of course? This is a drug that acts much the same way, but it is absolutely untraceable. Any doctor would give a certificate of heart failure. I stole a small quantity of this drug and kept it by me." She paused, marshalling her forces. "Go on," said Gerald. "No. I'm afraid. I can't tell you. Another time." "Now," he said impatiently. "I want to hear." "We had been married a month. I was very good to my elderly husband, very kind and devoted. He spoke in praise of me to all the neighbours. Everyone knew what a devoted wife I was. I always made his coffee myself every evening. One evening, when we were alone together, I put a pinch of the deadly alkaloid in his cup - " Alix paused, and carefully re-threaded her needle. She, who had never acted in her life, rivalled the greatest actress in the world at this moment. She was actually living the part of the cold-blooded poisoner. "It was very peaceful. I sat watching him. Once he gasped a little and asked for air. I opened the window. Then he said he could not move from his chair. Presently he died." She stopped, smiling. It was a quarter to nine. Surely they would come soon. "How much," said Gerald, "was the insurance money?" "About two thousand pounds. I speculated with it, and lost it. I went back to my office work. But I never meant to remain there long. Then I met another man. I had stuck to my maiden name at the office. He didn't know I had been married before. He was a younger man, rather good-looking, and quite well off. We were married quietly in Sussex. He didn't want to insure his life, but of course he made a will in my favour. He liked me to make his coffee myself also, just as my first husband had done." Alix smiled reflectively, and added simply, "I make very good coffee." Then she went on. "I had several friends in the village where we were living. They were very sorry for me, with my husband dying suddenly of heart failure one evening after dinner. I didn't quite like the doctor. I don't think he suspected me, but he was certainly very surprised at my husband's sudden death. I don't quite know why I drifted back to the office again. Habit, I suppose. My second husband left about four thousand pounds. I didn't speculate with it this time. I invested it. Then, you see - " But she was interrupted. Gerald Martin, his face suffused with blood, half-choking, was pointing a shaking forefinger at her. "The coffee - my God! the coffee!" She stared at him. "I understand now why it was bitter. You devil! You've been up to your tricks again." His hands gripped the arms of his chair. He was ready to spring upon her. "You've poisoned me." Alix had retreated from him to the fireplace. Now, terrified, she opened her lips to deny - and then paused. In another minute he would spring upon her. She summoned all her strength. Her eyes held his steadily, compellingly. "Yes," she said, "I poisoned you. Already the poison is working. At this minute you can't move from your chair - you can't move - " If she could him three - even a few minutes ... Ah! what was that? Footsteps on the road. The creak of the gate. Then footsteps on the path outside. The outer door opening. "You can't move," she said again. Then she slipped past him and fled headlong from the room to fall, half fainting, into Dick Windyford's arms. "My God! Alix!" he cried. Then he turned to the man with him, a tall stalwart figure in policeman's uniform. "Go and see what's been happening in that room." He laid Alix carefully down on a couch and bent over her. "My little girl," he murmured. "My poor little girl. What have they been doing to you?" Her eyelids fluttered and her lips just murmured his name. Dick was aroused from tumultuous thoughts by the policeman's touching him on the arm. "There's nothing in that room, sir, but a man sitting in a chair. Looks as though he'd had some kind of bad fright, and - " "Yes?" "Well, sir, he's - dead." They were startled by hearing Alix's voice. She spoke as though in some kind of dream, her eyes still closed. "And presently," she said, almost as though she were quoting from something, "he died - "

¡Cortala!

Stop it!

Basta

Stop that

Entonces

Then

What's it like be a highly intelligent person to the point where people are not worth your time since they are not on your level?

This is an issue which I've dealt with for most of my life, and I've found various ways to thrive and grow despite being disconnected from most people. I've often been referred to as an Old Soul by many people throughout my life, and it gets easier to find other spiritually aware and conscious people as I get older and have more clarity regarding myself and my path. My social groups also get more selective as I progress through life and my career. When I was in my teens, I devoted my time to mastering hobbies I was interested in, such as competitive sport, reading, and interacting with adults and teachers whom I could respect and learn from. I always got along far better with people older than me, and I still do today. My objective was to be in the flow state, which I accessed through deep immersion in my hobbies. Another big hobby for me was creating fantasy worlds which I could immerse myself in, since this didn't require me to interact with other kids. My interactions with peers was mainly through sport (teammates, coaches, training partners, and competitors). As I got older and entered a top PhD program at the age of 22, I started to find my own tribe of like-minded people, who were also weirdos and misfits in their youth, and for the first time I was able to completely be myself in a group and have intense and interesting discussions with people of my age without having to dumb myself down to be understood. It was a great social experience and I got to experience true friendship. Then I moved to California for work since the past 4 years, and this period in my life was one in which I spent a lot of time alone in order to go inwards and discover my core self, and this is an enlightening period of personal growth. I had a smaller social group than in grad school, but I could find other Old Souls because I was starting to express and master my true self, which helped me form profoundly deep relationships with other spiritually aware and authentic people who were walking on their own paths. There is a healthy balance of give and take with such people, and we both grow from the experience. I am truly grateful for having such people in my life, and even one of them is worth hundreds of younger souls as far as I'm concerned. I greatly prefer quality over quantity. I make every effort to avoid closely interacting with low consciousness people with limited self-awareness because they have little to teach me and they cause far more harm than good by contaminating my mindset and thought processes with their fear-based thinking and thoughtless actions which stem from being stuck in toxic and self-destructive patterns which causes stagnation, senseless drama, and self-created problems. In my experience, such people are detrimental to my well-being and mental peace. As said by the Buddha, "It is better to walk alone than to walk with a fool." I know some people might accuse me of arrogance and make the mindless clichéd claim of "Everyone has something to teach you." But a bit of thought would reveal that this naive sentence is only true if one has infinite hours in a day or if you don't care about what you learn. But we only have 24 hours in a day and finite energy, so I'd prefer to spend it judiciously on learning high-quality lessons from people whom I consider worthy and respectable, or to be by myself to reflect and meditate. Average people who are stuck in old patterns and who lack the ability and desire to reflect and grow mostly teach me what not to do, and I don't want to spend my energy and time to learn these tedious and stupid lessons. And low-conscious people make the same mistakes, so I don't need to keep re-learning the same lessons—once is enough. 23.7K views View 203 upvotes View 3 shares Your response is private Was this worth your time? This helps us show content you find valuable. Absolutely not Definitely yes Upvote 203 19 3 19 comments from Joe Wilder and more Promoted by Turing Profile photo for Vijay Krishnan Vijay Krishnan · Follow 2y (Quora)

Why does it feel like everyone hates me?

What to do if you feel people hate you Medically reviewed by Timothy J. Legg, PhD, PsyD — By Jenna Fletcher on July 10, 2019 Coping with these feelings When to see a doctor Potential treatment options Takeaway Social interactions can sometimes be a challenge for people. Some people may even find that any social interaction can leave them feeling as though others hate or dislike them, even when this is not the case. People who experience this may feel isolated. They often fear a large group because they worry that its members are talking about them. They overanalyze, looking for hidden meaning in the words or actions of others to indicate their dislike. There are many potential reasons why a person may feel this way. These can include: depression abusive relationships anxiety low self-esteem bipolar disorder previous or current bullying other mental health conditions In some cases, a person may be able to work through their feelings of distrust and anxiety. Others may need counseling, and possibly medication, to help them overcome negative feelings about how others view them. Keep reading for some tips on how to cope with such feelings, when to see a doctor or counselor, and possible treatments that may help. Coping with these feelings Why do I feel like everyone hates me Share on Pinterest Applying certain strategies may help a person feel better about themselves and how others perceive them. A person dealing with the belief that everyone around them hates them may find it challenging to manage or overcome this feeling. This can make it harder to make friends and build relationships, and may also affect a person's professional life. However, some strategies may help a person feel better about themselves and how others perceive them. The following are some tips to help a person change their mindset: Look at a situation from the other person's perspective People who think that others hate them often believe that all the actions and words of others have a hidden meaning. A person not liking a photo on social media, not returning a friendly greeting when walking by, or not responding to a text right away could all signal that the other person does not like them. However, in reality, the other person could have many potential reasons for not doing the desired action, which have nothing to do with the person who feels slighted. To help overcome this, a person can try to look at the same situation from the other person's perspective. Maybe they did not like the photo on social media because they never saw it. Maybe they did not hear the other person greet them or were in a hurry. Maybe the text came at a time of day when they were very busy. Whatever the situation, people can try to find explanations other than the person not liking them. Reframe the situation objectively It is usually very difficult for a person to look at a situation that they are a part of without emotion, especially when things do not work out as they may have wanted. For example, if two friends leave a third friend out when they meet up, the third friend may interpret the reason for this as the two friends not liking them. However, instead of focusing on the negative of being left out, the third person could try to look at the situation objectively. What possible reasons would the friends have to get together without the third person? Did they happen to bump into each other? Did they know or think that the third person was busy? Had it been a long time since they spent time together? A person should focus on all of the possible reasons why a situation worked out as it did. The majority of reasons have nothing to do with other people's feelings toward them. Stop trying to determine what others are thinking Trying to determine the negative thoughts that other people may have can affect a person's mental health. Some people may find that they try to read what others are thinking when they interact with them. To some extent, this can be normal behavior. However, if a person becomes obsessed with trying to determine the negative thoughts that other people have toward them, it can start to affect their life. People with bipolar disorder are commonly prone to this type of thinking. Instead of attempting to read thoughts, people can try to take most people's words at face value. If they say that they like something, they do. If they do not want to get dinner, maybe they are not hungry or have other plans. Try to do what you wish others would do to you When it comes to overcoming feelings of being hated, this can be helpful advice. For example, if a person wants to go out with a group, they should proactively ask others to go out with them. Likewise, rather than waiting for someone to greet them, a person should say hello first. If a person begins to act how they want others to treat them, they may start to see people responding in the same way. When people mistreat you, it is them, not you Some people are bullies and are abusive or mean to others. When a person is on the receiving end of this behavior, it is not their fault. Instead, the individual doing the abusing has some issues on which they need to work. A person should seek to remove the offending individual from their life. If they need help, for example, in the case of spousal abuse, they can look into getting support from organizations such as the National Domestic Violence Hotline. Get exercise People often find that staying physically active can improve their overall mood and outlook on life. A person can try taking a walk several times a week, playing a sport, or doing another activity that they enjoy. A person may also benefit from spending time outdoors. The authors of a review of studiesTrusted Source acknowledge that an increasing amount of evidence supports the idea that spending time outside can improve mood and help a person recover from stress and mental fatigue. When to see a doctor Enrolling in therapy or counseling services may help a person feel better. If a person feels an overwhelming sense that everyone hates them, the feeling should pass shortly. However, if a person feels this way for long periods, they should seek additional treatment from a healthcare professional. A doctor may be able to help a person find counseling services that can help them start feeling better. A person may be suffering from an undiagnosed case of depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, or personality disorder. These are mostly treatable conditions that often require a combination of therapies, potentially alongside medications, to help the person feel better. Potential treatment options Treatment options will vary among individuals depending on their age, the severity of their condition, and their diagnosis. People living with anxiety or depression often benefit from counseling and medications. A person with a personality disorder is likely to require more intensive treatment and monitoring, but they can also find relief from their symptoms. Takeaway There are many potential reasons why a person may feel like everyone hates them. However, there are also plenty of strategies that a person can use to help them feel better and stop focusing on what others think. The most important thing to keep in mind is to think positively and remember that if people are unkind, it is not the victim's fault. If all else fails, a person should seek help from a counselor to work through their feelings and determine additional treatment strategies. (Medical News Today)

¿Por que estoy aqui?

Why am I here?

Santa Claus

Who was mommy kissing under the mistletoe last night? (Quizlet) Santa Claus legendary figure Actions Alternate titles: Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Sinterklaas By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Article History Table of Contents Top Questions What does Santa Claus look like? Where does Santa Claus live? Where did Santa Claus come from? When does Santa Claus arrive? Is it possible to meet Santa Claus? Santa Claus Santa Claus Santa Claus, legendary figure who is the traditional patron of Christmas in the United States and other countries, bringing gifts to children. His popular image is based on traditions associated with Saint Nicholas, a 4th-century Christian saint. Father Christmas fills the role in many European countries. Santa Claus; Coca-Cola Santa Claus; Coca-Cola The Dutch are credited with transporting the legend of Saint Nicholas (Sinterklaas) to New Amsterdam (now New York City), along with the custom of giving gifts and sweets to children on his feast day, December 6. The current depiction of Santa Claus is based on images drawn by cartoonist Thomas Nast for Harper's Weekly beginning in 1863. Nast's Santa owed much to the description given in the poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" (also known as "'Twas the Night Before Christmas"), first published in 1823. The image was further defined by the popular Santa Claus advertisements created for the Coca-Cola Company from 1931 by illustrator Haddon Sundblum. Sundblum's Santa was a portly white-bearded gentleman dressed in a red suit with a black belt and white fur trim, black boots, and a soft red cap. Britannica Quiz The Christmas Quiz Santa Claus is said to live at the North Pole with his wife, where he spends the year making toys with the help of his elves. There he receives letters from children asking for Christmas gifts. On Christmas Eve he loads his sleigh with toys and flies around the world, drawn by eight reindeer, stopping at each child's house; he slides down the chimney and leaves the gifts, refreshing himself with the milk and cookies left for him by the household's children. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn. St. Nicholas Table of Contents Home Philosophy & Religion Religious Personages & Scholars Saints & Popes St. Nicholas bishop of Myra Actions Alternate titles: Nicholas of Bari, Nicholas of Myra, Santa Claus By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Last Updated: Dec 12, 2022 Article History Table of Contents Top Questions Who is Saint Nicholas? What was Saint Nicholas known for? Where was Saint Nicholas from? How did Saint Nicholas inspire the creation of Santa Claus? Do the relics of Saint Nicholas really emit a holy substance? Summary Read a brief summary of this topic St. Nicholas, also called Nicholas of Bari or Nicholas of Myra, (flourished 4th century, Myra, Lycia, Asia Minor [near modern Demre, Turkey]; Western feast day December 6; Eastern feast day December 19), one of the most popular minor saints commemorated in the Eastern and Western churches and now traditionally associated with the festival of Christmas. In many countries children receive gifts on December 6, St. Nicholas Day. He is one of the patron saints of children and of sailors. St. Nicholas St. Nicholas See all media Flourished: c.301 - c.400 Myra See all related content → Nicholas's existence is not attested by any historical document, so nothing certain is known of his life except that he was probably bishop of Myra in the 4th century. According to tradition, he was born in the ancient Lycian seaport city of Patara, and, when young, traveled to Palestine and Egypt. He became bishop of Myra soon after returning to Lycia. He was imprisoned and likely tortured during the persecution of Christians by the Roman emperor Diocletianbut was released under the rule of Constantine the Great. He may have attended the first Council of Nicaea (325), where he allegedly struck the heretic Arius in the face. He was buried in his church at Myra, and by the 6th century his shrine there had become well known. In 1087 Italian sailors or merchants stole his alleged remains from Myra and took them to Bari, Italy; this removal greatly increased the saint's popularity in Europe, and Bari became one of the most crowded of all pilgrimage centres. Nicholas's relics remain enshrined in the 11th-century basilica of San Nicola at Bari, though fragments have been acquired by churches around the world. In 2017 researchers dated one such relic fragment, a piece of hip bone, from a church in the United States and confirmed it to be from the 4th century. Britannica Quiz Everything You Need To Know About Christmas Quiz Ambrogio Lorenzetti: Saving Myra from Famine Ambrogio Lorenzetti: Saving Myra from Famine Discern the real St. Nicholas, bishop of Myra, from the gift-giving Santa Claus of yuletide Discern the real St. Nicholas, bishop of Myra, from the gift-giving Santa Claus of yuletideSee all videos for this article Nicholas's reputation for generosity and kindness gave rise to legends of miracles he performed for the poor and unhappy. He was reputed to have given marriage dowries of gold to three girls whom poverty would otherwise have forced into lives of prostitution and to have restored to life three children who had been chopped up by a butcher and put in a tub of brine. In the Middle Ages, devotion to Nicholas extended to all parts of Europe. He became the patron saint of Russia and Greece; of charitable fraternities and guilds; of children, sailors, unmarried girls, merchants, and pawnbrokers; and of such cities as Fribourg, in Switzerland, and Moscow. Thousands of European churches were dedicated to him—one, built by the Roman emperor Justinian I at Constantinople (now Istanbul), as early as the 6th century. Nicholas's miracles were a favourite subject for medieval artists and liturgical plays, and his traditional feast day was the occasion for the ceremonies of the Boy Bishop, a widespread European custom in which a boy was elected bishop and reigned until Holy Innocents' Day (December 28). After the Reformation, devotion to Nicholas disappeared in all the Protestant countries of Europe except Holland, where his legend persisted as Sinterklaas (a Dutch variant of the name St. Nicholas). Dutch colonists took this tradition with them to New Amsterdam (now New York City) in the American colonies in the 17th century. Sinterklaas was adopted by the country's English-speaking majority under the name Santa Claus, and his legend of a kindly old man was united with old Nordic folktales of a magician who punished naughty children and rewarded good children with presents. The resulting image of Santa Claus in the United States crystallized in the 19th century, and he has ever since remained the patron of the gift-giving festival of Christmas. Under various guises, St. Nicholas was transformed into a similar benevolent gift-giving figure in the Netherlands, Belgium, and other northern European countries. In the United Kingdom, Santa Claus is known as Father Christmas. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Melissa Petruzzello. Load Next Page Information from your device can be used to personalize your ad experience. Do not sell or share my personal information. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

Eres tan hermoso

You are beautiful

Puedes usar mi teléfono viejo si no logras encontrar el tuyo

You can use my old phone if you can't find yours

minx

a seductive woman who uses her sex appeal to exploit men (Quizlet) an impudent, cunning, or boldly flirtatious girl or young woman

pollutant

a substance that pollutes something, especially water or the atmosphere. "chemical pollutants" (Online def)

Monorail

a track for subway or train cars that only has one rail railway whose cars are supported on or under a single rail (Quizlet) a single rail functioning as a track for wheeled vehicles, as railroad or other cars, balanced upon or suspended from it. a railroad or other transportation system using such a rail. a vehicle traveling on such a rail. (Dictionary.com)

Carbon Dioxide (CO2)

a colorless, odorless gas produced by burning carbon and organic compounds and by respiration. It is naturally present in air (about 0.03 percent) and is absorbed by plants in photosynthesis. A gas that is expelled from the body by the respiratory system. gas produced by body cells when oxygen and carbon atoms from food combine; exhaled through the lungs gas (waste) released by body cells, transported via veins to the heart, and then to the lungs for exhalation (Wuizlet) carbon dioxide chemical compound Actions Alternate titles: fixed air By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Last Updated: Jan 6, 2023 Article History Table of Contents carbon dioxide, (CO2), a colourless gas having a faint sharp odour and a sour taste. It is one of the most important greenhouse gases linked to global warming, but it is a minor component of Earth's atmosphere (about 3 volumes in 10,000), formed in combustion of carbon-containing materials, in fermentation, and in respiration of animals and employed by plants in the photosynthesis of carbohydrates. The presence of the gas in the atmosphere keeps some of the radiant energy received by Earth from being returned to space, thus producing the so-called greenhouse effect. Industrially, it is recovered for numerous diverse applications from flue gases, as a by-product of the preparation of hydrogen for synthesis of ammonia, from limekilns, and from other sources. photosynthesis photosynthesis See all media Key People: Joseph Black Jan Baptista van Helmont Gerard Peter Kuiper Related Topics: greenhouse gas carbon footprint Keeling Curve carbon offset carbon tax See all related content → Carbon dioxide was recognized as a gas different from others early in the 17th century by a Belgian chemist, Jan Baptista van Helmont, who observed it as a product of both fermentation and combustion. It liquefies upon compression to 75 kg per square centimetre (1,071 pounds per square inch) at 31 °C (87.4 °F) or to 16-24 kg per sq cm (230-345 lb per sq in.) at −23 to −12 °C (−10 to 10 °F). By the mid-20th century, most carbon dioxide was sold as the liquid. If the liquid is allowed to expand to atmospheric pressure, it cools and partially freezes to a snowlike solid called dry ice that sublimes (passes directly into vapour without melting) at −78.5 °C (−109.3 °F) at the pressure of the normal atmosphere. Britannica Quiz The Atmosphere: Fact or Fiction? At ordinary temperatures, carbon dioxide is quite unreactive; above 1,700 °C (3,100 °F) it partially decomposes into carbon monoxide and oxygen. Hydrogen or carbon also convert it to carbon monoxide at high temperatures. Ammonia reacts with carbon dioxide under pressure to form ammonium carbamate, then urea, an important component of fertilizers and plastics. Carbon dioxide is slightly soluble in water (1.79 volumes per volume at 0 °C and atmospheric pressure, larger amounts at higher pressures), forming a weakly acidic solution. This solution contains the dibasic acid called carbonic acid (H2CO3). Carbon dioxide is used as a refrigerant, in fire extinguishers, for inflating life rafts and life jackets, blasting coal, foaming rubber and plastics, promoting the growth of plants in greenhouses, immobilizing animals before slaughter, and in carbonated beverages. Ignited magnesium continues to burn in carbon dioxide, but the gas does not support the combustion of most materials. Prolonged exposure of humans to concentrations of 5 percent carbon dioxide may cause unconsciousness and death. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by John P. Rafferty. biogenic gas Table of Contents Home Science Environment biogenic gas biology Actions By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Article History Table of Contents biogenic gas, any gas critical for and produced by living organisms. Biogenic gases in the atmosphere play a role in the dynamics of Earth's planetary radiation budget, the thermodynamics of the planet's moist atmosphere, and, indirectly, the mechanics of the fluid flows that are Earth's planetary wind systems. In the contemporary atmosphere, they include oxygen, nitrogen, water vapour, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, nitric acid, ammonia and ammonium ions, nitrous oxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, carbonyl sulfide, dimethyl sulfide, and a complex array of non-methane hydrocarbons. Of these gases, only nitrogen and oxygen are not "greenhouse gases." Related Topics: nitrogen oxygen ammonia methane carbon dioxide See all related content → This article was most recently revised and updated by John P. Rafferty. Load Next Page Information from your device can be used to personalize your ad experience. Do not sell or share my personal information. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

open relationship

a stable relationship in which the partners regard their own relationship as primary but agree that each may have emotional and physical relationships with others an explicit agreement between two committed partners that each has the option of pursuing sexual or emotional connections with other people a relationship in which partners agree that sexual involvement can occur outside the relationship (Quizlet) What Does Open Relationship Mean? Written by WebMD Editorial Contributors Medically Reviewed by Dan Brennan, MD on June 27, 2021 An open relationship means having more than one romantic or sexual partner at a time. It's an arrangement that both parties agree is non-exclusive or non-monogamous. As one or both partners engage in romantic or sexual activities outside the relationship, the arrangement's agreement aspect is key. If the two parties don't agree to an open relationship or marriage and one or both still engage in multiple partnerships, it's known as a nonconsensual, non-monogamous (NCNM) relationship. Other Names for Open Relationships Another name for an open relationship is "consensual non-monogamy." Both parties agree that a relationship is non-monogamous. "Non-monogamy," "polyamory," and "polyamorous relationship" also refer to an open relationship. "Polygamy" refers to having more than one spouse at the same time. This is not legal in the U.S. If a marriage is non-monogamous, it may be called an "open marriage." How to Explore and Open Relationship With Your Partner Because many have the expectation that relationships and marriages are monogamous, it can be challenging to discuss an open relationship with loved ones. Religious or familial beliefs may make it something very difficult for people to accept. When you express that you want to explore something outside of the relationship, your partner may become sad, jealous, or defensive. But being as honest as possible about your feelings will only help the relationship, even if that means discovering you can't meet the other person's needs any longer and that it must end. It's important to approach the topic with patience and understanding. It's possible that your partner may not be interested in an open relationship. Give them time and space to explore the idea and think of questions. Don't demand an answer right away or get upset if they decide it isn't right for them. If your partner is interested in exploring an open relationship, it's essential that you both agree to rules or best practices. For example, you both may agree to use safe sex practices such as condoms. It's crucial that you're both on the same page and stick to the agreements that are made. Sometimes couples engage in therapy to discuss these issues and explore their feelings. Helping Your Loved Ones Understand Open Relationships Even if your partner is on board with an open relationship, friends and family may have strong opinions. There may be some people you can talk to about the arrangement, and some you can't. However, if more people can discuss desires and situations that don't align with traditional ideas of marriage, they may become more common and less taboo. Signs that an Open Relationship Is a Problem An open relationship isn't for everyone. Here are some warning signs that it's not going to work: One or both partners become jealous or uncomfortable One partner is not on board with the arrangement The marriage or partnership is strained and no longer happy One partner becomes dishonest or secretive Boundaries are crossed It's important that the two people in the partnership agree about an open relationship for it to be beneficial to both parties. Boundaries should be clearly discussed and set. Then everyone can voice what they're not comfortable with. (WebMD)

longitudinal study

research that follows and retests the same people over time research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period a study that observes the same participants on many occasions over a long period of time (Quizlet) running lengthwise rather than across. "longitudinal muscles" 2. relating to longitude; measured from east to west. "longitudinal positions" 3. (of research or data) involving information about an individual or group gathered over a period of time. "a longitudinal study of ten patients" (Online defs)

¿por qué me estás haciendo esto?

¿por qué me estás haciendo esto?

How do the right partners find each other?

Anita E. Kelly Ph.D. Insight How the Right Partners Find Each Other Once you know what to watch out for, you can't get fooled. Posted April 25, 2014 Reviewed by Jessica Schrader You're sitting in the passenger seat of your car with your 6-year-old in the back. Her whimpering has turned to frightened sobbing; your blood is boiling. Your disagreeable spouse, at the wheel, has been ranting for 15 minutes, far too loudly for the confines of the car. He's been complaining that you care more about your job than your family, that you're always late, that you leave the house a mess, and simply don't have your act together. This is appalling to you. You wouldn't dream of treating a mouse running loose in your home with such abuse. Yet your spouse—your "lover"—feels entitled to bully you, and your young daughter, in this way. You ask yourself: "How did I ever get trapped in this marriage?!" To help you avoid ever landing in this scenario, I'm going to answer this question in three parts: The first pertains to our poor selection of a mate. The second involves a lack of revising our views as we get to know the person better. And the third describes how the person tries to manipulate us into staying. 1. Choosing Mr. or Ms. Wrong Around the globe, young men and women have listed attraction and love as the top criteria for marriage, ranking it above personality traits. However, research suggests that the most happily married people are those who, regardless of what they think they want, simply end up with spouses who have excellent personality traits. In particular, a spouse's emotional stability and agreeableness have been clearly linked to marital and sexual satisfaction. Surprise, surprise—it's better to have a warm, cooperative mate than an unstable, disagreeable one! You may be thinking that the spouses with excellent traits sound boring. You want someone very attractive and interesting, and believe you're willing to put up with some moodiness or arrogance to have that attraction. But consider how these arrogant, moody individuals derive attention: They are only sporadically emotionally or physically available, which gives the impression that access to them is a scarce and thus valuable resource (see below). Their love and good moods must be earned, a process that holds at bay any objective evaluation of their character. I suspect that what many decent people in such relationships or marriages don't realize, until they have endured a very long stretch of unfairness, is that their arrogant partner entered the relationship expecting special consideration. Much like in a dating relationship in which the party who desires the other more must accommodate the other's wishes, the arrogant spouse assumes you will do more than half the work to compensate for your lower desirability. Their expectation sounds unreasonable, but arrogant people are image builders, not truth-seekers. 2. Focusing on the Positive Obscures the Truth An exclusive focus on a partner's good qualities, and not the bad, is a threat to good judgment, especially when deciding who to marry. Consider what Walter Mischel observed regarding how people judged whether a given person had a certain personality trait (4). He found that they would recall and string together examples of that person's behavior across time that were highly representative of that specific trait—yet they would fail to notice contradictory examples. This is why he concluded that we see other people as more consistent than they really are. For instance, in determining whether a friend is caring, we might think back to when she brought us chicken noodle soup when we were sick, lent us money to pay the rent, or threw a surprise party on our 21st birthday. And once we think of her as very caring, we may simply overlook her other, uncaring behaviors. Imagine a prospective wife who imagines that her boyfriend is a very good person—good enough to marry. Her decision is based on the fact that he donates money to feed the poor, never holds grudges, takes losing competitive games in stride, and often tells her what how great she is. But she downplays that time he very aggressively berated her for talking to him while he was on the phone with a client. It was an honest mistake, but it left her walking on eggshells during his phone calls for months. Imagine, too, a prospective husband who thinks his girlfriend is an angel for always doing his laundry, leaving him sweet notes and small presents, cooking his favorite meals, and giving him long leisurely back rubs. But she was no angel that time he came through the front door a couple of hours late from work. She rushed out from the dark bedroom with her arms crossed and a look of fury on her face. Pointing a finger one inch from his nose, she screamed so loudly that neighbors down the hall could hear her accusing him of cheating with that "slut" co-worker. The next day she was sweetly smiling and apologetic. She explained that she was not her usual self the previous night because she'd had a bad headache. He forgave her, and they had fantastic "make-up sex." He felt more in love with her than ever. I would argue that neither the girlfriend nor the boyfriend in these scenarios is decent enough to marry. In each case, the person demeaned his or her lover. If the roles were reversed, you would never belittle anyone! Your worst headache might make you a bit short with the person, but never insulting. Their belittling behavior (including the use of the word "slut"—which a humble person would not use) signals their arrogance, a trait tied to deception and exploitation (5). You can never be sure if a romantic partner is decent enough to marry, but you can tell when they are not good enough from belittling acts like these. 3. The Arrogant Won't Let You Go When you try to dump the person after an outburst like the one described above, he or she might argue that they said they were sorry and it was only one mistake. But while a humble person acknowledges your right to leave and does not interfere with it, the arrogant person has an image to defend. They might say many things to make you feel guilty, to manipulate you into staying—for example, they might remind you how much they "sacrificed" to be with you. Don't let such comments get to you—the arrogant partner may well have a contingency plan with other people waiting in the wings if things don't work out with you. They might also ask, "Whatever happened to unconditional positive regard?" (or words to that effect). But remember that evaluating the character of your partner is what you are supposed to be doing before marrying the person. You can respond, "Yes, I was wondering that myself when you were so out-of-line with your outburst. If you had done that on our first date, I would never have gone on a second one with you. Anyhow, the fact that you are trying to make me feel guilty to keep me from leaving is in itself an outrage." How to Proceed To keep from ending up with an arrogant, deceptive, or exploitative spouse, cast a broad net. There are so many single people out there, especially on internet dating sites—you have no excuse for settling for the gummy worms on the kitchen counter when you can find a golden apple elsewhere. What you're looking for is humility—and what you're avoiding is arrogance. The trait of humility is a must-have that undergirds sincerity and the promise of a fair marriage. Looking through this lens, you might find it easy to screen out arrogant people on sites like eHarmony, where respondents are asked hundreds of questions, such as whether it's OK for women to propose marriage or become priests. If they say no, it may beg the question of why only men would be entitled to do those things. Finally, don't waste time after you see that hideous haughtiness. Yes, you are going to get grief from the arrogant person for dumping him or her, but that should simply give you the strength of confirmation to make sure the break is clean. When you do find that sincere, humble, fair-minded person, you might be shocked to discover how sexy he or she is. It might be overwhelming to finally share a passion based on discovering the person in front of you—free from the conventional gender roles and judgments. There is nothing to fear, however, because the formula for communicating remains simple: You always mean what you say. This post stems from Anita Kelly's Science of Honesty project, which was made possible through the support of a grant from the John Templeton Foundation. The opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation. I also am grateful to Mercedes Kelly (my mom) for her insights. This post is dedicated to Tammy Van Dame. Her vibrant, frank, kind personality has inspired many, and now that includes me. Facebook image: dekazigzag/Shutterstock References Buss, D. M. (1989). Sex differences in human mate preferences: Evolutionary hypotheses tested in 37 cultures. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 12, 1-14. Botwin, M. D., Buss, D. M., & Shackelford, T. K. (1997). Personality and Mate Preferences: Five Factors In Mate Selection and Marital Satisfaction. Journal of Personality,65, 107-136 Cialdini, R. B. (1993). Influence: the psychology of persuasion. New York: Morrow. Mischel, W., & Peake, P. K. (1982). Beyond déjà vu in the search for cross-situational consistency. Psychological Review, 89, 730-755. Lee, K. & Ashton, M. C. (2006). Further assessment of the HEXACO Personality Inventory: Two new facet scales and an observer report form. Psychological Assessment, 18, 182-191. references Share on FacebookShare Share on TwitterTweet Share via EmailEmail advertisement About the Author Anita E. Kelly Ph.D. Anita E. Kelly, Ph.D., is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Notre Dame. She is author of The Clever Student and The Psychology of Secrets. (Psychology Today)

Armin Meiwes (German Cannibal)

Before the media dubbed him "The Cannibal of Rotenburg", Armin Meiwes led an outwardly quiet life, described by one woman he befriended as a friendly and sensitive person. But in the prosecutor's words, the well-spoken 42-year-old computer technician "slaughtered his victim like a piece of livestock and treated him as an object of his fancy". The details of the case were re-examined after a federal court ruled that his conviction for manslaughter should be overturned because the sentence - eight-and-a-half-years in jail - was too lenient. In the previous trial, prosecutors say he should have been jailed for life for murder, while his defence team maintains the death was a mercy killing as the victim was a willing participant. Meiwes grew up with his mother in a large house in the German town near Kassel. A former school friend recalls her as a domineering figure who scolded him in public. Living alone with her son until her death, she constantly intruded, accompanying him on dates and even going on troop outings in the early 1980s when he was serving in the German army. Brother figure Meiwes claimed in court that his lonely childhood had led him to create "Franky" - an imaginary brother who listened to him. At the start of his trial in December 2003, Meiwes said his motive for killing and eating his victim, Bernd Juergen Brandes, was born from a desire for this younger brother he never had - "someone to be part of me". In eating Mr Brandes, he finally got his "big kick", he told his trial. According to a psychiatrist who testified at the trial, Professor Georg Stolpmann, Meiwes was incapable of showing "warm and tender feelings towards others". Meiwes insisted throughout the trial that the death had been part of a mutual pact rooted in sado-masochistic homosexual fantasy. But he said he hoped other people with similar fantasies would seek help before it was too late. Investigators found Meiwes had been in internet contact with more than 200 people who shared his fantasies while the cannibal himself claimed there were thousands more like him. Professor Stolpmann described Meiwes as "extremely smug and self-assured" and as having a "schizoid personality" - but said he detected no indication of mental illness. (BBC)

Ven a ver

Come see

What should I know about Encyclopedia Britannica?

Harvard Business Review Home Sign In Change Management Encyclopædia Britannica's President on Killing Off a 244-Year-Old Product by Jorge Cauz From the Magazine (March 2013) Photography: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Summary. In the spring of 2012, the president of Encylopædia Britannica announced that the company would cease producing bound volumes of the iconic reference work. Some people were shocked, and many assumed that EB had buckled under the internet—specifically, Wikipedia. EB's content model was dismissed as "vintage." What many people didn't know was that sales of the print set were by then responsible for only 1% of the business. The decision to stop printing it was, the author writes, "a nonevent." The encyclopedia's famous door-to-door sales force had reached its peak in 1990 with more than 100,000 units sold. But then the business collapsed. Busy families had less patience for personal solicitations, and PCs had started shipping with CD-ROM drives, which created a demand for multimedia and interactivity—unknown territory for print-focused editorial and product teams. By 1996, the year Cauz joined the company, sales were down to 3,000 units. This is the story of how Encyclopædia Britannica became savvy—first with CD-ROM, then with the internet, and finally with the learning business. Wikipedia's success reinforced EB's strategic decision to reduce reliance on consumer reference and accelerate activity in the K-12 market. The company aggressively overhauled its editorial operation; now content is updated on Britannica Online every 20 minutes. Today, the author writes, the business is growing on all measures: revenue, margins, staff, content, and reach.close One year ago, my announcement that Encyclopædia Britannica would cease producing bound volumes sent ripples through the media world. Despite the vast migration of information from ink and paper to bits and screens, it seemed remarkable that a set of books published for almost a quarter of a millennium would go out of print. But in our Chicago offices this wasn't an occasion to mourn. In fact, our employees held a party the day of the announcement, celebrating the fact that Britannica was still a growing and viable company. They ate the print set—in the form of a cake that pictured the 32-volume, 129-pound encyclopedia. They displayed 244 silver balloons—one for each year the encyclopedia had been in print. They toasted the departure of an old friend with champagne and the dawning of a new era with determination. We had no need for a wake because we weren't grieving. We had known for some time that this day was coming. Given how little revenue the print set generated, and given that we had long ago shifted to a digital-first editorial process, the bound volumes had become a distraction and a chore to put together. They could no longer hold the vast amount of information our customers demanded or be kept as up-to-date as today's users expect. The reaction to our announcement was interesting and varied. Some people were shocked. On Twitter, one person wrote, "I'm sorry I was unfaithful to you, Encyclopedia Britannica, Wikipedia was just there, and convenient, it meant nothing. Please, come back!" Of course, we didn't need to come back, because we hadn't gone away and weren't about to. But although most people seemed to know what was happening, some misunderstood. Commentators intimated that we had "yielded" to the internet. In fact, the internet enabled us to reinvent ourselves and open new channels of business. Reports cited Wikipedia as a disruptive force. In fact, Wikipedia helped us sharpen our business strategy. Our content model was dismissed as "vintage," but it is actually anything but: We update our content continually, with community input, reaching tens of millions of people every day—and they pay for it. I relished the irony. If you relied on free, gossipy online channels to understand why we were ending the print edition, you got what you paid for: some jokes, some inaccurate observations about the state of our business, and maybe a 20% chance of seeing "Encyclopædia Britannica" spelled correctly. You may not have learned that by the time we stopped publishing the print set, its sales represented only about 1% of our business, that we have an increasingly significant presence in the K-12 digital learning space, and that we're as profitable now as we've ever been. Whatever ripples the announcement may have made, from a business perspective the decision itself was a nonevent. It was just the final phase of a carefully planned strategic transition that had been 35 years in the making. The Real Threat For the Britannica's first 200 years, editorial revisions were made with a variety of manual and mechanical tools. Preparing each new edition took years at first, and never less than a year. Then, in the 1970s, the contents of the encyclopedia were loaded onto a mainframe computer to streamline the process of making annual updates. Britannica Then and Now The first edition of the encyclopedia ... Prescient editors and executives recognized that although digitization would make updating more efficient for print, it was only a matter of time before the medium of publication itself would be digital. And that would represent a threat to the way we did business: selling multivolume encyclopedias to families door-to-door. So in the 1980s we began preparing for that day, experimenting with digital technologies and even publishing the first electronic encyclopedias. Meanwhile, sales of the print version grew throughout the decade, and in 1990 the company's overall business peaked: Our 2,000-plus salespeople sold more than 100,000 units of the iconic bound set in the United States. Then the business collapsed. The sales model started breaking down in 1991, as families became busier and had less patience for doorstep solicitations and as PCs began shipping with built-in CD-ROM drives—a potential knockout punch. The effect of CD-ROMs on the encyclopedia business can't be overstated. The spines of the Encyclopædia Britannica lined up on a bookshelf always had much more cachet than those of competitors such as World Book and the Americana. But CD-ROMs lacked this visual presence; they obliterated the physical evidence of the Britannica's superior depth and size, an important part of our value proposition then. They also created a new demand for multimedia and interactivity, with which print-focused editorial and product teams had little experience. In 1994 Britannica produced its own CD-ROM encyclopedia. It was originally priced at $1,200, about the same as the bound set. But by then Microsoft was bundling its CD-ROM encyclopedia, Encarta, with the vast majority of Wintel computers as a loss leader to increase the sales of home PCs by positioning them as a learning tool and a homework helper. It was a brilliant move by Microsoft and a very damaging one for Britannica. Regardless of quality, it was hard for a $1,200 CD-ROM to compete with a free one bundled with a PC. Our direct-sales force was the wrong channel for selling the CD-ROM encyclopedia; moreover, there was no easy way to change the traditional encyclopedia business model, in which the multivolume set was a break-even proposition and the profits came from ensuing subscriptions to the yearbook, a single volume of updates. That same year, the company introduced Britannica Online, a web-based version of the Encyclopædia Britannica and the first such reference work on the internet. It was a bold move then: Few publishers had yet seen the web as a place to publish, let alone to put their entire flagship product. But it was a risky move, too. We knew that it would further cannibalize our own print market; we just didn't know by how much. Digital sales rose, but slowly, while print sales fell off a cliff. The decline was dizzying: From more than 100,000 units in 1990, sales fell to 51,000 in 1994 and to just 3,000 in 1996, when I arrived. This was surely the company's most vulnerable time. Radical Change Britannica was sold to the Swiss investor Jacob E. Safra in 1996, and I joined as a consultant helping to initiate the radical change Safra was looking for. To adapt to market shifts, we had to make several major transformations that would ultimately cost tens of millions of dollars. The most painful one involved changing the way we sold our products. The Britannica direct-sales force was at the center of the business structure; the vast majority of company revenue came from this door-to-door army that fanned out across the world. But that sales method had become obsolete, so we decided to abandon it and adopt other forms of direct marketing. We dismantled that part of the business in my first months on the job. As we changed our sales focus to direct marketing, we tested price points on the CD-ROM encyclopedia and realized that our original price was too high. Like many content producers, we had assigned a value to our product on the basis of content and production costs. But customers were changing. They could get "good enough" content for much less—sometimes free. Within months we dropped the price from $1,200 to less than $1,000, then to $150, and eventually to less than $100. We began seeking new online revenue sources from subscriptions and advertising, and we tapped resellers such as AOL to bring the CD-ROM encyclopedia to new consumer channels. Because our brand and the quality of our products were recognized and appreciated by educators, we focused on selling subscriptions to Britannica Online to colleges and later to the K-12 market as they came online. Though we were headed in the right direction, our CD-ROM business was still problematic, because margins continued to be whisper-thin in our competition against the free Encarta. During this period there was one thing we didn't do: reduce our editorial investment. With our business declining, we could easily have justified eliminating long-tenured editors from a cost perspective. But editorial quality has always been intrinsic to our value proposition, and we knew that it would continue to differentiate us in a growing sea of questionable information. One or two more years fighting in this market would have further debilitated Encyclopædia Britannica, and perhaps I wouldn't be writing this. But internet access exploded, as we had expected (and hoped), and the biggest threat to our company, the CD-ROM, was itself disrupted by online access, just when we needed it to be. Britannica was able to reestablish a strong direct relationship with consumers, and our digital subscription business took off. Our Biggest Opportunity Our next two major ventures on the internet—a free, ad-supported consumer encyclopedia and a misconceived learning portal for K-12 schools—ultimately bombed, but they allowed us to see that the internet was a far more favorable place to do business than CD-ROM had been. Margins were much better, and we didn't have to offer huge discounts to win business. When I became president, in 2003, I sought to transform the company once again in light of the opportunities that widespread internet access opened up to us. What my staff and I realized was that we needed to go beyond reference products and develop a full-fledged learning business. Our growing K-12 customer base helped us by telling us what it needed: affordable lessons and learning materials, linked to the curriculum, that could be used in classrooms and at home. These educators wanted products that included assessment tools and that supported individualized or "differentiated" learning for various grade and reading levels. We knew we had the brand and the editorial resources to meet this need. We saw a looming opportunity in online education, and we caught the wave perfectly. We hired dozens of new people, and we now have curriculum specialists in every key department of the company: editorial, product development, and marketing. Our product's value was based on content and production costs—but some customers could get "good enough" content free. As bad as our timing had been with CD-ROM, it couldn't have been better for the decision to focus on learning products, because something had arrived that would ultimately remake the consumer market for reference information: Wikipedia. The Disruption That Wasn't I had been following Wikipedia since the launch of its parent project, Nupedia, in 2000. At the time, I thought Nupedia was going nowhere, because it was trying to do exactly the same thing that Britannica was, and I knew how much editorial staff and budget it took to do that. Nupedia didn't have them. When Nupedia adopted the wiki technology and became Wikipedia the following year, it seemed to me like an act of desperation. Needless to say, its success was a surprise, not only to me, but to everyone I've talked to about it. As Wikipedia's articles, contributors, and visitors skyrocketed in number, and Google's search algorithm continued to reward the site with top placement, I understood that this was another game changer for Encyclopædia Britannica. But far from creating panic, Wikipedia's success actually reinforced our strategic decision to reduce reliance on consumer reference and accelerate activity in the K-12 market. Like many disruptive innovations, Wikipedia was of lower quality: If it were a video, it would be grainy and out of focus. But consumers didn't care about that, because Wikipedia has a vast number of entries and easy, free access. We couldn't compete on quantity or price. Did we believe that consumers preferred our reference material? Yes. Did we believe they were willing to pay for it? Not necessarily. So instead of getting mired in a competition with Wikipedia, we focused on editorial quality with Britannica Online and used Wikipedia's quantity-over-quality approach and its chronic unreliability as differentiators in our favor. We knew that Britannica's long-standing mission to bring expert, fact-based knowledge to the general public met an enduring need for society. This resonated deeply in the education market (it's now standard practice for teachers to instruct students not to rely on Wikipedia as a reference source), and it helped boost sales there. Today more than half of U.S. students and teachers have access to some Britannica content, and globally we're growing even more rapidly. Part of this effort was an aggressive overhaul of our editorial operation, a project we called Britannica 21. We engaged teams of scholars around the world in a wide range of disciplines to review, revise, and refresh the encyclopedia's content. We changed our editorial metabolism so that we could update content in four hours rather than the weeks it used to take. (Now we update every 20 minutes.) And we created a process for soliciting and using community input to enhance encyclopedia entries. Instead of getting mired in a competition with Wikipedia, we focused on editorial quality. By the time Wikipedia took off, we weren't head-to-head competitors anymore. We maintain a world-class reference source with 500,000 household subscribers, and we take a clearly differentiated approach to informing society, but we're no longer an encyclopedia-only company. Coming Disruptions Over the past five years, we've seen 17% compound annual growth in our digital education services business and a 95% renewal rate, while sales of the print version of the encyclopedia steadily declined, from 6,000 in 2006 to about 2,200 in 2011. Producing the bound volumes wasn't passing basic cost-benefit analysis. It was, frankly, a pain. In February 2012 the management team had to make a call—either get the next revised printing under way, with all the work that would entail, or bring the print edition to an end. We chose the latter. Sales of Encyclopædia Britannica's Bound Volumes In 1990 the company's overall ... Today Encyclopædia Britannica is growing on all measures: revenue, margins, staff, content, and reach. We must be ready to adapt and quick to innovate; we must stay attuned to new challenges that could disrupt our business; but we no longer have a stake in the old education model of textbooks and printed classroom curricula. We are creating new digital solutions for math and science and in support of the Common Core State Standards. Here the entrenched players will get disrupted, not us. There are no guarantees, of course, but I'm confident in Encyclopædia Britannica's ability to endure in the digital age. That's because our people have always kept the mission separate from the medium, which has allowed the company to handle one competitive threat after another. As long as I've been here, I've felt that my job was, first, to honor this deeply held sense of mission and to develop and apply business decisions that support it. Even now, a year after the last bound volumes of the Encyclopædia Britannica were sold, people ask if we would reconsider and perhaps print limited editions as a kind of iconic collector's item. The answer is no. We don't want to be like an old actor trying to hold on to his youth. You get on with the times, and our times are digital. Some people may be nostalgic, but it makes no sense for us to print books. As an organization, we're over it. A version of this article appeared in the March 2013 issue of Harvard Business Review. JC Jorge Cauz is the president of Encyclopædia Britannica. Read more on Change management or related topics Media, entertainment, and professional sports and Education institutions Recommended For You Unwinding Inequality Life's Work: An Interview with Scott Kelly Francis Ford Coppola AUDIO Work Insights from the World's Longest Happiness Study Partner Center Harvard Business Review Home Start my subscription! Explore HBR HBR Store About HBR Manage My Account Follow HBR Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Instagram Your Newsreader (HBR)

What makes a successful investor?

Sign In Subscribe SMALL BUSINESS The Five Character Traits The Best Investors Share Richard Thalheimer Former Forbes Councils Member Forbes Business Council COUNCIL POST| Membership (fee-based) Mar 28, 2022,07:15am EDT CEO of The Sharper Fund, Richard Thalheimer is an investment expert with a blog and book at TheSharperInvestor.com. Woman using stock trading app on mobile phone at home GETTY Over the past 20 years, I've spent a lot of time studying the stock market, investing and learning. One of the things I've come to learn in that time? The best investors all share five character traits: talent, intellect, knowledge, common sense and a bias toward action. Many, if not all, of these traits can be learned and developed. Let's look at how to do that, and, while we're at it, explore why these characteristics matter. 1. Investing Talent Being able to pick winning stocks is critical to your success as an investor. That's a given. The question, then, is how do you do that? It starts with developing your talent. In my opinion, the best way to hone your talent is by listening to financial analysts and reading financial news. That's because, the more you listen, and the more you read, the more you sharpen your skills and talent. I spend two to three hours each day watching CNBC and Fox Business News. I listen to analysts, like Jim Cramer, and their guests. I spend a lot of time reading financial news on sites like CNBC and MarketWatch. I also regularly review the information I get from financial news subscription services, like Action Alerts PLUS. The point is I continually hone my investing talents by spending time every single day taking in financial information. All the best investors do the same. 2. Strong Intellect The sharpest investors also have a strong intellect. However, just like with talent, intellect can be strengthened. How? By working as hard as you can to increase your understanding of the stock market and investing. Luckily, you can develop your intellect the same way you do your talent: by listening to and reading financial news. If you do that, you'll hear people talking about their investments. You'll get a glimpse into why they're investing in a particular company, and you'll hear them discuss economic trends. I can't overstate the importance of devoting yourself to spending time each day taking in financial news. More than almost anything else, it can help build your knowledge and sharpen your intellect. 3. Market Knowledge Growing and maintaining market knowledge is also critical if you want to be a successful investor. Along with keeping up-to-date on financial news, you can also follow current events. That's not all: You can also look for which companies are dominating the market and watch the actions of those market leaders. Finally, I highly suggest keeping an eye on CEO interviews. Consistently taking all of these actions will help you educate yourself about what might affect the market. It will also ensure you stay poised to seize opportunities that might arise and help you avoid making costly mistakes. 4. Common Sense Common sense is just as important as talent, intellect and knowledge. I developed my common sense from being at the Sharper Image for so many years. I saw which products would sell and which ones wouldn't. We were a public company, too, which meant I had analyst interviews. I listened to them, and I learned how analysts think and what questions they ask. However, even if you don't have that kind of experience, you can still use and develop your common sense. You can focus on companies that make sense to you—ones with a great product or a great strategy. At the end of the day, no matter who you are or what your background is, you are a consumer. You know what products and companies you like. That means you can use common sense to buy what you know, buy what you understand and ultimately, buy what you love. 5. A Bias Toward Action The last trait—a bias toward action—is, perhaps, the most important. It's this trait that keeps you disciplined about nibbling in, even when the stock market is going down. What do I mean by nibbling in? Nibbling in means taking some percentage of your investable assets (e.g., 3%, 5% or some other number) and buying up to that amount today. Then, you wait—wait for a few days or a week, depending on your appetite for risk. Then, take that percentage and nibble in again. The idea is that, on any given day, you have something left in your cash pile to invest. Ultimately, by forcing yourself to nibble in, you buy some before the bottom, some at the bottom, and some after the bottom. In my experience, when you put all that together, you usually have a terrific investment. Of course, being disciplined about nibbling in and maintaining a bias toward action means you have to be able to control your emotions. That's what makes this trait such a defining characteristic of the best investors. Most people can't handle the emotional distress of buying into a declining market. However, I believe that's exactly what we should be doing. MORE FROMFORBES ADVISOR Best Tax Software Of 2022 Best Tax Software For The Self-Employed Of 2022 Income Tax Calculator: Estimate Your Taxes Hone These Traits To Find Success The standard winning formula in the stock market is "buy low, sell high." To do that, though, you have to have steely nerves. You can't get scared and sell at the bottom. Instead, you have to be willing to nibble in at the bottom, which is why you need a bias toward action. On top of that, you have to be able to pick the right stocks. That's where talent, intellect, knowledge and common sense come in. Of course, if you can't control your emotions, and you get fearful and sell every time the market drops, all that talent, knowledge, intellect and common sense go out the window. So, go slow. Give yourself a few years to build up these muscles and hone these traits. Read, listen to analysts, study current events, and practice nibbling in, even when the market goes down. The information provided here is not investment, tax or financial advice. You should consult with a licensed professional for advice concerning your specific situation. Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify? Follow me on LinkedIn. Check out my website. Richard Thalheimer CEO of The Sharper Fund, Richard Thalheimer is an investment expert with a blog and boo... Read More Editorial Standards Corrections Reprints & Permissions Loading ... More From Forbes How To Build A Customer Community And Improve CX Creating Customer Loyalty Through Authentic Brand Engagements Commercial Real Estate Dislocation Could Bring Once-In-A-Decade Deals Three Truths About Retail Media Networks Attracting And Retaining Gen-Z Through Diversity And Inclusion How Brands Are Leveraging Digital Characters To Drive Conversions Four Best Practices For Integrating A Company With A Strong Culture What Startups Need To Know To Navigate The Next Phase Of Remote Work © 2023 Forbes Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. AdChoicesPrivacy StatementDo Not Sell My Personal InformationDigital Terms of SaleTerms of ServiceContact UsReport a Security IssueJobs At ForbesReprints & PermissionsForbes Press RoomAdvertise (Forbes)

What's a story about a lottery?

Skip to main content Open Navigation Menu The New Yorker Fiction June 26, 1948 Issue The Lottery By Shirley Jackson June 18, 1948 People in a field. Photograph by Garrett Grove Save this story Listen to this story Audio: Read by A. M. Homes. The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green. The people of the village began to gather in the square, between the post office and the bank, around ten o'clock; in some towns there were so many people that the lottery took two days and had to be started on June 26th, but in this village, where there were only about three hundred people, the whole lottery took only about two hours, so it could begin at ten o'clock in the morning and still be through in time to allow the villagers to get home for noon dinner. The children assembled first, of course. School was recently over for the summer, and the feeling of liberty sat uneasily on most of them; they tended to gather together quietly for a while before they broke into boisterous play, and their talk was still of the classroom and the teacher, of books and reprimands. Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones; Bobby and Harry Jones and Dickie Delacroix—the villagers pronounced this name "Dellacroy"—eventually made a great pile of stones in one corner of the square and guarded it against the raids of the other boys. The girls stood aside, talking among themselves, looking over their shoulders at the boys, and the very small children rolled in the dust or clung to the hands of their older brothers or sisters. Soon the men began to gather, surveying their own children, speaking of planting and rain, tractors and taxes. They stood together, away from the pile of stones in the corner, and their jokes were quiet and they smiled rather than laughed. The women, wearing faded house dresses and sweaters, came shortly after their menfolk. They greeted one another and exchanged bits of gossip as they went to join their husbands. Soon the women, standing by their husbands, began to call to their children, and the children came reluctantly, having to be called four or five times. Bobby Martin ducked under his mother's grasping hand and ran, laughing, back to the pile of stones. His father spoke up sharply, and Bobby came quickly and took his place between his father and his oldest brother. The lottery was conducted—as were the square dances, the teen-age club, the Halloween program—by Mr. Summers, who had time and energy to devote to civic activities. He was a round-faced, jovial man and he ran the coal business, and people were sorry for him, because he had no children and his wife was a scold. When he arrived in the square, carrying the black wooden box, there was a murmur of conversation among the villagers, and he waved and called, "Little late today, folks." The postmaster, Mr. Graves, followed him, carrying a three-legged stool, and the stool was put in the center of the square and Mr. Summers set the black box down on it. The villagers kept their distance, leaving a space between themselves and the stool, and when Mr. Summers said, "Some of you fellows want to give me a hand?," there was a hesitation before two men, Mr. Martin and his oldest son, Baxter, came forward to hold the box steady on the stool while Mr. Summers stirred up the papers inside it. The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago, and the black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born. Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box. There was a story that the present box had been made with some pieces of the box that had preceded it, the one that had been constructed when the first people settled down to make a village here. Every year, after the lottery, Mr. Summers began talking again about a new box, but every year the subject was allowed to fade off without anything's being done. The black box grew shabbier each year; by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some places faded or stained. Mr. Martin and his oldest son, Baxter, held the black box securely on the stool until Mr. Summers had stirred the papers thoroughly with his hand. Because so much of the ritual had been forgotten or discarded, Mr. Summers had been successful in having slips of paper substituted for the chips of wood that had been used for generations. Chips of wood, Mr. Summers had argued, had been all very well when the village was tiny, but now that the population was more than three hundred and likely to keep on growing, it was necessary to use something that would fit more easily into the black box. The night before the lottery, Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves made up the slips of paper and put them into the box, and it was then taken to the safe of Mr. Summers' coal company and locked up until Mr. Summers was ready to take it to the square next morning. The rest of the year, the box was put away, sometimes one place, sometimes another; it had spent one year in Mr. Graves' barn and another year underfoot in the post office, and sometimes it was set on a shelf in the Martin grocery and left there. There was a great deal of fussing to be done before Mr. Summers declared the lottery open. There were the lists to make up—of heads of families, heads of households in each family, members of each household in each family. There was the proper swearing-in of Mr. Summers by the postmaster, as the official of the lottery; at one time, some people remembered, there had been a recital of some sort, performed by the official of the lottery, a perfunctory, tuneless chant that had been rattled off duly each year; some people believed that the official of the lottery used to stand just so when he said or sang it, others believed that he was supposed to walk among the people, but years and years ago this part of the ritual had been allowed to lapse. There had been, also, a ritual salute, which the official of the lottery had had to use in addressing each person who came up to draw from the box, but this also had changed with time, until now it was felt necessary only for the official to speak to each person approaching. Mr. Summers was very good at all this; in his clean white shirt and blue jeans, with one hand resting carelessly on the black box, he seemed very proper and important as he talked interminably to Mr. Graves and the Martins. Just as Mr. Summers finally left off talking and turned to the assembled villagers, Mrs. Hutchinson came hurriedly along the path to the square, her sweater thrown over her shoulders, and slid into place in the back of the crowd. "Clean forgot what day it was," she said to Mrs. Delacroix, who stood next to her, and they both laughed softly. "Thought my old man was out back stacking wood," Mrs. Hutchinson went on, "and then I looked out the window and the kids was gone, and then I remembered it was the twenty-seventh and came a-running." She dried her hands on her apron, and Mrs. Delacroix said, "You're in time, though. They're still talking away up there." Mrs. Hutchinson craned her neck to see through the crowd and found her husband and children standing near the front. She tapped Mrs. Delacroix on the arm as a farewell and began to make her way through the crowd. The people separated good-humoredly to let her through; two or three people said, in voices just loud enough to be heard across the crowd, "Here comes your Mrs., Hutchinson," and "Bill, she made it after all." Mrs. Hutchinson reached her husband, and Mr. Summers, who had been waiting, said cheerfully, "Thought we were going to have to get on without you, Tessie." Mrs. Hutchinson said, grinning, "Wouldn't have me leave m'dishes in the sink, now, would you, Joe?," and soft laughter ran through the crowd as the people stirred back into position after Mrs. Hutchinson's arrival. "Well, now," Mr. Summers said soberly, "guess we better get started, get this over with, so's we can go back to work. Anybody ain't here?" VIDEO FROM THE NEW YORKER My Parent, Neal: Transitioning at Sixty-two "Dunbar," several people said. "Dunbar, Dunbar." Mr. Summers consulted his list. "Clyde Dunbar," he said. "That's right. He's broke his leg, hasn't he? Who's drawing for him?" "Me, I guess," a woman said, and Mr. Summers turned to look at her. "Wife draws for her husband," Mr. Summers said. "Don't you have a grown boy to do it for you, Janey?" Although Mr. Summers and everyone else in the village knew the answer perfectly well, it was the business of the official of the lottery to ask such questions formally. Mr. Summers waited with an expression of polite interest while Mrs. Dunbar answered. "Horace's not but sixteen yet," Mrs. Dunbar said regretfully. "Guess I gotta fill in for the old man this year." "Right," Mr. Summers said. He made a note on the list he was holding. Then he asked, "Watson boy drawing this year?" A tall boy in the crowd raised his hand. "Here," he said. "I'm drawing for m'mother and me." He blinked his eyes nervously and ducked his head as several voices in the crowd said things like "Good fellow, Jack," and "Glad to see your mother's got a man to do it." "Well," Mr. Summers said, "guess that's everyone. Old Man Warner make it?" "Here," a voice said, and Mr. Summers nodded. A sudden hush fell on the crowd as Mr. Summers cleared his throat and looked at the list. "All ready?" he called. "Now, I'll read the names—heads of families first—and the men come up and take a paper out of the box. Keep the paper folded in your hand without looking at it until everyone has had a turn. Everything clear?" The people had done it so many times that they only half listened to the directions; most of them were quiet, wetting their lips, not looking around. Then Mr. Summers raised one hand high and said, "Adams." A man disengaged himself from the crowd and came forward. "Hi, Steve," Mr. Summers said, and Mr. Adams said, "Hi, Joe." They grinned at one another humorlessly and nervously. Then Mr. Adams reached into the black box and took out a folded paper. He held it firmly by one corner as he turned and went hastily back to his place in the crowd, where he stood a little apart from his family, not looking down at his hand. "Allen," Mr. Summers said. "Anderson. . . . Bentham." "Seems like there's no time at all between lotteries any more," Mrs. Delacroix said to Mrs. Graves in the back row. "Seems like we got through with the last one only last week." "Time sure goes fast," Mrs. Graves said. "Clark. . . . Delacroix." "There goes my old man," Mrs. Delacroix said. She held her breath while her husband went forward. "Dunbar," Mr. Summers said, and Mrs. Dunbar went steadily to the box while one of the women said, "Go on, Janey," and another said, "There she goes." "We're next," Mrs. Graves said. She watched while Mr. Graves came around from the side of the box, greeted Mr. Summers gravely, and selected a slip of paper from the box. By now, all through the crowd there were men holding the small folded papers in their large hands, turning them over and over nervously. Mrs. Dunbar and her two sons stood together, Mrs. Dunbar holding the slip of paper. "Harburt. . . . Hutchinson." "Get up there, Bill," Mrs. Hutchinson said, and the people near her laughed. "Jones." "They do say," Mr. Adams said to Old Man Warner, who stood next to him, "that over in the north village they're talking of giving up the lottery." Old Man Warner snorted. "Pack of crazy fools," he said. "Listening to the young folks, nothing's good enough for them. Next thing you know, they'll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work any more, live that way for a while. Used to be a saying about 'Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.' First thing you know, we'd all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns. There's always been a lottery," he added petulantly. "Bad enough to see young Joe Summers up there joking with everybody." "Some places have already quit lotteries," Mrs. Adams said. "Nothing but trouble in that," Old Man Warner said stoutly. "Pack of young fools." "Martin." And Bobby Martin watched his father go forward. "Overdyke. . . . Percy." "I wish they'd hurry," Mrs. Dunbar said to her older son. "I wish they'd hurry." "They're almost through," her son said. "You get ready to run tell Dad," Mrs. Dunbar said. Mr. Summers called his own name and then stepped forward precisely and selected a slip from the box. Then he called, "Warner." "Seventy-seventh year I been in the lottery," Old Man Warner said as he went through the crowd. "Seventy-seventh time." "Watson." The tall boy came awkwardly through the crowd. Someone said, "Don't be nervous, Jack," and Mr. Summers said, "Take your time, son." "Zanini." After that, there was a long pause, a breathless pause, until Mr. Summers, holding his slip of paper in the air, said, "All right, fellows." For a minute, no one moved, and then all the slips of paper were opened. Suddenly, all the women began to speak at once, saying, "Who is it?," "Who's got it?," "Is it the Dunbars?," "Is it the Watsons?" Then the voices began to say, "It's Hutchinson. It's Bill," "Bill Hutchinson's got it." "Go tell your father," Mrs. Dunbar said to her older son. People began to look around to see the Hutchinsons. Bill Hutchinson was standing quiet, staring down at the paper in his hand. Suddenly, Tessie Hutchinson shouted to Mr. Summers, "You didn't give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn't fair!" "Be a good sport, Tessie," Mrs. Delacroix called, and Mrs. Graves said, "All of us took the same chance." "Shut up, Tessie," Bill Hutchinson said. "Well, everyone," Mr. Summers said, "that was done pretty fast, and now we've got to be hurrying a little more to get done in time." He consulted his next list. "Bill," he said, "you draw for the Hutchinson family. You got any other households in the Hutchinsons?" "There's Don and Eva," Mrs. Hutchinson yelled. "Make them take their chance!" "Daughters draw with their husbands' families, Tessie," Mr. Summers said gently. "You know that as well as anyone else." "It wasn't fair," Tessie said. "I guess not, Joe," Bill Hutchinson said regretfully. "My daughter draws with her husband's family, that's only fair. And I've got no other family except the kids." "Then, as far as drawing for families is concerned, it's you," Mr. Summers said in explanation, "and as far as drawing for households is concerned, that's you, too. Right?" "Right," Bill Hutchinson said. "How many kids, Bill?" Mr. Summers asked formally. "Three," Bill Hutchinson said. "There's Bill, Jr., and Nancy, and little Dave. And Tessie and me." "All right, then," Mr. Summers said. "Harry, you got their tickets back?" Mr. Graves nodded and held up the slips of paper. "Put them in the box, then," Mr. Summers directed. "Take Bill's and put it in." "I think we ought to start over," Mrs. Hutchinson said, as quietly as she could. "I tell you it wasn't fair. You didn't give him time enough to choose. Everybody saw that." Mr. Graves had selected the five slips and put them in the box, and he dropped all the papers but those onto the ground, where the breeze caught them and lifted them off. "Listen, everybody," Mrs. Hutchinson was saying to the people around her. "Ready, Bill?" Mr. Summers asked, and Bill Hutchinson, with one quick glance around at his wife and children, nodded. "Remember," Mr. Summers said, "take the slips and keep them folded until each person has taken one. Harry, you help little Dave." Mr. Graves took the hand of the little boy, who came willingly with him up to the box. "Take a paper out of the box, Davy," Mr. Summers said. Davy put his hand into the box and laughed. "Take just one paper," Mr. Summers said. "Harry, you hold it for him." Mr. Graves took the child's hand and removed the folded paper from the tight fist and held it while little Dave stood next to him and looked up at him wonderingly. "Nancy next," Mr. Summers said. Nancy was twelve, and her school friends breathed heavily as she went forward, switching her skirt, and took a slip daintily from the box. "Bill, Jr.," Mr. Summers said, and Billy, his face red and his feet overlarge, nearly knocked the box over as he got a paper out. "Tessie," Mr. Summers said. She hesitated for a minute, looking around defiantly, and then set her lips and went up to the box. She snatched a paper out and held it behind her. "Bill," Mr. Summers said, and Bill Hutchinson reached into the box and felt around, bringing his hand out at last with the slip of paper in it. The crowd was quiet. A girl whispered, "I hope it's not Nancy," and the sound of the whisper reached the edges of the crowd. "It's not the way it used to be," Old Man Warner said clearly. "People ain't the way they used to be." "All right," Mr. Summers said. "Open the papers. Harry, you open little Dave's." Mr. Graves opened the slip of paper and there was a general sigh through the crowd as he held it up and everyone could see that it was blank. Nancy and Bill, Jr., opened theirs at the same time, and both beamed and laughed, turning around to the crowd and holding their slips of paper above their heads. "Tessie," Mr. Summers said. There was a pause, and then Mr. Summers looked at Bill Hutchinson, and Bill unfolded his paper and showed it. It was blank. "It's Tessie," Mr. Summers said, and his voice was hushed. "Show us her paper, Bill." Bill Hutchinson went over to his wife and forced the slip of paper out of her hand. It had a black spot on it, the black spot Mr. Summers had made the night before with the heavy pencil in the coal-company office. Bill Hutchinson held it up, and there was a stir in the crowd. "All right, folks," Mr. Summers said. "Let's finish quickly." Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones. The pile of stones the boys had made earlier was ready; there were stones on the ground with the blowing scraps of paper that had come out of the box. Mrs. Delacroix selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands and turned to Mrs. Dunbar. "Come on," she said. "Hurry up." Mrs. Dunbar had small stones in both hands, and she said, gasping for breath. "I can't run at all. You'll have to go ahead and I'll catch up with you." The children had stones already, and someone gave little Davy Hutchinson a few pebbles. Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space by now, and she held her hands out desperately as the villagers moved in on her. "It isn't fair," she said. A stone hit her on the side of the head. Old Man Warner was saying, "Come on, come on, everyone." Steve Adams was in the front of the crowd of villagers, with Mrs. Graves beside him. "It isn't fair, it isn't right," Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her. ♦ Published in the print edition of the June 26, 1948, issue. New Yorker Favorites First she scandalized Washington. Then she became a princess. The meanings of the Muslim head scarf. What exactly happened between Neanderthals and humans? The unravelling of an expert on serial killers. When you eat a dried fig, you're probably chewing wasp mummies, too. The slippery scams of the olive-oil industry. Critics on the classics: our 1991 review of "Thelma & Louise." Sign up for our daily newsletter to receive the best stories from The New Yorker. Shirley Jackson, who died in 1965, wrote six novels, including "The Haunting of Hill House" and "We Have Always Lived in the Castle." More: Small towns Stones Sacrifices Murders Rituals Shirley Jackson Books & Fiction Get book recommendations, fiction, poetry, and dispatches from the world of literature in your in-box. Sign up for the Books & Fiction newsletter. E-mail address Sign up By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. Read More Fiction The Man in the Woods "Christopher had come into the forest at a crossroads, turning onto the forest road as though he had a choice, looking back once to see the other road, the one he had not chosen." By Shirley Jackson Fiction Paranoia "The question of what the man in the light hat wanted was immediately subordinate to the question of whom he wanted." By Shirley Jackson Video How a Court Case and a Made-for-TV Movie Brought Domestic Violence to Light When Francine Hughes murdered her husband after enduring years of abuse, a debate about domestic violence was ignited, making her story both a high point and an aberration in how such cases would be handled in the years to come. The New Yorker Sections NewsBooks & CultureFiction & PoetryHumor & CartoonsMagazineCrosswordVideoPodcastsArchiveGoings On More Customer CareShop The New YorkerBuy Covers and CartoonsCondé Nast StoreDigital AccessNewslettersJigsaw PuzzleRSS AboutCareersContactF.A.Q.Media KitPressAccessibility HelpCondé Nast Spotlight © 2023 Condé Nast. All rights reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. Ad Choices Do Not Sell My Personal Info

What are qualities of a successful relationship?

Randi Gunther Ph.D. Rediscovering Love RELATIONSHIPS 9 Qualities of the Most Successful Relationships Unselfish, egoless, fair, current, and authentic. Posted September 15, 2021 Reviewed by Chloe Williams Characteristics of quality relationships include negotiating where resources are allocated in a fair way and regularly reassessing needs. Unselfish love, authentic communication, trust and a recognition of triggers from the past are also components of successful relationships. Acknowledging behaviors that are already a part of one's relationship can help a couple embrace others that they may want to attain. In working with couples for more than four decades, I have been able to observe how committed partnerships are influenced by society's changing definitions of what a quality relationship is. But despite those changing mores and values, I have also witnessed that some characteristics of successful relationships have remained constant independent of those influences. I've compiled these beliefs and traits over many years, careful to sift and resift as quality relationships are subject to different expectations. The following nine illustrate what I have observed. As you read through them, you will naturally ask yourselves which of them has been part of your own intimate relationships. Do not feel defeated if your relationship doesn't include all of them. Focus, instead, on those that do apply. Acknowledging beliefs and behaviors that are already successful will give you more confidence to embrace those you may then want to attain. 1. The Fair Negotiation of Resources Every relationship has only so many resources at different times and in different situations. Whether time, money, love, availability, or mental and emotional resilience, those resources must be allocated with fairness, generosity and understanding. Successful couples negotiated priorities together, deciding what each may need at any one time. In times of abundance, those allocations are easier to manage. There is more of whatever each partner needs and can more easily meet requests, desires, or an emergency. When resources are depleted, successful couples know to adjust to those diminished coffers and negotiate to reach the best agreement they can. 2. Staying Current Life's demands change. Resources wax and wane. Different life stages require adaptations and adjustments. Losses are inevitable. Early dreams may fall by the wayside and new ones emerge. In so many ways, quality relationships are like businesses that grow and shift with what works to keep them functioning as optimally as possible. Relationships are no different. What responses, offerings, and valuable contributions that may have been more than enough at one time must be able to continually transform as new requirements demand different reactions, resources, or priorities. People in quality relationships regularly re-assess how they need to alter who they are, what they can give or need, and how the relationship is doing in general. With ever new evaluations, they shore up what is faltering and let go of what is no longer working. 3. Unselfish Love Love is comprised of the honest desire to seek the gratification of personal needs interspersed with making certain that your partner must thrive as well. Every intimate partner struggles between the need for safety and security and the desire for freedom to grow. The former maintains the comfort of predictability and the latter gives the relationship challenge and excitement. THE BASICS Why Relationships Matter Find a therapist to strengthen relationships Those of you who have supported your partner at your own expense know how scary it is to risk your own security to give your partner the opportunity to follow what he or she sees as offering more possibilities and altered dreams. Despite your insecurity, you know that it is the right thing to do no matter what the cost. It is always better to know that your partner would rather be with you than somewhere else. But, if you know that he or she would thrive better away from you, holding them trapped to maintain your security will ultimately fail in the long run. The deepest form of love is to want what is best for each other even when that sacrifice brings potential fear of loss. The old adage, "Let something go free. If it is meant to come back, it will," is profoundly true in successful relationships. 4. Congruent, Authentic, and Open Communication Every bid for connection has both an altruistic and self-serving motive. Both are profoundly human responses and should be shared without shame. Though some strategy and diplomacy are part of every successful relationship, quality communication gives both partners a heads-up as to what is wanted and what the consequences might be if those needs are not granted. Congruent communication occurs when a person's body language, facial expressions, voice intonations, rhythm, and touch present the same picture. When people are comfortable with their good qualities, working on their limitations, and honest about that process, they are authentic and upfront, giving the other partner a full understanding of what to expect. In all communication, there is the content of words and the way the partners are with each other as they are connecting. Words are useless if the process has gone sour. Good communicators are alert to these in-the-moment shifts, and immediately repair the interaction before returning to the content. 5. The True Meaning of Trust At its most basic level, people who trust each other know that the other partner will not behave away from them any differently than they do when in each other's presence. It's as if there is a metaphysical tattoo in their presentation that signals "I am joyfully taken." There is pride in the way either talks about the relationship to others. When they talk about the relationship with others, their sentences begin with "we" rather than "I." People change over time and that trust must be constantly renegotiated and shared. What can be seen can be changed. There is simply no room for negative surprises. 6. Triggers from Past Relationships No one comes into a relationship without emotional baggage. Past losses, traumas, broken dreams, or disappointments from childhood until the current relationship are bound to rear their influence on a current relationship. The way people resolve those past issues is a critical harbinger of how they can be triggered in their present relationship. The more both partners know about past entanglements and their consequences, the better they are prepared to differentiate between what is happening just between them and what may be surfacing as an old, unresolved situation from the past. Both partners are quick to recognize the most obvious tell-tale signs: They start talking at each other from farther away, rather than to each other. There is little or no eye contact. They seem on a one-way street, focused on some other time and place where they may have felt irrelevant or helpless. Asking yourself how old you feel when you are responding this way can help identify the earlier experience and how it may be contaminating the current interaction. 7. Consistent Expressions of What Is Working Too often, many committed couples take for granted that the other knows he or she is loved. Most of their conversations tend to be about logistics, keeping each other informed about life events, sharing responses to what affects them, talking about future plans, or sharing what they are unhappy about. If the couple is still together and prospering, it is evident that something lies underneath their more superficial interactions. But the other might not know or share those positive feelings. I have been with so many people who have unexpectedly lost a partner and suffer the most when they have not told the other how much they meant to them and why. Frequent expressions of authentic appreciation, tenderness, caring, special affections must be said aloud to make sure the other partner knows those feelings are still intact. 8. Egoless Leadership Role definitions and their executions are not fixed in quality relationships. The partners are not defined by rigidly expected behaviors and effortlessly give leadership to the person who can do it best at the time. They are a team first, and winning means there is no automatic captain. They are also non-competitive and respectful when one partner can shoulder a challenge better than the other because the other compensates where he or she can. They can fill in for each other when needed and have no ego around who may be better in any one area. Both are secure in being respected for who they are and what they bring to the table and know they are better off together than either could be alone. 9. Inquiry Before Judgment Successful partners do not assume, guess, or come to conclusions about the other's thoughts and behaviors without checking with each other as to the accuracy of their assumptions. They have learned that rapid reactions said in defense will not result in any meaningful resolution so they commit to asking for more clarity before they respond. Many relationships break up because incorrect assumptions of another's motives trigger mistrust, even when it is not warranted. Even people who have been together for many years mistake the other's reasons or build-ups and react as if they know enough to respond accurately. When either partner cannot take the time to make room for the entirety of the other before they react, the other partner over time will pull away, withhold, and sometimes disconnect. Everyone changes over time, and continuous reevaluation of the other partner can put a halt to those potential and often unnecessary damages. These nine beliefs and subsequent actions are the underlying strengths in relationships that not only survive but thrive over time. They all share the same core. The partners treasure each other's experience of life and each other. About the Author Randi Gunther, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and marriage counselor practicing in Southern California. Online: Randi Gunther, LinkedIn Read Next (Psychology Today)

Coolidge effect

the fact that a copulating male who becomes incapable of continuing to copulate with one sex partner can often recommence copulating with a new sex partner the restorative effect of introducing a new female sex partner to a male that has apparently become "exhausted" by sexual activity the sexually arousing power of a new partner (greater than the appeal of a familiar partner) (Quizlet) Abstract The Coolidge effect is the renewal of sexual behavior after the presentation of a novel sexual partner and possibly occurs as the result of habituation and dishabituation processes. This re-motivation to copulate is well studied in males and is commonly related to sexual satiety, which involves several neurobiological changes in steroid receptors and their mRNA expression in the CNS. On the other hand, there are few reports studying sexual novelty in females and have been limited to behavioral aspects. Here we report that the levels of rat proceptive behavior, a sign of sexual motivation, declines after 4 h of continuous mating, particularly in females that were unable to regulate the time of mating. Such reduction was not accompanied by changes in lordosis, suggesting that they were not due to the vanishing of the endocrine optimal milieu necessary for the expression of both components of sexual behavior in the female rat. These and previous data support important differences between sexual behavior in both sexes that would result in natural divergences in the Coolidge effect expression. We here also review some reports in humans showing peculiarities between the pattern of habituation and dishabituation in women and men. This is a growing research field that needs emphasis in female subjects. Keywords: Female sexual behavior; Male sexual behavior; Sexual novelty; The Coolidge effect. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. (NIH)