Salem-News.com Education articles Page 27

Authenticity

“And what sort of lives do these people, who pose as being moral, lead themselves? My dear fellow, you forget that we are in the native land of the hypocrite.” Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

(MIAMI) - Authenticity is one of the most important qualities to teach young people.

To be truly who you are, to be comfortable in your own skin and to walk your talk, is essential to not just personal happiness but is also requisite for building a better, more just and humane world. Unfortunately, teaching authenticity is challenging in a society that is dominated by hypocrisy.

Oregon Scientists Offer New Insights on Controlling Nanoparticle Stability

They focused on nanoparticles less than two nanometers in diameter — the smallest studied to date — to better understand structural stability of these tiny particles being engineered for use in electronics, medicine and other materials.

(EUGENE) - University of Oregon chemists studying the structure of ligand-stabilized gold nanoparticles have captured fundamental new insights about their stability.

The information, they say, could help to maintain a desired, integral property in nanoparticles used in electronic devices, where stability is important, or to design them so they readily condense into thin films for such things as inks or catalysts in electronic or solar devices.

Spanish Language Placed on Twitter After English and Chinese, Ahead of Japanese

Twitter acts as a social soundtrack for the TV, which is still the media king.

(MADRID) - In the social network Twitter Spanish is the second most used language, just behind English Chinese, and ahead of Japanese.

The data has been provided by the director of the Instituto Cervantes, Victor Garcia de la Concha, at the headquarters of the Center for diffusion of a language spoken in the world by 495 million people and that has grown in the last decade by 800% in Internet, standing on third.

Scientists Calculate Friction of Japan`s 9.0 Earthquake in 2011

Scientists hope to repeat the experiment with other earthquakes, although the logistics of such a study are daunting – requiring a large earthquake with lots of slip...

(CORVALLIS, OR) - An international team of scientists that installed a borehole temperature observatory following the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake in Japan has been able to measure the “frictional heat” generated during the rupture of the fault – an amount the researchers say was smaller than expected, which means the fault is more slippery than previously thought.

It is the first time scientists have been able to use precise temperature measurements to calculate the friction dynamics of fault slip.

Cliché Mania: Profanity`s Quagmire

I rather wish those cliché-mongers could alter their ways and revisit their paucity of expressing things with precision. To me, that would be a Christmas present unto themselves.

(SALEM) - Earlier this week I attended a Men's Retreat held out at the Oregon Coast. Its aim was to explore ourselves in depth and where we were heading in retirement. We touched on our relationships with our parents, our spouses and siblings, and most of all, ourselves.

After the Humiliation of the Last Papal Visit
Will the Pope Insist on Seeing Gaza this Time?

Or should he, too, boycott Israel until Jerusalem and the Christian and Muslim communities are freed from occupation?

(LONDON) - CNN reports on Israeli PM Netanyahu's reception at the Vatican and plans for the Pope to visit Israel in May.

Recalling the shabby treatment of religious leaders on previous visits to the Holy Land, let us hope Pope Francis takes a firmer line than his predecessor and insists on seeing Gaza and ministering to his terrorised flock there. In May 2009, when Benedict was Pope, the Vatican told the Israeli press that the Holy Father would refrain from visiting Gaza. The word ‘refrain’ was a peculiar one in the circumstances. "The Pope will refrain from visiting Gaza...." smacks of abstinence, as in refraining from sexual intercourse.

Preface: Hijacking The Holy Qur`an And Its Religion Islam - Muslims and Imperial Mobilization

The substance of these modern techniques of mind manipulation and behavior control is examined in the companion volume on Modernity.

(LOS ANGELES) - This book which you now hold in your hands, Hijacking The Holy Qur'an And Its Religion Islam – Muslims and Imperial Mobilization 1st Edition 2013, is a broad compendium of topics at the intersection of religion of Islam and political science. It is a case study in social engineering and is not intended as an advocacy of Islam. Volume I is abridged version.

This present compilation is broadly focused on demonstrating how the religion of Islam has systematically been misused for “imperial mobilization” and narrow self-interests, and how its singular scripture, the Holy Qur'an, has itself contributed to that state of affairs.

`As Sick as a Plane to Lourdes`: Memories of Reverend Bud, or Why We Need Not Fear Rulers

A reminder that rulers of whatever denomination tend to exchange not only their ethics but wisdom and reason itself for a new sauna and nicer wall panelling in their private studies.

(NANAIMO, Vancouver Island) - He was an odious little creep, even by church standards. But in his immaculate suit and "I can sell you anything" smile, he obviously had just the right stuff to head a seminary: specifically, as Principal of my Alma Mater, the Vancouver School of Theology (VST).

His name was Bud Phillips, and he dropped among all the pious bunnies a year after I had enrolled there.

Disagreement Without the Hate

Yet, there is indeed a peaceful, even collaborative, way to disagree.

(PORTLAND, OR) - Disagreement is an essential component of a healthy relationship, a healthy workplace, and a healthy democracy. Much research documents the dangers of surrounding ourselves with so-called “yes men” who always concur. Workplace echo chambers stifle innovation and reify bad policy decisions. Disagreement stimulates creative thinking and prompts innovation.

Yet, there is indeed a peaceful, even collaborative, way to disagree. And, I contend, that it never involves personal insults, ad hominem attacks, and strings of epithets and curse words.

`Necessary Illusion` by Noam Chomsky, Has Been Applied Forever

We have inherited a beautiful planet and nature, which sadly is being destroyed in so many ways, because Neanderthal mentalities, and beads and trinkets are ruling and ruining our planet.

(KELOWNA, BC) - It’s been more than 50 years since I’ve read the Bible, out of curiosity, and the recent news that “Winemaker brings sacred scroll (the Torah) to the Okanagan,” peaked my interest to read some of it again.

As a well-informed adult, I’ve read with amusement about this unjust and bloodthirsty god in the Bible, which could only have been fabricated in the minds of superstitious and uninformed people of thousands of years ago.