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Bussa, Leader With Heart

In the history of Barbados there may not have been a more dominant voice of freedom then the Barbados captive (formerly of Africa) Bussa. Bussa was captured and brought to the island of Barbados by force where he was enslaved in the 18th century on the Barleys plantation. Bussa was the leader of one of the first slave revolts of Barbados in years. He literally fought for the slaves as leader of the revolt back in 1816. The revolt pitted imprisoned slaves against the bigots and plantation owners of Barbados. Bussa’s drive, fight and determination lead him to derive a great plan for freedom. Bussa’s great involvement in the harsh defiance of authority led the Barbados revolt, later to be known as Bussa’s Rebellion.

Perhaps a man of mystery in Barbados lore, as not much surrounds his past, besides his leadership in the revolt. He was known to be a precise leader on the plantation and in a strange way kept the other slaves motivated, it is apparent that his leadership led to the revolt and him at the forefront. The uprising took estate owners by surprise. The slaves were ready and wanted their freedom on this day and for years to come. This was not meant to be a fly by night operation, but a monumental change.

Bussa and an estimated four hundred slaves battled relentlessly for their respective freedom, but failed. Bussa himself was killed in battle, as well as many of his “Freedom Fighters”. The slaves were out manned and out powered, especially where weapons were concerned. The slaves simply could not match the firepower of those from the estates. Rumor has it that the fighters went down shouting their leaders name, no doubt knowing what his significance was to be for the future of Barbados.

In the history of Barbados there may not have been a more dominant voice of freedom then the Barbados captive (formerly of Africa) Bussa. Bussa was captured and brought to the island of Barbados by force where he was enslaved in the 18th century on the Barleys plantation. Bussa was the leader of one of the first slave revolts of Barbados in years. He literally fought for the slaves as leader of the revolt back in 1816. The revolt pitted imprisoned slaves against the bigots and plantation owners of Barbados. Bussa’s drive, fight and determination lead him to derive a great plan for freedom. Bussa’s great involvement in the harsh defiance of authority led the Barbados revolt, later to be known as Bussa’s Rebellion.

Perhaps a man of mystery in Barbados lore, as not much surrounds his past, besides his leadership in the revolt. He was known to be a precise leader on the plantation and in a strange way kept the other slaves motivated, it is apparent that his leadership led to the revolt and him at the forefront. The uprising took estate owners by surprise. The slaves were ready and wanted their freedom on this day and for years to come. This was not meant to be a fly by night operation, but a monumental change.

Bussa and an estimated four hundred slaves battled relentlessly for their respective freedom, but failed. Bussa himself was killed in battle, as well as many of his “Freedom Fighters”. The slaves were out manned and out powered, especially where weapons were concerned. The slaves simply could not match the firepower of those from the estates. Rumor has it that the fighters went down shouting their leaders name, no doubt knowing what his significance was to be for the future of Barbados.

Although Bussa derived a great plan, he was not alone. Washinton Franklin and Nanny Grigg assisted Bussa. Washington was a mulatto who has been credited with the plan to surprise the estate owners. Grigg was an elder slave and fought for reform. The people of Barbados are still grateful today. A local sculptor in the late 80’s constructed a large statue of Bussa, which was erected in his honor, thus keeping his memory alive. Thousands of marchers took to the streets and sang a folk song known to those in Barbados, in his honor.

The lyrics to the folk song can be seen on the side of the statue and read as follows:

“De Ting Come From England

To Set We Free now Lick

and Lock-Up Done Wid

Hurrah Fuh Jin-Jin…”

It is clear that Bussa was a man who commanded great respect, but never asked for it. It may have been his natural leadership that led him to gain the respect of the people of Barbados. Unlike other activist or leaders Bussa did not just talk about what needed to be done, he literally went out and fought for it. That is why a man so little is known about, still lives on today on the island of Barbados.

For more information on Barbados and Antigua, visit http://www.barbadosmicroblog.com and http://www.antiguamicroblog.com.

A History Of Lincoln Part 1

Lincoln has a number of major tourist attractions, the main one being that Lincoln is the capital of Lincolnshire. Lincolnshire is one the biggest counties in England and is a key shire county. Despite the impression that most people have Lincolnshire is far from flat. True, out towards the east coast and the Wash, the county is flat due to the land being reclaimed from the sea. However as you go inland towards Stamford and Grantham the county becomes underrating. The further north of the county you go the hillier it becomes. Lincoln Cathedral and Lincoln Castle are high on a hill overlooking the City of Lincoln.

To the north and North West of Lincoln you enter the famous Lincolnshire Wolds and the long hills and shallow valleys before eventually meeting the river Humber.

Back in Lincoln on the hill overlooking the old city is Lincoln Castle.

William the Conqueror’s Castle & The Observatory Tower.

When William the Conqueror defeated King Harold at The Battle of Hastings on the 14 October 1066 he still faced resistance to his rule in the north of England. For a number of years William’s position was very insecure and in order to project his influence over the people, he felt it necessary to construct a number of castles in the north and midlands of England. It was at this time that the new King built major castles at Warwick, Nottingham and York. Once in control of York, the Conqueror turned southwards and arrived at the Roman and Viking city of Lincoln.

When William reached Lincoln he found a Viking trading centre with a population of 8,000. The remains of the old Roman walled fortress located some 200 ft above the countryside to the south and west, proved a strategic position to construct a new castle. Also, Lincoln represented a vital crossroads of the following Roman routes, The Ermine Street, a major Roman road and very important north-south route connecting London and York.

The Fosse Way - another important Roman route connecting Lincoln with the city of Leicester and the south-west of England. The Valley of the River Trent - a major river giving access to the River Ouse, and thus the major city of York. The River Witham - a waterway that afforded access to both the Rivers Trent and the North Sea via The Wash. The Lincolnshire Wolds - an upland area to the northeast, which overlooks the Lincolnshire Marsh.

William saw how a castle here could guard several of the main strategic routes and form part of a network of strongholds of the Norman Kingdom, roughly the area of the country that is today referred to as the East Midlands. It could also form a center from which troops could be sent to repel Scandinavian landings anywhere on the coast from the Trent to the Welland.

The castle was built in the south-west corner of the upper walled town, the remainder of which was occupied by the town. The Doomsday Book entry for Lincoln records how 166 residences were knocked down to make way for the castle. Of the original 1164 residences, 600 will have been in the upper town.

Work on the new fortification was completed in 1068. It is probable that at first a wooden keep was constructed which was later replaced with a much stronger stone one. Lincoln castle has two motes. To the south, where the Roman wall stands on the edge of a steep slope, it was retained partially as a curtain wall and partially as a revetment retaining the motes. In the west, where the ground is more level, the Roman wall was buried within an earth rampart and extended upward to form the Norman castle wall.

Duncan Seth-Smith - CityLocal Lincoln Lincoln Lincoln Business Directory Lincoln News Lincoln Events Lincoln Free Adverts

This Devil is Kind of Cute

Down in Tasmania, beady little eyes watch you, eyes of a devil, the Tasmanian devil that is. Tasmania is the only known habitat for this little creature. Tasmania is an island separated from Australia by the Bass Strait (a channel running 80 –150 miles long). It’s a mountain island similar to Australia; its climate changes moderately. This is probably why the creatures have inhabited it for well over hundreds of years. This little guy is no bigger than the family pet, but not always as sweet and a tad bit more muscular. They possess a strong jaw and are black in color with some white spotting towards the backside. They have an odor that can rival a skunk when they feel pressured.

For a small guy, the little devil picks on large prey such as Lizards and Kangaroos. Those inhabitants of Tasmania like to hide up in the hills and are generally loners, but sometimes dine with others. They are excellent night hunters and they are known to hold fat in their tail and one can tell it by the thickness of their tail, if ill. Hunters and farmers protecting their farm animals are the main cause of their death of late, not to mention a fast spreading cancer that has aided in their demise. Their average life expectancy is about six years. Those that remain in Tasmania are part of what is considered to be the only meat-eating marsupials around today.

The mating season in Tasmania is generally in the spring. The female is most fertile when reaching about two years of age. The male devils battle for the right to be with the female, who usually chooses the victor. If the male is not careful the female will wonder off after mating, so one should keep his eye out on his prize.

The lucky female will give birth to about 30 tots. The young, like the males will battle for the mother’s pouch, as there is only room for about four at a time. With age the pouch will shrink, so some younglings have it tougher than others finding a place to feed. Once settled in the pouch they will nestle there for about 100 days, feeding from the female’s nipple.

The devil, which has become a symbol for Australia, Tasmania to be exact, is honored in many different ways. National Parks use the devil as symbols as well have some sports teams and it’s even imprinted on an Australian coin. Literature and film have taken a liking to the furry imp; as well as it is the subject to many tours in Tasmania, as well as Australia. Perhaps Tasmania was put on the map with the creation of Warner Brother’s Tasmanian devil, Taz, a hot-tempered little bugger. He was so popular that in the early 90’s he received his own TV show called “Taz-Mania”. Not bad for a little critter found in the land down under, more commonly known as Australia, or to the devil, Tasmania.

For more information on Tasmania, Australia, visit http://www.tasmaniamicroblog.com and http://www.blogtasmania.com.

Human Energy Fields Meet Western Science Closer Than You May Think

The human ostrich mind

By and large the human mind takes the approach of an ostrich concerning the energy that it doesn’t perceive… If it can’t be perceived, then it’s not important. Electromagnetic energy was certainly important 500 years ago. After all, there was sunlight and heat, but people really didn’t frame their thoughts about it in energetic terms. After all, at one time the sun was thought of as a God instead of energy. But in the last hundred years or so, we’ve built machines that extend our ability to perceive energies that were previously invisible. Now we can use infrared pictures, ultraviolet pictures, radio waves, and lots of other tools to show energy that many people believed just didn’t exist. We’ve become accustomed to electromagnetic and other forms of energy… at least the forms that we can manipulate and measure. People still remain skeptical about energy that they can’t perceive either directly or indirectly through electronic instruments. It’s curious because many people remain skeptics even when the new technologies give us the ability to see things that we didn’t see before like the energy fields of people who have died and the human aura.

The scientific conundrum

Most people think of science and physics from a Newtonian point of view. That’s the viewpoint taught at the high school level and it’s the viewpoint visible to our ordinary senses. Isaac Newton gave us what might be called the marble theory of physics. Objects and planets are thought of as being like marbles in the three dimensional playing field of space. They move around when acted on by forces like gravity. As knowledge of atoms emerged, the marble theory of planets naturally brought about the marble of theory of atoms. Everyone who took high school chemistry or physics is familiar with the idea of electrons orbiting a central nucleus made up of protons and neutrons. However, that is not the real picture that emerges from the most advanced scientific researchers.

Physics took a dramatic turn in the early 1900’s. Around 1920 Erwin Shcrodinger introduced the idea that the microscopic atomic marbles could also be mathematically represented as waves and Albert Einstein showed the relationship between matter and energy in the famous equation E=MC2. This was a huge shift from a static marble view to a vibrational, possibility view. Since that time physics has been searching for the essential building blocks of the universe and for a single theory that unifies all the forces. Today modern string theory looks very promising for resolving both areas of inquiry. This theory investigates the vibrational properties and energetic interactions of the most subtle multi-dimensional sub-atomic building blocks of existence. In a nutshell, it reduces both matter and energy to incomprehensibly small vibrating entities called strings.

Now take a second a think about what this means. The view of the world that modern physics has is that at the most fundamental level, existence consists of subtle vibrational and energetic interactions among multi-dimensional constituents. Those constituents form denser constituents known as quarks. Quarks form denser sub-atomic particles. They, in turn, form denser electrons, protons, and neutrons. They, in turn, form denser atoms. They, in turn, form denser molecules… and they, in turn, form cars, TVs, rocks, water, fish, animals… and people. And that means that like everything, human beings consist of denser and denser forms of energy manifesting from subtle multi-dimensional, constantly interacting, vibrational constituents that contain power and more importantly, vibrational properties, or information. That means that humans are really fields of energy interacting with other fields of energy. That’s the totally scientific, materialistic physics point of view. That is a radical departure from the notion that we are a solid blob of protoplasm that is completely separate from other blobs or protoplasm. What physics can’t tell us yet is how those ultra-tiny vibrating strings figure out how to become atoms, molecules, rocks, and people. That is still the realm of philosophy, religion, and metaphysics.

The human energy field

Now consider the human energy field promoted by energy medicine and metaphysics. Many people regard this as unscientific mumbo jumbo. Now that seems to be far from the truth. The amazing thing is that the view of the human body as being built from subtle energetic constituents that become denser has been has been widespread for thousands of years and is depicted in artifacts from the time of the pharaohs and even earlier. It is the basis of ancient forms of healing, yoga, and martial arts. In Traditional Chinese Medicine the building block energy of the universe is known as Qi. It goes by other names like Ki, Prana, and Manna in other cultures. Yet despite the different names, the energetic structures and functions in the body are extremely similar from one culture to another.

The ancient forms of healing and their modern forms teach that there is a natural harmonious balance within individual human beings and between human beings and the universe. Each human is naturally in a state of resonance with the surrounding world. In modern science, resonance is a state where two forces act on each other to produce a stronger resulting force. For example, two resonating sounds produce a louder sound. Conversely, two dissonant sounds produce a weaker sound. Just like that, when the human body is dissonant with the world around it sickness arises. Chinese Medicine describes this as a weakness in the defensive energy or Wei Qi. That weakness allows the energy of sicknesses to vibrate into the body causing illness and the formation of viruses and bacteria.

This is beginning to sound alike

The deeper scientific research goes, the more it sounds like metaphysics. Of course, the two don’t sound identical because metaphysics and science has to different vocabularies. However, the ideas of subtle vibrations becoming denser to form ordinary matter and the ideas of subtle energy and denser matter interacting in resonant and dissonant patterns is uncannily similar in both disciplines. Modern physics seems to be leading us back to the knowledge of the ancients. Everything turns in a full circle.

Ron Morefield (http://www.ronmorefield.com) has an eclectic background including physics, computer science, and psychology. He has also been certified in acupuncture. More information about the human energy field can be found in text and video at http://www.enjoyabetterworld.com.

Tactical Training For People From All Walks of Life

Even a peace-loving, non-violent person can get lots of fun and valuable experience and insight with a course on tactical training. With peace keepers, it is a must. Here are some ways a class on tactical training can benefit people.

Awareness

A class on this topic doesn’t always mean a confrontational remedy to trouble. Lots of times it results to preventive rather than trouble-shooting measures. The main thing to benefit from tactical training is awareness. Trouble-makers, either in the field of war or criminality, have become more sophisticated today than in other times due to easier access to lethal and modern weapons and systems, primarily through the Internet. It’s easier to locate where these stuff are available. Being aware of what trouble-makers are doing and using today through courses on tactical training, people can better position themselves for safety prior, during, or even after trouble strikes.

Hand-to-Hand Combat

Tactical training deals with armed and unarmed confrontations, among other many things. With unarmed training, trainees cannot be expected to be martial arts gurus after 2 to 6 months of tactical training, but at least they learn practical things to do when in trouble in the streets. Striking vital points in the body, arm locks and holds, and basic and quick blocks and counters are important. The idea here is how to get out of a tight situation fast and then run.

Home or Environmental Defense

Tactical training is not just for war. It is also for securing one’s home and properties. With tactical training people can easily pinpoint the weaknesses and strengths of their houses or offices, inside and out. In case of deadly intrusion into their homes they can quickly react with calm to secure the safety of their love ones and then proceed to deal with the intruders in the safest way possible. The key here is fast, precise, and strategic action before intruders can figure out the house plan and know their way around. And this is systematically learned in tactical training courses.

Precision Sniper Training

No, the course does not aim to make all trainees as snipers deployable in jungles to shoot at advancing enemy personnel, but this may be possible with some learners. Anyway, the main idea is to gain precision shooting with hand guns and rifles. As a sport, precision shooting develops mental calmness, discipline, patience, steady hands, controlled breathing, and resolve to finalize a decision pronto. In real-life shooting, it ensures accurate shooting to merely disable armed attackers and not hit them–or bystanders–lethally.

Bodyguard Training

Also called Executive Protection Training, bodyguard training is not just for protecting bosses or a dignitary and securing their immediate surroundings. Trainees may apply the skill to protect their own love ones in crowded places where robbery, snatching, holdups, or random killing is rampant. The insights on street psychology, or psychology of an attacker or killer, are quite beneficial for anybody who values life and safety. Preventive measures on security, among other lessons on bodyguard training, are indispensable even for people living simple lives, in cities or the countryside.

These are just examples of the exciting and beneficial courses tactical training can offer people.

Peter Garant is writing articles about Tactical Calendars for a site about Tactical Training.

John Grisham: Looking at His College Life

John Grisham wrote many books in his life time and he still writes bestselling novels. He was born in 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas his father a construction worker and his mother a housewife. John had three ambitions in his life and one was that of playing baseball. He thought when he was old enough that he would either go into the field of Accounting or practice Law. These occupations would most certainly provide a more than adequate income. John liked playing baseball the best and spent many hours playing with the neighborhood boys. He knew that he did not have the natural attributes to play base ball professionally and decided that he should focus on his career of becoming an attorney.

He started out taking courses that would have led him to become a tax attorney since he also had a knack for figures and accounting was his second choice of occupations. He found that being a tax attorney boring and soon switched to criminal law. John had a very vivid imagination and while practicing law his mind led him to start writing. In one of his cases a when multiple assailants were being tried for the rape of a twelve year old girl and John wondered how the case would have gone if the father had taken the case into his own hands and killed the assailants. John started writing the plot to one of his first novels while juggling an 80 hour work and school week.

John finished his first novel in 1987 the title A Time to Kill but he found that problems getting his first book published as he was rejected by 16 publishers before one finally signed a contract with him. John found that he learns much from the University of Mississippi in not only law but also in writing and getting his works published. Many things that you learn in college are beneficial says John but experience is still the best teacher. John’s first novel took many turns before he was recognized as the great writer that he is today. He ran a tour of the south doing book signings for recognition to help run his novel up the charts. This helped a little but did not get him the exposure that he needed in order to be called a successful writer. John did not get discouraged he continued with his second novel “The Firm” which gave him his first big break as Paramount studios quoted him a price of $600,000 for the rights to make the plot into a movie. John Grisham knew he had finally become a successful writer and just thinks if he had not given it the old college try he would have never come into his right as a well published author. Life takes you down many roads with twists and turns but you must give it your best to obtain the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You should take advantage of an education if at all possible to help you achieve your life’s goals.

Are you in college right now? Get your student credit card and find more of Tom’s work all at FINDcollegecards.com.

Hoary Marmots of Montana

The Hoary Marmot, largest of the North American sciurid rodents, is a fascinating, charismatic animal. Marmot population biology, their impact on the ecosystem, physiology and behavior is studied world wide. The only holiday in the United States to be named after an animal, is named for a marmot - Groundhog’s Day. Closely related to tree squirrels, prairie dogs and groundhogs, hoary marmots are the largest ground dwelling squirrels in the world.

Sociable, communicative and entertaining to observe, marmots often grow to the size of a large domestic house cat.

Although there are 14 marmot species worldwide, only two inhabit Montana - the hoary and the yellow-bellied marmot. Denning in rocky outcroppings, the hoary marmot is normally found in high alpine meadows and sub-alpine mountain slopes. Weighing up to 20 pounds, the hoary marmot is one of the largest rodent species in North America. The smaller yellow-bellied marmot builds dens at lower elevations and weighs about 10 pounds. In several parts of the world marmot meat is considered a prized delicacy and their fur is highly valued.

Marmots are normally found living in small family groups; one breeding male, multiple breeding females and their non-breeding offspring from previous years. A colony of 15 to 20 will live together in a system of burrows and hibernate together all winter. The range of a marmot colony is rather extensive and may cover several acres. The marmots roam freely and will cover most of their territory daily.

Marmot dens are usually found under large rocks or boulders which prevents a predator from digging them up and protects them from the elements. Marmot predators include the wolf, cougar, coyote, fox, owl and eagle.

Considered by many to be rat-like rodents, marmot colonies are often used for target practice, the carcasses left in the open to be devoured by the ravens. Similar to a prairie dog town, a marmot colony is destructive to a meadow and many ranchers attempt to eliminate the colony when the marmots intrude on private lands.

Marmot colonies are highly interactive and extremely vocal. Their trilling is an eerie sound. Early settlers called them “whistlers” because they emit a loud, piercing trill or whistle to alert the colony of danger. They seem to have several different alert signals, varying in pitch and intensity. “Heads Up - Here Comes A Bear” probably warrants the most attention. Marmots are an important food to both grizzly and black bears.

When they are not sunning themselves on lookout rocks, marmots are usually foraging for tasty vegetation, munching on lichen, leaves, flowers, roots, seeds and berries. A marmot’s primary diet is vegetarian, however; they will occasionally snack on insects or road kill.

Relying on accumulated fat deposits, marmots hibernate through the hard cold of Montana winters. Depending on their location and the severity of the winter, marmots will hibernate from October through May.

Marmots normally have litters of three to five pups.

The marmots of Montana, and all other members of the genus Marmota, have thick, slightly curved claws. Equipped for digging, the claws are considerably heavier on the front feet than they are on the hind legs. Marmot palms are hairless with five pads, their smooth soles are also naked but have six pads.

Often described as “cute”, marmots have small, circular eyes and rounded short hairy ears. With their pelage, nature has provided perfect camouflage. The hoary marmots common name refers to its colorization which is an “icy” silver-gray. The front half of the marmot’s back is normally black hair with white tips, the remainder of the back coat is dark brown. Cinnamon or brown heads tinged with a snow-white mustache give the marmot a comical expression.

Hoary and yellow-bellied marmots leave a lasting impression and are welcome addition to Montana’s wildlife heritage.

Marlene Affeld has a passion for the environment and all things natural. A seasoned traveler, Marlene enjoys sharing her experiences with others. Visit Marlene’s site at Nandu Green for Eco-Friendly living options.

Down and Dirty Homework Hints for the Attention Span Impaired

The fact of the matter is that nobody likes to do homework. Even if you love the subject that you have homework in, the fact that you have to do the work automatically makes the project less desirable. Trust me, we’ve all been there. What makes it worse is if you don’t like the subject. If you don’t like the subject of your homework it will feel like everything is distracting. Suddenly you have the attention span of a gnat and watching grass grow feels more fun than the homework you have been assigned.

So how do you get the work done when your attention span has taken a vacation? Here are a few quick hints to help you out:

1. Contrary to popular belief, locking yourself to your chair and forcing yourself to focus on the work until it’s done will only make the project take longer. Why? Because you will find every reason in the world to not sit down in that chair. Suddenly all of the things you normally avoid must be done immediately! Instead, allow yourself to take a few breaks. Get up every fifteen to twenty minutes to stretch your legs or get a drink of water.

2. If silence gets on your nerves, find a noise source that won’t be intrusive. The radio is always a good idea—choose songs that don’t have words so you won’t be tempted to sing along. Hint: Classical music, especially Mozart, has proven to improve a person’s brain function!

3. Get in the habit of doing homework at the same time. It’s sort of like going to bed at the same time every night. Eventually your body will tell you that it wants to sit down and concentrate on something and you’ll feel weird when you aren’t doing your homework—no matter how little you want to concentrate on the project at hand.

4. If it will help you get the work done, have a study session with your friends at someone’s house. Sometimes having someone else who is in the same boat as you will help both of you focus. You won’t feel as isolated and you’ll be able to talk about any problems you have with the material as they come up. Just make sure that you don’t spend your homework time socializing.

5. When all else fails ask your parents to sit with you while you do the work to make sure it gets done. Yes, you want to be independent and prove that you can do your homework on your own. The truth is, however, that your parents will appreciate that you want to get the work done and are having trouble concentrating. They will be more than happy to sit with you to keep you on task.

These are just five simple hints to help you get your homework done when your attention span wants to focus anywhere else. Check around, you’ll probably find lots of other suggestions you can incorporate into your study routine!

For more information on study tips, visit http://www.homeworkmicroblog.com and http://www.nomadworkers.com.

The Making of a Hero at Harvard University

Harvard University is the home town university for the rich, handsome, elegant and articulate of American society’s most ?lite citizens. John Fitzgerald Kennedy fit the bill that a proud university like Harvard would like to have as one of their students. Mr. Kennedy was well respected at home and abroad with his elegant and articulate way with words. Mr. Kennedy eventually would become the 35th president of the United States. He became president of the United States at the age of 43 being the youngest man to ever hold office and the first Roman Catholic ever to be elected for such a high position in our government. Harvard University had many prominent citizens who walked those hallowed halls graduating with honors but Mr. Kennedy proved to be the most honored of them all. Kennedy born in Brookline, Massachusetts, on may 29, 1917 a descendant of Irish Catholics who had immigrate to America in the 19th century proved that he was a real American.

He gave the American people a sense of purpose to meet the challenges of a scientific age, help change the laws to strengthen the civil rights, enacting the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and opposed discrimination in all walks of life. Mr. Kennedy showed his courage during World War II as a PT boat commander and again when he backed down the Russians during the cold war when they wanted to place missiles in Cuba just a few miles from the shores of our nation. Mr. Kennedy was not a man to be reckoned with as he showed his bravery on the battle field and the political field. He showed Americans that being president had responsibilities and he took them on in full force. Mr. Kennedy help seniors by the additions of Medicare to give them health care coverage along with the monthly income they were already getting to help them with their cost of living. He also had congress pass a bill to increase social security to keep up with the cost of living scale and he added a program to help those who were not entitled to get social security. He did many things while he was president of the United States to help the people of America and people all around the world.

Kennedy along with his wife Jackie traveled around the world on behalf of the United States spreading good will and finding out what things we could do as a nation to help others in other countries. He fought aggression whenever he could make the world a safer place to live. He still believed in our nation’s future in the space age getting congress to fund the space program. He did much for our nation and it was a very sad day when he was assonated. Our nation and the world lost a great man that day in November of 1963. The halls of the Harvard University still Sound of his passing to commemorate a great man.

Find articles like this and more of Tom’s work all on his college blog.

Montana’s Woodpeckers

If you spend time in the woods of Montana, you are undoubtedly familiar with the rhythmic rat-tat-tat of the woodpecker as it chisels its beak into the bark of a tree. Their familiar drum rolls are heard most often in the spring but are common all year long.

This drumming cadence is unique to the woodpecker and a welcome sound in the forest canopy. Both sexes of woodpeckers drum throughout the year, however; they are even more rambunctious and noisy during the breeding season. Drumming or hammering serves to advertise their territory and to attract a mate.

Much of the signaling, foraging and breeding activities of woodpeckers involves the woodpecker’s bill. Woodpeckers have extremely strong bills for drumming and drilling on trees and long sticky tongues to extract food. Although used repeatedly over its lifetime, the woodpecker’s beak never needs sharpening. It can cut into a tree like a steel chisel and never dull.

To prevent brain damage, nature had provided a number of adaptations to protect the woodpecker’s brain. The bird’s brain is rather small and is positioned to minimize contact between the brain and the skull. The woodpecker’s eyes are also unusual in that a millisecond before contact with the tree, a thick nictitan membrane closes over the bird’s eye to protect it from flying debris. The slit-like nostrils are also protected by special feathers to cover them from wood dust.

Woodpeckers exhibit a diverse variety of vocal sounds including a strange rattle-like sound that is often vocalized during antagonistic encounters with other birds that encroach on their territory. Woodpeckers also emit a high pitched squeal that sounds like an injured animal. This sound is an unsettling warning to predators and has been known to “run cold chills down the back” of many a hiker.

Woodpeckers are monogamous and both sexes share incubation duties and care for the young. They will usually have from 3-6 hatchlings and normally mate once a year.

Woodpeckers are quite beneficial as they eat huge quantities of insects. They are especially appreciated for the role they play in controlling the current infestation of Mountain Pine Beetle that plagues the Northwest. When the beetle burrows into the bark and lays its eggs, the larvae feast on the substance of the tree for a year before reaching adulthood. About the size of a grain of rice, millions of these grubs are devoured by woodpeckers. With its barbed, long sticky tongue, a single woodpecker can consume as many as 14,000 grubs in a single season. A woodpecker’s diet also includes seeds, berries, fruit and tree sap. Huckleberries are a favored treat.

Wood-peckers inhabit coniferous and mixed forest groves across the state and resident woodpeckers can be seen throughout the year. Wood-peckers normally build their nests in dead or burned trees and are particularly attracted to areas marked by forest fire. Scientific studies show that woodpeckers are up to 20 times more abundant in burned areas versus unburned forests.

Montana is home to seven species of woodpeckers; Downy, Hairy, Black Backed, Three toed, Red-headed, the Northern Flicker and the Yellow-bellied and Red-bellied Sapsucker. These bird species are in the Family Picidae and are collectively called woodpeckers.

Cold north winds are a reminder that wild food is scarce for all the birds for the duration of the winter. Woodpeckers are attracted to birdfeeders that offer suet, raisins or peanut butter. Enjoy the delightful color of woodpeckers and happy birding.

Marlene Affeld has a passion for the environment and all things natural. A seasoned traveler, Marlene enjoys sharing her experiences with others. Visit Marlene’s site at Nandu Green for Eco-Friendly living options.

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