What is oral cancer?

 

Cancer is defined as the uncontrollable growth of cells that invade and cause damage to surrounding tissue. Oral cancer appears as a growth or sore that does not go away. Oral cancer — which includes cancers of the lips, tongue, cheek, floor of the mouth, hard and soft palate, sinuses, and pharynx (throat) — can be life-threatening if not diagnosed and treated early.

What are the signs and symptoms of oral cancer?

 

The following are the common signs and symptoms:

 

* Swellings/thickenings, lumps or bumps, rough spots/crusts/or eroded areas on the lips, gums, or other areas inside the mouth

* The development of velvety white, red, or speckled (white and red) patches in the mouth

* Unexplained bleeding in the mouth

* Unexplained numbness, loss of feeling, or pain/tenderness in any area of the face, mouth, or neck

* Persistent sores on the face, neck, or mouth that bleed easily and do not heal within two weeks

* A soreness or feeling that something is caught in the back of the throat

* Difficulty chewing or swallowing, speaking, or moving the jaw or tongue

* Hoarseness, chronic sore throat, or changes in the voice

* Ear pain

* A change in the way your teeth or dentures fit together – a change in your "bite"

* Dramatic weight loss

 

If you notice any of these changes, contact your dentist immediately for a professional examination.

I recently noticed a whitish patch in my mouth. Is this oral cancer?

 

This whitish patch could be leukoplakia. Leukoplakia, a condition caused by excess cell growth, can form on the cheeks, gums, or tongue. Leukoplakia is commonly seen in tobacco users, in people with ill-fitting dentures, and in those who have a habit of chewing on their cheek. This condition can progress to cancer. Red patches in the mouth (called erythroplakia) are less common than leukoplakia but have an even greater potential for being cancerous. Any white or red lesion in your mouth should be evaluated by your dentist.

Who gets oral cancer and what are the risk factors for oral cancer?

 

According to the American Cancer Society, men face twice the risk of developing oral cancer as women, and men who are over age 50 face the greatest risk. The rate of development of cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx began to decline in the late 1970s and has continued to decline throughout the 1990s in both African Americans, and white males and females.

 

Risk factors for the development of oral cancer include:

 

* Cigarette, cigar, or pipe smoking — Smokers are six times more likely than non-smokers to develop oral cancers.

* Use of smokeless tobacco products (for example, dip, snuff, or chewing tobacco) — Use of these products increase the risk of cancers of the cheek, gums, and lining of the lips.

* Excessive consumption of alcohol — Oral cancers are about six times more common in drinkers than in non-drinkers.

* Family history of cancer

* Excessive exposure to the sun — especially at a young age

 

It is important to note that more than 25% of all oral cancers occur in people who do not smoke and who only drink alcohol occasionally.

Other Oral Cancer Facts

 

Oral cancer is the sixth most common cancer among men.

 

About 75% to 80% of people with oral cavity and pharynx cancer consume alcohol.

 

People who smoke and drink alcohol have an even higher risk of cancer than those who only drink or only use tobacco products.

 

The risk of developing oral cavity and pharynx cancers increases both with the amount as well as the length of time tobacco and alcohol products are used.

Survival

 

The overall 1-year survival rate for patients with all stages of oral cavity and pharynx cancers is 81%. The 5 & 10-year survival rates are 56% and 41%, respectively.

How is oral cancer diagnosed?

 

Your dentist will conduct an oral cancer screening exam, which is a routine part of a comprehensive dental examination. More specifically, your dentist will feel for any lumps or irregular tissue changes in your neck, head, face, and oral cavity. When examining your mouth, your dentist will look for any sores or discolored tissue, as well as check for or ask you about the signs and symptoms mentioned above.

 

Your dentist might perform an oral brush biopsy if he or she sees tissue in your mouth that looks suspicious. This test is painless and involves taking a small sample of the tissue and analyzing it for abnormal cells. Alternatively, if the tissue looks even more suspicious, your dentist might recommend a scalpel biopsy. This procedure usually requires local anesthesia and might be performed by your dentist or a specialist referred by your dentist. These tests are necessary to detect oral cancer early, before it has had a chance to progress and spread.

How is oral cancer treated?

 

Oral cancer is treated the same way many other cancers are treated; that is with surgery to remove the cancerous growth followed by radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy (drug treatments) to destroy any remaining cancer cells.

What can I do to prevent oral cancer?

 

You can take an active role in preventing oral cancer or detecting it early, should it occur.

 

* Conduct a self exam at least once a month. Using a bright light and a mirror, look and feel your lips and front of your gums. Tilt your head back and look at and feel the roof of your mouth. Pull your checks out to view the inside of your mouth, the lining of your cheeks, and the back gums. Pull out your tongue and look at all surfaces. Examine the floor of your mouth. Look at the back of your throat. Feel for lumps or enlarged lymph nodes in both sides of your neck and under your lower jaw. Call your dentist’s office immediately if you notice any changes in the appearance of your mouth or any of the signs and symptoms mentioned above.

* See your dentist on a regular schedule. Even though you might be conducting frequent self exams, sometimes dangerous spots or sores in the mouth can be very tiny and difficult to see on your own. The American Cancer Society recommends oral cancer screening exams every three years for people over age 20 and annually for those over age 40. During your next dental appointment, ask your dentist to perform an oral exam. Early detection can improve the chance of successful treatment.

* Don’t smoke or use any tobacco products and drink alcohol in moderation. (Refrain from binge drinking.)

* Eat a well balanced diet.

* Limit your exposure to the sun. Repeated exposure increases the risk of cancer on the lip, especially the lower lip. When in the sun, use UV-A/B-blocking sun protective lotions on your skin as well as your lips.

 

This was meant to take on the world this was, but sadly it didn’t get very far! The Rover 800 had so many possibilities, so many variants could have been derived from it, but unfortunately the management was once again very quick to nip this beautiful car in the bud, and the Rover 800 would join that long line of ‘what-could-have-been’ motors that seem to pave British motoring history.

 

The origin of the Rover 800 goes back to the late 1970’s, when nationalised British car manufacturer and all around general failure British Leyland was absolutely desperate to fix its seemingly endless list of problems. The company had now garnered a reputation for creating some of the worst, most outdated cars of all time, the likes of the Morris Marina, the Austin Allegro and the Triumph TR7 being derided in both critical and customer reviews. A mixture of strike action by uncontrollable Trade Unions led by the infamous Red Robbo had meant that cars were only put together for a few hours per day on a three day week. As such, reliability was atrocious on a biblical scale, be it mechanical, cosmetic or electrical.

 

As such, in 1979, British Leyland began talks with Japanese car manufacturer Honda to try and help improve the reliability of their machines. The pioneer of this brave new deal was the Triumph Acclaim of 1980, BL’s first reliable car and not a bad little runabout. Basically a rebadged Honda Ballade, the Acclaim wasn’t meant to set the world ablaze, but it certainly helped get the company back onto people’s driveways, selling reasonably well thanks to its reliable mechanics (even if rust was something of an issue). As such, BL decided that from now on it would give its fleet a complete overhaul, basing their new models on Japanese equivalents. From 1984, the Rover 200 arrived on the scene, again, a rebadged Honda Ballade, while the Maestro and the Montego ranges also took on several tips from their Japanese counterparts, though they were primarily based on British underpinnings.

 

The Rover 800 however spawned quite early on, in 1981 to be exact. Following the catastrophic failure of the Rover SD1 in the American market, which only sold 774 cars before Rover removed itself from the USA altogether, the company was desperate to get another foothold across the pond. As such, the new project, dubbed project XX, would be the icing on the cake in terms of British Leyland’s fleet overhaul, a smooth and sophisticated executive saloon to conquer the world. However, plans were pushed back after the launch of the Montego and the Maestro, and thus project XX wouldn’t see the light of day again until about 1984.

 

Still in production and suffering from being long-in-the-tooth, the Rover SD1 was now coming up on 10 years old, and though a sublime car in terms of style and performance, it was now struggling in sales. Rover really needed to replace this golden oldie, and thus project XX was back on. In the usual fashion, Honda was consulted, and it was decided that the car would be based on that company’s own executive saloon, the Honda Legend. Jointly developed at Rover’s Cowley plant and Honda’s Tochigi development centre, both cars shared the same core structure and floorplan, but they each had their own unique exterior bodywork and interior. Under the agreement, Honda would supply the V6 petrol engine, both automatic and manual transmissions and the chassis design, whilst BL would provide the 4-cylinder petrol engine and much of the electrical systems. The agreement also included that UK-market Honda Legends would be built at the Cowley Plant, and the presence of the Legend in the UK would be smaller than that of the Rover 800, with profits from the 800 shared between the two companies.

 

Launched on July 10th, 1986, the Rover 800 was welcomed with warm reviews regarding its style, its performance and its reliability. Though driving performance was pretty much the same as the Honda Legend, what put the Rover above its Japanese counterpart was its sheer internal elegance and beauty, combined with a differing external design that borrowed cues from the outgoing SD1. The 800 also provided the company with some much-needed optimism, especially following the gradual breakup of British Leyland by the Thatcher Government between 1980 and 1986.

 

Following her election in 1979, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher took a no nonsense attitude to the striking unions, and the best form of defence was attack. To shave millions from the deficit, she reduced government spending on nationalised companies such as British Airways, British Coal Board, British Steel and British Leyland by selling them to private ownership. For British Leyland, the slow breakup of the company started with the sale of Leyland Trucks and Buses to DAF of Holland and Volvo, respectively. 1984 saw Jaguar made independent and later bought by Ford, but when rumours circulated that the remains of British Leyland would be sold to foreign ownership, share prices crashed, and the company was privatised and put into the hands of British Aerospace on the strict understanding that the company could not be sold again for four years. With this move, British Leyland was renamed Rover Group, the Austin badge being dropped, and the only remaining brands left being the eponymous Rover and sporty MG.

 

In the light of this tumultuous period, many of Rover and MG’s projects had to be scrapped in light of turbulent share prices and income, these projects including the Austin AR16 family car range (based largely off the Rover 800) and the MG EX-E supercar. The Rover 800 however was the first model to be released by the company following privatisation, and doing well initially in terms of sales, hopes were high that the Rover 800 would herald the end of the company’s troubled spell under British Leyland. The Rover 800 was planned to spearhead multiple Rover ventures, including a return to the US-market in the form of the Sterling, and a coupe concept to beat the world, the sublime Rover CCV.

 

However, British Leyland may have been gone, but their management and its incompetence remained. Rather than taking the formation of Rover Group as a golden opportunity to clean up the company’s act, to the management it was business as usual, and the Rover 800 began to suffer as a consequence. A lack of proper quality control and a cost-cutting attitude meant that despite all the Japanese reliability that had been layered on these machines in the design stage, the cars were still highly unreliable when they left the factory.

 

Perhaps the biggest sentiment to the 800’s failure was the Sterling in America. The Sterling had been named as such due to Rover’s reputation being tarnished by the failure of the unreliable SD1. Initial sales were very promising with the Sterling, a simple design with oodles of luxury that was price competitive with family sedan’s such as the Ford LTD and the Chevy Caprice. However, once the problems with reliability and quality began to rear their heads, sales plummeted and the Sterling very quickly fell short of its sales quota, only selling 14,000 of the forecast 30,000 cars per annum. Sales dropped year by year until eventually the Sterling brand was axed in 1991.

 

With the death of the Sterling came the death of the CCV, a luxury motor that had already won over investors in both Europe and the USA. The fantastic design that had wooed the American market and was ready to go on sale across the States was axed unceremoniously in 1987, and with it any attempt to try and capture the American market ever again.

 

In 1991, Rover Group, seeing their sales were still tumbling, and with unreliable callbacks to British Leyland like the Maestro and Montego still on sale, the company decided to have yet another shakeup to try and refresh its image. The project, dubbed R17, went back to the company’s roots of grand old England, and the Rover 800 was the first to feel its touch. The R17 facelift saw the 800’s angular lines smoothed with revised light-clusters, a low-smooth body, and the addition of a grille, attempting to harp back to the likes of the luxurious Rover P5 of the 1960’s. Engines were also updated, with the previous M16 Honda engine being replaced by a crisp 2.0L T16, which gave the car some good performance. The car was also made available in a set of additional ranges, including a coupe and the sport Vitesse, complete with a higher performance engine.

 

Early reviews of the R17 800 were favourable, many critics lauding its design changes and luxurious interior, especially given its price competitiveness against comparable machines such as the Vauxhall Omega and the Ford Mondeo. Even Jeremy Clarkson, a man who fervently hated Rover and everything it stood for, couldn’t help but give it a good review on Top Gear. However, motoring critics were quick to point out the fact that by this time Honda was really starting to sell heavily in the UK and Europe, and people now asked themselves why they’d want to buy the Rover 800, a near carbon-copy of the Honda Legend, for twice the price but equal performance. Wood and leather furnishings are very nice, but not all motorists are interested in that, some are just interested in a reliable and practical machine to run around in.

 

As such, the Rover 800’s sales domestically were very good, it becoming the best-selling car in the UK for 1992, but in Europe not so much. Though Rover 800’s did make it across the Channel, the BMW 5-Series and other contemporary European models had the market sown up clean, and the Rover 800 never truly made an impact internationally. On average, the car sold well in the early 1990’s, but as time went on the car’s place in the market fell to just over 10,000 per year by 1995. Rover needed another shake-up, and the Rover 75 did just that.

 

In 1994, Rover Group was sold to BMW, and their brave new star to get the company back in the good books of the motoring public was the Rover 75, an executive saloon to beat the world. With this new face in the company’s showrooms, the Rover 800 and its 10 year old design was put out to grass following its launch in 1998. Selling only around 6,500 cars in its final full year of production, the Rover 800 finished sales in 1999 and disappeared, the last relic of the British Leyland/Honda tie up from the 1980’s.

 

Today the Rover 800 finds itself under a mixed reception. While some argue that it was the last true Rover before the BMW buyout, others will fervently deride it as a Honda with a Rover badge, a humiliation of a Rover, and truly the point where the company lost its identity. I personally believe it to be a magnificent car, a car with purpose, a car with promise, but none of those promises fulfilled. It could have truly been the face of a new Rover in the late 1980’s, and could have returned the company to the front line of the motoring world, at least in Britain. But sadly, management incompetence won again for the British motor industry, and the Rover 800 ended its days a lukewarm reminder that we really didn’t know a good thing until it was gone.

This was meant to take on the world this was, but sadly it didn’t get very far! The Rover 800 had so many possibilities, so many variants could have been derived from it, but unfortunately the management was once again very quick to nip this beautiful car in the bud, and the Rover 800 would join that long line of ‘what-could-have-been’ motors that seem to pave British motoring history.

 

The origin of the Rover 800 goes back to the late 1970’s, when nationalised British car manufacturer and all around general failure British Leyland was absolutely desperate to fix its seemingly endless list of problems. The company had now garnered a reputation for creating some of the worst, most outdated cars of all time, the likes of the Morris Marina, the Austin Allegro and the Triumph TR7 being derided in both critical and customer reviews. A mixture of strike action by uncontrollable Trade Unions led by the infamous Red Robbo had meant that cars were only put together for a few hours per day on a three day week. As such, reliability was atrocious on a biblical scale, be it mechanical, cosmetic or electrical.

 

As such, in 1979, British Leyland began talks with Japanese car manufacturer Honda to try and help improve the reliability of their machines. The pioneer of this brave new deal was the Triumph Acclaim of 1980, BL’s first reliable car and not a bad little runabout. Basically a rebadged Honda Ballade, the Acclaim wasn’t meant to set the world ablaze, but it certainly helped get the company back onto people’s driveways, selling reasonably well thanks to its reliable mechanics (even if rust was something of an issue). As such, BL decided that from now on it would give its fleet a complete overhaul, basing their new models on Japanese equivalents. From 1984, the Rover 200 arrived on the scene, again, a rebadged Honda Ballade, while the Maestro and the Montego ranges also took on several tips from their Japanese counterparts, though they were primarily based on British underpinnings.

 

The Rover 800 however spawned quite early on, in 1981 to be exact. Following the catastrophic failure of the Rover SD1 in the American market, which only sold 774 cars before Rover removed itself from the USA altogether, the company was desperate to get another foothold across the pond. As such, the new project, dubbed project XX, would be the icing on the cake in terms of British Leyland’s fleet overhaul, a smooth and sophisticated executive saloon to conquer the world. However, plans were pushed back after the launch of the Montego and the Maestro, and thus project XX wouldn’t see the light of day again until about 1984.

 

Still in production and suffering from being long-in-the-tooth, the Rover SD1 was now coming up on 10 years old, and though a sublime car in terms of style and performance, it was now struggling in sales. Rover really needed to replace this golden oldie, and thus project XX was back on. In the usual fashion, Honda was consulted, and it was decided that the car would be based on that company’s own executive saloon, the Honda Legend. Jointly developed at Rover’s Cowley plant and Honda’s Tochigi development centre, both cars shared the same core structure and floorplan, but they each had their own unique exterior bodywork and interior. Under the agreement, Honda would supply the V6 petrol engine, both automatic and manual transmissions and the chassis design, whilst BL would provide the 4-cylinder petrol engine and much of the electrical systems. The agreement also included that UK-market Honda Legends would be built at the Cowley Plant, and the presence of the Legend in the UK would be smaller than that of the Rover 800, with profits from the 800 shared between the two companies.

 

Launched on July 10th, 1986, the Rover 800 was welcomed with warm reviews regarding its style, its performance and its reliability. Though driving performance was pretty much the same as the Honda Legend, what put the Rover above its Japanese counterpart was its sheer internal elegance and beauty, combined with a differing external design that borrowed cues from the outgoing SD1. The 800 also provided the company with some much-needed optimism, especially following the gradual breakup of British Leyland by the Thatcher Government between 1980 and 1986.

 

Following her election in 1979, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher took a no nonsense attitude to the striking unions, and the best form of defence was attack. To shave millions from the deficit, she reduced government spending on nationalised companies such as British Airways, British Coal Board, British Steel and British Leyland by selling them to private ownership. For British Leyland, the slow breakup of the company started with the sale of Leyland Trucks and Buses to DAF of Holland and Volvo, respectively. 1984 saw Jaguar made independent and later bought by Ford, but when rumours circulated that the remains of British Leyland would be sold to foreign ownership, share prices crashed, and the company was privatised and put into the hands of British Aerospace on the strict understanding that the company could not be sold again for four years. With this move, British Leyland was renamed Rover Group, the Austin badge being dropped, and the only remaining brands left being the eponymous Rover and sporty MG.

 

In the light of this tumultuous period, many of Rover and MG’s projects had to be scrapped in light of turbulent share prices and income, these projects including the Austin AR16 family car range (based largely off the Rover 800) and the MG EX-E supercar. The Rover 800 however was the first model to be released by the company following privatisation, and doing well initially in terms of sales, hopes were high that the Rover 800 would herald the end of the company’s troubled spell under British Leyland. The Rover 800 was planned to spearhead multiple Rover ventures, including a return to the US-market in the form of the Sterling, and a coupe concept to beat the world, the sublime Rover CCV.

 

However, British Leyland may have been gone, but their management and its incompetence remained. Rather than taking the formation of Rover Group as a golden opportunity to clean up the company’s act, to the management it was business as usual, and the Rover 800 began to suffer as a consequence. A lack of proper quality control and a cost-cutting attitude meant that despite all the Japanese reliability that had been layered on these machines in the design stage, the cars were still highly unreliable when they left the factory.

 

Perhaps the biggest sentiment to the 800’s failure was the Sterling in America. The Sterling had been named as such due to Rover’s reputation being tarnished by the failure of the unreliable SD1. Initial sales were very promising with the Sterling, a simple design with oodles of luxury that was price competitive with family sedan’s such as the Ford LTD and the Chevy Caprice. However, once the problems with reliability and quality began to rear their heads, sales plummeted and the Sterling very quickly fell short of its sales quota, only selling 14,000 of the forecast 30,000 cars per annum. Sales dropped year by year until eventually the Sterling brand was axed in 1991.

 

With the death of the Sterling came the death of the CCV, a luxury motor that had already won over investors in both Europe and the USA. The fantastic design that had wooed the American market and was ready to go on sale across the States was axed unceremoniously in 1987, and with it any attempt to try and capture the American market ever again.

 

In 1991, Rover Group, seeing their sales were still tumbling, and with unreliable callbacks to British Leyland like the Maestro and Montego still on sale, the company decided to have yet another shakeup to try and refresh its image. The project, dubbed R17, went back to the company’s roots of grand old England, and the Rover 800 was the first to feel its touch. The R17 facelift saw the 800’s angular lines smoothed with revised light-clusters, a low-smooth body, and the addition of a grille, attempting to harp back to the likes of the luxurious Rover P5 of the 1960’s. Engines were also updated, with the previous M16 Honda engine being replaced by a crisp 2.0L T16, which gave the car some good performance. The car was also made available in a set of additional ranges, including a coupe and the sport Vitesse, complete with a higher performance engine.

 

Early reviews of the R17 800 were favourable, many critics lauding its design changes and luxurious interior, especially given its price competitiveness against comparable machines such as the Vauxhall Omega and the Ford Mondeo. Even Jeremy Clarkson, a man who fervently hated Rover and everything it stood for, couldn’t help but give it a good review on Top Gear. However, motoring critics were quick to point out the fact that by this time Honda was really starting to sell heavily in the UK and Europe, and people now asked themselves why they’d want to buy the Rover 800, a near carbon-copy of the Honda Legend, for twice the price but equal performance. Wood and leather furnishings are very nice, but not all motorists are interested in that, some are just interested in a reliable and practical machine to run around in.

 

As such, the Rover 800’s sales domestically were very good, it becoming the best-selling car in the UK for 1992, but in Europe not so much. Though Rover 800’s did make it across the Channel, the BMW 5-Series and other contemporary European models had the market sown up clean, and the Rover 800 never truly made an impact internationally. On average, the car sold well in the early 1990’s, but as time went on the car’s place in the market fell to just over 10,000 per year by 1995. Rover needed another shake-up, and the Rover 75 did just that.

 

In 1994, Rover Group was sold to BMW, and their brave new star to get the company back in the good books of the motoring public was the Rover 75, an executive saloon to beat the world. With this new face in the company’s showrooms, the Rover 800 and its 10 year old design was put out to grass following its launch in 1998. Selling only around 6,500 cars in its final full year of production, the Rover 800 finished sales in 1999 and disappeared, the last relic of the British Leyland/Honda tie up from the 1980’s.

 

Today the Rover 800 finds itself under a mixed reception. While some argue that it was the last true Rover before the BMW buyout, others will fervently deride it as a Honda with a Rover badge, a humiliation of a Rover, and truly the point where the company lost its identity. I personally believe it to be a magnificent car, a car with purpose, a car with promise, but none of those promises fulfilled. It could have truly been the face of a new Rover in the late 1980’s, and could have returned the company to the front line of the motoring world, at least in Britain. But sadly, management incompetence won again for the British motor industry, and the Rover 800 ended its days a lukewarm reminder that we really didn’t know a good thing until it was gone.

Bonkers tail hanging out his chigura - it's his way of letting us know where he is. (That and his odor from his uncontrollable bladder.)

One of my favorite parts of driving the Mother Road was seeing the Route 66 emblems painted on the pavement. Every single time I saw one I was uncontrollably compelled to get out and photograph it. This one is, perhaps, my absolute favorite on a segment of Main Street USA near Essex, California.

  

View On Black <- - - you know it will look better

  

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

Route 66 Emblems <- - - a flickr set of all of the emblems I found on Route 66

 

To read more about Route 66, see more photos and read what it's like driving The Mother Road, be sure to visit Adventures of a GoodMan on Route 66

Cadishead and Irlam Guardian July 1974

 

A total of £100,000 worth of damage is estimated to have been caused when a mechanical malfunction caused a ship to plough into Irlam lock gates. This was the second time in a few years that the gates have been out of action through an accident and the last time the canal was closed for a month.But this time the giant gates were expected to be back in action yesterday (Thursday) a week after the accident took place.

 

Disaster struck when the 2,847 'Hullgate' lurched uncontrollably forward into the two gates wrecking them. Fortunately a small set of gates alongside the main lock gates were undamaged.

 

Since then men have been working frantically both against the clock and around the clock to get the locks back into working order again. Their hardest job came on Wednesday evening and the early hours of Thursday morning when they were rushing to ensure that the gates could be repaired by yesterday.

 

Because the smaller gates are still working much ship canal traffic has still been able to pass between Manchester Docks and the Mersey estuary. But two big ocean going ships, unable to use the small gates, are held up in the estuary while another is unable to leave Salford.

 

Second crash.

 

Although damage is estimated at £100,000 loss in trade and earnings could swell the bill considerably. And Thursday was not the first time that the Irlam Locks bogey has struck. In March 1969, navigation along the whole 35 mile length of the canal was affected when the 12,300 ton computerized ship the Manchester Courage ploughed into the gates causing immense damage both to the locks and to the ship itself.

 

On that occasion 15 ships were trapped in Manchester Docks and estimated damage to the locks cast £250,000. Loss of earnings, damage to the ship and loss of trade swelled the total to more than £1 million.

 

Although the latest accident is not as dramatic it has still posed problems for the Manchester Ship Canal Company who refused to let Press interview employees who were at the scene of the accident.

 

Divers were sent into the lock and it was discovered that the main damage was not to the lock gates themselves but to the installations which hold them in the wall of the lock.

 

In some cases these huge metal housings had been sheared off by the impact of the crash and the weight of the ship. Cranes and tugboats have travelled from as far away as Runcorn along the canal to help deal with the situation.

 

Earlier in the week, a Ship Canal spokesman told the Guardian: "We are hoping that we can get this straightened out by Thursday afternoon. "We have had to replace the lock gates and the crash also caused some damage to the lock walls. "It is this work which is really taking the time. Damage is about £100,000. "We have had to have divers down into the locks on a number of occasions."

 

"I think that the accident was caused by a malfunction of the ships engines which are operated from the bridge. They were put into the astern position to stop the ship but nothing happened."

 

Divers.

 

"Not many ships are being held up because the small locks at Irlam, alonside the damaged locks, are still fully operational. But larger ships have not been able to use it and they are stranded - two coming in and one waiting to go out. But this accident cannot really be compared to the size of the last one."

 

"Main damage was to installations in the quay wall, called collar straps, which hold the gates in place. These were sheared off and had to be dug out of the wall to be replaced."

 

"Divers went down to check that there had been no underwater damage to the pipeline which the lock gates rest in. Work continued all through the night on Wednesday but there has always been somebody at the locks on every night since the accident".

  

National archives.

Damage at Irlam Locks caused by m.v. "Hullgate" at 02.08 on 28th June, 1974

Just like anyone on social media, I like to fill my feed with happy images and highlights from my personal and professional life….but it’s time to start talking about the REAL stuff too!

Although it may seem like I have all of the happiness and confidence in the world if you look at my social media accounts, I have struggled with self esteem issues my entire life.

As a child, I grew up in an abusive environment filled with unresolved generational traumas where I was made to feel like I was the problem in myfamily, and unknowingly internalized that I as an individual was bad.

As with most abusive households, mine was an environment where nothing felt safe….even being myself. So, I began to develop a laundry list of unhealthy coping mechanisms, and a state of “survival mode” became my baseline as I entered my developmental years.

I felt so powerless under my father’s endless emotional abuse and violent outbursts at home, that I not only began to believe that type of behavior was normal, but also constantly felt the need to gain agency and assert my own will wherever possible. Which, obviously, did not go over well with my peers and teachers, and only caused me to more deeply internalize that I must be bad as I began to establish my sense of self outside of my family.

 

Like millions of other people with unresolved trauma, as things got worse for me emotionally, I turned to food for comfort, and quickly found myself significantly larger than almost everyone around me in elementary school. Something that my peers and father often made note of in cruel ways that hurt me so deeply and only further caused me to internalize that I must be bad.

Eventually, all of the shame that I felt during my childhood snowballed into deep depression and uncontrollable anxiety that I tried to heal with piles of prescriptions from different doctors that couldn’t seem to figure out what was “wrong” with me. When, in reality there was nothing “wrong” with me. I simply needed to find peace and be reminded that I AM GOOD.

 

Over the years - especially as I became an expectant mother at 17 years old and faced so much judgement for my choice to leave school in order to work while I was a pregnant - I found that excelling at my job served as an excellent surrogate for the validation I was seeking in my personal relationships, and I began to throw myself into my career, both as a way to support myself and my daughter as a single parent, and as a way to prove to myself through tangible means like paychecks and promotions that I was good.

It wasn’t until all of the unresolved trauma that I had been trying to bury with work began to manifest itself physically, that I finally accepted it was time to begin trying to show myself the love I knew I needed in order for my body to heal….even if the concept of being lovable still seemed totally forgeign to me, and I had no idea where to begin!

 

Abuse is a hard cycle to break, and self love is a hard lesson to learn. So, my path to healing was far from linear, or easy, but once I made that commitment to find and nurture the parts of myself that I loved, amazing things began to happen!

I’m pretty sure my friends and family thought I was losing my mind more than finding myself at first! But, as I began to explore myself as an energetic being and learn more about inner child and shadow work, I discovered that I wasn’t bad. I had just learned to protect (rather dysfunctionally) the vibrant, loving and vulnerable little Melissa who had learned that she needed to stay hidden in order to stay safe so long ago!

As anyone who has recovered from abuse can tell you, the hardest part about breaking the cycle is having no example of how to be any other way. My life had been filled with negativity for so long that I struggled to find myself in a peaceful situation even as I worked to heal myself.

As anyone who has recovered from abuse can also tell you, you just get used to it.

The pain and chaos becomes your baseline, and even when you are consciously in a state of growth away from that state of being, it’s all too easy to find yourself slipping back into relationships that make you feel most comfortable - even if they are simply toxic AF. Which is exactly what I was doing…..until I met Nate.

 

Before I met Nate, I had no idea what it felt like to be seen completely, and not only be accepted for who I was, but adored for it.

Most importantly though, Nate made me feel safe.

For the first time in my life, I was able to stop just surviving, and started thriving in ways I had forgotten that I was capable of.

It was like I had been trudging through mud my entire life, and was finally walking on solid ground for the first time when I finally learned to accept his love.

I began to see the entire world differently.

Instead of an endless stream of stressful situations and impending disasters, I started to see my life as promising and full of possibilities.

I began to see myself differently.

Instead of someone I felt I should be ashamed of, I started to see myself as someone kind and capable that I was proud to share with other people.

 

Once that shift occurred, I began to accomplish so many more things I felt that I could be proud of!

I learned to show myself the kindness I wish I had been shown, and found how freeing it can be to see the world through a less defensive lense.

I launched a successful private chef business out of nothing but my passion for food while I was still waiting tables and had nothing but my intuition to guide me.

I grew that little business into something that could provide a better life, and was finally able to start working for myself.

I built second, and third, businesses that provided me with more opportunities to do what I love, and a real sense that I was capable of so much good.

I started to be able to show up as my authentic self in social situations with less fear of being “seen” and judged for it.

But, even with all of those things to be proud of, I still held so much shame and anxiety around the idea that I was still somehow fundamentally bad at my core, and it was only a matter of time before I, and everyone else, would start to see it again.

 

The way that I had once used paychecks and promotions to provide myself with tangible evidence that I was good, I began to use images on social media as a tangible way for me to remind myself of all the positives when the negative self talk began to sneak into my mind.

At the time, I didn’t really think much into my motivation for posting about my life’s highlights on social media, because after all, it’s what everyone else does too and, let’s be honest - who doesn’t like getting likes?!

But when the pandemic hit last year and my ability to produce content that I felt I could use to prove to myself that I AM good was halted, it forced me to really examine the deeper emotional reasons that I felt it was so important for me to only share things that aligned with an image of positivity and success.

Being positive, and constantly focused on growth, is a huge part of who I am at my core - but it’s far from who I am all the time.

While I spent hours scrolling through social media during the early days of quarantine, I felt completely paralyzed as I watched other people post photos and videos of themselves functioning in ways I couldn’t even imagine in the moment.

It might sound silly, but when I felt the most lost in my emotions, just being able to just create and share a post about how to make a healthy smoothie made me feel like I was at least doing one thing I could be proud of, no matter how ashamed of myself I felt in the moment.

 

Thankfully, resilience seems to be my super power (dysfunctional as some of my survival mechanisms may be.) So, it didn’t take long for me to snap out of that depression and into that familiar feeling of “survival mode” that allowed me to begin working on ways to keep my businesses alive.

Being able to snap myself out of that paralyzing depression reminded me that I am a survivor and gave me the energy I needed to keep moving forward, but it also triggered all kinds of unhealthy coping mechanisms that I had worked so hard to move away from.

On the outside, I was pivoting like a pro. But, internally, it felt like my emotional state was falling to pieces.

Even though I knew that almost everyone else was struggling with their emotions as well, I just couldn’t bring myself to authentically share any of that darkness on social media.

I shared the smoothies.

I shared the healthy dinners.

I shared all of the milestones as I worked to rebuild my businesses.

Because that’s what made me feel safe.

 

What I didn’t share, was the insecurity.

What I didn't share, were the days that I could barely motivate myself to eat, let alone create something beautiful, or inspire anyone else to embrace taking care of themselves.

What I didn’t share, was the fear that everyone might see me at my worst and judge me for it.

What I didn’t share, was that I was really posting all of that for me, to prove to myself that I was still worthy of love - even though the only one who was even questioning that, was me!

Once I realized that I was using images on social media as a mask, I knew it was time to start healing those pieces of me that I still felt that I needed to hide.

I also knew that I wanted to share my story more authentically on social media somehow. But, I didn’t quite know how…..until I saw a post on Facebook from a local photographer working on a project about women sharing their authentic stories on social media, and it just spoke to me!

 

The concept was an unstyled shoot that showed the authentic me, accompanied by an essay to do the same - which seemed simple. But, it proved to be such a greater struggle than I had imagined!

The essay I could edit, and I’ve always loved to write, so I wasn’t worried about that. But, the photoshoot made me SO nervous!

Having grown up in a home where appearance and projecting the right image seemed to be of paramount importance, the idea of photos that might not portray me in the best light being published on the internet triggered all kinds of insecurities for me.

On the day of the shoot, I just chose to wear what was comfortable - the things I actually wear when I’m not trying to look a certain way.

I didn’t style my hair, or bother with more than my everyday makeup that consists of tinted moisturizer, a bit of bronzer and a little mascara.

If it were any regular day I would have felt perfectly comfortable with the way I looked.

In fact, I had made plans to meet a friend for dinner right after the shoot and felt great about the way I looked for that experience! But, the idea of being photographed like that, especially outside by the water where the wind would inevitably reveal angles of my face that I find unflattering, gave me anxiety for days before the shoot.

 

When I arrived for the shoot, I was nervous and far from the outgoing, confident Melissa that usually arrives at photoshoots when I’m styled perfectly and feeling my best.

As we walked through the quiet woods with the snow crunching beneath my boots, I realized that I felt so nervous because I had shown up to this photoshoot as the little Melissa that I had learned to hide and protect.

As we began to shoot, I started to feel sad, and strange that this would be the side of me captured on camera for this project. But, I quickly realized that it wasn’t sadness for the situation at hand that I was feeling.

It was sadness for little Melissa who had internalized that she wasn’t worth being seen just as she was.

Throughout the shoot, I couldn’t seem to shake that sense of sadness and I worried the photos would be ruined because of it.

But, when I saw the photos from the shoot a few weeks later, I realized that as we were walking and talking throughout the shoot, the images that Nikki captured began to tell a story.

The first photos looked posed and happy. But, of course they did. Because that’s my favorite mask, especially in front of the camera! So, I obviously felt fine about those being shared.

But, then there were some awkward attempts at me actually being natural in front of a camera. Which completely triggered all of the negative self-talk that typically leads to me taking great measures to avoid photos like that from ever seeing the light of day.

As we moved on, I could see the vulnerability in my eyes as I tried to let my guard down, and I felt so exposed knowing that side of myself would be shared.

Once we were by the water though, I started to see a sense of ease, and even strength emerging in the photos. Even if they weren’t my best angles and my hair was a mess, it looked like ME!

Not the styled, polished version of myself that I feel safest showing the world, but the authentic me that I have no problem sharing with the people I feel safe with.

 

Don’t get me wrong - I very authentically do LOVE to get dressed up, and genuinely think it’s fun to play with personal styling. It’s just fun for me! But, participating in this project has really helped me to reflect on how much I had been using my image as a mask to protect myself from negative self-talk.

As we all know now, wearing a mask can keep us safe, but it also prevents us from being fully seen.

Yes, taking off your mask can be a risk, just like letting other people see you completely can be a risk.

But, as we all know now after a year full of physical masking, nothing feels better than FINALLY being able to take off your mask and just breathe!

CLARKE, CHARLES KIRK, psychiatrist, asylum superintendent, educator, and hospital administrator; b. 16 Feb. 1857 in Elora, Upper Canada, son of Charles Clarke* and Emma Kent; m. first 20 Oct. 1880 Margaret DeVeber Andrews (d. 1902) in Parkdale (Toronto), and they had four sons and two daughters; m. secondly 20 July 1904 Theresa Gallagher in Kingston, Ont.; d. 20 Jan. 1924 in Toronto.

 

After graduating from high school in Elora, Charles K. Clarke began work in 1874 as a clinical assistant at the provincially run Asylum for the Insane in Toronto. His hiring was largely due to the fact that two of his sisters had married psychiatrists, one a son of the asylum’s superintendent, Joseph Workman*. Clarke received his medical degrees from the University of Toronto (mb 1878, md 1879), and in 1880 he was appointed assistant medical superintendent of the Hamilton asylum, where he found the staff an “uncontrollable rabble.” In 1882-85 he occupied the same position at the Rockwood Asylum in Portsmouth (Kingston). Upset by asylum politics, he decided to resign but when Rockwood’s medical superintendent, Clarke’s brother-in-law William George Metcalf*, was killed by a patient in 1885, Clarke was promoted superintendent. He accepted, he later said, “to protect several hundred defenseless creatures from a political hireling who might be pitchforked into the position.”

 

At Rockwood, Clarke introduced an infirmary for acute cases, occupational therapy, and a psychiatric training program for nurses, the first in Canada. In 1895 he was named professor of mental diseases at nearby Queen’s College, which would confer an lld on him in 1906. In 1904 he became co-editor of the American Journal of Insanity (Baltimore). The next year he succeeded Daniel Clark* as head of the Toronto asylum, a position he would hold until 1911, when he became medical superintendent of the Toronto General Hospital. A founder and vice-president in 1907 of the Canadian Hospital Association, a year later he assumed the posts of psychiatrist at the TGH and, at the university, professor of psychiatry and dean of the faculty of medicine. He stepped down from the superintendence of the hospital in 1917, becoming its medical director, and left it altogether the following year when he was made medical director of the Canadian National Committee for Mental Hygiene. Two years later he resigned as dean to devote his full energy to this committee.

 

Despite Clarke’s dedication to psychiatry, his personal interests were diverse. At age 15 he had lost two middle fingers in a hunting accident, but he still became quite adept with his hands, building boats, a house, and a pipe organ, among other projects. He was an avid tennis player – in 1890 he and Dr William Gage won the Canadian doubles championship. In later years he took up golf and played the violin in the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Associates remembered him as a “mirthful conversationalist.” A serious naturalist and ornithologist, he had a summer home in eastern Ontario.

 

Clarke’s professional career can be broken into two stages. The first, until 1911, was accented by his service in the asylum system, where, for most of the 19th century, psychiatry was based. The physicians of Workman’s generation believed there was little they could do for patients other than shelter them, hoping their symptoms would remit. But by the turn of the century, more and more psychiatrists, dissatisfied with practice in asylums, began looking outside for ways of preventing and treating mental illness. The upshot was a growing interest in outpatient psychiatry, child-guidance clinics, Freudian psychoanalysis, scientific research into the biological conditions of mental disease, and such eugenic policies as sterilization and restrictions on marriage and immigration. Essentially conservative, Clarke did not subscribe to some of these new directions – including Freudianism and “sex problems ad nauseam” – but quite often he was in the forefront of innovative thinking.

 

During the asylum phase of his career Clarke worked constantly to improve the conditions of patients. Possessed of an authentic fondness for the mentally ill, he abhorred the stigma they traditionally bore. Following the lead of Metcalf, Richard Maurice Bucke*, and others, at Rockwood he had rebelled against traditional techniques, easing restraints on patients and attempting to treat them humanely. He tried assiduously to destroy any resemblance between an asylum and a prison, and would eventually succeed in reducing the stigmatic designation by having Ontario’s asylums renamed hospitals for the insane. But while he rejected many past policies he did not strictly oppose gynaecological surgery on patients to cure disorders; he did, however, object to the appeal made by R. M. Bucke and Alfred Thomas Hobbs of the London asylum to the National Council of Women of Canada to gain wider support for this type of treatment. A frequent expert witness at trials, he argued that some criminals were actually insane and not responsible for their actions. For instance, though he had not examined Métis leader Louis Riel*, he later diagnosed him as an “insane paranoiac” who should not have been hanged.

 

By the 1890s Clarke’s enthusiasms had begun to wane. His persistent requests of the government, for more resources and policies for better care, had fallen on deaf ears. Physically strong, he had survived a number of attacks by patients, but too many incurable and violent cases appeared to be entering his wards. His interests, in fact, were shifting to preventive psychiatry or, as it was called, mental hygiene. A steady source of professional articles in journals, he longed to found an institute where, unlike in an asylum with its never-ending administrative demands, he would have time to examine patients thoroughly and oversee the scientific study of mental diseases. Undoubtedly Clarke would have excelled in such an environment – few physicians had a keener clinical eye when it came to distinguishing one psychiatric condition from another. His model was the clinic in Munich of pioneering German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin.

 

When Clarke accepted the Toronto job in 1905 he hoped his dream could be realized. Working closely with provincial secretary William John Hanna*, he researched the project and travelled to Europe with others in 1907 to inspect psychiatric facilities there. Ultimately his plan fell through, though in 1909 he would introduce Kraepelin’s classification of mental diseases. Clarke put some blame for this failure on politicians and professional rivals among hospital neurologists, but he mainly held his colleagues in asylum psychiatry responsible. If his charge is true, it is hard to fault them for complaining: Clarke wanted to monopolize the most interesting and treatable patients, and dispatch the rest to the public asylums.

 

Clarke’s resignation from the Toronto asylum in 1911 highlighted his transition to the second stage of his career. He now devoted himself to prevention and the treatment of psychiatric outpatients. He had already opened an outpatients’ clinic at the TGH in 1909 under the direction of the brilliant Dr Ernest Jones; it was discontinued in 1913, when Jones left and pending completion of a new hospital complex, but a new Social Service Clinic was opened in the spring of 1914. There Clarke, Clarence Meredith Hincks*, and other psychiatrists diagnosed troubled young men and women sent by Toronto’s schools, courts, and social agencies. Still interested in provincial policy regarding the mentally handicapped, in 1912 Clarke had helped form the Provincial Association for the Care of the Feeble-Minded. At the same time that it argued for better care, he and others castigated the government for its reluctance to segregate “imbeciles” from their families.

 

During the early years of World War I, much of Clarke’s attention shifted to that conflict. Military service depleted the staff of the TGH, which gradually began filling up with returning servicemen. In 1915, the same year that Clarke established a ground-breaking clinic for venereal diseases, he helped in the organization of No.4 Canadian General Hospital unit, which went overseas, and in 1918 he became consultant in psychiatry to Military District No.2 (Toronto and central Ontario). The following year the federal Department of Soldiers’ Civil Re-establishment selected Clarke and one of its own psychiatrists, Captain Clarence B. Farrar*, to conduct a country-wide examination of asylums, in part to push for greater provincial aid for mentally disturbed veterans. In Ontario the two doctors encountered resistance from the office of provincial secretary William David McPherson, which, mindful of Clarke’s record of criticism, insisted that only provincial inspectors could visit hospitals there. According to Farrar, Ontario held Clarke to be a persona non grata.

 

During the war years Clarke returned to an issue that had preoccupied him for some time. After 1900, in an extreme demonstration of preventive medicine, he had emerged as one of the most vocal and most publicity-seeking critics of Canadian immigration. The years between the end of the century and the war witnessed an enormous boom of newcomers, from 21,716 in 1897 to 400,870 in 1913. As a result, a growing number of foreign-born patients began appearing in Ontario’s asylums – Clarke saw many more in Toronto than he had at Rockwood. The composition of this influx concerned him. Of the 1,244,597 immigrants who came between 1900 and 1909, 315,151 were from central and eastern Europe. Mostly anecdotal information conveyed the impression that a large percentage suffered from hereditary mental disability. Such impressions drew attention to Canada’s immigration law. Before 1902 virtually no medical inspections were made at the points of entry, and the laws governing deportation were inadequate. Even when inspection was begun there were too few physicians and facilities to handle the flow at the busiest ports. Later amendments to the Immigration Act helped, but the testimony of medical inspectors and public-health officials stressed that too many mentally and physically handicapped immigrants were still entering the country. Clarke agreed, and his inspection in 1901 of the hospital for the insane at New Westminster, B.C., which housed considerable numbers of Chinese-born patients, reinforced his view. In 1905 he stepped up his lobbying for more and better-trained psychiatrists as medical inspectors. In addition, he began publishing articles on the “defective and insane” immigrant. However, in 1907-8, he later recalled, he found himself “in the centre of an unpleasant controversy, as the facts and figures presented did not appeal to practical politicians who were anxious to cultivate the vote of the new immigrant who had recently arrived.” He therefore toned down his campaign, concluding that the time was not ripe for aggressive activism.

 

In 1916, sensing that changing circumstances had revitalized public opinion, Clarke rejoined the immigration debate. Many Canadians now felt that the best and healthiest young men of Canada were being sacrificed on the battlefields while the unfittest stayed home and begat their own kind. Such concern would lead to heightened fear about the immigration of unfit aliens once the war was over. The Provincial Association for the Care of the Feeble-Minded folded in 1918 when Clarke, Hincks, Helen MacMurchy*, and others founded the Canadian National Committee for Mental Hygiene, initially to attend to the psychiatric care of soldiers. It favoured prevention, including the screening of immigrants, whom it viewed as a primary source of mental degenerates (and therefore also of vice, disease, and unemployment). The growing interest in mental health, thus perceived, persuaded Clarke that the time was right to renew pressure on Ottawa. He drew on the enormous literature in the United States about immigration, much of which was part of the eugenic movement then sweeping North America. (Coined in 1883 in Britain, the term eugenics meant the study of heredity and the production of healthy offspring through the prevention of inherited disease.) A convert like most physicians of his day, Clarke believed that many European nations were trying to get rid of their insane and otherwise “defective” citizens by sending them to Canada or the United States, where, by reproducing their own kind, they posed a national menace.

 

Clarke used various means to alert public and official opinion to the eugenic dimensions of immigration. The receptive Public Health Journal (Toronto) published his denunciation in 1916 of the “defective immigrant” and in 1918 his theory on feeble-mindedness as the foundation of criminality. Among mps he circulated copies of his unpublished novel, “The amiable morons,” a thinly disguised account of Valentine Shortis*, the Irish immigrant who in 1895 had killed two men and wounded a third with no apparent emotion or motive. Clarke had testified at Shortis’s trial that he was a hereditary degenerate who had been insane at the time of the murders. Avoided by publishers, the manuscript emphasized the link between immigration and hereditary illness.

 

As a result of the efforts of Clarke and the CNCMH, in 1919 parliament approved amendments to the Immigration Act, but Clarke remained dissatisfied. Medical inspectors continued to serve merely in advisory roles, filling out forms and relying on civil officials to decide on admissions. Frequently these officials overlooked entry regulations when ordered to do so by government authorities. For Clarke and many other psychiatrists, the system would remain inefficient until inspectors were posted abroad, at the ports of embarkation, a reform that would not materialize until 1928.

 

After 1919 Clarke continued to find an audience. From his Toronto clinic he drew statistical findings about immigrants that are now seen as dubious and unrepresentative, but which were then readily received in many quarters. His often sensationalized linkage of feeble-mindedness, immigration, and national degeneration fed into the premises of such moral reformers as Charlotte Elizabeth Hazeltyne Whitton*, who were glad to have “scientific” endorsement of extreme, even nativist, immigration policies. In 1920 a meeting of the Presbyterian Church’s Canadian Council for the Immigration of Women proved very receptive to Clarke’s constructs and his proposals to weed out Jewish children fleeing famine in Ukraine. On another occasion that year, the arrival at Saint John of the first contingent of Barnardo orphans to come to Canada since the war, Clarke staged a public demonstration to reinforce his preferences and arguments. Though the children had been carefully examined in England, Clarke and “an array of medical experts” nonetheless put them through “thorough tests – followed by congratulations on the high-grade type of children.”

 

Clarke’s crusade helps explain how, in delivering the prestigious Maudsley Lecture before the Royal Medico-Psychological Association in England on 24 May 1923, he could announce that immigration had pushed Canada to the brink of crisis. It was being “bled white” by emigration to the United States and pumped full of defectives, many of them British. The lecture underscored the fact that the issue exerted a powerful, almost mesmeric attraction on his mind. He campaigned so relentlessly that he alienated numerous provincial and federal authorities. On occasion acerbic, combative, and stubborn, he was rarely diplomatic when it came to immigration and other concerns that he felt strongly about. Such force was necessary to sway minds on what, in his opinion, were vital public-health questions. By the late 1920s, however, the psychiatric profession was beginning to move away from the crude eugenics advocated by Clarke and the CNCMH.

 

Though Clarke’s professional life was largely taken up with CNCMH activities after 1918, other involvements contributed to his high profile. His controversial campaign for a true psychiatric clinic bore fruit in 1921, when a site was secured on Surrey Place near the TGH and the university; in 1923 Clarke was present at the laying of the cornerstone for the Toronto Psychiatric Hospital. Commissioned that year to assess Homewood Retreat, a private asylum near Guelph, he scored the sharp decline in its facilities for the acutely insane and the human costs of a greater resort to chemical and mechanical restraint. During the 1920s two of his children were also active in the field: Eric Kent was a psychiatrist in Toronto’s health department, while Emma DeVeber, who had served overseas as a nurse and at the TGH clinic, was supervisor of mental hygiene nursing with the city. An Anglican – his second wife was a lifelong Roman Catholic – C. K. Clarke died of cardiovascular disease in 1924 and was buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery. The Clarke Institute of Psychiatry in Toronto, which was named in his honour in 1966, merged into the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in 1998.

 

If Clarke’s commitment to public-health reform went as far as punitive eugenic policies, it was less a comment on him than it was a reflection of the times. His bending of clinical findings for eugenic purposes had resulted in part from the inexactitude of diagnosing feeble-mindedness. But in clinical situations where the symptom-pictures were more precisely defined, as in the diagnosis of dementia praecox (schizophrenia), he was on surer ground. That he possessed much purer psychiatric knowledge and ability is affirmed by his scientific publications and professionally significant advancement of Kraepelin’s classification. He had played a seminal role too in many of the momentous changes that had occurred in the field, especially in the break from asylums. Clarke served as mentor for some of the luminaries of the next generation of Canadian psychiatrists, including the internationally renowned Hincks and Farrar, who regarded Clarke as “the father of Canadian psychiatry.”

  

This was meant to take on the world this was, but sadly it didn’t get very far! The Rover 800 had so many possibilities, so many variants could have been derived from it, but unfortunately the management was once again very quick to nip this beautiful car in the bud, and the Rover 800 would join that long line of ‘what-could-have-been’ motors that seem to pave British motoring history.

 

The origin of the Rover 800 goes back to the late 1970’s, when nationalised British car manufacturer and all around general failure British Leyland was absolutely desperate to fix its seemingly endless list of problems. The company had now garnered a reputation for creating some of the worst, most outdated cars of all time, the likes of the Morris Marina, the Austin Allegro and the Triumph TR7 being derided in both critical and customer reviews. A mixture of strike action by uncontrollable Trade Unions led by the infamous Red Robbo had meant that cars were only put together for a few hours per day on a three day week. As such, reliability was atrocious on a biblical scale, be it mechanical, cosmetic or electrical.

 

As such, in 1979, British Leyland began talks with Japanese car manufacturer Honda to try and help improve the reliability of their machines. The pioneer of this brave new deal was the Triumph Acclaim of 1980, BL’s first reliable car and not a bad little runabout. Basically a rebadged Honda Ballade, the Acclaim wasn’t meant to set the world ablaze, but it certainly helped get the company back onto people’s driveways, selling reasonably well thanks to its reliable mechanics (even if rust was something of an issue). As such, BL decided that from now on it would give its fleet a complete overhaul, basing their new models on Japanese equivalents. From 1984, the Rover 200 arrived on the scene, again, a rebadged Honda Ballade, while the Maestro and the Montego ranges also took on several tips from their Japanese counterparts, though they were primarily based on British underpinnings.

 

The Rover 800 however spawned quite early on, in 1981 to be exact. Following the catastrophic failure of the Rover SD1 in the American market, which only sold 774 cars before Rover removed itself from the USA altogether, the company was desperate to get another foothold across the pond. As such, the new project, dubbed project XX, would be the icing on the cake in terms of British Leyland’s fleet overhaul, a smooth and sophisticated executive saloon to conquer the world. However, plans were pushed back after the launch of the Montego and the Maestro, and thus project XX wouldn’t see the light of day again until about 1984.

 

Still in production and suffering from being long-in-the-tooth, the Rover SD1 was now coming up on 10 years old, and though a sublime car in terms of style and performance, it was now struggling in sales. Rover really needed to replace this golden oldie, and thus project XX was back on. In the usual fashion, Honda was consulted, and it was decided that the car would be based on that company’s own executive saloon, the Honda Legend. Jointly developed at Rover’s Cowley plant and Honda’s Tochigi development centre, both cars shared the same core structure and floorplan, but they each had their own unique exterior bodywork and interior. Under the agreement, Honda would supply the V6 petrol engine, both automatic and manual transmissions and the chassis design, whilst BL would provide the 4-cylinder petrol engine and much of the electrical systems. The agreement also included that UK-market Honda Legends would be built at the Cowley Plant, and the presence of the Legend in the UK would be smaller than that of the Rover 800, with profits from the 800 shared between the two companies.

 

Launched on July 10th, 1986, the Rover 800 was welcomed with warm reviews regarding its style, its performance and its reliability. Though driving performance was pretty much the same as the Honda Legend, what put the Rover above its Japanese counterpart was its sheer internal elegance and beauty, combined with a differing external design that borrowed cues from the outgoing SD1. The 800 also provided the company with some much-needed optimism, especially following the gradual breakup of British Leyland by the Thatcher Government between 1980 and 1986.

 

Following her election in 1979, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher took a no nonsense attitude to the striking unions, and the best form of defence was attack. To shave millions from the deficit, she reduced government spending on nationalised companies such as British Airways, British Coal Board, British Steel and British Leyland by selling them to private ownership. For British Leyland, the slow breakup of the company started with the sale of Leyland Trucks and Buses to DAF of Holland and Volvo, respectively. 1984 saw Jaguar made independent and later bought by Ford, but when rumours circulated that the remains of British Leyland would be sold to foreign ownership, share prices crashed, and the company was privatised and put into the hands of British Aerospace on the strict understanding that the company could not be sold again for four years. With this move, British Leyland was renamed Rover Group, the Austin badge being dropped, and the only remaining brands left being the eponymous Rover and sporty MG.

 

In the light of this tumultuous period, many of Rover and MG’s projects had to be scrapped in light of turbulent share prices and income, these projects including the Austin AR16 family car range (based largely off the Rover 800) and the MG EX-E supercar. The Rover 800 however was the first model to be released by the company following privatisation, and doing well initially in terms of sales, hopes were high that the Rover 800 would herald the end of the company’s troubled spell under British Leyland. The Rover 800 was planned to spearhead multiple Rover ventures, including a return to the US-market in the form of the Sterling, and a coupe concept to beat the world, the sublime Rover CCV.

 

However, British Leyland may have been gone, but their management and its incompetence remained. Rather than taking the formation of Rover Group as a golden opportunity to clean up the company’s act, to the management it was business as usual, and the Rover 800 began to suffer as a consequence. A lack of proper quality control and a cost-cutting attitude meant that despite all the Japanese reliability that had been layered on these machines in the design stage, the cars were still highly unreliable when they left the factory.

 

Perhaps the biggest sentiment to the 800’s failure was the Sterling in America. The Sterling had been named as such due to Rover’s reputation being tarnished by the failure of the unreliable SD1. Initial sales were very promising with the Sterling, a simple design with oodles of luxury that was price competitive with family sedan’s such as the Ford LTD and the Chevy Caprice. However, once the problems with reliability and quality began to rear their heads, sales plummeted and the Sterling very quickly fell short of its sales quota, only selling 14,000 of the forecast 30,000 cars per annum. Sales dropped year by year until eventually the Sterling brand was axed in 1991.

 

With the death of the Sterling came the death of the CCV, a luxury motor that had already won over investors in both Europe and the USA. The fantastic design that had wooed the American market and was ready to go on sale across the States was axed unceremoniously in 1987, and with it any attempt to try and capture the American market ever again.

 

In 1991, Rover Group, seeing their sales were still tumbling, and with unreliable callbacks to British Leyland like the Maestro and Montego still on sale, the company decided to have yet another shakeup to try and refresh its image. The project, dubbed R17, went back to the company’s roots of grand old England, and the Rover 800 was the first to feel its touch. The R17 facelift saw the 800’s angular lines smoothed with revised light-clusters, a low-smooth body, and the addition of a grille, attempting to harp back to the likes of the luxurious Rover P5 of the 1960’s. Engines were also updated, with the previous M16 Honda engine being replaced by a crisp 2.0L T16, which gave the car some good performance. The car was also made available in a set of additional ranges, including a coupe and the sport Vitesse, complete with a higher performance engine.

 

Early reviews of the R17 800 were favourable, many critics lauding its design changes and luxurious interior, especially given its price competitiveness against comparable machines such as the Vauxhall Omega and the Ford Mondeo. Even Jeremy Clarkson, a man who fervently hated Rover and everything it stood for, couldn’t help but give it a good review on Top Gear. However, motoring critics were quick to point out the fact that by this time Honda was really starting to sell heavily in the UK and Europe, and people now asked themselves why they’d want to buy the Rover 800, a near carbon-copy of the Honda Legend, for twice the price but equal performance. Wood and leather furnishings are very nice, but not all motorists are interested in that, some are just interested in a reliable and practical machine to run around in.

 

As such, the Rover 800’s sales domestically were very good, it becoming the best-selling car in the UK for 1992, but in Europe not so much. Though Rover 800’s did make it across the Channel, the BMW 5-Series and other contemporary European models had the market sown up clean, and the Rover 800 never truly made an impact internationally. On average, the car sold well in the early 1990’s, but as time went on the car’s place in the market fell to just over 10,000 per year by 1995. Rover needed another shake-up, and the Rover 75 did just that.

 

In 1994, Rover Group was sold to BMW, and their brave new star to get the company back in the good books of the motoring public was the Rover 75, an executive saloon to beat the world. With this new face in the company’s showrooms, the Rover 800 and its 10 year old design was put out to grass following its launch in 1998. Selling only around 6,500 cars in its final full year of production, the Rover 800 finished sales in 1999 and disappeared, the last relic of the British Leyland/Honda tie up from the 1980’s.

 

Today the Rover 800 finds itself under a mixed reception. While some argue that it was the last true Rover before the BMW buyout, others will fervently deride it as a Honda with a Rover badge, a humiliation of a Rover, and truly the point where the company lost its identity. I personally believe it to be a magnificent car, a car with purpose, a car with promise, but none of those promises fulfilled. It could have truly been the face of a new Rover in the late 1980’s, and could have returned the company to the front line of the motoring world, at least in Britain. But sadly, management incompetence won again for the British motor industry, and the Rover 800 ended its days a lukewarm reminder that we really didn’t know a good thing until it was gone.

Onírica representación de como nuestros sueños se forman

 

y conforman sin control, sin elección ni premeditación, en extraños

 

lugares; los buenos sueños y los no tan buenos se convierten en realidad

 

cuando enfocamos la vista.

 

Dreaming representation as our dreams are formed

 

and up uncontrollably, without choice or intent, in strange

 

places, the good dreams and not so good come true

 

when focus view.

 

Nikon CoolPix S8000 f 3,5 1″ Iso 100

 

www.lauhaizeetara.wordpress.com

The first of the flock, this Rover 800 rolled off the production line as a premier for what could have been the new age of Rover. But no...

 

This was meant to take on the world this was, but sadly it didn’t get very far! The Rover 800 had so many possibilities, so many variants could have been derived from it, but unfortunately the management was once again very quick to nip this beautiful car in the bud, and the Rover 800 would join that long line of ‘what-could-have-been’ motors that seem to pave British motoring history.

 

The origin of the Rover 800 goes back to the late 1970’s, when nationalised British car manufacturer and all around general failure British Leyland was absolutely desperate to fix its seemingly endless list of problems. The company had now garnered a reputation for creating some of the worst, most outdated cars of all time, the likes of the Morris Marina, the Austin Allegro and the Triumph TR7 being derided in both critical and customer reviews. A mixture of strike action by uncontrollable Trade Unions led by the infamous Red Robbo had meant that cars were only put together for a few hours per day on a three day week. As such, reliability was atrocious on a biblical scale, be it mechanical, cosmetic or electrical.

 

As such, in 1979, British Leyland began talks with Japanese car manufacturer Honda to try and help improve the reliability of their machines. The pioneer of this brave new deal was the Triumph Acclaim of 1980, BL’s first reliable car and not a bad little runabout. Basically a rebadged Honda Ballade, the Acclaim wasn’t meant to set the world ablaze, but it certainly helped get the company back onto people’s driveways, selling reasonably well thanks to its reliable mechanics (even if rust was something of an issue). As such, BL decided that from now on it would give its fleet a complete overhaul, basing their new models on Japanese equivalents. From 1984, the Rover 200 arrived on the scene, again, a rebadged Honda Ballade, while the Maestro and the Montego ranges also took on several tips from their Japanese counterparts, though they were primarily based on British underpinnings.

 

The Rover 800 however spawned quite early on, in 1981 to be exact. Following the catastrophic failure of the Rover SD1 in the American market, which only sold 774 cars before Rover removed itself from the USA altogether, the company was desperate to get another foothold across the pond. As such, the new project, dubbed project XX, would be the icing on the cake in terms of British Leyland’s fleet overhaul, a smooth and sophisticated executive saloon to conquer the world. However, plans were pushed back after the launch of the Montego and the Maestro, and thus project XX wouldn’t see the light of day again until about 1984.

 

Still in production and suffering from being long-in-the-tooth, the Rover SD1 was now coming up on 10 years old, and though a sublime car in terms of style and performance, it was now struggling in sales. Rover really needed to replace this golden oldie, and thus project XX was back on. In the usual fashion, Honda was consulted, and it was decided that the car would be based on that company’s own executive saloon, the Honda Legend. Jointly developed at Rover’s Cowley plant and Honda’s Tochigi development centre, both cars shared the same core structure and floorplan, but they each had their own unique exterior bodywork and interior. Under the agreement, Honda would supply the V6 petrol engine, both automatic and manual transmissions and the chassis design, whilst BL would provide the 4-cylinder petrol engine and much of the electrical systems. The agreement also included that UK-market Honda Legends would be built at the Cowley Plant, and the presence of the Legend in the UK would be smaller than that of the Rover 800, with profits from the 800 shared between the two companies.

 

Launched on July 10th, 1986, the Rover 800 was welcomed with warm reviews regarding its style, its performance and its reliability. Though driving performance was pretty much the same as the Honda Legend, what put the Rover above its Japanese counterpart was its sheer internal elegance and beauty, combined with a differing external design that borrowed cues from the outgoing SD1. The 800 also provided the company with some much-needed optimism, especially following the gradual breakup of British Leyland by the Thatcher Government between 1980 and 1986.

 

Following her election in 1979, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher took a no nonsense attitude to the striking unions, and the best form of defence was attack. To shave millions from the deficit, she reduced government spending on nationalised companies such as British Airways, British Coal Board, British Steel and British Leyland by selling them to private ownership. For British Leyland, the slow breakup of the company started with the sale of Leyland Trucks and Buses to DAF of Holland and Volvo, respectively. 1984 saw Jaguar made independent and later bought by Ford, but when rumours circulated that the remains of British Leyland would be sold to foreign ownership, share prices crashed, and the company was privatised and put into the hands of British Aerospace on the strict understanding that the company could not be sold again for four years. With this move, British Leyland was renamed Rover Group, the Austin badge being dropped, and the only remaining brands left being the eponymous Rover and sporty MG.

 

In the light of this tumultuous period, many of Rover and MG’s projects had to be scrapped in light of turbulent share prices and income, these projects including the Austin AR16 family car range (based largely off the Rover 800) and the MG EX-E supercar. The Rover 800 however was the first model to be released by the company following privatisation, and doing well initially in terms of sales, hopes were high that the Rover 800 would herald the end of the company’s troubled spell under British Leyland. The Rover 800 was planned to spearhead multiple Rover ventures, including a return to the US-market in the form of the Sterling, and a coupe concept to beat the world, the sublime Rover CCV.

 

However, British Leyland may have been gone, but their management and its incompetence remained. Rather than taking the formation of Rover Group as a golden opportunity to clean up the company’s act, to the management it was business as usual, and the Rover 800 began to suffer as a consequence. A lack of proper quality control and a cost-cutting attitude meant that despite all the Japanese reliability that had been layered on these machines in the design stage, the cars were still highly unreliable when they left the factory.

 

Perhaps the biggest sentiment to the 800’s failure was the Sterling in America. The Sterling had been named as such due to Rover’s reputation being tarnished by the failure of the unreliable SD1. Initial sales were very promising with the Sterling, a simple design with oodles of luxury that was price competitive with family sedan’s such as the Ford LTD and the Chevy Caprice. However, once the problems with reliability and quality began to rear their heads, sales plummeted and the Sterling very quickly fell short of its sales quota, only selling 14,000 of the forecast 30,000 cars per annum. Sales dropped year by year until eventually the Sterling brand was axed in 1991.

 

With the death of the Sterling came the death of the CCV, a luxury motor that had already won over investors in both Europe and the USA. The fantastic design that had wooed the American market and was ready to go on sale across the States was axed unceremoniously in 1987, and with it any attempt to try and capture the American market ever again.

 

In 1991, Rover Group, seeing their sales were still tumbling, and with unreliable callbacks to British Leyland like the Maestro and Montego still on sale, the company decided to have yet another shakeup to try and refresh its image. The project, dubbed R17, went back to the company’s roots of grand old England, and the Rover 800 was the first to feel its touch. The R17 facelift saw the 800’s angular lines smoothed with revised light-clusters, a low-smooth body, and the addition of a grille, attempting to harp back to the likes of the luxurious Rover P5 of the 1960’s. Engines were also updated, with the previous M16 Honda engine being replaced by a crisp 2.0L T16, which gave the car some good performance. The car was also made available in a set of additional ranges, including a coupe and the sport Vitesse, complete with a higher performance engine.

 

Early reviews of the R17 800 were favourable, many critics lauding its design changes and luxurious interior, especially given its price competitiveness against comparable machines such as the Vauxhall Omega and the Ford Mondeo. Even Jeremy Clarkson, a man who fervently hated Rover and everything it stood for, couldn’t help but give it a good review on Top Gear. However, motoring critics were quick to point out the fact that by this time Honda was really starting to sell heavily in the UK and Europe, and people now asked themselves why they’d want to buy the Rover 800, a near carbon-copy of the Honda Legend, for twice the price but equal performance. Wood and leather furnishings are very nice, but not all motorists are interested in that, some are just interested in a reliable and practical machine to run around in.

 

As such, the Rover 800’s sales domestically were very good, it becoming the best-selling car in the UK for 1992, but in Europe not so much. Though Rover 800’s did make it across the Channel, the BMW 5-Series and other contemporary European models had the market sown up clean, and the Rover 800 never truly made an impact internationally. On average, the car sold well in the early 1990’s, but as time went on the car’s place in the market fell to just over 10,000 per year by 1995. Rover needed another shake-up, and the Rover 75 did just that.

 

In 1994, Rover Group was sold to BMW, and their brave new star to get the company back in the good books of the motoring public was the Rover 75, an executive saloon to beat the world. With this new face in the company’s showrooms, the Rover 800 and its 10 year old design was put out to grass following its launch in 1998. Selling only around 6,500 cars in its final full year of production, the Rover 800 finished sales in 1999 and disappeared, the last relic of the British Leyland/Honda tie up from the 1980’s.

 

Today the Rover 800 finds itself under a mixed reception. While some argue that it was the last true Rover before the BMW buyout, others will fervently deride it as a Honda with a Rover badge, a humiliation of a Rover, and truly the point where the company lost its identity. I personally believe it to be a magnificent car, a car with purpose, a car with promise, but none of those promises fulfilled. It could have truly been the face of a new Rover in the late 1980’s, and could have returned the company to the front line of the motoring world, at least in Britain. But sadly, management incompetence won again for the British motor industry, and the Rover 800 ended its days a lukewarm reminder that we really didn’t know a good thing until it was gone.

Lion, bathed in the glow of the early morning sun, Mana Pools, ZM.

 

What’s in a mane?

 

The male lion is the only feline with a mane. As to what purpose it serves is a subject with very different points of view. A protection against fang and claw in fights for supremacy and subdueing prey, status symbol, a means to advertise strength and virility and thereby a tool for genetic refining….it’s a subject of hot debate even amongst the experts.

 

One of the world’s foremost experts on lions is of the opinion that a lion’s mane is more likely a message or a status symbol. Craig Packer, whilst working with lions of the Serengeti has noted that lions “with short manes had suffered from injury or sickness…in contrast, dark-maned males tended to be older than the others, have higher testosterone levels, heal well after wounding and sire more surviving cubs—all of which made them more desirable mates and formidable foes….” (excerpt from Abigail Tucker's well written article in the SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE Jan 2010)

 

This chap sunning himself on the Zambezi flood plain at Mana Pools is a big brute…. note that his face has been rearranged by an opponent’s claw / fang…his left nostril has a huge split and the cheek below the left eye is heavily scarred. Life in the wild is tough and unforgiving…

 

I was spread eagled on the ground about 20 yards from him for this shot….I think it’s a reasonable image, notwithstanding the uncontrollable twitching of my extremities!

 

Thank you for your visit... I am grateful for your Faves, and would be pleased if you were to comment on my work...

 

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September 13th, 1999…

A massive nuclear explosion blasts the Moon out of Earth orbit, sending Moonbase Alpha’s 311 inhabitants on an uncontrollable odyssey through deep space. Now, Destination: Moonbase Alpha takes you back to a future billed as “the most spectacular space science fiction series ever produced for television.”

Destination: Moonbase Alpha is the most comprehensive book ever published on SPACE: 1999, including extensive cast lists and detailed reviews of all 48 episodes, as well as the Message from Moonbase Alpha short film. Destination: Moonbase Alpha tells the incredible story of the making of a science fiction classic, told by the actors, writers and production crew who created it. Including commentary from:

Martin Landau (Commander John Koenig)

Barbara Bain (Doctor Helena Russell)

Barry Morse (Professor Victor Bergman)

Catherine Schell (Maya) catherineschell.co.uk/

 

Zienia Merton (Sandra Benes)

Prentis Hancock (Paul Morrow)

 

PRENTIS HANCOCK (Controller Paul Morrow)

Prentis Hancock was born and bred in Glasgow, and studied architecture at college. A keen sportsman, he played rugby and was a fencing instructor, but got the bug for acting and directing after joining an amateur theatre company. This led to him attending the Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama.

Many television roles followed, including Z Cars, Dixon of Dock Green, Softly Softly, Doctor Finley's Casebook, The Last of The Mohicans, Paul Temple, Spy Trap and Colditz. He also appeared in The Protectors alongside Robert Vaughn, and several Doctor Who episodes: "Spearhead From Space," "Planet of The Daleks," "Planet Of Evil," and "The Ribos Operation."

It was for his role as Main Mission Controller Paul Morrow in Space: 1999 that Hancock is probably best known. He was featured in 23 of the 24 episodes of the first series ("The Infernal Machine" being the exception). Having worked with Gerry and Sylvia Anderson before, he was offered the role without having to audition, and was only the fourth cast member (after Martin Landau, Barbara Bain and Barry Morse) to be signed up to the production.

Since his stint in Space 1999 he has appeared in episodes of The New Avengers, Survivors, Bergerac, Danger UXB, Bulman, Secret Army, Return of The Saint, Armchair Thriller, The Famous Five, Life and Death of Penelope, Bodyguards, Kappatoo, Staying Alive, Finney, Civvies, The Chief, and The Bill. He co-starred in the spooky ITV series Chocky's Children and Chocky's Challenge, and is one of the only actors to have featured in both The Professionals and its revival, CI5: The New Professionals.

Hancock has also appeared in the television movies Lime Street, Hitler’s SS: Portrait in Evil, Kim, Jekyll and Hyde, the mini-series King Jamie and the Angel, the 1978 big screen version of The 39 Steps, The Monster Club and Defence Of The Realm.

Recent theatre work has included The Cut, Pygmalion, Terra Nova, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, Best of Friends, The Last Tram, My Blue Heaven, and Striking Silence. Hancock adapted and starred in the one-man show Voltaire's Candide which premiered at the Edinburgh festival in 2008, and he performed it again in London in October 2008 and April 2009.

As an author, Hancock has penned two children's books Hotshot: A Chilling Tale and Hotshot: Another Chilling Tale, both illustrated by Phillip Flockhart.

 

Nick Tate (Alan Carter) www.fanderson.org.uk/bios/nicktate.html

 

Anton Phillips (Bob Mathias)

John Hug (Bill Fraser)

Sylvia Anderson (Producer – Year One)

Fred Freiberger (Producer – Year Two)

Gerry Anderson (Executive Producer)

Johnny Byrne (Writer)

Christopher Penfold (Writer)

CHRISTOPHER PENFOLD (Story Editor/Writer)

One of the key architects of Space: 1999, Christopher Penfold was born in Bristol, in the Southwest of England, and educated at the esteemed Cambridge University before relocating down-under to work for “aunty,” the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was in Australia that Penfold, working for the ABC as a television and radio writer/producer, would first work with an up-coming actor, Nick Tate, with whom he would later work on Space: 1999.

After three years, Penfold returned to the United Kingdom and turned his attention to documentaries before signing on as lead writer and story editor for Pathfinders, an ITV drama that followed the elite Pathfinder Force who located and marked targets for RAF Bomber Command. Always interested in very human drama, Penfold envisioned that series focusing on the immense pressure on aircrews who courageously and knowingly faced the enemy with very little chance of survival.

It was while working at Elstree Studios on Pathfinders that Penfold met Gerry Anderson, then working on The Protectors and, after a brief stint writing the Cliff Richard film Take Me High, Penfold joined Anderson in developing the 2nd series of UFO. Once it was determined that the moon of UFO would break out of Earth orbit, however, it was clear that a new show was being born...Space: 1999.

Penfold worked closely with Anderson and American writer George Bellak to develop the series and became responsible for shepherding the show into production, supervising scripts, and hiring writers, one an Irish poet named Johnny Byrne. Together the two would create the mystical, mythical feel of the first series.

After Penfold’s departure from 1999, he went on to write for the series Kids before creating for Thames Television the prescient 10 part series The Brack Report, set in the high pressure world of nuclear power and alternative renewable energy technologies. In the mid 1980s he wrote for the second series of the BBC sci-fi series The Tripods, based on John Christopher’s then popular novels, and later served as script editor and writer on Truckers, Casualty, One by One and the wildly successful All Creatures Great and Small where he was re-united with his co-writer, Johnny Byrne. He then wrote numerous episodes of Britain’s top soap, EastEnders, and either wrote or script edited over a hundred episodes of the long-running hit, The Bill.

In 1998, Penfold set up ScriptWorks, a script production company through which he helped develop a number of feature films including ITV’s The Last Musketeer, John Deery’s debut Conspiracy of Silence, Saul Metzstein’s first film, Late Night Shopping, Kevin Sampson's Awaydays and the Nicole Kidman feature Birth. Since then he has served as script editor/consultant on the smash hit series Midsomer Murders, now in its 15th season and nearing its record breaking hundredth feature-length episode.

 

Keith Wilson (Production Designer)

And many more!

Destination: Moonbase Alpha also includes – for the first time ever – the complete story behind the disappearance of Barry Morse and Professor Victor Bergman…

It’s a true story no fan has ever known – until now.

“Not many television shows have accumulated and kept such a loyal body of supporters, for so long, as SPACE: 1999.” – Barry Morse, co-star of SPACE: 1999.

Destination: Moonbase Alpha is the essential guide to SPACE: 1999 – from critical reaction then and now, through the triumphant 35 year odyssey of Moonbase Alpha since the worldwide debut of SPACE: 1999 in 1975, and finally to writer Johnny Byrne’s concepts for the return of the series. Keep this indispensable guide with you, and escape into worlds beyond belief!

www.nicktate.com/?page_id=8

www.fanderson.org.uk/epguides/spaceyr2eg3.html

 

7268 Medical instruments- Wormsloe Historic Site 1733 Georgia State Park, 7601 Skidaway Rd., Savannah, Chatham, GA. April 12, 2013. Decimal degrees: 31.980406, -81.068831

 

"18th Century Medical Instruments"

 

"1. Capital Knife (amputation knife) Used in the process of amputation to divide the cutaneous and subcutaneous tissue to the bone. Amputation knives came in several different lengths, generally 8-11 inches long and tapered to a point. Selection for a particular operation depended on the object being amputated (larger for thighs, smaller for forearms, fingers, joints, etc.).

 

2. Cautery This blistering iron was used to raise a therapeutic blister as well as for cauterizing extreme or uncontrollable hemorrhaging. The practice of cauterizing after amputation had been replaced by 1750 with the more humane practice of tying ligatures on the principal veins and arteries. These items of the surgeon's chest were in general use up to the mid-19th century. Originals came in a variety of head shapes to fulfill the specific needs to cauterize or raise a blister on a specific area.

 

3 Goat's Foot Elevator Used for lifting the roots of the incisors and canine teeth. Due to its shape, it also had some function as an extraction device for stumps and roots. 'Goats Foot' refers to the head shape which also came in arrow points, spatula shaped, and hook ends.

 

4 Ball Forcep The ball forcep was used to removed gunshot from soft tissue beyond the depth of the finger. Often, due to the depth of the wound and the operator's desire not to dilate any more than necessary, the ball was left in place. An excellent account of its use can be found in John Ramby's classic 'Treatment of Gun-shot Wounds'.

 

5. Director Used to direct the sharp blade of a surgical incision knife (Scalpel) into a wound of incision without damaging more soft tissue. The groove on the blade allowed the blade to be inserted after the blunted end was positioned.

 

6. Tenaculum This is a small hook designed to assist the surgeon during amputation by seizing the end of a veins or artery -after the tourniquet has been somewhat loosened to identify the major areas of bleeding - pull it out and hold it while it is being sutured.

 

7. Toothkey Also known as the Clef Anglaise. These were thought to be a great improvement on the older 'pelicans'. The population in general must have had more than a nodding acquaintance with the toothkey!

 

8, Bullet Probe This was use to locate foreign objects imbedded under the skin. The 'needle eye' in the end is for introducing a 'seaton' or irritant (i.e. course linen tape, cloth thread, etc.) into a blister to keep it open.

 

9. Double Retractor This instrument is used to retract soft tissue during surgical procedures.

 

10. Metacarpal Saw This small saw was generally included in a boxed surgical set and was used for various dismemberment procedures where the large bone saw was inappropriate, i.e. fingers, small joints, etc.

 

11. Cautery Or blistering iron, this is another head shape as #2

 

12. Catlin This is a small, rather delicate dagger-pointed, double-edged surgical knife used to separate the ligaments between two bones and around joints. It is generally included in all cased sets from c.1750 onwards through 1865.

 

13. Single Retractor Use is the same as the double retractor #9.

 

14 Cranes Bill Forceps

 

15. Trephine The trephine is a round or conical saw used for removing a disk of bone from the cranium. The opening is then used to introduce either a small cranial saw or an elevator to remove or lift back into proper position pieces of bone depressed during a fracture. This particular model was invented c.1750 by the great Samuel Sharpe of Guy's Hospital, London. Its most elegant design features cranial elevators attached to either end of the handle. The pin found in the crown of the saw (used to hold the saw in place while beginning the operation) can be removed with a key lest it puncture the dura mater.

 

16. Capital Saw with Spanner The third quarter of the 18th century was a period of evolution in the design of most major surgical implements. The amputation or capital saw was no exception. The 17th and early 18th century had seen very ornate open frame saws generally adapted from the braced frame generally lighter and smaller. By 1765, the design illustrated here had developed and by 1780 had become almost universal. The spanner (or wrench) was used to change or tightened the blade and was found in the original set along with a spare blade.

 

17. & 18. Incisison Knives The smaller surgical knife, the scalpel, used for incision and a multiplicity of other purposes from dilating a wound to extracting a foreign object, was known from Roman times as 'scalpellus', a small light knife. The point of application as regards depth of necessitated differences in edges, size, point, and shape. These two knives are reproductions of a full scale illustration found in the first edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica (London,1768) under the section entitled 'Surgery'

 

19. Bistoury Knife A bistoury is a knife with a long cutting edge of uniform breadth. The blade may be straight or curved and the point blunt or sharp; it is generally used for cutting the internal organs of the body and often only one section of the blade is sharpened.

 

20. Trocar The term 'trocar' was apparently first used in 1706 as a proper British corruption of the French 'trois-quarts' a three-faceted instrument consisting of a perforater in a tube, or cannula, used for withdrawing fluid from a bodily cavity. By the end of the century, most cannulae had a circular shield at the handle end and a prismatic point. Mostly used in dropsy, or hydrocele, applications also were illustrated for draining ovarian cysts and the nasal cavity. The perforator was generally steel while the callula was silver. The perforator came in different diameters; from a very small delicate exploring type to the large sort generally found in the surgical kits associated with military surgery.

 

21. Thumb Lancets (4) with Case The thumb lancet was the common surgical implement of the 18th century. In was used for a multitude of purposes and came in many different sizes. Its general use was in that most common of period operations, phlebotomy or bloodletting. Most common are cases sets with between three to six lancets. The cases were shagreen or metallic. Lancets have razor sharp blades within folding shields of either ivory, bone, silver, or commonly tortoise shell and the blades vary in angle of point conforming to the depth of puncture desired, i.e. a sharper angle denotes a surface point. Most physicians carried a set of thumb lancets on their persons at all times as a sort of 'first aid kit'.

 

22. Scissors Surgical scissors were made in either curved or straight versions and served the obvious purpose.

 

23. Fleam Originally a veterinary instrument, the fleam was sometimes used on humans in the associated phlebotical operation to make a series of 1 to 2 inch parallel gashes to drain surface blood, often the temples, behind the ears, base of the spine, back, buttocks, and legs. The blood was collected in glass vessels in a procedure known a 'cupping'. A multi-bladed, spring loaded device called a 'scarificator' was also used which made 8 to 12 simultaneous cuts of uniform depth.

 

24. Tourniquet A tourniquet is a device for reducing the pressure of arterial blood during an amputation or treatment of deep wound. There are several types from the simple fillet and stick to the screw tourniquet illustrated here. This particular style was invented by Francois Petit (d.1760) and quickly superseded all others. The original of this tourniquet was recovered from the wreck of the HMS Pandora. This was the sister ship of the HMS Bounty and was returning from Tahiti with the surviving mutineers when she struck a submerged reef off Australia.

 

25. Leather Apron As the 18th century physician had not yet heard of germs, cleanliness was not a consideration. Blood will not leak through leather as it does through fabric, and the same apron would be worn again and again.

 

26. Forcep Of the same design as the bullet forcep for fitting into the medial case, these are tapered and serrated at the ends for the removal of small objects."

CLARKE, CHARLES KIRK, psychiatrist, asylum superintendent, educator, and hospital administrator; b. 16 Feb. 1857 in Elora, Upper Canada, son of Charles Clarke* and Emma Kent; m. first 20 Oct. 1880 Margaret DeVeber Andrews (d. 1902) in Parkdale (Toronto), and they had four sons and two daughters; m. secondly 20 July 1904 Theresa Gallagher in Kingston, Ont.; d. 20 Jan. 1924 in Toronto.

 

After graduating from high school in Elora, Charles K. Clarke began work in 1874 as a clinical assistant at the provincially run Asylum for the Insane in Toronto. His hiring was largely due to the fact that two of his sisters had married psychiatrists, one a son of the asylum’s superintendent, Joseph Workman*. Clarke received his medical degrees from the University of Toronto (mb 1878, md 1879), and in 1880 he was appointed assistant medical superintendent of the Hamilton asylum, where he found the staff an “uncontrollable rabble.” In 1882-85 he occupied the same position at the Rockwood Asylum in Portsmouth (Kingston). Upset by asylum politics, he decided to resign but when Rockwood’s medical superintendent, Clarke’s brother-in-law William George Metcalf*, was killed by a patient in 1885, Clarke was promoted superintendent. He accepted, he later said, “to protect several hundred defenseless creatures from a political hireling who might be pitchforked into the position.”

 

At Rockwood, Clarke introduced an infirmary for acute cases, occupational therapy, and a psychiatric training program for nurses, the first in Canada. In 1895 he was named professor of mental diseases at nearby Queen’s College, which would confer an lld on him in 1906. In 1904 he became co-editor of the American Journal of Insanity (Baltimore). The next year he succeeded Daniel Clark* as head of the Toronto asylum, a position he would hold until 1911, when he became medical superintendent of the Toronto General Hospital. A founder and vice-president in 1907 of the Canadian Hospital Association, a year later he assumed the posts of psychiatrist at the TGH and, at the university, professor of psychiatry and dean of the faculty of medicine. He stepped down from the superintendence of the hospital in 1917, becoming its medical director, and left it altogether the following year when he was made medical director of the Canadian National Committee for Mental Hygiene. Two years later he resigned as dean to devote his full energy to this committee.

 

Despite Clarke’s dedication to psychiatry, his personal interests were diverse. At age 15 he had lost two middle fingers in a hunting accident, but he still became quite adept with his hands, building boats, a house, and a pipe organ, among other projects. He was an avid tennis player – in 1890 he and Dr William Gage won the Canadian doubles championship. In later years he took up golf and played the violin in the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Associates remembered him as a “mirthful conversationalist.” A serious naturalist and ornithologist, he had a summer home in eastern Ontario.

 

Clarke’s professional career can be broken into two stages. The first, until 1911, was accented by his service in the asylum system, where, for most of the 19th century, psychiatry was based. The physicians of Workman’s generation believed there was little they could do for patients other than shelter them, hoping their symptoms would remit. But by the turn of the century, more and more psychiatrists, dissatisfied with practice in asylums, began looking outside for ways of preventing and treating mental illness. The upshot was a growing interest in outpatient psychiatry, child-guidance clinics, Freudian psychoanalysis, scientific research into the biological conditions of mental disease, and such eugenic policies as sterilization and restrictions on marriage and immigration. Essentially conservative, Clarke did not subscribe to some of these new directions – including Freudianism and “sex problems ad nauseam” – but quite often he was in the forefront of innovative thinking.

 

During the asylum phase of his career Clarke worked constantly to improve the conditions of patients. Possessed of an authentic fondness for the mentally ill, he abhorred the stigma they traditionally bore. Following the lead of Metcalf, Richard Maurice Bucke*, and others, at Rockwood he had rebelled against traditional techniques, easing restraints on patients and attempting to treat them humanely. He tried assiduously to destroy any resemblance between an asylum and a prison, and would eventually succeed in reducing the stigmatic designation by having Ontario’s asylums renamed hospitals for the insane. But while he rejected many past policies he did not strictly oppose gynaecological surgery on patients to cure disorders; he did, however, object to the appeal made by R. M. Bucke and Alfred Thomas Hobbs of the London asylum to the National Council of Women of Canada to gain wider support for this type of treatment. A frequent expert witness at trials, he argued that some criminals were actually insane and not responsible for their actions. For instance, though he had not examined Métis leader Louis Riel*, he later diagnosed him as an “insane paranoiac” who should not have been hanged.

 

By the 1890s Clarke’s enthusiasms had begun to wane. His persistent requests of the government, for more resources and policies for better care, had fallen on deaf ears. Physically strong, he had survived a number of attacks by patients, but too many incurable and violent cases appeared to be entering his wards. His interests, in fact, were shifting to preventive psychiatry or, as it was called, mental hygiene. A steady source of professional articles in journals, he longed to found an institute where, unlike in an asylum with its never-ending administrative demands, he would have time to examine patients thoroughly and oversee the scientific study of mental diseases. Undoubtedly Clarke would have excelled in such an environment – few physicians had a keener clinical eye when it came to distinguishing one psychiatric condition from another. His model was the clinic in Munich of pioneering German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin.

 

When Clarke accepted the Toronto job in 1905 he hoped his dream could be realized. Working closely with provincial secretary William John Hanna*, he researched the project and travelled to Europe with others in 1907 to inspect psychiatric facilities there. Ultimately his plan fell through, though in 1909 he would introduce Kraepelin’s classification of mental diseases. Clarke put some blame for this failure on politicians and professional rivals among hospital neurologists, but he mainly held his colleagues in asylum psychiatry responsible. If his charge is true, it is hard to fault them for complaining: Clarke wanted to monopolize the most interesting and treatable patients, and dispatch the rest to the public asylums.

 

Clarke’s resignation from the Toronto asylum in 1911 highlighted his transition to the second stage of his career. He now devoted himself to prevention and the treatment of psychiatric outpatients. He had already opened an outpatients’ clinic at the TGH in 1909 under the direction of the brilliant Dr Ernest Jones; it was discontinued in 1913, when Jones left and pending completion of a new hospital complex, but a new Social Service Clinic was opened in the spring of 1914. There Clarke, Clarence Meredith Hincks*, and other psychiatrists diagnosed troubled young men and women sent by Toronto’s schools, courts, and social agencies. Still interested in provincial policy regarding the mentally handicapped, in 1912 Clarke had helped form the Provincial Association for the Care of the Feeble-Minded. At the same time that it argued for better care, he and others castigated the government for its reluctance to segregate “imbeciles” from their families.

 

During the early years of World War I, much of Clarke’s attention shifted to that conflict. Military service depleted the staff of the TGH, which gradually began filling up with returning servicemen. In 1915, the same year that Clarke established a ground-breaking clinic for venereal diseases, he helped in the organization of No.4 Canadian General Hospital unit, which went overseas, and in 1918 he became consultant in psychiatry to Military District No.2 (Toronto and central Ontario). The following year the federal Department of Soldiers’ Civil Re-establishment selected Clarke and one of its own psychiatrists, Captain Clarence B. Farrar*, to conduct a country-wide examination of asylums, in part to push for greater provincial aid for mentally disturbed veterans. In Ontario the two doctors encountered resistance from the office of provincial secretary William David McPherson, which, mindful of Clarke’s record of criticism, insisted that only provincial inspectors could visit hospitals there. According to Farrar, Ontario held Clarke to be a persona non grata.

 

During the war years Clarke returned to an issue that had preoccupied him for some time. After 1900, in an extreme demonstration of preventive medicine, he had emerged as one of the most vocal and most publicity-seeking critics of Canadian immigration. The years between the end of the century and the war witnessed an enormous boom of newcomers, from 21,716 in 1897 to 400,870 in 1913. As a result, a growing number of foreign-born patients began appearing in Ontario’s asylums – Clarke saw many more in Toronto than he had at Rockwood. The composition of this influx concerned him. Of the 1,244,597 immigrants who came between 1900 and 1909, 315,151 were from central and eastern Europe. Mostly anecdotal information conveyed the impression that a large percentage suffered from hereditary mental disability. Such impressions drew attention to Canada’s immigration law. Before 1902 virtually no medical inspections were made at the points of entry, and the laws governing deportation were inadequate. Even when inspection was begun there were too few physicians and facilities to handle the flow at the busiest ports. Later amendments to the Immigration Act helped, but the testimony of medical inspectors and public-health officials stressed that too many mentally and physically handicapped immigrants were still entering the country. Clarke agreed, and his inspection in 1901 of the hospital for the insane at New Westminster, B.C., which housed considerable numbers of Chinese-born patients, reinforced his view. In 1905 he stepped up his lobbying for more and better-trained psychiatrists as medical inspectors. In addition, he began publishing articles on the “defective and insane” immigrant. However, in 1907-8, he later recalled, he found himself “in the centre of an unpleasant controversy, as the facts and figures presented did not appeal to practical politicians who were anxious to cultivate the vote of the new immigrant who had recently arrived.” He therefore toned down his campaign, concluding that the time was not ripe for aggressive activism.

 

In 1916, sensing that changing circumstances had revitalized public opinion, Clarke rejoined the immigration debate. Many Canadians now felt that the best and healthiest young men of Canada were being sacrificed on the battlefields while the unfittest stayed home and begat their own kind. Such concern would lead to heightened fear about the immigration of unfit aliens once the war was over. The Provincial Association for the Care of the Feeble-Minded folded in 1918 when Clarke, Hincks, Helen MacMurchy*, and others founded the Canadian National Committee for Mental Hygiene, initially to attend to the psychiatric care of soldiers. It favoured prevention, including the screening of immigrants, whom it viewed as a primary source of mental degenerates (and therefore also of vice, disease, and unemployment). The growing interest in mental health, thus perceived, persuaded Clarke that the time was right to renew pressure on Ottawa. He drew on the enormous literature in the United States about immigration, much of which was part of the eugenic movement then sweeping North America. (Coined in 1883 in Britain, the term eugenics meant the study of heredity and the production of healthy offspring through the prevention of inherited disease.) A convert like most physicians of his day, Clarke believed that many European nations were trying to get rid of their insane and otherwise “defective” citizens by sending them to Canada or the United States, where, by reproducing their own kind, they posed a national menace.

 

Clarke used various means to alert public and official opinion to the eugenic dimensions of immigration. The receptive Public Health Journal (Toronto) published his denunciation in 1916 of the “defective immigrant” and in 1918 his theory on feeble-mindedness as the foundation of criminality. Among mps he circulated copies of his unpublished novel, “The amiable morons,” a thinly disguised account of Valentine Shortis*, the Irish immigrant who in 1895 had killed two men and wounded a third with no apparent emotion or motive. Clarke had testified at Shortis’s trial that he was a hereditary degenerate who had been insane at the time of the murders. Avoided by publishers, the manuscript emphasized the link between immigration and hereditary illness.

 

As a result of the efforts of Clarke and the CNCMH, in 1919 parliament approved amendments to the Immigration Act, but Clarke remained dissatisfied. Medical inspectors continued to serve merely in advisory roles, filling out forms and relying on civil officials to decide on admissions. Frequently these officials overlooked entry regulations when ordered to do so by government authorities. For Clarke and many other psychiatrists, the system would remain inefficient until inspectors were posted abroad, at the ports of embarkation, a reform that would not materialize until 1928.

 

After 1919 Clarke continued to find an audience. From his Toronto clinic he drew statistical findings about immigrants that are now seen as dubious and unrepresentative, but which were then readily received in many quarters. His often sensationalized linkage of feeble-mindedness, immigration, and national degeneration fed into the premises of such moral reformers as Charlotte Elizabeth Hazeltyne Whitton*, who were glad to have “scientific” endorsement of extreme, even nativist, immigration policies. In 1920 a meeting of the Presbyterian Church’s Canadian Council for the Immigration of Women proved very receptive to Clarke’s constructs and his proposals to weed out Jewish children fleeing famine in Ukraine. On another occasion that year, the arrival at Saint John of the first contingent of Barnardo orphans to come to Canada since the war, Clarke staged a public demonstration to reinforce his preferences and arguments. Though the children had been carefully examined in England, Clarke and “an array of medical experts” nonetheless put them through “thorough tests – followed by congratulations on the high-grade type of children.”

 

Clarke’s crusade helps explain how, in delivering the prestigious Maudsley Lecture before the Royal Medico-Psychological Association in England on 24 May 1923, he could announce that immigration had pushed Canada to the brink of crisis. It was being “bled white” by emigration to the United States and pumped full of defectives, many of them British. The lecture underscored the fact that the issue exerted a powerful, almost mesmeric attraction on his mind. He campaigned so relentlessly that he alienated numerous provincial and federal authorities. On occasion acerbic, combative, and stubborn, he was rarely diplomatic when it came to immigration and other concerns that he felt strongly about. Such force was necessary to sway minds on what, in his opinion, were vital public-health questions. By the late 1920s, however, the psychiatric profession was beginning to move away from the crude eugenics advocated by Clarke and the CNCMH.

 

Though Clarke’s professional life was largely taken up with CNCMH activities after 1918, other involvements contributed to his high profile. His controversial campaign for a true psychiatric clinic bore fruit in 1921, when a site was secured on Surrey Place near the TGH and the university; in 1923 Clarke was present at the laying of the cornerstone for the Toronto Psychiatric Hospital. Commissioned that year to assess Homewood Retreat, a private asylum near Guelph, he scored the sharp decline in its facilities for the acutely insane and the human costs of a greater resort to chemical and mechanical restraint. During the 1920s two of his children were also active in the field: Eric Kent was a psychiatrist in Toronto’s health department, while Emma DeVeber, who had served overseas as a nurse and at the TGH clinic, was supervisor of mental hygiene nursing with the city. An Anglican – his second wife was a lifelong Roman Catholic – C. K. Clarke died of cardiovascular disease in 1924 and was buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery. The Clarke Institute of Psychiatry in Toronto, which was named in his honour in 1966, merged into the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in 1998.

 

If Clarke’s commitment to public-health reform went as far as punitive eugenic policies, it was less a comment on him than it was a reflection of the times. His bending of clinical findings for eugenic purposes had resulted in part from the inexactitude of diagnosing feeble-mindedness. But in clinical situations where the symptom-pictures were more precisely defined, as in the diagnosis of dementia praecox (schizophrenia), he was on surer ground. That he possessed much purer psychiatric knowledge and ability is affirmed by his scientific publications and professionally significant advancement of Kraepelin’s classification. He had played a seminal role too in many of the momentous changes that had occurred in the field, especially in the break from asylums. Clarke served as mentor for some of the luminaries of the next generation of Canadian psychiatrists, including the internationally renowned Hincks and Farrar, who regarded Clarke as “the father of Canadian psychiatry.”

  

I'm a fan of pipe bands, pipe tunes and military music.

 

Apologies about the shaky video clips. Most people could hardly even stand or walk properly after enduring almost three hours in the open on a very cold night. My hands and whole body was trembling quite uncontrollably towards the end.

Savvy laughing uncontrollably at funny dog videos on YouTube.

Emma (curiously): "Do you ken any other languages?"

 

Suki: "Japanese and high school Spanish. Well, actually, all I remember from Spanish is No soy el dueño de este burro, lo rente."

 

Emma: "Whit does that mean?"

 

Suki: "I don't own that donkey, it's a rental."

 

Emma: *slaps hand over mouth* "Oh...well, I'm sure that's verra useful." *begins to giggle uncontrollably*

 

Everyone Else: *beings to laugh too*

 

**A Few Minutes of Mirth Later**

 

Z: *still chuckling* "So, why didn't you tell me, Suk?"

 

Suki: *shrugs* "I guess 'cuz I didn't want the hassle. Jon makes me feel good, and I didn't want you harshin' my mellow."

 

Candy: *nods* "Yeah. I know what you mean. Jon's a sweetheart. He's such a good listener, too. He actually cares about what you're saying."

 

Danny: "Jon's a bastard. And, I listen to you!"

 

Candy (exasperatedly): "You listen, but never actually hear anything, Danny. You rarely factor in what I want or need if it doesn't suit you, too."

 

Danny (aghast): "That's not true...*gives Candy a searching look*...is it?"

 

Candy: *sighs and takes Danny's hand* "We'll talk about it later, okay? Besides, I can't believe you're still jealous of Jon! I broke it off with him, so I could be with you, remember? Don't make me regret it!"

 

Danny (carefully): "You mean you don't already regret it?"

 

Candy: "No, I don't, but keep pushing me and that answer could change."

 

Danny: *wraps arms around Candy* "Got it. Pushy bad. Danny stop."

 

Candy (dryly): "No, you won't, but I guess that's part of your charm,*mutters* jackass."

 

Chloe: "So how's Jon in the sack, Can? Inquiring minds and all of that."

 

Danny: *stiffens*

 

Chloe: *cringes* "Oh, geez, that was kinda tactless, wasn't it? Suk's rubbin' off on me."

 

Candy: "Uh...I dunno. Johnny and I never, um, you know."

 

Danny: *face-splitting grin*

 

Candy (amused): "Liked hearing that, did you?"

 

Danny: "You have no idea."

 

Candy: "Keep smiling. I'm not sleeping with you, either."

 

Danny: "Yet. Not sleeping with me yet, Sprout."

   

Fashion Credits

 

**Any doll enhancements (i.e. freckles, piercings, eye color changes) were done by me unless otherwise stated.**

 

Candy

Skirt: Mattel - My Scene Nolee

Shirt: Spin Master - LivDoll Daniela - Added the buttons

Belt: Cangaway (Etsy.com)

Sweater: Jennifer Sue

Boots: Volks - WTG - Natural Love

Bracelets: Knife's Edge Designs (Me)

 

Doll is a Making a Scene Erin transplanted to a Misaki body.

 

Danny

Jeans: Mattel - James Dean - distressed by me

Shirt: Mattel - Harley Davidson Gift Set

Vest: Mattel - Modern Circle Ken - Cut the sleeves of the jacket

Boots: Volks - WTG - Selfish

Belt: Me

Necklace: Chain is from Euphoric Pierre/Charm is from High and Mighty Darius

 

Doll is a Style Strategy Lukas

Belgian postcard by P.E. (Photo Édition, Bruxelles), no. 17. Photo: Studio Melvyle.

 

Character actor Raymond Aimos (1891–1944) or simply Aimos was one of the familiar faces of the French cinema of the 1930s and early 1940s. During this golden age of poetic realism, he was the quintessential 'Titi Parisien' (Parisian kid) in at least 105 films. His film characters generally corresponded with himself: humble, poor, colourful, cheeky but with a heart of gold.

 

Raymond Aimos was born as Raymond Arthur Coudurier in La Fère in the North of France in 1891 (1889 (sic) according to IMDb and other sources). He was the son of a watchmaker-jeweler and was expected to work in the family business but young Raymond was uncontrollably attracted to show business. He managed to become an opera singer under the stage name Aimos. According to urban legends, retold by different sources, he made his first film appearance as a kid either in the Lumière brothers’ L’arroseur arose/The Sprinkler Sprinkled (1895, Louis Lumière) or in a film by another legendary film pioneer, Georges Méliès. (In the first film, the naughty boy was Benoît Duval). However, officially Aimos made his cinema debut in the short silent western Pendaison à Jefferson City/Hanging at Jefferson City (1910, Jean Durand) with Joë Hamman and Gaston Modot. He appeared in more early silent shorts, like the Onesime comedies Onésime et le nourrisson de la nourrice indigne/ Onesimus and the infant unworthy of the nurse (1912, Jean Durand), Onésime a un duel à l'américaine/Onesime has an American-style duel (1912, Jean Durand) and Onésime horloger/Onesime, Clockmaker (1912, Jean Durand), all starring Ernest Bourbon aka Onésime. A decade later, Aimos appeared in the Three Musketeers-sequel Vingt Ans après/Five Years Later (1922, Henri Diamant-Berger), based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas père. These film parts had all been modest, but Aimos’ lucky strike would be the coming of sound.

 

Aimos' physical appearance, his popular roots and mostly his gift of gab were in perfect harmony with the sound cinema of the 1930s. He was wonderful as a humble man of the people in two masterpieces by René Clair, Sous les toits de Paris/Under the Roofs of Paris (1930) starring Albert Préjean, and Quatorze juillet/July 14 (1933) with Annabella. It lead to more work for important directors. He appeared for Raymond Bernard as a soldier in the war drama Les croix de bois/Wooden Crosses (1932) with Pierre Blanchar, and a clochard in Amants et voleurs/Lovers and Thieves (1935) with Arletty, for Sacha Guitry as another clochard in Ils étaient neuf célibataires/Nine Bachelors (1939), for Marcel Carné as Quart-Vittel, the wreck in Quai des brumes/Port of Shadows (1938), and for Jean Grémillon in Lumière d'été/Summer Light (1943) starring Madeleine Renaud. His most memorable roles were in the films by Julien Duvivier, such as Mulot, the legionary friend of Jean Gabin in La Bandera, and Tintin, one of the five friends who build a riverside café after winning the jackpot in the lottery in La Belle Équipe with Jean Gabin and Charles Vanel. He also appeared in Duvivier’s Paquebot Tenacity and L’homme du jour. At IMDb, Guy Bellinger writes: “But even when he worked for less distinctive directors his presence was an asset for the film.” Some of these films now belong to the highlights of the Poetic realism, a French genre of the 1930s of lyrical, stylized and studio-bound films which offered a fatalistic view of life with their characters living on the margins of society, either as unemployed members of the working class or as criminals. Raymond Aimos was a courageous man in life. In August 1944, he decided to take part in the uprising against the Nazis which would lead to the Liberation of Paris. He was unfortunately hit by a stray bullet in the 10th Arrondissement. The exact circumstances of his death remain unclear and undetermined. He was only 53. Raymond Aimos never married and had no children. But he left an impressive film legacy, according to some sources he even appeared in nearly 450 films (IMDb only mentions 105 films)!

 

Sources: Simon Benattar-Bourgeay (Ciné-Artistes), Guy Bellinger (IMDb), Les Légendes du Cinéma (French), Wikipedia (French) and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

3Doodler Biddles

 

Some time ago i somehow discovered some Videos describing The 3Doodler; A Hand-held 3D Printing-Drawing Tool that allows The Craftsperson The Remarkable Ability to Draw in 3 Dimensions ( !!! ) i was very enthusiastic about this Technology; As The Videos seemed to show that this Technique was highly refined & essentially foolproof—

So that when i recently got a 3Doodler for my Birthday & after attempting to get it to work several times—

i was very disappointed to have given up on it. It may be that i actually broke it, As The instructions reveal that there are about 20 different ways that you can break it— Voiding The Warranty.

 

The Principle Problem that i seem to be having, Aside from Issues that i have with The Methods suggested for Cleaning The Extrusion Tool— Is that The Archimedean Screw Drive that is supposed to pull The Filament Stick through The Device, Just isn’t working. Even when it’s ostensibly working to some degree, The Extrusion Rate is so Tediously Slow that it’s unbearable. i can’t imagine why, if it is working properly when it does seem to be working, that The Device has a Slow & Fast Extrusion Speeds, Because The Fast Button results in The Plastic Feebly Dribbling out & immediately forming uncontrollable curlycues.

This is Why i hate getting Presents, Especially Expensive ones; Because they have far more often than i would like to have experienced— Just don’t Work.

Another of The most notably Traumatic & Frustrating Toys of my childhood was A Military Hovercraft which featured A Gas Engine, that i discovered from some of my other playmates at school, that also got one of these for Christmas; Could Not get The Engine to kick over either. ( !!! )

Plus; there were a lot of toys that were just a little too complicated, or required ‘Additional’ materials that for whatever reasons, i was Not able to obtain.

Other toys were meant to be used with Attentive Parents, which i lacked.

The Best Presents are simple, fool-proof toys & novelties of The Highest Quality that never cost more than $20.

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3Doodler Evaluation :

 

The Instruction Manual that Comes with The Device was Printed using A 6 pt. Helvetica Like Font. This is 3 points smaller than Newsprint, about 5 points smaller than Book Type.

A Magnifying Glass may be required for The Visually Impaired.

 

Reading All Instructions Thoroughly Before Usage is Imperative !

: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - : o

 

Obviously; Due to The Device’s Inherent Functionality, It must be quite hot while operating, & any contact of The Extrusion Nozzle with Human or Animal Flesh or Flammable Materials, such as Cloth, Polyester, Paper, Plastics, Furniture Surfaces or Other Organic Materials; May or Will Result in Minor or Significant Damage or UnControlled Fires.

Due to it’s Electrical Nature; Use in The Vicinity of Open Water is to be Avoided.

Use in The Vicinity or Presence of Flammable Gases or Liquids would also be presumably Dangerous.

Inhaling The Fumes from The Melting Plastic may also Result in Permanent or Temporary Health Issues. This is Not an Appropriate Toy for people with Asthma.

Avoid Contact with The Hot Extruded Plastics as well.

: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - : o

 

There are Two Heating Settings, which may be Tweaked with A Control Element on The Device, Which are suggested for The Four ( ? ) Types of Plastic Sticks.

These Settings are Not mentioned on The Packaging of The Sticks themselves, & Effectively Hidden within The Instructions in an Arguably Ambiguous Block of Text.

 

These ‘Types’ are Not Expounded upon.

That is; What does PLA, WOOD, ABS or FLEXY Mean ?

PLA may be Plastic, But they’re all Plastic Aren’t they ?

WOOD is certainly Not Wood ?

ABS is anyone’s guess

FLEXY refers to a kind of Flexible Plastic after It’s Extruded.

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The Red LED means that The Tool is Coming up to The Proper Temperature.

Wait until The Green or Blue LED is Illuminated before Inserting The Plastic Filament Stick or Pressing Either of The Advancement Buttons.

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PLA & WOOD are intended for ‘Lower’ Temperature Setting.

374˚ to 392˚F

Indicated with The Green LED

PLA includes The Black, Grey, White, Clear & Translucent Blue Sticks.

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ABS & FLEXY are intended for The ‘Higher’ Temperature Setting.

446˚ to 464˚F

Indicated with The Blue LED

ABS includes The Bright Neon Colors, Pink, Red, Yellow, Green & Opaque Blue Sticks.

ABS also includes The Glow in The Dark Sticks.

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Adult Use Only.

It is perhaps curious that many of The Accessory Tools though are designed for use by very tiny hands.

The Box & Instructions do Not Assert a Suggested Age Limit for Usage.

: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - : o

Ways that you can Break your 3Doodler Tool.

- - -

The 3Doodler is Not Returnable if you Break it, Due to Shoddy Manufacturing &/or Design of The Product.

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Pulling The Plastic Stick out of The Back in a manner deviant from The Prescribed method.

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Attempting to Remove The Nozzle with The Extrusion Tool’s heating Element Off.

It needs to be On & Hot Before Removing or Attaching it.

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Over Tightening The Nozzle will break it Irrevocably.

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Leaving The Stick in The Extrusion Tool After you’ve Turned it Off or Unplugged it will cause The Plastic Filament to Jam up into The Screw-Drive & Nozzle.

( Residual Plastic in The Nozzle itself though is A Normal Condition )

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Inserting a Jagged Plastic Filament Stick End into The Tool.

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Replacing The Maintenance Cover Improperly. User Provided Needle Nose Tweezers & A Thimble are Suggested for Easier Removal & Replacement of The Maintenance Cover & Cleaning of The Screw Drive.

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Loading A Plastic Stick before The Tool is Properly Heated.

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Twisting The Plastic Stick ( Filament ) CounterClockWise or Pushing it Too Aggressively into The Tool.

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Overturning The Temperature Adjustment Screw, which features No Feedback Indication of Where it is Currently Set.

 

: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - : o

Additional Commentary :

 

Since Removing The Replacing The Maintenance Cover to Clean The Archimedean Screw Drive is something that is Absolutely Required from Time to Time; Its Design should have allowed it to Removed & Replaced Easily, Rather than Nearly Impossibly, as it was. Honestly; It will take at least two people to remove & replace The Maintenance Cover. A Single Person will Require Exceptional Dexterity to Perform this function on their own.

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Apparently Tweaking The Temperature for The Heating Device is Imperative for The Device’s Safe & Sane Usage; This Procedure should have been expounded upon at length, rather than briefly touched upon & Glazed over.

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The Nozzle Removal Tool & Adjustment ScrewDriver were made for The Use of Faery People & will probably be lost within The First 5 Minutes after opening The Box.

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Because of The Surface Texture & Smoothness of The Plastic Sticks; It is rather Difficult to know if The Sticks are Either Rotating or Moving, Which is Critical to Knowing for Various ‘Safe’ Procedures. The User may Remedy this by marking The stick with a Sharpie Writing Utensil so as to see If & how much The Filament Stick is Rotating.

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In Short : The Device was Created / Engineered to Break soon after you try using it.

: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - : o

 

Recommended Engineering Changes :

 

It is very common nowadays to design things that are Black on Black, which makes finding things, such as buttons or access ports more tedious & difficult than it should be ! The Buttons & Most Notably; The Electrical Input Plug that is right next to The Filament Input Orifice, should have Colored Rings Around them to make them easier to find & Distinguish one from another.

- -

The Principle Difficulty or ‘Problem’ that i am encountering seems to be Related to The Gear Train ( Archimedean Screw ) that is supposed to Pull The Plastic Filament Stick through The Device is Very Inefficient. i’m Not sure if mine is broken or Not, As it does seem to work occasionally, but pulls The Stick forward — Very, Very Slowly. And More often; it doesn’t pull it forward at all. / i’m thinking that maybe The Drive Tram should be farther away from The Heating Element, So that it pulls against The Hard Cold Filament, Which itself is Textured to Facilitate a Better Grip on it, Which then pushes it into The Heating Element. ( ? )

Another approach that occurred to me was that The Filament could be pulled through The Center of The Archimedean Screw, as opposed to riding along The top of it. This would mean though that cleaning it might be slightly more difficult, but The Cleaning Rod should be able to push anything out of it ( ? )

- -

i am also annoyed that The Pathway of The Filament Stick seems to ‘Jog’ as it comes into The Archimedean Screw Chamber, as i often have considerable difficulty in pushing The Cleaning Rod into The Extrusion Device through The Nozzle End.

This pathway should be straight through, & maybe there should be ‘Another’ User Controlled Adjustment Screw that would move The Screw Drive up into The Path of The Filament Stick for better contact with it.

- -

Since Removing The Nozzle is So Integral to Cleaning The Device, & Must be Performed Frequently; & this Assemblage is So Essentially Fragile ( ! ) It may be Substantially Desirable to Set The Nozzle into a Fixed Cradle Mounting, which may then be Very Easily Snapped Off by merely pulling it away from The Tool. This Cradle Mounting would be Made to Assure that Damaging it would be Virtually Impossible.

- -

The Nozzle Assemblage should be Redesigned to make it impossible to OverTighten it. When The Rotation Limit is Reached, The OverRest Assemblage Cradle would then Rotate, While emitting a Clicking Noise.

- -

The Access Panel to The Advancing Archimedean Gear should be Easily Removed by Sliding it along a Short Track, while depressing it to Clear A Ratchet Locking Step. Replacing it would then merely be performed by sliding it back along The Track & Feeling it Click past The Locking Steps to it’s Closed Position, Indicated by Raised Bars that Line Up End to End.

- -

The Advancement Gear Assemblage would be Made so that any ( reasonable ) amount of Tugging on The Filament Stick will Not Dislodge it from its Cradle & Motor.

- -

The Reverse Gear Action should be Achieved with its own Button or Sliding Switch.

 

: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - : o

Additional Tools that Should have been Provided in The Kit :

 

Needle Nose Tweezers

Thimble ( for ReAttaching The Access Panel ! )

 

: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - : o

For Information Regarding Customer Service, Repairs or Returns, Hysterical Rants or such; Please Contact The 3Doodler Engineers & Administrative Bureaucrats @ :

cs@the3Doodler.com

: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - : o

 

From a group of experimental shots taken on a bright day with a high ISO rating and the contrast turned up full.

 

Agoraphobia (from Greek ἀγορά, "marketplace"; and φόβος/φοβία, -phobia) is an anxiety disorder characterized by anxiety in situations where it is perceived to be difficult or embarrassing to escape. These situations can include, but are not limited to, wide-open spaces, and uncontrollable social situations such as may be met in shopping malls, airports, and on bridges. Agoraphobia is defined within the DSM-IV TR as a subset of panic disorder, involving the fear of incurring a panic attack in those environments. The sufferer may go to great lengths to avoid those situations, in severe cases becoming unable to leave their home or safe haven.

Although mostly thought to be a fear of public places, it is now believed that agoraphobia develops as a complication of panic attacks. However, there is evidence that the implied one-way causal relationship between spontaneous panic attacks and agoraphobia in DSM-IV may be incorrect. Onset is usually between ages 20 and 40 years and more common in women. Approximately 3.2 million, or about 2.2%, of adults in the US between the ages of 18 and 54, suffer from agoraphobia. Agoraphobia can account for approximately 60% of phobias. Studies have shown two different age groups at first onset: early to mid twenties, and early thirties.

Today, we have a storm.

Today, the lights are scheduled to go off at night.

Today, in spite of all the natural and uncontrollable mishaps, is when happy-ness is an understatement. <3

What is oral cancer?

 

Cancer is defined as the uncontrollable growth of cells that invade and cause damage to surrounding tissue. Oral cancer appears as a growth or sore that does not go away. Oral cancer — which includes cancers of the lips, tongue, cheek, floor of the mouth, hard and soft palate, sinuses, and pharynx (throat) — can be life-threatening if not diagnosed and treated early.

What are the signs and symptoms of oral cancer?

 

The following are the common signs and symptoms:

 

* Swellings/thickenings, lumps or bumps, rough spots/crusts/or eroded areas on the lips, gums, or other areas inside the mouth

* The development of velvety white, red, or speckled (white and red) patches in the mouth

* Unexplained bleeding in the mouth

* Unexplained numbness, loss of feeling, or pain/tenderness in any area of the face, mouth, or neck

* Persistent sores on the face, neck, or mouth that bleed easily and do not heal within two weeks

* A soreness or feeling that something is caught in the back of the throat

* Difficulty chewing or swallowing, speaking, or moving the jaw or tongue

* Hoarseness, chronic sore throat, or changes in the voice

* Ear pain

* A change in the way your teeth or dentures fit together – a change in your "bite"

* Dramatic weight loss

 

If you notice any of these changes, contact your dentist immediately for a professional examination.

I recently noticed a whitish patch in my mouth. Is this oral cancer?

 

This whitish patch could be leukoplakia. Leukoplakia, a condition caused by excess cell growth, can form on the cheeks, gums, or tongue. Leukoplakia is commonly seen in tobacco users, in people with ill-fitting dentures, and in those who have a habit of chewing on their cheek. This condition can progress to cancer. Red patches in the mouth (called erythroplakia) are less common than leukoplakia but have an even greater potential for being cancerous. Any white or red lesion in your mouth should be evaluated by your dentist.

Who gets oral cancer and what are the risk factors for oral cancer?

 

According to the American Cancer Society, men face twice the risk of developing oral cancer as women, and men who are over age 50 face the greatest risk. The rate of development of cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx began to decline in the late 1970s and has continued to decline throughout the 1990s in both African Americans, and white males and females.

 

Risk factors for the development of oral cancer include:

 

* Cigarette, cigar, or pipe smoking — Smokers are six times more likely than non-smokers to develop oral cancers.

* Use of smokeless tobacco products (for example, dip, snuff, or chewing tobacco) — Use of these products increase the risk of cancers of the cheek, gums, and lining of the lips.

* Excessive consumption of alcohol — Oral cancers are about six times more common in drinkers than in non-drinkers.

* Family history of cancer

* Excessive exposure to the sun — especially at a young age

 

It is important to note that more than 25% of all oral cancers occur in people who do not smoke and who only drink alcohol occasionally.

Other Oral Cancer Facts

 

Oral cancer is the sixth most common cancer among men.

 

About 75% to 80% of people with oral cavity and pharynx cancer consume alcohol.

 

People who smoke and drink alcohol have an even higher risk of cancer than those who only drink or only use tobacco products.

 

The risk of developing oral cavity and pharynx cancers increases both with the amount as well as the length of time tobacco and alcohol products are used.

Survival

 

The overall 1-year survival rate for patients with all stages of oral cavity and pharynx cancers is 81%. The 5 & 10-year survival rates are 56% and 41%, respectively.

How is oral cancer diagnosed?

 

Your dentist will conduct an oral cancer screening exam, which is a routine part of a comprehensive dental examination. More specifically, your dentist will feel for any lumps or irregular tissue changes in your neck, head, face, and oral cavity. When examining your mouth, your dentist will look for any sores or discolored tissue, as well as check for or ask you about the signs and symptoms mentioned above.

 

Your dentist might perform an oral brush biopsy if he or she sees tissue in your mouth that looks suspicious. This test is painless and involves taking a small sample of the tissue and analyzing it for abnormal cells. Alternatively, if the tissue looks even more suspicious, your dentist might recommend a scalpel biopsy. This procedure usually requires local anesthesia and might be performed by your dentist or a specialist referred by your dentist. These tests are necessary to detect oral cancer early, before it has had a chance to progress and spread.

How is oral cancer treated?

 

Oral cancer is treated the same way many other cancers are treated; that is with surgery to remove the cancerous growth followed by radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy (drug treatments) to destroy any remaining cancer cells.

What can I do to prevent oral cancer?

 

You can take an active role in preventing oral cancer or detecting it early, should it occur.

 

* Conduct a self exam at least once a month. Using a bright light and a mirror, look and feel your lips and front of your gums. Tilt your head back and look at and feel the roof of your mouth. Pull your checks out to view the inside of your mouth, the lining of your cheeks, and the back gums. Pull out your tongue and look at all surfaces. Examine the floor of your mouth. Look at the back of your throat. Feel for lumps or enlarged lymph nodes in both sides of your neck and under your lower jaw. Call your dentist’s office immediately if you notice any changes in the appearance of your mouth or any of the signs and symptoms mentioned above.

* See your dentist on a regular schedule. Even though you might be conducting frequent self exams, sometimes dangerous spots or sores in the mouth can be very tiny and difficult to see on your own. The American Cancer Society recommends oral cancer screening exams every three years for people over age 20 and annually for those over age 40. During your next dental appointment, ask your dentist to perform an oral exam. Early detection can improve the chance of successful treatment.

* Don’t smoke or use any tobacco products and drink alcohol in moderation. (Refrain from binge drinking.)

* Eat a well balanced diet.

* Limit your exposure to the sun. Repeated exposure increases the risk of cancer on the lip, especially the lower lip. When in the sun, use UV-A/B-blocking sun protective lotions on your skin as well as your lips.

 

The first of the flock, this Rover 800 rolled off the production line as a premier for what could have been the new age of Rover. But no...

 

This was meant to take on the world this was, but sadly it didn’t get very far! The Rover 800 had so many possibilities, so many variants could have been derived from it, but unfortunately the management was once again very quick to nip this beautiful car in the bud, and the Rover 800 would join that long line of ‘what-could-have-been’ motors that seem to pave British motoring history.

 

The origin of the Rover 800 goes back to the late 1970’s, when nationalised British car manufacturer and all around general failure British Leyland was absolutely desperate to fix its seemingly endless list of problems. The company had now garnered a reputation for creating some of the worst, most outdated cars of all time, the likes of the Morris Marina, the Austin Allegro and the Triumph TR7 being derided in both critical and customer reviews. A mixture of strike action by uncontrollable Trade Unions led by the infamous Red Robbo had meant that cars were only put together for a few hours per day on a three day week. As such, reliability was atrocious on a biblical scale, be it mechanical, cosmetic or electrical.

 

As such, in 1979, British Leyland began talks with Japanese car manufacturer Honda to try and help improve the reliability of their machines. The pioneer of this brave new deal was the Triumph Acclaim of 1980, BL’s first reliable car and not a bad little runabout. Basically a rebadged Honda Ballade, the Acclaim wasn’t meant to set the world ablaze, but it certainly helped get the company back onto people’s driveways, selling reasonably well thanks to its reliable mechanics (even if rust was something of an issue). As such, BL decided that from now on it would give its fleet a complete overhaul, basing their new models on Japanese equivalents. From 1984, the Rover 200 arrived on the scene, again, a rebadged Honda Ballade, while the Maestro and the Montego ranges also took on several tips from their Japanese counterparts, though they were primarily based on British underpinnings.

 

The Rover 800 however spawned quite early on, in 1981 to be exact. Following the catastrophic failure of the Rover SD1 in the American market, which only sold 774 cars before Rover removed itself from the USA altogether, the company was desperate to get another foothold across the pond. As such, the new project, dubbed project XX, would be the icing on the cake in terms of British Leyland’s fleet overhaul, a smooth and sophisticated executive saloon to conquer the world. However, plans were pushed back after the launch of the Montego and the Maestro, and thus project XX wouldn’t see the light of day again until about 1984.

 

Still in production and suffering from being long-in-the-tooth, the Rover SD1 was now coming up on 10 years old, and though a sublime car in terms of style and performance, it was now struggling in sales. Rover really needed to replace this golden oldie, and thus project XX was back on. In the usual fashion, Honda was consulted, and it was decided that the car would be based on that company’s own executive saloon, the Honda Legend. Jointly developed at Rover’s Cowley plant and Honda’s Tochigi development centre, both cars shared the same core structure and floorplan, but they each had their own unique exterior bodywork and interior. Under the agreement, Honda would supply the V6 petrol engine, both automatic and manual transmissions and the chassis design, whilst BL would provide the 4-cylinder petrol engine and much of the electrical systems. The agreement also included that UK-market Honda Legends would be built at the Cowley Plant, and the presence of the Legend in the UK would be smaller than that of the Rover 800, with profits from the 800 shared between the two companies.

 

Launched on July 10th, 1986, the Rover 800 was welcomed with warm reviews regarding its style, its performance and its reliability. Though driving performance was pretty much the same as the Honda Legend, what put the Rover above its Japanese counterpart was its sheer internal elegance and beauty, combined with a differing external design that borrowed cues from the outgoing SD1. The 800 also provided the company with some much-needed optimism, especially following the gradual breakup of British Leyland by the Thatcher Government between 1980 and 1986.

 

Following her election in 1979, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher took a no nonsense attitude to the striking unions, and the best form of defence was attack. To shave millions from the deficit, she reduced government spending on nationalised companies such as British Airways, British Coal Board, British Steel and British Leyland by selling them to private ownership. For British Leyland, the slow breakup of the company started with the sale of Leyland Trucks and Buses to DAF of Holland and Volvo, respectively. 1984 saw Jaguar made independent and later bought by Ford, but when rumours circulated that the remains of British Leyland would be sold to foreign ownership, share prices crashed, and the company was privatised and put into the hands of British Aerospace on the strict understanding that the company could not be sold again for four years. With this move, British Leyland was renamed Rover Group, the Austin badge being dropped, and the only remaining brands left being the eponymous Rover and sporty MG.

 

In the light of this tumultuous period, many of Rover and MG’s projects had to be scrapped in light of turbulent share prices and income, these projects including the Austin AR16 family car range (based largely off the Rover 800) and the MG EX-E supercar. The Rover 800 however was the first model to be released by the company following privatisation, and doing well initially in terms of sales, hopes were high that the Rover 800 would herald the end of the company’s troubled spell under British Leyland. The Rover 800 was planned to spearhead multiple Rover ventures, including a return to the US-market in the form of the Sterling, and a coupe concept to beat the world, the sublime Rover CCV.

 

However, British Leyland may have been gone, but their management and its incompetence remained. Rather than taking the formation of Rover Group as a golden opportunity to clean up the company’s act, to the management it was business as usual, and the Rover 800 began to suffer as a consequence. A lack of proper quality control and a cost-cutting attitude meant that despite all the Japanese reliability that had been layered on these machines in the design stage, the cars were still highly unreliable when they left the factory.

 

Perhaps the biggest sentiment to the 800’s failure was the Sterling in America. The Sterling had been named as such due to Rover’s reputation being tarnished by the failure of the unreliable SD1. Initial sales were very promising with the Sterling, a simple design with oodles of luxury that was price competitive with family sedan’s such as the Ford LTD and the Chevy Caprice. However, once the problems with reliability and quality began to rear their heads, sales plummeted and the Sterling very quickly fell short of its sales quota, only selling 14,000 of the forecast 30,000 cars per annum. Sales dropped year by year until eventually the Sterling brand was axed in 1991.

 

With the death of the Sterling came the death of the CCV, a luxury motor that had already won over investors in both Europe and the USA. The fantastic design that had wooed the American market and was ready to go on sale across the States was axed unceremoniously in 1987, and with it any attempt to try and capture the American market ever again.

 

In 1991, Rover Group, seeing their sales were still tumbling, and with unreliable callbacks to British Leyland like the Maestro and Montego still on sale, the company decided to have yet another shakeup to try and refresh its image. The project, dubbed R17, went back to the company’s roots of grand old England, and the Rover 800 was the first to feel its touch. The R17 facelift saw the 800’s angular lines smoothed with revised light-clusters, a low-smooth body, and the addition of a grille, attempting to harp back to the likes of the luxurious Rover P5 of the 1960’s. Engines were also updated, with the previous M16 Honda engine being replaced by a crisp 2.0L T16, which gave the car some good performance. The car was also made available in a set of additional ranges, including a coupe and the sport Vitesse, complete with a higher performance engine.

 

Early reviews of the R17 800 were favourable, many critics lauding its design changes and luxurious interior, especially given its price competitiveness against comparable machines such as the Vauxhall Omega and the Ford Mondeo. Even Jeremy Clarkson, a man who fervently hated Rover and everything it stood for, couldn’t help but give it a good review on Top Gear. However, motoring critics were quick to point out the fact that by this time Honda was really starting to sell heavily in the UK and Europe, and people now asked themselves why they’d want to buy the Rover 800, a near carbon-copy of the Honda Legend, for twice the price but equal performance. Wood and leather furnishings are very nice, but not all motorists are interested in that, some are just interested in a reliable and practical machine to run around in.

 

As such, the Rover 800’s sales domestically were very good, it becoming the best-selling car in the UK for 1992, but in Europe not so much. Though Rover 800’s did make it across the Channel, the BMW 5-Series and other contemporary European models had the market sown up clean, and the Rover 800 never truly made an impact internationally. On average, the car sold well in the early 1990’s, but as time went on the car’s place in the market fell to just over 10,000 per year by 1995. Rover needed another shake-up, and the Rover 75 did just that.

 

In 1994, Rover Group was sold to BMW, and their brave new star to get the company back in the good books of the motoring public was the Rover 75, an executive saloon to beat the world. With this new face in the company’s showrooms, the Rover 800 and its 10 year old design was put out to grass following its launch in 1998. Selling only around 6,500 cars in its final full year of production, the Rover 800 finished sales in 1999 and disappeared, the last relic of the British Leyland/Honda tie up from the 1980’s.

 

Today the Rover 800 finds itself under a mixed reception. While some argue that it was the last true Rover before the BMW buyout, others will fervently deride it as a Honda with a Rover badge, a humiliation of a Rover, and truly the point where the company lost its identity. I personally believe it to be a magnificent car, a car with purpose, a car with promise, but none of those promises fulfilled. It could have truly been the face of a new Rover in the late 1980’s, and could have returned the company to the front line of the motoring world, at least in Britain. But sadly, management incompetence won again for the British motor industry, and the Rover 800 ended its days a lukewarm reminder that we really didn’t know a good thing until it was gone.

Nikonitis: Uncontrollable infection that compels the affected to irrationally acquire anything with the word "Nikon" printed on it. At present there's no known cure.

 

Leitzitis: Similar to Nikonitis, but accompanied by a totally unfounded feeling of superiority.

 

Source: photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00ZqiH

  

What is oral cancer?

 

Cancer is defined as the uncontrollable growth of cells that invade and cause damage to surrounding tissue. Oral cancer appears as a growth or sore that does not go away. Oral cancer — which includes cancers of the lips, tongue, cheek, floor of the mouth, hard and soft palate, sinuses, and pharynx (throat) — can be life-threatening if not diagnosed and treated early.

What are the signs and symptoms of oral cancer?

 

The following are the common signs and symptoms:

 

* Swellings/thickenings, lumps or bumps, rough spots/crusts/or eroded areas on the lips, gums, or other areas inside the mouth

* The development of velvety white, red, or speckled (white and red) patches in the mouth

* Unexplained bleeding in the mouth

* Unexplained numbness, loss of feeling, or pain/tenderness in any area of the face, mouth, or neck

* Persistent sores on the face, neck, or mouth that bleed easily and do not heal within two weeks

* A soreness or feeling that something is caught in the back of the throat

* Difficulty chewing or swallowing, speaking, or moving the jaw or tongue

* Hoarseness, chronic sore throat, or changes in the voice

* Ear pain

* A change in the way your teeth or dentures fit together – a change in your "bite"

* Dramatic weight loss

 

If you notice any of these changes, contact your dentist immediately for a professional examination.

I recently noticed a whitish patch in my mouth. Is this oral cancer?

 

This whitish patch could be leukoplakia. Leukoplakia, a condition caused by excess cell growth, can form on the cheeks, gums, or tongue. Leukoplakia is commonly seen in tobacco users, in people with ill-fitting dentures, and in those who have a habit of chewing on their cheek. This condition can progress to cancer. Red patches in the mouth (called erythroplakia) are less common than leukoplakia but have an even greater potential for being cancerous. Any white or red lesion in your mouth should be evaluated by your dentist.

Who gets oral cancer and what are the risk factors for oral cancer?

 

According to the American Cancer Society, men face twice the risk of developing oral cancer as women, and men who are over age 50 face the greatest risk. The rate of development of cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx began to decline in the late 1970s and has continued to decline throughout the 1990s in both African Americans, and white males and females.

 

Risk factors for the development of oral cancer include:

 

* Cigarette, cigar, or pipe smoking — Smokers are six times more likely than non-smokers to develop oral cancers.

* Use of smokeless tobacco products (for example, dip, snuff, or chewing tobacco) — Use of these products increase the risk of cancers of the cheek, gums, and lining of the lips.

* Excessive consumption of alcohol — Oral cancers are about six times more common in drinkers than in non-drinkers.

* Family history of cancer

* Excessive exposure to the sun — especially at a young age

 

It is important to note that more than 25% of all oral cancers occur in people who do not smoke and who only drink alcohol occasionally.

Other Oral Cancer Facts

 

Oral cancer is the sixth most common cancer among men.

 

About 75% to 80% of people with oral cavity and pharynx cancer consume alcohol.

 

People who smoke and drink alcohol have an even higher risk of cancer than those who only drink or only use tobacco products.

 

The risk of developing oral cavity and pharynx cancers increases both with the amount as well as the length of time tobacco and alcohol products are used.

Survival

 

The overall 1-year survival rate for patients with all stages of oral cavity and pharynx cancers is 81%. The 5 & 10-year survival rates are 56% and 41%, respectively.

How is oral cancer diagnosed?

 

Your dentist will conduct an oral cancer screening exam, which is a routine part of a comprehensive dental examination. More specifically, your dentist will feel for any lumps or irregular tissue changes in your neck, head, face, and oral cavity. When examining your mouth, your dentist will look for any sores or discolored tissue, as well as check for or ask you about the signs and symptoms mentioned above.

 

Your dentist might perform an oral brush biopsy if he or she sees tissue in your mouth that looks suspicious. This test is painless and involves taking a small sample of the tissue and analyzing it for abnormal cells. Alternatively, if the tissue looks even more suspicious, your dentist might recommend a scalpel biopsy. This procedure usually requires local anesthesia and might be performed by your dentist or a specialist referred by your dentist. These tests are necessary to detect oral cancer early, before it has had a chance to progress and spread.

How is oral cancer treated?

 

Oral cancer is treated the same way many other cancers are treated; that is with surgery to remove the cancerous growth followed by radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy (drug treatments) to destroy any remaining cancer cells.

What can I do to prevent oral cancer?

 

You can take an active role in preventing oral cancer or detecting it early, should it occur.

 

* Conduct a self exam at least once a month. Using a bright light and a mirror, look and feel your lips and front of your gums. Tilt your head back and look at and feel the roof of your mouth. Pull your checks out to view the inside of your mouth, the lining of your cheeks, and the back gums. Pull out your tongue and look at all surfaces. Examine the floor of your mouth. Look at the back of your throat. Feel for lumps or enlarged lymph nodes in both sides of your neck and under your lower jaw. Call your dentist’s office immediately if you notice any changes in the appearance of your mouth or any of the signs and symptoms mentioned above.

* See your dentist on a regular schedule. Even though you might be conducting frequent self exams, sometimes dangerous spots or sores in the mouth can be very tiny and difficult to see on your own. The American Cancer Society recommends oral cancer screening exams every three years for people over age 20 and annually for those over age 40. During your next dental appointment, ask your dentist to perform an oral exam. Early detection can improve the chance of successful treatment.

* Don’t smoke or use any tobacco products and drink alcohol in moderation. (Refrain from binge drinking.)

* Eat a well balanced diet.

* Limit your exposure to the sun. Repeated exposure increases the risk of cancer on the lip, especially the lower lip. When in the sun, use UV-A/B-blocking sun protective lotions on your skin as well as your lips.

 

This was meant to take on the world this was, but sadly it didn’t get very far! The Rover 800 had so many possibilities, so many variants could have been derived from it, but unfortunately the management was once again very quick to nip this beautiful car in the bud, and the Rover 800 would join that long line of ‘what-could-have-been’ motors that seem to pave British motoring history.

 

The origin of the Rover 800 goes back to the late 1970’s, when nationalised British car manufacturer and all around general failure British Leyland was absolutely desperate to fix its seemingly endless list of problems. The company had now garnered a reputation for creating some of the worst, most outdated cars of all time, the likes of the Morris Marina, the Austin Allegro and the Triumph TR7 being derided in both critical and customer reviews. A mixture of strike action by uncontrollable Trade Unions led by the infamous Red Robbo had meant that cars were only put together for a few hours per day on a three day week. As such, reliability was atrocious on a biblical scale, be it mechanical, cosmetic or electrical.

 

As such, in 1979, British Leyland began talks with Japanese car manufacturer Honda to try and help improve the reliability of their machines. The pioneer of this brave new deal was the Triumph Acclaim of 1980, BL’s first reliable car and not a bad little runabout. Basically a rebadged Honda Ballade, the Acclaim wasn’t meant to set the world ablaze, but it certainly helped get the company back onto people’s driveways, selling reasonably well thanks to its reliable mechanics (even if rust was something of an issue). As such, BL decided that from now on it would give its fleet a complete overhaul, basing their new models on Japanese equivalents. From 1984, the Rover 200 arrived on the scene, again, a rebadged Honda Ballade, while the Maestro and the Montego ranges also took on several tips from their Japanese counterparts, though they were primarily based on British underpinnings.

 

The Rover 800 however spawned quite early on, in 1981 to be exact. Following the catastrophic failure of the Rover SD1 in the American market, which only sold 774 cars before Rover removed itself from the USA altogether, the company was desperate to get another foothold across the pond. As such, the new project, dubbed project XX, would be the icing on the cake in terms of British Leyland’s fleet overhaul, a smooth and sophisticated executive saloon to conquer the world. However, plans were pushed back after the launch of the Montego and the Maestro, and thus project XX wouldn’t see the light of day again until about 1984.

 

Still in production and suffering from being long-in-the-tooth, the Rover SD1 was now coming up on 10 years old, and though a sublime car in terms of style and performance, it was now struggling in sales. Rover really needed to replace this golden oldie, and thus project XX was back on. In the usual fashion, Honda was consulted, and it was decided that the car would be based on that company’s own executive saloon, the Honda Legend. Jointly developed at Rover’s Cowley plant and Honda’s Tochigi development centre, both cars shared the same core structure and floorplan, but they each had their own unique exterior bodywork and interior. Under the agreement, Honda would supply the V6 petrol engine, both automatic and manual transmissions and the chassis design, whilst BL would provide the 4-cylinder petrol engine and much of the electrical systems. The agreement also included that UK-market Honda Legends would be built at the Cowley Plant, and the presence of the Legend in the UK would be smaller than that of the Rover 800, with profits from the 800 shared between the two companies.

 

Launched on July 10th, 1986, the Rover 800 was welcomed with warm reviews regarding its style, its performance and its reliability. Though driving performance was pretty much the same as the Honda Legend, what put the Rover above its Japanese counterpart was its sheer internal elegance and beauty, combined with a differing external design that borrowed cues from the outgoing SD1. The 800 also provided the company with some much-needed optimism, especially following the gradual breakup of British Leyland by the Thatcher Government between 1980 and 1986.

 

Following her election in 1979, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher took a no nonsense attitude to the striking unions, and the best form of defence was attack. To shave millions from the deficit, she reduced government spending on nationalised companies such as British Airways, British Coal Board, British Steel and British Leyland by selling them to private ownership. For British Leyland, the slow breakup of the company started with the sale of Leyland Trucks and Buses to DAF of Holland and Volvo, respectively. 1984 saw Jaguar made independent and later bought by Ford, but when rumours circulated that the remains of British Leyland would be sold to foreign ownership, share prices crashed, and the company was privatised and put into the hands of British Aerospace on the strict understanding that the company could not be sold again for four years. With this move, British Leyland was renamed Rover Group, the Austin badge being dropped, and the only remaining brands left being the eponymous Rover and sporty MG.

 

In the light of this tumultuous period, many of Rover and MG’s projects had to be scrapped in light of turbulent share prices and income, these projects including the Austin AR16 family car range (based largely off the Rover 800) and the MG EX-E supercar. The Rover 800 however was the first model to be released by the company following privatisation, and doing well initially in terms of sales, hopes were high that the Rover 800 would herald the end of the company’s troubled spell under British Leyland. The Rover 800 was planned to spearhead multiple Rover ventures, including a return to the US-market in the form of the Sterling, and a coupe concept to beat the world, the sublime Rover CCV.

 

However, British Leyland may have been gone, but their management and its incompetence remained. Rather than taking the formation of Rover Group as a golden opportunity to clean up the company’s act, to the management it was business as usual, and the Rover 800 began to suffer as a consequence. A lack of proper quality control and a cost-cutting attitude meant that despite all the Japanese reliability that had been layered on these machines in the design stage, the cars were still highly unreliable when they left the factory.

 

Perhaps the biggest sentiment to the 800’s failure was the Sterling in America. The Sterling had been named as such due to Rover’s reputation being tarnished by the failure of the unreliable SD1. Initial sales were very promising with the Sterling, a simple design with oodles of luxury that was price competitive with family sedan’s such as the Ford LTD and the Chevy Caprice. However, once the problems with reliability and quality began to rear their heads, sales plummeted and the Sterling very quickly fell short of its sales quota, only selling 14,000 of the forecast 30,000 cars per annum. Sales dropped year by year until eventually the Sterling brand was axed in 1991.

 

With the death of the Sterling came the death of the CCV, a luxury motor that had already won over investors in both Europe and the USA. The fantastic design that had wooed the American market and was ready to go on sale across the States was axed unceremoniously in 1987, and with it any attempt to try and capture the American market ever again.

 

In 1991, Rover Group, seeing their sales were still tumbling, and with unreliable callbacks to British Leyland like the Maestro and Montego still on sale, the company decided to have yet another shakeup to try and refresh its image. The project, dubbed R17, went back to the company’s roots of grand old England, and the Rover 800 was the first to feel its touch. The R17 facelift saw the 800’s angular lines smoothed with revised light-clusters, a low-smooth body, and the addition of a grille, attempting to harp back to the likes of the luxurious Rover P5 of the 1960’s. Engines were also updated, with the previous M16 Honda engine being replaced by a crisp 2.0L T16, which gave the car some good performance. The car was also made available in a set of additional ranges, including a coupe and the sport Vitesse, complete with a higher performance engine.

 

Early reviews of the R17 800 were favourable, many critics lauding its design changes and luxurious interior, especially given its price competitiveness against comparable machines such as the Vauxhall Omega and the Ford Mondeo. Even Jeremy Clarkson, a man who fervently hated Rover and everything it stood for, couldn’t help but give it a good review on Top Gear. However, motoring critics were quick to point out the fact that by this time Honda was really starting to sell heavily in the UK and Europe, and people now asked themselves why they’d want to buy the Rover 800, a near carbon-copy of the Honda Legend, for twice the price but equal performance. Wood and leather furnishings are very nice, but not all motorists are interested in that, some are just interested in a reliable and practical machine to run around in.

 

As such, the Rover 800’s sales domestically were very good, it becoming the best-selling car in the UK for 1992, but in Europe not so much. Though Rover 800’s did make it across the Channel, the BMW 5-Series and other contemporary European models had the market sown up clean, and the Rover 800 never truly made an impact internationally. On average, the car sold well in the early 1990’s, but as time went on the car’s place in the market fell to just over 10,000 per year by 1995. Rover needed another shake-up, and the Rover 75 did just that.

 

In 1994, Rover Group was sold to BMW, and their brave new star to get the company back in the good books of the motoring public was the Rover 75, an executive saloon to beat the world. With this new face in the company’s showrooms, the Rover 800 and its 10 year old design was put out to grass following its launch in 1998. Selling only around 6,500 cars in its final full year of production, the Rover 800 finished sales in 1999 and disappeared, the last relic of the British Leyland/Honda tie up from the 1980’s.

 

Today the Rover 800 finds itself under a mixed reception. While some argue that it was the last true Rover before the BMW buyout, others will fervently deride it as a Honda with a Rover badge, a humiliation of a Rover, and truly the point where the company lost its identity. I personally believe it to be a magnificent car, a car with purpose, a car with promise, but none of those promises fulfilled. It could have truly been the face of a new Rover in the late 1980’s, and could have returned the company to the front line of the motoring world, at least in Britain. But sadly, management incompetence won again for the British motor industry, and the Rover 800 ended its days a lukewarm reminder that we really didn’t know a good thing until it was gone.

This was meant to take on the world this was, but sadly it didn’t get very far! The Rover 800 had so many possibilities, so many variants could have been derived from it, but unfortunately the management was once again very quick to nip this beautiful car in the bud, and the Rover 800 would join that long line of ‘what-could-have-been’ motors that seem to pave British motoring history.

 

The origin of the Rover 800 goes back to the late 1970’s, when nationalised British car manufacturer and all around general failure British Leyland was absolutely desperate to fix its seemingly endless list of problems. The company had now garnered a reputation for creating some of the worst, most outdated cars of all time, the likes of the Morris Marina, the Austin Allegro and the Triumph TR7 being derided in both critical and customer reviews. A mixture of strike action by uncontrollable Trade Unions led by the infamous Red Robbo had meant that cars were only put together for a few hours per day on a three day week. As such, reliability was atrocious on a biblical scale, be it mechanical, cosmetic or electrical.

 

As such, in 1979, British Leyland began talks with Japanese car manufacturer Honda to try and help improve the reliability of their machines. The pioneer of this brave new deal was the Triumph Acclaim of 1980, BL’s first reliable car and not a bad little runabout. Basically a rebadged Honda Ballade, the Acclaim wasn’t meant to set the world ablaze, but it certainly helped get the company back onto people’s driveways, selling reasonably well thanks to its reliable mechanics (even if rust was something of an issue). As such, BL decided that from now on it would give its fleet a complete overhaul, basing their new models on Japanese equivalents. From 1984, the Rover 200 arrived on the scene, again, a rebadged Honda Ballade, while the Maestro and the Montego ranges also took on several tips from their Japanese counterparts, though they were primarily based on British underpinnings.

 

The Rover 800 however spawned quite early on, in 1981 to be exact. Following the catastrophic failure of the Rover SD1 in the American market, which only sold 774 cars before Rover removed itself from the USA altogether, the company was desperate to get another foothold across the pond. As such, the new project, dubbed project XX, would be the icing on the cake in terms of British Leyland’s fleet overhaul, a smooth and sophisticated executive saloon to conquer the world. However, plans were pushed back after the launch of the Montego and the Maestro, and thus project XX wouldn’t see the light of day again until about 1984.

 

Still in production and suffering from being long-in-the-tooth, the Rover SD1 was now coming up on 10 years old, and though a sublime car in terms of style and performance, it was now struggling in sales. Rover really needed to replace this golden oldie, and thus project XX was back on. In the usual fashion, Honda was consulted, and it was decided that the car would be based on that company’s own executive saloon, the Honda Legend. Jointly developed at Rover’s Cowley plant and Honda’s Tochigi development centre, both cars shared the same core structure and floorplan, but they each had their own unique exterior bodywork and interior. Under the agreement, Honda would supply the V6 petrol engine, both automatic and manual transmissions and the chassis design, whilst BL would provide the 4-cylinder petrol engine and much of the electrical systems. The agreement also included that UK-market Honda Legends would be built at the Cowley Plant, and the presence of the Legend in the UK would be smaller than that of the Rover 800, with profits from the 800 shared between the two companies.

 

Launched on July 10th, 1986, the Rover 800 was welcomed with warm reviews regarding its style, its performance and its reliability. Though driving performance was pretty much the same as the Honda Legend, what put the Rover above its Japanese counterpart was its sheer internal elegance and beauty, combined with a differing external design that borrowed cues from the outgoing SD1. The 800 also provided the company with some much-needed optimism, especially following the gradual breakup of British Leyland by the Thatcher Government between 1980 and 1986.

 

Following her election in 1979, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher took a no nonsense attitude to the striking unions, and the best form of defence was attack. To shave millions from the deficit, she reduced government spending on nationalised companies such as British Airways, British Coal Board, British Steel and British Leyland by selling them to private ownership. For British Leyland, the slow breakup of the company started with the sale of Leyland Trucks and Buses to DAF of Holland and Volvo, respectively. 1984 saw Jaguar made independent and later bought by Ford, but when rumours circulated that the remains of British Leyland would be sold to foreign ownership, share prices crashed, and the company was privatised and put into the hands of British Aerospace on the strict understanding that the company could not be sold again for four years. With this move, British Leyland was renamed Rover Group, the Austin badge being dropped, and the only remaining brands left being the eponymous Rover and sporty MG.

 

In the light of this tumultuous period, many of Rover and MG’s projects had to be scrapped in light of turbulent share prices and income, these projects including the Austin AR16 family car range (based largely off the Rover 800) and the MG EX-E supercar. The Rover 800 however was the first model to be released by the company following privatisation, and doing well initially in terms of sales, hopes were high that the Rover 800 would herald the end of the company’s troubled spell under British Leyland. The Rover 800 was planned to spearhead multiple Rover ventures, including a return to the US-market in the form of the Sterling, and a coupe concept to beat the world, the sublime Rover CCV.

 

However, British Leyland may have been gone, but their management and its incompetence remained. Rather than taking the formation of Rover Group as a golden opportunity to clean up the company’s act, to the management it was business as usual, and the Rover 800 began to suffer as a consequence. A lack of proper quality control and a cost-cutting attitude meant that despite all the Japanese reliability that had been layered on these machines in the design stage, the cars were still highly unreliable when they left the factory.

 

Perhaps the biggest sentiment to the 800’s failure was the Sterling in America. The Sterling had been named as such due to Rover’s reputation being tarnished by the failure of the unreliable SD1. Initial sales were very promising with the Sterling, a simple design with oodles of luxury that was price competitive with family sedan’s such as the Ford LTD and the Chevy Caprice. However, once the problems with reliability and quality began to rear their heads, sales plummeted and the Sterling very quickly fell short of its sales quota, only selling 14,000 of the forecast 30,000 cars per annum. Sales dropped year by year until eventually the Sterling brand was axed in 1991.

 

With the death of the Sterling came the death of the CCV, a luxury motor that had already won over investors in both Europe and the USA. The fantastic design that had wooed the American market and was ready to go on sale across the States was axed unceremoniously in 1987, and with it any attempt to try and capture the American market ever again.

 

In 1991, Rover Group, seeing their sales were still tumbling, and with unreliable callbacks to British Leyland like the Maestro and Montego still on sale, the company decided to have yet another shakeup to try and refresh its image. The project, dubbed R17, went back to the company’s roots of grand old England, and the Rover 800 was the first to feel its touch. The R17 facelift saw the 800’s angular lines smoothed with revised light-clusters, a low-smooth body, and the addition of a grille, attempting to harp back to the likes of the luxurious Rover P5 of the 1960’s. Engines were also updated, with the previous M16 Honda engine being replaced by a crisp 2.0L T16, which gave the car some good performance. The car was also made available in a set of additional ranges, including a coupe and the sport Vitesse, complete with a higher performance engine.

 

Early reviews of the R17 800 were favourable, many critics lauding its design changes and luxurious interior, especially given its price competitiveness against comparable machines such as the Vauxhall Omega and the Ford Mondeo. Even Jeremy Clarkson, a man who fervently hated Rover and everything it stood for, couldn’t help but give it a good review on Top Gear. However, motoring critics were quick to point out the fact that by this time Honda was really starting to sell heavily in the UK and Europe, and people now asked themselves why they’d want to buy the Rover 800, a near carbon-copy of the Honda Legend, for twice the price but equal performance. Wood and leather furnishings are very nice, but not all motorists are interested in that, some are just interested in a reliable and practical machine to run around in.

 

As such, the Rover 800’s sales domestically were very good, it becoming the best-selling car in the UK for 1992, but in Europe not so much. Though Rover 800’s did make it across the Channel, the BMW 5-Series and other contemporary European models had the market sown up clean, and the Rover 800 never truly made an impact internationally. On average, the car sold well in the early 1990’s, but as time went on the car’s place in the market fell to just over 10,000 per year by 1995. Rover needed another shake-up, and the Rover 75 did just that.

 

In 1994, Rover Group was sold to BMW, and their brave new star to get the company back in the good books of the motoring public was the Rover 75, an executive saloon to beat the world. With this new face in the company’s showrooms, the Rover 800 and its 10 year old design was put out to grass following its launch in 1998. Selling only around 6,500 cars in its final full year of production, the Rover 800 finished sales in 1999 and disappeared, the last relic of the British Leyland/Honda tie up from the 1980’s.

 

Today the Rover 800 finds itself under a mixed reception. While some argue that it was the last true Rover before the BMW buyout, others will fervently deride it as a Honda with a Rover badge, a humiliation of a Rover, and truly the point where the company lost its identity. I personally believe it to be a magnificent car, a car with purpose, a car with promise, but none of those promises fulfilled. It could have truly been the face of a new Rover in the late 1980’s, and could have returned the company to the front line of the motoring world, at least in Britain. But sadly, management incompetence won again for the British motor industry, and the Rover 800 ended its days a lukewarm reminder that we really didn’t know a good thing until it was gone.

Driverless Car Afterlife | La Voiture sans conducteur dans l’au-delà

Just like anyone on social media, I like to fill my feed with happy images and highlights from my personal and professional life….but it’s time to start talking about the REAL stuff too!

Although it may seem like I have all of the happiness and confidence in the world if you look at my social media accounts, I have struggled with self esteem issues my entire life.

As a child, I grew up in an abusive environment filled with unresolved generational traumas where I was made to feel like I was the problem in myfamily, and unknowingly internalized that I as an individual was bad.

As with most abusive households, mine was an environment where nothing felt safe….even being myself. So, I began to develop a laundry list of unhealthy coping mechanisms, and a state of “survival mode” became my baseline as I entered my developmental years.

I felt so powerless under my father’s endless emotional abuse and violent outbursts at home, that I not only began to believe that type of behavior was normal, but also constantly felt the need to gain agency and assert my own will wherever possible. Which, obviously, did not go over well with my peers and teachers, and only caused me to more deeply internalize that I must be bad as I began to establish my sense of self outside of my family.

 

Like millions of other people with unresolved trauma, as things got worse for me emotionally, I turned to food for comfort, and quickly found myself significantly larger than almost everyone around me in elementary school. Something that my peers and father often made note of in cruel ways that hurt me so deeply and only further caused me to internalize that I must be bad.

Eventually, all of the shame that I felt during my childhood snowballed into deep depression and uncontrollable anxiety that I tried to heal with piles of prescriptions from different doctors that couldn’t seem to figure out what was “wrong” with me. When, in reality there was nothing “wrong” with me. I simply needed to find peace and be reminded that I AM GOOD.

 

Over the years - especially as I became an expectant mother at 17 years old and faced so much judgement for my choice to leave school in order to work while I was a pregnant - I found that excelling at my job served as an excellent surrogate for the validation I was seeking in my personal relationships, and I began to throw myself into my career, both as a way to support myself and my daughter as a single parent, and as a way to prove to myself through tangible means like paychecks and promotions that I was good.

It wasn’t until all of the unresolved trauma that I had been trying to bury with work began to manifest itself physically, that I finally accepted it was time to begin trying to show myself the love I knew I needed in order for my body to heal….even if the concept of being lovable still seemed totally forgeign to me, and I had no idea where to begin!

 

Abuse is a hard cycle to break, and self love is a hard lesson to learn. So, my path to healing was far from linear, or easy, but once I made that commitment to find and nurture the parts of myself that I loved, amazing things began to happen!

I’m pretty sure my friends and family thought I was losing my mind more than finding myself at first! But, as I began to explore myself as an energetic being and learn more about inner child and shadow work, I discovered that I wasn’t bad. I had just learned to protect (rather dysfunctionally) the vibrant, loving and vulnerable little Melissa who had learned that she needed to stay hidden in order to stay safe so long ago!

As anyone who has recovered from abuse can tell you, the hardest part about breaking the cycle is having no example of how to be any other way. My life had been filled with negativity for so long that I struggled to find myself in a peaceful situation even as I worked to heal myself.

As anyone who has recovered from abuse can also tell you, you just get used to it.

The pain and chaos becomes your baseline, and even when you are consciously in a state of growth away from that state of being, it’s all too easy to find yourself slipping back into relationships that make you feel most comfortable - even if they are simply toxic AF. Which is exactly what I was doing…..until I met Nate.

 

Before I met Nate, I had no idea what it felt like to be seen completely, and not only be accepted for who I was, but adored for it.

Most importantly though, Nate made me feel safe.

For the first time in my life, I was able to stop just surviving, and started thriving in ways I had forgotten that I was capable of.

It was like I had been trudging through mud my entire life, and was finally walking on solid ground for the first time when I finally learned to accept his love.

I began to see the entire world differently.

Instead of an endless stream of stressful situations and impending disasters, I started to see my life as promising and full of possibilities.

I began to see myself differently.

Instead of someone I felt I should be ashamed of, I started to see myself as someone kind and capable that I was proud to share with other people.

 

Once that shift occurred, I began to accomplish so many more things I felt that I could be proud of!

I learned to show myself the kindness I wish I had been shown, and found how freeing it can be to see the world through a less defensive lense.

I launched a successful private chef business out of nothing but my passion for food while I was still waiting tables and had nothing but my intuition to guide me.

I grew that little business into something that could provide a better life, and was finally able to start working for myself.

I built second, and third, businesses that provided me with more opportunities to do what I love, and a real sense that I was capable of so much good.

I started to be able to show up as my authentic self in social situations with less fear of being “seen” and judged for it.

But, even with all of those things to be proud of, I still held so much shame and anxiety around the idea that I was still somehow fundamentally bad at my core, and it was only a matter of time before I, and everyone else, would start to see it again.

 

The way that I had once used paychecks and promotions to provide myself with tangible evidence that I was good, I began to use images on social media as a tangible way for me to remind myself of all the positives when the negative self talk began to sneak into my mind.

At the time, I didn’t really think much into my motivation for posting about my life’s highlights on social media, because after all, it’s what everyone else does too and, let’s be honest - who doesn’t like getting likes?!

But when the pandemic hit last year and my ability to produce content that I felt I could use to prove to myself that I AM good was halted, it forced me to really examine the deeper emotional reasons that I felt it was so important for me to only share things that aligned with an image of positivity and success.

Being positive, and constantly focused on growth, is a huge part of who I am at my core - but it’s far from who I am all the time.

While I spent hours scrolling through social media during the early days of quarantine, I felt completely paralyzed as I watched other people post photos and videos of themselves functioning in ways I couldn’t even imagine in the moment.

It might sound silly, but when I felt the most lost in my emotions, just being able to just create and share a post about how to make a healthy smoothie made me feel like I was at least doing one thing I could be proud of, no matter how ashamed of myself I felt in the moment.

 

Thankfully, resilience seems to be my super power (dysfunctional as some of my survival mechanisms may be.) So, it didn’t take long for me to snap out of that depression and into that familiar feeling of “survival mode” that allowed me to begin working on ways to keep my businesses alive.

Being able to snap myself out of that paralyzing depression reminded me that I am a survivor and gave me the energy I needed to keep moving forward, but it also triggered all kinds of unhealthy coping mechanisms that I had worked so hard to move away from.

On the outside, I was pivoting like a pro. But, internally, it felt like my emotional state was falling to pieces.

Even though I knew that almost everyone else was struggling with their emotions as well, I just couldn’t bring myself to authentically share any of that darkness on social media.

I shared the smoothies.

I shared the healthy dinners.

I shared all of the milestones as I worked to rebuild my businesses.

Because that’s what made me feel safe.

 

What I didn’t share, was the insecurity.

What I didn't share, were the days that I could barely motivate myself to eat, let alone create something beautiful, or inspire anyone else to embrace taking care of themselves.

What I didn’t share, was the fear that everyone might see me at my worst and judge me for it.

What I didn’t share, was that I was really posting all of that for me, to prove to myself that I was still worthy of love - even though the only one who was even questioning that, was me!

Once I realized that I was using images on social media as a mask, I knew it was time to start healing those pieces of me that I still felt that I needed to hide.

I also knew that I wanted to share my story more authentically on social media somehow. But, I didn’t quite know how…..until I saw a post on Facebook from a local photographer working on a project about women sharing their authentic stories on social media, and it just spoke to me!

 

The concept was an unstyled shoot that showed the authentic me, accompanied by an essay to do the same - which seemed simple. But, it proved to be such a greater struggle than I had imagined!

The essay I could edit, and I’ve always loved to write, so I wasn’t worried about that. But, the photoshoot made me SO nervous!

Having grown up in a home where appearance and projecting the right image seemed to be of paramount importance, the idea of photos that might not portray me in the best light being published on the internet triggered all kinds of insecurities for me.

On the day of the shoot, I just chose to wear what was comfortable - the things I actually wear when I’m not trying to look a certain way.

I didn’t style my hair, or bother with more than my everyday makeup that consists of tinted moisturizer, a bit of bronzer and a little mascara.

If it were any regular day I would have felt perfectly comfortable with the way I looked.

In fact, I had made plans to meet a friend for dinner right after the shoot and felt great about the way I looked for that experience! But, the idea of being photographed like that, especially outside by the water where the wind would inevitably reveal angles of my face that I find unflattering, gave me anxiety for days before the shoot.

 

When I arrived for the shoot, I was nervous and far from the outgoing, confident Melissa that usually arrives at photoshoots when I’m styled perfectly and feeling my best.

As we walked through the quiet woods with the snow crunching beneath my boots, I realized that I felt so nervous because I had shown up to this photoshoot as the little Melissa that I had learned to hide and protect.

As we began to shoot, I started to feel sad, and strange that this would be the side of me captured on camera for this project. But, I quickly realized that it wasn’t sadness for the situation at hand that I was feeling.

It was sadness for little Melissa who had internalized that she wasn’t worth being seen just as she was.

Throughout the shoot, I couldn’t seem to shake that sense of sadness and I worried the photos would be ruined because of it.

But, when I saw the photos from the shoot a few weeks later, I realized that as we were walking and talking throughout the shoot, the images that Nikki captured began to tell a story.

The first photos looked posed and happy. But, of course they did. Because that’s my favorite mask, especially in front of the camera! So, I obviously felt fine about those being shared.

But, then there were some awkward attempts at me actually being natural in front of a camera. Which completely triggered all of the negative self-talk that typically leads to me taking great measures to avoid photos like that from ever seeing the light of day.

As we moved on, I could see the vulnerability in my eyes as I tried to let my guard down, and I felt so exposed knowing that side of myself would be shared.

Once we were by the water though, I started to see a sense of ease, and even strength emerging in the photos. Even if they weren’t my best angles and my hair was a mess, it looked like ME!

Not the styled, polished version of myself that I feel safest showing the world, but the authentic me that I have no problem sharing with the people I feel safe with.

 

Don’t get me wrong - I very authentically do LOVE to get dressed up, and genuinely think it’s fun to play with personal styling. It’s just fun for me! But, participating in this project has really helped me to reflect on how much I had been using my image as a mask to protect myself from negative self-talk.

As we all know now, wearing a mask can keep us safe, but it also prevents us from being fully seen.

Yes, taking off your mask can be a risk, just like letting other people see you completely can be a risk.

But, as we all know now after a year full of physical masking, nothing feels better than FINALLY being able to take off your mask and just breathe!

Our female Siberian Husky enjoying the warmth of spring.

 

Of course this look happens at roughly freezing in the spring or she'd be panting uncontrollably.

Our language, our land, our dance, our ways, our elders and our children... this is the culturally divine path of righteous purity, supposedly unfettered. Unfortunately, this romanticized perspective has a nasty hangover. Oblique Drift is a visual collection of new works created to highlight, explore, mock, explode and appropriate this sideways seduction of indigenous cultural movement, the uncontrollable warm ocean current that gently leads this culture off of its intended course. The title refers to elements that quietly pull from the side, including economy, historical and cultural translation, social progression and conservative regression. My Tlingit culture’s idealistic direction has been subtly penned between the written lines of institutionalized media. Stereotype, diversity’s red headed step-child, is a byproduct of this historical documentation. The great American Indian paradox is nothing new; a quondam cycle of inertia. As indigenous people, we have a responsibility to contribute change to this culture that has defined us... literally. Contributions of creative action and honesty can be made in lieu of self-oppressive constraint. History is often referred to as the guiding light to “Indian-ness”; often times communities or individuals are blinded by these lights. The real strength in survival of indigenous knowledge and culture lies within the ability to freely and creatively represent ourselves. The nude models masked wearing Indonesian made Tlingit curios in The Curtis Legacy echo the work of historical photographer Edward Curtis and his preconceived photographs of the noble savage. Ostentatious objectification of a culture defined through photography; a colonial paradigm.

What is oral cancer?

 

Cancer is defined as the uncontrollable growth of cells that invade and cause damage to surrounding tissue. Oral cancer appears as a growth or sore that does not go away. Oral cancer — which includes cancers of the lips, tongue, cheek, floor of the mouth, hard and soft palate, sinuses, and pharynx (throat) — can be life-threatening if not diagnosed and treated early.

What are the signs and symptoms of oral cancer?

 

The following are the common signs and symptoms:

 

* Swellings/thickenings, lumps or bumps, rough spots/crusts/or eroded areas on the lips, gums, or other areas inside the mouth

* The development of velvety white, red, or speckled (white and red) patches in the mouth

* Unexplained bleeding in the mouth

* Unexplained numbness, loss of feeling, or pain/tenderness in any area of the face, mouth, or neck

* Persistent sores on the face, neck, or mouth that bleed easily and do not heal within two weeks

* A soreness or feeling that something is caught in the back of the throat

* Difficulty chewing or swallowing, speaking, or moving the jaw or tongue

* Hoarseness, chronic sore throat, or changes in the voice

* Ear pain

* A change in the way your teeth or dentures fit together – a change in your "bite"

* Dramatic weight loss

 

If you notice any of these changes, contact your dentist immediately for a professional examination.

I recently noticed a whitish patch in my mouth. Is this oral cancer?

 

This whitish patch could be leukoplakia. Leukoplakia, a condition caused by excess cell growth, can form on the cheeks, gums, or tongue. Leukoplakia is commonly seen in tobacco users, in people with ill-fitting dentures, and in those who have a habit of chewing on their cheek. This condition can progress to cancer. Red patches in the mouth (called erythroplakia) are less common than leukoplakia but have an even greater potential for being cancerous. Any white or red lesion in your mouth should be evaluated by your dentist.

Who gets oral cancer and what are the risk factors for oral cancer?

 

According to the American Cancer Society, men face twice the risk of developing oral cancer as women, and men who are over age 50 face the greatest risk. The rate of development of cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx began to decline in the late 1970s and has continued to decline throughout the 1990s in both African Americans, and white males and females.

 

Risk factors for the development of oral cancer include:

 

* Cigarette, cigar, or pipe smoking — Smokers are six times more likely than non-smokers to develop oral cancers.

* Use of smokeless tobacco products (for example, dip, snuff, or chewing tobacco) — Use of these products increase the risk of cancers of the cheek, gums, and lining of the lips.

* Excessive consumption of alcohol — Oral cancers are about six times more common in drinkers than in non-drinkers.

* Family history of cancer

* Excessive exposure to the sun — especially at a young age

 

It is important to note that more than 25% of all oral cancers occur in people who do not smoke and who only drink alcohol occasionally.

Other Oral Cancer Facts

 

Oral cancer is the sixth most common cancer among men.

 

About 75% to 80% of people with oral cavity and pharynx cancer consume alcohol.

 

People who smoke and drink alcohol have an even higher risk of cancer than those who only drink or only use tobacco products.

 

The risk of developing oral cavity and pharynx cancers increases both with the amount as well as the length of time tobacco and alcohol products are used.

Survival

 

The overall 1-year survival rate for patients with all stages of oral cavity and pharynx cancers is 81%. The 5 & 10-year survival rates are 56% and 41%, respectively.

How is oral cancer diagnosed?

 

Your dentist will conduct an oral cancer screening exam, which is a routine part of a comprehensive dental examination. More specifically, your dentist will feel for any lumps or irregular tissue changes in your neck, head, face, and oral cavity. When examining your mouth, your dentist will look for any sores or discolored tissue, as well as check for or ask you about the signs and symptoms mentioned above.

 

Your dentist might perform an oral brush biopsy if he or she sees tissue in your mouth that looks suspicious. This test is painless and involves taking a small sample of the tissue and analyzing it for abnormal cells. Alternatively, if the tissue looks even more suspicious, your dentist might recommend a scalpel biopsy. This procedure usually requires local anesthesia and might be performed by your dentist or a specialist referred by your dentist. These tests are necessary to detect oral cancer early, before it has had a chance to progress and spread.

How is oral cancer treated?

 

Oral cancer is treated the same way many other cancers are treated; that is with surgery to remove the cancerous growth followed by radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy (drug treatments) to destroy any remaining cancer cells.

What can I do to prevent oral cancer?

 

You can take an active role in preventing oral cancer or detecting it early, should it occur.

 

* Conduct a self exam at least once a month. Using a bright light and a mirror, look and feel your lips and front of your gums. Tilt your head back and look at and feel the roof of your mouth. Pull your checks out to view the inside of your mouth, the lining of your cheeks, and the back gums. Pull out your tongue and look at all surfaces. Examine the floor of your mouth. Look at the back of your throat. Feel for lumps or enlarged lymph nodes in both sides of your neck and under your lower jaw. Call your dentist’s office immediately if you notice any changes in the appearance of your mouth or any of the signs and symptoms mentioned above.

* See your dentist on a regular schedule. Even though you might be conducting frequent self exams, sometimes dangerous spots or sores in the mouth can be very tiny and difficult to see on your own. The American Cancer Society recommends oral cancer screening exams every three years for people over age 20 and annually for those over age 40. During your next dental appointment, ask your dentist to perform an oral exam. Early detection can improve the chance of successful treatment.

* Don’t smoke or use any tobacco products and drink alcohol in moderation. (Refrain from binge drinking.)

* Eat a well balanced diet.

* Limit your exposure to the sun. Repeated exposure increases the risk of cancer on the lip, especially the lower lip. When in the sun, use UV-A/B-blocking sun protective lotions on your skin as well as your lips.

 

Brainstorming machine Test-#710

 

Danny has been working on this machine for the last 2 years and its a brainstorming machine-don't ask to many details but you can somewhat see the just of it. It works through a basket which is placed on your head and a vacuum hooked up to a photo frame, tied in with a pizza box and a rain coat for protection, then the key is the flag hanging on the wall that must be your country of origin. After that you must turn the vacuum on high carpet setting only! Then in 4 minutes and 20 seconds later your idea appears in the frame ready for you to shoot! Its fool proof i tell you. Except for that one time when i hung up an American flag, which caused a spark catching the basket on fire and setting off the fire alarm at 2 in the morning that didnt turn out so well, but other then that its good to go-- So thats how i get my ideas for all my photos ---Shhh just dont tell anyone i wouldn't want it to end up on pintrest. Low ceilings cramp the mind. Thanks again brainstorming machine

 

Sb910 1/4th camera left (24x24 ezybox)

Sb800 1/8thh camera right (STU)

both flashes fired via self timer and nikon cls

What is oral cancer?

 

Cancer is defined as the uncontrollable growth of cells that invade and cause damage to surrounding tissue. Oral cancer appears as a growth or sore that does not go away. Oral cancer — which includes cancers of the lips, tongue, cheek, floor of the mouth, hard and soft palate, sinuses, and pharynx (throat) — can be life-threatening if not diagnosed and treated early.

What are the signs and symptoms of oral cancer?

 

The following are the common signs and symptoms:

 

* Swellings/thickenings, lumps or bumps, rough spots/crusts/or eroded areas on the lips, gums, or other areas inside the mouth

* The development of velvety white, red, or speckled (white and red) patches in the mouth

* Unexplained bleeding in the mouth

* Unexplained numbness, loss of feeling, or pain/tenderness in any area of the face, mouth, or neck

* Persistent sores on the face, neck, or mouth that bleed easily and do not heal within two weeks

* A soreness or feeling that something is caught in the back of the throat

* Difficulty chewing or swallowing, speaking, or moving the jaw or tongue

* Hoarseness, chronic sore throat, or changes in the voice

* Ear pain

* A change in the way your teeth or dentures fit together – a change in your "bite"

* Dramatic weight loss

 

If you notice any of these changes, contact your dentist immediately for a professional examination.

I recently noticed a whitish patch in my mouth. Is this oral cancer?

 

This whitish patch could be leukoplakia. Leukoplakia, a condition caused by excess cell growth, can form on the cheeks, gums, or tongue. Leukoplakia is commonly seen in tobacco users, in people with ill-fitting dentures, and in those who have a habit of chewing on their cheek. This condition can progress to cancer. Red patches in the mouth (called erythroplakia) are less common than leukoplakia but have an even greater potential for being cancerous. Any white or red lesion in your mouth should be evaluated by your dentist.

Who gets oral cancer and what are the risk factors for oral cancer?

 

According to the American Cancer Society, men face twice the risk of developing oral cancer as women, and men who are over age 50 face the greatest risk. The rate of development of cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx began to decline in the late 1970s and has continued to decline throughout the 1990s in both African Americans, and white males and females.

 

Risk factors for the development of oral cancer include:

 

* Cigarette, cigar, or pipe smoking — Smokers are six times more likely than non-smokers to develop oral cancers.

* Use of smokeless tobacco products (for example, dip, snuff, or chewing tobacco) — Use of these products increase the risk of cancers of the cheek, gums, and lining of the lips.

* Excessive consumption of alcohol — Oral cancers are about six times more common in drinkers than in non-drinkers.

* Family history of cancer

* Excessive exposure to the sun — especially at a young age

 

It is important to note that more than 25% of all oral cancers occur in people who do not smoke and who only drink alcohol occasionally.

Other Oral Cancer Facts

 

Oral cancer is the sixth most common cancer among men.

 

About 75% to 80% of people with oral cavity and pharynx cancer consume alcohol.

 

People who smoke and drink alcohol have an even higher risk of cancer than those who only drink or only use tobacco products.

 

The risk of developing oral cavity and pharynx cancers increases both with the amount as well as the length of time tobacco and alcohol products are used.

Survival

 

The overall 1-year survival rate for patients with all stages of oral cavity and pharynx cancers is 81%. The 5 & 10-year survival rates are 56% and 41%, respectively.

How is oral cancer diagnosed?

 

Your dentist will conduct an oral cancer screening exam, which is a routine part of a comprehensive dental examination. More specifically, your dentist will feel for any lumps or irregular tissue changes in your neck, head, face, and oral cavity. When examining your mouth, your dentist will look for any sores or discolored tissue, as well as check for or ask you about the signs and symptoms mentioned above.

 

Your dentist might perform an oral brush biopsy if he or she sees tissue in your mouth that looks suspicious. This test is painless and involves taking a small sample of the tissue and analyzing it for abnormal cells. Alternatively, if the tissue looks even more suspicious, your dentist might recommend a scalpel biopsy. This procedure usually requires local anesthesia and might be performed by your dentist or a specialist referred by your dentist. These tests are necessary to detect oral cancer early, before it has had a chance to progress and spread.

How is oral cancer treated?

 

Oral cancer is treated the same way many other cancers are treated; that is with surgery to remove the cancerous growth followed by radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy (drug treatments) to destroy any remaining cancer cells.

What can I do to prevent oral cancer?

 

You can take an active role in preventing oral cancer or detecting it early, should it occur.

 

* Conduct a self exam at least once a month. Using a bright light and a mirror, look and feel your lips and front of your gums. Tilt your head back and look at and feel the roof of your mouth. Pull your checks out to view the inside of your mouth, the lining of your cheeks, and the back gums. Pull out your tongue and look at all surfaces. Examine the floor of your mouth. Look at the back of your throat. Feel for lumps or enlarged lymph nodes in both sides of your neck and under your lower jaw. Call your dentist’s office immediately if you notice any changes in the appearance of your mouth or any of the signs and symptoms mentioned above.

* See your dentist on a regular schedule. Even though you might be conducting frequent self exams, sometimes dangerous spots or sores in the mouth can be very tiny and difficult to see on your own. The American Cancer Society recommends oral cancer screening exams every three years for people over age 20 and annually for those over age 40. During your next dental appointment, ask your dentist to perform an oral exam. Early detection can improve the chance of successful treatment.

* Don’t smoke or use any tobacco products and drink alcohol in moderation. (Refrain from binge drinking.)

* Eat a well balanced diet.

* Limit your exposure to the sun. Repeated exposure increases the risk of cancer on the lip, especially the lower lip. When in the sun, use UV-A/B-blocking sun protective lotions on your skin as well as your lips.

 

I've been wanting to compile this checklist for a while, and finally, I have.

 

24 new dolls, including the playsets & multi-packs, are set to hit shelves in the new season. My wallet is already crying, but I'm excited myself. Mostly for the locker dolls & all the Ghoulias. The DT dolls have really grown on me since they were first announced and I'm even loking forward to the fashion pack too!

 

This was organized by group & likely release order. We've already seen SDCC Ghoulia and Abbey & Spectra made thier doll debut today via the official Facebook page, while Clawd & Laura was an early leak. After the 2-pack & school's out dolls, I expect to see the sleepover dolls, then the other school related dolls, the 3 pack & the second DotD wave.

 

I just sort've stuck Ghoulia & the fashion pack up at the top because I wasn't sure where else to put them and because they looked better there astetically.

 

As things pop up & I acquire them, I'll check off this list and add dates.

 

LET'S GET IT MH!

_____

 

"Love

Has a way of wilting

Or blossoming

At the strangest,

Most unpredictable hour.

This is how love is,

An uncontrollable beast

In the form of a flower."'

 

- Suzy Kassem

 

Keeping your hair cut attractively and washing it often is the easiest way to keep a great looking head of hair. Read on to learn what style and cut is best for you!

 

If you are finding yourself dealing with frizz and uncontrollable curly hair, consider trying the no-poo or lo-poo method. This...

 

healthwellnessandlifestyle.com/get-professional-hair-care...

What is oral cancer?

 

Cancer is defined as the uncontrollable growth of cells that invade and cause damage to surrounding tissue. Oral cancer appears as a growth or sore that does not go away. Oral cancer — which includes cancers of the lips, tongue, cheek, floor of the mouth, hard and soft palate, sinuses, and pharynx (throat) — can be life-threatening if not diagnosed and treated early.

What are the signs and symptoms of oral cancer?

 

The following are the common signs and symptoms:

 

* Swellings/thickenings, lumps or bumps, rough spots/crusts/or eroded areas on the lips, gums, or other areas inside the mouth

* The development of velvety white, red, or speckled (white and red) patches in the mouth

* Unexplained bleeding in the mouth

* Unexplained numbness, loss of feeling, or pain/tenderness in any area of the face, mouth, or neck

* Persistent sores on the face, neck, or mouth that bleed easily and do not heal within two weeks

* A soreness or feeling that something is caught in the back of the throat

* Difficulty chewing or swallowing, speaking, or moving the jaw or tongue

* Hoarseness, chronic sore throat, or changes in the voice

* Ear pain

* A change in the way your teeth or dentures fit together – a change in your "bite"

* Dramatic weight loss

 

If you notice any of these changes, contact your dentist immediately for a professional examination.

I recently noticed a whitish patch in my mouth. Is this oral cancer?

 

This whitish patch could be leukoplakia. Leukoplakia, a condition caused by excess cell growth, can form on the cheeks, gums, or tongue. Leukoplakia is commonly seen in tobacco users, in people with ill-fitting dentures, and in those who have a habit of chewing on their cheek. This condition can progress to cancer. Red patches in the mouth (called erythroplakia) are less common than leukoplakia but have an even greater potential for being cancerous. Any white or red lesion in your mouth should be evaluated by your dentist.

Who gets oral cancer and what are the risk factors for oral cancer?

 

According to the American Cancer Society, men face twice the risk of developing oral cancer as women, and men who are over age 50 face the greatest risk. The rate of development of cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx began to decline in the late 1970s and has continued to decline throughout the 1990s in both African Americans, and white males and females.

 

Risk factors for the development of oral cancer include:

 

* Cigarette, cigar, or pipe smoking — Smokers are six times more likely than non-smokers to develop oral cancers.

* Use of smokeless tobacco products (for example, dip, snuff, or chewing tobacco) — Use of these products increase the risk of cancers of the cheek, gums, and lining of the lips.

* Excessive consumption of alcohol — Oral cancers are about six times more common in drinkers than in non-drinkers.

* Family history of cancer

* Excessive exposure to the sun — especially at a young age

 

It is important to note that more than 25% of all oral cancers occur in people who do not smoke and who only drink alcohol occasionally.

Other Oral Cancer Facts

 

Oral cancer is the sixth most common cancer among men.

 

About 75% to 80% of people with oral cavity and pharynx cancer consume alcohol.

 

People who smoke and drink alcohol have an even higher risk of cancer than those who only drink or only use tobacco products.

 

The risk of developing oral cavity and pharynx cancers increases both with the amount as well as the length of time tobacco and alcohol products are used.

Survival

 

The overall 1-year survival rate for patients with all stages of oral cavity and pharynx cancers is 81%. The 5 & 10-year survival rates are 56% and 41%, respectively.

How is oral cancer diagnosed?

 

Your dentist will conduct an oral cancer screening exam, which is a routine part of a comprehensive dental examination. More specifically, your dentist will feel for any lumps or irregular tissue changes in your neck, head, face, and oral cavity. When examining your mouth, your dentist will look for any sores or discolored tissue, as well as check for or ask you about the signs and symptoms mentioned above.

 

Your dentist might perform an oral brush biopsy if he or she sees tissue in your mouth that looks suspicious. This test is painless and involves taking a small sample of the tissue and analyzing it for abnormal cells. Alternatively, if the tissue looks even more suspicious, your dentist might recommend a scalpel biopsy. This procedure usually requires local anesthesia and might be performed by your dentist or a specialist referred by your dentist. These tests are necessary to detect oral cancer early, before it has had a chance to progress and spread.

How is oral cancer treated?

 

Oral cancer is treated the same way many other cancers are treated; that is with surgery to remove the cancerous growth followed by radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy (drug treatments) to destroy any remaining cancer cells.

What can I do to prevent oral cancer?

 

You can take an active role in preventing oral cancer or detecting it early, should it occur.

 

* Conduct a self exam at least once a month. Using a bright light and a mirror, look and feel your lips and front of your gums. Tilt your head back and look at and feel the roof of your mouth. Pull your checks out to view the inside of your mouth, the lining of your cheeks, and the back gums. Pull out your tongue and look at all surfaces. Examine the floor of your mouth. Look at the back of your throat. Feel for lumps or enlarged lymph nodes in both sides of your neck and under your lower jaw. Call your dentist’s office immediately if you notice any changes in the appearance of your mouth or any of the signs and symptoms mentioned above.

* See your dentist on a regular schedule. Even though you might be conducting frequent self exams, sometimes dangerous spots or sores in the mouth can be very tiny and difficult to see on your own. The American Cancer Society recommends oral cancer screening exams every three years for people over age 20 and annually for those over age 40. During your next dental appointment, ask your dentist to perform an oral exam. Early detection can improve the chance of successful treatment.

* Don’t smoke or use any tobacco products and drink alcohol in moderation. (Refrain from binge drinking.)

* Eat a well balanced diet.

* Limit your exposure to the sun. Repeated exposure increases the risk of cancer on the lip, especially the lower lip. When in the sun, use UV-A/B-blocking sun protective lotions on your skin as well as your lips.

 

article courtesy

 

www.almuntazar.com/?section=Moharram&source=84

  

Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) and the Infallible Imams (a.s.)

 

There can be little debate that the catastrophe that engulfed the Islamic nation on the demise of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) was of a staggering magnitude. For the beloved progeny - Ahle Bait (a.s.) of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) the sorrow was two-fold. On one hand, they were permanently separated from the beloved Prophet (s.a.w.a.) and on the other hand, this proved to be the trigger for the deluge of tragedies and oppressions that befell them. Hazrat Ali's (a.s.) right to caliphate and successorship to the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) was usurped in a most scheming manner. Few could have imagined that there would come a day when Ali (a.s.) - the victor of Khaiber and Khandaq would be dragged from his house for allegiance. Janabe Fatima Zahra (s.a.), the beloved daughter of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.), had to appeal to the caliph of the nation, in the mosque of her own father, to demand her inheritance and financial dues. Her appeals fell on deaf ears and instead she was recompensed with oppression that first took the life of her unborn son and ultimately her own.

   

The demise of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) and his dearest daughter in a span of a few months left an indelible mark on Hazrat Ali's (a.s.) persona. His grief was uncontrollable and his sorrow was beyond description. Allah, the Almighty, alleviated his mourning and distress through a newborn son. This son had the desired effect on all the grieving members of Hazrat Ali's (a.s.) household. Imam Hasan (a.s.) rejoiced because his arms were strengthened through the infant. Imam Husain (a.s.) saw in him his most trusted aide and standard-bearer. Janabe Zainab (a.s.) got a younger brother who would protect her. Hazrat Ali (a.s.) held the newborn close to himself and saw in him the nobility of martyrdom and christened him - Abbas, which means a lion.

   

Hazrat Abbas' (a.s.) personality

 

Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) is one individual whose advent was awaited with great fervor and anticipation. The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) prophesied his unparalleled bravery. Hazrat Ali (a.s.), a man of few wants and needs, nonetheless desired him. Janabe Zahra (s.a.) referred to him as her own son. Imam Hasan (a.s.) introduced him as his helper and supporter. Imam Husain (a.s.) proclaimed about him, 'may my life be sacrificed upon you'. And once Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) was born the Ahle Bait (a.s.) took great pride in him and his unique traits.

   

Apart from the five infallibles (a.s.) from the 'Incident of the Cloak', even the Imams (a.s.) spoke of Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) in a most venerating manner. Imam Zainul Abedeen (a.s.) gave testimony to his elevated status. Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s.) acquainted him as ‘Abdus Saleh and one with vision and foresight and Imam Mahdi (a.t.f.s.) has sent his salutations upon him.

   

Hazrat Ali's (a.s.) desire

 

Hazrat Ali (a.s.) was well-aware that there would come a distressing time upon his younger son - Imam Husain (a.s.) when the trials and tribulations would engulf him and he would be all alone without a helper and supporter. What was particularly painful for Hazrat Ali (a.s.) was his own absence at that delicate moment in history when his son would need him the most. Hazrat Ali (a.s.) was seized with a desire to raise a son who would represent him at that moment of Imam Husain's (a.s.) anguish. It was with this objective that Hazrat Ali (a.s.) requested his brother - Aqeel:

 

'Search for a lady from the Arab tribes with a pedigree of brave warriors so that I may marry her. She will beget a brave son who will be a helper for my son - Husain in Karbala.'

 

(Tanqeehul Maqaal Chapter of Abbas pg. 28, Asraarush Shahaadat, pg 319, Umdatul Mataalib, pg. 352)

   

Janabe Aqeel's quest led him to the personality of Janabe Fatima Kelabiyya (r.a.) who Hazrat Ali (a.s.) finally married. This union resulted in the birth of Hazrat Abbas (a.s.), who gained the titled.

   

Ameerul Momineen (a.s.) was blessed with two sons who had no equal in the heavens and the earth. For him to desire another son like Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) tells us something about the latter's glorious personality. For not only was Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) just his son, but he was his emissary in the battle of Karbala, one of Islam's greatest struggle against falsehood and tyranny. Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) was to be the defendant of Imam Husain's (a.s.) right, which is why Hazrat Ali (a.s.) put everyone under the care of his eldest son and successor - Imam Hasan (a.s.); but when it came to Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) he directed him under the supervision of Imam Husain (a.s.).

   

Imam Husain (a.s.) and Hazrat Abbas (a.s.)

 

Imam Husain (a.s.) tended the gift of Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) entrusted to him by his father with great care. He always kept Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) with himself and did not like being separated from him. When on 9th Muharram 61 AH at Karbala, Umar-e-Saad's army ventured towards Imam Husain's (a.s.) tent, he requested Hazrat Abbas (a.s.):

 

'May my life be sacrificed for you, O my brother, go and ask them the purpose of their visit.'

 

(Tarikh-e-Tabari vol. 6, pg. 237)

   

Indeed, this statement highlights the affection that Imam (a.s.) had for Hazrat Abbas (a.s.). An Imam of the time uttering a statement of such gravity - 'may my life be sacrificed upon you' for someone highlights the latter's position and status. It is not merely one brother's sentiment for his sibling. In any case, the Imam does not make a proclamation out of mere sentiment; his love and hatred are purely for the sake of Allah, not for his own self. This statement underlines the importance of Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) in the eyes of Allah and Imam Husain (a.s.).

   

On the Day of Aashoora, Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) was given Imam's (a.s.) consent to fight the enemies after much deliberation. And when after some time, Imam (a.s.) heard Hazrat Abbas' (a.s.) plea for help, he clutched his back and cried - 'O my brother, with this (tragedy) my back is now broken.' It is for this reason we find Imam Husain (a.s.) calling out to Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) for help whenever his body was struck by the enemy.

 

(Maqtal-e-Abi Mikhnaf pg. 377)

   

Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) in Ziarat-e-Nahiyah

 

We find Imam Zamana (a.t.f.s.) reminiscing about Hazrat Abbas' (a.s.) indomitable bravery in Ziarat-e-Nahiyah,

 

'Peace be upon Abul Fazlil Abbas, the son of Ameerul Momineen (a.s.), who sacrificed his life for his brother. He protected him through his soul and in his struggle to fetch water, lost his arms. May Allah curse his killers - Yazid b. Riqaad Al-Haibi and Hakeem b. Tufail Al-Mataaiee.'

   

Imam Jafar al-Sadiq (a.s.) on his uncle Abbas (a.s.)

 

In Umdatul Mataalib, the great scholar - Abu Nasr Bukhaari records Imam Jafar Sadiq's (a.s.) narration:

 

'Our uncle Abbas Ibne Ameeril Momineen (a.s.) had sharp foresight and firm faith. He fought alongside Husain (a.s.) and gave ample evidence of his bravery and courage until he was martyred.'

 

(Umdatul Mataalib pg. 323, Maqatilut Taalibeen)

   

Allamah Kinturi writes that ‘Baseerat’ means in-depth understanding of and reflection on religious beliefs. ‘Na’fiz’ means to distinguish clearly between truth and falsehood. ‘Na’fizul Baseerat’ means Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) had amazing vision and foresight about religious beliefs and could clearly discern between truth and falsehood. He had scaled all the levels of faith and this is what Imam Sadiq (a.s.) is referring to in the above tradition.

 

(Miatain fi Maqtalil Husain, Pg. 444)

   

Then Allamah elaborates that Imam's (a.s.) at tribute ‘Na’fizul Baseerat’ underscores the reality that Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) was at an elevated stage of recognition and action.

 

(Miatain fi Maqtalil Husain, Pg. 463).

   

It was this recognition with which Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) was stationed at a lofty level of faith and certainty and achieved such proximity with Imam Husain (a.s.), so much so that ultimately he submitted his life in the obedience of his master culminating in his martyrdom.

   

The Virtuous (Al-Abd Al Saleh)

 

In the special Ziarat of Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) narrated on the authority of Abi Hamza-e-Somali from Imam Sadiq (a.s.), the latter declares,

 

'Salutations upon you O virtuous worshipper who was obedient to Allah, His Messenger, Ameerul Momineen, Hasan and Husain (peace be upon all of them)'

   

In Arabic literature, ‘Aabid’ means a worshipper or a sincere worshipper.

   

'The worshipper who has devoted his entire life for the service of his master and has never separated from him.'

 

(Al-Munjid, pg. 316)

   

Over here ‘Abd’ means Allah's worshipper. At one level we are all Allah's worshippers because Allah has created man to worship Him.

 

(Surah Zaariyaat: 56)

   

However, there are some worshippers who have excelled in worship so much so that Allah is proud of their worship and considers them as His worshippers. Allah has mentioned many Prophets by name in the Quran. However, not all of them are referred to as ‘Abd’. There are only a few Prophets referred to as ‘Abd’ in the Quran by Allah - Hazrat Nuh (a.s.) in Surah Israa: Verse: 3, Hazrat Dawood (a.s.) in Surah Swaad: Verse: 17, Hazrat Zakariyya (a.s.) in Surah Maryam: Verse: 2, Hazrat Isa (a.s.) in Surah Nisa: Verse: 20, Hazrat Ayyub (a.s.) in Surah Swaad: Verse: 41 and our beloved Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.a.) in Surah Israa: Verse: 1 for whom in particular, this word has been used on more than one occasion.

   

The position of servitude (being a slave or worshipper of Allah) is a status that is much sought after and only a handful of Allah's most beloved creatures can attain it. One day Hazrat Jibraeel (a.s.) descended on the earth to convey the divine message to the Prophet, he informed, 'Allah has conveyed His greetings and salutations to you. He has given you a choice, either you can choose to be His slave or you can be the king of the world.' Expectedly the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) selected the position of servitude and relinquished the right to rule over the world. That is why in every obligatory and recommended prayers, we first give testimony to the Prophet being Allah's slave and then testify to his prophethood.

   

On many an occasion Ameerul Momineen (a.s.) has expressed his satisfaction and pleasure at being Allah's slave.

   

Indeed Hazrat Ali (a.s.) was granted the good fortune of serving Allah and His Messenger (s.a.w.a.). According to Imam Sadiq's (a.s.) tradition Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) was granted the opportunity (taufeeq) of serving the five immaculate ones of 'The Cloak' in addition to serving Allah. This shows the status of Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) in the eyes of Allah, His Prophet (s.a.w.a.) and the infallibles (a.s.).

   

Salutations recited just before the conclusion of namaz is an important pillar of namaz. The worshipper recites three salutations at the end. Of these salutations, the second and the third are imperative and omitting either or both will make the prayers void.

 

In the first salutation we recite:

 

'Salutations upon us and Allah's virtuous slaves.'

   

Over here we recite ‘Allah’s virtuous slaves’ which is the plural of ‘Allah’s virtuous slave’. Now if we take the aforementioned words of the Ziarat and weigh it alongside the salutations in namaz, we can appreciate that Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) is among those included within the ambit of ‘Allah’s virtuous slave’ in prayers. If one does not recite this salutation and declines from paying tributes to the ‘Allah’s virtuous slave’, his prayers will not be worthy of acceptance in the divine court.

   

The Guardian of Islam

 

In the salutation for the entry in the shrine of Hazrat Abbas (a.s.), Imam Sadiq (a.s.) recites

 

'I bear witness and take Allah as a witness that you tread on the path of warriors of the Battle of Badr.'

   

As is well known, the Battle of Badr was the premier battle of Islam fought under the direct leadership of Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.). Then, Islam was only finding its feet and was slowly coming into its own. A defeat at that stage with the martyrdom of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) would have obliterated Islam and the divine message along with it. Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.a.) and Islam would have been nothing but obscure specks in the pages of history.

 

The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) was not prepared for the battle. However, the infidels of Mecca had intensified their efforts against the Muslims and matters reached a head when battle was the only way out. Divine decree commanded as much and the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) began mobilizing men and weapons for Islam's first battle. The infidels, numbering over a thousand, also prepared themselves for battle and came out armed with the best of weapons and mounts. They had all the means necessary for a resounding victory. The Muslim army on the other hand were puny in size - a little over 300, which was less than 1/3rd the size of the infidels. They had a mere two horses, one was with Murtadd Ibne Abi Murtadd and the other with Miqdad, and only seven camels. Despite their poor numbers and lack of resources, their enthusiasm and spirit of faith was at a high. They entered the battlefield with a clear objective to protect Islam with their lives. Quran says that on that day, Allah helped them with 3,000 angels.

   

A fierce battle waged between the unequal parties. The Muslims with their small numbers but fierce loyalty and strong faith overcame the more powerful infidels. Islam got a new lease of life and Muslims got strengthened with this victory.

   

The situation in 60 AH was similar to the pre-Badr days. In fact, if anything, it was even more dismal. Islamic laws were given mere lip service; they did not exist in the hearts of the Muslims. Slow by but steadily, the soul of Islam was being strangulated. The line between truth and falsehood had vanished and Muslims were no longer discerning between the two. Conditions conspired to propel the successor and grandson of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.), to rise against the polytheistic and hypocritical forces of society. The groundwork for battle was laid down and both parties were prepared for it. Imam Husain (a.s.) arrived at Karbala with a small band of family members, companions and loyalists. The situation resembled closely that of Badr. On one side, there was a large army of rabid warriors armed to the teeth and on the other side, there was a small group of devout Muslims, interested only in protecting the grandson of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) and through it, Islam. Like Badr, this was a battle between the pure tree and the accursed tree. Like the Muslim army in Badr, Imam Husain's (a.s.) army was small in number, but there was no dearth of certainty and self-sacrifice to protect Islam. Only difference was unlike in Badr, Imam Husain's (a.s.) army did not accept the help of angels to fight the enemy. In Badr, the enemy was vanquished to save Islam; in Karbala, the Muslims offered their souls in a supreme sacrifice. This resulted in Islam getting lease of life till the Day of Judgment.

   

The credit of marshalling this small army to an unqualified, moral victory over the enemies goes to the standard bearer of the army. Maybe that is why Imam Sadiq (a.s.) reminisces about Hazrat Abbas' (a.s.) supreme sacrifice in his salutation at the threshold of his shrine at Karbala

 

‘Surely you walked on what the people of Badr walked’

   

Obedience of the Imam of the era

 

Imam Sadiq (a.s.) continues further in this Ziarat,

 

Then may Allah reward you with the most elect reward, the most numerous reward, the most abundant reward, the most faithful reward, that He has given to one who was loyal in his allegiance, responded to his call and obeyed the master of his affair.'

 

Undoubtedly, Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) till the end of his life served and submitted to the wishes of his Master - Sayyedush Shohada (a.s.). He endeavoured to fulfill the smallest desire of Imam Husain (a.s.) with all eagerness and promptness. For instance, one day in the mosque, Imam Husain (a.s.) expressed his desire for water. Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) rushed to get the water because he did not like his Master's wish to remain unfulfilled even for a moment. (Chehl Majlis pg. 282) Hazrat Abbas' (a.s.) promptness in fulfilling Imam's (a.s.) wish to the extent of a glass of water underlines that he did not like anyone to supersede him in answering to Imam's (a.s.) call. It is famous that Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) used to trace Imam's (a.s.) footsteps and apply the dust of his feet to his eyes as a measure of his love and submission to the Imam.

 

(Zikrul Abbas pg. 24).

   

This is the level of obedience, compliance and recognition that Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) had for Imam Husain (a.s.) and carried with him to Karbala. Over there he attended to Imam (a.s.) as a slave. And more importantly, experienced great satisfaction and pride in fulfilling his role as a slave and helper of Imam (a.s.). At a time in Karbala when his own children were grappling with intense thirst, hunger and searing heat, he submitted to the wishes of his master - Imam Husain (a.s.) without sparing a thought for his own condition and that of his family.

   

Normally, a brave man does not easily accept circumstances that are incompatible with his nature and mental makeup. But Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) reconciled himself to the difficulties of Karbala. Despite his courage and valor, to witness the painful and miserable condition of Imam Husain (a.s.) and his family, was in itself an achievement for him. Else in Hazrat Abbas' (a.s.) presence, it was not possible for anyone to get even a mile within Imam Husain (a.s.) and his family, let alone harass them and ultimately martyr Imam Husain (a.s.). For Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) to witness this as a mute spectator was in many ways more difficult than sacrificing both his arms and his life in the way of Islam. This was because he was capable of warding off the difficulties and tribulations from Imam Husain (a.s.) and his family, but circumstances compelled him to adopt a stance incompatible to his natural disposition.

   

In line with the divine command and the explicit instructions of his Master - Imam Husain (a.s.), Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) chose to embrace martyrdom rather than take the enemy to task in a fitting manner, which was what he wished to do. To act against his own temperament was the most striking trait of Hazrat Abbas' (a.s.) personality in Karbala and earned him the reputation of being the most fierce and self-sacrificing warrior in Karbala, reserving for himself a special niche among the companions of Imam Husain (a.s.). That is why Imam Zainul Abedeen (a.s.) informs,

   

'May Allah have mercy on my uncle - Abbas b. Ali (a.s.). He fought valiantly and ransomed himself upon his brother until both his arms were severed. Then Allah granted him wings in place of his arms due to his love for us (Ahle Bait). He now soars with his wings along with the angels in Paradise just like Jafar b. Abi Talib (his own uncle). Surely Abbas (a.s.) is placed at such an elevated rank and position in front of Allah, the Almighty, that all the martyrs shall envy him on the Day of Judgment.

 

(Khesaal, vol. 1, pg. 36)

   

Hazrat Abbas' (a.s.) sacrifice is an intercession for the nation

 

Aga Darbandi writes, 'When the Day of Judgement shall dawn, the people shall be gathered in a state of intense anxiety and apprehension. Under these circumstances, the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) will request Hazrat Ali (a.s.) to ask Janabe Zahra (s.a.) what she had in store to rescue the nation from chastisement. Janabe Zahra (s.a.) will say,

 

'The severed hands of Abbas are sufficient for salvaging the nation.'

 

(Asraarush Shahadat pg. 325, Jawaherul Ayqaan pg. 194, Qamare Bani Hashim pg. 51)

   

In this brief statement Janabe Zahra highlights the eminent rank of Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) near Allah, which shall result in the intercession of the Islamic nation as a result of his supreme sacrifice, the proof of which are his severed hands.

   

Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) served the successor of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) till the last breath of his life under the most trying circumstances. Near his Lord he was a virtuous slave and near the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) he was a submissive and obedient Muslim. He submitted completely to the wishes of the Imam of his era and eventually sacrificed his life to safeguard the Imam and thus, earned the latter's satisfaction and approval. Therefore we find the infallibles (a.s.) speaking of Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) with such high regard and respect. As devotees of this personality and his ardent lovers, we must strive to emulate the actions of our Master - Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) by supporting the Imam of our era till the dying moments of our lives.

   

I read a story of a police dog in America who was put down by his handler at age 2 because he had a severe kidney condition. This police dog was given a Guard of Honour as he was led into the animal hospital to be put down. When I read the story I had tears rolling down my face. Having owned my beautiful Lottie Girl, I had a very good idea of how this policeman would feel, about putting his best mate out of pain, yet at the same time, losing probably the best mate he had in life. What a decision to have to make. Here is a link if you wish to read more . . .

 

www.nypost.com/p/news/national/police_disease_guard_battl...

 

I was wondering how I would handle having to make a similar decision when I had my wonderful mate in Lottie Girl or Lady Lottie as she was affectionately known around Tin Can Bay where I used to live in Queensland.

 

I was blessed in one way, because I met Rosey from the Philippines, and I began to visit her and this also caused a problem because then I had to find someone who would take care of Lottie when I traveled away. This happened twice and it was heart-wrenching for me to say goodbye and no doubt for Lady Lottie too. On the first occasion I was away for 6 weeks and the second occasion I had planned to be away for 6 months and I had to come home a month early because my dear friend could not take care of Lady Lottie any more. I was extremely thankful for the two beautiful people who put up their hands to take care of her during this time.

 

About this time I knew I would be spending more time in the Philippines and so what to do with my beautiful mate was becoming a problem. Then God stepped in and solved the problem for me. A lovely lady called Marilyn had a similar dog for some years and finally her faithful mate passed away and she was never going to have another dog. 12 months later she heard of the beautiful Lady Lottie and would like to meet her to see if they got on. Well, of course they hit it off straight away and Marilyn was overjoyed she had another beautiful mate by her side and I also knew that Marilyn would take as good a care if not better care than I had of Lady Lottie and she would be loved just as I loved her.

 

The time came for me to say goodbye. I had my bus that was my home then and we drove off around to Marilyn's place, about 10 kilometres away from where I lived. It was one of the saddest days of my life and took me back to when I was around 22 and we had a family pet similar in size to Lottie who had become quite sick and the decision was made, as a family, to put Snifter as he was called down. I remembered then putting a box on the front seat of my little Morris Minor 1000 with a lovely rug and putting Snifter in it.

 

Here I digress a bit . . .

 

Snifter sat up so happy and proud to be in my car, going for a drive, looking at this and that, and barking occasionally when something interested him. He did not often travel in my car, so he thought this was Christmas on a stick!!! Finally we arrived at the vet and I could not go in and hold him while the vet did what he had to do. He came out with a very still Snifter, lying on the beautiful rug. Tears were rolling down my face and I guess this is a common occurrence for vets and for other people who have to go down a similar pathway. I brought Sniffy home and laid him to rest near the apricot tree.

 

Now, 40 years later, I am going on a similar journey. Lady Lottie loved the bus and traveling. I would only have to rattle the keys, and she was in her passenger seat in a flash, looking at me going through the starting procedure, eyes wide and bright, the occasional bark wanting me to hurry up and get on the road.

 

Finally we were off and heading for Marilyn's place. I parked outside, and took her inside with her food, feeding bowl, toys, and blanket. Marilyn and I chatted for a while and then it was time to leave. I walked out the front door, not looking back, closed the front gate, jumped into the bus, started it, and I knew Lady Lottie would be frantic at this stage, because we had been a team for 10 years and if that bus started she would be part of it.

 

I engaged the gear, and slowly drove off. I made it around the first corner, and pulled over, shoulders heaving and tears like crocodile tears rolling uncontrollably down my face. Another of those worst moments in my life. I felt totally naked driving home, as I did not have my little mate up there beside me or on my lap, looking at the world flash past, jumping and barking at what she thought needed barking at.

 

I did not have to make the extremely sad decision this policeman had to make, in putting his mate down, and he had him for only 2 years.

 

It is around 4 years now since I let Lady Lottie go. I have visited twice and she is doing OK and when we got to Tin Can Bay again she will be on my visiting agenda. This time I don't know if she will still be going or not. If she is she will be around 18 years old, pretty old for a silky terrier, although I have known them to make it to 19 or 20. I have lost Marilyn's phone number but I do have her address.

 

It is never easy having to make the hard decision to either put your best mate down or give your best mate away so I really feel for this policeman. I know he will be doing it extremely tough and I hope he will eventually see the light at the end of the tunnel and can move on. I have, yet when I see pictures of the little lady such as this, I can then sit for a while and dream of days gone by, or walks by the seaside, of swimming, of her sliding under the doona on a very cold night, and her high spirited bark as she sees a semi-trailer coming towards us and wants to launch herself out the window to "bite it", or biting the lawnmower wheel, or sleeping peacefully, whether at home or on the road . . . all wonderful memories!!!!

 

This picture was taken in 2007 with my first digital camera.

 

Thanks for your visits, your comments and your faves, and your kindness. I did find Flickr a bit of a handful at first, I still think their home page is extremely trashy, but I now go straight to "Contacts > Recent Photos" and I am presented with this wonderful array of pictures from both Rosey's and my lovely Flickr friends!!

 

May God continue to bless your journey and may your trigger finger always be happy finding wonderful aspects of this magnificent world we share. Love and blessings always, Clive and Rosey xxxxxxx

What is oral cancer?

 

Cancer is defined as the uncontrollable growth of cells that invade and cause damage to surrounding tissue. Oral cancer appears as a growth or sore that does not go away. Oral cancer — which includes cancers of the lips, tongue, cheek, floor of the mouth, hard and soft palate, sinuses, and pharynx (throat) — can be life-threatening if not diagnosed and treated early.

What are the signs and symptoms of oral cancer?

 

The following are the common signs and symptoms:

 

* Swellings/thickenings, lumps or bumps, rough spots/crusts/or eroded areas on the lips, gums, or other areas inside the mouth

* The development of velvety white, red, or speckled (white and red) patches in the mouth

* Unexplained bleeding in the mouth

* Unexplained numbness, loss of feeling, or pain/tenderness in any area of the face, mouth, or neck

* Persistent sores on the face, neck, or mouth that bleed easily and do not heal within two weeks

* A soreness or feeling that something is caught in the back of the throat

* Difficulty chewing or swallowing, speaking, or moving the jaw or tongue

* Hoarseness, chronic sore throat, or changes in the voice

* Ear pain

* A change in the way your teeth or dentures fit together – a change in your "bite"

* Dramatic weight loss

 

If you notice any of these changes, contact your dentist immediately for a professional examination.

I recently noticed a whitish patch in my mouth. Is this oral cancer?

 

This whitish patch could be leukoplakia. Leukoplakia, a condition caused by excess cell growth, can form on the cheeks, gums, or tongue. Leukoplakia is commonly seen in tobacco users, in people with ill-fitting dentures, and in those who have a habit of chewing on their cheek. This condition can progress to cancer. Red patches in the mouth (called erythroplakia) are less common than leukoplakia but have an even greater potential for being cancerous. Any white or red lesion in your mouth should be evaluated by your dentist.

Who gets oral cancer and what are the risk factors for oral cancer?

 

According to the American Cancer Society, men face twice the risk of developing oral cancer as women, and men who are over age 50 face the greatest risk. The rate of development of cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx began to decline in the late 1970s and has continued to decline throughout the 1990s in both African Americans, and white males and females.

 

Risk factors for the development of oral cancer include:

 

* Cigarette, cigar, or pipe smoking — Smokers are six times more likely than non-smokers to develop oral cancers.

* Use of smokeless tobacco products (for example, dip, snuff, or chewing tobacco) — Use of these products increase the risk of cancers of the cheek, gums, and lining of the lips.

* Excessive consumption of alcohol — Oral cancers are about six times more common in drinkers than in non-drinkers.

* Family history of cancer

* Excessive exposure to the sun — especially at a young age

 

It is important to note that more than 25% of all oral cancers occur in people who do not smoke and who only drink alcohol occasionally.

Other Oral Cancer Facts

 

Oral cancer is the sixth most common cancer among men.

 

About 75% to 80% of people with oral cavity and pharynx cancer consume alcohol.

 

People who smoke and drink alcohol have an even higher risk of cancer than those who only drink or only use tobacco products.

 

The risk of developing oral cavity and pharynx cancers increases both with the amount as well as the length of time tobacco and alcohol products are used.

Survival

 

The overall 1-year survival rate for patients with all stages of oral cavity and pharynx cancers is 81%. The 5 & 10-year survival rates are 56% and 41%, respectively.

How is oral cancer diagnosed?

 

Your dentist will conduct an oral cancer screening exam, which is a routine part of a comprehensive dental examination. More specifically, your dentist will feel for any lumps or irregular tissue changes in your neck, head, face, and oral cavity. When examining your mouth, your dentist will look for any sores or discolored tissue, as well as check for or ask you about the signs and symptoms mentioned above.

 

Your dentist might perform an oral brush biopsy if he or she sees tissue in your mouth that looks suspicious. This test is painless and involves taking a small sample of the tissue and analyzing it for abnormal cells. Alternatively, if the tissue looks even more suspicious, your dentist might recommend a scalpel biopsy. This procedure usually requires local anesthesia and might be performed by your dentist or a specialist referred by your dentist. These tests are necessary to detect oral cancer early, before it has had a chance to progress and spread.

How is oral cancer treated?

 

Oral cancer is treated the same way many other cancers are treated; that is with surgery to remove the cancerous growth followed by radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy (drug treatments) to destroy any remaining cancer cells.

What can I do to prevent oral cancer?

 

You can take an active role in preventing oral cancer or detecting it early, should it occur.

 

* Conduct a self exam at least once a month. Using a bright light and a mirror, look and feel your lips and front of your gums. Tilt your head back and look at and feel the roof of your mouth. Pull your checks out to view the inside of your mouth, the lining of your cheeks, and the back gums. Pull out your tongue and look at all surfaces. Examine the floor of your mouth. Look at the back of your throat. Feel for lumps or enlarged lymph nodes in both sides of your neck and under your lower jaw. Call your dentist’s office immediately if you notice any changes in the appearance of your mouth or any of the signs and symptoms mentioned above.

* See your dentist on a regular schedule. Even though you might be conducting frequent self exams, sometimes dangerous spots or sores in the mouth can be very tiny and difficult to see on your own. The American Cancer Society recommends oral cancer screening exams every three years for people over age 20 and annually for those over age 40. During your next dental appointment, ask your dentist to perform an oral exam. Early detection can improve the chance of successful treatment.

* Don’t smoke or use any tobacco products and drink alcohol in moderation. (Refrain from binge drinking.)

* Eat a well balanced diet.

* Limit your exposure to the sun. Repeated exposure increases the risk of cancer on the lip, especially the lower lip. When in the sun, use UV-A/B-blocking sun protective lotions on your skin as well as your lips.

 

What is oral cancer?

 

Cancer is defined as the uncontrollable growth of cells that invade and cause damage to surrounding tissue. Oral cancer appears as a growth or sore that does not go away. Oral cancer — which includes cancers of the lips, tongue, cheek, floor of the mouth, hard and soft palate, sinuses, and pharynx (throat) — can be life-threatening if not diagnosed and treated early.

What are the signs and symptoms of oral cancer?

 

The following are the common signs and symptoms:

 

* Swellings/thickenings, lumps or bumps, rough spots/crusts/or eroded areas on the lips, gums, or other areas inside the mouth

* The development of velvety white, red, or speckled (white and red) patches in the mouth

* Unexplained bleeding in the mouth

* Unexplained numbness, loss of feeling, or pain/tenderness in any area of the face, mouth, or neck

* Persistent sores on the face, neck, or mouth that bleed easily and do not heal within two weeks

* A soreness or feeling that something is caught in the back of the throat

* Difficulty chewing or swallowing, speaking, or moving the jaw or tongue

* Hoarseness, chronic sore throat, or changes in the voice

* Ear pain

* A change in the way your teeth or dentures fit together – a change in your "bite"

* Dramatic weight loss

 

If you notice any of these changes, contact your dentist immediately for a professional examination.

I recently noticed a whitish patch in my mouth. Is this oral cancer?

 

This whitish patch could be leukoplakia. Leukoplakia, a condition caused by excess cell growth, can form on the cheeks, gums, or tongue. Leukoplakia is commonly seen in tobacco users, in people with ill-fitting dentures, and in those who have a habit of chewing on their cheek. This condition can progress to cancer. Red patches in the mouth (called erythroplakia) are less common than leukoplakia but have an even greater potential for being cancerous. Any white or red lesion in your mouth should be evaluated by your dentist.

Who gets oral cancer and what are the risk factors for oral cancer?

 

According to the American Cancer Society, men face twice the risk of developing oral cancer as women, and men who are over age 50 face the greatest risk. The rate of development of cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx began to decline in the late 1970s and has continued to decline throughout the 1990s in both African Americans, and white males and females.

 

Risk factors for the development of oral cancer include:

 

* Cigarette, cigar, or pipe smoking — Smokers are six times more likely than non-smokers to develop oral cancers.

* Use of smokeless tobacco products (for example, dip, snuff, or chewing tobacco) — Use of these products increase the risk of cancers of the cheek, gums, and lining of the lips.

* Excessive consumption of alcohol — Oral cancers are about six times more common in drinkers than in non-drinkers.

* Family history of cancer

* Excessive exposure to the sun — especially at a young age

 

It is important to note that more than 25% of all oral cancers occur in people who do not smoke and who only drink alcohol occasionally.

Other Oral Cancer Facts

 

Oral cancer is the sixth most common cancer among men.

 

About 75% to 80% of people with oral cavity and pharynx cancer consume alcohol.

 

People who smoke and drink alcohol have an even higher risk of cancer than those who only drink or only use tobacco products.

 

The risk of developing oral cavity and pharynx cancers increases both with the amount as well as the length of time tobacco and alcohol products are used.

Survival

 

The overall 1-year survival rate for patients with all stages of oral cavity and pharynx cancers is 81%. The 5 & 10-year survival rates are 56% and 41%, respectively.

How is oral cancer diagnosed?

 

Your dentist will conduct an oral cancer screening exam, which is a routine part of a comprehensive dental examination. More specifically, your dentist will feel for any lumps or irregular tissue changes in your neck, head, face, and oral cavity. When examining your mouth, your dentist will look for any sores or discolored tissue, as well as check for or ask you about the signs and symptoms mentioned above.

 

Your dentist might perform an oral brush biopsy if he or she sees tissue in your mouth that looks suspicious. This test is painless and involves taking a small sample of the tissue and analyzing it for abnormal cells. Alternatively, if the tissue looks even more suspicious, your dentist might recommend a scalpel biopsy. This procedure usually requires local anesthesia and might be performed by your dentist or a specialist referred by your dentist. These tests are necessary to detect oral cancer early, before it has had a chance to progress and spread.

How is oral cancer treated?

 

Oral cancer is treated the same way many other cancers are treated; that is with surgery to remove the cancerous growth followed by radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy (drug treatments) to destroy any remaining cancer cells.

What can I do to prevent oral cancer?

 

You can take an active role in preventing oral cancer or detecting it early, should it occur.

 

* Conduct a self exam at least once a month. Using a bright light and a mirror, look and feel your lips and front of your gums. Tilt your head back and look at and feel the roof of your mouth. Pull your checks out to view the inside of your mouth, the lining of your cheeks, and the back gums. Pull out your tongue and look at all surfaces. Examine the floor of your mouth. Look at the back of your throat. Feel for lumps or enlarged lymph nodes in both sides of your neck and under your lower jaw. Call your dentist’s office immediately if you notice any changes in the appearance of your mouth or any of the signs and symptoms mentioned above.

* See your dentist on a regular schedule. Even though you might be conducting frequent self exams, sometimes dangerous spots or sores in the mouth can be very tiny and difficult to see on your own. The American Cancer Society recommends oral cancer screening exams every three years for people over age 20 and annually for those over age 40. During your next dental appointment, ask your dentist to perform an oral exam. Early detection can improve the chance of successful treatment.

* Don’t smoke or use any tobacco products and drink alcohol in moderation. (Refrain from binge drinking.)

* Eat a well balanced diet.

* Limit your exposure to the sun. Repeated exposure increases the risk of cancer on the lip, especially the lower lip. When in the sun, use UV-A/B-blocking sun protective lotions on your skin as well as your lips.

 

The fundamental view that machines should not be considered as a challenge to humanity but, like McLuhan predicted, as an extension of ourselves is the basic philosophy when becoming involved with technology.

 

The world will not be changed from the outside but from the inside and aesthetical decisions will be more and more based on knowledge rather than on irrelevance. The shift from uncontrollable metaphysics to a systematic and logical constructivism may well be the sign of tomorrow.

    

Let the uncontrollable laughter commence!

 

Amara would walk over, getting very close to Tobias' face and quickly lick his cheek if he didn't react fast enough. It was meant to be playful of course. Hit or miss, she'd stick her tongue out afterwards.

Lily Lowtide: \o/ ))

 

Tobias Reyes frowns slightly in Lily's direction before speaking. "Like the nearly one-hundred year old classic goes, 'you can't always get what you want." He'd say, chuckling softly to himself. If it weren't for his own obsession with music, he probably wouldn't know what he was talking about but he loved referencing pre-war music when he could.

 

Tobias Reyes pauses when he feels something wet touch his cheek. He'd stand there, motified for a moment before flailing his arms about in the air. "You licked me!"

 

Lily Lowtide looks to Toby with a blank expression before forming the most stupid face possible and nods. "Naahh, yathink?" she says as she pokes out her tongue.

 

Kimani Silvercloud looks down at the sleeping char again, wondering if he was still upset, then looks up at lilly her cheecks blushing a bit. gently standing then placing chars head down walking over to lily

 

Amara pouted. "How rude! It's not like I'm laced with poison or something!" She was tempted to bring up events from cleaning day again, but decided against it. She'd only fold her arms in a mock grumble.

 

Tobias Reyes continues to flail his arms in the air as he begins to shout at the top of his lungs. "Ugh! I've been kissed by a girl! I have girl germs! Get hot water! Get some disinfectant! Get some iodine!"

 

Lily Lowtide looks to Kimani and steps a little closer so they were standing side by side. She brings her hand up, intending on patting Kim on the head, but then tilts her head to the side, her hand just hovering above Kimani's head. "Did you grow? Or am I just shrinking... or just crazy?" She looks back to Toby then and playfully rolls her eyes. "Oh come on. Amara licks are the best." she says with a sage nod.

 

Kimani Silvercloud glances at tobias "he's worse then nine year olds" then walks over to him "Mister, you look ridiculous, like one of wacky wally's inflatible arm tube man"

 

Lily Lowtide: Lmao! XD ))

 

Tobias Reyes looks down at the ankle bitter, his eyes wide as he continues to speak; his voice slightly lower than before. "I've been kissed by a girl ... germs, infection, disease, cooties!" Okay, so now he was just hamming it up for the lil sheila. "And I -do not- look like a wacky-arm-inflatable-tube-man-thingy." He says as he slowly stops flailing his arms about and places them back at his side.

 

Amara took some cleaner( just water) and a clean rag from the supplies bin. If Tobias was still screaming like a baby, she'd spritz him with the water and wipe his face. Whether he dodged it or not, she'd try to spray him with a mist.

 

:: Amara Parmelee OOC :: i have a use for this finally!

 

Lily Lowtide: Lmao. ))

 

(OOC)Tobias Reyes dies, he just dies lmao.

 

Lily Lowtide: Lmfao om Amara. ))

 

Kimani Silvercloud giggles "well you did, you would have fit in at the lot where he sells them" she pauses "and it isnt girls that have cooties, its boys that have cooties" she turns to look at lily "I think I had a growth spurt, but i dunno"

 

Lily Lowtide: I'm laughing so hard. ))

 

:: Amara Parmelee OOC :: i can't breathe

 

Kimani Silvercloud quick do interweb cpr!!))

 

Lily Lowtide looks at Amara and busts out luaghing, trying her best to nod at Kimani, but she was laughing too hard. "Oh, that's great." she'd say inbetween laughs as she watched the scene. "Pheeww."

 

Lily Lowtide: EVERY MOVEMENT I LAUGH EVERN HARDER! ))

 

(OOC)Tobias Reyes: My cat just jumped on my shoulders...

(OOC)Tobias Reyes: Epic kitty piggy-back ride.

 

Lily Lowtide: XD ))

 

:: Amara Parmelee OOC :: did it scare you?...wait does every neko hete have a cat in RL?

 

Kimani Silvercloud: i have a dog, no cats here

 

Kimani Silvercloud: ))

 

Lily Lowtide: I has 4 cats and 3 dogs. >_> ))

 

Tobias Reyes stares at the boy blankly for a moment before turning his head toward the staircase, calling down to Amara as she walks off to put the sandwiches back in the fridge. "Hey, Amara! The ankle bitter wants me to lick you! You in!?" He'd shout down to her, a hint of exhaustion in his voice as he speaks.

 

Jayde Rasmuson: ((gotta go set up my new place, i'll be back pretties))

 

Lily Lowtide: Bai! _> ))

 

Tobias Reyes stares at the ankle bitter as a stream of water hits the side of his face. Slowly,, he'd turn his head toward Amara as a second stream hits him directly in the eyes. He'd close them shut, tightly, before speaking. "Amara..." He says, trying to keep his voice controlled as the streams of water hit him in the face. "I... am going... to kill you..." He mutters under his breath before shouting and flailing his arms once more. "I'm clean now okay!?"

 

(OOC)Tobias Reyes: I have 2 cats and 1 dog. The one that actually associates closest with me though is a bengal so I expect it out of her.

 

Lily Lowtide: Me cat looks like he's in deep thought right now. He just like.. staring blankly into space. XD ))

 

(OOC)Tobias Reyes: Lucky ! Mine's biting at my fingers as I move them across the keyboard !

 

Lily Lowtide: XD ))

 

Kimani Silvercloud: ((my dog, I only have one, is chilling on the couch, he's 1 1/2, so totally adorable))

 

Amara wiped just a bit more, rubbing the rag fiercly against his check. "There you are. Girl cooty-free, love." She'd laugh loudly, failing to hold in the giggles any longer. "You're very good at the flailing by the way."

 

Kimani Silvercloud snickers "did they bring you from there, maybe you were hiding there, like in disguise which is why your so good at arm flailing" she pauses then looks at lily moving back over to her muttering "miss amara, try to get all the cooties he has off of him"

 

Amara continued laughing. "I think I did Kimani."

 

Lily Lowtide starts to fidget as she stands there and looks around. A small whine could even be hear from her as she looks to the main waterfall. "Anyone know how long this storm thing is supposed to last?"

 

Tobias Reyes looks between the ankle bitter and Amara. "I just have a lot of practice... oka--wait. I mean,

I'm no good at arm flailing! Yeah! ...that's it." He'd stand there silently for a momentfore pushing off the wall. "And on that note. I'm going to bed." He mutters, "if anyone needs me, I'll be sleeping in the medical bay where it's -cootie free-." He says as sarcastically as possible.

 

Kimani Silvercloud nodding "that's good, we dont want boy cooties spread everywhere, " she looks at lily "not too much longer I hope, its odd not running around freely" she looks at tobias then back at the two women "what a crazy ole coot" she says her smile getting larger

 

Amara plopped on the bed. "Great idea. I need to sleep myself." She was not in the modd to question what god-awful cooties lurked in the mattress. "Night all."

 

:: Amara Parmelee OOC :: nini

 

(OOC)Tobias Reyes: G'night.

 

Lily Lowtide: Night. ))

 

Kimani Silvercloud: Nighty night!))

 

:: Amara Parmelee OOC :: *spritzes Tobi one last tiime* Okay, i'm done.

 

Kimani Silvercloud: lol))

 

(OOC)Tobias Reyes: lol

 

Lily Lowtide makes a pouty face cause everyone is going to sleep. She waves to nods to Amara, then looks to Toby and smirks. "Sleep well, muffin." she says in an equally as sarcastic tone.

 

Tobias Reyes begins to make his way toward the stairwell when he hears the lil sheila words. He'd turn his head toward her, his eyes glaring, before he shouts; as loud as he possibly could. "I'm not old!" And with that he'd stomp down the stairs ignoring Lily's comment as he made his way toward the medic's bay.

 

Kimani Silvercloud says to lily "then there were two" before looking around giggling "he takes stuff to seriously"

What is oral cancer?

 

Cancer is defined as the uncontrollable growth of cells that invade and cause damage to surrounding tissue. Oral cancer appears as a growth or sore that does not go away. Oral cancer — which includes cancers of the lips, tongue, cheek, floor of the mouth, hard and soft palate, sinuses, and pharynx (throat) — can be life-threatening if not diagnosed and treated early.

What are the signs and symptoms of oral cancer?

 

The following are the common signs and symptoms:

 

* Swellings/thickenings, lumps or bumps, rough spots/crusts/or eroded areas on the lips, gums, or other areas inside the mouth

* The development of velvety white, red, or speckled (white and red) patches in the mouth

* Unexplained bleeding in the mouth

* Unexplained numbness, loss of feeling, or pain/tenderness in any area of the face, mouth, or neck

* Persistent sores on the face, neck, or mouth that bleed easily and do not heal within two weeks

* A soreness or feeling that something is caught in the back of the throat

* Difficulty chewing or swallowing, speaking, or moving the jaw or tongue

* Hoarseness, chronic sore throat, or changes in the voice

* Ear pain

* A change in the way your teeth or dentures fit together – a change in your "bite"

* Dramatic weight loss

 

If you notice any of these changes, contact your dentist immediately for a professional examination.

I recently noticed a whitish patch in my mouth. Is this oral cancer?

 

This whitish patch could be leukoplakia. Leukoplakia, a condition caused by excess cell growth, can form on the cheeks, gums, or tongue. Leukoplakia is commonly seen in tobacco users, in people with ill-fitting dentures, and in those who have a habit of chewing on their cheek. This condition can progress to cancer. Red patches in the mouth (called erythroplakia) are less common than leukoplakia but have an even greater potential for being cancerous. Any white or red lesion in your mouth should be evaluated by your dentist.

Who gets oral cancer and what are the risk factors for oral cancer?

 

According to the American Cancer Society, men face twice the risk of developing oral cancer as women, and men who are over age 50 face the greatest risk. The rate of development of cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx began to decline in the late 1970s and has continued to decline throughout the 1990s in both African Americans, and white males and females.

 

Risk factors for the development of oral cancer include:

 

* Cigarette, cigar, or pipe smoking — Smokers are six times more likely than non-smokers to develop oral cancers.

* Use of smokeless tobacco products (for example, dip, snuff, or chewing tobacco) — Use of these products increase the risk of cancers of the cheek, gums, and lining of the lips.

* Excessive consumption of alcohol — Oral cancers are about six times more common in drinkers than in non-drinkers.

* Family history of cancer

* Excessive exposure to the sun — especially at a young age

 

It is important to note that more than 25% of all oral cancers occur in people who do not smoke and who only drink alcohol occasionally.

Other Oral Cancer Facts

 

Oral cancer is the sixth most common cancer among men.

 

About 75% to 80% of people with oral cavity and pharynx cancer consume alcohol.

 

People who smoke and drink alcohol have an even higher risk of cancer than those who only drink or only use tobacco products.

 

The risk of developing oral cavity and pharynx cancers increases both with the amount as well as the length of time tobacco and alcohol products are used.

Survival

 

The overall 1-year survival rate for patients with all stages of oral cavity and pharynx cancers is 81%. The 5 & 10-year survival rates are 56% and 41%, respectively.

How is oral cancer diagnosed?

 

Your dentist will conduct an oral cancer screening exam, which is a routine part of a comprehensive dental examination. More specifically, your dentist will feel for any lumps or irregular tissue changes in your neck, head, face, and oral cavity. When examining your mouth, your dentist will look for any sores or discolored tissue, as well as check for or ask you about the signs and symptoms mentioned above.

 

Your dentist might perform an oral brush biopsy if he or she sees tissue in your mouth that looks suspicious. This test is painless and involves taking a small sample of the tissue and analyzing it for abnormal cells. Alternatively, if the tissue looks even more suspicious, your dentist might recommend a scalpel biopsy. This procedure usually requires local anesthesia and might be performed by your dentist or a specialist referred by your dentist. These tests are necessary to detect oral cancer early, before it has had a chance to progress and spread.

How is oral cancer treated?

 

Oral cancer is treated the same way many other cancers are treated; that is with surgery to remove the cancerous growth followed by radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy (drug treatments) to destroy any remaining cancer cells.

What can I do to prevent oral cancer?

 

You can take an active role in preventing oral cancer or detecting it early, should it occur.

 

* Conduct a self exam at least once a month. Using a bright light and a mirror, look and feel your lips and front of your gums. Tilt your head back and look at and feel the roof of your mouth. Pull your checks out to view the inside of your mouth, the lining of your cheeks, and the back gums. Pull out your tongue and look at all surfaces. Examine the floor of your mouth. Look at the back of your throat. Feel for lumps or enlarged lymph nodes in both sides of your neck and under your lower jaw. Call your dentist’s office immediately if you notice any changes in the appearance of your mouth or any of the signs and symptoms mentioned above.

* See your dentist on a regular schedule. Even though you might be conducting frequent self exams, sometimes dangerous spots or sores in the mouth can be very tiny and difficult to see on your own. The American Cancer Society recommends oral cancer screening exams every three years for people over age 20 and annually for those over age 40. During your next dental appointment, ask your dentist to perform an oral exam. Early detection can improve the chance of successful treatment.

* Don’t smoke or use any tobacco products and drink alcohol in moderation. (Refrain from binge drinking.)

* Eat a well balanced diet.

* Limit your exposure to the sun. Repeated exposure increases the risk of cancer on the lip, especially the lower lip. When in the sun, use UV-A/B-blocking sun protective lotions on your skin as well as your lips.

 

Today I spent the day alone with Bella, Adriana left early in the morning for a work trip to Paris and left a day early to do some sightseeing. I took a few pictures while she was playing, I liked this one because she was giggling uncontrollably when I took it.

Jan. 14 - Feb 4th, 2011 at Roq La Rue Gallery. www.roqlarue.com.

 

mandygreer.wordpress.com

 

About “Honey and Lightening”

 

“Honey and Lightening” is a show of installation chambers, sculptures of talismanic birds and a series of staged photographs all revolving around examining the mercurial nature of human desire. The substances honey and lightening both have literary, mythical and archetypal references to the occurrence and evolution of desire and it’s fading. I see one as the slow ooze of pleasure and the other as the dangerous, uncontrollable and inexplicably instant occurrence of magnetism between two bodies.

 

Two installation chambers create full body experiences of these ephemeral phenomena and crystallize them in tangible form as a way to signify the human longing for a perfect stasis of experience – which is impossible as emotion begins to degrade, evolve, fold in upon itself after the initial strike.

 

The Honey Moon chamber is a 10 foot tall mirrored jewelry box spanning 12 feet, enclosing a giant engorged golden chandelier formation encrusted with tens of thousands of gold-colored trinkets – the cheapest of the trashiest materials but representing the purest element from the bowels of the earth that has induced lust to the point of violence since pre-history. This giant mass of gold, as well as the body of the viewer, is reflected infinitely in 35 mirrored panels that create a simultaneously claustrophobic and expansive encounter that memorializes a temporary event. The mythology of honey, a bodily fluid produced from flowers, has long been associated with the ooze of erotic perfection. An ambrosial month of drinking honey-wine has followed the wedding ceremony since the Pharaohs. But locked up in the folklore of this transitional period is that the delirium ends and the state of bliss is forever sought after.

 

The Cherry Tree Root chamber is, in a way, a reverence to my own experience with Colpo di fulmine — “love at first sight” in Italian, which literally translate to “lightning strike”, and a craving to re-experience a place and time that no longer exists. Recently digging a 16 foot deep foundation hole, my husband and I removed 72 tons of dirt from our property to build a studio, exposing deep and gnarled roots that seems like frozen solidified lightening, long forgotten, dug up by us to lay the foundation for the rooms we hope we’ll die in. The root chamber is like entering this underground world hidden from view of long- ago electric ephemeral desires that have now turned into strong and sturdy roots- not as flashy as lightening but quietly enduring and growing. The roots are battered beautiful twisting accumulations of crocheted scraps of fabric I’ve saved for years, old ropes and remnants of past installations, hand-spun hair, rabbit fur and old clothes, all coated in the dirt from below my family’s foundation.

 

Creating a chamber to recede into is an homage to Jeffry Michell’s 2001 installation “Hanabuki”, the site of our own lightening strike, a catalytic phenomenon that lasted a millisecond. Like life itself beginning with lightening striking the primordial soup, the mythology of celestial fire recognizes its ability to create fast irreversible transformation. Despite the impossibility of it, I made my chamber as a way to revisit and remember the secret place Jeffry made, the fur-lined hut that was a pleasure palace where I fell in love, presided over by little dancing gods spreading the joys of the pleasure in all bodies, a beginning of something that seemed temporary and ill-fated but really turned out to be deep-rooted like an ancient tree.

 

The installation also includes a gathering of talismanic birds made of leather and more than a thousand individually cut and sewn silk and satin feathers, representing my imminent needs but using imagery used by a variety of ancient peoples and cultures — a desire for protection, for a guide, and harbingers of happiness in the form of a raptors. In photographs, close friends and my husband play out roles that tie into the everyday events of their lives, but represented as re-interpreted gods and goddesses such as Hecate, Demeter and the Green Man. The photos speak to themes of cross-roads, the double pull of isolation vs. community, a power buried in the beginnings of motherhood and the visceral erotic pull of the earth, volatile but buried like a dormant volcano.

 

Sponsored in part by by the City of Seattle Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs CityArtist Grant and 4Culture/King County Lodging Tax Revenue.

 

photo: Mark Woods

7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people lwho are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers,3 these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

 

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jas 3:7–12.

 

Communication involves both what we say (content) and how we say it (tone, inflection, body language). God has given us enormous capability in this area, and we must make sure we are pleasing him with our words.

 

1. Positive traits to develop in speech.

 

BUILDING UP

 

Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. (ESV)

Colossians 4:6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (NIV)

 

GENTLENESS

 

Proverbs 15:1 A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. (NASB)

Galatians 6:1

 

KINDNESS

 

Proverbs 16:24 Kind words are like honey—sweet to the soul and healthy for the body. (NLT)

Ephesians 4:32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (NIV)

Proverbs 12:25

 

PATIENCE

 

Proverbs 25:15 With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue will break a bone. (ESV)

 

SPEAKING TRUTH

 

Ephesians 4:25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. (ESV)

 

SPEAKING AFTER LISTENING

 

James 1:19–20 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. (ESV)

Proverbs 18:13 If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame. (ESV)

Proverbs 15:28

 

COMMUNICATING KNOWLEDGE

 

Proverbs 20:15 There is gold, and an abundance of jewels; but the lips of knowledge are a more precious thing. (NASB)

 

APPROPRIATE WORDS

 

Psalm 37:30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice. (ESV)

Proverbs 10:19; 15:23; 25:11; 1 Timothy 4:12

 

2. Negative traits to avoid in speech.

 

MISUSING GOD’S NAME (IN VAIN OR WITH CONTEMPT)

 

Exodus 20:7 You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. (NIV)

 

OBSCENE, FOOLISH, RAW HUMOR

 

Ephesians 4:29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. (NIV)

Ephesians 5:4

 

FALSEHOOD, LYING

 

Colossians 3:9–10 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. (ESV)

Ephesians 4:25, Zechariah 8:16

 

ANSWERING BEFORE LISTENING

 

Proverbs 18:13 If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame. (ESV)

Proverbs 18:17

 

FOOLISH, IGNORANT ARGUMENTS

 

2 Timothy 2:23–24 But keep away from foolish and ignorant arguments; you know that they end up in quarrels. As the Lord’s servant, you must not quarrel. You must be kind toward all, a good and patient teacher. (GNT)

 

SLANDER, GOSSIP

 

Proverbs 20:19 He who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets, therefore do not associate with a gossip. (NASB)

Ephesians 4:31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. (ESV)

1 Timothy 5:13–14; Titus 3:1–2

 

LACK OF CONTROL

 

James 1:26 If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. (NLT)

 

COMPLAINING

 

Philippians 2:14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing. (NIV)

1 Corinthians 10:6–10; James 5:9

 

SUMMARY OF THE TONGUE’S NEGATIVE POTENTIAL

 

James 3:8 But no one has ever been able to tame the tongue. It is evil and uncontrollable, full of deadly poison. (GNT) (See verses 5–12.)

 

3. Speech can both grieve and please the Holy Spirit.

 

Ephesians 4:29–30 Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you. And do not make God’s Holy Spirit sad; for the Spirit is God’s mark of ownership on you, a guarantee that the Day will come when God will set you free. (GNT)

 

4. As creation gives glory to God, so should our speech.

 

Psalm 19:1–4 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. (NKJV)

 

5. Additional contrasts from Proverbs.

 

Proverbs 12:18 Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing. (NLT)

Proverbs 10:20–21 The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked is of little value. The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of sense. (NIV)

Proverbs 15:4

 

Biblical Narratives

 

• Israelites, grumbling, Numbers 16:41; 17:5–10

• Abigail, calming David down, 1 Samuel 25

• Ananias and Sapphira, lying, Acts 5:1–11

 

Practical Steps

 

• As you drive home from work, commit to speaking with your family positively and without complaining.

• Be aware of your body language or nonverbal communication habits. Ask others to evaluate. Work on corrections where needed.

• Pray before you go into social situations, before calling or writing someone, or before posting on a social media site.

• Practice not responding to or laughing at rude or cruel speech or off-color humor.

• Openly communicate when you need to take a stand against sin or wrong. Your silence communicates agreement.

 

Keith R. Miller, Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling Men (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2014), 67–71.