Saturday, October 20, 2012

stark contrast to those of their attackers

As Americans, let us never, ever forget that our freedom is
only sustained because there are people who are willing to
fight for it, to stand up for it, and in some cases, lay down
their lives for it.  Our country is only as strong as the
character of our people and the service of those both
civilian and military who represent us around the globe.
No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great
nation, alter that character, or eclipse the light of the
values that we stand for.  Today we mourn four more Americans
who represent the very best of the United States of America. 
We will not waver in our commitment to see that justice is
done for this terrible act.  And make no mistake, justice
will be done.
But we also know that the lives these Americans led stand in
stark contrast to those of their attackers.  These four
Americans stood up for freedom and human dignity.  They
should give every American great pride in the country that
they served, and the hope that our flag represents to people
around the globe who also yearn to live in freedom and with
dignity.
Republicans are claiming that Obama’s reference to “acts of
terror” was a generalized reference to terrorism with no
specific application to Benghazi, which earlier in his
statement Obama had called “this outrageous and shocking
attack,” without using the word “terror.” But the
reference to “four more Americans” in the very next
sentence strongly suggests that Obama was applying the label
to Benghazi. If you’re willing to grant that the debate’s
moderator, Candy Crowley (no relation!), had a right to
intervene at all, it’s hard to complain about her coming to
Obama’s defense on this narrow point.
(MORE: Obama Campaign Bullish after Strong Second Debate)

Thursday, October 18, 2012

It used to be mainly diagnosed in children

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Coeliac disease
Could be the cause if: You often feel tired; you've lost
weight for no apparent reason; you are suffering from
abdominal pain. Coeliac disease is an adverse reaction to
gluten, which is found in wheat, barley and rye and all foods
containing them — everything from pasta and bread to pies
and some gravies and sauces. It is an autoimmune condition
where the body mistakes substances in gluten for a threat and
attacks them, leading to damage to the surface of the small
bowel, which then affects your ability to absorb nutrients
from food.
It used to be mainly diagnosed in children, but it's now
known people can go undiagnosed into middle age. If you have
these symptoms, see your doctor and ask to have a blood test
for coeliac disease. National Institute for Health and
Clinical Excellence guidelines state that anyone with
bloating and other IBS-type symptoms should be tested for it.
If you're diagnosed, you'll feel better once you start
avoiding all foods containing gluten.
Hormonal fluctuations
Could be the cause if: You are premenstrual or in the early
stages of pregnancy. During pregnancy, and just before your
period, levels of the hormone progesterone are raised. This
can slow down gut motility or movement, which means food
passes more slowly through the body, leading to bloating and
possibly constipation. But you can beat the bloat. Exercise
can help improve gut motility and walking for 30 minutes a
day could be enough to make the difference. Also, drink
plenty of fluids and eat lots of fruit, vegetables and whole
grains to avoid constipation.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Let us grant for a moment that historians

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What are we to make of Neely's claims? And how can all the historians who have come to regard the Civil War as "brutal," "cruel," "ruthless," and "merciless" have been so mistaken? Neely is at his most challenging when he suggests how casualty figures can be misleading, especially in comparative perspective. After all, the 620,000 who died during the Civil War (that is the widely accepted figure) were, theoretically, soldiers of two countries, not one. The Union dead totaled only 360,000; the Confederate dead only 260,000. In neither case did they equal the 407,000 American soldiers who died during World War II. What is more, the death toll during the Crimean War in 1853-1856 has been placed at 640,000, most of it coming during a two-year period, surpassing the deaths in the Union and Confederacy combined over a period of four years. Drew Faust might say that 620,000 dead in America during the 1860s would be equivalent to 5,500,000 dead in America today; and Neely might respond that Faust's reasoning typifies the sensationalizing disposition among historians.
Let us grant for a moment that historians have been disposed to "sensationalize" Civil War casualties (though I am not sure what is to be gained by this, since the readership for histories of this war has always been robust), and that we ought to interrogate our assumptions about the war's destructiveness. Where does this leave us? The Civil War witnessed a remarkable and unprecedented mobilization of resources on each side. Between half and three-quarters of all men of military age served at some point during the conflict. (There was a higher proportion in the Confederacy than in the Union, but impressive in either case.) The federal government's authority and capacity expanded dramatically, and a Confederate state was created from scratch, with remarkable results. Thousands of slaves were impressed to work on Confederate fortifications and in Confederate war industries. Both the Union and the Confederacy enacted military conscription, printed currency, imposed taxes, and centralized power. And the Union embraced the unconditional surrender of the Confederacy as its war goal. The Civil War, in other words, assumed many of the features of "total war," even if it was, in effect, a set of domestic rebellions or insurrections.