(l-r) ACES’s Team Behaviorist Vince Rose, UCLA, PhD research student Marisa Tellez and Holy Cross manager Vernon Wilson.
Holy Cross Croc Saved
Submitted by Marine Biologist Cherie Chenot-Rose, ACES/American Crocodile Education Sanctuary
North of the cut on Ambergris Island, a five foot American Crocodile decided to take up residence in a shallow canal on the property of the managers of Holy Cross Anglican School, Francis and Vernon Wilson. Worried that the bold reptile would make a beloved pet its prey, the Wilson’s decided it needed to be removed. With the word out that a nuisance crocodile needed to be relocated, a few locals stopped by and offered to ‘off’ the cute little bugger for a price. Not wishing to harm the juvenile croc, the Wilson’s were put in contact with ACES / American Crocodile Education Sanctuary in Punta Gorda by wildlife advocate, Colette Kase. Being ACES is a non‐profit organization with limited funding, the Wilson’s graciously put the ACES’s Team up for the night, and the Holy Cross Anglican School donated funds to cover the costs of the crocodile’s relocation.
American Crocodiles are not only protected under the Belize Wildlife Protection Act (Chapter 220); but are also currently considered ‘Vulnerable’ by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and on a global level are facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.
ACES’s Team, Behaviorist Vince Rose, Biologist Cherie Chenot‐Rose and UCLA, PhD research student Marisa Tellez, arrived on the scene Tuesday, August 4th , at lunchtime and was fed a yummy, complimentary meal by the Holy Cross School. Setting up traps in the hot day’s sun, the team caught the croc by 5:00 pm in a snare type trap; and then, collected scientific data pertinent to the conservation of Crocodilians in Belize.
The captured croc was a female and name Alice E. after Francis’s mother. In the species Crocodylus acutus, American Crocodiles, the female is the more aggressive. This particular croc had taken up residence in the Wilson’s canal because the contained water had a lower salinity than the surrounding canals.With fresher water to drink and ample food sources, from not only the birds and fish but from the nearby workers, the croc was protecting her little water hole with all she had. This was truly one of the feistiest little crocs I have ever encountered. And, even though this croc was successfully relocated to ACES in Punta Gorda where she will be used in educational lectures on how to safely co‐exist with crocs, another croc will most likely move into her now vacant water hole.
It is important to understand that removing all the problematic crocs is not an answer to Ambergris’s ever growing problem of human‐croc conflicts. The answer to coexisting with these modern day dinosaurs is to recognize it is us, humans, who are the intruder and we need them more than they need us. The number one thing everyone can do to decrease the number of problem crocodiles is never discard food waste, especially chicken and fish scraps, into the waters. Everyone enjoys a free meal and will choose it over paying or expending extra energy.
Feeding crocodiles directly or indirectly by this manner is the number one cause of croc attacks and is illegal in Belize.
If you have small pets or children and you are living on a canal or lagoon front, a sea wall will assure protection from crocodiles coming into your yard. At times of mating and when dry seasons are extra dry, crocs will seek waterholes with a lower salinity than the sea. Even though American Crocs are a saltwater species and can excrete salt through a specialized gland on their tongue and through their feces, high continual concentrations of salt can be stressful on them, especially the young and nesting females. Normally, these crocs will drink fresh water from the thin layer of rainwater that being less dense lays on the surface of the saltier sea. This year, with as dry as it has been, this layer at times does not exist and the crocs will seek out pools, puddles and contained water areas for their lower salinity.
ACES would like to thank Francis and Vernon for their hospitality and the Holy Cross Anglican School for funding the capture. We praise their decision in taking the extra mile to save this highly threatened apex predator. So many people do not seem to understand the importance of crocodiles in keeping Belize’s ecosystems in balance. Not only do they feed upon small mammals and rodents that carry disease, such as raccoons, but they keep fish populations in balance and healthy as well. By reducing the numbers of apex predators, such as crocs, in an area, populations of their prey explode. This in turn leads to spread of disease and famines as prey consume all of the available food sources. In turn, the prey will eventually die off in mass numbers and habitats that once flourished with life will become vast wastelands. With only an estimated 10 to 20 thousand American crocodiles left world‐wide, ACES is making every effort to help preserve these magnificent reptiles for Belize’s future generations and to hopefully save them from extinction.
For more information about ACES please visit our website at www.americancrocodilesanctuary.org.


In the Advanced Learning work session there was a slide that showed the growth of AP and IB in the District. It is true that many more students are taking AP classes than ever before. But it doesn't necessarily mean what you think it means.
Take, for example, Roosevelt High School. At Roosevelt about half of the 10th grade students used to take AP European History. This is typically the first AP available to students, one of the few open to 10th grade students on the typical pathway. The class is challenging for 10th grade students and the fact that about half of the students took it is a testament to Roosevelt's academic strength. The other half of the students took a history class similar to the one that students all across district and the state take in the 10th grade.
Some folks at Roosevelt didn't like that. They didn't like the fact that about half of the students were self-selecting to take on the challenge and rigor of AP European History. Even more, they didn't like the fact that about half of the students were NOT self-selecting the class, the challenge, or the rigor. So they came up with a solution. Now every 10th grader at Roosevelt has to take AP Human Geography. Every one of them, both those who would have taken the regular history class and those who would have taken AP European History.
AP Human Geography, although it is also an AP class, is not comparable to AP European History in rigor. It is intended to be a one semester class instead of a two semester class. At Roosevelt, it is stretched across two semesters. Moreover, the class is not taught as a college level class (as AP classes typically are), but with material with a ceiling at a 10th grade reading level. So, yes, more students are taking an AP class, but you could not say that students were taking more rigorous classes. Half of them maybe, half of them definitely not.
You might wonder why the school didn't simply substitute AP Human Geography for the old history class so that half of the students would still take the more rigorous AP European History and half would take the AP Human Geography. The answer is obvious. While that would have addressed the academic problem - lack of rigor for students in the old history class - it would not address the political problem of some students - primarily White and Asian middle class students - self-selecting more rigor while other students - disproportionately Black and Latino and FRE students - self-selecting less rigor. The politics trumped the academics.
This pattern is now repeating itself in other schools. Where high performing students self-selected challenge that option is being taken away from them and they are placed, along with every other student, in a less challenging class with a label that implies more challenge than the class represents.


Water contamination – special education edition: Fracking
To view hydraulic fracturing infograghics click on toggles.
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Hydraulic fracturing is the propagation of fractures in a rock layer by a pressurized fluid. Some hydraulic fractures form naturally certain veins or dikes are examples—and can create conduits along which gas and petroleum from source rocks may migrate to reservoir rocks. Induced hydraulic fracturing or hydrofracturing, commonly known as fracing, fraccing, or fracking, is a technique used to release petroleum, natural gas (including shale gas, tight gas, and coal seam gas), or other substances for extraction. This type of fracturing creates fractures from a wellbore drilled into reservoir rock formations.
The first use of hydraulic fracturing was in 1947. However, it was only in 1998 that modern fracturing technology, referred to as horizontal slickwater fracturing, made possible the economical extraction of shale gas; this new technology was first used in the Barnett Shale in Texas. The energy from the injection of a highly pressurized hydraulic fracturing fluid creates new channels in the rock, which can increase the extraction rates and ultimate recovery of hydrocarbons.
Proponents of hydraulic fracturing point to the economic benefits from vast amounts of formerly inaccessible hydrocarbons the process can extract. Opponents point to potential environmental impacts, including contamination of ground water, risks to air quality, the migration of gases and hydraulic fracturing chemicals to the surface, surface contamination from spills and flowback and the health effects of these. For these reasons hydraulic fracturing has come under scrutiny internationally, with some countries suspending or banning it.
Fracturing as a method to stimulate shallow, hard rock oil wells dates back to the 1860s. It was applied by oil producers in the US states of Pennsylvania, New York, Kentucky, and West Virginia by using liquid and later also solidified nitroglycerin. Later, the same method was applied to water and gas wells. The idea to use acid as a nonexplosive fluid for well stimulation was introduced in the 1930s. Due to acid etching, fractures would not close completely and therefore productivity was enhanced. The same phenomenon was discovered with water injection and squeeze cementing operations.
The relationship between well performance and treatment pressures was studied by Floyd Farris of Stanolind Oil and Gas Corporation. This study became a basis of the first hydraulic fracturing experiment, which was conducted in 1947 at the Hugoton gas field in Grant County of southwestern Kansas by Stanolind. For the well treatment 1,000 US gallons (3,800 l; 830 imp gal) of gelled gasoline and sand from the Arkansas River was injected into the gas-producing limestone formation at 2,400 feet (730 m).
The experiment was not very successful as deliverability of the well did not change appreciably. The process was further described by J.B. Clark of Stanolind in his paper published in 1948. A patent on this process was issued in 1949 and an exclusive license was granted to the Halliburton Oil Well Cementing Company. On March 17, 1949, Halliburton performed the first two commercial hydraulic fracturing treatments in Stephens County, Oklahoma, and Archer County, Texas. Since then, hydraulic fracturing has been used to stimulate approximately a million oil and gas wells.
In the Soviet Union, the first hydraulic proppant fracturing was carried out in 1952. In Western Europe in 1977–1985, hydraulic fracturing was conducted at Rotliegend and Carboniferous gas-bearing sandstones in Germany, Netherlands onshore and offshore gas fields, and the United Kingdoms sector of the North Sea. Other countries in Europe and Northern Africa included Norway, the Soviet Union, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Austria, France, Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Tunisia, and Algeria.
Due to shale’s high porosity and low permeability, technology research, development and demonstration were necessary before hydraulic fracturing could be commercially applied to shale gas deposits. In the 1970s the United States government initiated the Eastern Gas Shales Project, a set of dozens of public-private hydraulic fracturing pilot demonstration projects. During the same period, the Gas Research Institute, a gas industry research consortium, received approval for research and funding from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
In 1977, the Department of Energy pioneered massive hydraulic fracturing in tight sandstone formations. In 1997, based on earlier techniques used by Union Pacific Resources, now part of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, Mitchell Energy, now part of Devon Energy, developed the hydraulic fracturing technique known as “slickwater fracturing” which involves adding chemicals to water to increase the fluid flow, that made the shale gas extraction economical.
Method A hydraulic fracture is formed by pumping the fracturing fluid into the wellbore at a rate sufficient to increase pressure downhole to exceed that of the fracture gradient (pressure gradient) of the rock. The fracture gradient is defined as the pressure increase per unit of the depth due to its density and it is usually measured in pounds per square inch per foot or bars per meter. The rock cracks and the fracture fluid continues further into the rock, extending the crack still further, and so on.
Operators typically try to maintain “fracture width”, or slow its decline, following treatment by introducing into the injected fluid a proppant – a material such as grains of sand, ceramic, or other particulates, that prevent the fractures from closing when the injection is stopped and the pressure of the fluid is reduced. Consideration of proppant strengths and prevention of proppant failure becomes more important at greater depths where pressure and stresses on fractures are higher. The propped fracture is permeable enough to allow the flow of formation fluids to the well. Formation fluids include gas, oil, salt water, fresh water and fluids introduced to the formation during completion of the well during fracturing.
During the process fracturing fluid leakoff, loss of fracturing fluid from the fracture channel into the surrounding permeable rock occurs. If not controlled properly, it can exceed 70% of the injected volume. This may result in formation matrix damage, adverse formation fluid interactions, or altered fracture geometry and thereby decreased production efficiency.
The location of one or more fractures along the length of the borehole is strictly controlled by various methods that create or seal off holes in the side of the wellbore. Typically, hydraulic fracturing is performed in cased wellbores and the zones to be fractured are accessed by perforating the casing at those locations.
Hydraulic-fracturing equipment used in oil and natural gas fields usually consists of a slurry blender, one or more high-pressure, high-volume fracturing pumps (typically powerful triplex or quintuplex pumps) and a monitoring unit. Associated equipment includes fracturing tanks, one or more units for storage and handling of proppant, high-pressure treating iron, a chemical additive unit (used to accurately monitor chemical addition), low-pressure flexible hoses, and many gauges and meters for flow rate, fluid density, and treating pressure. Fracturing equipment operates over a range of pressures and injection rates, and can reach up to 100 megapascals (15,000 psi) and 265 litres per second (9.4 cu ft/s) (100 barrels per minute).
Proppants and fracking fluids and List of additives for hydraulic fracturing
High-pressure fracture fluid is injected into the wellbore, with the pressure above the fracture gradient of the rock. The two main purposes of fracturing fluid is to extend fractures and to carry proppant into the formation, the purpose of which is to stay there without damaging the formation or production of the well. Two methods of transporting the proppant in the fluid are used – high-rate and high-viscosity. High-viscosity fracturing tends to cause large dominant fractures, while high-rate (slickwater) fracturing causes small spread-out micro-fractures.
This fracture fluid contains water-soluble gelling agents (such as guar gum) which increase viscosity and efficiently deliver the proppant into the formation.
The fluid injected into the rock is typically a slurry of water, proppants, and chemical additives. Additionally, gels, foams, and compressed gases, including nitrogen, carbon dioxide and air can be injected. Typically, of the fracturing fluid 90% is water and 9.5% is sand with the chemical additives accounting to about 0.5%.
A proppant is a material that will keep an induced hydraulic fracture open, during or following a fracturing treatment, and can be gel, foam, or slickwater-based. Fluids make tradeoffs in such material properties as viscosity, where more viscous fluids can carry more concentrated proppant; the energy or pressure demands to maintain a certain flux pump rate (flow velocity) that will conduct the proppant appropriately; pH, various rheological factors, among others. Types of proppant include silica sand, resin-coated sand, and man-made ceramics.
These vary depending on the type of permeability or grain strength needed. The most commonly used proppant is silica sand, though proppants of uniform size and shape, such as a ceramic proppant, is believed to be more effective. Due to a higher porosity within the fracture, a greater amount of oil and natural gas is liberated.
The fracturing fluid varies in composition depending on the type of fracturing used, the conditions of the specific well being fractured, and the water characteristics. A typical fracture treatment uses between 3 and 12 additive chemicals. Although there may be unconventional fracturing fluids, the typical used chemical additives are:
•Acids—hydrochloric acid (usually 28%-5%), or acetic acid is used in the pre-fracturing stage for cleaning the perforations and initiating fissure in the near-wellbore rock.
•Sodium chloride (salt)—delays breakdown of the gel polymer chains.
•Polyacrylamide and other friction reducers—minimizes the friction between fluid and pipe, thus allowing the pumps to pump at a higher rate without having greater pressure on the surface. Polyacrylamide are good suspension agents ensuring the proppant does not fall out.
• Ethylene glycol—prevents formation of scale deposits in the pipe.
•Borate salts—used for maintaining fluid viscosity during the temperature increase.
•Sodium and potassium carbonates—used for maintaining effectiveness of crosslinkers.
•Glutaraldehyde—used as disinfectant of the water (bacteria elimination).
•Guar gum and other water-soluble gelling agents—increases viscosity of the fracturing fluid to deliver more efficiently the proppant into the formation.
•Citric acid—used for corrosion prevention.
•Isopropanol—increases the viscosity of the fracture fluid.
The most common chemical used for hydraulic fracturing in the United States in 2005–2009 was methanol, while some other most widely used chemicals were isopropyl alcohol, 2-butoxyethanol, and ethylene glycol.
Typical fluid types.
• Conventional linear gels. These gels are cellulose derivatives (carboxymethyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, carboxymethyl hydroxyethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, methyl hydroxyl ethyl cellulose), guar or its derivatives (hydroxypropyl guar, carboxymethyl hydroxypropyl guar) based, with other chemicals providing the necessary chemistry for the desired results.
•Borate-crosslinked fluids. These are guar-based fluids cross-linked with boron ions (from aqueous borax/boric acid solution). These gels have higher viscosity at pH 9 onwards and are used to carry proppants. After the fracturing job the pH is reduced to 3–4 so that the cross-links are broken and the gel is less viscous and can be pumped out.
•Organometallic-crosslinked fluids zirconium, chromium, antimony, titanium salts are known to crosslink the guar based gels. The crosslinking mechanism is not reversible. So once the proppant is pumped down along with the cross-linked gel, the fracturing part is done. The gels are broken down with appropriate breakers.
•Aluminium phosphate-ester oil gels. Aluminium phosphate and ester oils are slurried to form cross-linked gel. These are one of the first known gelling systems.
For slickwater it is common to include sweeps or a reduction in the proppant concentration temporarily to ensure the well is not overwhelmed with proppant causing a screen-off. As the fracturing process proceeds, viscosity reducing agents such as oxidizers and enzyme breakers are sometimes then added to the fracturing fluid to deactivate the gelling agents and encourage flowback. The oxidizer reacts with the gel to break it down, reducing the fluid’s viscosity and ensuring that no proppant is pulled from the formation.
An enzyme acts as a catalyst for the breaking down of the gel. Sometimes pH modifiers are used to break down the crosslink at the end of a hydraulic fracturing job, since many require a pH buffer system to stay viscous. At the end of the job the well is commonly flushed with water (sometimes blended with a friction reducing chemical) under pressure.
Injected fluid is to some degree recovered and is managed by several methods, such as underground injection control, treatment and discharge, recycling, or temporary storage in pits or containers while new technology is being continually being developed and improved to better handle waste water and improve re-usability.
Click Here For Lake Peigneur Part One: Video – Lake Peigneur could be worse than Assumption sinkhole
Click Here For Lake Peigneur Part Two: Largest man-made vortex – Lake Peigneur update – special report.
Click Here For Grand Bayou sinkhole begins Part One: Bayou Corne – Grand Bayou sinkhole begins – can it end?
Click Here For Grand Bayou sinkhole begins Part Two: 06/28/13–05/16/13–facts about Grand Bayou sink hole.
WHOLE WORLD Water seeks to prove that economic, social, and environmental progress are not mutually exclusive. Developed to end the global water and sanitation crisis, WHOLE WORLD Water works to engage the hospitality and tourism industry to filter, bottle, and sell its own water, and contribute 10% of the proceeds to the WHOLE WORLD Water Fund. 100% of the proceeds will go directly to clean and safe water initiatives worldwide.
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Author: Nick Kanas
Softcover: 382 pages
With the construction of the International Space Station, and new plans for manned missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond, there is renewed interest in the heavens. An ever-increasing number of people are fascinated with the science of space and are becoming amateur astronomers.
The beauty and awe generated by the celestial void capture our imagination and delight our aesthetic sense. Antiquarian map societies are prospering, and celestial maps are now viewed as a specialty of map collecting.
This book traces the history of celestial cartography and relates this history to the changing ideas of man’s place in the universe and to advances in map-making.
Reproductions of maps from antiquarian celestial atlases and prints, many previously unpublished in book form, enrich the text, and a legend accompanies each illustration to explain its astronomical and cartographic features.
Also included in the book are discussions of non-European celestial maps and chapters on early American influences and celestial map-collecting.
The book describes the development and relationships between different sky maps and atlases as well as demonstrating contemporary cosmological ideas, constellation representations, and cartographic advances.


EDITOR’S NOTE: We’re proud to announce the launch of our newest state chapter – the Kentucky Tenth Amendment Center!
by Michael Maharrey, Kentucky Tenth Amendment Center
Welcome to the Kentucky chapter of the 10th Amendment Center.
The principle is simple. It is not radical or extremist, nor should it be controversial. The founders of the United States clearly intended a federal government with defined and limited power. The bulk of governance was meant to happen at the state and local level.Â The 10th Amendment in the Bill of Rights reaffirms this principle in the simplest of language.
â€œThe powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.â€
Simple. Straight forward. No need for complicated exegesis or convoluted interpretation.
James Madison expanded the idea, writing in Federalist No. 45.
â€œThe powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation and foreign commerce; with which the last the power of taxation will for the most part be connected. The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement and prosperity of the State.â€
The foundation of our country was not laid on empty political theory. It was born from a deep understanding of the danger of concentrated power. As George Washington said, â€œGovernment is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.â€
Or as Gerald Ford put it some 200 years later, â€œA government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.â€
Most people intuitively understand that the danger of power increases at higher levels of government. Most citizens understand that state and local leaders are more accountable to those they represent at state and local levels. What does Nancy Pelosi care about the coal miner in eastern Kentucky? Kentuckians understand the potential tyranny of unbridled federal power. Our founders certainly understood and created a brilliant system to keep government power in check.
It takes only a quick scan of the news headlines to see that the current system of government in the United States bears little resemblance to what the framers of the Constitution intended.
In the 1990s, the American people cleaned house in Washington D.C. Republicans swept into power promising to limit government, slash spending, cut earmarks and reform government. Instead, â€œWe the Peopleâ€ got more of the same. More big spending. More federal programs. More favors for special interests. More expanding bureaucracy.
In 2008, Pres. Obama took office promising â€œhope and change.â€ Instead, he and the Democrats in power doubled down.
Clearly, to solution doesnâ€™t lie in sending different breeds of politician to Washington. Yes, we want to elect candidates to federal office who respect the Constitutional limits of their power. But we the people of Kentucky must insist, through our state government, that we will not accept any more unconstitutional governance from the feds. We must use our power to nullify unconstitutional law and render impotent federal power grabs. We must wean ourselves from the federal trough and stop allowing Washington to control Frankfort via a carrot and stick approach.
The process wonâ€™t be easy. The federal government has grown far beyond its intended role and years will likely pass before we can reestablish a proper balance. But we must start now. We must stand together as Kentuckians and fight for whatâ€™s best for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. We must demand our liberties and stand up for the Constitution that unites us as a nation.
It is up to us. We the People. Government serves us, not the other way around.


A fossilised little finger discovered in a cave in the mountains of southern Siberia belonged to a young girl from an unknown group of archaic humans, scientists say.
The missing human relatives are thought to have inhabited much of Asia as recently as 30,000 years ago, and so shared the land with early modern humans and Neanderthals.
The finding paints a complex picture of human history in which our early ancestors left Africa 70,000 years ago to rub shoulders with other distant relatives in addition to the stocky, barrel-chested Neanderthals.
The new ancestors have been named “Denisovans” after the Denisova cave in the Altai mountains of southern Siberia where the finger bone was unearthed in 2008.
A “Denis” is thus a member of an archaic human subspecies.


All links within content go to MayoClinic.com
Vegetarian diet: A starter's guide to a plant-based diet
Special to CNN.com
Adopting a healthy vegetarian diet isn't as simple as scraping meat off your plate and eating what's left. You need to take extra steps to ensure you're meeting your daily nutritional needs.
Vegetarian diet planning
A healthy vegetarian diet consists primarily of plant-based foods, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seed. Because the emphasis is on nonmeat food sources, a vegetarian diet generally contains less fat and cholesterol, and typically includes more fiber.
Vegetarians fall into groups defined by the types of animal-derived foods they eat:
- Vegans eliminate all foods from animals, including meat, poultry, fish, milk, eggs and cheese. They eat only plant-based foods.
- Lacto-vegetarians consume milk and milk products along with plant-based foods. They omit eggs as well as meat, fish and poultry.
- Lacto-ovo vegetarians omit red meat, fish and poultry but eat eggs, milk and milk products, such as cheese and yogurt, in addition to plant-based foods.
To keep your vegetarian diet on track, you may find using a vegetarian food pyramid helpful. This pyramid outlines various food groups and food choices that, if eaten in the right quantities, form the foundation of a healthy vegetarian diet.
Meatless products, such as tofu dogs, soy burgers, nut loaves or texturized vegetable protein, add variety to your vegetarian diet. These products, found in many grocery stores and health food markets, simulate the taste and texture of meat and usually have less fat and fewer calories. Many of the meatless products, such as tofu or tempeh, are made from soybeans.
If you follow a vegan diet, you may need to find alternatives for eggs and dairy products. Try these suggestions when meal planning or cooking:
Ensuring adequate nutrition
- Milk. Drink fortified soymilk, rice milk or almond milk in place of cow's milk.
- Butter. When sauteing, use olive oil, water, vegetable broth, wine or nonfat cooking spray instead of butter. In baked goods, use canola oil.
- Cheese. Use soy cheese or nutritional yeast flakes, which are available in health food stores.
- Eggs. In baked goods, try commercial egg replacers — a dry product made mostly of potato starch. Or you can use the following to replace one egg: 1/4 cup whipped tofu or 1 tablespoon milled flaxseed mixed with 3 tablespoons of water. For an egg-free omelet try using tofu instead of eggs.
The more restrictive a diet is, the more difficult it is to get all the nutrients your body needs. A vegan diet, for example, eliminates food sources of vitamin B-12, as well as milk products, which are a good source of calcium. Other nutrients, such as iron and zinc, are available in a meatless diet, but you need to make an extra effort to ensure they're in yours.
Here are nutrients that may be deficient in a vegetarian diet and how you can get these nutrients from nonmeat sources:
- Protein. Your body needs protein to maintain healthy skin, bones, muscles and organs. Vegetarians who eat eggs or dairy products have convenient sources of protein. Other sources of protein include soy products, meat substitutes, legumes, lentils, nuts, seeds and whole grains.
- Calcium. This mineral helps build and maintain strong teeth and bones. Low-fat dairy foods and dark green vegetables, such as spinach, turnip and collard greens, kale, and broccoli are good sources of calcium. Tofu enriched with calcium and fortified soymilk and fruit juices are other options.
- Vitamin B-12. Your body needs vitamin B-12 to produce red blood cells and prevent anemia. This vitamin is found almost exclusively in animal products, including milk, eggs and cheese. Vegans can get vitamin B-12 from some enriched cereals, fortified soy products or by taking a supplement that contains this vitamin.
- Iron. Like vitamin B-12, iron is a crucial component of red blood cells. Dried beans and peas, lentils, enriched cereals, whole-grain products, dark, leafy green vegetables, and dried fruit are good sources of iron. To help your body absorb non-animal sources of iron, eat foods rich in vitamin C — such as strawberries, citrus fruits, tomatoes, cabbage and broccoli — at the same time you consume iron-containing foods.
- Zinc. This mineral is an essential component of many enzymes and plays a role in cell division and in the formation of proteins. Good sources of zinc include whole grains, soy products, nuts and wheat germ.
The key to a healthy vegetarian diet — or any diet for that matter — is to enjoy a wide variety of foods. Since no single food provides all of the nutrients that your body needs, eating a wide variety helps ensure that you get the necessary nutrients and other substances that promote good health.
Start with what you know
If you're thinking of switching to a vegetarian diet but aren't sure how to begin, start with what you already know. Make a list of meals you prepare on a regular basis. Some of these may already be meat-free, such as spaghetti or vegetable stir-fry. Next, pick out dishes that could easily become meat-free with a couple of substitutions. For example, you can make vegetarian chili by leaving out the ground beef and adding an extra can of black beans or soy crumbles. Or make fajitas using extra-firm tofu rather than chicken. You may be surprised to find that some dishes require only simple substitutions.
Once you have compiled a list of vegetarian meals, add new meal ideas. Buy or borrow vegetarian cookbooks. Scan the Internet for vegetarian menus or for tips about making meatless substitutions. Check out ethnic restaurants to sample new vegetarian cuisine. The more variety you bring to your vegetarian diet, the better the chance you'll meet all your nutritional needs.
No matter what your age or situation, a well-planned vegetarian diet can meet your nutritional needs. Even children and teenagers can do well on a plant-based diet, as can older people, and pregnant or breast-feeding women. If you're unsure whether a vegetarian diet is right for you, talk to your doctor or a registered dietitian.
Flaxseed: Is ground or whole better?
Dietary fiber: An essential part of a healthy diet
Whole grains: High in nutrition and fiber, yet low in fat
Healthy diet decisions: Do you know what to eat?


December 1972 | Volume 24, Issue 1
For some men the only solution to the dilemma of blacks and whites together was for the blacks to go back where they came from
When, on August 14, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln spoke to a visiting “committee of colored men” at the White House, it was already becoming clear that one result of the War Between the States would be the freeing of millions of slaves. Slavery was toppling under the blows of war, and in just another month the President would issue the preliminary version of the Emancipation Proclamation. The “colored men” whom Lincoln addressed were free already; some of them had been free all their lives. The President, however, gave them no heartening affirmations of their equality. Instead, he proposed to them the resettling of American blacks, either in Africa or in Central or South America.
“You are cut off,” he reminded his visitors, “from many of the advantages which the other race enjoy. The aspiration of men is to enjoy equality with the best when free, but on this broad continent, not a single man of your race is made the equal of a single man of ours.” He felt it was “better for us both … to be separated,” that is, that the Negroes of America go elsewhere—all of them.
He ruminated aloud about their going to Liberia, in Africa. Perhaps, he suggested, that was too far away: “… some of you would rather remain within reach of the country of your nativity. I do not know how much attachment you may have toward our race. It does not strike me that you have the greatest reason to love them. But still you are attached to them at all events.” So he had in mind the possibility of a colony in Central America, and he asked for “a hundred tolerably intelligent men, with their wives and children,” to be the pioneer colonists there, although he admitted he would be satisfied with a quarter that number.
Thus did the Great Emancipator propose voluntary exile for the nation’s blacks. He was by no means the first, nor the last, to nourish such a solution to an agonizing American racial problem. Serious discussion of that prospect began as early as the 1770’s with Samuel Hopkins, a Rhode Island Congregational minister; Hopkins proposed training black missionaries to begin a Negro return to Africa. Thomas Jefferson, in the Virginia Assembly, put forward a program that would emancipate the slaves as they became adults. Having been trained in various useful arts, they would be sent to a distant colony. Jefferson believed slavery was evil, both morally and politically. Yet deeper than his abhorrence of the institution was his fear that American freed Negroes would become so -numerous that race war would be inevitable.
The fear of a genocidal blood bath has been a persistent argument in favor of an absolute separation of the black and white races—a proposal that has surfaced repeatedly in the nation’s history. The presumed inevitability and incurable nature of race prejudice have likewise been advanced to justify total separation.
Such fears and attitudes have been most evident in periods of heightened racial tension, and it is at those times that Negro emigration has appeared to many to be a reasonable, perhaps the only, solution. The quarter century after Reconstruction, for example, a particularly desperate era for American blacks, saw the creation of such enterprises as the Liberian Exodus Joint Stock Steamship Company, the United Transatlantic Society, and the International Migration Society. Just after the First World War, when honorable service brought blacks no bettered status and little relief from violently enforced prejudices, a black messiah, Marcus Aurelius Garvey, arose with ambitious plans for building an African empire with black Americans. There was an African Nationalist Pioneer Movement in the 1930’s, when the Depression compounded the problems confronting the Negro community. And in spite of improvement in the situation of Negroes since then, the still agonizingly slow advance of equality spawned a small frontier village of black “Hebrews” in Liberia in the 1960’s.
The resettlement idea thus appears to have had remarkable vitality. But it has never been particularly effective. Lincoln’s plans for moving Negroes south of the border is illustrative. It came a cropper, specifically, on the greed of white promoters of proposed colonies and the opposition of Central American governments. But those stumbling blocks might have been hurdled had it not been for the more basic problem common to all such projects. Any resettlement program had to expose, had to carry with it like a disfiguring scar, painful conflicts and contradictions in the racial practices and pretensions of the American community. Nowhere are these better shown than in the rise and fall of the largest and longest-lived of the resettlement organizations, the American Colonization Society, founded in 1816.
The sole purpose of the society was stated in its formal title, The American Society for Colonizing the Free People of Color in the United States. Free Negroes, as Henry Clay remarked to the society’s first organizational meeting, “neither enjoyed the immunities of freemen, nor were they subject to the incapacities of slaves.” Prejudice, Clay said, worked to keep them a lower caste, and it was “desirable … both as it respected them, and the residue of the population of the country, to drain them off.”
In 1750 there had been only a few thousand free Negroes in the American colonies. But the numbers would soon rise, because the philosophy that legitimized the American Revolution also encouraged emancipation. Slaveholder Joseph Hill of Virginia, for one, writing his will in 1783, gave his bondsmen their freedom upon his death, explaining that “after full and deliberate consideration, and agreeable to our Bill of Rights,” he was “fully persuaded that freedom is the natural life of all mankind.” Virginia law had closely restricted manumission until 1782. After the restrictions were removed, the number of free Negroes in the state rose from fewer than three thousand to nearly thirteen thousand by 1790. That year the number of free Negroes in the United States had grown to just under sixty thousand. Many northern states had abolished slavery or were about to, a process completely accomplished throughout the North by 1818. This further swelled the totals so that in 1820 the census would count more than 233,000 free Negroes.
Free they were, but in no sense equal. They did not live well. Their rights in law were restricted and growing more so; with rare exceptions they could not testify against whites in court, and without exception they could not serve on juries. The punishments for blacks were often more severe than for whites who committed the same crimes. In Virginia, for example, after 1831, free Negroes guilty of many minor offenses received the same punishments—including whippings—as those meted out to slaves for identical misdemeanors. A few states conferred the legal right to vote, but some withdrew it later as the number of free blacks multiplied. And where law did not deny Negroes the vote, custom often did. Circumscriptions were beginning to be placed on the right of free Negroes to move from state to state, as no state particularly relished being a repository for newly emancipated slaves. Education was either not available or was segregated. The jobs open to free Negroes were limited. The result of all this was distilled in the words of the valedictorian of a Negro school in New York in 1819: Why should I strive hard and acquire all the constituents of a man, if the prevailing genius of the land admit me not as such, or but in an inferior degree! Pardon me if I feel insignificant and weak. … What are my prospects? To what shall I turn my hand? Shall I be a mechanic? No one will employ me; white boys won’t work with me. Shall I be a merchant? No one will have me in his office; white clerks won’t associate with me. Drudgery and servitude, then, are my prospective portion. Can you be surprised at my discouragement?
There was plenty of reason for the complaint. Nonetheless, free Negroes, instead of earning sympathy for their disadvantages, were often described in the terms traditionally used to excoriate the poor of any race: they lived “that way” on purpose; they collected in horrid slums, bred disease and incredible numbers of children, committed all sorts of loathsome crimes, did no work unless it was absolutely necessary, were noted for drunkenness, and were, as Henry Clay put it, “a useless and pernicious, if not dangerous portion” of America’s population. In the ante-bellum South it was often said that free Negroes taught slaves to steal and helped them dispose of stolen goods, that they acted as a powerful lure to freedom for slaves, that they inspired and assisted slave rebellion. And there was no point in wasting education on them, for that would only give them an appetite for privileges unreachable. “The more you improve the condition of these people,” said a Washington lawyer (who was also chief clerk of the United States Supreme Court), “the more you cultivate their minds, the more miserable you make them.”
They were in a trap, with every exit blocked; every exit, that is, but one. The Reverend Robert Finley, pastor of the Presbyterian church in Baskingridge, New Jersey, a community with 1,500 free Negroes, remarked in 1816 upon the depressed condition of those of his parishioners who were black. “Every thing connected with their condition, including their colour, is against them,” he declared, “nor is there much prospect that their state can ever be greatly ameliorated, while they continue among us.” But he went on to propose a remedy. “Could not,” he suggested, “the rich and benevolent devise means to form a Colony on some part of the Coast of Africa … which might gradually induce many free blacks to go and settle, devising for them the means of getting there, and of protection and support till they were established.”
The “rich and benevolent” were much in evidence in that era between 1815 and the 1840’s, supporting a flood of societies that promoted the Bible, peace, temperance, Christian missions, Sunday schools, and the welfare of various underprivileged segments of the community. As it happened, Finley could even point to an existing project similar to the very one he had in mind. The British had freed a number of slaves during the Revolution and transported them to Great Britain. Many had gravitated to the slums, and British philanthropists had undertaken to relocate them in Africa by starting a colony at Sierra Leone. The financing and government had not been well managed, and shortly the Crown had felt constrained to assume responsibility from the philanthropists, but Sierra Leone was now a going concern.
An American colony in Africa would also have to be financed at least in part by the government, Finley knew. But it would benefit the nation in many ways. It would remove a trodden-down minority from the people who were doing the treading; it would give America a commercial outpost in Africa; and by supplying a catchall for emancipated slaves it would encourage manumission in the South—which Finley hoped would ultimately rid the nation of slavery. There was also an additional philanthropic attraction in the colony’s potential for redeeming Africa, since it would act as a spiritual, educational, and mercantile lighthouse on the Dark Continent.
Encouraged by the reception given the idea among his friends in New Jersey, Finley went to Washington at the end of 1816, and during the Christmas season the American Society for Colonizing the Free People of Color in the United States was formally established. Among the fifty or so leading lights who participated in its founding were Speaker of the House Henry Clay, representatives John Randolph of Virginia and Daniel Webster of New Hampshire, Secretary of the Treasury William Harris Crawford, Attorney General Richard Rush, the author of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” Francis Scott Key, General Andrew Jackson, and the nephew of George Washington, Supreme Court Justice Bushrod Washington, who became the society’s first president. It was an auspicious beginning.
Bushrod Washington memorialized Congress in January, 1817, asking legislative support for creating an African colony. But Congress did not respond favorably, and in hopes of becoming more convincing through the presentation of some solidly researched data on possibilities, the society sent out a two-man expedition to West Africa in the next year. The Reverend Samuel J. Mills and Professor Ebenezer Burgess visited Sierra Leone, Sherbro Island (a hundred miles southeast of the British colony), and a number of villages along the coast of Africa’s “shoulder,” close to the Gulf of Guinea. The best that Mills and Burgess took away from their many parleys with black native leaders was a few hedged promises that land for colonists might be made available. Most of the local Negroes were hostile to the idea. But the visitors’ impressions of what they saw and heard were strongly influenced by their hopes. When they headed home in May, 1818, they were highly optimistic, particularly about Sherbro Island as a location. Mills had been ill for much of their trip, and he died on the homeward voyage; but Professor Burgess communicated their joint enthusiasm to the society.
With the support of the colonizationists, a bill was now pushed through Congress to stiffen regulation of the African slave trade by making the federal government, rather than the states, responsible for suppressing it. The law gave President Monroe power to care for and relocate any slaves captured from the holds of slave ships by the government in its policing of the seas. It authorized him, moreover, to commit a naval squadron to the task and, most significantly from the society’s point of view, to create a station on the coast of Africa for the landing of “contraband” blacks rescued from their kidnappers. The colonizationists hoped that this might be the nucleus of their hoped-for colony. Monroe thought well of Negro resettlement, and he leaned toward such a liberal interpretation. But an adverse opinion from Secretary of State John Quincy Adams blocked the society’s attempt to get the President to buy land for a colony under the new statute. Adams felt that neither the law nor the Constitution could be construed as permitting the nation to set up a colony anywhere. At length, Monroe and the colonizationists worked out a compromise: the society would buy the land, and the federal government would post two agents to Africa, along with a number of Negro volunteer colonists as workmen, to set up the African station. In January, 1820, eighty-six black “workmen,” two thirds of whom were women and children, sailed for Sherbro Island aboard the merchant ship Elizabeth , with a sloop of war as convoy. The expedition was led by two federal agents, both nominated by the society, the Reverend Samuel Bacon and John P. Bankson. Also on board was the society’s own agent, Samuel Crozer.
On Sherbro they found a rude camp waiting for them, built by a former American slave, John Kizell; he had been Mills’s and Burgess’ interpreter on the island two years earlier. Crozer went off to negotiate with the island leaders for a larger tract of land. They, as it turned out, wanted the colony as little as they had when Mills and Burgess had talked to them earlier. The thwarted colonists moved into KizelPs camp, and shortly “African fever” began to strike them down. Crozer came back to find several of them dead. He himself fell ill and died. So did John Bankson. So did a Navy officer. And so, finally, did the last surviving agent, the Reverend Mr. Bacon. Crozer had turned over authority to one of the black colonists, the Reverend Daniel Coker of Baltimore, and Coker contended with a disunited and unhealthy colony for a while before giving it up and taking some of the survivors to a refuge on the mainland.
Nevertheless, despite this discouraging beginning, two more federal agents and two more colonization-society representatives were sent out, along with thirty-three more settlers, in 1821. Two of the four leaders died, but the team managed to work out arrangements for the use of forty square miles of land on the coast south of Sierra Leone. But the deal committed the society to an annual rent of three hundred dollars, and the society, when the issue was presented to it, refused to accept the agreement, considering the sum an unjustified tribute to the heathen king who controlled the land.
With all their difficulties, the colonizationists still had Monroe’s support, and now they arranged for a physician, Eli Ayres, and a Navy lieutenant, Robert F. Stockton, to be posted by the government to Africa to continue the search for a suitable site. Ayres and Stockton headed for Cape Mesurado, a promontory thirty-six miles long and three miles wide, on the Grain Coast. Earlier agents had not been able to buy the cape from the local chief, King Peter, and the first attempt by Ayres and Stockton was also fruitless. After days of waiting for King Peter to palaver again, they marched inland to his village and at pistol point forced him to sell. The price for Cape Mesurado was less than three hundred dollars in clothes, guns, powder, rum, tobacco, and trinkets. This “purchase” from an unwilling seller the American Colonization Society named Liberia—“free land”—and the first settlement there, Monrovia.
For more than forty years the society got along with varying degrees of the sort of limited federal support that had helped found Liberia. This backing was augmented by contributions from individuals and occasionally from state legislatures. Agents of the society toured the country, spreading information about colonization, raising money, starting state and local auxiliaries. This effort was aided after 1825 by the publication of a monthly paper, the African Repository and Colonial Journal . Liberia grew. By the time of the Civil War, some eleven thousand free Negroes—at least half of them newly emancipated slaves—had been resettled there.
The managers of the society never gave up hope that the federal government would eventually commit itself to resettlement on a massive scale. But they soon found themselves in an insoluble dilemma over that question. They were determined to act as a national, unifying force, but there was no way for the society to bid for federal aid and yet to avoid being caught up in the growing sectional debate or to become itself a cause for debate. For one of the burning issues of the day was the very question of whether the federal government had any power to deal with slaves (or ex-slaves) in any fashion.
Such controversy made it inevitable that until the Civil War, help for colonization from the national government would be small. And meanwhile the hope of federal assistance on a grand scale acted as a damper on private contributions, and these were further reduced by the competition of many other enterprises in philanthropy.
Moreover, the sheer size of the task to be performed was also defeating. Realistically, this was the sort of project that could not hope to succeed if left to private philanthropy. By 1830 the number of free Negroes in the United States was over 319,000; it had increased by nearly 86,000 in the preceding ten years. And in that ten-year span the American Colonization Society had raised $113,000 and resettled 1,430 free blacks.
But in spite of many obstacles and limited progress, the colonizationists remained confident that eventually the country would see things their way. Many respectable, influential men, of both North and South, belonged to the society or were in sympathy with the idea. Liberia had survived serious trials—the ever-present malaria, small wars with the native population, the unreliability of supply shipments, the difficulties of administration at long distance, and rebellions by the colonists. Settlers now held appointive posts in the government, and a newspaper, the Liberia Herald , was being published.
Still, the optimism of the society could not overcome a second paradox in its very nature. Just as they could not easily be healers of sectional strife while asking federal help for a program distrusted by many Southerners, so they could not avoid the fact that their program had both proslavery and antislavery implications, which conflicted with each other. Some indeed wanted emancipation and believed that if slave-holders were offered the prospect of getting rid of their bondsmen, they would be willing to sign the deeds of manumission. But others, especially in the South, wanted resettlement to be used simply to secure the peace and safety of the slave states by isolating the slaves from the contaminating influence of the free blacks. Even members of the society who were antislavery in principle had developed serious misgivings about emancipation unless it was accompanied by resettlement. As Francis Scott Key put it in 1838: I have emancipated seven of my slaves. They have done pretty well, and six of them, now alive, are supporting themselves comfortably and creditably. Yet I cannot but see that this is all they are doing now; and, when age and infirmity come upon them, they will probably suffer. … I am still a slaveholder, and could not, without the greatest inhumanity, be otherwise. … The laws of Maryland contain provisions… under which slaves, in certain circumstances, are entitled to petition the courts for their freedom. As a lawyer, I always undertook these cases with peculiar zeal, and have been thus instrumental in liberating several large families and many individuals. I cannot remember more than two instances, out of this large number, in which it did not appear that the freedom I so earnestly sought for them was their ruin. It has been so with a very large proportion of all others I have known emancipated.
Nor was this exclusively the view of a Southerner. John A. Dix of New York declared to a meeting of his state’s colonization society in 1830, “The mass of crime committed by Africans is greater, in proportion to numbers, in the non-slaveholding than in the slaveholding States; and as a rule the degree of comfort enjoyed by them is inferior. This is not an argument in favor of slavery; but it is an unanswerable argument in favor of rendering emancipation and colonization co-extensive with each other.”
Officially, the society took no line except advocating removal of free Negroes. But in the interests of “sound policy,” as a modern defender of the society points out, the organization let its members make what they wished of that aim, depending on where they worked. With some fairness, colonization was criticized in the North as being the tool of slaveholders and in the South as a tool of the abolitionists—as was bound to happen when it was depicted by its own members both as a way to eliminate and to guarantee slavery.
But the problems of trying to satisfy a northern and a southern membership were common to all organizations of the ante-bellum period, especially those seeking compromise. A much more serious handicap for the society was that it uncritically accepted the theory that blacks were inferior to whites. In this, of course, the members had the company of most of their contemporaries, for it was a belief deeply rooted in American life even though it ran against the grain of the official American credo. Both Jefferson and Lincoln had at least tentatively subscribed to it, and their support of resettlement proposals was motivated in part by it. The society did not conceal its prejudice. Negroes, said Ralph Gurley, secretary of the society and editor of the African Repository , were “a people which are injurious and dangerous to our social interests, as they are ignorant, vicious, and unhappy.” That was why it was necessary to send them to Africa.
The disparity of principles did not go unnoticed. “They can love and benefit [Negroes] four thousand miles off, but not at home,” wrote William Lloyd Garrison to a friend in 1831. “They profess to be, and really believe that they are, actuated by the most philanthropic motives; and yet are cherishing the most unmanly and unchristian prejudices.”
Garrison had himself been a supporter of colonization—had even spoken for it publicly in 1829. But he was struck by the racial bias that lay at the root of the colonization idea. It was entirely at odds with Christianity, he thought; and it was most certainly at odds with the American political philosophy that “all men are created equal.” He prepared a long essay, Thoughts on African Colonization , which he published in 1832. Taking as his keynote the phrase “out of thine own mouth will I condemn thee,” he built his attack around quotations from the colonizationists. For instance, the president of Union College, the Reverend Eliphalet Nott, was one who spoke of free blacks in terms Garrison found offensive: “ We have endeavored [he quoted Nott], but endeavored in vain, to restore them either to self respect, or to the respect of others .” It is painful to contradict so worthy an individual; but nothing is more certain than that this statement is altogether erroneous. We have derided, we have shunned, we have neglected them, in every possible manner. … Again: “ It is not our fault that we have failed . …” We are wholly and exclusively in fault. What have we done to raise them up from the earth? What have we not done to keep them down? Once more: “ It has resulted from a cause over which neither they, nor we, can ever have control .” In other words, they have been made with skins “ not colored like our own, ” and therefore we cannot recognize them as fellow-countrymen, or treat them like rational beings! One sixth of our whole population must, FOR EVER , in this land, remain a wretched, ignorant, and degraded race,—and yet nobody be culpable— none but the Creator who has made us incapable of doing unto others as we would have them do unto us! Horrible—horrible! If this be not an impeachment of Infinite Goodness,—I do not say intentionally but really ,—I cannot define it.
That was the crux of the matter, the essential contradiction that defeated large-scale resettlement. Prejudice, Garrison pointed out, ought not to be countenanced in a country founded on an assurance of the inherent nobility of every man. To be true to itself the nation should be putting on armor and battling against racial bias. Furthermore, by grounding their appeal in a view of blacks that was derogatory—however gentle and sympathetic it might sometimes be—the colonizationists bore a heavy responsibility for keeping free Negroes in a depressed condition. As for the society’s effect on slavery, it actually retarded the freeing of slaves, Garrison believed, since it concentrated on the slow process of voluntary emancipation and voluntary colonization—which showed no honest promise of success anyway. As Negro abolitionist James Porten had put it in 1817, “Let not a purpose be assisted which will stay the cause of the entire abolition of slavery.”
The direct assault of Garrison’s Thoughts proved disastrous to the society; for while Garrison was perhaps in a tiny minority, his views carried weight with the very humanitarians who might otherwise have unswervingly supported a high-minded organization like the society. But in addition, the society’s most important opposition came from free Negroes themselves. The colonizationists operated on the assumption that of course Negroes would want to go “home” to Africa. But most did not. Black resistance to the colonization idea was evident as soon as the society was founded. A Philadelphia meeting in January, 1817, resolved: “Our ancestors were, though not from choice, the first cultivators of the wilds of America, and we, their descendants, claim a right to share in the blessings of her luxuriant soil which their blood and sweat manured. We read with deep abhorrence the unmerited stigma, attempted to be cast on the reputation of the free people of color. … We declare that we will never be separated from the slave population of this country. …”
Outright deportation of unwilling Negroes would not have been at all in keeping with the society’s spirit of philanthropy; it would have represented too great a departure from its concept of Christian charity. Nonetheless, with the shadow of slavery behind it, the “offer” of deportation to the blacks had something of a threat about it. In any event, many of the manumitted slaves who were sent to Liberia were freed only on condition that they exile themselves there. Rarely did large numbers of free Negroes volunteer to go, and then only in times of extreme distress, as during the uproar that followed Nat Turner’s rebellion, when their situation was especially uncomfortable. The repression of free Negroes by law was aimed in part at “encouraging” their emigration.
The contradictions between resettlement under pressure and human dignity, as well as the inextricable entanglement of the venture in the sectional quarrel, began to tell. Many disillusioned and discouraged colonizationists defected to the ranks of abolition. State auxiliaries went off in separate directions—those of Maryland, Kentucky, Mississippi, New York, and Pennsylvania created their own settlements of Negroes in Liberia. Such losses multiplied the already serious financial difficulties of the national organization, which had been burdened all along with the cost of having to help support Liberia in addition to its normal organizational costs.
In 1847 Liberia was finally cut loose from the parental purse strings and given independence. The society continued to send out settlers—nearly six thousand in the final thirteen years before the war. Relocation of Negroes still appealed to many Americans, but after decades of denunciation by both sides in the sectional quarrel, the American Colonization Society was in such bad odor it could not even get the federal government to recognize Liberia as a nation until 1862. And by then President Lincoln was considering various resettlement programs of his own and giving Liberia short shrift.
The society outlasted the war and the nineteenth century. In 1909 it had five surviving members, who bequeathed its records to the Library of Congress, and one of its recent historians relates that a “skeletal organization” received “a small legacy” as recently as 1959. Help was given to Negroes immigrating to Liberia until 1899. But long before that year, the nation had turned—however haltingly—to a solution more in keeping with America’s best impulses. “… [i]t is the purpose of God, I am fully persuaded,” Garrison had declared, in a prophecy still not completely realized, “to humble the pride of the American people by rendering the expulsion of our colored countrymen utterly impracticable, and the necessity for their admission to equal rights imperative. … I see them here, not in Africa, not bowed to the earth, or derided and persecuted as at present, not with a downcast air or an irresolute step, but standing erect as men destined heavenward, unembarrassed, untrammelled, with none to molest or make them afraid.”


Environmental Monitoring in Antarctica
Environmental monitoring is essential in Antarctica to allow assessment of the impacts of human activities. Examples of the this monitoring work carried out by BAS are given below.
Sewage outfall monitoring, Rothera Station
Until 2003, untreated sewage was discharged into the sea from Rothera Station. Monitoring of the receiving water before and after installation of a biological treatment plant showed a dramatic reduction in the sewage plume as indicated by faecal coliforms.
Concentrations of heavy metals in lichens and marine bivalves around Rothera Research Station.
Concentrations of lead, zinc, cadmium and other heavy metals in lichens and marine bivalves are measured. The results are used to assess whether any observed pollution is due to station activities, and to determine the area of contamination.
Skua Population breeding success
The impact of Rothera Research Station on the local South Polar Skua (Stercorarius maccormicki) population has been monitored for over 12 years. The monitoring programme has recently been expanded to include measurements such as chick weight, survival and egg dimensions.


Battle Drill #1: Conduct Platoon Attack (7-3-D101)
TASK. Conduct Platoon Attack (7-3-D101).
CONDITIONS. An enemy squad has occupied defensive positions or is moving to the platoon front. The enemy has indirect fire and CAS capabilities. The platoon is attacking separately or as part of a larger unit. Plans, preparation, and movement to the objective have been accomplished. The platoon is directed to attack the enemy.
1. The platoon main body is not surprised or fixed by the enemy.
2. The platoon accomplishes its assigned task within the commander's intent. The platoon kills, captures, or forces the withdrawal of the enemy.
3. The platoon maintains a sufficient fighting force to defeat the enemy's counterattack and continue operations.
1. Action on Enemy Contact.
a. The platoon initiates contact. The platoon leader directs when and how his base of fire element will establish a base of fire. The element must be in position and briefed before it initiates contact. The base of fire squad leader (normally the weapons squad leader), upon the signal from the platoon leader, initiates contact with a high casualty-producing weapon. The squad marks the engagement area with ir illumination (MTETT dependent), while the squad leader uses his hand-held laser pointer and AN/PAQ-4 to designate enemy positions, crew-served weapons, and vehicles. Soldiers focus on the squad leader's laser as well as the team leader's tracers and AN/PAQ-4 to engage targets. If the platoon has not been detected, steps 1 and 2 consist of positioning the support element and identifying the enemy's positions.
b. If the enemy initiates contact, the platoon takes the following actions:
(1) The squad in contact reacts to contact (Battle Drill No. 2, React to Contact Platoon/Squad, 7-3/4-D103). It attempts to achieve suppressive fires with one fire team and maneuvers the other team to attack the enemy in the flank. The team providing suppressive fires marks its flanks by throwing ir chemlight bundles or ir flares and continues to use its AN/PVS-7B and AN/PAQ-4 to place well-aimed, accurate fires on the enemy. The squad employs M203 and hand-held ir smoke to screen the assaulting teams movement. The squad leader notifies the platoon leader of his actions.
(2) The platoon leader, his RTO, the platoon FO, the squad leader of the next squad, and one machine gun team move forward to link up with the squad leader of the squad in contact.
(3) The squad leader of the trail squad moves to the front of his lead fire team.
(4) The platoon sergeant moves forward with the second machine gun team and the weapons squad leader and links up with the platoon leader. If directed, he assumes control of the base of fire element and positions the machine guns to add suppressive fire against the enemy. The platoon sergeant uses his hand-held laser to designate the left and right limits of fires while the weapons squad leader uses the pointer to designate targets.
(5) The platoon leader assesses the situation. He follows the success of the squad's flank attack by leading the trail squads along the covered and concealed route taken by the assaulting fire team of the squad in contact. The base of fire element uses the AN/PVS-7B to monitor the movement of the assaulting element.
c. If the squad in contact cannot achieve suppressive fire, the squad leader reports to the platoon leader.
(1) The squad in contact establishes a base of fire.
(a) The squad leader deploys his squad to provide effective, sustained fires on the enemy position. The squad leader continues to designate targets using the hand-held laser pointer and AN/PAQ-4 while soldiers SEE through their AN/PVS-7B and place accurate fires on the enemy with the AN/PAQ-4.
(b) The squad leader reports his final position to the platoon leader. (2) The remaining squad (not in contact) takes up covered and concealed positions in place and uses the AN/PVS-7B to observe the flanks and rear of the platoon. (3) The platoon leader moves forward with his RTO, the platoon FO, the squad leader of the nearest squad, and one machine gun team.
2. Locate the Enemy.
a. The squad leader of the squad in contact reports the enemy size, location, and any other information to the platoon leader. The platoon leader completes the squad leader's assessment of the situation.
b. The squad continues to engage the enemy positions and mark the engagement area with ground ir flares, tracers, and AN/PAQ-4.
c. The platoon sergeant moves forward with the weapons squad leader and the second machine gun team and links up with the platoon leader.
3. Suppress the Enemy.
a. The platoon leader determines if the squad in contact can gain suppressive fire against the enemy, based on the volume and accuracy of the enemy's return fire. He SEEs through the AN/PVS-7B and makes the assessment by looking at the enemy's muzzle flashes and the strike of their rounds and tracers.
b. If YES, he directs the squad (with one or both machine guns) to continue suppressing the enemy:
(1) The squad in contact destroys or suppresses enemy weapons that are firing most effectively against it, normally crew-served weapons. The squad leader identifies the enemy crew-served by its muzzle flashes and rate of fire. He uses his hand-held laser pointer to designate priority targets for his squad.
(2) In addition, the squad in contact continues to place ir screening smoke (if enemy has NODs) to prevent the enemy from seeing the maneuver element.
c. If NO, the platoon leader deploys another squad and the machine gun team to suppress the enemy position. The second squad lead elements SEE the base of fire squad flank element's ir chemlights or flares through the AN/PVS-7B and links up either to the left or right flank of the base of fire squad as directed by the platoon leader. (The platoon leader may direct the platoon sergeant to position this squad and one or both of the machine gun teams in a better support-by-fire position.)
d. The platoon leader again determines if the platoon can gain suppressive fire over the enemy.
e. If YES, he continues to suppress the enemy with two squads and two machine guns.
(1) The platoon sergeant assumes control of the base-of-fire element (squad in contact, the machine gun teams, and any other squad designated by the platoon leader). He uses his hand-held laser pointer to designate sectors of fire for the squads.
(2) The machine gun team occupies a covered and concealed position and suppresses the enemy position. The gunners SEE through the AN/PVS-4 and identify the targets designated by the weapons squad leader's laser.
f. The platoon FO calls for and adjusts fires, based on the platoon leader's directions. (The platoon leader does not wait for indirect fires before continuing with his actions.)
g. If still NO, the platoon leader deploys the last squad to provide flank and rear security and guide the rest of the platoon forward as necessary, and reports the situation to the company commander. Normally, the platoon will become the base of fire element for the company and may deploy the last squad for suppressive fires. The platoon continues to suppress/fix the enemy with direct and indirect fire, and responds to orders from the company commander.
a. If the squad(s) in contact together with the machine gun can suppress the enemy, the platoon leader determines if the remaining squad(s) not in contact can maneuver. He makes the following assessment using his AN/PVS-7:
(1) Location of enemy positions and obstacles.
(2) Size of enemy force. (The number of enemy automatic weapons, presence of any vehicles, and employment of indirect fire are indicators of enemy strength.)
(3) Vulnerable flank.
(4) Covered and concealed flanking route to the enemy position.
b. If yes, the squad leader maneuvers the squad(s) into the assault:
(1) Once the platoon leader has ensured the base of fire squad is in position and providing suppressive fires, he leads the assaulting squad(s) to the assault position.
(2) Once in position, the platoon leader gives the prearranged signal for the base of fire squad to lift or shift direct fires to the opposite flank of the enemy position. The signal is normally FM or an ir signaling device. The assault squad leader identifies the targets (enemy positions) that have been designated by the support by fire squad leader through his AN/PVS-7B. Simultaneously, at the platoon leader's command for the support by fire squad to lift or shift, the assault squad leader uses his hand-held laser pointer to point out the targets. Team leaders use AN/PAQ-4 to control fires. The assault squads MUST pick up and maintain effective fire throughout the assault. Handover of responsibility for direct fires from the base of fire squad to the assault squad is critical to prevent fratricide.
(3) The platoon FO shifts indirect fires (including smoke) to suppress the enemy position.
(4) The assaulting squad(s) fight through enemy positions using fire and maneuver.
(5) The platoon leader controls the movement of his squads. He uses his hand-held laser pointer to assign specific objectives for each squad and designates the main effort or base maneuver element. (The base of fire squad must be able to identify the near flank of the assaulting squads.) Flanks are marked with ir chemlight bundles, ir flares, or phoenix beacons.
NOTE: The use of the hand-held laser pointer requires moderation because it can cause confusion as well as identify friendly positions for an enemy with night-vision capabilities. The laser should not be on for a period greater than three seconds when used.
(a) The squad leader determines the way in which he will move the elements of his squad based on the volume and accuracy of enemy fire against his squad and the amount of cover provided by terrain. In all cases, each soldier uses individual movement techniques as appropriate.
(b) The squad leader designates one fire team to support the movement of the other fire team.
(c) The squad leader designates a distance or direction for the team to move. He accompanies one of the fire teams.
(d) Soldiers SEE with the AN/PVS-7B and maintain contact with team members and leaders.
(e) Buddy teams time their firing and reloading to sustain their rate of fire.
(f) The moving fire team proceeds to the next covered position, using the wedge formation.
(g) The squad leader directs the next team to move using an ir signal.
(h) When the squad leader or team leader determines that moving by teams is no longer feasible, fire teams continue forward in buddy teams. Soldiers continue to use AN/PVS-7B and AN/PAQ-4 to place accurate fires on the enemy as well as identify/point out targets previously identified by their team leaders.
(1) Soldiers maintain contact with their buddies.
(2) Soldiers fire from covered positions, SEE with the AN/PVS-7B and select the next covered position before moving. They either rush forward (no more than 5 seconds) or use the high crawl or low crawl techniques, based on terrain and enemy fires.
(i) Fire team leaders maintain contact with the squad leaders and pass signals to team members.
c. If NO, or the assaulting squads cannot continue to move, the platoon leader deploys the squad(s) to suppress the enemy and reports to the company commander.
5. Consolidate and Reorganize.
a. For consolidating once squads have seized the enemy position, the platoon leader establishes local security. (The platoon must plan to defeat any enemy counterattack. At the conclusion of the assault, the platoon is most vulnerable.)
(1) The platoon leader signals for the base of fire squad to move into designated positions.
(2) The platoon leader assigns sectors of fire for each squad using his laser pointer.
(3) The platoon leader positions key weapons to cover the most dangerous avenues of approach.
(4) The platoon sergeant begins coordination for ammunition resupply.
(5) Soldiers occupy hasty defensive positions.
(6) The platoon leader and his FO develop a quick fire plan.
(7) The squad leader places OPs to detect enemy counterattacks. When an armor or mounted threat is likely, use the AN/TAS-5A in OPs.
b. To reorganize, the platoon performs the following tasks (only after it completes consolidation on the objective):
(1) Re-establish chain of command.
(2) Redistribute and resupply ammunition.
(3) Man crew-served weapons first.
(4) Redistribute critical equipment (radios, NBC, NVD, Laser Pointer).
(5) Treat casualties and evacuate wounded.
(6) Fill vacancies in key positions.
(7) Search, silence, segregate, safeguard, and speed EPWs to collection points.
(8) Collect and report enemy information and material.
c. Squad leaders provide ammunition, casualty, and equipment (ACE) reports to the platoon leader.
d. The platoon leader consolidates ACE reports and passes them to the company commander (or Executive Officer).
e. The platoon continues the mission after receiving guidance from the company commander. The company follows the success of the platoon's flanking attack.


Ever return from a hike wanting to know more about the yellow-bellied Marmot, Golden Eagle, or American Dipper you saw along the trail? Typically that required consulting a reference book, or heading to the local library. But a new website called the Encyclopedia of Life
wants to change that. Their goal is to create online reference pages for the 1.8 million species known to inhabit the Earth.
Last week organizers unveiled the first 30,000 pages, including 25 exemplar pages
packed with photos, videos, and detailed scientific information compiled and checked by experts. These feature-rich pages can teach you about the life history of the Peregrine falcon,eol.org/taxa/16990688
or plot the distribution of the Yellow-fever mosquito.
Created with backing and expertise from Harvard University, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Field Museum of Chicago, the Encyclopedia of Life aims to create reference pages for the remaining 1,790,000 species by 2017. But if you’re in a hurry to find out how long yellow-bellied marmots hibernate each winter, you can check out the Animal Diversity Web
, an online database of species managed by the University of Michigan’s Museum of Zoology. The answer: From September to May. —Jason Stevenson


Can Kaposi sarcoma be prevented?
Kaposi sarcoma (KS) is caused by the Kaposi sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV). There are no vaccines at this time to protect people against KSHV. For now, preventing KS depends on reducing the chance of becoming infected with KSHV and reducing the chance that people who are infected with KSHV will develop KS.
Most cases of KS in the United States occur in people with AIDS. Taking measures to avoid becoming infected with HIV could prevent most cases of KS in this country.
- Since HIV can be spread through sex, avoiding unprotected sex with people infected with HIV could help prevent these infections. Many people with HIV don’t know that they are infected, so many public health workers recommend using a condom during any sexual contact. (A condom may not be needed if both people are HIV-negative and are in a mutually monogamous relationship). Abstinence is the most effective protection.
- HIV can also be spread through the use of contaminated (dirty) needles to inject recreational drugs. For people who inject drugs, the safest way to avoid HIV is to quit. However, some people are unable to quit on their own or get help in quitting, and they may not be able to stop using drugs right away. For these people, clean needles and injection supplies can help protect them. In some areas, there are programs to make sure that drug users can get clean needles and syringes.
- HIV-infected mothers can pass the virus to their babies during pregnancy, delivery, or breastfeeding. Treating the mothers and infants with anti-HIV drugs and avoiding breastfeeding can greatly reduce the risk of these infections.
- In the past, blood product transfusions and organ transplants were responsible for some HIV infections. As a result of improved testing for HIV, there is now a very low risk of HIV infection from blood products or organ transplants in the United States.
For people who are infected with HIV and KSHV, taking the right medicines can reduce the chance of developing KS.
- Testing for HIV can identify people infected with this virus. People with HIV should get treatment to help strengthen their immune system, which usually includes highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). HAART reduces the risk that people with HIV will develop KS (and AIDS). Treating infections that commonly occur in people with weakened immunity also reduces the likelihood of developing problems with KS.
- HIV-infected people who take drugs to treat herpesvirus infections (such as ganciclovir or foscarnet) are less likely to develop KS because these drugs also work against KSHV (which is a type of herpesvirus). Still, these drugs can have serious side effects, so they are only taken to treat certain infections, not to prevent KS.
Last Medical Review: 02/20/2013
Last Revised: 02/20/2013


If you download this publication you may also be interested in these:
Facing an uncertain future
How forest and people can adapt to climate changeCenter for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)Bogor, Indonesia
The most prominent international responses to climate change focus on mitigation (reducing the accumulation of greenhouse gases) rather than adaptation (reducing the vulnerability of society and ecosystems). However, with climate change now inevitable, adaptation is gaining importance in the policy arena, and is an integral part of ongoing negotiations towards an international framework. This report presents the case for adaptation for tropical forests (reducing the impacts of climate change on forests and their ecosystem services) and tropical forests for adaptation (using forests to help local people and society in general to adapt to inevitable changes). Policies in the forest, climate change and other sectors need to address these issues and be integrated with each other—such a cross-sectoral approach is essential if the benefits derived in one area are not to be lost or counteracted in another. Moreover, the institutions involved in policy development and implementation need themselves to be flexible and able to learn in the context of dynamic human and environmental systems. And all this needs to be done at all levels from the local community to the national government and international institutions. The report includes an appendix covering climate scenarios, concepts, and international policies and funds.


Tips to Facilitate Workshops Effectively
Facilitators play a very important role in the creation of a respectful, positive learning environment during a workshop. Here you will find some tips to facilitate workshops effectively.
- Make sure everybody has a chance to participate. For example, through small group activities or direct questions to different participants. Help the group to avoid long discussions between two people who may isolate the rest of the/other participants. Promote the importance of sharing the space and listening to different voices and opinions.
- Be prepared to make adjustments to the agenda – sometimes you have to cross out activities, but the most important thing is to achieve the general goals of the workshop.
- Make every possible thing to have all the logistics ready beforehand to then be able to focus on the workshop’s agenda.
- Pay attention to the group’s energy and motivation – Plan activities where everyone is able to participate and to stay active and engaged.
- Provide space for the participants to be able to share their own experiences and knowledge. Remember that each one of us has a lot to learn and a lot to teach.
- Relax and have fun! Be a part of the process – You are learning, too, so you don’t have to know it all nor do everything perfect.
- Be prepared for difficult questions. Get familiarized with the topic, know the content of the workshop but remember you don’t have to know all the answers! You can ask other participants what they know about the topic, or you can find out the answers later and share them with the participants after the workshop.
- Focus on giving general information – Avoid answering questions about specific cases. Usually, this can change the direction of the conversation and might be considered as providing legal advice without a license to do so.
- Your work as facilitator is to help the group learn together, not necessarily to present all the information and be the “expert” in the topic.
- Try to be as clear as possible – especially when you are giving the exercises’ instructions. Work as a team with the other facilitators during the whole workshop.


This Dawn FC (framing camera) image shows some of the undulating terrain in Vesta’s southern hemisphere. This undulating terrain consists of linear, curving hills and depressions, which are most distinct in the right of the image. Many narrow, linear grooves run in various directions across this undulating terrain. There are some small, less than 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) diameter, craters in the bottom of the image. These contain bright material and have bright material surrounding them. There are fewer craters in this image than in images from Vesta’s northern hemisphere; this is because Vesta’s northern hemisphere is generally more cratered than the southern hemisphere.
This image is located in Vesta’s Urbinia quadrangle and the center of the image is 63.0 degrees south latitude, 332.2 degrees east longitude. NASA’s Dawn spacecraft obtained this image with its framing camera on Oct. 25, 2011. This image was taken through the camera’s clear filter. The distance to the surface of Vesta is 700 kilometers (435 miles) and the image has a resolution of about 70 meters (230 feet) per pixel. This image was acquired during the HAMO (high-altitude mapping orbit) phase of the mission.
The Dawn mission to Vesta and Ceres is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington D.C. UCLA is responsible for overall Dawn mission science. The Dawn framing cameras have been developed and built under the leadership of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany, with significant contributions by DLR German Aerospace Center, Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin, and in coordination with the Institute of Computer and Communication Network Engineering, Braunschweig. The Framing Camera project is funded by the Max Planck Society, DLR, and NASA/JPL.
More information about Dawn is online at http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA


Colouring books and education cards for kids
Friday, 23 September 2011
PhD student and community nursing coordinator, Judith Blake, has designed a colouring book for kids that explains all about sun safety. It is a beautifully designed with loads of kid-friendly pictures ready for colouring. We deeply appreciate the time and effort that Judith donated on behalf of the ECU Melanoma Research.
The book is great for schools; only $5 / book
We also have information cards for sale that detail the difference between a mole and a freckle – also great for school kids and a valuable fundraiser for the ECU melanoma research group. These were designed by the ECU fundraising and marketing team.
Please contact Mel Ziman at email@example.com for more details.


The capital required to construct a tidal barrage has been the significant stumbling block too. It is not an attractive proposition to an investor due to long payback periods. This problem could be solved by government funding or large organisations getting involved with tidal power.
In terms of long term costs, once the construction of the barrage is complete, there are very low maintenance and operating costs and the turbines only need replacing once around every 30 years. The life of the plant is indefinite and for its entire life it will receive free fuel from the tide.
Few tidal barrages have been constructed. The largest tidal power station in the world (and the only one in Europe) is in the Rance estuary in northern France. La Rance was completed in 1966 and has operated reliably ever since. So too has the barrage at The Bay of Fundy in Canada - though this had an adverse effect on Marine life.
There have been plans for a "Severn Barrage" from Brean Down in Somerset to Lavernock Point in Wales. Every now and again the idea gets proposed, but nothing has been built yet. It could have over 200 large turbines, and provide over 8,000 Megawatts of power (over 12 nuclear power station's worth).
It would take 7 years to build, and could provide 7% of the energy needs for England and Wales. There would be a number of benefits, including protecting a large stretch of coastline against damage from high storm tides, and providing a ready-made road bridge.
However, the drastic changes to the currents in the estuary could have huge effects on the ecosystem so it is unlikely ever to be built due to the major environmental impact that it would cause.
A major drawback of tidal power stations is that they can only generate when the tide is flowing in or out - in other words, only for 10 hours each day. However, tides are totally predictable, so we can plan to have other power stations generating at those times when the tidal station is out of action.


|Freshwater Mussels of the Upper Mississippi River System|
Mussel Conservation Activities
2005 Highlights: Possible fish predation of subadult Higgins eye was observed in the Upper Mississippi River, Pools 2 and 4.
Subadult Higgins eye pearlymussels (Lampsilis higginsii) from the Upper Mississippi River, Pools 2 and 4. Shell damage may be due to predation by fish (i.e. common carp or freshwater drum). Top photo by Mike Davis, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources; bottom photo by Gary Wege, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Species Identification and Location • Threatened and Endangered Mussels • Life History • Ecology • Mussel Harvest on the River • Current Threats • Mussel Conservation Activities • Ongoing Studies and Projects • Multimedia • Teacher Resources • Frequently Asked Questions • Glossary • References • Links to Other Mussel Sites
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|Last updated on
December 21, 2006