For Prime Minister Narendra Modis vast demography of admirers, he cannot say anything that they wouldnt agree with. Therefore, when he speaks, they do not pay sufficient attention. For his very wide circle of detractors, he cannot say anything that would rouse their cheer. Hence, memes of censure in their quiver are always ready to take aim.

Essentially, in this polarised ecosystem, nobody listens to Modi because they are pre-decided on his message. One wonders if this is a logjam or a paradox? There is a predictability to the reaction we see, but Modi himself is not so predictable at times in his communication. For instance, the May 12 lockdown address he delivered was the most layered of his speeches in recent times. Speeches may do nothing, they may just buy time until action, or the absence of it, begins to speak louder, but nevertheless it is important to grasp the intent of words since they navigate action.

Modi appeared to be advocating self-reliance all through his latest lockdown speech, but interestingly, he was creating a complicated global circuitry to his concept of atmanirbhar. He kept emphasising that Indias self-reliance is not a self-centred game, but generously accommodates the happiness of the world. He imposed a kinship on the world when he borrowed the idea of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. He also spoke of Jai Jagat and Vishwa Kalyan. He emphasised more than once that India was firm on its global path. He said the world has begun to trust Indias ability to help mankind, and mentioned its recent medicine exports, and of course yoga and Y2K. He told us how much the world needs India. There was unabashed flair and zero circumspection in placing India at the centre of global action. Here, his facts may fall short, but he knows emotion and pride can never be fact-checked.

Also Read: The Simple, and Simplistic, Messaging of Modis Lectures Is a Big Hit With His Audience

Amazing certainty

Modi always speaks with amazing certainty. He leaves no doubt in his words because to sound doubtful is to appear human. Speaking to his constituents in Varanasi, on March 25, after the first lockdown announcement, he had said the Mahabharata battle was won in 18 days but the Covid one would take 21 days. There was no solution in sight to the pandemic nor was there a vaccine in production when he spoke of victory in 21 days, but that did not deter him from giving definite goals. When definite goals are a bulb of mythical layers then the discourse is not scientific or a rational one. It is always a satsang, a darshan, a vision in a very Indian sense. Time too is in a puranic cycle, not what is shown on the ultra-slim Movado wristwatch that he is said to wear. Therefore, the 21 days meant something else. More infinite than what an ordinary watch can measure. If one recalls his famous demonetisation address on November 8, 2016, then too he was sure of its consequences. In Ayodhya as well, his party was sure that Lord Ram was born at that very spot where the masjid stood.

Anyway, returning to Modis idea of self-reliance in his recent pandemic address, it does not emanate from 20th century economic thinking, either eastern or western, but comes from cultural thinking from a very distant past. A past that again escapes temporal calculations and is imagined to be in the spartan realms of the Vedic divine. To enhance this, there was a gentle sprinkling of Sanskrit to give a varnish of antiquity to his utterances. That appeared to be a deliberate act. That was a differentiator and a response to all those accusing him of not consulting experts like Rahul Gandhi has been doing to improve his score. It was a more euphemistic way of saying that this ancient civilisation has known it all, like it has flown airplanes in the glorious past, conceived IVF babies, and has performed plastic surgeries. Again, he knows faith cannot be fact-checked.

Rahul Gandhi and Abhijit Banerjee. Photo: Screengrab

Amidst this thread of glorious past, not unexpectedly, cropped up Indias subjugation in more tangible history. There was first glory, and then there was ghulami, he said. But now, in the 21st century, glory was destined to return. It appeared he pictured himself as the chosen one, to transition India into that glorious amorphousness. What lay for him between the golden glory of the past, and what is magically shaping up in the present is stygian darkness. In this dark phase of his understanding, India had been subjugated because it neither had atmanirbharta, atmabal nor atmashakti, he interpreted. Therefore that was the real stimulus he was now offering, bigger than the zeroes one could count after twenty. It was the most unusual address in a pandemic season. But Modi presented himself as an epoch maker who was seizing time to bend it to his needs.

Science and technology

In the past, his critics have weighed his COVID-19 addresses against that of German Chancellor Angela Merkel or Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for whom brevity and science make up communication. But Modi never speaks of science or deliberates through science. It is only technology that fascinates him. Science is a philosophy that clashes with all his training, but technology does not challenge anything. It will take the direction of the mind that deploys it. It can function outside reason. In the May 12 speech technology had a distinct velvet position.

Modi speaks like most Indians converse in their mother tongues. Every conversation is a faux spiritual discourse. It is like a retelling of the epics, where sub-plots are as riveting as the main plot. Where each narrator is allowed his own sub-plot, like it often happens with news on WhatsApp; the detours are more delectable. Hence, speaking only about the trajectory of COVID-19 in a lockdown address is boring, and unengaging. Not surprisingly, he took nearly 18 minutes to come to the point.

A municipal worker sprays disinfectant on the bags of people, as they maintain social distancing while sitting in a line to receive free food distributed by Delhi government, in a school during an extended nationwide lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in New Delhi, India, April 21, 2020. Photo: Reuters/Anushree Fadnavis

In line with this is state policy to replay the pop version of epics on television. It keeps people in a familiar loop in uncertain times. It constantly reminds them of their karma. That helps the state abdicate responsibility. The individual is responsible for his fate. That is atmanirbharta too. The play on the word atma is anyway an indirect invocation of fate. The anglophone liberal who follows the linearity of a beginning-middle-end narrative may scoff at the meandering, figurative, non-linearity of Modis narratives, but the majority identifies with it.

Any counter to Modi will need the superior skills of an M.K. Gandhi, who knew how to blend European Enlightenment with the enlightenment of Indias loaded past. In an essay by novelist Raja Rao, republished recently, Nehru says: Weve had enough of Rama and Krishna. Not that I do not admire these great figures of our traditions, but theres work to be done. And not to clasp hands before idols while misery and slavery beleaguer us. It may be honest and true, but Gandhi would never clinically segregate the two streams. Therein perhaps lies a clue to all those who intend to bait Modi.

Read more:
If Only People Listened to Modi, They'd Understand Him Better - The Wire

The greatest performance in MLB history happened 18 years ago today.

The Los Angeles Dodgers were facing the Milwaukee Brewers in the finale of a three-game series. Dodgers right fielder Shawn Green, a two-time All-Star, was struggling in the early going of the 2002 season, hitting just .231 through the first 42 games.

Los Angeles lost the opener in Milwaukee 8-6, but Green broke out of his slump with a pair of solo home runs. The next day, Green hit a triple in the Dodgers' 1-0 win, but the best was yet to come. In the third game, Green had arguably the greatest offensive game in the history of baseball.

Not long before his epic game, Green had started studying Buddhism. He applied what he'd learned on the field that day in Milwaukee -- and his focus on Eastern philosophy helped inform and inspire a performance for the ages. In his own words, Green recounts what happened at the plate during that game and how his newfound mental approach helped him perform as no baseball player had before.

Thursday, May 23, 2002

We had a 12 o'clock game in Milwaukee. I got to the ballpark around 9 a.m. to take batting practice. I hadn't been playing well that spring, and I was struggling to get my timing down. I think a big part of it was because I'd had my best season in 2001, when I hit a career-high 49 home runs. I struggled at the start in 2002 because I felt like I needed to exceed it.

I wasn't. A quarter of the way through the season I was on pace to hit 13 homers. I got booed for the first time in my career, during our last homestand before our trip to Milwaukee. I was the No. 3 hitter, and I was 0-for-18 [on the homestand]. It's definitely painful when your home crowd turns on you. That Saturday, our manager, Jim Tracy, came up to me and said, "You really need a break, because you're not playing well." He benched me for a game against the Montreal Expos. I was a guy who wanted to play every day. So it's kind of a big deal when the manager says, "You really need a break."

2 Related

In Milwaukee, I just wanted to ground myself with my tee work. Set up the tee, put the ball on the tube with the four seams facing the right way. Take a swing and kind of get my body where I feel the movements and I can connect with my breathing.

This wasn't just my batting practice. This was my meditation.

At some point in high school, a friend of mine read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" and turned me on to it. It resonated with me. Both my parents are Jewish, but my household wasn't religious. I liked Eastern philosophy because it was about finding a way to stay in the moment, be focused and stay present. I devoured other books after that: "Way of the Peaceful Warrior," "Zen in the Art of Archery," "Siddhartha." All of them contributed to how I perceived baseball, especially by the time I was a professional. You know that old Zen koan, "Chop wood, carry water before enlightenment. Chop wood, carry water after enlightenment"? It really made sense to me because baseball is such a process-focused game. A lot of times the results don't add up, so you just have to stick with the process, succumb to the daily routine and sort of let go of what the results are going to be.

That's what I was trying to do on the tee that day in Milwaukee: listen to the sound of the ball as it hit the back of the net. It sounded like the swish of a basketball going through the net, a perfect shot. And I tried to connect with that sense. Something I really liked from "Way of the Peaceful Warrior" was when Dan Millman writes, "You'll have to lose your mind to come to your senses."

The thing about Zen and baseball and how I tried to play -- it's not like you do it all the time. You have to remind yourself to do these things right. And way more so than any other time in my career, that day in Milwaukee was when I was good about remembering to be present.

When I left the cage, I was in a place where my timing, my stride, everything was starting to feel in sync. It was the feeling I'd been searching for the whole season.

Top of the 1st, 1 out, no score

Glen Rusch was on the mound that day for the Brewers. I knew he would try to get me to chase a slider away. When I came to the plate for that first at-bat, we had a guy on second, Cesar Izturis, and I fell behind 0-2 in the count. I thought, "Here we go again, right?"

I took a breath. I wanted to take the doer out of the equation. I thought, "I'm just going to watch and then trust that the pitch is actually a good pitch to hit."

It was down and away, and I just kind of stayed on it -- my front shoulder didn't turn really fast out of the way -- and hit a hard ground ball down the first-base line, just inside the bag, for a double. We scored a run. I was standing on second thinking, "That's a nice, quality at-bat right there." I'd hit a triple the night before and we'd won 1-0. So standing on second the next day, I felt like things were at last starting to turn.

Top of the 2nd, 2 outs, 3-1 Dodgers

The second time up, we had runners on first and second and two outs, but I didn't want to press. So much of Eastern philosophy is just staying relaxed and in the moment. I knew Glen was gonna try a fastball in. I took it for a ball. I didn't overthink, but I knew what Glen was going to throw next: He was gonna come inside.

He threw a fastball on the inside corner. I swung at it. It broke my bat, but the ball took off toward right field. Home run. A three-run shot.

When you do that [homer with a cracked bat], you sort of just want to joke around, show off the bat to the guys: Look how strong I am! But the truth was, I didn't shatter the bat. There was just a crack in it.

What the at-bat really showed me was that I was dialed in. Just completely relaxed. It was me trying to practice everything I'd read.

Top of the 4th, no outs, 8-1 Dodgers

I led off the fourth inning against a rookie I'd never faced before, Brian Mallette. I studied him as he warmed up. Once I was at the plate, I thought one pitch coming my way was a slider. So I waited back a little longer and crushed the ball for a home run. It landed on the walkway in right-center field. I didn't even feel my legs moving as I jogged around the bases.

With each at-bat, I was getting deeper in the zone -- to the point where it really started to feel like I was a spectator, where the pitcher's throwing and it's like I'm just watching how I react. What was even more interesting was that I didn't feel the pressure to analyze my performance or try to hold on to this state. I was just a witness to it.

Top of the 5th, 2 outs, 9-1 Dodgers

The fifth inning was the easiest at-bat of the day. Same pitcher: Mallette. I knew he'd probably throw a two-seam fastball that ran away from me. He was young, and I'd already hit a double and two home runs, so he was going to keep everything to the outside part of the plate. He didn't want anything to do with me. But the outside part of the plate is actually what I wanted. I have long arms and could extend them through the zone. He threw it exactly where I thought he would. I just crushed that one, deep to left-center field.

At this point, I'm 4-for-4 with six RBIs. So yeah: You could say I no longer feel like I'm in a rut.

Top of the 8th, no outs, 10-2 Dodgers

I lead off the eighth inning and I want to hit another home run -- but I'm not over-trying either. I don't change my approach. I'm facing a new pitcher, Jose Cabrera, and on a 1-1 count I swing at a pitch at probably mid-shin level. It was the hardest ball I hit all day. I just couldn't get any air under it. A base hit to center field.

After the inning, Jim Tracy came up to me and said, "Greeny, why don't you hit the showers?" I usually would have taken him up on it. The game was a blowout, and I wouldn't have normally wanted to gear up for another at-bat -- especially after a 5-for-5 day and when we were facing Curt Schilling the next day in Arizona -- but I told him, "Hey, if we get a couple guys up in the ninth, I could get up again."

Part of the reason I wanted to stay in was that I was surprised at being this spectator and not feeling any anxiousness to maintain that feeling, any pressure to hold on to this incredible wave that I'm riding. It was almost this Eastern-inspired curiosity: How is this not changing?

Top of the 9th, 2 outs, 14-2 Dodgers

Cabrera was still the pitcher. I wanted a pitch up in the zone, up above the shins where I'd hit the last one. He threw me one, and I swung as hard as I could. But I foul-tipped it.

So I just waited for the next one. It was on the inner part of the plate, and this time I swung even harder.

The ball landed above the walkway in right-center. The farthest shot of the day. I was just trying so hard not to smile so I didn't show up the Brewers, but the fans in Milwaukee gave me a standing ovation. Me, the guy who'd just been booed at home.

Green goes 6-for-6 that day with six runs, seven RBIs and a record 19 total bases. ESPN's David Schoenfield later picks the performance as the greatest by a hitter in MLB history.

I hear that a lot: the greatest performance ever. It's wonderful to hear. I could get very streaky. The first pitch I saw in the next game -- in Arizona, against Curt Schilling -- I hit for a home run. I ended up with two more hits that day. And the day after that, I had two more home runs and six RBIs. Later that year, I had four home runs in four at-bats across two games against the Angels. Crazy, crazy streaks. The point is: I think studying Zen and Eastern philosophies all those years, they allowed me to go deeper in the zone than other guys.

It made me a better player. It's helped to make me a better person, not think about what you should or shouldn't have done. Just take this moment in front of you. Focus on that.

Green played for five more years, retiring before the 2008 season, and at one point was one of four active players -- the others being Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr. and Gary Sheffield -- with 300 homers, 1,000 RBIs and 150 stolen bases. In 2011, he published a book about the game and his study of Eastern philosophy called "The Way of Baseball." He lives in Southern California.

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Shawn Green and the greatest offensive game in MLB history - ESPN

Lots of people have turned to baking bread as a means of passing the time during a quarantine that is entering its third month. But most aren't baking bread like Sabina Valenzuela bakes bread.

The Grosse Pointe resident began baking, mostly teaching herself, about 17 years ago while still living in Chile with her family. Valenzuela would sell her baked goods to neighbors to bring in additional income.

But now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, her baking skills are coming in handy in a new way. Valenzuela's 27-year-old son Sergio Rodriguez-Valenzuela is the co-founder and CEO of startup ToDoolie Inc.

The company previously used its platform to match homeowners with college students looking to work around the house. But in the age of COVID-19, the company instead uses the same platform to deliver Valenzuela's freshly baked bread to customers around Detroit and in the Grosse Pointe communities, as Crain's has previously reported.

Valenzuela has been baking bread for years, including as a way to provide for her family, but the transition to baking during a pandemic and for her son's evolving business "was born out of a necessity to help," she said with some translation assistance from her son.

Valenzuela said that at the onset of the pandemic she had visited the supermarket several times and found a lack of bread. With many older people in the Grosse Pointe area, she thought her baking skills could help.

"I wanted to share that feeling of having fresh bread," Valenzuela said.

The bread she bakes is now delivered using ToDoolie's platform within 30 minutes of coming out of the oven, Rodriguez-Valenzuela said.

With people turning to bread-baking during lengthy quarantines, coupled with an upside-down supply chain, shortages of flour have been rampant. The Valenzuelas say they had some trouble at first sourcing flour for their bread-baking operation, but have found that bulk stores generally have plenty of supply.

Since switching from ToDoolie's original business model, Valenzuela's breads have made their way to 157 unique clients of the company, according to her son, the company's founder. Additionally, Rodriguez-Valenzuela said that because of donations from some of those clients, about a dozen families have gotten free bread.

While Instagram posts of people trying out their first batch of sourdough have become ubiquitous during the lockdown, Valenzuela's creations go slightly beyond that. Among her favorite breads to bake are a traditional South American style called hallulla; breads with fruit, typically known as Christmas breads; and empanadas.

Valenzuela said she applauds people who are trying out bread-baking during this time and offered some tips for people just getting started with home baking.

"It's something that you do for yourself and you put energy into it," she said, adding that she often puts on relaxing music and tries to put her "heart and soul" into each concoction.

"It's almost a therapy thing," she said.

More:

COVID-19 Heroes: Bread baking as 'therapy,' and a way to help, in lockdown - Crain's Detroit Business

[05/20/20 - 06:00 AM] Sit Back, Unwind and Watch Relaxing Old Footage with Joe Pera to Calm Your Worries An ideal program to watch before bed, comedian Joe Pera and director Marty Schousboe have collected their most subdued footage and pieced it together in the most relaxing way possible. [via press release from Adult Swim]

Sit Back, Unwind and Watch Relaxing Old Footage with Joe Pera to Calm Your Worries

Watch NOW on Adult Swim YouTube and on Adult Swim this Friday at Midnight ET/PT.

An ideal program to watch before bed, comedian Joe Pera and director Marty Schousboe have collected their most subdued footage and pieced it together in the most relaxing way possible. These clips, too long to fit in a traditional tv program, are threaded together by Pera's narration and will hopefully leave viewers feeling as calm as the fish floating around in one of the special's 2,700+ aquarium shots.

Directed by Marty Schousboe, Narration by Joe Pera, Music by Ryan Dann, Edited by Whit Conway and Marty Schousboe.

Adult Swim (AdultSwim.com), launched in 2001, is a WarnerMedia network offering original and acquired animated and live-action series for young adults. Airing nightly from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. (ET/PT), Adult Swim is the #1 network with persons18-24, 18-34 and 18-49 and is seen in 85 million U.S. homes.

Warner Bros. is a global leader in the creation, production, distribution, licensing and marketing of all forms of entertainment across all current and emerging media and platforms. A WarnerMedia company, the Studio is home to one of the most successful collections of brands in the world and stands at the forefront of every aspect of the entertainment industry, from feature film, television and home entertainment production and worldwide distribution to DVD and Blu-ray, digital distribution, animation, comic books, videogames, product and brand licensing, and broadcasting.

Read the rest here:

Breaking News - Sit Back, Unwind and Watch Relaxing Old Footage with Joe Pera to Calm Your Worries - The Futon Critic

MY husband and I have adhered strictly to lockdown and thus, although living in Bournemouth, Tuesday was the first time we have got in our car to go to the beach for daily exercise.

We went late afternoon and chose to go the beach near Southbourne crossroads, believing it would be quieter than in the middle of town.

A relaxing walk by the sea it really wasnt! And I have to say it was due to the number and irresponsible behaviour of cyclists.

Almost as soon as we started walking on the promenade I was almost knocked down by a speeding bike that missed me by inches.

Read today's other letters

We witnessed groups of teenagers riding three abreast down the prom, others not looking where they were going whilst talking on phones or playing music, unaware of anyone else.

We decided to return via the cliff top for safety, and what happens? Cyclists on the pavements. We could not get away from them to enjoy a walk.

What rights do pedestrians have to enjoy a walk? It seems none. This is not satisfactory at the best of times, but given social distancing this is ridiculous BCP.

If necessary give cyclists free range to 10am and after 7pm, or some such arrangement, but do something because cyclists and walkers do not mix. Add the necessity for social distancing and what is going on is dangerous and totally unacceptable.

ELIZABETH LUCAS

Bournemouth

Go here to see the original:

Letter to the Editor: A relaxing walk by the sea? No it was not - Bournemouth Echo

Words of wellbeing: Concubium is the soundest, calmest, deepest part of your sleep. Illustration: Eva Bee/The Observer

Like language, our emotions are universal and whatever fears and anxieties we are now experiencing, someone else in centuries gone by has felt the same way. Here is an A-Z of archaic and forgotten words that at some point in the past exactly described an elusive sense of peace, calm and delight. So, if you want to know your agathism from your euneirophrenia, read on and draw comfort from these linguistic oddities

Agathism Its hard to be an optimist knowing that there are tough times ahead. But in lieu of optimism, theres always agathism a word coined in 1830 for the belief that all things eventually get better, though the means by which they do is not always easy. It is a word to remind us that though we may be in for hard times, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Bummel Our daily constitutional neednt be an exhausting run around the block. Derived from a German word for strolling, a bummel is nothing more than a relaxing leisurely walk or wander.

Concubium Adopted into English from Latin in the 1600s, the concubium is the soundest, calmest, deepest part of your sleep. That time of night when all men are at rest, as one 17th-century dictionary put it.

Dolorifuge Whatever it is that makes you happy, that is your dolorifuge: this 19th-century term describes anything or anyone that alleviates feelings of pain or sadness.

Euneirophrenia One of the strangest side-effects of our curtailed routines at the moment is that our brains are working overtime while we sleep, so the word euneirophrenia might come in useful. It describes the wholly pleasing feeling you have on waking from an equally pleasant dream.

Focillation Derived from the Latin for nourish, a focillation is a momentary act of comfort or refreshment. Take it as a reminder that it is perfectly fine to take some time out, whenever you need it.

Glee-dream If you find solace in films or music, or find that youre dearly missing the theatre or cinema, the word you are looking for is glee-dream. The modern form of the Old English gleodream, the Oxford English Dictionary defines this as delight of minstrelsy that is, the pleasure that comes from a musical performance or similar entertainment.

Heterocentric How we all should and, thankfully, how a great many of us currently are living our lives: if youre heterocentric then youre more concerned with other people than you are yourself.

Interfulgent A fitting metaphor for the triumph of light in dark times. Derived from the Latin word for shining, something that is interfulgent shines through or between that which would otherwise obscure it as sunshine through clouds or the leaves of trees.

Jamb-friend A jamb is a supporting timber, of course, which makes a jamb-friend an early 19th-century word for a friend with whom you could quite happily sit by a fireside talking and relaxing well into the early hours.

Kaffeeklatsch Borrowed from German in the 1800s, a kaffeeklatsch is a chattering catch-up with friends and family over endless cups of coffee. Its a lot more poetic than the Victorian alternative: according to one contemporary dictionary, scandal-loving women who like to meet over a cup of tea were once known as muffin-wallopers.

Back in the 1600s, laetificate meant to lift someones spirits

Laetificate Its a word not much used since the 1600s, but its one you might need today or might be called on to offer to someone else. Quite simply, to laetificate is to lift someones spirits.

Meliorism George Eliot coined the word meliorism to define her outlook on life, once writing to the psychologist James Sully to explain that: I dont know that I ever heard anybody use the word meliorist except myself. Operating halfway between optimism and realism, meliorism is the belief that the world no matter what shape it may be in can always be improved by the concerted effort of mankind.

Nikhedonia Nike was the Greek goddess of victory. Hedone (as in hedonism) was a Greek word for pleasure. Put those two together and you have nikhedonia a term from psychology for the inspiring, adrenalin-raising excitement of anticipating a future success.

Omnibenevolence Just as an omnipotent person has power over everything, an omnibenevolent person exhibits kindness to everything and everyone. That endless, all-encompassing compassion is omnibenevolence.

Peeled-egg Were all guilty of worrying that the worst could suddenly befall us, but rarely imagine that something just as unexpectedly wonderful could take place. JRR Tolkien coined the word eucatastrophe to describe an unforeseen event of sheer good fortune, but the Scots beat him to it. First recorded in Scottish proverbs dating from the 1800s, a peeled-egg is: A stroke of good fortune which one has not had to strive for. It was once a popular name given to farms established on land with unanticipated natural advantages.

Queem Something described as queem is perfectly calm or serene or by extension, perfectly smooth and level. Queemness, likewise, can be used to describe perfect serenity, or perfect smoothness and levelness, while two things that work queemly with one another are either perfectly harmonious, or, like two parts of a joint, snug and well adapted to one another.

Adopted from French, retrouvailles literally means 'refinding'

Retrouvailles Adopted from French, retrouvailles literally means refinding but its more usually understood as the French equivalent of what we might call a reunion or homecoming. Recently the word came to be used more imaginatively to describe the utter happiness or joy sparked by reuniting or catching up with someone you havent seen in a long time. A word well worth recalling in the months ahead.

Supernaculum It might be a fine glass of wine or whisky or nothing more than a perfectly brewed and timed cup of tea. A supernaculum is a drink so appreciated that it is savoured to its very last drop.

Traumatropism A tree partly felled by gales or lightning can often continue growing albeit in some ever more unwieldy or implausible shape. That undeterred response to earlier damage is an example of a phenomenon called traumatropism. Taken literally, it reminds us that nature is stronger and more resilient than we could ever imagine; metaphorically, it tells us that harsh setbacks need not end our progress.

Unsoulclogged Its not the most handsome of words, but were all striving to be unsoulclogged. It is total contentment, peace of mind, and freedom from sadness and dejection or, as one 1881 dictionary defined it, the state of not being weighed down in spirit.

Villeggiatura When youre tired of the city or your usual routine, its time for a villeggiatura. Adopted into English from Italian in the 18th century, a villeggiatura is a restorative trip or holiday to the countryside, taken to lift the spirits and unwind the mind.

Worldcraft Ageing is hardly the most welcome of lifes certainties. But for every word to remind us of its drawbacks (to be eildencumbered is to be held back by age), there is one for its seldom considered positives. Worldcraft is an 18th-century word for the unmatched cumulative wisdom of an aged person whose long life has given them unique and much venerated insight far beyond anything a younger, less experienced person could ever imagine.

Xenodochy Hospitality offered to strangers. The prefix xeno comes from the Greek word for strange or foreign, but we only tend to encounter it today in xenophobia. Now seems an apt time to highlight one of its overlooked opposites.

Yahrsider We are all looking out for our yahrsiders at the moment. A dialect term from the 18th century, a yahrsider is someone from the same family or town as you, or who shares the same community spirit.

Zenobia A courageous and effective third-century queen of Palmyra, Zenobia expanded her kingdom into the almighty Palmyrene Empire, stretching from Ankara to Aswan. Her name has been adopted as a term for a powerful, unstoppably determined woman.

The Cabinet of Calm: Soothing Words for Troubled Times by Paul Anthony Jones (Elliott & Thompson, 12.99) is out now

Read more:

An A to Z of old words to calm and inspire hope - The Guardian

Our neurons talk in melodies; understanding their rhythms has proved key to creating a new device that could join their conversations.

Just as glasses can aid our struggling eyes, the hope is that artificial brain matter could one day aid our brain bits that aren't working as well as they could be.

An international team of researchers has developed a neuroprosthetic that uses light as its communication medium, unlike previous devices used to communicate with neurons that speak in electrical outputs. This technique is called optogenetics, and provides greater targeting control than seen so far in electrical-based equivalents.

"Advances in optogenetic technology allowed us to precisely target neurons in a very small area of our biological neuronal network," said biomedical engineer Timothe Levi from The University of Tokyo.

Optogenetics involves modifying the biological neurons as well. The three to four-week-old, lab-grown biological neural network was genetically engineered to produce light-sensitive proteins derived from algae that trigger neurons to respond when exposed to blue light.

Scientists can quite precisely choose which type of neuron or location of a neural network to modify with these opsin proteins.

The researchers used the artificial neural network to produce binary rhythms of blue light targeting an area 0.8 by 0.8 millimetres within the larger biological network. The biological neurons responded through changes to their own rhythm locally as well as across the entire network. Their response was captured using calcium imaging and electrode sensors.

(Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo)

"The key to our success was understanding that the rhythms of the artificial neurons had to match those of the real neurons," Levi explained.

"Once we were able to do this, the biological network was able to respond to the 'melodies' sent by the artificial one."

As the electrode array the team used to sense the neural response was four times larger than the area stimulated, the researchers point out it is likely they did not capture their full response.

Still, the experiments provide important information for creating efficient neuroprosthetic communication, the team wrote in their paper, explaining that their ability to target a very small group of neurons promises higher information transmission for future devices, possibly even down to the single neuron level.

While some people have ambitious dreams of bio-hybridly enhanced humans (transhumanism), we're still a long way from that yet.

Descendants of these artificial neurons have the more practical potential to explore neurological problems, and perhaps, one day, assist those who have experienced traumatic brain injuries. But they still have many melodies to share before we can reach that stage.

This research was published in Scientific Reports.

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Scientists Just Watched Artificial Neurons 'Speak' to Real Neurons Using Light - ScienceAlert

For most of computing history, keyboards have featured at least one key per letter one may wish to type as far as the Latin alphabet goes, anyway. Mobile phones of the 90s and 2000s showed us that basic typing could be accomplished with less. [foone], however, likes to go way out into left field when designing text entry methods, and post them up on Twitter.

The most elegant, in our opinion, is this binary-based design. 7 flip switches are used to set the binary value of the key you wish to press, at which point hitting the button will send the keypress. Its painfully slow for just about anything except backspace set all the switches on for keycode 127, and mash away.

This breadboard design is an excercise in frustration. A keycode is randomly generated approximately once every second. Press the button if this keycode is the one you wish to send. Reportedly, it took ten minutes to type Hello!. An analog dial design speeds things up a little, but not by much.

While these may not be useful, theyre fun experiments which we could imagine making an excellent contest at a future hacker con. If youre a big fan of the esoteric and insane when it comes to input devices, consider this typewriter simulation design.

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2 thoughts on More Terrible Keyboards That Nonetheless Work - Hackaday

Alh Usman Shagadi: The end of an era By Hon. (Engr) Abubakar Momoh

The news started to filter in the early hours of today weds, 13th May, 2020 of the passing of a great man, a very fearless, courageous and dependable ally Alh. Usman Shagadi the Osimua of Auchi sacred kingdom.

As we mourn his exit, we are however consoled by his fulfilled life of hard work, dedication, commitment and perseverance.

The life of Shagadi is one of sweet memory having transversed the political landscape of Edo North as a very vocal and defender of our people and the oppressed since 1979. My relationship with him dated back to 1980 when as a UPN youth secretary of my ward, we operated under his leadership as the then chairman of the UPN youth wing in the old Etsako LGA and EDO North senatorial district. At that time, no meaningful meeting of the party would take place without the input of Shagadi. His opinion was always sought on any issue of importance.

He was very highly respected by both the elected and appointed functionaries of that time such as late Zika Momodu of the house of representatives, sen John Umoru, J.O.Y Abekhe/ Jack Oba, both of whom were chairmen of defunct Etsako LGA, commissioner Robson Momoh,Benson Alegbe/ Charles Adoga of Bendel state house of Assembly and a host of others.

At the advent of the new breed politics of the Babagida administration in 1989, Shagadi and I , again found ourselves in the same political associations ie liberal movement to liberal convention before the military finally decreed two political parties NRC and SDP one, a little to the right and the other, a little to the left as crafted by our erudite Prof Omo- Omoruyi of the Centre for democratic studies (CDS). Again Shagadi and I anchored our political tents with NRC after series of meetings under the leadership of Chief MCK Orbih supported by other leaders such as JB Momoh, Bruno Oshiokpekhai, PD Rigi, Yaro Lecky, commissioner Obozuwa, and a host of others.

Under the NRC, Shagadi held various positions ranging from deputy chairman to chairman of the old Etsako LGA to Etsako West LGA. Again , he became more forceful and respected as he doubled as the chairman of the national union of road transport workers (NURTW) Edo North, with a lot of army of supporters ready at all time to give him the necessary backing on whatever he wants done.

When Babagida stepped aside in 1993 culminating in the coming of

Abacha after pushing shonekan aside, a new political agenda threw up five political parties which late Bola Ige once described as five leprous fingers of one hand because of the shameless adoption of Abacha as sole presidential candidate by the five polical parties. Indeed Shagadi and I were in Kaduna stadium together along with others as stakeholders from Edo North senatorial district to listen to our leaders in UNCP declaring Abacha as the sole presidential candidate of the five registered political parties.

I was then a local government council chairman taking directives from Governor Baba Adamu Iyam and Youth Earnestly Asking for Abacha (YEAAH).I recalled that as we left the venue that day, both Shagadi and I beleived that that excercise will not last. I can vividly remember some of the national leaders of UNCP then as Alh Isah Mohammed national chairman,Gbazeagwu Nweke Gbazeagu, national secretary, Ibrahim Mantu, national publicity secretary, Sgt Awuse and Amodu Sheriff who was national treasurer . That political era was short lived with the death of Abacha and subsequently MKO Abiola who was detained for four years.

In the build up to the current political dispensation in 1998, Shagadi and I identified with PDP.

In PDP, Shagadi was again saddled with the responsibility of overseeing the affairs of the party in Etsako West LGA as pioneer chairman. He performed very well and succeeded to instal Lucky James as council chairman and subsequently Lucky Igbinedion as governor of Edo state. This time around Shagadi was always advocating equality of leadership among the three senatorial districts because of his strong feeling of a vacuum of Edo North leadership that could measure up with Tony Anenih, S.O Ogbemudia and the Esama of Benin.

The reason for this is because the notable political leader of Edo North , M.C.K Orbih was not in PDP at inception. Throughout the first tenure of Igbinedion, Shagadi, along with other leaders like Malik Afegbua, PD Rigi, JB Momoh, Zika Momodu, Mike Umoru, Naboya and I were into series of meetings on how best to have a formidable leadership in Edo North. Our focus then was how to bring on board the governorship aspiration of Mike Oghiadomhe-then deputy governor of Edo state. Infact Shagadi was in the forefront of this struggle.

This move did not come without a price as all of us and other leaders across edo north were deregistered from PDP. Although a similar thing happened in Edo south, which was a product of power tussle. The rest is now history as this ignoble art quicken our move to embrace the new political party ACD AC -ACN put in place by Atiku Abubakar and the Jagaban- Bola Tinubu with a continued search for relevance by Edo North spear headed by Shagadi.

There was a sigh of relief one day when Shagadi told Maliki and I in one of our meetings that he got the information that our dogged labour leader Comrade Adams Oshiomole was interested in the governorship of Edo state though not in AC. We gave ourselves the task of convincing him to identify with the new party -AC as the surest way to clinch the governorship of the state because of our strong belief that he would get the support of the state government of Lucky Igbinedion.

This move yielded positive result when Malik, Kassim Dokpesi,Eshieshi and I met with comrade in labour house in 2006 and with a follow up visit by Malik and Shagadi to his residence in Kaduna after ACN meeting to convince him to identify with ACN which he eventually yielded to.

In all the struggles during the election and the post election litigations that lasted for one year seven months in tribunal and court of appeal, Shagadi remained a strong pillar . Each time we were in court presided over by justice Orilonishe, Shagadi would always sit first on the seat which comrade would sit in order to avert any possible devilish plans against him . This was a clear demonstration of the firm belief and protection of the principal to actualize the struggle without being hunted.

From the foregoing, it is discernable why Shagadi and I easily flown together during our brief sojourn in SDP which was occasioned by our disagreement with the establishment after membership registration and election of executives of APC in 2014. The story of Shagadis pfatherly and friendly role in our sojourn in SDP is essentially for another time as he rightly provided the necessary shield to neutralise the barrage of forces against our movement.

I shall ever live to remember him for the embarrassment he saved us from, in the hands of the police force when it was ready to be used to crush us. When he eventually decided to return to APC in 2016 , he felt very sad that we were not together but that did not in any way affect our relationship as we were always in close contact. Certainly this was the only time since 1979 when both of us were fighting at cross divide in any election.

Though he won the governorship with Obaseki while we lost with Pastor Ize- Iyamu, however judging from what is on ground today in the state, one has no regret not to belong in that struggle.Without sounding immodest, Shagadi was a rally point, unifier, a dogged fighter, straight forward in his dealings and above all a good family man. As we mourn him, we pray Almighty Allah to repose his soul in Aljanat firdaus amen. To his children, be comforted with the legacy of fulfilled life lived by Shagadi. We will surely miss him. Adieu Shagadi, the Shagamoko of our time, till the final day when we shall all meet to part no more.

Vanguard

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Alh Usman Shagadi: The end of an era - Vanguard

She said she was so hurt then whenever they point this out to her and she felt so insecure with her legs. Kasi grabe yung negative energy, she says. Andaming time talaga ng bashers. But over the years, alam nyo, natutuhan kong tanggapin ang legs ko. Yes its not straight. Its kinda ganyan, parang parenthesis, yun ang sinasabi nila. E, wala e. Parte siya ng pagkatao ko.

But someone made her realize that being bow legged is not really a big thing. Before, sobra ang insecurity ko rito. Pero alam niyo kung sino nagpa-realize sa akin na huwag magpa-insecure? Si DJ (Daniel Padilla, her boyfriend.) Through DJ na-overcome ko ang insecurity ko about my legs. Na-realize kong lahat naman tayo, merong imperfections. Siguro nagkataon, ibinigay sa akin ni God yung legs ko. And anong gagawin ko? E, di nagwo-workout ako para ma-excercise siya. And tatanggapin ko, kasi hello?! Hindi naman ako makukulong dahil sa pagkasakang ko!

At this point of her video, Kathryn even raised her legs to show them off. Basta now, I love my legs! Si DJ love din niya ang legs ko! Ngayon tanggap ko na siya 100 percent! Come on, bashers! You kiss my f*cking legs! Hahaha!

Her fans tell Kathryn that its Ferdie Topacio, the lawyer of her rival, Nadine Lustre, who spearheaded the annoying Tweets against Kathryn about #SakangsiKathryn comparing her legs to a pair of pliers that are far apart from each other.

Honestly, though, Kathryns fans have more reason to gloat as their idol is the Box Office Queen who starred in the highest grossing local film of all time, Hello Love Goodbye, whereas Nadines career is neither here nor there after the two last two movies she did, Ulan and Indak proved to be both big flops at the tills last year.

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Kathryn proud of being bow-legged - Journal Online