Savive’s “Top 25 Greatest Quotes”

1. Action speaks louder than words but not nearly as often.
Mark Twain
2. It's better to be unhappy alone than unhappy with someone.
Marilyn Monroe
3. A friend is one who has the same enemies as you have.
Abraham Lincoln
4. Nothing is as good as it seems beforehand.
George Eliot
5. Appear weak when you are strong and strong when you are weak.
Sun Tzu
6. Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake.
Victor Hugo
7. Zeal should not outrun discretion.
Aesop
8. The voice of the people has been said to be the voice of God; and, however generally this maxim has been quoted and believed, it is not true to fact. The people are turbulent and changing, they seldom judge or determine right.
Alexander Hamilton
9. The pen is mightier than the sword.
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
10. He who lives by the sword dies by the sword.
Jesus Christ (The Bible, Matthew 26:52)
11. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
Sun-Tzu
12. Power Corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Lord Acton
13. A picture is worth a thousand words.
Fred R. Barnard
14. Carpe Diem (Seize the day)
Horace
15. Divide and Conquer.
Julius Caesar
16. I haven't failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.
Thomas Edison
The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.
Vince Lombardi
17. It's not whether you get knocked down; it's whether you get up.
Vince Lombardi
18. The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will.
Vince Lombardi
19. If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause and say, "Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well."
Martin Luther King, Jr.
20. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.
Abraham Lincoln
21. The journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step.
Confucius
22. If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
Harry S. Truman
23. Letting the cat out of the bag is a whole lot easier then putting it back in.
Will Rogers
24. Never miss a good chance to shut up.
Will Rogers
25. Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
Will Rogers

Origin of The "Arctic Fox"

The Arctic Fox (Alopex lagopus) is an amazing creature that lives year round in the harsh conditions of the Arctic Tundra. Many sources claim that the Arctic fox is part of the Vulpes genus—along with just about every other fox—but in fact all taxonomy lists classify them as Alopex lagopus ("Virginia Hayssen," n.d.). The Arctic Fox originated from the Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes), some 1.2 million years ago (Nowak, 2004). As Red Fox populations moved north and south, some moved into much colder conditions and became isolated. There, they had to evolve rather quickly to keep up with the frigid conditions of the frozen arctic tundra.

As a result of Natural Selection, the Red Fox’s red colored fur changed dramatically into a purely white fur in the winter and brown in the summer. The white coat grows very thick and covers their ears and even their paws. In the winter they follow polar bears around, scavenging off of the scraps that the bear kills leave behind ("Planet Earth: Ice Worlds: Polar Bear and Cubs," n.d.). In the summer months, this remarkable creature’s fur turns from pure white to brown. This camouflages it once again, making it harder for predators to detect it. This color change also makes it harder for them to be seen by the prey that they are after. In the summer this coat gets much thinner than in the winter months. All of these changes contribute to the overall fitness of the fox in this particular environment.

This change in coat color and thickness arose by a process called Natural Selection, which is the process of decent with modification in which individuals in each generation differ slightly from the members of the preceding generation (Audersirk, Audersirk, & Byers, 2007). Basically the Red Fox population that migrated to arctic areas passed favorable traits (Traits that would help future generations thrive in the area) to their offspring. These favorable variations slowly continued mutating for several hundred-years until it created a whole new genus and species. The reason for this gene mutation was so that the fox was able to adapt to the environment. If these changes had not taken place, the fox may not have survived or thrived in that area. Eventually—because of this abiotic pressure—every individual in that population possessed this favorable trait; with many other generational changes taking place as well.

References:

Audersirk, T., Audersirk, G., & Byers, B. E. (2007). Biology: Life on Earth with Physiology (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson-Prentice Hall.

Nowak, R. M. (2004). Walker's Carnivores of the World. New York: The Johns Hopkins UP.

Planet Earth: Ice Worlds: Polar Bear and Cubs [Television series episode]. (n.d.).

Virginia Hayssen. (n.d.). In Clark Science Center - Smith College. Retrieved August 12, 2009, from http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/Biology/VHAYSSEN/msi/msigenus.html

Jackson Pollock’s Convergence Is All That Is American

Introduction

Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) was a famous American painter who helped pioneer the Abstract Expressionist movement (post WWII art movement). Some say that Pollock’s unconventional style is merely chaotic splatters of paint randomly thrown onto a canvas with no skill or idea behind it. However, he has been accepted as a whole in the artistic community as a heroine of character that transcends both tradition and tragedy. Regardless of this, many have their ingrained beliefs—somewhat pretentious—of what and should not constitute art. Because of the freeness in his style, Pollock seems to be at the center of this debate. In order to gain a greater understanding and exemplify his place among the most notable artists, it is necessary to take a look at one of his more famous paintings.

Convergence

Perhaps his most famous work was a painting entitled Convergence, which was a collage of colors splattered on a canvas that created masterful shapes and lines that evoke emotions and attack the eye. The painting was created in 1952, and is oil on canvas; 93.5 inches by 155 inches (Karmel, 1999). With Pollock’s brushstrokes he was able to make handy use of colors, lines, textures, lights, and contrasting shapes. This painting is enormous and its size can only really be appreciated in person. In 1964, puzzle producing company, Springbok Editions, released Convergence (Inspired by Pollock’s painting) the jigsaw puzzle. It was a 340-piece puzzle that they promoted as “the world’s most difficult puzzle” ("Jackson Pollock: Convergence Jigsaw Puzzle," n.d.). The impact of Pollock’s Convergence was evident in 1965 when hundreds of thousands of Americans purchased the jigsaw puzzle ("Jigsaw Puzzle History - The History of the Jigsaw Puzzle - Anne D. Williams - Jigsaw puzzles History and Origins," n.d.).

Pollock’s Style

Pollock is most-known for painting with his canvas on the floor, and creating something called the “pouring technique” (Oxford Art Online: Pollock, n.d.). He did this by “…using heavily loaded brushes, sticks and turkey-basters,” to apply the paint (Oxford Art Online: Pollock, n.d.). The country really took notice of Pollock and embraced him in 1949 after a four-page spread in Life Magazine was published about him. Word spread fast of Pollock’s unconventional style, proving that art comes in many forms and has no boundaries. Pollock was a very unique recluse who would go into an almost trance-like state when painting. In Possibilities I, Winter 1947-48, Pollock was quoted, as saying, “When I am in my painting, I'm not aware of what I'm doing. It's only after a sort of ‘get acquainted’ period that I see what I have been about. I have no fears about making changes, destroying the image, etc., because the painting has a life of its own” (Karmel, 1999).

Pollock is mentioned in just about every journal that considers contemporary art. The mystery in his style has always been a thing of intrigue to the art world, weather you like him or not. No one can truly discern exactly what his paintings stood for. Many credible references acknowledge Pollock’s style as “seeming to derive from limitations of education and experience” (Oxford Art Online: Pollock, n.d.). The frustration of the art community in this respect appears to be the failure to be able to put-their-finger-on the very essence of what made him such a success with his public. The conventional world seems to have a problem rapping their minds around links between Pollock’s overindulgent-unconventional-style and his high-ranking status in modern mythology.

Defense of Convergence as Culturally Pivotal

Jackson Pollock's style of painting, as exemplified by Convergence, is an important, innovative development in the history of painting. At the time of the painting, the United States took very seriously the threat of Communism and the cold war with Russia. Convergence was the embodiment of free speech and freedom of expression. Pollock threw mud in the face of convention and rebelled against the constraints of societies oppressions. It was everything that America stood for all rapped up in a messy, but deep package. On that same note, some of Pollock’s works were even sponsored by the Congress for Cultural Freedom (an anti-communist advocacy group founded in 1950), which was backed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) (Karmel, 1999). The CIA appreciated Pollock’s style, because it steered clear of social realism and overt political gestures. Pollock’s abstract work was hard to decipher, but his rebellious nature and expressions of freedom were clearly evident.

In a well-known essay ("American Action Painters") in 1952, featured in ARTnews, Harold Rosenberg coined the term "action painting," and about Pollock’s work he wrote, "What was to go on the canvas was not a picture but an event” (Karmel, 1999). During Pollock’s peek as an artist, new forms of thought were emerging. Pollock was on the front lines, even the inspiration or fore-runner, of these new schools of thought. One of them aimed to garner the ability to create a deeper self-expression. Many believed that if a person could focus more on living-in-the-moment, that they could evoke a deeper/more-profound creative expression (Spolin, 1986). This movement was termed Stream-of-consciousness by the great Pragmatist, William James, which came to be defined as “spontaneous live or recorded performances, as in film, music, and dramatic and comic monologues, intended to recreate the raw experience of the person portrayed or the performer” (Spolin, 1986). Somehow Pollock was able to tap into this zone and take it where not many have taken it before. The world certainly took notice. This line of thinking was carried-on with the inspiration of Pollock’s culturally innovative style.

American drama teacher and author, Viola Spolin, brought this new style of thinking formally in-vogue in the late 1950s; just after Pollock’s somewhat premature death. Spolin is considered by several as the “Grandmother of Improvisational theatre;” which led to such things like Saturday Night Live and countless other examples of the like; which led to a branching-out of other expressionist forms (Spolin, 1986). This proves that Pollock’s influence still lasts today. In fact, it proves that it is so ingrained in our society that we have all been inadvertently influenced by it; weather we know it or not.

Conclusion

Jackson Pollock’s painting style, as well as his personality, has become thoroughly entrenched into our society. Pollock will forever be known as an innovator and pioneer of Abstract Expressionism, whose blatant quest for freedom of restraints provided inspiration for generations to come. Not only was Pollock embraced by the public, but he was also endorsed by the government as an excellent representation of the prototype of what an American painter’s philosophy should be in the 1950s; as exemplified in his most famous painting, Convergence. The fact is that Pollock’s painting Convergence represented not only a transformation in art, but a transformation in culture and thinking.

It was a concept of letting the Freud coined, “unconscious mind,” express itself in an unfiltered way; spawning the art form: Improvisation. Whether Pollock knew it or not, he epitomized the “Individuation Philosophy” of the great Psychologist, Carl Jung; which stated, “The development of individuality, the discovery of what an individual really thinks and believes, as opposed to the collective thoughts, feelings and beliefs imposed on him by society, becomes a quest of vital significance” (G., 1999).

References

G., J. C. (1999). The Essential Jung. New York: Princeton UP.

Jackson Pollock: Convergence Jigsaw Puzzle. (n.d.). In Pomegranate's Secure, Online Store. Retrieved August 20, 2009, from http://pomegranate.stores.yahoo.net/aa558.html

Jigsaw Puzzle History - The History of the Jigsaw Puzzle - Anne D. Williams - Jigsaw puzzles History and Origins. (n.d.). In MGC Custom Made Wooden Jigsaw Puzzles - Custom Photo Puzzles maker Jigsaw Puzzle Manufacturer. Retrieved August 20, 2009, from http://www.mgcpuzzles.com/mgcpuzzles/puzzle_history/

Karmel, P. (1999). Jackson Pollock interviews, articles, and reviews. New York: Museum of Modern Art: Distributed by H.N. Abrams.

Oxford Art Online: Vigée-Lebrun (n.d.). Retrieved August 19, 2009, from http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T068491?q=jackson+pollock&source=oao_gao&source=oao_t118&source=oao_t234&source=oao_t4&search=quick&hbutton_search.x=22&hbutton_search.y=9&pos=1&_start=1#firsthit

Sayre, H. M. (2007). A World of Art (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Spolin, V. (1986). Theater Games for the Classroom A Teacher's Handbook. New York: Northwestern UP.

DNA Fingerprinting Using the PCR Process

DNA Fingerprinting (a.k.a. DNA Profiling or DNA analysis) is a sub-category of Biotechnology that has several uses among scientists as well as other fields. A broad definition of Biotechnology is, “any use or alteration of organisms, cells, or biological molecules to achieve specific practical goals” (Audersirk, Audersirk, & Byers, 2007).

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is located in the nucleus of every cell that has a nucleus. Its appearance is similar to a twisted ladder or staircase, which is referred to as a double-helix. DNA is an extremely long polymer made from four nucleotides: Adenine (A), Guanine (G), Cytosine (C), and Thymine (T). It is the sequence of A, G, T, and C that codes information for each gene.

In 1986 Kary B. Mullis developed the Polymerase Chain Reaction process (PCR), that produces Short Tandem Repeats (STR) which are relatively small fragments of DNA (Audersirk, Audersirk, & Byers, 2007). This means that very small amounts of DNA, found at a crime scene for instance, can be multiplied by the PCR process.

There are two main reasons why the PCR process was such a huge breakthrough. The previous system took nearly four-five weeks for results to return from the lab, but PCR could return results within twenty-four hours (Ragle, 2002). Another reason was that the previous process required almost perfect samples of DNA, and there has to be a large amount to test successfully; while the PCR process requires a relatively small amount of DNA and is successful with almost every sample (Ragle, 2002).

Once in the lab, the DNA sample needs to be amplified. To do this, the DNA double-helix needs to be separated first. Heating a solution of the DNA to a temperature of 90C separates the two strands. After the strands unwind and cool, they are put into a DNA Amplifier and an enzyme called polymerase makes two new DNA strands; which are exact duplicates of the original. It takes approximately 4 minutes per cycle; each cycle doubling the amount of DNA. This process can be repeated every 4 minutes, which comes to 30 cycles every 2 hours. This means that in 2 hours, the small sample has been amplified 2^30 or 1 billion times.

“In 1999, British and American law enforcement agencies agreed to use a set of 10 to 13 STR’s…that vary greatly among individuals. A perfect match of 10 STR’s in a suspects DNA and DNA found at a crime scene means that there is less than one chance in a trillion that the two DNA samples did not come from the same person” (Audersirk, Audersirk, & Byers, 2007). In this can be realized the power and significance of this system.

In 1990 the FBI formed a “working group” to come up with a national data base that would hold all DNA Profiles collected (Ragle, 2002). They named this new data base, Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), the genetic equivalent to the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS). By 1994, CODIS was operational, but it wasn’t until 1999-2000 that most labs nationwide started relying on it as the official data base for sharing among agencies (Genge, 2002). Once most labs began testing the same thirteen STR points (1999-2000), CODIS could then be used to cross reference DNA Profiles from all over the United States; a practice that is widely used today. As of December 2004, CODIS contained 2,132,470 DNA profiles; and as of June 2009, over 7,137,468 offender profiles; and has assisted in more than 91,800 investigations (Federal Bureau of Investigation, n.d.).

Audersirk, T., Audersirk, G., & Byers, B. E. (2007). Biology: Life on Earth with Physiology (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson-Prentice Hall.

Federal Bureau of Investigation - Laboratory Services. (n.d.). In Federal Bureau of Investigation Homepage. Retrieved August 04, 2009, from http://www.fbi.gov/hq/lab/codis/clickmap.htm

Genge, N. E. (2002). The Forensic Casebook The Science of Crime Scene Investigation. New York, NY: Ballantine Books.

Ragle, L. (2002). Crime scene from fingerprints to DNA testing, an astonishing inside look at the real world of c.s.i. New York, NY: Avon Books.

Trimm, H. H. (2005). Forensics the easy way. Hauppauge, NY: Barron's.

Suicide Bombers Strike Indonesia: Al-Qaeda-linked-group prime suspect

At 7am on the morning of 17 Jul 09, there were explosions at the Marriott and Ritz Carlton Mega Kuningan hotels in Jakarta, Indonesia. At least 9 people are confirmed dead and 50 injured at this time. 8 of the 50 injured are American. Officials said these numbers are expected to increase. The Ritz-Carlton blast occurred approximately five-minutes after the Marriott blast, and both are said to have been executed by suicide bombers.

CNN's Anderson Cooper interviewed Jakarta resident, Greg Wollstonecraft, by phone. Wollstonecraft lives across the street from the Ritz-Carlton. Wollstonecraft, who works from a local Indonesian TV station as the Chief Technical Officer, was returning home from a walk when he heard the first blast go off. As he ran down the stairs to see what was happening he heard the second blast. He immediately went over to get a closer look, and actually got inside the Airlangga restaurant (Inside the Ritz) where the bomb had exploded. He saw bodies laying everywhere, and he even claimed to see what appeared to be the suicide bomber’s mangled body. Wollstonecraft claimed that he lived in the Ritz Carlton for 12 months and he is perplexed how anyone could have snuck a bomb through such incredibly tight security. He said that they must have had some inside help. "The inside of the Airlangga restaurant has been totally devastated," Wollstonecraft said.

No group has come forward as of yet to claim responsibility for the attacks, but it is said to have been executed by known terrorist group, Jemaah Islamiya. This group is closely linked to Al-Qaeda, and is responsible for several attacks in Indonesia, including the 2002 nightclub bombing in Bali; which killed 220 people. Abu Baker Bashir is said to be Jemaah’s spiritual leader. Terror expert, Rohan Gunaratna, told CNN that he has “no doubt that Jemaah was responsible for this attack.” Bomb Squads and other forensics experts have been deployed to sweep the area for evidence and to check for further possible explosives.

Officials reported finding an undetonated bomb in a room on the 18th floor of the Ritz. It is said to have been the control-room for the terrorists. It is not known as of yet whether the men who were in the room were the bombers themselves, or if there were others who have since vanished. The occupants of the room had checked in a couple of days prior. Authorities did confirm that a group of 4 men checked in. Police will certainly be viewing the security footage to identify the room’s occupants and see if they can tie them to a specific group. Although there has not been confirmation on exactly which group was involved, most are just about certain that it was Jemaah. Officials say that the undetonated bomb found in the Ritz is very similar to a cache of explosives found in a house in West Java, Indonesia just 2 weeks ago. The explosives found there are linked to Jemaah Islamiya and specifically to Indonesia’s most wanted terrorist, Noordin Mohd Top; who was the mastermind behind the bombing in Bali in 2002.

Some say that the timing of the attack is significant, because it is a Muslim holiday and that observant Muslims would not be located in such locations. Gunaratna says that these groups will attack whenever they feel is the best time to take down a target, regardless of what day. The message that the group is sending is quite clear: to show that they are still a very capable terrorist organization. Indonesian authorities have arrested hundreds of Jemaah over the course of the last 7 years in a serious effort to crack down on the group’s activities. This is the first terrorist attack in Indonesia in more than 3 years. However, it seems as though Jemaah is having a resurgence of sorts, and they are clearly trying to demonstrate this with these attacks. Note: The fact that these were two American-owned hotels is not an accident.

President Barack Obama released a statement early this morning:

"The American people stand by the Indonesian people in this difficult time, and the U.S. government stands ready to help the Indonesian government respond to and recover from these outrageous attacks as a friend and partner.”

Affected guests from both hotels who have not been killed or injured have been relocated to Marriott Mayflower Apartments and Ritz Pacific Place, respectively.

A Very Harold And Kumar Christmas

In a recent blog I reported that actor, Kal Penn, accepted a job at the white house, working for the Obama administration. Many of Penn’s fans were happy for him, but curious to know if the third installment of the Harold and Kumar series was jeopardized by the appointment. Well news (from Warner Bros) has it that a release date has been set for Harold & Kumar 3, which will be called “A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas.” The release date has allegedly been set for November 5, 2010.

There is no word yet, however, if Penn will actually be in the movie. I can’t imagine that Obama would let Penn step away to play a pot-smoking wild man. On the other hand I can’t imagine them making the movie without him. Hopefully they will not do something stupid like a prequel featuring younger actors playing the characters. It was a bad move when they tried to pull it off with “Dumb & Dumber,” and it would probably fair the same if they tried it with the Harold and Kumar franchise. Stay tuned.

Jackson Investigation Intensifies

Picture taken 6/23/09: Jackson at rehearsal (2 days before death)

The investigation into the death of Michael Jackson is well under way. Los Angeles investigators took two bags of evidence from Jackson’s home today, and they made a brief statement that there were bottles of medications collected. Dr. Conrad Murray, who was paid $150,000 a month to provide care for the star, denied any wrong-doing on his part. In an interview with CNN, Jackson’s trainer, Lou Ferrigno, claimed that Michael seemed “lean and fit” during their training sessions less than a month earlier. Ferrigno said that Jackson looked as good as he has in “15-years.” New pictures released show Michael rehearsing and healthy-looking just days before his death.

Investigators will also be heavily focused on the circumstances surrounding the singer’s death to see if there was any gross negligence committed. How long did the doctor wait until he ordered the 911 call? Why was a professional cardiologist giving CPR to Jackson while he was on the bed? Even the 911 operator knew that the floor or a hard surface is normal protocol. What does the mystery 911 caller have to say? Allegedly he was one of Jackson's security guards.

CNN reported today that Murray was checking on Jackson every half-hour or so. The doctor will have to face questions like: why Jackson was not in a hospital receiving proper care, or what was Jackson’s condition? What drugs was Dr. Murray prescribing Jackson, and what drugs were in his system at the time of his death? Furthermore, investigators will be looking at the possibility that other Dr.’s may have been providing Jackson with drugs that may or may not have been found in the house.

These are all questions that the investigators will surely be searching to have answered. This is not jumping to conclusions on the part of investigators, this is just standard procedure. There very well may have been no crimes committed. However, you don’t have to be Dick Tracy to find the circumstances of death in this case, odd. Murray’s attorney, Ed Chernoff, claimed on CNN that the time lapse between when Murray found Jackson and when paramedics arrived was approximately 25 – 30 minutes. Chernoff completely downplays any negligence on the part of his client, and that Murray was not only Jackson’s personal physician, but a dear friend.

It will take at least two weeks for police to release any pertinent information about the case, and toxicology results—which will reveal what drugs if any were in Jackson’s body—will most likely take 4 – 6 weeks. Dr. Cyril Wecht (Forensic Pathologist) told CNN that "Jackson probably had up to three different drugs in his system which caused death by acute combination drug toxicity." Wecht estimated that Jackson’s system will show the drug demerol, but Chernoff adamantly denied that his client prescribed the drug. Wecht responded by saying, “Forensic Science will tell the story, not an attorney.” Currently, police have issued a statement claiming that Dr. Murray is NOT a suspect and that this is not a crime investigation, it is a death investigation. This official title will most likely not change until after the results from the toxicology report surfaces. However, this could simply mean that police don’t have enough evidence to file charges at this time.