Journey to the West

Journey to the West (traditional Chinese: 西遊記; simplified Chinese: 西游记; pinyin: Xī Yóu Jì; Wade-Giles: Hsi-yu chi) is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Originally published anonymously in the 1590s during the Ming Dynasty, and even though no direct evidence of its authorship survives, it has been ascribed to the scholar Wu Cheng'en since the 20th century.
In western countries, the tale is also often known simply as Monkey. This was one title used for a popular, abridged translation by Arthur Waley. The Waley translation has also been published as Adventures of the Monkey God; and Monkey: [A] Folk Novel of China; and The Adventures of Monkey.
The novel is a fictionalised account of the mythologized legends around the Buddhist monk Xuánzàng's pilgrimage to India during the Táng dynasty in order to obtain Buddhist religious texts called sutras. The Bodhisattva Guānyīn, on instruction from the Buddha, gives this task to the monk and his three protectors in the form of disciples — namely Sūn Wùkōng, Zhū Bājiè and Shā Wùjìng — together with a dragon prince who acts as Xuánzàng's horse mount. These four characters have agreed to help Xuánzàng as an atonement for past sins.
Some scholars propose that the book satirises the effete Chinese government at the time. Journey to the West has a strong background in Chinese folk religion, Chinese mythology and value systems; the pantheon of Taoist immortals and Buddhist bodhisattvas is still reflective of some Chinese folk religious beliefs today.
Part of the novel's enduring popularity comes from the fact that it works on multiple levels: it is an adventure story, a dispenser of spiritual insight, and an extended allegory in which the group of pilgrims journeying toward India stands for the individual journeying toward enlightenment.

movies

Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects.
Films are cultural artifacts created by specific cultures, which reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them. Film is considered to be an important art form, a source of popular entertainment and a powerful method for educating — or indoctrinating — citizens. The visual elements of cinema gives motion pictures a universal power of communication. Some films have become popular worldwide attractions by using dubbing or subtitles that translate the dialogue.
Traditional films are made up of a series of individual images called frames. When these images are shown rapidly in succession, a viewer has the illusion that motion is occurring. The viewer cannot see the flickering between frames due to an effect known as persistence of vision, whereby the eye retains a visual image for a fraction of a second after the source has been removed. Viewers perceive motion due to a psychological effect called beta movement.
The origin of the name "film" comes from the fact that photographic film (also called film stock) had historically been the primary medium for recording and displaying motion pictures. Many other terms exist for an individual motion picture, including picture, picture show, photo-play, flick. A common name for film in the United States is movie, while the Europeans prefer cinema. Additional terms for the field in general include the big screen, the silver screen, the cinema and the movies.

Film may be combined with performance art and still be considered or referred to as a “film”. For example, when there is a live musical accompaniment to a silent film. Another example is audience participation films, as at a midnight movies screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, where the audience dresses up in costume from the film and loudly does a karaoke-like reenactment along with the film. Performance art where film is incorporated as a component is usually not called film, but a film, which could stand-alone but is accompanied by a performance may still be referred to as a film.
The act of making a film can, in and of itself, be considered a work of art, on a different level from the film itself, as in the films of Werner Herzog.
Similarly, the playing of a film can be considered to fall within the realm of political protest art, as in the subtleties within the films of Tarkovsky. A "road movie" can refer to a film put together from footage from a long road trip or vacation.

Influenza A

Influenza A(H1N1) virus is a subtype of influenzavirus A and the most common cause of influenza (flu) in humans. Some strains of H1N1 are endemic in humans and cause a small fraction of all influenza-like illness and a large fraction of all seasonal influenza. H1N1 strains caused roughly half of all human flu infections in 2006.[1] Other strains of H1N1 are endemic in pigs (swine influenza) and in birds (avian influenza).
In June 2009, WHO declared that flu due to a new strain of swine-origin H1N1 was responsible for the 2009 flu pandemic. This strain is commonly called "swine flu" by the public media.(H1N1) virus is a subtype of influenzavirus A and the most common cause of influenza (flu) in humans. Some strains of H1N1 are endemic in humans and cause a small fraction of all influenza-like illness and a large fraction of all seasonal influenza. H1N1 strains caused roughly half of all human flu infections in 2006.[1] Other strains of H1N1 are endemic in pigs (swine influenza) and in birds (avian influenza).
In June 2009, WHO declared that flu due to a new strain of swine-origin H1N1 was responsible for the 2009 flu pandemic. This strain is commonly called "swine flu" by the public media.

Of the latest cases, three are travel-related while 61 have no connection with travel.
There are currently six people in hospital with H1N1 receiving treatment.
One previously reported confirmed case has today been declassified.
With the focus of the H1N1 outbreak now moving to the treatment phase, there will be changes to the way the virus is monitored and reported.
Further details about the new reporting arrangements will be given on Monday.
Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said:
"We have now moved into the treatment phase and that will result in a new way of monitoring and reporting pandemic flu cases, similar to the way seasonal flu is currently reported.
"As we have always said, we expect the number of cases of pandemic flu to increase in the coming months. From what we've seen so far, most people with H1N1 experience mild symptoms and recovery is generally straightforward.
"We are well prepared to deal with the expected increase in cases and are working steadily towards the rollout of a vaccine. In the meantime, I would urge people to remember the 'catch it, bin it, kill it' message and to wash hands regularly to help limit further spread."

Birds

Birds are generally recognized as the feathered, flying members of the animal kingdom, situated in the class Aves.

The world's ten thousand bird species typically get organized into approximately thirty different orders.
Approximately nine hundred year round and migratory bird species live in the United States. They generally fits into eighteen different bird orders.

• Loons (Order Gaviiformes)


• Grebes (Order Podicipediformes)


• Albatross, Sharwaters, Strom Petrels (Order Procellariiformes)
  Pelicans and Cormorants (Order Pelecaniformes)


• Herons (Order Ciconiiformes)


• Ducks, Geese, Swans (Order Anseriformes)


• Eagles, Falcons, Hawks, Vultures (Order Falconiformes)
  Chachalaca Grouse, Turkey, Quail (Order Galliformes)


• Rails (Order Gruiformes)


• Shorebirds such as Plovers, Sandpipers, Gulls and Terns (Order Charadriiformes)


• Cuckoos, Roadrunners Order: Cuculiformes


• Nighthawks Order Caprimulgiformes


• Doves and Pigeons (Order Columbiformes)


• Owls (Order Strigiformes)


• Swifts, Hummingbirds (Order Apodiformes)


• kingfisher (Order Coraciiformes)


• Woodpeckers (Order Piciformes)


• Everything else (Order Passeriformers

Almost one-half of North American species fit into the Passeriformes order, the perching birds. Passerines (sparrows, finches, cardinals, jays, crows, warblers and more), as they are collectively known, are the most common birds seen in residential areas and backyard feeders.
With the exception of Loons, Albatross and Nighthawks, the links in the box on the right point to pictorial essays covering all the different types of birds found in the United States. The pictures of birds link leads to a complete list of about 150 different birds.

Robbers

Robbery is the crime of seizing property through violence or intimidation. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear.[1] Precise definitions of the offence may vary between jurisdictions. Robbery differs from simple theft by necessarily involving force or a threat of force.
The word "rob" came via French from Late Latin words (e.g. deraubare) of Germanic origin, from Common Germanic raub- = "clothes", as in old times (before modern cheap mechanized mass production of clothes) one main target of robbers was often the victim's clothes.
Among the types of robbery are piracy, armed robbery involving use of a weapon, and aggravated robbery involving use of a deadly weapon or something that appears to be a deadly weapon. Highway robbery or "mugging" takes place outside and in a public place such as a sidewalk, street, or parking lot. Carjacking is the act of stealing a car from a victim by force. Criminal slang for robbery includes "blagging" (armed robbery, usually of a bank), and "steaming", or organised robbery on underground train systems.

Bank robbery is the crime of robbing a bank. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reporting Program, robbery is, "the taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear."[1] By contrast, burglary is defined as, "unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or theft."[2] Definitions vary in other countries, however. In the United Kingdom, robbery is the removal or taking away of property from a place in which you are entitled to be (without any requirement for force or violence to be threatened or used), whilst burglary is largely in line with the US version, entering property unlawfully. In layman's terms, therefore, bank robbery is entering a bank when it is open and either by using force or the threat of force or otherwise obtaining valuables, usually money. Entering a bank when it is closed is burglary.

Bank robbery is a predominantly urban crime, taking place most frequently in cities and large towns. The share of bank robberies in small towns increased from about 20% in 1996 to about one third in 2002,but the majority of bank robberies are concentrated in urban areas. This concentration is often attributed to there being more branches in urban areas, but the number of bank robberies is disproportionately higher than the number of branches. In Canada, for example, seven cities have 30 percent of all bank branches but 66 percent of all bank robberies; in the United Kingdom, London has 10 percent of the nation's branches but 39 percent of its bank robberies.

Family Violence

Family violence is the most popular violent crime in America. According to Physical Violence in American Families, "just over 16%, or one in six, American couples experienced an incident involving physical assault during 1985" (Straus & Gelles, 1992). Although alcohol is not necessarily involved in all cases of family violence, any police officer, ambulance driver or emergency room doctor will tell you that it is involved in a large percentage of these crimes and certainly in the most violent incidents. The family is a system, which means that violence in any part of the family equals violence in every part. Woman abuse is a primary indicator of child abuse and vice versa. This system of violence in the family is so exact that the family dog tied up in the yard and abused indicates that inside the house the family is being battered, too. Most people who work with children of alcoholics are well aware that these children often suffer from physical violence against them by a drunken parent. What they may not understand is that these children probably suffer more often because of abuse against their mothers, because woman abuse is even more common than child abuse. Many children of alcoholics have mothers who are abused and the mother's abuse affects the child in significant ways:

• Children who have witnessed abuse often suffer low self-esteem, depression, stress disorders, poor impulse control and feelings of powerlessness. They are at high risk for alcohol and drug use, sexual acting out, running away, isolation, fear, and suicide (Jaffe, Wolfe & Wilson, Children of Battered Women, 1990, pp. 28-29).
• Children of battered women are fifteen times more likely to be battered than children whose mothers are not abused ("Women and Violence", U.S. Senate Judiciary Hearing, August/December, 1990). A woman who is battered may turn to alcohol for relief from her pain and become alcoholic herself.
• The woman who becomes unable to cope as a result of the battering may develop an emotional or mental illness that leaves her unable to fulfill her parenting role.
  Because the abuser often uses the children's behavior as an excuse for battering the woman, children come to blame themselves for their mother's abuse.
• Children of battered women suffer "survivor guilt" because they must watch helplessly while their mother is beaten and can do nothing to save her.

How to Help Women and Children Coping with Violence

There are ways to help women and children cope with family violence. The first step is to learn as much as possible about the dynamics of the violent family. To work directly with battered women, for example, one must learn that, when the abused woman leaves the abusive situation, her chances of being killed increase dramatically. Divorced and separated women, who compose only 10% of all women, account for 75% of all battered women and report being battered 14 times as often as women still living with their partners. (NCADV Voice, the newsletter of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Spring 1992.) To help battered women and their children:

• Work with shelters for abused women so that the women and children have somewhere to go for safety.
• Learn Work with local child protective agencies to find resources to help children cope. how to develop a Safety Plan for both women and children.
• Help children learn noLearn how to help battered women and their children safely leave the violent situation. n-violent conflict resolution, anger control and other skills which will serve them well in their future relationship.

Violence is a learned behavior. Children who are raised in violent homes may learn to repeat the family patterns either by becoming abusers or battered themselves as adults. Boys who have witnessed abuse of their mothers are 10 times more likely to batter their female partners as adults ("Women and Violence," Hearings before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, August/December 1990). Schools and institutions suffer as children who witness violence at home often act out their rage and frustration in violent ways against other children, authority figures or even animals.

According to the American Medical Association (AMA News, 1993), family violence is the number one drain on our domestic economy because it is the bedrock for virtually all of our social problems such as violent crime, homelessness and the next generation of alcoholics and drug addicts.
There is much that can be done to help these children. As we educate ourselves about family violence and begin to develop the skills to work with the victims and perpetrators of violence, this oldest of human crimes will begin to disappear. The willingness to listen and to hear the cries of battered families is the first step. As long as we refuse to ask, battered women and their children will not talk about what's going on at home. Their shame is too deep, and they cannot trust that anyone will be able or willing to help. The solution to stopping violence in the family is up to each of us. When we understand this critical social issue, we will overcome our fear of working with battered families, and we will be able to reach out and draw them back into a sane and safe world.

According to the American Medical Association (AMA News, 1993), family violence is the number one drain on our domestic economy because it is the bedrock for virtually all of our social problems such as violent crime, homelessness and the next generation of alcoholics and drug addicts.