Long copy/paste rants that don't address the question directly only: Why is there suffering in the world?

Question

Long copy/paste rants that don't address the question directly only: Why is there suffering in the world?

Answer 1

Prior to the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, several countries had proclaimed comparable declarations. Examples include the Bill of Rights of England, the Bill of Rights in the United States, and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in France. When the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany became apparent after the Second World War, the consensus within the world community was that the United Nations Charter did not sufficiently define the rights it referenced. [3] [4] A universal declaration that specified the rights of individuals was necessary [5]. Canadian John Peters Humphrey was called upon by the United Nations Secretary-General to work on the project and became the Declaration's principal drafter. Humphrey was assisted by Eleanor Roosevelt of the United States, Jacques Maritain and René Cassin of France, Charles Malik of Lebanon, and P. C. Chang of the Republic of China, among others. According to Globalizing Family Values, the Declaration's pro-family phrases were the result of the Christian Democratic movement's influence on Cassin and Malik.[6]



The proclamation was ratified during the General Assembly on 10 December 1948 by a vote of 48 in favour, 0 against, with 8 abstentions (all Soviet Bloc states, South Africa and Saudi Arabia).[7] Despite the central role played by Canadian John Humphrey, the Canadian Government at first abstained from voting on the Declaration's draft, but later voted in favour of the final draft in the General Assembly.[8]



[edit] Overview over the rights



* Article 1.



All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.



* Article 2.



Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.



* Article 3.



Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.



* Article 4.



No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.



* Article 5.



No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.



* Article 6.



Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.



* Article 7.



All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.



* Article 8.



Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.



* Article 9.



No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.



* Article 10.



Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.



* Article 11.



(1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.



(2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.



* Article 12.



No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.



* Article 13.



(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.



(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.



* Article 14.



(1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.



(2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.



* Article 15.



(1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.



(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.



* Article 16.



(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.



(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.



(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.



* Article 17.



(1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.



(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.



* Article 18.



Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.



* Article 19.



Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.



* Article 20.



(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.



(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.



* Article 21.



(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.



(2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.



(3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.



* Article 22.



Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.



* Article 23.



(1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.



(2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.



(3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.



(4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.



* Article 24.



Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.



* Article 25.



(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.



(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.



* Article 26.



(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.



(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.



(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.



* Article 27.



(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.



(2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.



* Article 28.



Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.



* Article 29.



(1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full develo

Answer 2

Introduction to rat teeth



Mammals have four kinds of teeth, that differ in shape, function, position in the mouth, and whether or not they are replaced. The four types are incisors, canines, premolars, and molars.







Figure 1. Drawing of a rat skull, showing the placement of the molars, incisors and diastema. © anne_rats



Rats have incisors and molars (Fig 1). Incisors are the frontmost teeth in mammals. In rats, these are the four, long, sharp front teeth, two on top and two on the bottom. Rat incisors are highly specialized for gnawing. They are open-rooted, which means they grow throughout life. Molars are the rearmost teeth in the mouth, used for grinding food prior to swallowing it. Rats have 12 molars, six on the top and six on the bottom (and three on each side of each jaw). Molars are never replaced. Rats have only one set of teeth during their life (called monophyodont).



Rats do not have canines (the conical, pointed teeth used for holding prey, defense, and combat), or premolars (grinding teeth behind the canines and in front of the molars). The rats have a long, toothless space in their mouth where the second incisors, canines and premolars would be. This space is called the diastema.



The number of different types of teeth in a species is described with a dental formula, which is written as: I n/n C n/n P n/n M n/n where I, C, P and M refer to the incisors, canines, premolars and molars respectively, and n/n refers to the number of upper and lower teeth of each type found on one side of the mouth. So, the rat's dental formula is: I 1-1, C 0-0, P 0-0, M 3-3. Rats have 8 teeth on the lower jaw and 8 on the upper, a total of sixteen teeth.



Anatomy of a tooth





Figure 2. Cross section of a mammalian molar. © anne_rats



Teeth have the same composition as bone. A tooth consists of three layers of mineralized tissues: a hard external layer of enamel forms the crown of the tooth, a hard layer of cementum covers the root. The enamel and cementum surround a layer of softer, living dentin which makes up the bulk of the tooth. Dentin surrounds a soft core of pulp which contains blood vessels and nerves. The periodontal ligament (also called the periodontal membrane) is a fleshy layer that lies between the tooth and the tooth socket. It holds the tooth in place, attaches it to its neighbors, and enables the tooth to resist the stress of chewing (Fig 2).



Rat molars are similar to the molar depicted in Figure 2. Rat incisors, however, have a single, open, root that continues to grow throughout the rat's life.

Introduction to rat teeth



Mammals have four kinds of teeth, that differ in shape, function, position in the mouth, and whether or not they are replaced. The four types are incisors, canines, premolars, and molars.







Figure 1. Drawing of a rat skull, showing the placement of the molars, incisors and diastema. © anne_rats



Rats have incisors and molars (Fig 1). Incisors are the frontmost teeth in mammals. In rats, these are the four, long, sharp front teeth, two on top and two on the bottom. Rat incisors are highly specialized for gnawing. They are open-rooted, which means they grow throughout life. Molars are the rearmost teeth in the mouth, used for grinding food prior to swallowing it. Rats have 12 molars, six on the top and six on the bottom (and three on each side of each jaw). Molars are never replaced. Rats have only one set of teeth during their life (called monophyodont).



Rats do not have canines (the conical, pointed teeth used for holding prey, defense, and combat), or premolars (grinding teeth behind the canines and in front of the molars). The rats have a long, toothless space in their mouth where the second incisors, canines and premolars would be. This space is called the diastema.



The number of different types of teeth in a species is described with a dental formula, which is written as: I n/n C n/n P n/n M n/n where I, C, P and M refer to the incisors, canines, premolars and molars respectively, and n/n refers to the number of upper and lower teeth of each type found on one side of the mouth. So, the rat's dental formula is: I 1-1, C 0-0, P 0-0, M 3-3. Rats have 8 teeth on the lower jaw and 8 on the upper, a total of sixteen teeth.



Anatomy of a tooth





Figure 2. Cross section of a mammalian molar. © anne_rats



Teeth have the same composition as bone. A tooth consists of three layers of mineralized tissues: a hard external layer of enamel forms the crown of the tooth, a hard layer of cementum covers the root. The enamel and cementum surround a layer of softer, living dentin which makes up the bulk of the tooth. Dentin surrounds a soft core of pulp which contains blood vessels and nerves. The periodontal ligament (also called the periodontal membrane) is a fleshy layer that lies between the tooth and the tooth socket. It holds the tooth in place, attaches it to its neighbors, and enables the tooth to resist the stress of chewing (Fig 2).



Rat molars are similar to the molar depicted in Figure 2. Rat incisors, however, have a single, open, root that continues to grow throughout the rat's life.

Introduction to rat teeth



Mammals have four kinds of teeth, that differ in shape, function, position in the mouth, and whether or not they are replaced. The four types are incisors, canines, premolars, and molars.







Figure 1. Drawing of a rat skull, showing the placement of the molars, incisors and diastema. © anne_rats



Rats have incisors and molars (Fig 1). Incisors are the frontmost teeth in mammals. In rats, these are the four, long, sharp front teeth, two on top and two on the bottom. Rat incisors are highly specialized for gnawing. They are open-rooted, which means they grow throughout life. Molars are the rearmost teeth in the mouth, used for grinding food prior to swallowing it. Rats have 12 molars, six on the top and six on the bottom (and three on each side of each jaw). Molars are never replaced. Rats have only one set of teeth during their life (called monophyodont).



Rats do not have canines (the conical, pointed teeth used for holding prey, defense, and combat), or premolars (grinding teeth behind the canines and in front of the molars). The rats have a long, toothless space in their mouth where the second incisors, canines and premolars would be. This space is called the diastema.



The number of different types of teeth in a species is described with a dental formula, which is written as: I n/n C n/n P n/n M n/n where I, C, P and M refer to the incisors, canines, premolars and molars respectively, and n/n refers to the number of upper and lower teeth of each type found on one side of the mouth. So, the rat's dental formula is: I 1-1, C 0-0, P 0-0, M 3-3. Rats have 8 teeth on the lower jaw and 8 on the upper, a total of sixteen teeth.



Anatomy of a tooth





Figure 2. Cross section of a mammalian molar. © anne_rats



Teeth have the same composition as bone. A tooth consists of three layers of mineralized tissues: a hard external layer of enamel forms the crown of the tooth, a hard layer of cementum covers the root. The enamel and cementum surround a layer of softer, living dentin which makes up the bulk of the tooth. Dentin surrounds a soft core of pulp which contains blood vessels and nerves. The periodontal ligament (also called the periodontal membrane) is a fleshy layer that lies between the tooth and the tooth socket. It holds the tooth in place, attaches it to its neighbors, and enables the tooth to resist the stress of chewing (Fig 2).



Rat molars are similar to the molar depicted in Figure 2. Rat incisors, however, have a single, open, root that continues to grow throughout the rat's life. to rat teeth



Mammals have four kinds of teeth, that differ in shape, function, position in the mouth, and whether or not they are replaced. The four types are incisors, canines, premolars, and molars.







Figure 1. Drawing of a rat skull, showing the placement of the molars, incisors and diastema. © anne_rats



Rats have incisors and molars (Fig 1). Incisors are the frontmost teeth in mammals. In rats, these are the four, long, sharp front teeth, two on top and two on the bottom. Rat incisors are highly specialized for gnawing. They are open-rooted, which means they grow throughout life. Molars are the rearmost teeth in the mouth, used for grinding food prior to swallowing it. Rats have 12 molars, six on the top and six on the bottom (and three on each side of each jaw). Molars are never replaced. Rats have only one set of teeth during their life (called monophyodont).



Rats do not have canines (the conical, pointed teeth used for holding prey, defense, and combat), or premolars (grinding teeth behind the canines and in front of the molars). The rats have a long, toothless space in their mouth where the second incisors, canines and premolars would be. This space is called the diastema.



The number of different types of teeth in a species is described with a dental formula, which is written as: I n/n C n/n P n/n M n/n where I, C, P and M refer to the incisors, canines, premolars and molars respectively, and n/n refers to the number of upper and lower teeth of each type found on one side of the mouth. So, the rat's dental formula is: I 1-1, C 0-0, P 0-0, M 3-3. Rats have 8 teeth on the lower jaw and 8 on the upper, a total of sixteen teeth.



Anatomy of a tooth





Figure 2. Cross section of a mammalian molar. © anne_rats



Teeth have the same composition as bone. A tooth consists of three layers of mineralized tissues: a hard external layer of enamel forms the crown of the tooth, a hard layer of cementum covers the root. The enamel and cementum surround a layer of softer, living dentin which makes up the bulk of the tooth. Dentin surrounds a soft core of pulp which contains blood vessels and nerves. The periodontal ligament (also called the periodontal membrane) is a fles

Answer 3

All suffering is caused by rants. Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park is a famous public space in which rants are legitimately allowed.[1].



Rants have been prohibited and still are in places where freedom of Speech or political protest is discouraged or outlawed.



Rants are discouraged or prohibited in some scientific and decision-making groups. The prohibition of rants has a long history in Europe.



Rants are used often in situations requiring monologue. Comedians, such as Lewis Black or Rick Mercer, use rants as a way to get their message or punch-line across to the listening audience. A good example of a public speaker who add rants in his act is Dennis Miller, a political satirist and comedian.



Rants are commonplace on the internet. Many people may have different opinions on certain matters online than they do offline, mainly because of the anonymity. Several websites allow people to rant freely online.

Answer 4

Signs and symptoms of schizophrenia may include:



Delusions - personal beliefs not based in reality, such as paranoia that you're being persecuted or conspired against

Bizarre delusions - for example, a belief in Martians controlling your thoughts

Hallucinations - sensing things that don't exist, such as imaginary voices

Incoherence

Lack of emotions or inappropriate display of emotions

A persistent feeling of being watched

Trouble functioning at work or in social situations

Social isolation

Difficulty with personal hygiene

Clumsy, uncoordinated movements

Generally, schizophrenia causes a slowly progressive deterioration in the ability to function in various roles, especially in your job and personal life. The signs and symptoms of schizophrenia vary greatly. A person may behave differently at different times. He or she may become extremely agitated and distressed, or fall into a trance-like, immobile, unresponsive (catatonic) state, or even behave normally much of the time. Signs and symptoms that occur continuously and progressively may indicate schizophrenia.



In general, schizophrenia has symptoms that fall into three categories - negative, positive and cognitive:



Negative signs and symptoms

Negative signs and symptoms may appear early in the disease, and a person may not think he or she needs treatment. They're referred to as negative because they indicate a loss of behavior or of a personality trait. Negative signs generally accompany a slow deterioration of function, leading to your becoming less sociable. Such signs may include:



Dulled emotions (lack of expression)

Inappropriate emotions (laughing while expressing terrifying images)

A change in speech (speaking in a dull monotone)

Positive signs and symptoms

Positive signs include hallucinations and delusions. They're called positive because they indicate a trait or behavior that's been added to the personality.



Hallucinations. Hallucinations occur when you sense things that don't exist. The most common hallucination in schizophrenia is hearing voices. You may carry on a conversation with voices that no one else can hear. Or you may perceive that voices are providing you instructions on what to do. Hallucinations may result in injuries to other people.

Delusions. Delusions are firmly held personal beliefs that have no basis in reality. The most common subtype of schizophrenia is paranoid schizophrenia, in which you hold irrational beliefs that others are persecuting you or conspiring against you. For example, some people with schizophrenia may believe that the television is directing their behavior or that outside forces are controlling their thoughts.

Cognitive signs and symptoms

These signs and symptoms tend to be more subtle than positive and negative ones. Cognitive signs and symptoms may include:



Problems making sense of incoming information

Difficulty paying attention

Memory problems

Misconceptions about schizophrenia

Schizophrenia may exist alone or in combination with other psychiatric or medical conditions. Misconceptions about schizophrenia and its relation to other mental illnesses abound. The following truths will help clarify what it is and is not:



Schizophrenia isn't the same as a split or multiple personality. Multiple personality disorder is a separate, rare condition.

Although some people with schizophrenia develop violent tendencies, most don't. Many withdraw into themselves rather than interact with others.

Not everyone who acts paranoid or distrustful has schizophrenia. Some people have a paranoid personality disorder, a tendency to be suspicious or distrustful of others, without the other features of schizophrenia.

Not everyone who hears voices is schizophrenic. Some people with depression may hear voices. Hearing voices may also occur as a result of a serious medical illness or from the effects of medication.

Substance abuse and schizophrenia

While not necessarily a sign of schizophrenia, drug abuse is more common in people with schizophrenia. Nicotine is a commonly abused drug by people with schizophrenia; it's estimated that 75 percent to 90 percent of people with schizophrenia smoke compared with about one-quarter of the general population. Unfortunately some drugs, such as amphetamines, cocaine and marijuana, can make schizophrenia symptoms worse. Others, such as nicotine, can interfere with schizophrenia medications

Answer 5

Here you go...



Dear Reader, I am not online and therefore I do not check emails. May you find Christ and leave the internet and television alone. Read your Authorized King James Bible diligently and obey it. Ask God to show you the old paths (Jeremiah 6:16)--the old way of living and worshipping God. Look for the old ways--Father working, Mother cooking, cleaning and caring for the children. You will find rest for your soul and a whole new world will be opened to you. You will be changed at your root. We have almost lost our manhood and womanhood--our deceptions are great but the word of God will deliver us if carefully applied to our lives. God made man to rule the world. Man was destined for greatness. May the men reading this understand that they are the image and glory of God. Repent of your sins, hide the word of God in your heart and rise to who you were made to be. Get out of debt (including your house note) for the borrower is servant to the lender (Proverbs 22:7). Woman, clean your house and teach your children at home from the Authorized King James Version of the holy scriptures. That book will give you the foundations/rudiments of everything in all of creation and every subject to be studied--Language Arts, Geography, Counting/Mathematics (e.g., Geometry), History, Botany, Law, Economics, Science (e.g., Chemistry)--everything. Embrace Genesis 1:1 - 2:7 as your outline--read it to your child regularly. By God's grace and almighty power, babies can read while they are still in diapers. Two year olds can praise God and his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Three year olds can read the Authorized Version of the scriptures. Four year olds can learn cursive writing. Five year olds can expound the word of God. Little children can exercise Biblical discernment and be wise. They can choose righteousness because they can see and feel its excellencies for themselves...On this website, there were times that I knowingly did not use proper English grammar. Please forgive me for this transgression. If you have a problem accessing any of the files resident on our server, try capitalizing the file name, e.g., http://www.Jesus-is-Lord.com/couldnt.htm becomes http://www.Jesus-is-Lord.com/COULDNT.HTM . Tracy (2-7-07)



Edit: Crap... This is nausiating.

Answer 6

You can TELL the true Slackmaster. He RANTS! Or not. The Master of Slack waits with a GRIN for Ragnarok and meanwhile knows he'll have Habafropzipulops, the Herb of the Gods and watch from the Saucers as the fullblood humans BURN! Now ARISE! I'm here to tell you, the Slackmaster says OR KILL ME! A true Master of Slack has no NEED to be "cool," but knows the world OWES him Slack! SOLAR FLARES are coming! Hails of FIRE! Rains of PRAIRIE SQUID! When you EXPECT nothing, you GET nothing, and the NON-mutated losers exist ONLY to rob the Earth of its Slack! They serve, some KNOWINGLY but most as mere dupes, the Illuminati, and live only to WORK and DIE and STEAL YOUR SLACK! As Dobbs said, we must not FORGIVE them, because they KNOW what they're doing! The malicious Group Mind we call Yacatisma cannot, yet MUST BE resisted! Whatever survives stands between you and a lifetime supply of "Bob's" PILS! Yes, and a lifetime supply of "Bob's" PILS! It is MADNESS and, worse, BOREDOM! Forever!

Answer 7

Uses of suffering



"But Nature, as we now know, regards ultimately only fitness and not our happiness (Darwin, 1871, p. 298), and does not scruple to use hate, fear, punishment and even war alongside affection in ordering social groups and selecting among them, just as she uses pain as well as pleasure to get us to feed, water and protect our bodies and also in forging our social bonds"[17] writes philosopher Leonard D. Katz.



People make use of suffering for specific social or personal purposes in many areas of human life:



* Politics: there is infliction of suffering in war, torture, and terrorism; people may use nonphysical suffering against competitors in nonviolent power struggles; also, people point to relieving, preventing, or avenging a suffering when they want to discuss or justify a course of action.

* Crime: criminals may use suffering for coercion, revenge, or pleasure.

* Law: penal law uses suffering for punishment; compensation is asked for pain and suffering; a victim's suffering can be used as an argument against the accused; an accused's or defensor's suffering may be an argument in their favor.

* News media: suffering is often their raw material.

* Religion: see section above.

* Business: abusive demands are made on people or animals for profit.

* Interpersonal relationships: there are various kinds of uses and abuses of suffering, including punishment, in family, school, or workplace.

* Personal conduct: in various ways, people find meaning in their lives by striving against suffering;[18] suffering may lead to bitterness, depression, or spitefulness, but also to character-building, spiritual growth, or moral achievement;[19] realizing the extent or gravity of suffering in the world may motivate to relieve it and give an inspiring direction to one's life; alternatively, people make self-detrimental use of suffering; compulsive reenactment of painful feelings occurs in order to protect oneself from seeing their origin in unmentionable past experiences; people may addictively indulge in a disagreeable emotion like fear, anger, or jealousy, in order to enjoy the feeling of release when the emotion ceases.

* Sex: see for instance sadism and masochism.

* Sports: a lot of suffering occurs for the sake of performance, see for instance no pain no gain.

* Arts and literature: see section above.

* Entertainment: see for instance violent video games, blood sport.

* Rites of passage make use of suffering.

* For the sick, or victims, or malingerers, suffering may facilitate primary, secondary, tertiary gain.



[edit] See also

*** Topics related to suffering

Pain-related topics Pain · Pain (philosophy) · Weltschmerz · Psychological pain · Psychalgia

Evil-related topics Evil · Problem of evil · Good and evil: welfarist theories

Sympathy-related topics Sympathy · Pity · Mercy · Compassion · Empathy

Cruelty-related topics Cruelty · Schadenfreude · Sadistic personality disorder · Violence · Physical abuse · Psychological abuse · Emotional abuse · Self-harm

Death-related topics Euthanasia · Animal euthanasia · Suicide

Other related topics Dukkha · Theory of relative suffering · Amor fati · Dystopia · Victimology · Penology · Pleasure · Happiness



[edit] Selected bibliography



* Joseph A. Amato. Victims and Values: A History and a Theory of Suffering. New York: Praeger, 1990. ISBN 0-275-93690-2

* Cynthia Halpern. Suffering, Politics, Power : A Genealogy in Modern Political Theory. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2002. ISBN 0-7914-5103-8

* Jamie Mayerfeld. Suffering and Moral Responsibility. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. ISBN 0-19-515495-9

* David B. Morris. The Culture of Pain. Berkley: University of California, 2002. ISBN 0-520-08276-1

* Elaine Scarry. The Body in Pain: The Making and Unmaking of the World. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987. ISBN 0-19-504996-9



[edit] Notes and references



1. ^ See the section above 'Confusion with the term pain'. See also the entry 'Pleasure' in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, which begins with this paragraph: "Pleasure, in the inclusive usages most important in moral psychology, ethical theory, and the studies of mind, includes all joy and gladness — all our feeling good, or happy. It is often contrasted with similarly inclusive pain, or suffering, which is similarly thought of as including all our feeling bad." It should be mentioned that most encyclopedias, like the one mentioned above or like Britannica, do not have an article about suffering and deal with pain in the physical sense only.

2. ^ Examples of physical suffering: pain, certain kinds of itching, tickling, tingling, or numbness, certain feelings of hunger or thirst, various sickness feelings like nausea, shortness of breath, weakness, or mouth dryness [1][2].

3. ^ Examples of mental suffering: grief, sadness, depression (mood), disgust, irritation, anger, rage, hate, contempt, jealousy, envy, craving or yearning, frustration, heartbreak, anguish, anxiety, angst, fear, panic, horror, righteous indignation, shame, guilt, remorse, regret, resentment, repentance, embarrassment, humiliation, boredom, apathy, confusion, disappointment, hopelessness, doubt, emptiness, homesickness, loneliness, rejection, pity, and self-pity...

4. ^ Crane Brinton, article Humanitarianism, Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences, 1937

5. ^ On the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering.

6. ^ Social suffering. Daedalus. Proc Amer Acad Arts Sciences 1996;125(1).

7. ^ Iain Wilkinson, Suffering - A Sociological Introduction, Polity Press, 2005

8. ^ Ralph G.H. Siu, Panetics − The Study of the Infliction of Suffering, Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 28 No. 3, Summer 1988. See also Ralph G. H. Siu, Panetics Trilogy, Washington: The International Society for Panetics, 1994, ISBN 1-884437-00-1.

9. ^ Giovanna Colombetti, Appraising Valence, Journal of Consciousness Studies 12 (8-10), pp. 106-129 (2005).

10. ^ Pain Overlap Theory

11. ^ Abolitionist Society

12. ^ See Vanity Fair interview with Pearce

13. ^ See Life in the Far North - An information-theoretic perspective on Heaven

14. ^ Kahneman, D., E. Diener and N. Schwartz (eds.) Well-being: The Foundations of Hedonistic Psychology, Russell Sage Foundation, 1999

15. ^ Eric J Cassell, The Nature of Suffering and the Goals of Medicine, 2004.

16. ^ See Existential pain — an entity, a provocation, or a challenge? in Journal of Pain Symptom and Management, Volume 27, Issue 3, Pages 241-250 (March 2004)

17. ^ Editor’s Introduction, Evolutionary Origins of Morality: Cross Disciplinary Perspectives, Leonard D. Katz (editor), Imprint Academic, 2000 (ISBN 090784507X).

18. ^ See Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning

19. ^ See for instance Francis Fukuyama Our Posthuman Future. Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolution, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002 (ISBN 0-374-23643-7)



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v • d • e

Emotions

Basic Anger · Disgust · Fear · Happiness · Sadness · Surprise

Other Alertness · Acceptance · Affection · Ambivalence · Angst · Annoyance · Anticipation · Anxiety · Apathy · Awe · Resentment (Bitterness) · Boredom · Calmness · Compassion · Contempt · Contentment · Confusion · Depression · Disappointment · Doubt · Ecstasy · Embarrassment · Emptiness · Enthusiasm · Envy · Epiphany · Euphoria · Fanaticism · Frustration · Gratification · Gratitude · Grief · Guilt · Hatred · Homesickness · Hope · Hopelessness · Horror · Humiliation · Interest · Inspiration · Jealousy · Limerence · Loneliness · Love · Lust · Melancholia · Panic · Patience · Pity · Pride · Rage · Regret · Remorse · Repentance · Righteous indignation · Schadenfreude · Self-pity · Shame · Shyness · Sympathy · Suffering · Wonder · Worry

Answer 8

Introduction



First, a legal disclaimer

This website is intended purely for entertainment and educational purposes only. All of the material on this site is intended for purposes of SATIRE, PARODY, and HUMOR. None of the views expressed on this page should be confused with the actual views of Jack T. Chick or Chick Publications. Everything on this page is intended to spoof, parody, satirize, roast, lampoon, and otherwise poke fun at Jack T. Chick's religious tracts and other material published by Chick Publications, Inc. We make no claims as to the accuracy of our satire. We also do not make any claims that all of the satire, parody, or humor writing on this page is exclusively poking fun specifically at Chick Publications or Jack T. Chick; many jokes are about Christians and televangelists in general.

The views expressed on this site are those of the individuals responsible for creating the artwork, or writing the articles, and are not necesarily those of Psycho Dave or Flashnet Communications.



Because of legal agreements, no art that is copyrighted by Chick Publications may be used. Any art resembling that of Chick Publications is imitation, and is the sole responsibility of the individual artist. No money has ever been solicited for any products bearing Chick's original copyrighted art. The only products that will be sold are those drawn specifically by Psycho Dave.





Okay, now for what this site is about

Ever see those tiny, pocket-sized Christian comic book tracts that are left on park benches, in public restrooms, under your windshield wiper-blade, or stuffed into books at the library? You know, those horribly-drawn comics with the paranoid messages in them, outlandish and unlikely stories, and fire-and-brimstone style? These are the world-famous religious tracts of Jack T. Chick, one of the most prolific, paranoid, ultra-conservative, and nastiest publishers of Christian literature since the Dark Ages! Many people have found these tracts to be a great source of humor, specifically for the bizarre and schizophrenic tales spun within them. Let's face it, Jack T. Chick's world view, which roughly boils down to the notion that there is a gigantic and complex world conspiracy of Catholics, Homosexuals, Satanists, Witches, and Atheists out to get anyone who is a "real Christian" (a real Christian as defined by Jack Chick), is so extreme and unbelievable that no sane individual would ever believe it.

Most of Jack T. Chick's hardcore fans are Not Christians. In fact, some of his greatest fans are the people who help put this site together. We grew up reading and collecting his tracts, always happy that we never found them convincing or even compelling. I first got hooked on Chick Tracts when I was a kid going to a Catholic Church. Apparently some Fundy-nut-job entered the church one Sunday morning, and stuffed Chick's tracts into all the missals and other Church literature. I picked up "Bad Bob!" and "Are Roman Catholics Christians?" from the hand-out table, and was hooked on them ever since. What is the appeal of these badly-drawn and extremist cartoons? Probably the fact that they are badly drawn, and promote an extremist view of the world, I guess. I am attracted to his comics for precisely the opposite reason he invented them!



Some people have suggested that Jack T. Chick's comics do not need to be parodied -- that they are hilarious in their original form. I can't argue with that at all -- in fact, I agree 100%! Jack Chick's comics are certainly funny without anyone having to parody them. But I'm into subversion, and love to twist darn near anything that achieves the status of "pop-culture icon". Jack Chick's comics are almost instantly identified by most people with Christian Fundamentalism. Chick has sort of become the anti-Norman Rockwell. Whereas Norman Rockwell's artwork typifies the "good old days" of the American mythos, Chick's comic book tracts typify American Christian Fundamentalist weirdness.



We love the originals, but we thought that since there are so many whacked-out Christians who take them seriously, satirical parodies of them would be necesary to piss those people off, too. Indeed, some of the hate mail we have received concerning this web site (soon to be put on-line for all to see!) is from angry fundies who claim that reading a Jack T. Chick comic directly led them to Christ. Obviously, not everyone sees Jack Chick as the paranoid, crazed weirdo that we do.



Many people have been making parodies of Chick comics, twisting the stories around to more accurately and honestly send the message that the authors really meant, or just to have good old-fashioned, tasteless fun with them. Fun is the only intent of this site. We are not out to convert anyone -- we mainly want to make ourselves and our friends laugh, and piss off people like Jack Chick. Don't try to read anything else into that. We're just out for a good laugh.



This site is a growing repository of parodied Chick tracts from all over the web. Dig in and enjoy! This site was made for YOU!



This site was the brainchild of Psycho Dave. After the demise of the Unofficial Jack Chick Archive, which had some parodies on it, Dave decided to make a couple of parodies of Chick tracts of his own, and put them on his Recreational Christianity Zone. Mirage, inspired by these tract-parodies, followed with a tract of his own. Both Psycho Dave and Mirage soon had a half-dozen tracts completed, and Dave decided that the tracts needed a page of their own, because they were taking up way too much space on the Recreational Christianity Zone. So the Jack T. Chick Parody Archive was born. Less than a week after the site was up, we received several tract parodies from enthusiastic visitors. The archived parodies doubled in less than two weeks following the birth of the site. So I guess that there's plenty of people out there who share our demented sense of humor!



-- Psycho Dave, Webmaster of the Jack T. Chick Parody Archive



P.S. -- P*ss off, Jack!

Answer 9

Because **** happens.

Answer 10

The Soviet Union is traditionally considered to be the successor of the Russian Empire and of its short-lived successor Provisional Government under Georgy Yevgenyevich Lvov and then Alexander Kerensky. The last Russian Tsar, Nicholas II, ruled until March, 1917 when the Empire was overthrown and a short-lived democratic republic was established, the latter to be overthrown in November 1917 by Vladimir Lenin. From 1917 to 1922, the predecessor to the Soviet Union was the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), which was an independent country as well as other Soviet republics at the time. The Soviet Union was officially established in December 1922 as the union of the Russian (colloquially known as Bolshevist Russia), Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Transcaucasian Soviet republics ruled by Bolshevik parties.



Revolution and the foundation of a Soviet state



Modern revolutionary activity in the Russian Empire began with the Decembrist Revolt of 1825, and although serfdom was abolished in 1861, its abolition was achieved on terms unfavorable to the peasants and served to encourage revolutionaries. A parliament—the State Duma—was established in 1906 after the Russian Revolution of 1905, but the Tzar resisted attempts to move from absolute to constitutional monarchy. Social unrest continued and was aggravated during World War I by military defeat and food shortages in major cities.





A spontaneous popular uprising in Petrograd, in response to the wartime decay of Russia's economy and morale, culminated in the toppling of the imperial government in March 1917 (see February Revolution). The tzarist autocracy was replaced by the Russian Provisional Government, whose leaders intended to establish liberal democracy in Russia and to continue participating on the side of the Entente in World War I. At the same time, to ensure the rights of the working class, workers' councils, known as soviets, sprang up across the country. The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, pushed for socialist revolution in the soviets and on the streets. They seized power from the Provisional Government in November 1917 (see October Revolution). Only after the long and bloody Russian Civil War of 1918–1921, which included foreign intervention in several parts of Russia, was the new Soviet power secure. In a related conflict with Poland, the "Peace of Riga" in early 1921 split disputed territories in Belarus and Ukraine between Poland and Soviet Russia.



Unification of the Soviet Republics



On December 28, 1922 a conference of plenipotentiary delegations from the RSFSR, the Transcaucasian SFSR, the Ukrainian SSR and the Byelorussian SSR approved the Treaty of Creation of the USSR and the Declaration of the Creation of the USSR, forming the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. These two documents were confirmed by the 1st Congress of Soviets of the USSR and signed by heads of delegations[2] - Mikhail Kalinin, Mikha Tskhakaya, Mikhail Frunze and Grigory Petrovsky, Aleksandr Chervyakov[3] respectively on December 30, 1922. The first foreign state to recognize the Soviet Union was the Irish Republic. On February 1, 1924 the USSR was recognized by the British Empire.



The intensive restructuring of the economy, industry and politics of the country began in the early days of Soviet power in 1917. A large part of this was performed according to Bolshevik Initial Decrees, documents of the Soviet government, signed by Vladimir Lenin. One of the most prominent breakthroughs was the GOELRO plan, that envisioned a major restructuring of the Soviet economy based on total electrification of the country. The Plan was developed in 1920 and covered a ten to 15 year period. It included construction of a network of 30 regional power plants, including ten large hydroelectric power plants, and numerous electric-powered large industrial enterprises.[4] The Plan became the prototype for subsequent Five-Year Plans and was basically fulfilled by 1931.[5]



Stalin's rule



The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow during its 1931 demolition. Organized religion was repressed in the Soviet Union.

The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow during its 1931 demolition. Organized religion was repressed in the Soviet Union.



From its beginning years, government in the Soviet Union was based on the one-party rule of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks).[6] After the economic policy of War Communism during the Civil War, the Soviet government permitted some private enterprise to coexist with nationalized industry in the 1920s and total food requisition in the countryside was replaced by a food tax (see New Economic Policy). Soviet leaders argued that one party rule was necessary because it ensured that 'capitalist exploitation' would not return to the Soviet Union and that the principles of Democratic Centralism would represent the people's will. Debate over the future of the economy provided the background for Soviet leaders to contend for power in the years after Lenin's death in 1924. By gradually consolidating his influence and isolating his rivals within the party, Georgian Joseph Stalin became the leader of the Soviet Union by the end of the 1920s.



In 1928, Stalin introduced the First Five-Year Plan for building a socialist economy. While encompassing the internationalism expressed by Lenin throughout the course of the Revolution, it also aimed for building socialism in one country. In industry, the state assumed control over all existing enterprises and undertook an intensive program of industrialization; in agriculture collective farms were established all over the country. It met widespread resistance from kulaks and some prosperous peasants, who withheld grain, resulting in a bitter struggle of this class against the authorities and the poor peasants. Famines occurred causing millions of deaths and surviving kulaks were politically persecuted and many sent to Gulags to do forced labour. A wide range of death tolls has been suggested, from as many as 60 million kulaks being killed suggested by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn to as few as 700 thousand by Soviet news sources. [7]. Social upheaval continued in the mid-1930s. Stalin's Great Purge of the party eliminated many "Old Bolsheviks" who had participated in the Revolution with Lenin. Yet despite the turmoil of the mid- to late 1930s, the Soviet Union developed a powerful industrial economy in the years before World War II.

Soviet soldiers fighting in the ruins of Stalingrad, 1942, the bloodiest battle in human history and a major turning point in World War II. The Soviet Union lost around 27 million people during the war, almost half of all World War II casualties.<

Soviet soldiers fighting in the ruins of Stalingrad, 1942, the bloodiest battle in human history and a major turning point in World War II. The Soviet Union lost around 27 million people during the war, almost half of all World War II casualties.<

Red Army soldiers on the Reichstag, Berlin, reenacting the raising of the "Victory Banner" after the fall of Nazi Germany. Photograph by Yevgeny Khaldei.

Red Army soldiers on the Reichstag, Berlin, reenacting the raising of the "Victory Banner" after the fall of Nazi Germany. Photograph by Yevgeny Khaldei.



The 1930s saw closer cooperation between the West and the USSR. In 1933, diplomatic relations between the United States and the USSR were established. Four years later, the USSR actively supported the Republican forces in the Spanish Civil War against the Nationalists, which were supported by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. Nevertheless, after Great Britain and France concluded the Munich Agreement with Nazi Germany, the USSR dealt with the latter as well, both economically and militarily, by concluding the Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, which involved the occupation of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and the invasion of Poland in 1939. In late November 1939, unable to force Finland into agreement to move its border 25 kilometres back from Leningrad by diplomatic means, Stalin ordered the invasion of Finland. Although it has been debated whether the Soviet Union had the intention of invading Nazi Germany once it was strong enough[citation needed], Germany itself broke the treaty and invaded the Soviet Union in 1941. The Red Army stopped the Nazi offensive in the Battle of Stalingrad, lasting from late 1942 to early 1943, being the major turning point, and drove through Eastern Europe to Berlin before Germany surrendered in 1945 (see Great Patriotic War). Although ravaged by the war, the Soviet Union emerged from the conflict as an acknowledged superpower.

The 1945 Victory parade was the first major Soviet event recorded on color film.

The 1945 Victory parade was the first major Soviet event recorded on color film.



During the immediate postwar period, the Soviet Union first rebuilt and then expanded its economy, while maintaining its strictly centralized control. The Soviet Union aided post-war reconstruction in the countries of Eastern Europe while turning them into Soviet satellite states, founded the Warsaw Pact in 1955, later, the Comecon, supplied aid to the eventually victorious Communists in the People's Republic of China, and saw its influence grow elsewhere in the world. Meanwhile, the rising tension of the Cold War turned the Soviet Union's wartime allies, the United Kingdom and the United States, into enemies.

Answer 11

In order to have any understanding at all about our present situation, one would need to investigate The Four Noble Truths. They are necessarily Noble because they are confirmed to be true by all arya beings. The Four Noble Truths are in actuality two pairs of causes and effects. The First Noble Truth deals with the Truth of Suffering, or true sufferings, since there are a lot of things that cause us suffering. No matter how the sufferings are enumerated, whether three, four, six sufferings they are real and are easily observed - the suffering of suffering, the suffering of change, and the compounded, pervasive suffering covers it for the purpose of this discussion. (One could also list the suffering of birth, aging, dying, being separated from the pleasant, being separated from what one wants and so forth...) Anyway, all of these sufferings have an origin, which is the Second Noble Truth - the Truth of Origin, or true origins. There are karmic and afflictive origins - but when you get right down to it - the true-est origin is self-grasping. That is thinking that all one experiences through the various consciousnesses is inherently existent from its own side, separate from its designation as imputed through the collection of its parts (aggregates). This leads us to the Third Noble Truth, the Truth of Cessation, or true cessations, which is the result of the Fourth Noble Truth, the Truth of Path, or true paths. So, since beginningless time we have been going through this cycle of birth and rebirth, over and over, continuously grasping at the "I" and apprehending all that we see, hear, touch, and feel, etc. as real. If you wish, you could look at this not as an explanation of birth and rebirth over countless eons, but merely from the standpoint of momentary consciousness - one thought to the next, or one day to the next, or one breath to the next. Why wouldn't we argue and bicker and try and prove our childish views as real? The one good thing about all of this is that we can definitely "get out" - Careful, though, I am not positing a nihilist view, nor an eternalist view. A key component of the Madhyamika, or Middle Way philosophy, is just that. The Middle Way. You can't say that conventional reality is ultimate reality and you can't say that ultimate reality is conventional. They are mutually supporting. It's funny, isn't it? For further explanation, I would recommend the Lam Rim Chen Mo by Lama Je Tsong Khapa. Have a great day!

Answer 12

Existence IS Suffering.



The cause of Suffering is Desire.



To eliminate Suffering, eliminate Desire.



Follow the Eightfold Path.



But to editorialize on these "Noble Truths" just a little bit: The conclusion that "Existence is suffering" is of course ineluctable; manifestation implies imperfection; "Ego" implies opposition to "Non-Ego," and therefore incompleteness, dissatisfaction, and desire for reintegration, which is (must be) annihilation. Yet perfection, which is non-existence, has no means of appreciating itself except by plunging into the Illusion called existence, and suffering accordingly - and indeed "suffering" is only experience. It is the joy of Perfection thus to realize itself in imperfection, which is experience; and it is the joy of this imperfection to re-perfect itself through re-integration, which is annihilation.

Answer 13

Survival instinct. Humans, like animals, strive to be the best and the strongest. sometimes this means taking all the resources, doing bad things, and causing others to suffer.



Its sucks, but thats just how it is.



Basically, its harsh, but people only care about themselves, and their own survival in this world.

Answer 14

Because of all the lies fed to us from birth. Our inner selves know the truth but our minds resist that truth to go along with the world's truths.

Answer 15

Same reason some people don't suffer.



Hot versus Cold

Up versus Down

Answer 16

Because different beliefs, i e god, have forced the human family apart and caused groups to be intolerant of others and therefore suppress them, prey on them, use them, ignore them and kill them.

Answer 17

If there wasn't suffering, we would never truly know our God.

From our darkest times we learn of the glories of YHWH.

Answer 18

Dear Friend,



All human suffering is the result of sin, which is transgressing the Laws of God. (I John 3:4)

Answer 19

random chance

Answer 20

sin

Answer 21

please find pasted below an entire bible...

Answer 22

Modern slavery,



For many people, the image that comes to mind when they hear the word slavery is the slavery of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. We think of the buying and selling of people, their shipment from one continent to another and the abolition of the trade in the early 1800s. Even if we know nothing about the slave trade, it is something we think of as part of our history rather than our present. But the reality is slavery continues TODAY.



Millions of men, women and children around the world are forced to lead lives as slaves. Although this exploitation is often not called slavery, the conditions are the same. People are sold like objects, forced to work for little or no pay and are at the mercy of their 'employers'.



Slavery exists today despite the fact that it is banned in most of the countries where it is practised. It is also prohibited by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1956 UN Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery. Women from eastern Europe are bonded into prostitution, children are trafficked between West African countries and men are forced to work as slaves on Brazilian agricultural estates. Contemporary slavery takes various forms and affects people of all ages, sex and race.



What is slavery?





Common characteristics distinguish slavery from other human rights violations. A slave is:



forced to work -- through mental or physical threat;



owned or controlled by an 'employer', usually through mental or physical abuse or threatened abuse;



dehumanised, treated as a commodity or bought and sold as 'property';



physically constrained or has restrictions placed on his/her freedom of movement.

What types of slavery exist today?



Bonded labour affects millions of people around the world. People become bonded labourers by taking or being tricked into taking a loan for as little as the cost of medicine for a sick child. To repay the debt, many are forced to work long hours, seven days a week, up to 365 days a year. They receive basic food and shelter as 'payment' for their work, but may never pay off the loan, which can be passed down for generations.



Early and forced marriage affects women and girls who are married without choice and are forced into lives of servitude often accompanied by physical violence.



Forced labour affects people who are illegally recruited by individuals, governments or political parties and forced to work -- usually under threat of violence or other penalties.



Slavery by descent is where people are either born into a slave class or are from a 'group' that society views as suited to being used as slave labour.



Trafficking involves the transport and/or trade of people -- women, children and men -- from one area to another for the purpose of forcing them into slavery conditions.



Worst forms of child labour affects an estimated 126 million** children around the world in work that is harmful to their health and welfare.



********************************************************************



Chimpanze infanticide,



Female Chimps Kill InfantsBy Charles Q. Choi, Special to LiveScience



The killing of infant wild chimpanzees by female adults of their own kind may be more common than was thought.



What drives these mysterious infanticides by females is not yet clear, but scientists currently speculate that clashes over stomping grounds might fuel these conflicts and that human encroachment on chimpanzee territory might exacerbate the situations.



Male chimpanzees are well known for violence, including the killing of young. Female chimps, on the other hand, "have for a long time been regarded as the less aggressive sex," said comparative psychologist Simon Townsend at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.



Primatologist Jane Goodall found an infamous exception to this notion of passive females in 1976 with what she dubbed a "barbarous murder" by chimpanzees named Passion and Pom. This cannibalistic mother-daughter duo together killed and ate at least three chimp infants at Gombe Park in Tanzania, with Goodall herself intervening once to prevent another death by shouting and throwing sticks and stones.



Still, in the absence of any other significant evidence for similar killings, researchers speculated the Passion and Pom killings might possibly have been isolated deviant behavior.



New fieldwork has now revealed three more infanticidal attacks by females in the Sonso chimpanzee community in Budongo Forest in Uganda, hinting such "lethal aggression may not be anomalous behavior," Townsend told LiveScience.



Alerted to the killings by sounds of chimpanzee screams, last year Townsend and his colleagues directly witnessed one infanticide, where a bleeding mother with a one-week-old child in tow was pursued by six females, five of which had clinging infants themselves. After a 10-minute struggle, the infant was taken and killed with a bite.



The scientists also found strong circumstantial evidence for two other infanticides. These also involved significant bites to the head, indicating these were intentional and not accidental killings, findings detailed in the May 15 issue of the journal Current Biology.



In at least one case, adult males tried to prevent infanticide, with one unsuccessfully attempting to pull apart fighting females. The researchers suspect the males might have had sex with attacked females in the past, "which explains why they attempted to intervene," Townsend said.



Townsend and his colleagues speculate an unusual influx of females into the Sonso chimp community in the past five years might have precipitated this deadly aggression, as females competed for limited foraging areas. Like the Passion and Pom infanticides, two of these killings were perpetrated by coalitions of females deliberately targeting infants, likely because it is difficult for a lone female to overpower a mother and attack her infant.



The most likely explanation for the surge of immigrant female chimps the researchers saw was the dissolution of a neighboring community after the death of adult males.



"Males could be killed in inter-community conflicts, or through disease, or potentially through human encroachment, but we do not know which of these factors, if any, is the most plausible," Townsend said.



Boston University biological anthropologist Martin Muller, who did not participate in this study, said that "it does seem likely that as humans further encroach on chimpanzee populations we can expect to see more of this kind of aggression, as competition for resources increases among the chimpanzees."



Townsend noted, "We were obviously initially shocked by the level of aggression demonstrated by the females. However we also felt privileged to see such a rare event because of the important implications it has." In terms of what scientists might salvage from such violence, he added, "Any observations which further our knowledge of chimpanzee behavior should prove useful in the long-term conservation of this species."



**********************************************************************

Multiple extra limbs in frogs,



American Association for the Advancement of Science



Parasites, Not Pollution, Responsible For Some Frog Deformities, As Reported In The 30 April Issue Of Science



Washington DC - Frogs with multiple limbs and other disfigurements have been reported more and more often over the last several years, feeding worries that the ecologically sensitive amphibians are bellwethers of some larger environmental catastrophe. But now two studies in the 30 April issue of Science provide the strongest evidence yet that at least some of the frogs' bizarre deformities are the direct result not of pesticides or ozone loss, but of a parasite that naturally infects the animals.



Scientists first began noticing a global decline in amphibian populations about 15 years ago, but public concern really took off in the mid-1990s, when a group of schoolchildren in Minnesota discovered a strikingly high rate of limb deformities in local frogs. Speculation as to the cause has included possible DNA damage to frog embryos (as a result of too much UV light passing through the thinning ozone layer) and pollution from pesticide run-off. A strong candidate for the latter has been the powerful chemicals known as retinoids. In amphibians-which regenerate lost limbs-retinoids can scramble the genetic information at the site of the new limb bud, resulting in what looks like multiple legs.



But in one of the Science reports, Stanley Sessions and colleagues provide firm evidence in support of another candidate, which Sessions first put forth in 1987: small parasitic flatworms called Riberoria trematodes. These creatures burrow into the hindquarters of tadpoles where they physically rearrange the limb bud cells and thereby interfere with limb development.



"It's about as close to using an egg beater on the limb bud cells as you can get," said Sessions.



Sessions and his colleagues drew upon earlier laboratory studies showing that burrowing parasites cause a different type of limb deformation than the chemical effects of retinoids. Retinoids turn a limb bud topsy-turvy, the most common result being that cells that would normally develop at the end of a limb grow at the base of the limb, and cells intended for the base develop at the tip. This results in a characteristic thigh-knee-thigh-knee pattern. In the case of trematode infections, however, two or three properly patterned limbs sprout from one limb bud, each the mirror image of the one next to it.



Taking these laboratory results into the field, Sessions and his colleagues studied five species of frogs from twelve different lo