HORSE Language

Yes, horses have a language of their own, and unfortunately many of us are not as aware of it as we should be.  It's a big mistake to not to know their language, as it could mean problems for us in the long run.  Every swivel of the ear(s), hip movement, tail flick and facial expression means something.  This is the language horses use to speak to other horses and to us - if only we would listen.

Staranzano(Italy), Cona Island. A human approaches a semi-wild horse using body language understood by the horse. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We need to know what OUR body language says to them first before we can understand them. Flapping arms while trying to get the halter on will cause concern. Running at them in a pasture rather than walking up to them calmly can make them think -  predator chasing me. We've all heard about bombproof horses - sorry, there isn't any such thing.  Something, some time will spook your horse - any horse.

In the meantime, keep your body language quiet, slow, easy and calm.  If you are calm, this helps your horse remain calm.   

Horses speak to us with all body parts and that includes the front and back end.  Both ends can cause us untold grief if we do not pay attention to what they are saying.  For instance, most of us know that when a horse has both ears pinned back flat something is really wrong.  Chances are they are either frightened or angry.  In most cases it is anger.  So watch the front and rear very carefully.  Caution is best even if you think the horse may be listening to something behind them or bored.  Once you really know your horse well, you will know what the ears are saying.  

Ears perked up and forward mean they are focusing their attention on something and are either up to some mischief or they are on high alert about something they see, hear or smell.  Remind your horse you need his attention, especially if you are riding and the ears whip forward. 

Brushing and caring for your horse is THE major bonding experience between humans and equines.  Don't ever underestimate how powerfully you are communicating to your horse about YOU when you brush him. 

---

---

CHESS Rules Then and Now

The exact origins of chess are still unclear though others believe that the game was based on the Indian Chaturanga, which literally means "four" and "arm".

An example of early-style Staunton Chess Set (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The ancient "chess" game used pieces that are slightly similar to modern chess, as well as movements. However, the rules of such a game are yet to be clarified.

In every game there are rules and chess in not an exception. In fact, there are several rules that

govern the competitive and recreational game. However, the question really is, where did the rules came from and how were they developed?

Early Chess Rules

During the 16th century, the rules of modern chess took form in Italy. Since then, the rules of the game have evolved continuously. Going back centuries in the past, before the modern rules even took form in Italy, chess was played very slowly, with some games lasting for several days. There are other variations of the rules that began to change the shape of the game during the 1300s. The most notable, though originally unpopular, change in the rules was the ability of the pawn to move two squares during the first move instead of one.

After 1475 A.D., there are new modifications in the rules that further led to the evolution of the game. For instance, the queen was introduced and made a powerful new piece. This eventually led to the additional value attached to the previously considered minor tactic called the pawn promotion.

In Chaturanga, the war elephant has also evolved into the bishop, thus providing more range. The noticeable changes in the rules also gave way to the rise of figures that are "unwarlike". Eventually, chess moved closer to the court and ordinary household due to the departure of pure military symbolism to the game, which was noticeably prevalent in India and Persia.

Rise of the Modern Chess Rules

Specifically during the Middle Ages, a new set of rules for the game had emerged. Within this principle, both the rook and the king acquired the privilege to castle, which is a variation of the move, called Castling. Since the pawns were given the chance to move two squares during the first move, the en passant rule was consequential. More so, the pawns gained the capability to be promoted to a higher rank if they were able to reach the eighth rank.

Aside from those rules, there are other three guidelines that were introduced, which eventually

changed through the years. Firstly, there was the stalemate rule that forever changed the outcome of

chess games several times. Secondly, the threefold repetition was also added. Lastly, the fifty move rule was also added, in which a draw can be claimed if there has been no evident pawn movement and capture of any piece during the last fifty numbers of moves.

Since then, the rules of the chess game have been slightly altered until the early 19th century, during

which the game reached its current form. Nowadays, the fundamental chess rules are widely accepted among both international and national chess governing bodies, like the USCF or the United States Chess Federation and the FIDE or the World Chess Federation.

However, even if the rules of the chess game has evolved, the basic objective of the game remains the

same - to threaten the opponent’s most valuable piece, the king, with a checkmate.

The History of ARCHERY

The heroic effort of archers at the battlefield helped several kingdoms win wars. Archery although obsolete today has helped men since ages. Since ages people have used archery to conquer their enemy and to tame wild animals.

full-length, facing left, with bow drawn, about to shoot an arrow, includes several types of targets
 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Studies have shown that archery was widely being used in ancient civilization.  Archery history shows that earlier arrows were made of pines which had a long fore shaft that had a flint point. Till date, archaeologists have found the oldest bow in Denmark.  Arrow shafts have been found in many places across the globe in Egypt, Sweden, Denmark and India.

Bows and arrows are the main constituents of archery. Archery history reveals the fact that the bows were developed in either early Mesolithic age or late Paleolithic age.  Pines were used for making arrows.  

Archery was highly developed in Asia and other Islamic kingdoms.

People were specially trained in archery; these archers were used in the battlefields. In fact before the development of firearms archery served as primary weapons. Different types of bows and arrows were manufactured and accordingly they had different range.

The archery history is full with saga of great archers. These archers have played a major role in the ancient civilizations of Egypt, India, Greece and Persia. 

The archery bows which were commonly used were: longbow, shortbow, flatbow, recurve bow, crossbow and compound bow. Longbows were very long bow.  The length generally matched the height of the archer and in some cases even exceeded the height of the archer.  

The limb of the Flatbow is wider and the cross-section is rectangular in shape. Shortbow is shorter in length, is light-weight and have a short range. It was basically used for hunting purpose. In crossbow the limbs are mounted in a horizontal manner and not in a vertical manner. The compound bow is designed in such as manner that the archer is at his ease while mounting the bow. 

Shaft, arrowheads, nock and fletching constitute an arrow. Aluminum alloy, carbon fiber, wood and fiberglass are used for the construction of the shaft. 

The shaft should not be too flexible; it should be straight and easy to handle. At present arrows made of carbon alloys are popular and are being widely used by the archers.  In fact arrows used in popular sports events like Olympic are made of carbon alloys. 

Sight shooting and instinctive shooting are the two methods adopted by an archer while shooting an arrow. In instinctive shooting the archer completely concentrates on the target while shooting the arrow. It requires a lot of practice; this method of archery was popular during the early phases. 

However, later bows with adjustable pins were developed; these pins could be adjusted by the archers to aim a target. This is called as sight shooting and is easy as compared to instinctive shooting.

  

Later when the firearms were developed it replaced archery.  Firearms were found to be superior to archery; it was more lethal, it had long range and also using it wasn’t too difficult.  In fact hose kingdoms which did not know to use firearms had to suffer heavily on the battlefield.

Archery history indicates that men since time-immemorial have been devising ways to lord over others. 

The Golden Age of COMIC BOOKS

By and large, the accepted time frame for the golden age of comic books ran from a period from the 1930's through the mid-1950's. It was a prosperous time for the American comic book realm. Many of today's super heroes were inaugurated during this stage. Super heroes flourished in the golden age of comic books. Superman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Batman, 

Robin and Hawkman were some of the heroes that a new company called Detective Comics or DC comics, launched. During the 1940's a precursor to Marvel Comics, called Timely Comics, introduced their version of the super hero genre. They included Captain America, The Human Torch and The Sub-Mariner. Ironically, the Captain Marvel comic books from Fawcett Comics outsold Superman and his associates during the golden age. There were literally hundreds of super powered and non super powered heroes that came and went. 

Beware 01 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The advent of world war two helped propel the comic book industries popularity. It was an inexpensive means to relax, read and imagine the good guys prevail over the bad guys. In those days, Superman regularly helped the allies thwart Hitler and the axis powers. What better way to defeat the enemy than to watch the heroes in action? Defeating Hitler was on everyone's mind, and the stress relief comic books provided was helpful to a young man in a foreign land engaged in daily battles.

Superman, Batman and Robin helped the war effort by advertising war bonds. Uncle Sam may have wanted you, but the super heroes lending themselves to the war propaganda helped the cause. Which one was more influential in the golden age of comic books: a sickly looking old man who wanted you to fight, or young powerful super heroes that could do incredible damage to the enemy?  The answer is evident.

The war was significant and powerful in the development of the super heroes during the golden age. However, there were other factors too. There were comic books during that period that were not based on super heroes. The genre started to change during the latter part of the golden age, especially after World War Two. Westerns were taking firm root in society as the readership declined for the super heroes. Horror, romance, satire and science fiction all filled the vacuum that was left during the decline. The downward trend was precipitated by, in my opinion, the ambiance of the times with McCarthyism and books being published that suggested comic books and their ilk were detrimental to the society's young people minds.  

The introduction of the funny comics during the golden age were well-liked too.

Bugs bunny and Donald duck premiered. The funny comics instilled laughter in the audience and that was important. The importance of laughter during stressful times cannot be overstated. The atmosphere was rife with the arrival of the cold war and the atomic age. Bomb shelters littered the country. With that being said, the funny comic books helped people express amusement in their daily routine. 

Whatever genre people chose to read, the Golden Age of comic books influenced the shaping the comic book market.

---

---

SLAVERY

Scars of a whipped slave (April 2, 1863, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA. Original caption: "Overseer Artayou Carrier whipped me. I was two months in bed sore from the whipping. My master come after I was whipped; he discharged the overseer. The very words of poor Peter, taken as he sat for his picture." (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Not everything that has to make a mark on the history of African American people is on the surface a positive thing.  But we know that there some very terrible things that happened to the black population in America that are undeniably a big part of the history of a people.  So any survey of black history could not be complete without a discussion of slavery.

Few peoples of the earth have such a profoundly humiliating event to become such a central part of their heritage and their past.  Yes, other tribes and races have endured slavery including the American Indian and the ancient Hebrews.  Perhaps slavery is even more pivotal to the psychology of the African American culture because it is the central historical event that launched their start as citizens of this country.

It was not a citizenship born in nobility and honor as many others can point to in America.  No to come to America as slaves is to have come to America with little more value to their fellow Americans than common livestock.  And to be sure, the lives of slaves in the first decades of American history were very harsh times.  Slaves were abused and denied anything that we might call today even basic human rights.  

It is hard to gain any perspective on such a heinous crime against humanity as slavery except to put in context that this barbaric practice did not originate in America but came to our shores as part of the background of many people including the Dutch, the French and the English.  

In some ways slavery was an evolution of the system of indentured servant hood in which an immigrant trades a certain number of years of service to a master in exchange for payment for their travel costs to come to America.  But in the case of Africans who were brought on ships as slaves, there was no desire to come in chains to serve as property until death.  

A drawing of slaves, made by whites, 2 generations after the end of slavery. 

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The impossibility of hope in that situation is almost impossible for any of us, black or white, in modern day America to grasp or appreciate.  But the efforts of slaves to free themselves and indeed to eventually do so using the Underground Railroad or other means is a testament to human will and that hope is something that is extremely hard to crush out in the human heart.

Has anything good come out of the legacy of slavery in this country?  Well, a bond that was formed in the hearts of a people was permanently cemented during those horrible years.  The music that the slaves used to keep their spirits alive has been passed to us as a rich legacy of spirituals that we cherish because they were born under inhuman suffering.   

One thing that was a permanent out come of slavery in the African American community was the sense of resolve to never go back to such a time and a fight that was burned deep into the soul of a people to fight no matter how long or how hard to gain the civil rights of full citizens in this country.  This would not have happened so profoundly had the peoples who came here and were identified solely by skin color not have endured slavery together.  Before the various peoples who became slaves were pressed into service, they were from many tribes and many people all across Africa and beyond.  Their nationalities were tribal and they had the normal pride of a people, customs, family relationships and history that any people will have.  That all was ripped away when they were taken into slavery.

But in the void left by those crucial relationships, a new brotherhood of African Americans was born.  And the pride that has risen up in this new nation is strong and has continued to build throughout the decades.  It is built on proud history and proud leadership.  There has been much struggle and more difficulties and everything is not perfect by any measure.  But the African American people can be proud of how far the culture has come and use that pride to press on toward greater accomplishments in the future.

---

---

Using Filters In PHOTOGRAPHY

Photographic filter is an attachment that will allow certain kinds of light to be able to pass through, and able to reduce or block out other unwanted light sources.In short, the term filter really means anything that modifies the incoming light in some way and includes: polarizing screens, multi-image prisms,close-up attachments, soft focus filters, neutral density (ND) filters, graduated ND filters, and color filters for black and white photography. Filters come in two main shapes: round and square.

Four photographic filters; clockwise from top left, infrared hot mirror filter, polarising,
UV, and a Cokin-style polarising filter. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Filters add color and a certain touch to a photo that complements the individuals style of photo taking. When you are using a black and white film with filters, you can darken or lighten the tone of the subjects color. The color filters that are used can darken the tone of an opposite color and brighten the tone of the color filter that is being used. For an example, a red filter will make the red leafs on an autumn tree look very rich and bright, while on the other hand the sky behind it that was blue, is now almost black. 

Neutral density filters reduce the light entering your camera so that a slower shutter speed,or a larger aperture can be used. Graduated ND filters are used to balance out bright skies against darker foreground scenes.

A neat filter is called the star filter. This type of filter in photography is placed on the cameras lenses to create a star look effect form any source of light. This is very popular with television game shows and used for portraits to provide a soft overall diffusion. A split field lenses is really a full lenses but only half of it is close-up, it is great for taking a picture of something close-up at the bottom like a small flower or bug in focus. The top of the lenses is just blank or empty and the camera uses its lenses to background in focus, say the mountain in the distance.

POLICE Brutality: Have We Punished the Wrong People?

Warning sign for police brutality.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today, society as a whole has a tendency to define most actions taken or carried out by police officers as forms of brutality. To fully understand the implication of the word, one must look at the beginnings, of said word. The word brutality originates from the Latin word Brutus, which translates to brute. Brutality would be the act of all of the above. When breaking down the word as such, it begins to take on a far more serious tone, possibly even frightening, when applied to some of the simple circumstances that occur to day. Is it just what we hear in the news and in the paper or is their a real issue here that needs to be taken seriously? Do the police have a choice or are there some certain times when a more forceful action needs to be taken against some of these criminals. 

Some critics view most of police actions as being cruel, bordering on brutal. How can they use such terminology to judge the countless men and women that risk their lives daily for the safety of everyone, regardless of race, sex, or orientation? These men and women have undergone extensive training, physical and mental, as well as psychological. Some of what they have had to endure, to fulfill a position performing a thankless job with little pay and very few benefits, may well have toughened them up, but they are still human. They make mistakes in judgment calls the same as anyone else. Some calls are purely based on survival and how do we as citizen’s judge something like this when we have never been faced with such raw evil.

Often, some of the verbal, and too often physical, abuse they must persevere throughout the course of a normal day would border on the definition of brutal; however, society forgets those instances. They find it easier instead to judge them by certain standards, yet ignore what is done wrong against them. Perhaps it is the lack of support for police officers and the jobs they do, that we, as a society, are forcing them to sever any emotional ties they once had for their jobs, and making it almost necessary for them to react as strongly to any situation as they are able. With little or no support, they are virtually left on their own to survive in a world that most people do not even realize exists.

Instead of applauding their achievements, we publicly criticize their actions and decisions, only helping to further the dislike, distrust, and disrespect of police officers everywhere. They and their families often feel ostracized from normal society, and sometimes resort to forming their own 'societies or families'. Perhaps it is time we take a step back and look at the terms us so freely use against them, and in all certainty knows what is being implied at any given time.  Labeling them as brutal is implying they are no better than animals -- would you call on your animals to handle car accidents, homicide calls, or domestic situations? Of course they are not. Laugh at the idea, but that is in fact what is being said.

We might just have the definition of 'police brutality' down to an exact science, but are we pointing our fingers at the right perpetrators? Police officers suffer daily, through all types of abuse, and they are expected to maintain a professional attitude at all times, while wiping spit from their faces, or enduring a string of obscenities from a simple traffic stop. What then is this called? I say it falls under the label of 'police brutality' only it is being done to them, not by them.  If we want a change, it has to begin with us. Show support of the police officers, follow the laws and take a stand against those that do wrong. They guard us with their lives -- the least we can do is support them during ours.