ARISTOTLE'S THEORY OF HAPPINESS

Aristotle’s theory of happiness states that happiness is the highest good. There are many items that are good, but goods pursued for their own sake are of a higher good than goods pursued for the sake of something else. The highest good cannot be improved by the addition of anything else. The highest good is desirable for itself, is not desirable for the sake of another good, and all other goods are desirable for its sake. Happiness is the only good pursued solely for itself, and is an end in itself. Honor is external, wealth is a means to further ends, and a pleasurable life does not equate to a “happy” life. Humans are distinctive to animals due to their ability to be rational. Humans that live with good reason are good humans. In order for something to be good requires virtue. Therefore, in order to live well we must use reason virtuously.

ARISTOTLE

“Happiness depends on ourselves.” More than anybody else, Aristotle enshrines happiness as a central purpose of human life and a goal in itself. As a result he devotes more space to the topic of happiness than any thinker prior to the modern era. Living during the same period as Mencius, but on the other side of the world, he draws some similar conclusions. That is, happiness depends on the cultivation of virtue, though his virtues are somewhat more individualistic than the essentially social virtues of the Confucians. Essentially, Aristotle argues that virtue is achieved by maintaining the Mean, which is the balance between two excesses. Aristotle’s doctrine of the Mean is reminiscent of Buddha’s Middle Path, but there are intriguing differences. For Aristotle the mean was a method of achieving virtue, but for Buddha the Middle Path referred to a peaceful way of life which negotiated the extremes of harsh asceticism and sensual pleasure seeking. The Middle Path was a minimal requirement for the meditative life, and not the source of virtue in itself.
A Little Background
Aristotle is one of the greatest thinkers in the history of western science and philosophy, making contributions to logic, metaphysics, mathematics, physics, biology, botany, ethics, politics, agriculture, medicine, dance and theatre. He was a student of Plato who in turn studied under Socrates. Although we do not actually possess any of Aristotle’s own writings intended for publication, we have volumes of the lecture notes he delivered for his students; through these Aristotle was to exercise his profound influence through the ages. Indeed, the medieval outlook is sometimes considered to be the “Aristotelian worldview” and St. Thomas Aquinas simply refers to Aristotle as “The Philosopher” as though there were no other.
Aristotle was the first to classify areas of human knowledge into distinct disciplines such as mathematics, biology, and ethics. Some of these classifications are still used today, such as the species-genus system taught in biology classes. He was the first to devise a formal system for reasoning, whereby the validity of an argument is determined by its structure rather than its content. Consider the following syllogism: All men are mortal; Socrates is a man; therefore, Socrates is mortal. Here we can see that as long as the premises are true, the conclusion must also be true, no matter what we substitute for “men or “is mortal.” Aristotle’s brand of logic dominated this area of thought until the rise of modern symbolic logic in the late 19th Century.
Aristotle was the founder of the Lyceum, the first scientific institute, based in Athens, Greece. Along with his teacher Plato, he was one of the strongest advocates of a liberal arts education, which stresses the education of the whole person, including one’s moral character, rather than merely learning a set of skills. According to Aristotle, this view of education is necessary if we are to produce a society of happy as well as productive individuals.

The following features of Aristotle’s theory of happiness:

• Happiness is the ultimate end and purpose of human existence
• Happiness is not pleasure, nor is it virtue. It is the exercise of virtue.
• Happiness cannot be achieved until the end of one’s life. Hence it is a goal and not a temporary state.
• Happiness is the perfection of human nature. Since man is a rational animal, human happiness depends on the exercise of his reason.
• Happiness depends on acquiring a moral character, where one displays the virtues of courage, generosity, justice, friendship, and citizenship in one’s life. These virtues involve striking a balance or “mean” between an excess and a deficiency.
• Happiness requires intellectual contemplation, for this is the ultimate realization of our rational capacities.

Aristotle gives us his definition of happiness:

    …the function of man is to live a certain kind of life, and this activity implies a rational principle, and the function of a good man is the good and noble performance of these, and if any action is well performed it is performed in accord with the appropriate excellence: if this is the case, then happiness turns out to be an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue. (Nichomachean Ethics,1098a13)

Happiness as the Exercise of Virtue

In this last quote we can see another important feature of Aristotle’s theory: the link between the concepts of happiness and virtue. Aristotle tells us that the most important factor in the effort to achieve happiness is to have a good moral character — what he calls “complete virtue.” But being virtuous is not a passive state: one must act in accordance with virtue. Nor is it enough to have a few virtues; rather one must strive to possess all of them. As Aristotle writes:

    He is happy who lives in accordance with complete virtue and is sufficiently equipped with external goods, not for some chance period but throughout a complete life. (Nichomachean Ethics,1101a10)

According to Aristotle, happiness consists in achieving, through the course of a whole lifetime all the goods — health, wealth, knowledge, friends, etc., that lead to the perfection of human nature and to the enrichment of human life. This requires us to make choices, some of which may be very difficult. Often the lesser good promises immediate pleasure and is more tempting, while the greater good is painful and requires some sort of sacrifice. For example, it may be easier and more enjoyable to spend the night watching television, but you know that you will be better off if you spend it researching for your term paper. Developing a good character requires a strong effort of will to do the right thing, even in difficult situations.

Another example which is becoming more and more of a problem in our society today is the taking of drugs. For a fairly small price, one can immediately take one’s mind off of one’s troubles and experience deep euphoria by popping an oxycontin pill or snorting some cocaine. Yet, inevitably, this short-term pleasure will lead to longer term pain. A few hours later you may feel miserable and so need to take the drug again, which leads to a never ending spiral of need and relief. Addiction inevitably drains your funds and provides a burden to your friends and family. All of those virtues—generosity, temperance, friendship, courage, etc, that make up the good life appear to be conspicuously absent in a life of drug use.

Aristotle would be strongly critical of the culture of “instant gratification” which seems to predominate in our society today. In order to achieve the life of complete virtue, we need to make the right choices, and this involves keeping our eye on the future, on the ultimate result we want for our lives as a whole. We will not achieve happiness simply by enjoying the pleasures of the moment. Unfortunately, this is something most people are not able to overcome in themselves. As he laments, “the mass of mankind are evidently quite slavish in their tastes, preferring a life suitable to beasts (Nichomachean Ethics, 1095b 20) Later in the Ethics Aristotle will draw attention to the concept of akrasia, or weakness of the will. In many cases the overwhelming prospect of some great pleasure obscures one’s perception of what is truly good. Fortunately, this natural disposition is curable through training, which for Aristotle meant education and the constant aim to perfect virtue. As he puts it, a clumsy archer may indeed get better with practice, so long as he keeps aiming for the target.

Note also that it is not enough to think about doing the right thing, or even intend to do the right thing: we have to actually do it. Thus, it is one thing to think of writing the great American novel, another to actually write it. When we impose a form and order upon all those letters to actually produce a compelling story or essay, we are manifesting our rational potential, and the result of that is a sense of deep fulfillment. Or to take another example, when we exercise our citizenship by voting, we are manifesting our rational potential in yet another way, by taking responsibility for our community. There are myriad ways in which we can exercise our latent virtue in this way, and it would seem that the fullest attainment of human happiness would be one which brought all these ways together in a comprehensive rational life-plan.

TAMBLOT REVOLT (HISTORY OF BOHOL)

                                                                           TAMBLOT

Tamblot was a babaylan or native priest from Bohol, Philippines who led an uprising in 1621 to 1622 against the Spaniards. He called on the Boholanos to resist paying dues to the government and the Catholic Church. Leading 2,000 followers in a mutiny dubbed as the "Tamblot Uprising" or "Tamblot Revolt,". [1] he was defeated in a decisive battle.

Tamblot features in the Bohol provincial flag as one of the the two bolos or native swords with handle and hand-guards on top. These two bolos, which are reclining respectively towards the left and right, depict the Dagohoy and Tamblot revolts, symbolizing that a true Boholano will rise and fight if supervening factors embroil them into something beyond reason or tolerance.

Rice and Wine Challenge

When the Boholanos began to renovate to Christianity, Tamblot issued a challenge to the Spanish priest as to whose God was more powerful. The challenge was to manufacture rice and wine from a bamboo stalk. The Spanish priest prayed to his God, of course in Latin, and then cut the bamboo stalk from a furrow, but no rice and wine came out. Tamblot then prayed to Ay Sono and then cut the bamboo stalk from a groove and out came rice and wine. (“Medina’s Historia 1630-34,” Blair & Robertson, Vol. 24, p. 116). Tamblot won the challenge and the people sided with Tamblot. Only the towns of Baclayon and Loboc remained loyal to the Spaniards. The Spaniards said it was trickery and the work of the demon. Yet the same account in “Medina’s Historia” Tamblot's act was called trickery or the work of the demon.

The Revolt of Tamblot(1621-22)

In 1621, a religious confrontation loomed in Bohol. It was incited by Tamblot who exhorted the people to return to the faith of their forefathers and fight the oppression of the Spaniards through the aid of their ancestors and diuatas, or gods. Tamblot led the people, specifically of the town of Malabago, in an uprising against the Spaniards. The people sided with Tamblot because in the face to face contest of power, Tamblot performed more miracles than the Spanish priests. On the later part of 1621, around 2,000 Boholanos responded to Tamblot's war call and began the uprising at a time when most of the Jesuit fathers, the spiritual administrators of Bohol island, were in Cebu celebrating the feast of the beatification of St. Xavier.

Hearsay of the revolt reached Cebu, and instantaneously the alcalde-mayor of Cebu, Don Juan de Alcarazo, rushed an expedition to Bohol consisting of 50 Spaniards and more than 1,000 Filipinos. On New Year's Day, 1622, the government forces began the campaign against the rebels. In a fierce battle, fought in a blinding rain, Tamblot and his followers were crushed. The gallant valor of the Cebuano soldiers in this fight gave victory to Spain.

On January 1, 1622 the fighting begun. On January 7, 1622 the town of Malabago was subjugated by the Spaniards and burned to the ground. So after an existence of 22 years the town of Malabago disappeared. When the Spaniards overran the camp of the Boholanos, they destroyed 1,000 houses, and stole various jewels of silver and gold. These were given to the Cebuano and Pampago soldiers of the expedition.

Different Version

Another version of the history says that in the following battle, fought out in a torrential rain at at Malabago, Cortes, Bohol, the mayor was wounded and the Spanish had to recoil. Six months later, in a second attempt, the rebels where triumphant again, but then some Spanish priests from Loboc managed to enter the camp ofTamblot and assassinate him. Then, without their leader, the insurgents where easily defeated, and Spanish power was restored. After these events, the Spanish more firmly established their power in Bohol.

A Short History of Bohol (Part I)

IJsselstein, Friday, 29 March 2002 (updated: Monday, 3 December 2007)

Although people have been living on Bohol long before Magellan reached the islands that are now the Philippines, our written records start here, and about the events before that era, little is known, and has to be carefully reconstructed from oral traditions and archaeological evidence.

It is said that around 1200, the Lutaos arrived from northern Mindanao. They build a settlement on stilts in the strait between mainland Bohol and the island of Panglao. This town later became a prospering local center of power, also known as the the "Kingdom of Dapitan." It lasted until it was abandoned in 1563, out of fear for raids by the Portuguese and their allies from Ternate. It will be seen below how this event helped the Spanish to get a traction in the Philippines.

The Arrival of the Spanish

In 1521, Ferdinand Magellan and his squad were the first Europeans to reach the Philippines coming from the East. When they arrived they weren't really hail: Magellan himself was killed on Mactan Island near Cebu, by the hand of a local chieftain or "Datu", Lapu Lapu.

Following Magellan's route, the Loaisa Expedition left La Caruña in Spain on 24 July 1525. This expedition also reached the Philippines, but on the first of June, 1526, a hurricane alienated the ships. One of the ships, the Santa Maria del Parral, stranded on on the shore of North-East Mindanao. The survivors were captured and sold into slavery. One of the crew members, Sebastian de Puerto (or de Puerta), came in the hands of the Boholano chief Sikatuna. This is the first contact on record between a Spaniard and a Boholano.

More than forty years after Magellan's demise, in 1564, Spain sent out four expeditions to establish colonies in the Far East, and to pick up a share of the lucrative spice trade under control of the Portuguese. These expeditions failed, but in the next year, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi was more successful. Sailing westwards from Mexico with four ships and almost four hundred men, he reached the Philippines in the beginning of 1565, and established a Spanish settlement.

This wasn't an easy feat. Just like Magellan before him, Legazpi met with hostile native warriors, who didn't like the idea of foreigners invading their islands. His attempt to land on the island of Cebu was thwarted, and he decided to look for a friendlier place. He lifted his anchor and headed south in the direction of Mindanao. A change of wind, however, forced his fleet back to north in the direction of Bohol. With the help of a Mohammedan Malay pilot from a captured trading ship from Borneo, he learned that the Filipinos were involved in trade with the Moluccas, Borneo, Java, Malacca, and even far away places such as India and China.

The Blood Compact of Legazpi and Sikatuna

Also at Bohol, Legazpi was set a hostile welcome. From his Malay pilot, he learned that this hostility was due to marauding expeditions of the Portuguese. Coming from the Moluccas, the Portuguese raiders traversed the Visayan seas, and just a few years before, in 1563, had plundered Bohol and killed or enslaved about one thousand of its inhabitants. Of course, the Boholano's easily mistook the Spaniards for Portuguese.

Again with the help of his pilot, Legazpi explained two chiefs of Bohol, Datu Sikatuna of Bool and Datu Sigala of Loboc that they were not Portuguese, and had come in peace, and not to plunder or kill. This convinced the Kings to end their hostility and enter pact of friendship. On 16 March 1565 (or 25 March, records are confused due to the Gregorian calendar reform in 1584), Legazpi and Sikatuna performed the now famous blood compact, probably not far from the modern town of Loay. This event is tranquil celebrated in Bohol every year in June with the Sandugo ("One Blood") festival. The same ceremony was repeated three days later with Sigala.

The Conquest of Cebu

After he secure himself of the aid of Sikatuna and Sigala, Legazpi decided to try to ascertain a permanent Spanish settlement on Cebu. With the native kings as guides, he lifted his anchor and left Bohol on Easter Sunday, and arrived at Cebu on 27 April 1565.

On the shore of Cebu, the local king Tupas already expected them. He had grouped his warriors in full battle array, ready to resist Legazpi and his invaders. In an attempt to negotiate a resolution of the stalemate, a priest, father Urdaneta, went ashore, but he wasn't able to convince Tupas. Legazpi then initiated an attack. While the ship's artillery battered the coast, Spanish soldiers landed and attacked the Cebuano warriors. With their superior weapons the Spanish won a victory, and forced the troops of king Tupas to retreat to the hills.

After his defeat, king Tupas was more inclined to enter into peace negotiations. With the help of Cid Hamal, a Mohammedan Malay who stayed in Cebu at that time, a peace treaty was drawn up on the fourth of June 1565. In this treaty, king Tupas recognized the Spanish king as sovereign and agreed to pay a tribute, for which, in return, Legazpi promised to protect him against his enemies and to allow trade between the Filipinos and Spaniards. Also, Legazpi was granted a strategic site on Cebu, where he founded the first permanent Spanish settlement in the Philippines.

Establishment of Catholicism

In the footsteps of the Spanish explorers came the missionaries. About thirty years after the Spanish established themselves on Cebu, on 17 November 1596, two Jesuit priests, Father Juan de Torres and Gabriel Sanchez, arrived in Baclayon, Bohol. It is alleged that the mother of the encomendero of Bohol, Doña Catalina de Bolaños invited them. They established their headquarters in Baclayon, and quickly started to further spread the Catholic faith on the island.

Only a few years after the Jesuits' arrival, on 26 October 1600, Baclayon was raided by some 300 Maguindanao Moros commanded by Datu Sali and Datu Sirongan. In response, the Jesuits moved their headquarters to the inland town of Loboc, at a save distance from the coast. Since then, until the departure of the Jesuits from the Philippines in 1768, Loboc has been the residence of the local Jesuit superior. Here they also founded the first parish on the island in 1602, followed in 1604 by a school, the Seminario Colegio de Indios, a training school for the children of the local ruling class.

The Revolt of Tamblot

The new religion was not easily accepted by all. In the year 1621, Tamblot, a native priest orbabaylan called ahead the people to return to the faith of their forefathers, and to liberate themselves from the Spanish oppression. Around two thousand Boholanos joined him, and started a revolt when most of the Jesuit fathers were absent, celebrating the feat of the beautification of St. Xavier in Cebu.

When the news of the uprising reached Cebu, the alcalde-mayor Don Juan de Alcarazo, rushed an expedition to Bohol to suppress it. on New Year's Day, 1622, an army of 50 Spaniards and over one thousand Filipinos started their campaign against the rebels. In the following scuffle, fought out in a torrential rain at Malabago, Cortes, Bohol, the mayor was wounded and the Spanish had to retreat. Six months later, in a second attempt, the rebels where victorious again, but then some Spanish priests from Loboc managed to enter the camp of Tamblot and assassinate him. Then, Without their leader, the insurgents where easily defeated, and Spanish power was restored.

After these events, the Spanish more firmly established their power on Bohol. Using the labor of local workers, a number of bravura stone churches were built, including the Church of Baclayon, which is one of the oldest stone churches in the Philippines, and was build, in its current shape in 1724, and the church of Loboc with its separate bell-tower.

By 1733, the Jesuits had established six settlements or reducciones: Loboc, Baclayon, Jagna, Talibon, Inabanga and Maribojoc. In these settlements, the people were forced to live together, so that it was easier to Christianize them, as well as to collect taxes.

The revolt of Dagohoy

The oppressive methods of the Jesuits once supplementary led to a serious insurrection against Spain. In the year 1744, Francisco Sendrijas alias Dagohoy started a revolt that was to last more than eighty nine years. The cause of this was an incident, in which the brother of Dagohoy was killed. Father Gaspar Morales, the Jesuit curate of Inabanga ordered a this brother, who was a constable, to capture a man who had left the Christian religion. The constable pursued the fugitive, but then was killed by him in a duel. However, when his body was brought back to town, the Jesuit refused the constable a Christian burial.

Infuriated at the priest, Francisco Dagohoy organised the people in an armed rebellion. The uprising started on 24 January 1744 with the killing of the Italian Jesuit curate of Jagna, Father Guiseppe Lamberti. Not long after that, Dagohoy also killed Father Morales, and the rebellion swept over the entire island. In vain, the Bishop of Cebu, Miguel Lino de Espeleta, attempted to calm down the situation, and restore Spanish rule. Dagohoy defeated the troops of Spanish and Filipino forces sent to subdue him. He established a free government in the mountains, and with his followers, was able to control much of the island. Even after Dagohoy's death, his rebellion continued, while the Spanish were only able to maintain their power in some settlements along southern coast.

In the span of 89 years, no less than twenty Spanish governors-generals, from Gasper de la Torre (1739-45) to Juan Antonio Martinez (1822-25), failed to suppress the uprising. In 1825, general Mariano Ricafort (1825-30), became governor-general of the Philippines. He send alcade-mayor Jose Lazaro Cairo to re-establish Spanish power in Bohol. With an army of 2,200 Spanish-Filipino men, he invaded Bohol on May 7, 1827. However, it took more than a year of fierce fighting, and another Spanish expedition under Capitain Manuel Sanz, who landed on Bohol in April 1828, before the patriots were defeated. He captured last remnants of Francisco Dagohoy's rebel forces from their hideout in the Cave of Caylagon. So, finally, by August 31, 1829, the rebellion was ceased. Most of the followers of Dagohoy were pardoned and resettled in new villages in the lowlands. These villages have now become the towns of Batuanan, Cabulao, Catigbian, and Vilar.

In the mean time, in 1768, the Jesuits had been expelled from the country, and their missions taken over by Augustinian Recollects headed by their former Provincial, Fray Pedro de Santa Barbara. Under their leadership, by 1800, the towns of Tagbilaran, Dimiao, Guindulman, Panglao and Loon had been founded.

POETRY

Poetry is distilled, inspired language. It is the expression or delicate suggestion of a person's creative intuition, perception, vision, or emotion in specially crafted language. Poetry lends itself more easily than prose to a certain fineness and refinement of feeling and to the communication of beauty and universal truth in abbreviated imaginative form.

A poem has certain elements - though content, emotional content, imaginative content, and form. Every poem has crystallized ideas or concepts waiting to be reflected upon, mulled over, analyzed, interpreted, and evaluated. it contains inbuilt ideas, and these ideas can beget other ideas, for a poem is organic. The poet's ideas usually converge around one main message - the theme of the poem.

Besides the intellectual element, there is the dimension of feelings and emotions evoked by the poet, feelings of love, awe, anger, melancholy, joy, wonder, despair, anguish, hope, or gratitude. The emotional content exists because a poem is a revelation of human life experiences. It can sometimes mean the baring of a soul.

Since a poem is specially crafted language, the poet deliberately and consciously projects concrete images to bring out his controlling purpose. One can easily visualize, for example, Wordsworth's " Splendor in the grass and clouds of trailing glory." The poet's craftsmanship in projecting the world images embedded in his poem; his skill in the art of word painting; his artistic mastery of figures of speech of onomatopoeia, simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration, assonance, consonance, apostrophe, synecdohe, metonymy, kenning, allusion, hyperbole, and analogy; his appeal to the reader's senses of sight, hearing, touch, and smell; his use of symbolism can be appreciated.

Lastly, a poem has technical form. It has rhythm, and it can also have rhyme. It can have the lilting jingle of a nursery rhyme; the singsong quality of a ballad; the formal cadence of epic; he brevity of a couplet; the compression of a haiku; the lingering music of a lyric; the rustic note to a pastoral poem; the exalted tone of an ode; the somber mood of an elegy; the haunting refrain of a ballade; the measured lines of a quatrain, a terza rima, or a sonnet; the rhymelessness of blank verse, and the relative freedom of free verse. A poem can manifest iambic, anapestic, dactylic, trochaic, and spondaic feet, and its lines may range from monometers to heptameters. The craftsmanship of the poet makes use of form ( of meter, line, foot, stanza, rhyme, punctuation, pauses, poem type, and format) to enhance the other elements of his poem for a total effect.

A poem is though out, felt, visualized, and crafted. It is a truly work of art.

There Is No Frigate Like a Book

Emily Dickinson

There is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away,
Nor any coursers like a page
Of prancing poetry.
This traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of toll;
How frugal is the chariot
That bears a human soul!

 

The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. 

 

Richard Cory

Edwin Arlington Robinson  

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean-favoured and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good Morning!" and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich, yes, richer than a king,
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine -- we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked and waited for the light,
And went without the meat and cursed the bread,
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet in his head.   

 

Simplicity
Author: Emily Dickinson

 How happy is the little stone
That rambles in the road alone,
And does n't care about careers,
And exigencies never fears;
Whose coat of elemental brown
A passing universe put on;
And independent as the sun,
Associates or glows alone,
Fulfilling absolute decree
In casual simplicity. 

QUERIDA

Angela Manalang Gloria

The door is closed, the curtains drawn within
One room, a brilliant question mark of light...
Outside her gate an empty limousine
Waits in the brimming emptiness of night.
Old Maid Walking on a City Street* (1950)

She had a way of walking through concupiscence
And past the graces her fingers never twirled:
Because her mind refused the heavy burden,
Her broad feet shovelled up the world. 

Food Allergy -- meat:

Food Allergy -- meat: Introduction

Meat Allergies in general, are fairly uncommon. However reactions can range from anaphylactic to digestive issues.Avoiding certain meats may be more complicated if you are extremely sensitive, for instance, even certified vegan products can be made on the same line as meat and milk products. People who avoid meat, for religious reasons, often have certification measures that are more restrictive.For Jews not eating pork is the most observed kosher practice. Muslims consider eating products derived from pork violation of their dietary laws as well. Muslims mark products that comply with their dietary laws as Halaal meaning “lawful” or “permissible”. The foods that meet Jewish dietary laws have Kosher labeling. Both are “pork free” with almost no cross contamination issues with pork.
 Food Allergy -- meat: A meat allergy is an adverse reaction by the body's immune system to meat. This type of allergy is rare and severe reactions are even rarer. The body's immune system produces immunoglobulin E (IgE - an antibody) and histamine in response to contact with the allergen.
Meat allergy

People with a meat allergy might react to beef, mutton, pork or chicken. Sometimes people who are allergic to one type of meat or poultry might also react to other types. Cooking destroys some of the allergens in meat, but some people will still react to cooked meat.


Processed meats, such as frankfurters, luncheon meats and pates, sometimes contain other ingredients, particularly milk products, as emulsifiers or flavour enhancers. So it's possible for someone who is allergic to milk to react to a meat product because it contains milk. For example, milk is sometimes used in chicken nuggets to stick the breadcrumbs to the chicken pieces.
Symptoms of Food Allergy -- meat

The list of signs and symptoms mentioned in various sources for Food Allergy -- meat includes the 31 symptoms listed below:

    * Runny nose
    * Sinusitis
    * Cough
    * Hives
    * Asthma
    * Lip swelling
    * Tongue swelling
    * Hoarseness
    * Throat swelling
    * Nausea
    * Vomiting
    * Diarrhea
    * Itching
    * Sneezing
    * Wheezing
    * Headache
    * Sinus pain
    * Itchy mouth
    * Tingling mouth
    * Breathing problems
    * Fatigue
    * Redness around lips
    * Constipation
    * Swallowing problems
    * Abdominal pain
    * Eczema
    * Disturbed sleep
    * Joint pain
    * Frequent infections
    * Insomnia
    * Depression

Treatment List for Food Allergy -- meat

The list of treatments mentioned in various sources for Food Allergy -- meat includes the following list. Always seek professional medical advice about any treatment or change in treatment plans.

    * Avoid contact with the allergen, adrenaline injection if anaphylactic reaction occurs, antihistamines, bronchodilators for asthmatic symptoms
    * The central concept of management of food allergy is allergen avoidance. When this is not possible or inadvertent allergen exposure occurs, treatment depends on the nature and severity of the reaction. Treatments include:
          o Dietary modification and allergen avoidance - with education of children, parents and carers.
          o No treatment - if symptoms are mild and self-limiting
          o Antihistamines - Useful for allergic rhinitis and some allergy mediated skin conditions. Not helpful in asthma except for mild seasonal asthma where allergy may be a precipitant.
          o Nasal sprays - including topical steroids and antihistamines used for allergic rhinitis
          o Eyedrops - ketorolac, levocabastine, ketotifen, olapatadine, for allergic conjunctivitis
          o Asthma medications such as inhaled beta agonists and inhaled corticosteroids - used to treat asthma which may have allergy as a contributing factor.
          o Oral steroids - used in short courses for moderate allergic reactions especially with asthma symptoms or skin conditions
          o Desensitisation - evidence is mixed, and efficacy dependant or the type of allergy and specific type of reaction
          o EpiPen - adrenaline delivery device used as first line treatment prior to hospital care for those who have proven anaphylaxis as a result of specific food allergies
          o Anaphylaxis is a severe life threatening allergic response. Treatment includes:
                + Hospitalisation
                + IM adrenaline
                + High flow oxygen
                + Intravenous fluids
                + Intravenous and oral steroids
                + Nebulised bronchodilators
                + Nebulised adrenaline for upper airways obstruction
             

            Can a Tick Bite Cause a Meat Allergy?

Immunologists at Royal North Shore Hospital in Australia noted that some of their patients who developed meat allergies had been bitten by a tick and had experienced a more severe reaction to the bite than what is typically seen. A significant number had developed severe symptoms including difficulty breathing or throat swelling, which is not usually seen with a garden-variety tick bite.


            After recovering from their tick bite, some of these patients went on to develop severe allergic symptoms when they ate red meat such as intense itching, hives, and even more serious allergic reactions such as difficulty breathing. This was surprising since meat allergies are relatively uncommon compared to other food allergies - and these people had been able to eat red meat before their tick bite. That's when doctors started suspecting tick bites were playing a role in their meat allergies.

            Meat Allergies and Tick Bites: How Does a Tick Bite Cause an Allergy to Meat?

  Researchers believe that the body produces a special antibody in response to a tick bite that can trigger meat allergies in certain individuals. This antibody binds to a sugar in meat called alpha-galactosidase. When it does, histamine is released which triggers the allergic response to meat.

            These meat allergies differ somewhat from typical food allergies. With most food allergies, symptoms develop within minutes after eating the offending food, but people with meat allergies related to tick bites usually don't experience symptoms until three or more hours after eating red meat. The reaction is typically severe with difficulty breathing, lightheadedness, and, sometimes, loss of consciousness. Fortunately, not everyone develops meat allergies after a tick bite. There may be a genetic susceptibility that causes some people to develop a meat allergy after a tick bite since scientists have observed that people with certain blood types are more likely to have this problem.

            Tick Bite Causes Meat Allergy
            Reporter: Dhomonique Ricks l Videographer: Sally Goin

            Bedford County, Va - What do red meat and tick bites have in common? When combined, they can cause allergic reactions for some people. This meat allergy caused by tick bites can, in some cases be potentially life threatening.

            Doctor's say the allergy is poorly understood.  It is a carbohydrate or sugar molecule which is present on a variety of red meat. It's unique because most allergens are proteins. It takes awhile for symptoms to develop. Allergy Partners of Lynchburg says normally the body reacts to an allergen instantly. This allergy, however, takes four to eight hours to kick in.

            Bedford County resident, Barry Slaughter will not get to enjoy his deer steaks anymore.

            "Sad I can't eat it," said Slaughter.

            He just found out through blood work Monday, they and other red meats are the cause of more than a dozen allergic reactions he has had in the past.

            "Every square inch of my body had hives. I never ever experienced anything like that," said Slaughter.

            Slaughter says that was not his worst reaction. Two years ago, he almost died.

            "I lost my color vision. Virtually went blind. I couldn't stand up," said Slaughter. "I became paralyzed on the floor in the bathroom and I couldn't get up to get the phone which we have in the bathroom."

            Slaughter was home alone. His wife was out of town. He says he could barely breathe and went in and out of consciousness.

            "I tried to get up and it was impossible," said Slaughter.

            He had to sit and wait five hours until his body began to function again. According to allergists, his case is extreme. Allergy Partners of Lynchburg have seen a lot of cases lately.

            "As many as 10 in a week," said Dr. Joey Lane, Allergy Partners of Lynchburg.

            Dr. Lane says the disease is caused by the Lone Star tick, which is prevalent in the Commonwealth. A recent tick bite, combined with beef, pork, lamb, deer meet, or bison can cause a strong reaction.

            "They'll develop itching, or hives, or welts, followed by swelling of the lips, tongue. Some people will also have trouble breathing," said Dr. Lane.

            He says the allergy is still poorly understood but allergists are learning more about it every day. Dr. Lane says he is not aware of any fatalities.

            The only treatment is to avoid red meat. Allergy Partners of Lynchburg will be a study site for upcoming clinical trials by University of Virginia specialists.

   

ARE YOU ALLERGY TO EGGS? ( EGG ALLERGY)

 

What Exactly is an Egg Allergy?

Eggs are definitely not bad for your health, but when you are allergic to them, your body thinks they are. If you are allergic to eggs, your body's immune system will overreact to the proteins in the egg. Eggs are made up of many proteins, but the four of them that cause the problems are ovomucoid, ovalbumin, ovotransferrin and lysozyme. These are found in egg white and to a lesser extent the egg yolk. Each time eggs or any food item consisting of egg enters your digestive system, your body will think that these proteins are harmful invaders, if you are allergic to eggs. Your immune system responds to this, by creating antibodies to that food. These antibodies that are designed to fight off the 'invader', trigger the release of certain chemicals into your body, one of which is histamine. So if you have an egg allergy and you consume food that contains eggs, the immune system unleashes an army of chemicals to protect your body. The release of these chemicals can affect the respiratory system, gastrointestinal tract, skin, and the cardiovascular system and lead to allergy symptoms.

Egg allergy is a type of food allergy. It is a hypersensitivity to dietary substances from the yolk or whites of eggs, causing an overreaction of the immune system which may lead to severe physical symptoms for millions of people around the world.[1]

Egg allergy appears mainly, but not exclusively, in children. In fact, it is the second most common food allergy in children.[2] (The most common is cows' milk allergy). It is usually treated with an exclusion diet and vigilant avoidance of foods that may be contaminated with egg. The most severe food allergy reaction is called anaphylaxis[3] and is an emergency situation requiring immediate attention and treatment with epinephrine. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America estimates that most children outgrow egg allergy by the age of five, but some people remain allergic for a lifetime.

What Happens When a Person Has an Egg Allergy?

Eggs in themselves aren't bad, but when you're allergic to them, your body thinks they are. When a person is allergic to eggs, the body's immune system overreacts to proteins in the egg. Every time something made with eggs enters the digestive system of a person with an egg allergy, the body thinks that these proteins are harmful invaders.

The immune system responds by creating specific antibodies to that food, which are designed to fight off the "invader." These antibodies — called immunoglobulin E (IgE) — trigger the release of certain chemicals into the body, one of which is histamine (pronounced: hiss-tuh-meen).

So when a person with an egg allergy eats a food that contains eggs, the immune system unleashes an army of chemicals to protect the body. The release of these chemicals can affect the respiratory system, gastrointestinal tract, skin, and the cardiovascular system — causing allergy symptoms like wheezing, nausea, headache, stomachache, and itchy hives.

Most people who are allergic react to the proteins in egg whites, but some can't tolerate proteins in the yolk. Egg allergy usually first appears when kids are very young, and most kids outgrow it by the time they're 5 years old.

Symptoms of Egg Allergies:

Symptoms of egg allergy usually appear within minutes to two hours of eating eggs or food containing egg ingredients. Symptoms may include:

    * Skin reactions, such as hives or eczema
    * Allergic conjunctivitis (tchy, red, watery eyes)
    * Gastrointestinal reactions, such as nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting, or diarrhea
    * Airway symptoms, such as wheezing, coughing, or runny nose
    * Angioedema (swelling of lips, tongue, or face)

Egg allergies may cause a severe reaction called anaphylaxis. Anaphylaxis is a medical emergency that requires immediate medical care.

Reactions

Egg allergy is like most food allergy reactions: It usually happens within minutes to hours after eating eggs. Most reactions last less than a day and may affect any of three body systems:

• the skin — in the form of red, bumpy rashes (hives), eczema, or redness and swelling around the mouth
• the gastrointestinal tract — in the form of belly cramps, diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting
• the respiratory tract — symptoms can range from a runny nose, itchy, watery eyes, and sneezing to the triggering of asthma with coughing and wheezing

Most people with egg allergy have some of the reactions listed above, but a few people may have a very strong reaction called anaphylaxis (pronounced: ah-nuh-fuh-lak-sis). This severe allergic reaction causes swelling of the mouth, throat, and airways leading to the lungs, resulting in breathing difficulty. In addition, there is a dangerous drop in blood pressure, which can make someone dizzy or pass out, and may quickly lead to shock.

For people who are especially sensitive to eggs, even egg fumes or getting egg on the skin can cause an anaphylactic reaction, so eggs should be kept out of the house completely.

How Can Doctors Tell If a Person Has an Egg Allergy?

If your doctor suspects you might have an egg allergy, he or she will probably refer you to an allergist or allergy specialist for further testing. The allergy specialist will ask you questions — these may cover things like how often you have the reaction, the time it takes between eating a particular food and the start of the symptoms, and whether any family members have allergies or conditions like eczema and asthma.

The allergy specialist may perform a skin test on you. This test involves placing liquid extracts of egg protein on a person's forearm or back, pricking the skin a tiny bit, and waiting to see if a reddish, raised spot forms, indicating an allergic reaction.

You may need to stop taking anti-allergy medications (such as over-the-counter antihistamines) 2 to 3 days before the skin test because they can interfere with the results. Most cold medications as well as some antidepressants may also affect skin testing. Check with the allergist's office if you are unsure about what medications need to be stopped and for how long.

Some doctors may also take a blood sample and send it to a lab where it will be mixed with some of the suspected allergen and checked for IgE antibodies.

In some cases, however, positive results of skin and blood tests aren’t enough to prove that a person’s symptoms are definitely being caused by eggs. So doctors may use what’s called a food challenge to help diagnose the allergy.

With a food challenge, the person is told to not eat eggs or anything made with egg proteins for a certain period of time — usually a few weeks. After that, the person will eat foods that contain eggs only under close supervision from a doctor. If symptoms come back after eating egg products, it's a pretty sure bet the person has an egg allergy.

Avoidance    

• 
       The most successful treatment of egg allergies is to avoid any contact with eggs. Because eggs are included in many products that do not specifically list eggs in the ingredients, it is important to learn to read food nutrition labels and recognize egg products. Some egg-containing ingredients include globulin, livetin, albumin, ovovitellin and phosvitin. Foods toppings such as caesar salad dressing and tartar sauce also contain eggs. Even beverages, such as wines, occasionally contain eggs. You may also want to work with a dietitian or nutritionist to create menu plans and discuss eating options.
  

How to Live with an Egg Allergy

Instructions

             * 1

            Let all of your friends and family know your allergy. Explain to them that foods from the bakery are generally a no-no and so are many breaded and fried foods. Breads that are generally not made with eggs may have cross contamination from other recipes in the bakery.
          * 2

            Ice cream cakes are an excellent alternative to traditional birthday cakes. Be sure your ice cream shop doesn't use eggs in their ice cream. Generally they don't but some custard style ice creams do.
          * 3

            Become familiar with the different egg product ingredients and completely avoid them. These are some egg based ingredients: albumin, dried egg, egg whites, egg solids, egg white solids, globulin, livetin, lysozyme, mergingue, ovalbumin, ovoglobulin, ovomucin, ovomuciod, ovotransferrin, ovovitella, ovovitellin, powdered egg, silici albuminate, Simplesse, vitellin, whole egg.
          * 4

            Immunizations are generally safe but there are some that actually grown on eggs. Both the flu shot and the flu mist are contaminted by eggs. Be sure to always discuss your egg allergy with your doctor before recieving any vacinations. An epi pen should always be available if you should decide to have any vacinations that are contaminated by eggs. Some doctors will request that your allergist give you any risky shots.
          * 5

            Learn how to bake using egg Substitutes. Each star recipe represents one egg:

            *1 tsp. baking powder, 1 T. liquid, 1 T. vinegar

            *1 tsp. yeast dissolved in 1/4 cup warm water

            *1 1/2 T. water, 1 1/2 T. oil, 1 tsp. baking powder
          *

             6

            Always keep your emergency medicines on hand and explain to your friends and family how to use your epipen if needed.

1. • How Is It Treated?

     Treating egg allergy might seem simple — you just don't eat eggs. But so many foods are made with eggs and egg products that it can be really hard to know what's OK and not OK to eat. It's a good idea to work with a registered dietitian to develop an eating plan that provides all the nutrients you need while avoiding things you can't eat. Check out our section on Living With an Egg Allergy (below) for more tips.
     If you have a severe egg allergy — or any kind of serious allergy — your doctor may want you to carry a shot of epinephrine (pronounced: eh-puh-neh-frin) with you in case of an emergency. Epinephrine comes in an easy-to-carry container about the size of a large marker. It’s easy to use — your doctor will show you how.
     If you accidentally eat something with egg in it and start having serious allergic symptoms, like swelling inside your mouth, chest pain, or difficulty breathing, you can give yourself the shot right away to counteract the reaction while you're waiting for medical help. Always call for emergency help (911) when using epinephrine. You should make sure your school and even good friends' houses have injectable epinephrine on hand, too.
     Keeping epinephrine on hand at all times should be just part of your action plan for living with an egg allergy. It's also a good idea to carry an over-the-counter antihistamine as this can help alleviate allergy symptoms in some people. Antihistamines should be used in addition to the epinephrine and not as a replacement for the shot.
     If you've had to take an epinephrine shot because of an allergic reaction, then you should go immediately to a medical facility or hospital emergency room so they can give you additional treatment if you need it. Up to one third of anaphylactic reactions can have a second wave of symptoms several hours following the initial attack. Therefore, you might need to be observed in a clinic or hospital for 4 to 8 hours following the reaction.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

 

BERMUDA TRIANGLE

Bermuda (or "Devil's") Triangle

The Bermuda Triangle (a.k.a. the Devil's Triangle) is a triangular area in the Atlantic Ocean bounded roughly at its points by Miami, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico. Legend has it that many people, ships and planes have mysteriously vanished in this area. How many have mysteriously disappeared depends on who is doing the locating and the counting. The size of the triangle varies from 500,000 square miles to three times that size, depending on the imagination of the author. (Some include the Azores, the Gulf of Mexico, and the West Indies in the "triangle.") Some trace the mystery back to the time of Columbus. Even so, estimates range from about 200 to no more than 1,000 incidents in the past 500 years. Howard Rosenberg claims that in 1973 the U.S. Coast Guard answered more than 8,000 distress calls in the area and that  more than 50 ships and 20 planes have gone down in the Bermuda Triangle within the last century.

Many theories have been given to explain the extraordinary mystery of these missing ships and planes. Evil extraterrestrials, residue crystals from Atlantis, evil humans with anti-gravity devices or other weird technologies, and vile vortices from the fourth dimension are favorites among fantasy writers. Strange magnetic fields and oceanic flatulence (methane gas from the bottom of the ocean) are favorites among the technically-minded. Weather (thunderstorms, hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, high waves, currents, etc.) bad luck, pirates, explosive cargoes, incompetent navigators, and other natural and human causes are favorites among skeptical investigators.

There are some skeptics who argue that the facts do not support the legend, that there is no mystery to be solved, and nothing that needs explaining. The number of wrecks in this area is not extraordinary, given its size, location and the amount of traffic it receives. Many of the ships and planes that have been identified as having disappeared mysteriously in the Bermuda Triangle were not in the Bermuda Triangle at all. Investigations to date have not produced scientific evidence of any unusual phenomena involved in the disappearances. Thus, any explanation, including so-called scientific ones in terms of methane gas being released from the ocean floor, magnetic disturbances, etc., are not needed. The real mystery is how the Bermuda Triangle became a mystery at all.

The modern legend of the Bermuda Triangle began soon after five Navy planes [Flight 19] vanished on a training mission during a severe storm in 1945. The most logical theory as to why they vanished is that lead pilot Lt. Charles Taylor’s compass failed. The trainees' planes were not equipped with working navigational instruments. The group was disoriented and simply, though tragically, ran out of fuel. No mysterious forces were likely to have been involved other than the mysterious force of gravity on  planes with no fuel. It is true that one of the rescue planes blew up shortly after take-off, but this was likely due to a faulty gas tank rather than to any mysterious forces.

Over the years there have been dozens of articles, books, and television programs promoting the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle. In his study of this material, Larry Kusche found that few did any investigation into the mystery. Rather, they passed on the speculations of their predecessors as if they were passing on the mantle of truth. Of the many uncritical accounts of the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle, perhaps no one has done more to create this myth than Charles Berlitz, who had a bestseller on the subject in 1974. After examining the 400+ page official report of the Navy Board of Investigation of the disappearance of the Navy planes in 1945, Kusche found that the Board wasn't baffled at all by the incident and did not mention alleged radio transmissions cited by Berlitz in his book. According to Kusche, what isn't misinterpreted by Berlitz is fabricated. Kusche writes: "If Berlitz were to report that a boat were red, the chance of it being some other color is almost a certainty." (Berlitz, by the way, did not invent the name; that was done by Vincent Gaddis in "The Deadly Bermuda Triangle," which appeared in the February, 1964, issue of Argosy, a magazine devoted to fiction.)

In short, the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle became a mystery by a kind of communal reinforcement among uncritical authors and a willing mass media to uncritically pass on the speculation that something mysterious is going on in the Atlantic.

The Bermuda Triangle is a strange and mysterious place in the southern Atlantic Ocean. It is roughly the shape of a triangle and it is said to have sucked planes and boats into its dark and murky waters. No one knows what happened to the planes and boats. When some enter the waters of the triangle they disappear forever.

The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is a region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean where a number of aircraft and surface vessels allegedly disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Popular culture has attributed these disappearances to the paranormal or activity by extraterrestrial beings.[1] Documented evidence indicates that a significant percentage of the incidents were inaccurately reported or embellished by later authors, and numerous official agencies have stated that the number and nature of disappearances in the region is similar to that in any other area of ocean.

History

Origins

The earliest allegation of unusual disappearances in the Bermuda area appeared in a September 16, 1950 Associated Press article by Edward Van Winkle Jones.[5] Two years later, Fate magazine published "Sea Mystery At Our Back Door",[6] a short article by George X. Sand covering the loss of several planes and ships, including the loss of Flight 19, a group of five U.S. Navy TBM Avenger bombers on a training mission. Sand's article was the first to lay out the now-familiar triangular area where the losses took place. Flight 19 alone would be covered in the April 1962 issue of American Legion Magazine.[7] It was claimed that the flight leader had been heard saying "We are entering white water, nothing seems right. We don't know where we are, the water is green, no white." It was also claimed that officials at the Navy board of inquiry stated that the planes "flew off to Mars." Sand's article was the first to suggest a supernatural element to the Flight 19 incident. In the February 1964 issue of Argosy, Vincent Gaddis's article "The Deadly Bermuda Triangle" argued that Flight 19 and other disappearances were part of a pattern of strange events in the region.[8] The next year, Gaddis expanded this article into a book, Invisible Horizons.[9]

Others would follow with their own works, elaborating on Gaddis's ideas: John Wallace Spencer (Limbo of the Lost, 1969, repr. 1973);[10] Charles Berlitz (The Bermuda Triangle, 1974);[11] Richard Winer (The Devil's Triangle, 1974),[12] and many others, all keeping to some of the same supernatural elements outlined by Eckert.[13]


The Bermuda Triangle

The "Bermuda Triangle" or "Devil's Triangle" is an imaginary area located off the southeastern Atlantic coast of the United States of America, which is noted for a supposedly high incidence of unexplained disappearances of ships and aircraft. The apexes of the triangle are generally believed to be Bermuda; Miami, Florida; and San Juan, Puerto Rico. The US Board of Geographic Names does not recognize the Bermuda Triangle as an official name. The US Navy does not believe the Bermuda Triangle exists. It is reported that Lloyd's of London, the world's leading market for specialist insurance, does not charge higher premiums for vessels transiting this heavily traveled area.

The most famous US Navy losses which have occurred in the area popularly known as the Bermuda Triangle are USS Cyclops in March 1918 and the aircraft of Flight 19 in December 1945. The ship probably sank in an unexpected storm, and the aircraft ran out of fuel and crashed into the ocean -- no physical traces of them have ever been found. Another well known disappearance is the civilian tanker SS Marine Sulphur Queen carrying bulk molten sulfur which sank in February 1963. Although the wreck of Marine Sulphur Queen has not been located, a life preserver and other floating artifacts were recovered. These disappearances have been used to provide credence to the popular belief in the mystery and purported supernatural qualities of the "Bermuda Triangle."


Since the days of early civilization many thousands of ships have sunk and/or disappeared in waters around the world due to navigational and other human errors, storms, piracy, fires, and structural/mechanical failures. Aircraft are subject to the same problems, and many of them have crashed at sea around the globe. Often, there were no living witnesses to the sinking or crash, and hence the exact cause of the loss and the location of the lost ship or aircraft are unknown. A large number of pleasure boats travel the waters between Florida and the Bahamas. All too often, crossings are attempted with too small a boat, insufficient knowledge of the area's hazards, and a lack of good seamanship.


To see how common accidents are at sea, you can examine some of the recent accident reports of the National Transportation Safety Board for ships and aircraft. One of the aircraft accident reports concerns an in-flight engine failure and subsequent ditching of a Cessna aircraft near Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas on 13 July 2003. This is the type of accident that would likely have been attributed to mysterious causes in the Bermuda Triangle if there had been no survivors or other eyewitnesses of the crash.


A significant factor with regard to missing vessels in the Bermuda Triangle is a strong ocean current called the Gulf Stream. It is extremely swift and turbulent and can quickly erase evidence of a disaster. The weather also plays its role. Prior to the development of telegraph, radio and radar, sailors did not know a storm or hurricane was nearby until it appeared on the horizon. For example, the Continental Navy sloop Saratoga was lost off the Bahamas in such a storm with all her crew on 18 March 1781. Many other US Navy ships have been lost at sea in storms around the world. Sudden local thunder storms and water spouts can sometimes spell disaster for mariners and air crews. Finally, the topography of the ocean floor varies from extensive shoals around the islands to some of the deepest marine trenches in the world. With the interaction of the strong currents over the many reefs the topography of the ocean bottom is in a state of flux and the development of new navigational hazards can sometimes be swift.
It has been inaccurately claimed that the Bermuda Triangle is one of the two places on earth at which a magnetic compass points towards true north. Normally a compass will point toward magnetic north. The difference between the two is known as compass variation. The amount of variation changes by as much as 60 degrees at various locations around the World. If this compass variation or error is not compensated for, navigators can find themselves far off course and in deep trouble. Although in the past this compass variation did affect the "Bermuda Triangle" region, due to fluctuations in the Earth's magnetic field this has apparently not been the case since the nineteenth century.


We know of no US Government-issued maps that delineate the boundaries of the Bermuda Triangle. However, general maps as well as nautical and aviation charts of the general area are widely available in libraries and from commercial map dealers.

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