Showing posts with label United States. Show all posts
Showing posts with label United States. Show all posts

Monday, May 30, 2011

Chronicling War Through Art

Flags that were placed on gravesites at Fort L...Image via WikipediaLet us remember those who gave all and the people who mourn them.  Today is about remembering sacrifices given so that we can be who we are today. 

We rarely think about the intermingling of art and war, but as far back as we go there have always been artists chronicling the destruction and devastation of war.  Many artists died in war, many gathered information to save lives, many simply chronicled the daily lives of those who live the war.

This article is from the Hartford Courant and is well worth the time it takes to read it.

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May 25, 2011Submitted by Michael D. Fay, MFA Student in Illustration, The Hartford Courant
Michael Fay drew this portrait from a photo he took of Lance Cpl. Nicholas G. Ciccone. The image shows Ciccone, a rifleman, immediately after dropping his heavy backpack upon returning from a nine-day battle with the Taliban in the mountains above Kandahar, Afghanistan, in 2002. Ciccone committed suicide after his discharge from the Marines.
Michael D. Fay, of Fredericksburg, Va., is a student in the master of fine arts in illustration program at the University of Hartford. But from 2000 to 2010 Fay, who wrote this Memorial Day weekend piece for iTowns, was one of two combat artists for the U.S. Marine Corps, sketching scenes and soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, and in stateside hospitals where they were treated for battle wounds. Fay, 57, has since founded the Joe Bonham project, which coordinates opportunities for artists to embed with soldiers, both overseas and at home as they recover from their injuries. For details about Fay and the Joe Bonham project, visit mdfay1.blogspot.com and joebonhamproject.blogspot.com.


Ex bellum ars: from war, art. This is the motto of The International Society of War Artists.


There's just a handful of working war artists, and none of us have consciously sought the title. For one thing, to become a war artist, you need a war.


During every conflict, from the Civil War and through Vietnam, artists have gone into harm's way to create a visual record of people and places embroiled in conflict. However, each of us has followed different paths leading to the front lines.
My path started as an official combat artist for the National Museum of the Marine Corps.
Here in America, both the press and our armed forces have maintained combat art programs since the Civil War.
Some of our nation's premier artists and illustrators have gone to war to create art. In 1861, Winslow Homer went off for Harper's Weekly as a "special"; his battlefield sketches would be transformed into newspaper images and after the war, he created a series of paintings informing America's perception of the Civil War even up to this day.
WWII experienced the greatest number of artists at war, and Vietnam was recorded by numerous official and unofficial war artists.
Since Vietnam, photography and film have largely overwhelmed traditional fine art in telling the story of war. During the ongoing Global War on Terror, photos and film footage continue to hold pre-eminence in telling the visual story. But a small group of working artists has continued to personally witness combat and create art...[read more]

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Monday, October 26, 2009

Vitamin D in the news. What do you think?

 

 I have been reading, both online and in print, about all the possible problems that can develop from a low level of Vitamin D.  As a nurse, I am interested because I believe that we need to do everything we can to maintain and keep good health instead of relying on the health care system.  As a proponent of natural and holistic medicine myself, I firmly believe that additional vitamins are a necessity if you are to have a strong body and mind.  

The problem I find myself having is this--there is so much hype in the mainstream news today about Vitamin D and all the myriad diseases it can prevent and even I become skeptical.  First of all, vitamin D is not really a vitamin at all but rather a precursor hormone.  Hormones are involved in every process of the human body, so I am sure that a deficiency in a specific substance could lead to many and different sources of ill health due to the breakdown of the natural processes of the body.  Beyond that, I still need convincing.  Although I have been taking Vitamin D supplements for some time, I am not quite convinced that Vitamin D is the "magic bullet" for good health and long life.

Below I have included just one of the many articles I find daily about this subject.  Feel free to read the article and comment.  Why not read it and come back here to comment?  

Try this link for more information...

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 Health Buzz: 1 in 5 Youngsters Lacking in Vitamin D and Other Health News

Posted October 26, 2009

Study Finds 1 in 5 Youngsters Lacking in Vitamin D

A new study finds that about 20 percent of U.S. children between ages 1 and 11 aren't getting enough vitamin D, the Associated Press reports. Researchers looked at vitamin D blood levels in almost 3,000 children recorded between 2001 and 2006. The researchers also applied a higher cutoff for deficiency that showed close to 90 percent of black children and 80 percent of Hispanic children may be vitamin D deficient, according to the AP. Earlier research has suggested a link between vitamin D deficiency in kids and health problems such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol and has also shown that many U.S. teens are lacking enough of the nutrient. Health professionals do not have a single set of guidelines to determine the level at which a child is considered deficient, the AP reports. The latest study appears in the journal Pediatrics.
Click here to find out more!

[Read: Vitamin D and Kids: How Much Sun Should They Get to Stay Healthy? and 3 Ways to Make Sure Kids Get Their Vitamin D.]
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Why Are Orcas Attacking Boats?

Recently I have been reading articles and news about Orcas attacking boats and causing quite a bit of anxiety.  Since these whales hunt in p...