The Longest Rivers in the World

Did you know that the longest river in the world is the Nile? Egypt's greatest river is 4,135 miles long! In fact, Africa has two of the ten longest rivers. The Congo, which flows through central Africa, is Number 8 at 2,914 miles long.
What's the second longest river? Why, the Amazon, of course! It is about 4,000 miles (3,980, really) from start to finish, winding its way through most of South America.
China lays claim to Numbers 3 and 6: The Yangtze River is 3,917 miles long, and the Huang He is 3,395. North America's longest river, the Mississippi and Missouri combination, comes in at 3,870 miles long

How do we measure these rivers? Geographers calculate the distance from the source of the river to its mouth. For instance, the Ob-Irtysh River, which is Number 7 on the list, is 3,354 miles long from its source in southern Russia to its mouth in the Ob Bay, in the very cold waters off northern Russia.

Russia has three more rivers in the Top Ten. Number 5 is the Yenisie River, which flows through Siberia and is 3,440 miles long. The Amur River runs through northeast Asia and totals 2,744 miles in length. The Lena River, at Number 10, flows north through central Russia and is 2,728 miles long.

Mount Everest

Mount Everest, also called Sagarmatha (Nepali: सगरमाथा meaning Head of the Sky) or Chomolungma, Qomolangma or Zhumulangma (in Tibetan: ཇོ་མོ་གླང་མ, in Chinese: 珠穆朗玛峰 Zhūmùlǎngmǎ Fēng) is the highest mountain on Earth, as measured by the height of its summit above sea level, which is 8,848 metres (29,029 ft). The mountain, which is part of the Himalaya range in High Asia, is located on the border between Sagarmatha Zone, Nepal, and Tibet, China.

In 1856, the Great Trigonometric Survey of India established the first published height of Everest at 29,002 ft (8,840 m), although at the time Everest was known as Peak XV. In 1865, Everest was given its official English name by the Royal Geographical Society upon recommendation of Andrew Waugh, the British Surveyor General of India at the time. Waugh was unable to propose an established local name because Nepal and Tibet were closed to foreigners at the time, although Chomolungma had been in common use by Tibetans for centuries.
The highest mountain in the world attracts climbers of all levels, from well experienced mountaineers to novice climbers willing to pay substantial sums to professional mountain guides to complete a successful climb. The mountain, while not posing substantial technical climbing difficulty on the standard route (other eight-thousanders such as K2 or Nanga Parbat are much more difficult), still has many inherent dangers such as altitude sickness, weather and wind. By the end of the 2007 climbing season, there had been 3,679 ascents to the summit by 2,436 individuals. Climbers are a significant source of tourist revenue for Nepal, whose government also requires all prospective climbers to obtain an expensive permit, costing up to US$25,000 per person.[4] Everest has claimed 210 lives, including eight who perished during a 1996 storm high on the mountain. Conditions are so difficult in the death zone that most corpses have been left where they fell, some of which are visible from standard climbing routes.[5]

HERBAL MEDICINE

INTRODUCTION
These resources relate mainly to Western traditions of herbal medicine (also referred to as phytomedicine,herbal medicine or botanical medicine) that rely primarily on the use of single herbs. Other traditional systems of medicine, particularly Asian traditions,use many herbs in synergistic mixtures or blends. Examples are Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurvedic, and Tibetan. They are not covered in the following listings. Note our Resource Guides on Ayurvedic, Tibetan medicine, and Traditional Systems of Medicine.
We are just beginning to understand the complexities of herbal medicine, with its multiplicity of active chemicals in a single herb, and the interaction of a mixture of herbs found in traditional therapies. Previously, scientific research relied on the drug development model, which focused on a single compound and mode of action. In order to effectively research whether herbal medicine is effective or even safe, we need to detect all the active chemicals that exist in a medicinal plant, but also evaluate their effects on humans individually and together. We need to know whether the production process changes the chemicals; whether these compounds interfere with each other or with other drugs; and if our current technology can accurately measure all of the potential chemicals that may play a part in the effectiveness of an "herbal drug". Herbal growers, manufacturers, researchers, medical clinicians, funding agencies are all part of the panoply of actors involved in the making of safe and effective herbal medicine.
As demand for alternative medicine has grown, so have the harvesting and collection pressures for numerous ecologies that produce the medicinal plants of interest. The largest impact on the availability has been the loss of habitat worldwide. In conjunction with loss of physical resources, many aboriginal societies who have maintained vast and important bodies of knowledge about the identification and use of medicinal plants are being lost as well. Both physical habitat and ancient knowledge, once lost, will be gone forever. An educated public is the best hope for influencing governmental decisions that will have far reaching implications.
The resources are selected and categorized to help you with your own research or background reading so you can become an intelligent, educated consumer not only of herbal products but, equally importantly, of information. Ultimately, together we will influence not only the quality of herbal medicine available to us in stores, but also whether we will maintain the diversity of plant life necessary to sustain a diversity of cultures and alternative methods for maintaining good health.
For additional resources on relevant Alternative and Complementary modalities, see our Resource Guides on:
Ayurveda

Keane: I'm staying with Reds

Liverpool striker Robbie Keane claims he is ignoring the speculation surrounding hisfuture and insistshe will prove be a success at Anfield.

The Republic of Ireland international has found the net only twice in 15 Premier League appearances for the Reds since joining in a £20 million deal from Tottenham Hotspur in August.

Keane has failed to command a regular starting place in Rafael Benitez's side which has led to suggestions that he could be off- loaded in January-with a return to Spurs mentioned as a possibility.

however, the 28-year-old is determined to remain at Anfield and silence his doubters.

"I've only been here a few months but there's nothing I can do about speculation, that's all part and parcel of being a footballer," he told the club's official awebsite.

"If people want to create something that's not there it's up to them, but there's no question in my mind I will be a Liverpool player for a long time.

"People can write what they want and they can say what they want. They can keep writing but I'll be here past January. "I've only been here a few months and it takes a bit of time to settle into a new club. That's not an excuse but I deserve to be judged a little further down the line.

"I'm not being big headed but you don't score a lot of goals like I've done over the last 10 years and suddenly it just goes away, so I'm not worried about that."

December: Preparing for College Applications

December ushers in a period of holiday cheer, good will, and the rush to complete college applications. Many high school seniors are contemplating their future over the next four years and scrambling to put together an application in an increasingly competitive market. Get informed and be prepared!

Those Looming College Application Deadlines
The college application process has come a long way in the past five years. Many colleges request that applicants submit their materials electronically. This provides for some added ease, as well as some additional logistics to consider.

Tips for Parents: Dos and Don'ts for Helping Your Child Through College Admission
The college search and admission process is a life-changing event for your child, and often for the whole family. Here are some dos and don'ts for parents entering the world of college admission.
An Internet Road Map for the College-Bound Student

The Internet can help you in nearly every part of the college search. But surfing the Web can also eat up time better spent on schoolwork, time with friends, or even sleeping—with no guarantee that you'll find what you're looking for.
Getting Those College Essays Right
It is very important that students recognize that the personal essay represents an opportunity to speak and communicate more about themselves. Learn how to turn your experiences into a winning essay.

Government Complaint Against Rod Blagojevich Regarding Public Funding for the Cubs

Rarely do we see the behind-the-scenes maneuvers when it comes to government and the sports business, but this arrest of Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich has done just this. A criminal complaint containing, among other things, charges related to public funding for Wrigley Field was posted over at the Volokh Conspiracy. According to the complaint, the public funding was being used as a threat to get the Tribune Company to fire journalists who weren't friendly to Blagojevich. I post the entire complaint from VC below since most of it, in one way or another, deals with the Cubs.
Government Attempt to Get Newspaper Editorial Board Members Fired:
From the government's criminal complaint against Gov. Blagojevich (some paragraph breaks added):
13.... b. Defendants Rod Blagojevich and John Harris, together with others, offered to, and threatened to withhold from, the Tribune Company substantial state financial assistance in connection with Wrigley Field, which assistance Rod Blagojevich believed to be worth at least $100 million to the Tribune Company, for the private purpose of inducing the controlling shareholder of the Tribune Company to fire members of the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune, a newspaper owned by the Tribune Company, who were responsible for editorials critical of Rod Blagojevich ....
69. Intercepted phone calls reflect that Rod Blagojevich and John Harris, together with others, are corruptly using and threatening to use the powers of Rod Blagojevich’s office as Governor of the State of Illinois to exert financial pressure on the owners of the Tribune Company, the parent corporation of the Chicago Tribune newspaper, to fire Chicago Tribune editorial board members who were responsible for editorials sharply critical of Rod Blagojevich’s actions as Governor and, among other things, calling for his impeachment.....
72. On the evening of November 3, 2008, Rod Blagojevich talked to Deputy Governor A. Rod Blagojevich stated that he was concerned about possibly being impeached in the Spring and that the Chicago Tribune will be “driving” the impeachment discussion. Rod Blagojevich asked Deputy Governor A to check to see if the Tribune has recently “advocate[d]” that he be impeached. In fact, the Chicago Tribune recently had published editorials critical of Rod Blagojevich.
73. In another call between Rod Blagojevich and Deputy Governor A that occurred a short time later on November 3, 2008, Rod Blagojevich and Deputy Governor A discussed an editorial from the Chicago Tribune regarding the endorsement of Michael Madigan and calling for a committee to consider impeaching Rod Blagojevich. During the call, Rod Blagojevich’s wife can be heard in the background telling Rod Blagojevich to tell Deputy Governor A “to hold up that fucking Cubs shit... fuck them.” Rod Blagojevich asked Deputy Governor A what he thinks of his wife’s idea. Deputy Governor A stated that there is a part of what Rod Blagojevich’s wife said that he “agree[s] with.” Deputy Governor A told Rod Blagojevich that Tribune Owner will say that he does not have anything to do with the editorials, “but I would tell him, look, if you want to get your Cubs thing done get rid of this Tribune.”
Later, Rod Blagojevich’s wife got on the phone and, during the continuing discussion of the critical Tribune editorials, stated that Tribune Owner can “just fire” the writers because Tribune Owner owns the Tribune. Rod Blagojevich’s wife stated that if Tribune Owner’s papers were hurting his business, Tribune Owner would do something about the editorial board. Rod Blagojevich then got back on the phone. Rod Blagojevich told Deputy Governor A to put together the articles in the Tribune that are on the topic of removing Rod Blagojevich from office and they will then have someone, like John Harris, go to Tribune Owner and say, “We’ve got some decisions to make now.”
Rod Blagojevich said that “someone should say, ‘get rid of those people.’” Rod Blagojevich said that he thinks that they should put this all together and then have Harris or somebody go talk to the Tribune owners and say, “Look, we’ve got decisions to make now ... moving this stuff forward (believed to be a reference to the IFA helping with the Cubs sale) ... someone’s gotta go to [Tribune Owner], we want to see him ... it’s a political fuckin’ operation in there.” Deputy Governor A agreed and said that Harris needs to be “sensitive” about how he does it.
Rod Blagojevich said there is nothing sensitive about how you do it and that it’s “straight forward” and you say “we’re doing this stuff for you, we believe this is right for Illinois [and] this is a big deal to [Tribune Owner] financially” but what Rod Blagojevich is doing to help Tribune Owner is the same type of action that the Tribune is saying should be the basis for Rod Blagojevich’s impeachment. Rod Blagojevich said Tribune Owner should be told “maybe we can’t do this now. Fire those fuckers.”
Deputy Governor A suggested that Rod Blagojevich say, “I’m not sure that we can do this anymore because we’ve been getting a ton of these editorials that say, look, we’re going around the legislature, we gotta stop and this is something the legislature hasn’t approved. We don’t want to go around the legislature anymore.” Rod Blagojevich agreed and said that he wants Harris to go in and make that case, “not me.” Deputy Governor A agreed and said that he likes it. Rod Blagojevich asked Deputy Governor A to put the list of Tribune articles together....
76.... Rod Blagojevich stated that “our recommendation is fire all those fucking people, get ‘em the fuck out of there and get us some editorial support.”
There’s a good deal more factual detail in the complaint — have a look if you're interested. Thanks to Sean Parnell of the Center for Competitive Politics for the pointer.
Cross-posted over at Market

B.P.koirala institute of health science

B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences (BPKIHS), established in 1993, upgraded to a University in 1998, is an autonomous Health Sciences University with a mandate to work towards developing socially responsible and competent health work force. Striving continuously to meet the health needs of the eastern region of Nepal at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels is its primary responsibility. BPKIHS has been visualized as a self-governing, self-reliant International Health Sciences University attracting students and teachers from all over the world to its constantly innovative educational programmes. Read more

Social Health Programme

People should not remain devoid of health care because of lack of money. BPKIHS is committed to provide research and trial based advised to HMGN for the improvement of Health Sectors. Approximately 35% of patients attending the hospital can not afford the tertiary level treatment needed. It was discovered through focused group discussion in village, that on an average they are spending NRs 1000 /head/year for their health needs. It was also found out through community research that people are spending higher percentage of their income on tobacco and alcohol. Receipt of recommendation letters for free treatment from political parties, NGO, INGO, etc. Keeping all the above mentioned factors in mind, We offered various alternatives/optio

Himalayas of Darjeeling & Sikkim with the Buddha’s

For someone for the west, India provides an authentic adventure - stimulating, absorbing, daunting, sometimes moving and shocking. Here is one of the world's great dramas; an ancient, vast and crowded land committed to the most formidably challenging exercise in mass democracy. It is a spectacle in which hope, pride, paradox and uncertainty mingle and struggle. It is conducted on the whole, and to India's credit in the open. The lasting memories of the land are hospitality, kindness, good humor and generosity. Here is a society of over a 1000 million people, growing by a million a month, divided and united by language, caste, religion and regional loyalties. It has often been described as a functioning anarchy; and it is in many ways an amiable one, of marvelous fluidity and tolerance. Indeed, the true Indian motif is not the Tajmahal, the elephant or the patient peasant behind the ox drawn plough. It is the crowd, the ocean of faces in the land of multitudes, endlessly stirring, pushing and moving. It is in this human circulation that one sees India's colour, variety, busyness, and, senses also its power, vitality and grandeur.