Here it is. So ransomware is when a company hijacks a company, hackers, hijack the server of a company and then say, OK, and basically, let's say, freeze it and make it impossible for the company to function because the hackers are controlling the computers. And then they basically say to the company, we'll unfreeze the computer. We'll let you access the computer if you pay us money. And there are being some big, big cases of ransomware, infrastructure companies in the United States, a number of other companies. A lot of the ransomware that you hear was not a lot of the ransomware you don't hear about, right? Companies negotiate the ransomware.  And they try not to make a big deal out of it. They don't want to let the public know they're vulnerable. They don't want to let them know they're vulnerable. So a lot of it is undisclosed. It happens often. Anyway, there was this big operation called Black Cat, AlfV, where they were responsible for some of the biggest ransomware cases in the United States. And the US Department of Justice went after them. And about just before Christmas, they announced that they had one, that they had been able to disable the Black Cat ransomware network. They basically foiled their attempts against hundreds of victims. They seized the dark web sites that Black Cat had been using for the extortion. And they basically completely disrupted the Black Cat ransomware group and the Justice Department were patting themselves on the shoulder. They done it. They've worked. Well, two months and a week after this happened, guess what? Black Cat is back. New servers, new hacking techniques, new ways of getting around it. And for the last seven days, the Black Cat has held hostage at the medical group a change health care. It's crippled its software in hospitals and pharmacies across the United States, leading to significant delays and drug prescriptions for an untold number of patients. The outage disclosed as a Black Cat attack by Reuters represents a particular horrific episode because of the impact on health care and because of the impact on people's health and because of how long it's already lasted. But more important than that, I think what it indicates is that law enforcement is, I think, not approaching this in the right way. Certainly, you can't just disable these people.   These human beings are making the law, they're criminals. And unless you put them in jail, they will keep doing what they're doing. It's like you've got a bunch of, I don't know, armed robberies. And what you do is you take all the arms away from them and you say, yeah, I stopped them. I've taken their weapons away. Guess what? They go buy new weapons and they're back doing armed robbery. You can't just deal with the tools. You have to deal with the people. Now, I don't know what's involved in identifying who these people are, who these hackers are, where they reside. I don't know what's involved in trying to get foreign governments to help. Maybe they're in Russia. Maybe they're in China. But you'd think there is a way to shut these people down. This is what the government should be doing. I don't know, special ops, whatever.  Make the consequences to them so horrific that they will never try it again. They're violating the individual rights of Americans. They are criminally active in the United States. There has to be a penalty for that. And a penalty to the individuals responsible, not just to the tools that they happen to use. Once somebody attacks the United States, it's not just enough to defend. You have to go and get them. And prosecute them. Or get them, right? How exactly do you do that? I'm sure it's difficult. I'm sure it's complex, and particularly in a world in which where there's so many bad actors. So it is, but this just proves. There's just no way around dealing with the source of the problem, which is the people involved, rather than just its superficial manifestation or the particular tools that they happen to be using, which can always be changed, updated, and redone.


The most interesting, most revealing and gravest conversations about mental health, self-care, and vaccinations are the ones we typically never get to hear because they percolate in private spaces, in the locker room, across dinner tables, at workplaces, in civic and faith organizations, and even with ourselves. Let's talk about uncomfortable truths with Dr. Deborah Mosley Heath, licensed clinical professional counselor with Capitol Hill Consortium for Counseling and Consultation, Dr. Teresa Jacobs, Medical Director, Georgia Primary Care Association, and I'm your host, Sharon Thomas-Yarbrough. Welcome to Sister Power Ladies. Thank you. Thank you. Aloha and welcome, Dr. Heath and Dr. Jacobs. Aloha. And I need to welcome you back, Dr. Jacobs. You were here before when we were, we discussed people need to fear the virus and not the vaccine. And a lot of people are saying, when are you going to talk about that again? And it's here right now. And you know, I am so proud of the gymnast, Simone Biles. She said, I have to put my pride aside. I have to do what's right for me and focus on my mental health and not jeopardize my health and well-being. That's why I decided to take a step back. I mean, how for someone to acknowledge what they're going through on a public stage, you know, around the world, I want to ask you, Dr. Heath, what causes mental health? Well, mental health is actually a state of well-being. And we have to take a time to actually take care of ourselves. And that's not jizzically, but it's mentally as well. And many people will step back and say, well, if it's not something that I can see happening, then it's not something that we can do. We have to deal with. Well, it is.  And so when we have difficulties, as you were saying about Simone, she recognized that, you know, something's not right. And that's usually how it starts. Something's not right. And I'm not doing what I need to do. And I'm not physically, I'm not mentally there. That is what is the mental health piece. That is involved.  The importance is that it helps to rule your body. Your mind controls your body. And if you're not taking care of that, that muscle, then you can't take care of the rest of the muscles. Wow. Well, Dr. Jacobs, mental health, what have you been seeing with this vaccination, the Delta variant, and people now who, how is it affecting their mental health when they do not want to take the vaccine, but they see people dying all around them? Yeah, it's caused us a lot of anxiety. We still have people now that don't want to go out of the house. They're afraid to even go to church or to the grocery stores, saw text messages earlier, there are people now starting to put on gloves again, just to go out to get gas to put in their cars because they're frightened at the Delta variant. They're going to get it on their hands and bring it back home after pumping gas. So the anxiety is there. And once you, unfortunately, mental health will also affect physical health as well. We see more diabetes, more high blood pressure, insomnia, obesity, unfortunately, depression, of course. So these are things that will manifest themselves as a result of mental strain or mental health. What is the Delta variant? So now the Delta variant, it is the way I describe it to patients is that you have the original COVID virus, right? And when it gets into a body and it loves an unvaccinated body, by the way, to do what it does. So because there are no antibodies to fight it off. So once it enters into a person's body, it starts to multiply, replicate, it takes over some of our genetic material because it needs that in order to multiply. And unfortunately, when it does that, there are going to be some genetic changes. It's not going to be perfect. So those genetic changes are called mutations. And so there's those changes that occur. So once those genetic mutations occur, it is no longer exactly like the original virus. So now it's a variant or it's something different than the original virus. Now, when that variant starts to behave a little bit different, it's more infectious. It doesn't cause the loss of smell or the loss of taste, but instead now it's causing runny noses, sore throats and muscle aches. Then it's behaving differently. So now it's a strain. It's a variant that is now a strain acting totally different. And unfortunately, viruses want to live. So when they find these unvaccinated bodies so that they can multiply and replicate, they change themselves so that they can be stronger and more virulent, unfortunately. Wow. You know, we're living now with people who care and people who don't care. You know, Dr. Heath, what can we say and do to get people to realize that they could infect or harm their aunt, their sister, their children. You know, I just read across an article that said younger people make a larger share of COVID-19 hospitalizations in U.S. The vaccination is free. It's effective. What else can we tell them? We can also talk about sometimes history and really clear it up and understand that that was then and this is now. And what we're doing now is that we have to take more information and we have more people that look like us that are giving us this information and that we can start looking at how we can trust that because historically we've been told so many different things and people don't trust in the government and that trust is a feeling that we have.  So why should we even believe that? And I didn't get sick. I've gone a whole year. I've gone a whole, you know, year with this and I didn't get sick. So it's like they don't believe it. And so the more that people that even look like us can tell people that look like us and other folks of color as well and to get vaccinated, you know, it will help us move into an era where we're not having to fight, but we're just managing. We're managing the virus instead of fighting it. Right now we're in a fight. We're in a fight for our life. That's the difference. We're in a fight for our life and I like what you're saying. Managing. Managing is such a key word. So Dr. Jacobs, are masks still needed? Oh, absolutely. Mask is still one of the top ways that we fight this disease. So even if you're vaccinated, because, you know, I get that question all the time, well, if I'm vaccinated, can I still get COVID? And the answer to that is yes. But what the promise is, is that you will not get severe COVID disease, which means then that you won't be hospitalized, not in the ICU, and you will avoid death. So masks are still one of the top ways, aside from vaccination, to help decrease the spread of this virus because it's respiratory, you breathe it, you're coughing, you're sneezing, it enters into the nears. That's how it gets into your body. So masking is still very, very important in order for us to stamp out this virus. Yeah. You know, Dr. Heath, when Simone was speaking on the first stage of the platform about mental health, they were saying she was getting the twisties or something, is it called, where you don't know up from bottom or you talk from the bottom. How anxiety and fear impact performance? It definitely impacts performance because your emotions and your feelings, all of that drives how we perform, how we can actually do what we need to do to function. And that leads to healthy functioning. If she was already in the air and she couldn't tell up from down and where she was and where she's going to land, she could have easily harmed herself. And that's where we have to make sure that we're taking care of ourselves. She knew that some things, like I said earlier, it's not right. It's not good in my body and it's not good in my mind. We have to remember when she stepped into that stage, not only did she feel like she had the weight of the world on her because she even mentioned it, but she was stepping back into an arena where there was harm. She was harmed and that just triggered some of those emotions that came back. Maybe they didn't talk about that because that wasn't something that was presentable at the time. But we have to remember the triggers that she could feel. Now, the world is looking at me back in my litard. The world is looking at me to do my best when I've been hurt by this organization. And nothing seemed to have happened for that.  It's almost like if you've been on a merry-go-round. And this is how I explain it to little kids.  And when they get off, they look like, whoa, what's going on? Or even you don't even know if you stopped at the right side or not. You can do that even in roller coasters that they get, let you off on one side where you've gotten on on another. And then when you get off, you're like, wait, where am I? How do I get out of here? That's what she was feeling in the air. I think you were talking about, that was a good way, a good example. When the gentleman who's serving a couple of life sentences molested her and killed the gymnast and people, this is serious people. Her life was in jeopardy and I applaud her. I really applaud Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles. That takes a lot of courage for these young, we remember these are young women who are courageous and stepping on stage and saying, well, it's okay not to be okay. And it is okay to not be okay. It is okay. All right. So, Dr. Jacobs, how do we stop the Delta variant from spreading? We have to get more people vaccinated. We really do. It is the best tool that we have to combat this virus. So, we need to get at least 70% that's called herd immunity. That way we get that many folks with all of those antibodies. Then it'll be hard for that virus to find bodies to multiply and to continue to change. So, we've got to get more shots and arms. Even our children, it's Pfizer. It has been approved down to 12 years of age. So, let's get those 12-year-olds and those teenagers. Let's get them all vaccinated. And those 20-something, 30-something-year-olds, those are the most mobile folks that are out there. They're the ones that are actively spreading this virus because they're so mobile. So, if we can get them, the millennials, all of these other generations, we need to get them vaccinated. Yeah. This is so important. Dr. Heath and then Dr. Jacobs, I want to come back to you. What is your feeling about now there's a mandate now, a vaccine passport that we may have to show to fly, to go into a restaurant, into the gym. What's your take on that?  It's difficult for them. But it's also important to protect those that need to be protected. And that includes even younger people. I know it's like you were saying, the 20-year-olds and the ones in that kind of age range that are going about, still going and going. But sometimes we have to help those that are not able to help themselves. And that's even the younger ones. And so it is important for them to actually share what the vaccination status is. And so that we can know how we can protect others. It may be that they can go into a restaurant and then it's the same way we did with smoking. There's some this section and this section if we needed to really do that. And so I think it's important that we are able to show it. But it's also going to be another piece that's going to instill some fear and some anxiety in people. So we have to be prepared for that too and have those conversations. Because that conversation can lead to more understanding, if we just at least have the conversation. And hear them. Tell us what's the reason you're not getting vaccinated. And not just that cursor kind of thing of the history. But tell me why you're not getting vaccinated. Yeah, Dr. Jacobs, do you want to weigh in on this? Yeah, I think, you know, first of all, I've been in healthcare for over 30 years. They mandated that we get the flu shot every year, unless you have some sort of religious exemption or allergies. They mandated that I had that series of hepatitis B shots. Those are that's three vaccines that we had to get over a period of six months. They mandate we get TB skin tests every year. So when my daughter did a mission trip to Peru, they mandated she had to have yellow fever and a bunch of other vaccines or she would not be allowed to come. And for them, there were no excuses, no exceptions. And she wanted to go, she had to comply. So it's not that, you know, this is something new that meningitis vaccine has been required now for many years for those folks that are going to college, because meningitis, once you get on campus, it will spread like wildfire. So it has been mandated for most colleges here in the US. So this is nothing unusual for the for there to be a mandate when it comes to certain vaccines. Wow. Can pregnant women get vaccine? Absolutely. This is one of some of the fascinating information that has come out. Some of the women in some in the trials and some of the women early on that were vaccinated. Oops, they got pregnant between the first and the second vaccine. And so those folks, they were able to track them. It's been over a year now and they've got some fantastic data that they've actually been able to duplicate around the world that pregnant women pass along what they call passive immunity to the unborn child. So let's get that. So mom now has antibodies against COVID and the unborn child now also has antibodies to COVID. So more protection. And they also found out that once baby is born, that those antibodies come out in the breast milk. And so breastfed babies also get that passive immunity as well. So absolutely pregnant women can get vaccinated. I'm loving this conversation. That is the title of our episode, the difficult conversations. And I think the difficult conversation as you were speaking about the women who get pregnant women can get vaccine. But Dr. Keith, you pointed out that parents, teachers, professors need to have this conversation with their children, with their husbands, with their wives. Why do you have the fear of getting the vaccination? And that is very key. So Dr. Keith, what type of conversations are women, I'll just say women having with you about taking, first of all, let's go back to self-care. What should people do for self-care? First, they need to breathe. And we say that even though we're walking around and we're doing it every day like a natural thing. But if we're not breathing purposefully, then you're not giving though your time to relax your body. And that's part of self-care, it's just relaxing. It's important to give your brain time to rest. Like we said, that same muscle right there in the head is important to be used in a way that we relax it to and we rest it. Same way that we rest our body when we are, oh, we're tired, I'm tired.  Well, you need to rest your brain. So breathing gives that chemical that needs to go throughout your body so it can first relax.  Maybe read, listen to music, give yourself time just to be in that moment in the here and now. And that's what I've talked to people about when we're doing our sessions is stay in the here and now. We know things have happened in the past. We can't change the past. We don't know what's going to happen in the future. That's anxiety provoking. Let's stay in the here and now. Because if you live in the past, I'll equate that more to depression. You live in the future, that's more anxiety. And those two are like sisters, like sisters here. It is like sisters that have depression and anxiety, they go together. So you have to come back and stay in the here and now. And think about maybe doing even body scans, like how my hands feeling, how my legs feeling, my feet. And you go through your body and just relax each moment of it. Each muscle in your body, rather. And then exercise, that's another way. That also, as Dr. Jacobs could tell you, releases those same some chemicals in your body that helps you not only relax, but it also helps your whole system, your digestive system. It helps your endocrine system, everything. If you actually just get some exercise, that's why they'll tell people we talked a minute of diabetes or some of those other things that come up.  It's about exercise, making sure you're moving and allowing yourself to get some movement. Thank you. I feel like I've been in a session already. I feel better already. I love it. I appreciate you on that. I read an article and Dr. Heath, you and I were discussing this in the National Geographic from Dr. Celeste Green. And I want your take on this, Dr. Jacobs. Green, who is admitted and is now in gynecology, she said, it's too often harmful to women who think they must always live up to that expectation that we're always strong is what she's referring to. And it's dangerous when people think black women can handle just about anything without help or respect. That stereotype has become so fixed in the popular imagination that is often considered as a kind of you go girl compliment. Let's talk about that. Dr. Jacobs. Yeah. Well, you know what? I call them the martyrs and usually they're considered the matriarchs of the family and they take care of everybody else except for themselves or they put themselves last. And unfortunately that seems to be a badge of honor that they prepare all the meals. They do all the cooking, the washing, the cleaning, they do all of the running here and there. And when I, I always stop with a woman that I sense, I feel that anxiety and they're just worn out and tired. And so I stop and sit down and I said, let's just breathe. And I just love it, Dr. Heath, what you just said, because I'll, you know, give them permission.  I say that to my patients all the time.  But if you jump there today, guess what's going to happen in your family? Those folks are going to pick up and they are going to continue to live. They'll go to your funeral, say, oh, we're going to miss her. Oh, boohoo boohoo. But I promise you, they will continue to eat. They will continue to function in life without you. So it is crucial that you take care of yourself. Crucial. And exercising, as Dr. Heath said, is one of the number one things that I tell you to tell folks to do. You can sit in a chair and exercise. I'm not telling you to go run a mile, but you need to do some sort of physical exercise. Those pheromones and hormones and chemicals that are released help you sleep better, help you digest your food better. You just have more energy. It gives you more brain power. You're more creative when you do that. And so it just helps you overall that you take care of yourself. And then you're better able to help take care of others if you take care of yourself. I love that. And Dr. Heath, in a minute or less, give me your take on self care, mental health, and people get the vaccination. Yes. I would definitely encourage everyone to get the vaccination. That's my first day. Secondly, I encourage you to actually take care of you. You're the most important person to you. Do that. And because as was stated, if you don't take care of yourself, you really can't take care of others. You could be gone tomorrow. And you need to be able to say, well, I'm going to give you all this while I have it. And I can give you this by taking care of me. So me first is important.  It's okay to talk to people. I think it's so important that that's one of the reasons I even got into this field is because I saw so many people hurting.  It can actually be discussed with people that you can trust with it that ethically, they cannot even tell anyone else. So let people share that with you. Share the burden. It's okay. Wow. Take care of yourself, everyone, Dr. Jacobs and Dr. Keith. Thank you for all that you do. Thank you for your wisdom. I'm Sharon Thomas Yarbrough. Aloha.


We pined and starved. Some of us managed to stay alive for years, I guess.  He was careless about his meals. He didn't eat right. Stayed out late at night when he ought to have been in bed. All that put a strain on his body. Something happened. We turned so our chance to escape. Edgar paid me a cloth and lost weight. We multiplied so fast, Edgar's cells couldn't keep up with us. So we spread and spread and staked out new blocks. His girl was... I remember Edgar in the sanatorium. Yeah, but that's where I got you, by the way. Every patient has his own paper cup. How is it you weren't destroyed, too? Sent some of Edgar's sputum to the laboratory to be examined. He kept us in an incubator when it was warm, and there we grew. Well, I guess that's the story. And it was the man in the white coat who gave this culture to me. Do you know if Edgar got... He recovered completely. He's happily married and has a boy of his own now. Things have changed, he be. Edgar Sr. had learned his lesson, so he took young Edgar to the doctor and had it to burk him and test made. Just this simple skin test, tells if there are any germs like you present in a person's body. Can't see his hidden away, so they invent this clever test. This test was negative. No germs in young Edgar's body. Suppose it had been positive, Professor. In that case, the doctor would have had an X-ray picture made of his chest, as he did with another of his patients, Mary, a sweet young girl from high school. Her test came back positive, and the doctor had this X-ray picture made of her chest. Please, see a tube. There, you see the ribs. Here is the healthy lung tissue. And there, see that spot? It's a little tubercle, like the one in Edgar Sr.'s lung. It's hard and firm now. No germ will ever get out of that tubercle. And once every year until she's grown up, the doctor will make another X-ray picture. But Professor, what's to become of all my tribe, with that kind of thing going on? Sorry, old camera, but you're almost through. When all young folks get a tuberculin test, and those who react positively get an X-ray, TB germs are going to die out. This is a fight to the finish, and man is going to win this fight. Bye, Mr. Germ. I see the day when tuberculosis will be late. I see happy, healthy children growing up without the fear that their lives will be ruined by it. I can see parents happy with grown-up children, parents who in the old days would have died an early death. I can really see this ancient misery disappearing. How about a cookie and a cool drink? Thank you, Jim. He has just told us enough...


Volume 2, Chapter 24th, of the Antiquary. This labor box recording is in the public domain. The Antiquary by Sir Walter Scott, Chapter 24th. Right a glare at the beacon on Balnell. On Skidaw, there were three. The bugle horn on Moore and Fell was heard continually. James Hogg. The watch, who kept his watch on the hill, and looked towards Burnham, probably conceived in self-dreaming when he first beheld the fated grove, put itself in a motion, for it to march to doonsoning. Even so old Caxon, as perked in his hut, he qualified his thoughts upon the approaching marriage of his daughter, and the dignity of being father-in-law to the tenant Taffrel, with an occasional peep towards the signal post, with which his own corresponded. He was not a little surprised by observing a light in that direction. He rubbed his eyes, looked again, adjusted his observation by a cross-staff, which had been placed so as to bear upon the point, and behold, the light increased, like a comet to the eye of the astronomer, with fear of change perplexing nations. The Lord preserve us, said Caxon. What's to be done now? But there would be wiser heads in mind to look to that. Xae's seen fire at the beacon, and he lighted the beacon accordingly, which threw up to the sky a long wavering train of light, startling the sea-fowl from their nests, and reflected far beneath by the reddening billows of the sea. The brother-warders of Caxon, being equally diligent, caught and repeated his signal. The lights glanced on headlands and capes and inland hills, and the whole district was alarmed by the signal of invasion. Our antiquary, his head wrapped warm in two double-night caps, was quietly enjoying his repose, when it was suddenly broken by the screams of his sister, his niece, and two maid-servants. What the devil's the matter? said he, starting up in his bed. Woman kind in my room at this hour of night. Are he all mad? The beacon, uncle, said Miss Mentire, the French coming to murder us, screamed Miss Griselda. The beacon, the beacon, the French, the French, murderer, murderer, and whore than murderer, cried the two handmaidens like the chorus of an opera. The French? said Old Buck, starting up.  Look at them, Monk Barnes, cried his sister, offering a Roman falchion of brass with the one hand, and with the other, an Andrea Ferrara, without a handle. The longest, the longest, cried Jenny Witherout, dragging in a two-handed sword of the twelfth century. Woman kind, settled, buck, in great agitation. Be composed, and do not give way to vain terror. Are you sure they are come? Sure, sure, exclaimed Jenny, all are sure. High the sea-fencebos, and the land-fencebos, and the volunteers, and yeymenry, are on fit, and drive into Fairport as hard as horse and man can gang, and old Mokko Beckett's, kind with the lathe. Mokko good, he'll do. Hey, sirs, he'll be missed the morn, where would a served king in country bid. Give me, sir, old buck, the sword which my father wore in the year of forty-five. It hath no belt or balderick, but will make shift. So sane, he thrust the weapon through the cover of his bridge's pocket. At this moment Hector entered, who had been to a neighboring height, to ascertain whether the alarm was actual. Where are your arms, nephew? exclaimed old buck, where's your double-barreled gun? That was never out of your hand when there was no occasion for such fanities. Who pooser? said Hector, whoever took a felling-piece on action. I've got my uniform on, you see. I hope I shall be of more use if they will give me a command than I could be with ten double-barrels. And you, sir, must get to Fairport to give directions for quartering and maintaining the men in horses, and preventing confusion. You are right, Hector. I believe I shall do as much with my head as my hand, too. But here comes Sir Arthur Wardour, who between ourselves is not fit to accomplish much either one way or the other. Sir Arthur was probably of a different opinion, for, dressed in his lieutenancy uniform, he was also on the road to Fairport, and called in his way to take Mr. Old Buck with him, having had his original opinion of his sagacity much confirmed by late events. And in spite of all the entreaties of the womankind that the antiquary would stay to garrison monk barns, Mr. Old Buck, with his nephew, instantly accepted Sir Arthur's offer. Those who have witnessed such a scene can alone concede the state of bustle in Fairport. The windows were glancing with a hundred lights, which, appearing and disappearing rapidly, indicated the confusion within doors. The women of lower rank assembled and clamored in the marketplace. The yeomanry, pouring from their different glens, galloped through the streets, some individually, some in parties of five or six, as they had met on the road. The drums and fives of the volunteers, beating to arms, were blended with the voice of the officers, the sound of the bugles, and the towing of the bells from the steeple. The ships in the harbor were lit up, and boats from the armed vessels added to the bustle, by landing men and guns destined to assist in the defense of the place. This part of the preparations was super-intended by Taffel, with much activity. Two or three light vessels had already slipped their cables and stood out to sea, in order to discover the supposed enemy. Such was the scene of general confusion when Sir Arthur Wardour, Old Buck and Hector, made their way with difficulty into the principal square, where the townhouse is situated. It was lighted up, and the magistracy, with many of the neighbouring gentlemen, were assembled. And here, as upon other occasions of the light kind in Scotland, it was remarkable how the good sense and firmness of the people supplied almost all the deficiencies of inexperience. The magistrates were beset by the quarter-masters of the different corps, for billets, for men, and horses. Let us, said Bailey little John, take the horses into our warehouses and the men into our parlours, share our supper with the one and our forage with the other. We've made ourselves wealthy under free and paternal government, and now is the time to show we know its value. A loud and cheerful acquiescence was given by all present, and the substance of the wealthy, with the persons of those of all ranks, were unanimously devoted to the defence of the country. Captain Mentire acted on this occasion as military adviser and odd decombe to the principal magistrate, and displayed a degree of presence of mind and knowledge of his profession, totally unexpected by his uncle, who, recollecting his usual insouciance and impetuosity, gazed at him with astonishment from time to time, as he remarked the calm and steady manner in which he explained the various measures of precaution that his experience suggested, and gave directions for executing them. He found the different corps in good order, considering the irregular materials of which they were composed, in great force of numbers and high confidence and spirits. And so much did military experience at that moment overbalance all other claims to consequence, that even old Eddie, instead of being loved like diogenes at Sinope, to roll his tub when all around were preparing for defence, had the duty assigned him of superintending the serving out of the ammunition, which he executed with much discretion. Two things were still anxiously expected. The presence of the Glen Allen volunteers, who, in consideration of the importance of that family, had been formed into a separate corps, and the arrival of the officer before announced, to whom the measures of defence on that coast had been committed by the commander-in-chief, and whose commission would entitle him to take upon himself the full disposal of the military force. At length the bugles of the Glen Allen yeomanry were heard, and the Earl himself, to the surprise of all who knew his habits in the state of health, appeared at their head in uniform. They formed a very handsome and well-mounted squadron, formed entirely out of the Earl's lowland tenants, and were followed by a regimen of five hundred men, completely equipped in the Highland dress, whom he brought down from the upland glens with their pipes plain in the van. The clean and serviceable appearance of this band of feudal dependents called forth the admiration of Captain Mentire, but his uncle was still more struck by the manner in which, upon this crisis, the ancient military spirit of his house, seemed to animate and invigorate the decayed frame of the Earl, their leader. He claimed and obtained for himself and his followers the post most likely to be that of danger, displayed great alacrity in making the necessary dispositions, and showed equal acuteness in discussing their propriety. Morning broken upon the military council's affair-port, while all concerned, were still eagerly engaged in taking precautions for their defense. At length, the crime when the people announced, there's the brave major-nevel come at last with another officer, and their post-chase and fore drove into the square, amidst the huzzas of the volunteers and inhabitants. The magistrates, with their assessors of lieutenancy, hastened to the door of their townhouse to receive him. But what was the surprise of all present, but most especially that of the antiquary, when they became aware that the handsome uniform and military cap disclosed the personal features of the Pacific level? A warm embrace and a hearty shake of the hand were necessary to assure him that his eyes were doing him justice. Sir Arthur was no less surprised to recognize his son, Captain Wardor, in levels or rather major-nevels company. The first words of the young officers were a positive assurance to all present that the courage and zeal which they had displayed were entirely thrown away, unless and so far as they afforded an acceptable proof of their spirit and promptitude. The watchman, at Hulket Head, said major-nevel, as we discovered by an investigation which we made in our route hither, was most naturally misled by a bonfire, which some idle people had made on the hill above Glen Withershenes, just in the line of the beacon with which his corresponded. Old Buck gave a cautious look to Sir Arthur, who returned it with one equally sheepish and a shrug of the shoulders. It must have been the machinery which we condemned to the flames in our wrath, said the antiquary, plucking up heart, though not a little ashamed of having been the cause of so much disturbance. The devil takedouster civil with all my heart. I think he has bequeathed us a legacy of blunders and mischief, as if he had lighted some train of fireworks at his departure. I wonder what cracker will go off next among our shins. But yonder comes the prudent caxon.  Your betters must spare the blame for you. And here, take this—what do you call it? Giving him a sword. I wonder what I would have said to any man that would have told me I was to stick such an appendage to my tail. Here he found his arm gently pressed by Lord Glen Allen, who dragged him into a separate apartment. For God's sake, who is that young gentleman who is so strikingly like—like the unfortunate Evelyn? Interrupted, old buck. I felt my heart warmed him from the first, and your lordship has suggested the very cause. But who—who is he? Continued Lord Glen Allen, holding the antiquary with a convulsive grasp. Formerly I would have called him Lovell, but now he turns out to be Major Neville. Who my brother brought up as his natural son? Whom he made his heir? Gracious Heaven. The child of my Evelyn. Hold, my lord, hold, said old buck. Do not give too hasty way to such a presumption. What probability is there? Probability? None. There is certainty—absolute certainty. The agent I mentioned to you wrote me the whole story. I received it yesterday, not sooner. Bring him, for God's sake, that a father's eyes may bless him before he departs. I will, but for your own sake and his give him a few moments for preparation. And determined to make still farther investigation before yielding his entire conviction to so strange a tale, he sought out Major Neville and found him expediting the necessary measures for dispersing the force which had been assembled. Pray, Major Neville, leave this business for a moment to Captain Mordor and to Hector, with whom I hope you are thoroughly reconciled. Neville laughed and shook hands with Hector across the table, and grabbed me a moment's audience. You have a claim on me, Mr. Old Buck? We're my business more urgent, said Neville, for having passed myself upon you under a false name and rewarding your hospitality by injuring your nephew. You served him as he deserved, said Old Buck, though, by the way, he showed as much good sense as spirit today. He, God, if you would rub up his learning and read Caesar and Paulibus and the Stradigamata Pollyoni, I think you would rise in the army, and I will certainly lend him a lift. He is heartily deserving of it, said Neville, and I am glad you excuse me, which you may do the more frankly when you know that I am so unfortunate as to have no better right to the name of Neville by which I have been generally distinguished than to that of Lovell, under which you knew me. Indeed, then I trust we shall find out one for you to which you shall have a firm and legal title. Sir, I trust you not think the misfortune of my birth fits subject. By no means, young man, answered the antiquary, interrupting him. I believe I know more of your birth than you do yourself. And to convince you of it, you were educated and known as a natural son of Gerald and Neville, of Nevelsburg in Yorkshire, and I presume, as his destinaire. Pardon me, no such views were held out to me. I was liberally educated and pushed forward in the army by money and interest, but I believe my supposed father long entertained some ideas of marriage, though we never carried them into effect.  I know, Mr. Oldbuck, that you would not ask these questions on a point of such delicacy for the gratification of idle curiosity. I will therefore tell you candidly, that last year, while we occupied a small town in French Flanders, I found in a convent, near which I was quartered, a woman who spoke remarkably good English. She was a Spaniard, her name Teresa de Acuna. In the process of our acquaintance, she discovered who I was, and made herself known to me as the person who had charge of my infancy. She dropped more than one hint of rank to which I was entitled, and of injustice stunned me, promising a more full disclosure in case of the death of a lady in Scotland, during whose lifetime she was determined to keep the secret. She also intimated that Mr. Gerald and Neville was not my father. We were attacked by the enemy and driven from the town, which was pillaged with savage ferocity by the Republicans. The religious orders were the particular objects of their hate and cruelty. The convent was burned, and several nuns perished, among others, Teresa. And with her all chance of knowing the story of my birth, tragic by all accounts it must have been, raw, antecedentum celestum, or, as I may here say, celestum, said Old Buck, desperate poina. Even Epicureans admitted that. And what did you do upon this? I remonstrated with Mr. Neville by letter, and to no purpose. I then obtained leave of absence, and, through myself at his feet, conjuring him to complete the disclosure which Teresa had begun. He refused, and, on my importunity, indignantly upbraided me with the favours he had already conferred. I thought he abused the power of a benefactor, as he was compelled to admit he had no title to that of a father, and we parted in mutual displeasure. I renounced the name of Neville, and assumed that under which he knew me. It was at this time, when residing with a friend in the north of England, who favoured my disguise, that I became acquainted with Miss Wardour, and was romantic enough to follow her to Scotland. My mind wavered on various plans of life, when I resolved to apply once more to Mr. Neville, for an explanation of the mystery of my birth. It was long ere I received an answer. You were present when it was put into my hands. He informed me of his bad state of health, and conjured me for my own sake, to inquire no farther into the nature of his connection with me. But to rest satisfied with his declaring it, to be such and so intimate, that he designed to constitute me his heir. When I was preparing to leave Fairport to join him, a second express brought me word that he was no more. The possession of great wealth was unable to suppress, the remorseful feelings with which I now regarded my conduct to my benefactor, and some hints in his letter appearing to intimate, there was on my birth a deeper stain than that of ordinary and legitimacy. I remembered certain prejudices of Sir Arthur. And you brooded over these melancholy ideas until you were ill, instead of coming to me for advice, and telling me the whole story, said Old Buck. Exactly. Then came my quarrel with Captain Mentire, and my compelled departure from Fairport and its vicinity. From love and from poetry, Miss Wardour and the Colledonian. Most true. And since that time, you have been occupied, I suppose, with plans for Sir Arthur's relief. Yes, sir, with the assistance of Captain Wardour at Edinburgh. And at the occultry here, you see I know the whole story. But how came you by the treasure? It was a quantity of plate, which had belonged to my uncle, and was left in the custody of a person at Fairport. Some time before his death he had sent orders that it should be melted down. He perhaps did not wish me to see the Glen Allen arms upon it. Well, Major Neville, or let me say Lovell, being the name in which I rather delight, you must, I believe, exchange both of your aliases for the style and title of the honourable William Geraldine, commonly called Lord Geraldine. The antiquary then went through the strange and melancholy circumstances concerning his mother's death. I have no doubt, he said, that your uncle wished the report to be believed, that the child of this unhappy marriage was no more. Perhaps he might himself have an eye to the inheritance of his brother. He was then a gay, wild young man. But of all intentions against your person, however much the evil conscience of Elspeth might lead her to inspect him from the agitation in which he appeared, to raise his story, and your own, fully acquit him.  We will not attempt to describe such a meeting. The proofs on all sides were found to be complete, for Mr. Neville had left a distinct account of the whole transaction with his confidential steward in the sealed packet, which was not to be opened until the death of the old Countess. His motive for preserving secrecy so long, appearing to have been an apprehension of the effect which the discovery, fraught with so much disgrace, must necessarily produce upon her haughty and violent temper. In the evening of that day, the Yeomanry, and volunteers of Glen Allen, drank prosperity to their young master. In a month afterwards, Lord Geraldine was married to Ms. Wardwar, the antiquary making the lady a present of the wedding-ring, a massy circle of antique chasing, bearing the motto of Aldebrand Oldenbuck, Kuhn smocked Guntcht. Old Eddie, the most important man that ever wore a blue gown, bowls away easily from one friend's house to another, and boasts that he never travels unless on a sunny day. Laterally indeed, he is given some symptoms of the coming stationery, being frequently found in the corner of a snug cottage between Mock Barnes and Nock Winnick, to which Caxon retreated upon his daughter's marriage, in order to be in the neighborhood of the three parochial wigs, which he continues to keep in repair, though only for amusement.  It is thought as he grows stiffer in the joints, he will finally settle there. The bounty of such wealthy patrons as Lord and Lady Geraldine flowed copiously upon Mrs. Hadaway and upon the muckle-backets. By the former it was well employed, by the latter, wasted. They continue, however, to receive it, but under the administration of Eddie Oakletree, and they do not accept it without grumbling at the channel through which it is conveyed. Hector is rising rapidly in the army, and has been more than once mentioned in the Gazette, and rises proportionally high in his uncle's favor. And what scarcely pleases the young soldier less, he has also shot two seals, and must put an end to the antiquary's perpetual harping upon the story of the foca. People talk of a marriage between Miss Mentire and Captain Wardour, but this wants confirmation. The antiquary is a frequent visitor at Nockwinnick and Glen Allen House, ostensibly for the sake of completing two essays, one on the mail-shirt of the great Earl, and the other on the left-hand gauntlet of Helen Harness. He regularly inquires whether Lord Geraldine has commenced the Caledonian, and shakes his head at the answers he receives. On Entendant. However, he has completed his notes, which we believe will be of the service of anyone who chooses to make them public without risk or expense to the antiquary. Note J. Alarm of Invasion. The story of the false alarm at Fairport and the consequences are taken from a rural incident, those who witnessed the State of Britain and of Scotland in particular, from the period that succeeded the war, which commenced in 1803, to the Battle of Trafalgar. Must recollect those times with feelings which we can hardly hope to make the rising generation comprehend. Almost every individual was enrolled either in a military or civil capacity for the purpose of contributing to resist the long suspended threats of invasion, which were echoed from every quarter. Beacons were erected along the coast and all through the country to give the signal for everyone to repair to the post where his peculiar duty called him, and men of every description fit to serve held themselves in readiness on the shortest summons. During this agitating period and on the evening of the 2nd February 1804, the person who kept watch on the commanding station of Home Castle, being deceived by some accidental fire in the county of Northumberland, which he took for the corresponding valleys on the English border. If the beacon at St. Abshead had been fired, the alarm would have run northward and roused all Scotland, but the watch at this important point judiciously considered, and if there had been an actual or threatened descent on our eastern sea coast, the alarm would have come along the coast and not from the interior of the country. Through the border counties, the alarm spread with rapidity, and on no occasion, when that country was the scene of perpetual and unceasing war, was the summons to arms more readily obeyed. In Berwickshire, Roguesburgshire, and Soulkirkshire, the volunteers of militia got under arms with a degree of rapidity and alacrity, which, considering the distance individual lived from each other, had something in it very surprising. They poured to the alarm posts on the sea coast, in a state so well armed and so completely appointed, with baggage, provisions, etc., as was accounted by the best military judges to render them fit for instant and effectual surface. There were some particulars in the general alarm which are curious and interesting. The men of Lidesdale, the most remote point to the westward which the alarm reached, were so much afraid of being late in the field, that they put in requisition all the horses they could find, and when they had thus made a forced march out of their own country, they turned their borrowed steeds loose to find their way back through the hills, and they all got back safe to their own stables. Another remarkable circumstance was the general cry of the inhabitants of the smaller towns for arms, that they might go along with their companions. The soul-cructure, Yeomanry, made a remarkable march. For although some of the individuals lived at twenty and thirty miles distance from the place where they mustered, they were nevertheless embodying and in order, in so short a period, that they were at Dahlkeith, which was their alarm post, about one o'clock on the day succeeding the first signal, with men and horses in good order, though the roads were in a bad state, and many of the troopers must have ridden forty or fifty miles without drawing bridle. Two members of the corps chanced to be absent from their homes, and in Edinburgh on private business. The lately married wife of one of these gentlemen, and the widowed mother of the other, sent the arms, uniforms, and chargers of the two troopers, that they might join their companions at Dahlkeith. The author was very much struck by the answer made to him by the last mentioned lady, when he paid her some compliment on the readiness which she showed in equipping her son, with the means of meeting danger, when she might have left him a fair excuse for remaining absent. Sir, she replied, with the spirit of a Roman matron, none can know better than you that my son is the only prop by which, since his father's death, our family is supported, but I would rather see him dead on that heart, than hear that he had been a horse's length behind his companions in the defence of his king and country. The author mentions what was immediately under his own eye, and within his own knowledge, but the spirit was universal, wherever the alarm reached, both in Scotland and England. The account of the ready patriotism displayed by the country, on this occasion, warmed the hearts of Scottish men in every corner of the world. It reached the ears of the well-known Dr. Leiden, whose enthusiastic love of Scotland and of his own district of Teviotdale formed a distinguished part of his character. The account which was read to him, when on a sick bed, stated very truly that the different corps, on arriving at their alarm posts, announced themselves by their music, playing the tunes peculiar to their own districts, many of which have been gathering signals for centuries. It was particularly remembered that the lion's delmen, before mentioned, entered calso, playing the lively tune, oh, why dare meddle with me, and why dare meddle with me, my name it is, little Dr. Elliot, and what dare meddle with me. The patient was so delighted with this display of ancient border spirit that he sprung up in his bed and began to sing the old song with such vehemence of action and voice that his attendance, ignorant of the cause of excitation, concluded that the fever had taken possession of his brain, and it was only the entry of another borderer, Sir John Malcolm, and the explanation, which he was well qualified to give, that prevented them from resorting to means of medical coercion. The circumstances of this false alarm and its consequences may be now held of too little importance, even for a note upon a work of fiction. But at the period when it happened, it was hailed by the country as a propitious omen, that the national forest, to which much must naturally have been trusted, had the spirit to look in the face the danger which they had taken arms to repel, and everyone was convinced that on whichever side God might bestow the victory, the invaders would meet with the most determined opposition from the children of the soil. End Readers Note End Chapter 4 End of The Antiquary by Sir Walter Scott


The increasing use of smart technology has led to greater interest in energy conservation measures, ECMs, which are becoming more accurate due to advances in energy software and computing power. However, the accuracy of ECMs must still be verified using calibration procedures, which involve measuring the performance of the model against real-world data. Several organizations have developed guidelines and methodologies for this purpose, including ASHRAE Guideline 14-2014, IPMVP, and FEMP. These guidelines identify common errors that may lead to a false sense of confidence in the accuracy of the model. The article discusses these errors and how they can be avoided. This article was authored by German Ramos Ruiz and Carlos Fernandez Bandera.