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What can I do about data posted by a former associate of our organization who has posted location information that poses a serious security risk to our organization. How can I have sensitive information removed?
security legal
asked 04 Oct '13, 00:54
accept rate: 0%
active answersoldest answersnewest answerspopular answers
Firstly, don't place questions here: it only piques people's interest. I presume as Hendriklaas suggests that your question relates to the earlier one.
Secondly, you should have contacted the original mapper directly. As he is familiar with your organisation, and, as I understand it, values it, he most likely would have removed his mapping to allay your security fears. However, you did not give him adequate time when you did this in retrospect.
Lastly, if you believe that your security might be at risk, you need to contact the Data Working Group. I would expect they will not take your assertion that your security at face value: you will need to show substantial good cause if the DWG is willing to redact these edits. I believe this is unlikely as it will create a precedent: current events mean that every shopping centre in the world could argue this too.
In general DWG are unlikely to accept your own evaluation of your security risks, without additional evidence from reputable third parties (such as the local security forces) but that is their decision. I am not a member of DWG or party to their regular decision making. In the first instance contact them and ask their advice.
Your best hope of a redaction is if you can show that every person associated with your organisation, and their family members, were required to sign a confidentially contract as part of their residence or participation in its activities. Specifically, you would need to show that such a contract existed with your former associate.
answered 04 Oct '13, 02:43
SK53
accept rate: 22%
To remove accurate information such as building names or business locations would generally be a form of vandalism and be reverted.
If there is accurate information in OSM that you believe should be removed your best option is to contact the Data Working Group at data@osmfoundation.org, but before doing so you need to first read this post on a similar question by Frederik Ramm, another member of the Data Working Group.
The most relevant quote is "OpenStreetMap will always accept building names if they're correct and their addition is legal."
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“So, while Americans were enjoying the last unofficial day of summer, the various stock index futures here were getting blasted to the downside…”
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Nowadays, more and more people exercise and run, as well as the rise of the “marathon fever”, the venue for running is getting more and more fastidious. However, in urban life, one can practice long-distance running only by choosing a road or a playground. . In fact, whether it is running on the road or running on a rubber track, both have their own advantages and disadvantages.
The following are the advantages and disadvantages of roads and rubber running track:
The advantages and disadvantages of the road
The city roads mainly include asphalt roads and concrete roads. For cars driving on the road, the support strength and friction given by the ground are the most important. But for running, runners are more concerned with the hardness, elasticity, flatness, etc. of the ground.
The cement road surface is too hard. The technical requirements for the runners are higher. The runners who need to swiftly land on the floor and have light movements. But if the runners, who have heavy weights or have heavy jogging and running, run on the hard cement road for a long time and will be vulnerable to injury.
(1) The common road surface on a park or sidewalk can avoid traffic signals if it runs around a fixed point.
(2) The road surface is relatively flat, with few roll or pits.
Disadvantages:
(1) Too hard to run for a long time is likely to accumulate pressure and cause injury.
(2) Sometimes people who need to dodge pedestrians, do not run smoothly.
Asphalt roads are elastic. Asphalt roads that are newly built for a short time are particularly elastic. In terms of long-distance endurance training, asphalt roads are ideal venues.
(1) It is the same as the road race venue and can simulate the real road feeling of the match.
(2) The friction and hardness of the road surface are high, and it is not difficult to run.
(3) Landscapes or streets change from time to time, not monotonous.
(4) Convenient, everybody has a street at the door, and just put on shoes to start running.
Disadvantages:
(1) The road surface is relatively hard, and it is easy to accumulate pressure and fatigue when the running volume is too large or the running posture is poor.
(2) Due to drainage requirements, most roads have a certain slope, which may affect the running posture.
(3) Need to pay attention to the traffic.
Advantages and disadvantages of rubber running track
Rubber running track is a more professional running place. Many schools now paved rubber track, and more and more rubber tracks are open to the general public.
Although the number of rubber track venues has increased, it is not all high-standard venues. Some rubber track can only be covered with a layer of rubber, uneven thickness, and even under the rubber potholes, joints exposed. Running on such a venue often occurs when you step on empty feet. There are also many rubber fields that fall into disrepair for maintenance.
So, what is the high-standard rubber running track?
The appearance: no cracks, without delamination, no bump, uniform color and durability;
Sign lines are clear, non-reflective, and have no obvious virtual edges;
Uniform thickness requirement, not less than 13mm;
The longitudinal slope is not greater than 1:1000, and the lateral slope is not greater than 1:100;
In addition there are tensile strength standards, elongation at break, compression recovery, rebound, flame retardant and other detailed indicators.
Running on a standard rubber track, breezy pace, moderate elasticity, and good grip. It's a wonderful feeling.
(1) Neither too hard, nor too soft, no burden on the body.
(2) Safety, no motor vehicle disturbance.
(3) Distance measured, convenient to calculate the mileage and pace.
(4) The road surface is flat, no pit or tilt.
Disadvantages:
(1) Most people are accustomed to detouring counterclockwise. If there is no alternate direction, long-term down may cause uneven left and right leg muscles.
(2) There is a difference in the sense of running and feedback from asphalt roads in the running race. Only training on the rubber track may affect actual performance.
(3) Continuously running around the circle can cause stress and fatigue on the knees, hips, and ankles.
(4) If running a long distance such as a marathon, the rubber track looks too soft and has a sense of force.
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A new EMV update has been released from NCR that is positive and proactive. We just returned from NCR’s annual Focus convention where they addressed and communicated updates about new technology coming for both software and hardware.
The software information focused on EMV. They provided some insight regarding the next Aloha version which is scheduled to become a general release sometime this year. Lastly, there is a Kiosk station now available with both software and hardware offerings. There are prerequisites that are required to implement this solution.
Hardware: new tablets will be offered both wired and wireless with a release date in the near future. Aloha Kitchen Video is out and gaining momentum. There are new controllers and software that are now available.
Lastly, NCR provided an overview on security, stressing the importance of proper network environment configurations and maintenance. Given that there will be wireless tablets, iPads, and wireless credit card readers; security needs to be at the top of the list when reviewing the infrastructure of the POS network.
The main topic was Aloha EMV. Aloha currently has 96 sites live and working with EMV through Connected Payments. There are two different devices available today and a third wireless device in testing. There are 5 current credit card processors processing through EMV. Quick Service is the leader with 92 sites and 4 sites running the Table Service software of Aloha. The Quick Service configuration is a straight forward card present transaction.
In moving forward with EMV and the environment being very new there are many factors that require review before moving a site forward. The sites that are successful are the vanilla Aloha configuration sites not requiring advanced hardware and do not run additional modules attached to the system. Third Party software or products are not recommended to be integrated at this time.
The wireless credit card devices going to the table are still in testing. All working devices are tethered “cabled” to the terminal. Meaning, if the chip in the card, is required to be used to complete the transaction the patron will need to physically touch the device to complete the transaction. The patron will need to physically be in front of the device. Quick Service facilitates this as the patron is placing an order in front of the device. Think Home Depot or CVS style transaction. Currently, Digital Signature is still being developed which will in turn produce an emailed receipt. These solutions are on the roadmap. Given the current status, Quick Service is the target implementation environment as the software is rolled out into general release.
Factors to consider for Table Service at this time are the following. NCR is working on Offline/ Store & Forward, which is known to the Aloha world as “Spooling”. The configuration is in place but having issues preventing new site roll out. Tips or Adjustments in the processing world is also a challenge at this time. The topics are being worked on and NCR delivers weekly updates on the progress. There have also been settlement issues. This is the batching of the credit cards at the end of the night. This is also preventing new site roll out for table service at this time.
EMV software is making steps forward. The questions many ask is how is the USA so far behind. Well, we are not, we are the most complicated. The configuration of the transaction is more complex given the structure of the work force. The USA pays in tips while European countries offer a salary. Tips are not a consideration in the transaction in other parts of the world. Bar tabs are another consideration that is being requested that other parts of the world do not require, as such the software configuration has never been developed and only now are we exposing the security requirements. NCR has Connected Payments working in 1000’s of locations – retail transaction configuration. The software is valid and it now needs to fit into the Aloha Table Service configuration with the proper security configuration encompassing payment protection for the patron.
The key to success is options. Although the time frame has been long and tedious, the option to pick and choose credit card processors is the key. In keeping with the core benefits of Aloha, NCR is creating a software that allows the end user to choose from multiple credit card processors to shop cost savings, while processing credit cards.
So, What Works? Currently, the Quick Service software EMV solution offers 5 credit card processors with No Adjustments. These credit card processors are: First Data, Vantiv, Chase, Elavon, and World Pay. Only 3 credit card processors with adjustments (Tips): First Data, Vantiv, and World Pay. Please note there are specific hardware terminals that work with specific credit card processors. The devices and credit card processors are not interchangeable at this time. Table Service is currently offering 3 credit card processors, with and without Adjustments: First Data, Vantiv, and World Pay. Vanilla Aloha Software Configuration.
So what hardware works? Current devices are the MX915 and the VX820. Both of these devices “tether” to the terminal. The device needs to be powered either through a separate power supply or if the terminal has a powered USB, a power over USB cable. The wireless VX690 is still in testing. The MX915 device is geared toward the Quick Service market as it has a 5” video screen on it. Again, think CVS device. The VX820 looks like a silver bullet with a keypad
Points to keep in mind: These devices will need to be injected with an encryption key based on the credit card processor. Currently, these devices will be injected from the location of purchase – NCR. Programming them onsite or “reusing” a device is currently not available. Also, keep in mind once the wireless VX690 is available the site may want to have a VX820 on hand in case there is an issue with the wireless access point on property or as a back-up unit. Next step is site configuration with the EMV solution. There will be a “Global” change to the POS hardware. Meaning that the swipe on the terminal can be disabled. This segways the conversation to what other software will be affected by making a “global” change to EMV.
What software will be affected by going to EMV? This will be a case by case scenario to understand what software the site is running and advise to potential conflicts that will arise when making the advancement to EMV. Modules to be evaluated: All Third Party add on software involving payments or credit card interactions, Aloha To Go (ATO), Aloha Online Ordering, All Gift Card programs, All Loyalty programs, All Mobile Payment software, Aloha Mobile - iOS Devices and Orderman credit card swipes.
How all these software modules will be affected is still TBD for Table Service & Quick Service. As the EMV roll out occurs weekly updates from NCR are delivered to the dealer community.
So, what about pricing? Each site will evaluate the current challenges and find a launch point with EMV. NCR is offering Connected Payments as the software solution. EDC will not control credit card processing. Connected Payments will handle credit card processing and much more as time moves forward. The software will be offered as a Hosted Solution module with a setup fee and monthly cost. There will be a cost per device depending on what hardware the site chooses. Lastly, a service fee for programming, installation and training will be required. A quote is available through POSabilities today. A Site Survey is required to identify the current version of Aloha and hardware configurations. Once a quote is requested the site will be provided with the site survey results and recommendations for the system to accept EMV along with any challenges of any additional software modules identified.
Ok, So a quote has been received and still looking to move forward! Ordering timeframes. This will be a supply and demand driven process. I have been told orders can take up to 6-8 weeks to be delivered. This will take into effect the injection process and credit card processor configuration. The time frame is still an open scenario as it may be longer or shorter based on the market reaction to EMV. Keep in mind that the solution is still not in general release. Many want to be early adopters, many will want to play it safe and wait until the bugs are gone, and some will be completely off the band wagon. This will all affect the time frame for ordering gear. The next potential bottle neck will be the amount of orders into POSabilities. This will encompass the programming, installation, and training of the EMV software and devices. If the process is like adding a server into the system there is a 2 day per site scenario that occurs to work out the bugs. The market journals and the experienced professionals are advising that if a system has done nothing to prepare for the move to EMV it can take up to 6 months. From gathering info to processing options to pricing, system upgrades, training and EMV implementation a path well-worn will serve the end user well when accounting for the pennies, nickels, and dimes at the end of each day.
Recommendations! Start early. This is a phase one of options. As with all technology more options will arise. Learn as much as possible. Ask us questions. Acquire a site survey and a quote. This will help to evaluate the cost versus the price of EMV. What is the cost? chargebacks versus the price of moving the system into EMV status?
All of POSabilities sales reps are knowledgeable of the process and configuration requirements of EMV today. We are efforting to keep up with this ever-changing solution. We are here to move all sites to EMV at their pace as effectively and efficiently as possible.
Over the past few months, there has been a lot of development with EMV. Quick Service is ready to go and we are able to move forward with quoting and installing EMV ready Payment Terminals at these sites. The Table Service solution is still in the re-certification phase. This solution date is TBD, but close as the re-certification is underway. Since EMV for Table Service is not certified, we cannot provide this to you just yet.
EMV is a big shift in the way businesses will operate and by staying up to date with this topic you will be able to know whether this is the right solution for you. If you have not already done so, please read all of the information on our website and go through the Visa chip readiness guide.
"While the EMV testing and certification process is working its way across the U.S. payments landscape, Visa will also limit the number of transactions issuers can chargeback to merchants (and their acquirers) until April 2018. As of July 22, 2016, chargebacks under $25, due to U.S. counterfeit fraud, will no longer be charged back to merchants. Visa will block all U.S. counterfeit fraud chargebacks under $25. In addition to the dollars lost to fraud, the time and cost associated with managing those chargebacks is also onerous for merchants. As of Oct. 2016, Visa will also limit issuers to charging back 10 fraudulent counterfeit transactions per account. After that point, the issuer assumes liability." - (PYMTS.com 06/17/16)
The two articles below explain further how Visa and American Express take responsibility and make reprieves.
American Express offers olive branch to merchants over EMV liability costs
We will continue to keep you updated on this topic as more updates become available.
This is our third EMV update for the Aloha community. It has been slow going but there is progress regardless of changes made by the card brands. The quality behind the Aloha solution is the open architecture and allowing for multiple credit card processor option. This offers the end user to approach the credit card processor from a strategic advantage in market selection.
When reviewing the current status of the industry one will find that still many retailers are not using EMV. Even Walmart is having difficulty moving forward and finding they too are in the mix of the charge back challenge. Now due to the challenges and delays congress is getting involved.
There is also a growing movement toward legal action per the number of charge backs being allowed without any opportunity for rebuttal.
For some good news NCR is making forward movement with Aloha Connected Payments and the EMV solution. NCR has just gone live with a beta site on the Aloha Quick Service product. This solution is operational and being field tested. The solution is available starting at the end of June beginning of July. The solution has 5 processors to choose from: NCR -World Pay, First Data, Vantiv, Chase, & Elavon. The devices available are: VeriFone MX915 & MX925 for credit and debit.
As for Aloha Table Service – the solution has gone back into Re-certification. The card brands have made changes on their side that has required NCR to take the solution back through certification. This solution is slated to be available by end of July with limited functionality and limited devices. September is the target date for a wireless device to be available to bring to the table to complete the transaction. Please note this will all be a version 1 solution and many additional changes will be occurring moving forward.
For those who cannot wait any longer and want to be the first we do have pricing for software, hardware and services to configure a quote. Please note that when implementing new technology – the new technology will utilize the latest software platforms and require the latest hardware specifications. It is highly suggested that a site survey is requested to ensure the site is ready for a EMC Solution. Site surveys do take time so place your request today.
POSabilities is going through advanced training in the beginning of June and will have a fully configured test lab with firsthand knowledge of how the solution will operate by the middle of June. Our goal is to prepare the end user with as much knowledge possible as to what version 1 functionality will include and as important will not include. It is highly encouraged that all sites review EMV communications 1 & 2 as there is information and worksheets for the solution that are necessary to assist in making the right timed decision for a EMV implementation.
We are here at the second update for EMV and Aloha. If you have not watched the video or completed the liability worksheet included in the first update please keep those items top of mind. The decision to move to EMV is recommended to be based on the knowledge the change that EMV will have on the operations side of the business along with enhancing security and advancing today’s technology.
Up to this point many have seen that being ready to move forward is also a key component. Each site, per their request, has received a site survey of the business identifying each device, the specifications of those devices and the current Aloha software running at the site. In an effort to maximize the speed to EMV specific updates need to be confirmed before moving forward. The time is now to know where the system stands and make a plan for the next coming steps.
In this update we will discuss in more detail the software and hardware surrounding EMV within Aloha. This will also include the processors that Aloha has identified as the top five that will be incorporated into the solution. There will also be some critical thought given to the hardware that will be used, incorporating acquirement and replacement.
To begin it is essential to understand where the liability sits today given the changes that have taken place. Below is a graph that points out exactly where the merchant is liable.
This will help to ease the tension of the uncertainty and confusion that EMV inherently adds to the running of the business. Also note that EMV for the merchants offering payment option at the gas pumps or distribution of funds from bank ATM’s are not required to offer a chip solution till 2017. When reviewing all the timeframes it becomes apparent that the USA is still in a preliminary mode of informing and educating the general public on the expectations the chip card has on daily transactional payments. More importantly there is time to review and understand what is needed before a decision is made that may contradict the operation flow of the business.
NCR / Aloha is working to bring a robust EMV solution as quickly as possible. The goal is to offer a solution that keeps site of the importance of PCI Compliancy within a securely configured network while maintaining processor selection options within the credit card transactional landscape. To accomplish this NCR /Aloha is has created a software called Aloha Connect Payments. Aloha Connect Payments (ACP) – is a payment gateway that will be used to connect the credit card hardware to the POS terminal and create a software: Point 2 Point Encrypted tunnel for secure communication. The solution will also include the ability to use mobile wallets for payments as well. As this software becomes more developed for the hospitality industry the technology advancements and offering will become more robust. Items on the horizon will include digital signature, on-line ordering integration, along with loyalty and stored value. Aloha Connected payments is not new to NCR. This software has in place for many years servicing the retail sector. Currently there are over 17,000 users of this product today. The enhancement and changes are on the EMV incorporation of the software. The value within this software is the isolation from the POS, flexibility of processors and devices, tokenization security and easy adoption of new innovative payment methods as they arise.
NCR Connected Payments for Restaurants Brochure
Aloha Connect Payments is speculated as a hosted solution subscription service. The pricing is still being determined but is being described as a $150 set up fee and & $75 per month. The first release of the software is to provide Point to Point Encryption (P2Pe) and mobile wallet payment options with EMV integration with devices thereafter.
The flexibility of the solution NCR is working on will incorporate 5 processors. At this time the rollout is to be as follows:
The first processor configured to run EMV will be RBS – World Pay. This is also NCR Merchant Services.
The next 4 processor roll outs will be in the following order: First Data (BAMS) Rapid Connect, Vantiv-Fifth Third Bank, Chase Paymentech and Elavon.
Additional processors will be added to the list per PCI & PADSS validation of the software and the hardware configurations.
The credit card hardware terminals will be available through the respective credit card processors. Due to the high level of demand and low levels of supply NCR is currently not a supplier of these devices. To obtain the device it will need to be purchased through the processor. The devices currently being used are:
Verifone MX915 & MX925 – these devices are tethered to the terminal and ideal for quick service operations.
Verifone VX820 – wireless device for table service operation looking for a “pay at the table” solution.
Verifone VX690 - wireless device is still under development and will be the next device validated through the solution.
Below are part numbers and additional software required for the device to work with ACP.
Keep in mind each EMV device requires an injected encryption (security codes/software) for the device to work with the specific processor to work. The injection may not come ready with the device when purchased and also may be additional to have completed. Purchasing these devices on the open market place may pose additional challenges to make them work once they enter into the business. Also keep in mind that if a device goes bad or is broken replacement may not be as simple as going to the store or calling the vendor to replace. The software injection may take multiple days before the device is ready for replacement.
For the next update we will discuss the differences between Chip and Signature and Chip and Pin. There will be a more in depth dive into the operational impacts that the EMV device will pose while running the business. There will also be the discussion of debit cards and taking advantage of the inherent value or cost savings accepting debit payment. Lastly, there will be the discussion about PCI security and what happens to these requirements once EMV is up and running.
Here is the first of many updates regarding the EMV liability shift and more importantly Data Security that is recommended as the priority focus for the business. The information being presented comes from multiple sources within the hospitality and payment industries. The goal is to provide information on the EMV solution as it is still a work in process on all sides including – Consumers, Banks, Merchants and Processors. The key to moving forward is understanding everyone’s role.
Payment acceptance is changing rapidly and the security of the individual consumer, including their payment data, is taking a front row seat. To start: note that EMV is a transfer of liability - Not a deadline, nor a mandate. It is a relative point within payment data security. ATM machines and automated gas dispensers are not required to move to EMV till 2017. Note it is the Banks stating they are wanting to pass along the liability of a fraudulent charge by making all consumers use Chip credit cards and having the merchants use the EMV technology to process the payment. Keep in mind the consumers First have to have the cards. Here in the USA the number of issued chip cards are low but increasing. So the importance of EMV is high but the action ability of implementing EMV should be cautious.
The next area of notability is understanding chip & signature vs chip & pin. The USA is moving forward with chip & signature to start and then to chip & pin. But given the amount of credit cards issued from another countries, which have been configured as chip & pin, it is important that a solution selected has a chip & pin minded process. More details to be shared on this shortly. Due to the fact the EMV was coming to the USA many processors have created their process as chip & pin only and not chip & signature. So again before moving forward it is highly suggested you understand the rules of engagement, with the processor selected as the solution provider, on their details of EMV credit card processing.
Lastly, what is the effect EMV will have on the business’s operations? We highly suggest in personally engaging in a chip credit card transaction as quickly as possible to “feel” the new way a payment transaction occurs. First and foremost there will be a time delay in processing a credit card payment. The other areas being effected is the way the tip will be configured on the guests check. Remember EMV is a card present transaction. The total of the check must be completed in totality. Meaning the tip is processed with the payment before the card leaves the building. This is very different from today as a tip in many instances is not added for up to hours later. Also, if your business allowed for customers to run an open credit card tab – this functionality has changed for chip & signature and changed drastically for chip & pin.
Given that this is a lot of information on multiple topics we have included a video from NCR and RBS World Pay that will review the above points and others that are critical to the success of your business’s EMV and data security implementation.
Please note that this video was optimized for use on mobile device and that the initial load is very slow at times. It also requires registration prior to watching the video.
After watching the video keep in mind that data security is the most important point and that EMV is only a portion of the solution. Below you will find information on the network environment PCI compliant solution and how to maintain PCI compliancy.
If all this information is overwhelming you are not alone. With all kinds of questions about where and when to start it is important to ensure you are in control from the beginning. Below is a link to a self-evaluation worksheet that will help to identify what the business’s liability exposure during the time of review as to what approach to EMV is best for the business.
Lastly, we have included additional website links to payment news articles and information commenting and educating on data security and EMV.
Additional external links
Restaurant and Retail EMV Payments
8 FAQ about EMV credit cards
The next communication will touch on when is the right time to go to EMV? After learning the vocabulary and understand the current landscape of the technology the next step is when to undertake the EMV initiative. EMV will bring about many new options to the hospitality payment world that has never been there before. For example – Digital signature, emailing of receipts, extended payment options and mobile phone payment options. When will all these options be available and which devices today will be obsolete next 6 -9 months? Stay tuned as this topic is only getting hotter!
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One more on automated testing, if you allow me. Yesterday evening (i.e. on July 17th, as this post is scheduled to go live on the 18th), I will hopefully have updated the test framework on github. There are two big changes in this new version, and those to have to be explained. I swapped out … Continue reading Automated Testing – Blocking Tracking
April 18, 2017 April 15, 2017 ~ Jan Exner ~ 1 Comment
This year, I had the opportunity to run a hands-on lab about data quality at the Adobe Summit in Las Vegas, and I'll run the same lab again in London on the 10th. The lab was mainly about the test framework I also write about here a lot. My hope was that I could introduce … Continue reading Data Quality at the Adobe Summit
March 7, 2017 April 18, 2018 ~ Jan Exner ~ 9 Comments
[180418 - updated to reflect move to ChromeDriver] I feel like a fraud! For months — no! Years! — I have been writing about testing, more specifically automated testing. I have shared my Site Infrastructure Tests github, I have spoken about it at the Adobe Summit in London, and I have mentioned multiple times that … Continue reading Automating Tests
What to Test
March 1, 2016 March 2, 2016 ~ Jan Exner ~ 15 Comments
I think we can safely say that I have thoroughly gutted DTM by now, and that whatever else I unearth from it now won't be a pretty sight. That must mean it is time to stop writing about integration, code, and dirty tricks, and instead to wag my finger at you whilst mumbling dark prophecies … Continue reading What to Test
December 2, 2015 December 2, 2015 ~ Jan Exner ~ 2 Comments
Very unlike me, I'm posting the next part just the next day. Call it excitement. Introduction tl;dr: I describe a (rudimentary) tool that can be integrated into automated Maven tests. The tool tests that all data needed for tracking as well as the basic triggers on page load are still working fine. Put it into your … Continue reading TDD – Testing Data Elements and Page Load Rules – part II
October 27, 2015 December 2, 2015 ~ Jan Exner ~ 7 Comments
Some time ago I wrote an article in which I dreamt of having some sort of test-driven development capability in online marketing tools. At the time, I said the vendors had to chime in, building hooks, frameworks or APIs into their systems so users and consultants would be able to be test-driven. I had discussions … Continue reading TDD and Adobe Analytics
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Can it be that it was all so simple then? Dear Skating’s Chris Lipomi has made it his mission to dig through the history books to recreate a feeling. Many high street brands understand that referencing the past sells, you can buy a weathered Ramones shirt anywhere now but mocking up a fake relic isn’t what Dear Skating have done. Far more of an honourable and respectful journey has been made into the past. Chris isn’t wielding a Sports Almanac and we are all invited on his journey. He has been perusing the past and hand picking moments, even making available things which never were but exist in our collective consciousness. In a recent interview he said that he “wanted to recreate that feeling of finding that box in your parents’ attic with all your old shirts in it for as many people as possible”. We have been stocking Dear since the first drop of T-Shirts through to the recent Christmas Stick-O-Rama inspired release and are looking forward to seeing the whole thing evolve. We recommend you read this Chris Lipomi interview because he has a lot of interesting things to say. It covers everything from his early discussions with Brian Anderson and Alex Olson, his personal relationship with skateboarding and the journey it took him on and it has him articulate the pure feeling he wants Dear to represent and recreate. One of the most interesting points in the interview is the observation that skateboarding is finally beginning to reference itself. Read the whole interview by Mackenzie Eisenhour HERE. Shop for everything we have from Dear Skating HERE
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There's really no super-clean way to talk about NARS Orgasm, is there? No matter how this beauty chick phrases her thoughts and musings on the cult classic, it just comes out sounding a wee bit naughty. But there's seriously nothing naughty about the long-awaited nail polish in the brand's all-time fan favorite hue.
As if NARS Orgasm Lip Gloss weren't enough, now there's NARS Orgasm Nail Polish! And, you guessed it ... they're both the same gorgeous shade of shimmery peachy pink.
NARS Orgasm Lip Gloss retails for $26 at sephora.com. NARS Orgasm Nail Polish retails for $19 at sephora.com.
Posted by Jamie at 10:57 AM Labels: gift set, lipgloss, nail polish, NARS
2 comments:
fuzkittie April 22, 2008 at 1:36 PM
Omg~~ I recently bought NARS The Multiple (in Orgasm - hahaha), and love the color. I don't have the beloved gloss, so this is my chance to get both the gloss and the polish in this awesome hue! =) Thanks for sharing the news. By the way, I recently tagged you in a post, would love to see your response!
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nilla cookie April 23, 2008 at 5:25 PM
I'm going to get this too! I was trying to order it this morning but I forgot my Sephora GC at home - boo! Can't wait to hear what you think about it :)
Hope you're having a happy hump day!
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When the first X-MEN movie came out I thought this new “Hugh Jackman” guy looked and acted so much like Clint Eastwood that I called it “The Return of Clint.”
“I’m not sure how this was accomplished exactly,” I wrote at the time. “Maybe this is a computer generated renderation of a young Clint… Maybe it is Clint under a lot of makeup to make him look more like he did in his Thunderbolt days. Maybe it is a son of Clint’s, much like Chad McQueen but keeping more in the true spirit of his father than Chad does. Or hell, maybe it’s just some dude named Hugh Jackman who looks a lot like Clint Eastwood.”
These days I lean toward the third one, and maybe the resemblance is harder to see now that Jackman is such a star in his own right and has done plenty of roles where he’s not scowling. But man, he elevated the world of that movie by squinting at it with that Clint attitude, and he was even introduced as a bare knuckle brawler like Philo Beddoe minus the orangutan. It didn’t feel like a guy self-consciously imitating a Clint-like persona, either. It was a genuine badass presence and charisma that I still believe birthed the entire modern era of comic book movie mania, for good or bad. Because without Jackman as Wolverine I don’t think X-MEN would’ve caught on and if X-MEN didn’t catch on I don’t think the Marvel movies would’ve gotten off the ground and we’d all be going to conventions dressing up as characters from serious adult dramas. (I can’t decide if I’m going as BRIDGE OF SPIES this year or one of the ACLU lawyers from LOVING.)
So it’s fitting and poetic and beautiful that 17 damn years later (!) Jackman’s ninth and intended-as-final movie as Wolverine reminds me more of a straight up Eastwood vehicle than an X-MEN movie. Like Clint in THE GAUNTLET or PINK CADILLAC he takes a job transporting and protecting someone across the country while being chased by people trying to kill her, and he’s not nice to her at first but she eventually cuts through his grouchy exterior.
This reminds me more of BLOOD FATHER than of the other X-Men pictures, which is also true of the movie.
Like UNFORGIVEN he’s retired from the (in this case super-heroing) business, haunted by legends of his past and guilt about the violence he committed. Like IN THE LINE OF FIRE or BLOOD WORK he’s aging and washed up. His healing powers don’t always work, and in one scene he has a claw that won’t come out all the way until he pulls it out by hand. In the opening he’s drunk and gets beat up while working in a humiliating job as a limo driver. I’m sure somebody has a good story about the time Wolverine from the X-Men was their limo driver. This was a brilliant job for him to end up in because 1) it’s shocking to see Wolverine as a servant to drunk teens in prom dresses and 2) it’s an excuse to put him in a suit jacket and bloody white dress shirt for part of the movie.
As shitty as the job is, his time off is worse – he goes over the border to a tipped over silo where he and an albino mutant named Caliban (Stephen Merchant, creator of The Office) are hiding 90-something-year-old Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart, LIFEFORCE). They take turns listening to his confused blather and giving him shots to stave off seizures that could kill everybody in the area. Some kind of accident like that is what turned him into a fugitive in the first place. In all the years of exploring and deconstructing super heroes that’s a concept I’ve never thought of before: the potential dangers of people with super powers aging and losing control of their bodies.
It’s 2029, by the way. The world doesn’t look totally different, nor do cell phones, but shit is bad. Most or all of his cool friends from the other movies are dead, no mutants have been born in 25 years, and Logan doesn’t take it seriously when Charles claims to be in communication with a new one. Until around the time he sees her holding a severed head. Her name is Laura (Dafne Keen), she’s 11 years old, she doesn’t talk but she has claws and healing powers like his and is very, very good at killing people who come after her.
The Mexican nurse (Elizabeth Rodriguez, FRESH, THE DROP) taking care of Laura has tracked down “The Wolverine” saying he’s the only one who can help. She and some other young mutants have escaped from captivity and people are trying to killing them. So very reluctantly, after a few rejections, Logan gets involved in this quest to deliver the little mutant asskicker to a place called Eden in North Dakota where supposedly the other young mutants can be together and get across the border to Canada where they’ll be safe.
See, Laura and her friends are the new type of mutants, made in a lab in Mexico by the same dicks that wiped out the old type. Like him in his Weapon X days, these kids are created to be weapons, not people. They’re made from the DNA of natural born mutants, and it doesn’t take long for Logan to figure out where Laura came from.
The bad guys are a sort of corporate militarized police force, macho SWAT type guys covered in their layers of armor and guns and scarves and shit, looking way more real-life-mercenary than sci-fi, except for the occasional robot hand. They’re led by cocky Pierce (Boyd Holbrook, A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES), who reminds me of a villain who would be on Justified. He shows up in Logan’s limo to threaten him in a quasi-friendly talk, then says “Big fan, by the way.” So this is the guy that’s gonna be chasing Logan with a caravan of SUVs, a squad of drones, and a secret weapon somewhat reminiscent of the works of John Hyams. (Also I guess Daniel Bernhardt from the BLOODSPORT sequels is on the team, but I didn’t notice.)
These are the Deportation Force. Er, I mean the Reavers I guess they’re called. I remember talking about the Patriot Act in my review of X2, and all these years later here’s a movie making me think of Trump’s inhumane attacks on Muslims, Mexicans, immigrants and refugees. Mistreated Mexican immigrants in trouble at the border, later becoming refugees fleeing for safety in Canada, mutants officially unwelcome on American soil, depending on the kindness or looking-the-other-way of sympathetic citizens. Pierce is a piece of shit but probly believes he’s just doing his job. He’s not being ironic when he calls his side “the good guys,” deriding Caliban for switching sides – i.e. finding a conscience – after helping track down his fellow mutants during the big purge. Not that he’d necessarily care, but I doubt he thinks of himself as somebody participating in a genocide. He’s just looking for a win. And who knows, maybe he’d have a nicer job if there were more available. Like if the delivery trucks weren’t automated.
Along the way there’s a ton of good action. In case somebody is still bothered that Wolverine never got to stab motherfuckers very graphically before, he makes up for all nine PG-13 movies and some change. There are heads and arms chopped off, claws going all the way through a head and into a wall, etc. There’s a great getaway scene that to me seemed stylistically influenced by FURY ROAD, and it has some cool shit in it. I can’t think of another movie where they try the traditional bust-through-the-chain-link-fence maneuver and they get stuck and have to back up and try something else. While dragging a barb-wire-covered section of fence.
And there’s a big scene unlike any other I can think of, where Xavier is surrounded by gunmen and has a psychic seizure that puts everyone for blocks into a sort of vibrating, ear-ringing paralysis. It’s like everybody is standing still underwater during an earthquake. Logan, with his Wolverine strength, struggles against this force like a man trying to walk through a tornado, fighting his way through a casino and into the motel room to kill the attackers before they can manage to pull their triggers. It’s gotta be the most unusual concept for an action scene since INCEPTION.
There’s this thing I’ve written about before, I still haven’t figured out a name for it, but it’s one of the rarest and most desirable types of moments to have in an action film: when an action climax and an emotional climax happen at the same time. I think the first time I noticed it was in MY FATHER IS A HERO, and there’s a very similar one here. When (SPOILER) jacked-up-on-drugs Wolverine hauls ass through the forest and catches up to the assholes attacking the kids it’s the beginning of the type of big, brutal fight the X-MEN films were always hinting at, but also you see on Laura’s face the realization that Logan does care about her after all. So it’s simultaneous action adrenaline and heart-string pull. The ultimate action movie high.
Because truly, sincerely, this is a character drama. In part it’s about Logan’s relationship with Xavier, who annoys him but also gives him advice. At one point he pretends Charles is his dad, “Chuck,” and it’s not a total lie. He gets mad at him and they butt heads over their differing attitudes, but also Logan is still learning from the Professor and loves him like a father.
And more than that, of course, it’s about what Logan learns from this girl, who as a clone is his daughter, but also is his younger self, a do-over. Xavier says she could potentially be “better” than him, whatever that means. She’s got his animalistic side – doesn’t talk, doesn’t know not to steal or fight, can and often does brutally stab dudes to death, and I mean probly upwards of two dozen stabs on some of them. But also she has an optimism that Logan rarely had in his centuries of living. She insists on traveling to this Eden that he doesn’t believe in, she needs her friends, and she (like Xavier) has a belief in helping people that he gave up a long time ago.
(By the way there’s one major thing I think I was misreading, but it was cool while it lasted. I really thought they were implying that Laura had some Jean Grey DNA in her too. When Xavier asks “Does she remind you of anybody?” of course he means Wolverine because of her claws, but as soon as he said it I thought “Holy shit, she really does look like Jean Grey.” That would explain why she was the only one who could communicate with Xavier while he was in the silo. And later Xavier says something about her being made from Logan’s DNA and I thought Logan said something about not being the only one which I took to mean that he suspected she had inherited things from other mutants too. And if that were the case it would be so bittersweet because he never got to have the relationship he wanted with Jean and now he would sort of have a child with her long after the fact. But when he sees Laura’s file it reveals no such thing, and there’s no telepathic pay off either, so I’ll chalk those things up to coincidences and misunderstandings on my part. THIS IS NOT A FAN THEORY.)
In the great modern action tradition it’s in the great western tradition, right down to the imagery: trails of dust clouds from dirt roads, camping out on cliffs, scanning the landscape with a telescope looking for trackers, a train, even horses. Logan is the wanderer who tries to help people in need, but death follows him wherever he goes. The nod to the genre becomes explicit in a great scene where Xavier watches SHANE with Laura in the motel and is excited to share it with her, telling her what an important movie it is, when he first saw it and in what theater. He would be so happy to know that she memorizes a speech from it and recites it later!
Actually, I think this a better western than director James Mangold’s own 3:10 TO YUMA. He did a fine job with Logan’s 2013 adventure in Japan, THE WOLVERINE, but this is an even stronger, more thoughtful, and much more emotional story. I also think it’s cool that Mangold directed WALK THE LINE and then used great Rick Rubin-era Johnny Cash songs for the trailer and end credits of this one.
The script is by Mangold & Scott Frank (OUT OF SIGHT, THE LOOKOUT) along with Michael Green (who wrote GREEN LANTERN, but hopefully this is more representative of his work since they got him writing both ALIEN: COVENANT and BLADE RUNNER 2049). It’s really smart, full of implication and ambiguity, never over-explanatory, never too obvious, smoothly establishing details that will be important shortly thereafter (that there’s a train nearby, that Wolverine can withstand Xavier’s seizures better than others).
I love most of the X-MEN movies, and over the years I’ve enjoyed the way they set things up for future installments, leave you wondering about things and have cliffhangers during the credits and stuff, techniques they developed before the separate Marvel Cinematic Universe existed. I remember the excited chatter in the theater after the Dark-Phoenix-hinting X2 ending, and my relief that the end of X3 implied that Magneto and maybe my favorite character Mystique might be able to get their powers back. Also I remember trying to explain to people that if they’d stayed until after the credits they’d know that Xavier was still alive but transferred his consciousness into somebody else’s body, or something. It was fun.
But in the current landscape where that type of serial storytelling is common, it’s a thrill to see this last and best chapter of Wolverine’s story confidently striding in with a sense of finality. Yes, it points backwards a little bit (a great reference to part 1’s Statue of Liberty finale, a samurai sword from THE WOLVERINE hanging on the wall, a wistful look as he sees his old friend Rogue on the cover of a comic book), but it’s not leaving anybody hanging from cliffs. It gives a perfect and definitive ending to the story.
(It’s funny though, a big portion of the crowd stayed through the credits and expressed surprise when there wasn’t a tag of any kind. I don’t think you guys understand…)
This is not just a good one, this is something special. For me I’m pretty sure it’s in the top five super hero movies with DARK KNIGHT and BLADE. Honestly it’s kinda like they made it just for my tastes. But everybody else seems to love it too, so you’re welcome. I’m happy to share it with you.
It’s a great and pure badass movie with elements of comic book movie. It has grit and muscle and the strongest muscle is the heart. When I keep thinking back to what I loved in LOGAN it’s not all the “cool” stuff that comes to mind first. It’s the made-me-tear-up-beautiful final shot. And then it’s a scene where Logan finally, briefly opens up to Laura, confesses something that was obvious to us but that he’d probly never said out loud before, and she immediately shows that she gets it, that she’s been there, that he really isn’t alone anymore. God damn, this is what I go to movies for, this potent blend of the awesome and the human. Come for the SNIKT!, stay for the awwwwww.
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40 Responses to “Logan”
March 7th, 2017 at 12:56 pm
I made the mistake of watching this and Manchester by the Sea within days of each other and I was emotionally drained as a result. It took a viewing of Freebie and the Bean to snap me out of my funk.
March 7th, 2017 at 1:08 pm
I liked this one a lot, but can’t help but think it’s yet another Marvel movie which really suffers from a lack of good villains. Richard Grant is a tired-looking nonentity, and Pierce is a enjoyably hateable asshole, but not really much of a real threat. SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS in fact, despite looking badass I can’t help but notice how fucking terrible these “Reavers” are at doing their jobs. So their plan to catch a bunch of superpowered kids specifically bred and trained to be brutal killers is… to run up and grab them? Seems like the kids would probably have been fine on their own even if James Howlett had never shown up. I guess even a movie as R-rated at this one gets queasy about putting little kids in danger, but it would be nice if the situation felt a little more desperate. They need their own Wolverine to provide any real real competition at all. But while that works nicely thematically, Wolvie #2 is a pretty dull character narratively.
That having been said, it’s really more of a drama than an action movie, so having weak villains doesn’t really hurt it too much. Jackman and Stewart are really wonderful, together and separately, and the script seems a little more simple and elegant than these things usually are (despite some odd hiccups like having Laura suddenly start talking out of the blue). I don’t know that I’m quite convinced it’s the masterpiece some people seem to be calling it, but it’s damn good. Definitely one of the best comic book movies, although that’s somewhat of a backhanded compliment.
Also: I find myself amused to no end that one of the most interesting characters in this is introduced in one of the dumbest superhero movies (that being Caliban in X-MEN: APOCALYPSE, of course). It’s like ROGUE ONE trotting out Jimmy Smits as a fuck-you to the peeps who would like to ignore the disreputable past. Sorry X-MEN fans, APOCALYPSE is cannon, and you can’t have LOGAN without it (although it does offer an out, since we know that in-movie the X-Men comics are merely exaggerated versions of real events; perhaps Logan has seen X-MEN 3: THE LAST STAND and all that. But if so, he’s gotta be impressed at what a good likeness they found for him).
March 7th, 2017 at 1:38 pm
My initial impression was that the villains were weak too but after I slept on it I realized that the true villain is time. Time robbed him of the people he loved. Time turned the Professor into shell of his former self. Time made him weaker. Time lessened his healing factor. Time took his eyesight. Without time this would just be another X-Men spin-off.
The other villain (Spoiler) is himself. Literally and figuratively. At first I thought it was cheesy but the idea of a younger, faster and stronger Wolverine was an ideal villain. Not only is he a badass, he’s a reminder to Logan of who he was, which again feeds into time being the villain.
Mr. Majestyk
March 7th, 2017 at 2:19 pm
It takes a good half-hour to get the “We can say fuck now!”s out of its system, and it has a truly epic part-where-it-drags-in-the-middle (you could make an entire other movie out of it), but it does nail both the big dramatic moments and the extra-strength carnage. I’m not sure it needed to be this bleak, though. I’m also not sure the ending, probably considered bold and brave by people conditioned to believe that anything but total despair is Hollywood bullshit, is correct for this particular story. It feels like it goes out of its way to validate Logan’s manly, masochistic self-absorption by giving him exactly what he dreamed about when he sat around feeling sorry for himself. It comes off as a combination of self-impressed edgelord miserablism and actorly indulgence instead of a logical summation of the themes of the narrative, particularly as presented by Charles. It’s still a very good and even moving film but I don’t think they stuck the landing.
I’m specifically talking about the (SERIOUSLY, SPOILERS) death scene. The themes of the story up until that point had not been about finding a glorious cause to die for. It was about finding a laborious, non-glamorous cause to live for. So many details–from Charles helping Laura when everyone else is just waiting for him to die, to him telling Logan that he still has time to make a difference, to the farmer refusing to cut and run even though his land will almost certainly be taken from him in the long run–make a case that the heroic thing to do, the lesson that Logan needs to learn, is that you have to play out your string, however short it is. You don’t take the adamantium bullet when things get tough. You suck up the pain and illness and weakness and do whatever you can with whatever time you have left. I just don’t think him getting impaled on a log after a generic stabfight really got that across.
To me, the more moving ending and the one that would better explicate these themes, would be Logan leading these kids across the border and Professor Xing them for as long as he could. He knows his days are numbered (as we all do, but it’s new for him) but he keeps fighting. Not with his muscles, which will fail him, but with his mind, his character, his experience. He’s more than just a pair of claws, a blunt instrument, an animal. He always has been, though he’s always denied it, and finally he acknowledges it. The film ends with him slowly wasting away, becoming more frail, losing his trademark hair, until he’s in a wheelchair, surrounded by his charges, his own X-Men, who now have a chance in this world thanks to him. For Wolverine, who’s been looking for his blaze of glory for centuries, dying a normal, banal death would be the bravest act he could commit.
They can keep that part with the cross though cuz that shit was adorbs.
March 7th, 2017 at 2:31 pm
Sorry in advance. This movie is not half as good as it is being reported as being. I felt all the cussing and violence and one boob flash felt extremely forced and made the movie seem like most modern comics in that it feels like a 12-15 year old trying REALLY hard to impress us with how ‘mature’ they are. The novelty of seeing a PG-rated children’s character cuss and brutally murder people ran out fast for me. To cause even more controversy: I’m not entirely sure why BATMAN V SUPERMAN is held up as everything wrong with the modern superhero movie while this one is now being held up as the greatest one ever (for this week). I mean yeah LOGAN is much better movie than BVS alternatively speaking but both are mean-spirited and nihilistic for the sake of nihilism (a problem just about every single ‘mature-minded’ superhero story has).
Agree with Mr. S, the villains suck in this one. Would have been nice if ‘ol Wolvie got to up against a worthy adversary on his last ride. Though still liked when (SPOILER) the real villain is explaining things the audience may want to know but Logan don’t give a fuck and plugs him almost immediately (END SPOILER).
All that said, I’m still positive on the movie and in the future this may be one of many where I pull the stick out of ass on but at the moment: I feel it gets the job done but seriously guys lets pull back on the hyperbole. Glad you all loved it though, I think the early reviews hyped me up too much for this one though (which is my fault!). There is lots to like: the acting is pretty great and much, much better than what we normally get in blockbuster-fare, the action (while a bit repetitive) is pretty good, it’s real nice to have his story come to a definite end and on top of that we get a great final shot. Too bad I fear that what Hollywood will take away from this one isn’t that audiences want smaller-scale personal drama (that rings REAL) to go with their spectacle but that audiences want children’s cartoon characters cussing and violently murdering people instead.
March 7th, 2017 at 2:58 pm
I guess I saw it differently from you guys. It didn’t occur to me that this could be considered a movie with a weak villain, because it’s not at all a “wolverine vs. bad guy Y” type of movie. The Reavers are not Magneto, they are the hellhounds on his tail as he deals with his emotional crises that the movie is primarily about. In fact, I thought it was universally agreed to be the flaw of THE WOLVERINE that it’s a story all about this great character but then at the end it turns into Wolverine fights robot guy. This never did that or felt like that and that’s why it’s so much more successful as a story.
(As for their alleged weakness, they did SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER manage to wipe out the entire generation of original mutants.)
Majestyk, I like what you say about what would’ve happened if he survived to help the kids, but to me his death was not so much about sacrificing for a worthy cause as about that moment he had of remembering what it was like to have family and care about other people. That was the last thing he talked about, and it made him smile.
Geoffreyjar, I had the opposite feeling. I previously thought it was silly that people wanted the X-movies to be more hardcore, but this (especially with its old-school-action-movie-for-adults look and feel and mood and subject matter) just felt completely natural. Of course a movie like this gets violent, and would feel phony and lesser if it pulled its punches. It shows great restraint in so many other areas it feels get to unleash during explosions of conflict.
March 7th, 2017 at 3:21 pm
I had mixed feelings coming out of this one. Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart had some pretty awesome performances but overall I just couldn’t get into it. Like others have mentioned, the weak and unmemorable villains didn’t leave any kind of a mark on the movie and I felt Xavier’s death was underserved because of the surprise reveal of mirror match Logan. Not sure if it bothered any else but being a tv production person, it bugged me to no end that X-23’s nurse/caretaker had a perfectly edited plot explanation video with b-roll. I couldn’t shake the question of how she is collecting all of this footage with no one noticing despite it clearly being cellphone footage. Also didn’t care for the Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome turn near the end. Easily the best of the Wolverine films but the bar was set pretty low with the first two entries.
March 7th, 2017 at 3:43 pm
Just to be clear, I liked the movie a lot, and agree that a lack of real threat from the villain is a pretty minor point in light of it mostly being a drama anyway (at least until the very end). And I didn’t find the profanity or violence forced at all; in fact, it seems much more natural than having to cut around the essence of his powers in other movies. I’m with Vern, it would feel pretty ridiculous for a washed-up ex-killer like Logan to watch his language or be polite about killing off baddies.
SPOILERS
That having been said, something about the ending does feel like kinda a letdown. Maybe it’s because it finally has to get around to dealing with its villains, who are the least interesting thing in it. And because they don’t seem that threatening, it seems unnecessary for Logan to die facing them. Hell, I feel like he could have just stood back and let the kids kill his younger doppleganger and they’d have done just fine. Especially since they end up killing him anyway, except after he’s already beat our Logan. What exactly did he accomplish here? It makes his death feel a bit forced, at least narratively speaking. Of course a “one last ride” movie like this would have to end that way, and Mangold is too in love with genre staples to resist it,* but I don’t know that they thought of a good enough reason for it in this case. I much prefer Mr. M’s alternate ending. I have to admit though, the “X” on the grave did get to me pretty hard. If they flubbed the execution ever so slightly, their heart was in the right place and it definitely comes through.
*So in love, in fact, that he needs to take the speech from SHANE as the final emotional note — but it’s weird, I’m not sure he necessarily understands what that speech means, because it seems like it’s actually undermining the point the movie seems to be making, and suggesting in a rather fatalistic way that Logan was right, all he was good for was fighting and dying.
March 7th, 2017 at 4:07 pm
I was totally mixed on this one. I agree with all the good things Vern and others have said, but I also agree with geoffreyjar and Majestyk about it being a slog with the nihilism. For a few moments there, I really thought it was going to end like you discussed, Majestyk and I was so happy they weren’t going with the expected death.
SimonPhoenix, I thought the same thing about the cell phone video. Really? She had the time to edit it all together like that with a voice over and everything? Come on.
March 7th, 2017 at 4:10 pm
Vern, I think you and I are both parking our cars in the same garage. I think that if you’re walking into this with the framework of a “superhero” movie, then yeah, you might be disappointed that there isn’t a great or memorable villain, and that a bunch of shit didn’t blow up at the end, and that Wolverine and Xavier don’t save the world, and that there wasn’t a super cool after-credits scene with Rom The SpaceKnight or Fing Fang Foom or Iron Man getting a taco at a drive-thru with Black Panther or some such fuckery.
If THAT is what you’re looking for, then guess what, I got great news for you: there’s going to be a bunch of those movies coming out for you later this year, and next year, and the year after that and every goddam year until the heat death of the sun. Enjoy!
But this? This is something different.
It’s a violent tone poem with some damn excellent performances, a great and timely script, and fabulous cinematography and directing.
It knows enough to take a breath every once in a while.
It knows how it feels to care for an aging parent or relative who’s falling apart before your eyes, while you are barely able to hold yourself together.
It knows that even when the world is fucking beating you down and plotting the best way to keep you there, the only way to save your soul is to help somebody else, even if that paints a huge damn target on your back.
It knows that sometimes your worst enemy is LITERALLY yourself.
And it knows that a little girl can win your heart the moment she tosses the head of an enemy across the goddamn yard.
It may not be perfect, but it’s a real, honest to god FILM with a brain and a heart, and I’m glad we have it.
March 7th, 2017 at 5:42 pm
I loved this movie so much, it made me wish I had my own blog. Was dying for this review to come out, Vern.
One obvious flaw of the film is the lack of a big time villain, but after thinking about it, I didn’t mind it so much. Every time Logan wasn’t on screen, I got fidgety. Big chunks of time spent offscreen, giving us backstory for some moustache twirling villain would have been wasted time. And honestly, a lot of these Marvel films have really weak bad guys. I’m pointing at you Iron Man.
It was almost better that the hordes of nameless, faceless chum that Logan sliced his way through we’re just that. I didn’t need a big show down with the Big Bad.
SPOILER
I did get a kick out of cloned, young Wolverine. I guess we are going to get CGI younger actors in every other movie and HBO series now, so we might as well get used to it. Young Hugh Jackman looked the best, and they clearly didn’t go too crazy on the effects younging him up. And they had him fight in the dark a bunch. I loved that the kids got to polish off the other baddy, using all their powers on him at once. It was creepy as well as satisfying.
This movie is so great, I cannot wait to see it again.
March 7th, 2017 at 7:52 pm
Yeah there’s a bit of lag (the movie could lose at least 15 minutes) and I don’t agree with the “Oscar contender that transcends the genre” pre-release review buzz, but I do think LOGAN is the best Wolverine movie by far, the best X-Universe movie, and one of the best comic book movies.
I really appreciated how incredibly grumpy and stubborn Wolverine was in this movie. He just wants to find a quiet, peaceful place to die with CHUCK and has no problem trying to ditch a child in need at least 4 times. Hugh also steps up his RARRRRRGHHHHHH game in this one. I loved the roided-out howling at the end. Patrick Stewart finally gets to play something more than an exposition machine in a wheelchair and the results are very endearing. The little girl who played X-23 has a lot of potential and nails most of her silent moments and dialogue (“Such a nice man.”). No one in Hollywood can eat cereal like this kid.
The sheer amount of cursing was kind of strange at first, but it made sense to me pretty quickly. Logan is old and dying and at the end of his rope, Charles is old and has dementia. There’s no reason these two SHOULDN’T be cursing up a storm.
The action was very satisfying for the most part. Mangold delivered with all the R-Rated Wolverine slashing, head stabbing, and berserker freakouts. If I have one complaint with the action, it’s that Mangold didn’t take full advantage of X-23’s foot claw gimmick. I HOPE they’re saving all the good foot claw action bits for the solo X-23 movie that they should OBVIOUSLY make after this. I mean… they have to. If they don’t make a solo movie with Laura as the star, I’ll be really disappointed.
I also liked how the presence of the X-Men comic books could potentially lead to Laura wearing Wolverine’s comic book costume at some point. Singer and co. have been hung up on “b-but… it doesn’t MAKE SENSE…” for years, but now you can point to those comic books and say “THAT’S why someone is wearing a weird pointy mask”.
March 7th, 2017 at 9:43 pm
How canon is this movie? I ask because knowing the mutants do end up being wiped out, doesn’t it make any X Men movie after this completely pointless?
March 7th, 2017 at 11:41 pm
When I saw the first screenshots for this, I thought it was for THE LAST UF US-the movie. The similarities between Joel and Logan are pretty remarkable. Seeing him with a lttle girl almost convinced me of that.
March 8th, 2017 at 2:01 am
I love this one. It was beautiful. I almost cried 3 times. Jackman deserves some kind of award. Stewart, also.
I loved the quiet moments even more than the superhero-y action bits and I can’t really think of another “superhero movie” I can say that about.
Seriously, I’d have been happy watching 2 hours of Logan, Prof X, (with special guest star Caliban) sitting around moaning and sniping at each other.
It was almost Pinter-esque.
SPOILER I was asked if this one had a post-credits scene. The answer is, thankfully, no. I mean, what are they gonna show? The rocks on Logan’s grave starting to move? SPOILER
Also, I’m pretty sure I was the only cat at my screening who liked this. The general consensus was this one was “boring”. I despair sometimes.
PS to Sternshein – I think the film is non-canon – something to do with differing timelines after DOFP?
March 8th, 2017 at 2:46 am
The movie got a positive reaction from the crowd I saw it with.
And I thought the pacing of Logan was absolutely BREEZY compared to ‘The Wolverine’.
March 8th, 2017 at 4:58 am
I loved it. There was no padding, basically every setpiece was there for a thematic or emotional reason – my favorite being this little western story at the horse ranch, nicely explaining why nice flyover country folks might be xenophobic / cool with killing mutants (the answer being because angry Hugh Jackman killed their family).
Maybe because of the smaller scope and series-finale feel, it felt like it had real stakes, unlike ALL of Marvel’s fare.
Other than that, a LOT of cool ideas (fencing, drone trucks, corn goliaths, super-powered dementia etc.), appropriate jokes (no overdone “everyone’s a wisecracker”, Xavier has some genuine bitter old guy humor) and cool setting.
Like, post-apocalyptic future is basically a wish-fulfillment fantasy – fun, easy and untrue. What was done here was much more bleaker, realistic (just imagine 20 more years of Trumps), and because of that, scarier. Todd Vanderwerff called it pre-apocalyptic, seems about right (rant over).
Anyways, it wasn’t without flaws, but I don’t care. This is mostly a genuine movie, no corporate focus group target audience bullshit.
March 8th, 2017 at 6:39 am
March 8th, 2017 at 9:27 am
I too thought this was a great film, but, man, is it fucking bleak. I haven’t quite been able to get the movie out of my head since I saw it on Saturday, and part of it is how damn near nihilistic it is at times. (I would have also preferred Majestyk’s ending, but then we would have been denied that wonderful final shot).
Part of what makes this film so damn depressing is that it doesn’t take place in some sort of extreme dystopia. The world of Logan looks much like ours, but just a good bit worse. It’s the world on its way to dying out with a whimper.
The film obliquely references inequality and the gradually takeover of the public and private spheres by corporations. When we meet Logan, he’s like a struggling Uber driver, ferrying around overprivileged assholes. The villains are part of a large corporation who see Laura and others as intellectual property. Even that nice farm family is being harassed by a large factory farm. We see the fabric of society slowly whither away, and it’s the kind of villain that superheroes can’t do shit about.
Also, about that farm family. They open their doors to Logan and everyone, and they’re rewarded for their kindness by being unceremoniously killed off. For me, I suppose the point is for Logan to question whether everything wrong he’s committed has outweighed the good. Without meaning to, he got a family killed.
Prof. X’s death was a bit hard to take, and the moment when Logan just repeats “It’s near the water…” over and over again nearly broke me in the theaters.
Normally, in films like this, characters look for redemption, but they’re never truly bad or the world isn’t truly lost, but here it felt like maybe the X-Men’s attempts at making the world a better place were in vain. It was almost too bleak for me, but in ways I didn’t expect.
March 8th, 2017 at 10:08 am
RBatty — agree 100%, the movie really spoke to my five-month stretch of sustained depression spiked with a few useless symbolic gestures towards trying to make things better. I appreciate it takes place in a world which seems to just be gradually getting worse, without any specific tipping point to mark its definitive passing. Like the mutants, hope died out so gradually no one quite realized what was happening.
March 8th, 2017 at 12:28 pm
I haven’t read the review. Just came to say that the release, which was scheduled for March 3 here in Venezuela just like in the US, was suddenly pulled indefinitely with no reason given whatsoever.
: (
March 8th, 2017 at 1:01 pm
Rbatty, I’m in the same boat. The same, depressing boat. I saw this on Saturday and just today coming in to work all I could think about was how the movie left me with a feeling of total futility. So, you can have money, power, respect, drive, purpose and true and deep connections with loved ones, but it’s all for nothing? You still end up in the Mexican desert in a tipped over silo living in conditions worse than a state run nursing home as a burden to your loved ones. And this the best case scenario because your failing body and mind could kill a bunch of innocent people, which you’ve already done. Maybe even your own loved ones, because, evidently, they’re all dead. They’re all dead and the mission you worked your entire adult life for failed. Then in a last hurrah, before you die a pitiable death, you lead your enemies to a kind and innocent family who gets slaughtered. Jesus Christ. As if the world isn’t shitty enough right now without this message floating around in my head all weekend.
March 8th, 2017 at 1:30 pm
To me it’s in the series top 5. Maybe top 3 but I’ll habe to see it again. The influences from SHANE and UNFORGIVEN & LONE WOLF AND CUB really mafe my day. Specifically reminded me of Dark Horse’s last LONE WOLF mini which is set in a dystopian future.
This joint might be overrated by now but my god it was refreshing to see one of these superhero joints with actual stakes on the line and consequences all around. Like *gasps* a real movie and not a novelty commercial for a shared universe.
If Fox keeps this up they’ll be unanimouslyrunning circles around the wack ass MCU in no time. They’ve already been running laps around the DCEU l with DoFP, DEADPOOL & this (yes I purposely left out APOCALYPSE cause it was as mediocre as MOS & SUICIDE SQUAD).
March 8th, 2017 at 1:47 pm
I thought he was Huge Ackman.
March 8th, 2017 at 2:17 pm
I’m right there with you, Maggie. On the one hand, I can appreciate that the film is well-crafted, and it’s not every film that can absolutely bum you out like Logan can. On the other hand, I’m probably not going to a second viewing in the theaters.
March 8th, 2017 at 3:48 pm
I might be way too ‘half glass full’ when it comes to this movie, but I wasn’t crushed at the end of it. In fact, I kind of felt happy for Wolverine! Between THE WOLVERINE and LOGAN, Mangold really wanted us to know that Wolverine is a man who’s in extreme pain and wouldn’t mind dying. His pain is over now and he got to die fairly heroically.
Also, the kids survived and they have files and cell phone footage, so maybe they’ll be able to expose Transigen in future movies. Again, I think a solo X-23 movie is a MUST.
March 8th, 2017 at 11:14 pm
wadew – “I think a solo X-23 movie is a MUST.”
March 9th, 2017 at 3:16 am
Broddie – I thought that this little scene about preserving Caliban’s DNA was setting up a Future Canadian X-Babies movie, but I might be wrong.
March 9th, 2017 at 6:06 am
kevin_swords – That might be the route they take with NEW MUTANTS now.
Jeff G
March 9th, 2017 at 6:08 am
Im glad you said that. I actually thought the ending was a happy one. Logan got the kids to safety and was finally put out of his misery. It was such torture watching him for two hours, in pain, burdened (maybe that isn’t the right term) with caring for an aging, ticking time bomb, that it almost seemed like a relief when he died. There were quite a few moments that choked me up watching that flick, but the ending wasn’t one of them.
March 9th, 2017 at 4:59 pm
This film sounds very THE ROAD, which is a compliment. It does sound pretty bleak, but then there is hope and inspiration in watching a hero’s decision to live and die with honor regardless of the circumstances around him (or her). The struggle and the fragility can be horrific, but this is also part of what makes it so precious and beautiful. The victory doesn’t come from having a celebrated legacy or from retiring to a life of golf and Carnival Cruises. It’s living your life like a badass for as long as you got. As a rule, I have zero interest in the X-Men, but this sounds pretty terrific.
March 9th, 2017 at 6:21 pm
It’s interesting seeing the varied reactions here. I was surprised when I first saw someone saying it was nihilistic. When I think about it, yes, there are very dark aspects to it, including the deaths of beloved characters and completely innocent people, but to me the ending was very hopeful about the future and about the redemption of individuals and that was the overall feeling I took out of the movie.
March 10th, 2017 at 12:17 pm
Having seen the film, and read a lot of your reviews, I couldn’t imagine you not liking it!
There are so many elements in Logan we’ve seen in the other X-Men movies, but it felt like this one fully developed them in some surprising ways – harking back to Logan’s relationship with Rogue in the first film, mutant experimentation, battling what someone tried to make him, Xavier being a father figure, finding family… And many beautifully written and acted scenes that I wouldn’t have expected a film of this type to bother with.
To be honest, I was choking up watching the first scene between Logan and Xavier in the water tower. Knowing what they had been years before, and seeing them in this situation, was heartbreaking.
Pleased to see that I wasn’t the only one who saw similarities between Logan and Little Miss Sunshine, of all things!
March 12th, 2017 at 10:26 am
I really liked this one! Had some huge problems with the script in the third act (in that last scene, despite having some great bits, everybody acts like an idiot- both the kids and the bad guys); If it wasn’t for that, though, I would honestly call it a great movie. As it is, it falls a bit short.
I got the feeling that the movie was building up to him leading the kids through a bad-guy gauntlet to cross the border, which sure, would have been trite, but also fit a bit better with what came before. And maybe it would have spared us the sight of all those tiny deadly mutants just running around like headless chickens waiting to be tackled by hapless goons.
“It’s gotta be the most unusual concept for an action scene since INCEPTION.” – or, you know, every other action scene in Dr Strange! Seriously, though, that bit alone would make me defend this movie forever.
March 12th, 2017 at 1:53 pm
Vern and Master Shemp have shown that they can elucidate better than I so I will just throw this out there; Wolvie’s hair in this one is just…normal. So all of those times that his hair was twin-peaking he was styling and hair spraying it that way? I mean, call me crazy but I assumed that his bestial nature was what made his hair cowlick like that naturally. As a matter of fact, I remember reading in a Handbook to the Marvel Universe back in the day that the cowlick theory is actually the case. My only other gripe is the fact that Laura, logically speaking, is stuck at the size she is right now. Like, she is going to be the Latina, female Gary Coleman (albeit more murdery) because her small, 11 year old bones are covered in unbreakable, unstretchable adamantium. I’m sure they will conveniently ignore this and have her be a sexy teenage Wolverette, though. Considering those are my only two real gripes about the movie, it’s safe to say that I enjoyed it.
Hey, just as I was about to click ‘submit’ I theorized to myself that his pointy hair is not happening for the same reason his healing factor is getting spotty. Ok, forget that gripe. I stand by the adamantium bones thing, though.
March 12th, 2017 at 7:04 pm
THE WOLVERINE showed that Wolverine’s hair style is naturally weird. A nuke blows his hair off and it immediately grows back all pointy. Maybe old age dulled out the points? **
** I’m pretty sure the real answer is Mangold just didn’t want him to have goofy hair in this one.
As for X-23 not being able to grow, she has a normal skeleton in the comics. Only her claws were coated with adamantium.
March 12th, 2017 at 9:55 pm
wadew…cool, thanks. I did not know that.
March 13th, 2017 at 12:17 am
SPOILERS BOILERS MIDNIGHT TOILERS
Walking out of the theater I’d have given this 4 out of 5 stars. After sleeping on it I lean closer to 3 out of 5, though that feels a little harsh considering how much I enjoyed it. My main gripe is with the ending, which – as Majestyk pointed out – fails to wrap up the thematic message of the story.
Tonally it was consistent, it was wonderfully (but not, I think, gratuitously) violent, and the performances were very good – particularly Jackman’s. Stewart was terrific, but I was a little disappointed that the only “heroic” thing he did with his powers was to calm down a bunch of horses. That scene where Logan stabs his way into Xavier’s room is legitimately great, however, and I can live with how they “sent the Professor off”, so to speak. The manner in which Xavier dies is genuinely nightmarish, too, and I’m thankful that the clone was hidden in all the marketing and trailers. He was the best villain in the movie.
As for the ending – just to officially put it out there and Thank You all for indulging me – I was secretly hoping that another famous mutant would show up to save the day. And by “another famous mutant” I of course mean Ian Mckellan. I mean, let’s think about this; the relationship between Charles and Eric has always been one of the most important if not THE most important relationships in the X-MEN universe. I mean, how does he feel about Charles dying? I’m not saying let’s have a big ten minute scene devoted to how he feels, but at least to have him show up in the story. And HAD Mckellan shown up, I think the audience would have gone bananas (I would have, anyway). ALSO, dunno if any of you dorks know this, but in the comics, Magneto once used his powers to pull all the metal out of Logan’s body! As soon as the movie established that the adamantium was poison I thought for sure they would do this IF THEY WANTED THE ENDING TO BE AWESOME.
Either way: Logan should’ve lived. Had the last shot been of him and Laura together – possibly holding hands – or even of him lighting a cigar and leading the kids through the forest into Canada then SMASH CUT to “LOGAN, THE END”, I may have teared up. Like Vern said, Jackman’s take on Wolverine helped usher in this modern super hero era, and even though some of the Wolverine movies have sucked, we still somehow love him as this character. So make us cheer as we say goodbye. Allow our good guy to win. Let him have a family. It would’ve been much more satisfying than a cleverly lopsided burial cross.
March 21st, 2017 at 5:30 pm
Look, I was ready to call you guys a bunch of wieners for thinking this movie is a nihilistic bummer, but now that I’ve finally seen it I kind of see where you are coming from. Not so much because of Wolverine’s death, which I thought was the kind of redeeming act of heroic self-sacrifice that we’re all about here at outlawvern.com, but the whole first act started me out in a pit of despair that the movie never quite dug it’s way out of. Professor X’s dream, along with every character we’ve loved from the comics/movies, is dead. Charles himself is dying, having psychic seizures and dropping F-bombs. Then throughout the movie almost everyone with a sliver of decency in them is brutally murdered. It’s just a hell of a downbeat premise and a quote from SHANE and kids walking off into the sunset wasn’t quite enough to do it for me. It just felt a little lopsided, and I’m a guy who thought THE ROAD was one of the most uplifting things I’d seen in ages.
On the positive side (and there are a LOT of positives), this is one of the most convincing dystopias I’ve seen since CHILDREN OF MEN. It’s smart enough to know that a light touch with futuristic technology goes a long way. The self-driving trucks, the drones, the giant automated farm equipment. And I know everyone has been tripping over their own dicks trying to contextualise this film in terms of “Trump’s America”, but it really was hard to ignore that shadow over the film. Especially when you see the big-business assholes messing with the farmers by shutting off their water in exactly the same way as in the doco YOU’VE BEEN TRUMPED.
I don’t get the complaints about a weak villain, as this isn’t the typical comic-book plot where that would be a problem. It’s about the ol’ Canucklehead outrunning his past as literalised by the evil Wolverine clone. It’s a really, really on-the-nose metaphor, but I liked that. It’s the shitty, violent, personality-free version of Wolverine that “big fans” (like Pierce) think they want, the one that had a cameo in X-MEN: APOCALYPSE.
Anyway, I thought this was a really good one-off What If/Elsewords type story that I hope no other comic book movies try to build upon/emulate.
March 22nd, 2017 at 5:34 am
I loved this film. Easily the best Marvel movie to date (if you want to lump it in with the MCU and all that). It had a depth sorely lacking from these kind of movies. I especially liked the fact that Logan spends much of the movie rejecting hero status. I also found it interesting that the ultimate killing machine, a younger, animal version of himself (effectively the Terminator), is contrasted by his “daughter”. They both represent emotional paths the character himself has taken before, and struggled to come to terms with.
Patrick Stewart was exceptional, and the sequences with him and Logan were fantastic. It was odd hearing Captain Picard telling Hugh Jackman to go “fuck himself”, but you have to forgive him. For me, the burial scene (not at the end) was the emotional high.
I didn’t see it as nihilistic. The setting, perhaps, is nihilistic, but the film is all about redemption, one last ride, and ultimately liberation for a tormented and sad character.
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Skani on Striking Distance: “I can’t back this up with internetographic evidence, but I once saw Robert Pastorelli on Letterman well before this movie…” Nov 28, 17:23
Mr. Majestyk on Eggshells: “This sounds about like I figured, but also slightly better than I expected. These late-60s underground freakout movies can be…” Nov 28, 13:13
Pacman2.0 on Appointment With Fear: “I saw Erasure at one of the two main, fairly small music venues in my city in 2003 and again…” Nov 28, 04:13
daniel on Dual: “Oh, and to emphasise my recommendation of FAULTS I’m just gonna say that I saw it around the time of…” Nov 28, 02:42
Pacman2.0 on Showdown in Little Tokyo and Bridge of Dragons: “I didn’t know that Carrere was ashamed of WAYNE’S WORLD, I seem to recall she appears quite a bit on…” Nov 28, 02:03
Pacman2.0 on Cyborg: “R.I.P. Indeed and I think this is the best thread to honour him in, with the film correctly identified in…” Nov 28, 01:51
Pacman2.0 on Cyborg: “R.I.P. Indeed and I think this is the best thread to honour him in, with the film correctly identified in…” Nov 28, 01:51
daniel on Dual: “Oh man, FAULTS was dope! I remember really liking that one. A vehicle for the great Leland “Oh God! Get…” Nov 28, 00:16
Muh on Code of Silence: “With Jackie, at the time Norris was doing those movies it wasn’t all of that yet…more like straight martial arts…” Nov 27, 23:55
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daniel on Cyborg: “RIP indeed. CYBORG, NEMESIS and RAVENHAWK were all formative VHS classics for me. I’m sure as we speak the guy…” Nov 27, 23:30
KayKay on Code of Silence: “Oh but when it comes to Jackie, we’re not just talking about fights right? Jackie’s brawls are like an elaborately…” Nov 27, 23:07
Skani on Da 5 Bloods: “This was dope. I loved the aging buddies who’ve drifted apart angle, the father-son generations stuff, and Boseman really nails…” Nov 27, 20:18
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Bill Maher is out delivering monologues about the crazy woke left. Sarah Silverman is publicly saying maybe the left is going too crazy and it is stifling things. Oh wow, this is really cool that people who nudge the normie left along are coming around… right after the election is secure… right as the radical left is pushing for the full suite of wishes now that the Democrats have the trifecta… now that the system is going after Cuomo. This is a transparent, fake messaging pulse to claim the moral high ground of the supposed middle.
Nothing has slowed down. Media is all about racial tension all of the time. Professors get fired for just hearing other professors state race related realities. Not agree, just hear them out, and you are liable. The military is going full on woke after a minimal pause on the trans issue under Trump. Corporations and schools continue the march to sovietization. Loudoun County schools are making lists, which is a step away from going after, parents who object to critical race theory.
The power structure already agrees with the street protests because the power structure educated and funded the street protests. They are all on the payroll; at low levels, but paid for these beliefs. All that remains is bloating the bureaucracy with more do-nothing jobs. Now there is one more thing in that regard. They need to pick off the white liberals who occupy plum positions within the administrations across the managerial state. This is where we see the racial MeToo action. All those middle aged white ladies that worked at your college are working choice jobs with pensions and lush benefits for someone with a diversity grievance badge to take over.
One could see this fight over the last few years with the NY Department of Education. Head honcho and perennial failure Richard Carranza recently resigned from his big money job. The NY Post published a steady drip of anti-Carranza articles about the white privilege curriculum push, the anti-white moves he was trying to force on teaching hierarchies within schools and even the accusation he was discriminating against whites within the administration. Those leaks were these good white libs using the media to fight for their jobs; the anti-white privilege and whiteness push was a convenient weapon to use against him since it wasn’t being deployed against flyover white proles in this instance.
This is all a scam because at any moment’s notice, the liberal establishment will turn these radical dogs loose again. The question is if they indulged them so much the last seven years that they cannot control them, and the pack is now chasing them down. MeToo was eventually stopped. It never skipped over to gay men in Hollywood, and once enough scalps were taken and Biden needed to be propped up, it was shushed and put away. This might be a tougher one to do because the Democrats are at that tipping point where half their voter bloc is non-white. The patronage network >ahem< must begin to resemble the voting muscle eventually.
There is no middle ground. Real racism was the normie voter thinking Klobuchar, Buttigieg and Biden were moderates while mouthing the same exact radical social policies as the far left just because those three were white. Biden’s administration is not going to supply the Bernie crowd with the economic policies they want, but it will be happy to implement all of the radical social dreams they have for re-working society to elevate the obese femcels angry that Western Civilization never properly saw them for the gorgeous gals that they are.
Need exit and voice – Buskirk says we need changes to the framework.
Masculinity Matters – More people see masculinity matters and should not be erased. The covid overreaction was a feminine move out of fear and risk aversion.
Woke Imperialism – The globohomo empire is roaring back.
Tracey on Substack – Mike Tracey tackles why journalists hate substack.
Sir Yes Sir – Our military has a deep spiritual problem Tucker managed to expose.
Artificial Wombs… for humans? – It is getting closer. Will women ever allow it to cut them out of the process? Well, did they allow the male pill that a Brazilian doctor created decades ago? No. He told his story of Betty Friedan losing it on him at the UN.
Small Town Incentives – This is a smart move to do if rural towns have the space. Towns can make a bet on remote work. It’s better than just waiting for refugees from FedGov.
Contra Reparations– How did Newsweek publish this? Enjoyed it even if it didn’t take agree and amplify to the extreme.
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March 19, 2021 at 11:29 am
Thanks for the post. My far left friends definitely don’t like liberals very much. Perhaps horseshoe theory can be thought of in terms of how honesty polarizes people or something like that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 19, 2021 at 2:33 pm
it is patently obvious that the us military is being disabled and has been since Obama . deliberately . probably our CCP friends. they want everyone who can really perform driven out .
LikeLiked by 2 people
March 20, 2021 at 8:06 pm
>They need to pick off the white liberals who occupy plum positions within the administrations across the managerial state.
March 21, 2021 at 12:24 am
I tis cleat that the burma “coup” was really Burmese patriotic soldiers taking their country back from internationalists. I thought that the CCP had t be aligned with the internationalists to get the trade deals they got, but I wonder if the dog may soon wag the tail on that one .
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After the Second World Congress, M.N. Roy had a meteoric rise in the International Communist movement. Roy grew rapidly in the Comintern hierarchy. In 1922, he was elected a candidate member of the Executive Committee of the Communist International (ECCI) , and , a full voting member in 1924. He was appointed a member of the Presidium in 1924. By 1926, Roy was enjoying a very influential position in the Comintern. In Feb 1926, he was appointed to the Editorial staff of the Communist International; and, in the following December he was re-elected to the Presidium and joined the Political Secretariat of the ECCI. At the time of the Seventh Plenum of the ECCI (Nov 12-Dec 16, 1926), Roy became the Secretary of the Chinese Commission. By the end of 1926, Roy was an elected member of all the four official policy making bodies of the Comintern – the Presidium, the Political Secretariat, the Executive Committee and the World Congress. The Plenum that was convened for the purpose of considering the Chinese problem adopted a thesis on the question and Roy was sent to China in 1927 as a representative of the Comintern to carry it out.
At the same time he authored many Marxist books, such as: India in Transition (1922), The Future of Indian Politics (1926) and Revolution and Counter-revolution in China (1930). He also founded the organ of the émigré Communist Party of India, The Vanguard (and later The Masses) and edited it for seven years (1922-28).
In the meantime, Roy along with Joseph Stalin established Communist University of the Toilers of the East. Many of the future Presidents and Prime Ministers of colonial countries underwent training in this Institute where Roy and Evelyn taught. Ho Chi Minh, later the supreme leader of Vietnam, studied in this school. Roy and Evelyn wrote large number of articles, pamphlets and books; and, edited journals and newspapers. Their mature writings written understanding and clear analysis influenced the course of events in Communism, in Indian national movements and on the Indian National Congress.
For some reason, Roy and Evelyn separated sometime during 1925.
Following the events in China in 1927, Roy’s influence declined significantly, though he was not formally expelled until 1929.
As Roy’s influence on Communist movement in India began to wane, his work area was shifted to China. And, the Comintern sent Roy on a mission to China. The circumstances surrounding Roy’s China mission were briefly as under.
Sometime in the fall of 1926, Roy reached Moscow, from Berlin, to attend the Seventh Plenum of The ECCI (Executive Committee of the Communist International) scheduled from 22 November to 16 December 1926. During the Plenum, China was the principal subject of discussion. The debate, again, was about the role of the bourgeoisie in the liberation movement. The bourgeoisie now in question was Kuomintang. And, the question had a long history.
Following the success of the October Revolution in Russia, there arose in China a national revolutionary movement of the working class and peasants against feudalism and foreign capital. With that, an old party dating back the last decade of the eighteenth century named Kuomintang (Kuo Min Tang = the Peoples Party of China) was revived. Sun Yat-Sen took over the leadership of Kuomintang (KMT).
The Second World Congress of the Communist International held in 1920 had resolved to support the national bourgeois revolutionary movements in the colonies and the semi-colonies. Accordingly, in 1923, the communists decided to support the nationalist movement of Sun Yat-Sen in China. And, that decision was formalized through an agreement signed on 26 January 1923 by Sun Yat-Sen and Adolph Joffe, the Soviet representative stationed in Shanghai. This agreement came to be known as the Sun-Joffe Manifesto, a declaration of cooperation among Comintern, Kuomintang (KMT) and the Communist Party of China (CPC). . The manifesto also asserted that the Soviet system was not suitable for China; announced in general terms the willingness of Soviet to cooperate with the KMT in its struggle to unify China. The manifesto, thus, became the foundation of cooperation between the Kuomintang and Soviet Union.
Following that agreement, the Comintern agent Mikhail Borodin arrived in China in 1923 to aid in the reorganization and consolidation of the KMT along the lines of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Kuomintang (KMT) thus formed the First United Front.
In July 1923 Sun Yat-sen sent Chiang Kai-shek, one of his lieutenants for military and political training at Moscow. By 1924, Chiang rose to prominence and succeeded Sun Yat-Sen as the head of Kuomintang forces. Comintern allowed the members of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) to join the Kuomintang (KMT) on an individual basis. The CPC was still small at the time, having a membership of only 1,500 as compared to about 50,000 of Kuomintang. The Communists within the Kuomintang came to be known as the Left-Wing of Kuomintang.
After the death of Sun Yat-sen in March 1925, the hostility of the Chinese bourgeoisie to the working class became clearly evident in the political rise of Chiang Kai-shek. The son of a wealthy merchant, Chiang had close ties with Shanghai’s bankers and compradors. Unlike Sun, Chiang Kai-shek was no intellectual. He had spent his early years among Shanghai’s gangsters, murderers and smugglers, who would later become his shock troops against the city’s working class.
The radicalization of the working class forced the CPC leadership to reconsider its relations with the KMT. In October 1925, Chen Duxiu again suggested that the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) quit the KMT and cooperate only externally. But, the Comintern rejected the proposal. Stalin favored trying to use the death of Sun to install “Left-Wing” or pro-Moscow leaders.
Stalin’s transformation of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) into an appendage of the KMT, left the party wide open to great dangers. On 20th March 1926, Chiang suddenly carried out a coup to tighten his stranglehold over the KMT. He not only toppled the so-called “left-wing” KMT leadership, but also detained 50 prominent communists and placed all Soviet advisers under house arrest.
Thereafter, the CPC and the Left-Wing of the KMT decided to move from Guangzhou (also known as Canton, and less commonly as Kwangchow) – the port city in Southern China , North-west of Hong Kong on the Pearl River – to Wuhan (in Central China, comprising three major cities of Wuchang, Hankou, and Hanyang ) where communist influence was strong.
At the same time, the CPC had also gathered considerable mass support in the countryside of Wuhan area, mainly from the peasants. The peasantry supporting the CPC and some members of the Left Wing KMT who essentially were Communists, started demanding abolition of feudal landlords, confiscation of their lands and handing over of those lands to the tillers. Some picked up fight with the bourgeois landowners.
But, the problem was that the leadership of the Left-Wing of the KMT was dominated by landholding-class. And, most of the officers of the KMT army also came from feudal families.
There was therefore a conflict of interests within the Left-Wing of the KMT.
The Communist support for the demands of the peasants to confiscate lands from the feudal and to hand it over to the peasantry would effectively mean their certain expulsion from the KMT.
The conflict, in the perspective of Comintern was, in essence, the old conflict re-born; whether to support ‘the revolution from above’ or the ‘revolution from below’.
In the ECCI at the seventh Plenum (22 November to 16 December 1926), the Communist delegates from China were in favor of the status quo; and were not prepared to risk their relations with the KMT. But, Roy , who then was a member of the Presidium, strongly objected to the stand of Chinese Communist delegation. He stuck to his well known faith in the ‘revolution from below’. Roy argued in favor of the agrarian revolution and the revolt of the peasants.
Trotsky insisted that the most urgent task was to establish the political independence of the Communist Party and de-link it from the “Left” KMT. “Precisely its lack of independence is the source of all evils and all the mistakes”. He also warned: politicians of the Left-KMT such as of Wang Ching-wei type, under difficult conditions, will unite ten times with Chiang Kai-shek against the workers and peasants. And, therefore, it is imperative to support the Communist Party of China in its revolution.
However, the Chairman of the Chinese Commission in the Seventh Plenum Tan Ping-shan did not agree with Roy and Trotsky. He rejected the proposal that Communists should either revolt or leave the Kuomintang. On the other hand, the Chairman of the Chinese Commission said, ‘we are of the opinion that the relations between the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Kuomintang (KMT) must be consolidated even more than before’.
It was decided that taking into account the whole character of the development of the Chinese revolution and its perspectives, the Communists must stay within the Kuomintang (KMT) and must intensify their work in it. It was said , the KMT , despite its bourgeois–democratic character , contained the embryo of revolutionary bloc of proletariat peasantry ; and therefore the CPC must stay in KMT and penetrate into it through the Left-Wing of KMT; and must eventually take control of the KMT , in entire.
Basically, it meant that the Chinese Commission in the Seventh Plenum had renounced ‘revolution from below’ in favour of ‘revolution from above’. And, that the uprising by the peasants must be contained and withdrawn, at least for the present.
This was totally against Roy’s stand on the issue. He argued vehemently against such decision. Yet, the Comintern ordered Roy to proceed to China in order to ensure the right implementation of the decision taken by the Seventh Plenum.
It is not clear why Roy, of all the persons, was asked to monitor and supervise the implementation of an order that he had passionately opposed. Further, M. M. Borodin who had been serving as the Communist Advisor to the Kuomintang and to the Chinese Communist Party for the past four years since 1923 was already in position. Borodin was well familiar with all details of the problem and its implications. Further, he had also established contacts with the leaders and elements on either side of the question. He could very well have been asked to ensure implementation of the order issued by the ECCI at the Seventh Plenum. There was no need whatsoever to depute Roy to China, just to check on Borodin. And the irony was that it was Borodin who had indoctrinated Roy and converted him into Communism. He was thus Roy’s teacher and guide; and they had grown into good friends. Now, Roy was being sent to check on his teacher and friend.
When Roy pleaded his case and requested to be sent to India instead of to China, Stalin just asked Roy to go; and he would look into his request for India on his return from the mission assigned to him.
Perhaps , the Comintern deliberately intended to keep Roy out of India and Europe , just at the time when CPGB was making efforts to take control of Communist movement in India and a lend it a new direction.
Another indicator to support the above premise (of shunt Roy away from Europe ) is that just as Roy was entering into Canton on 12 February 1927, a conference called as the Congress of the Oppressed Nationalities was being held in Brussels from 10 February to 15 February 1927. About 175 delegates from about 37 countries representing various trade unions and other communist–inspired organizations attended the Congress. The more prominent among the participants was Virendranath Chattopadyaya, Roy’s old rival in Berlin. One of the decisions taken at the Congress was to set up the League Against Imperialism with which another rival of Roy, MPBT Acharya got associated.
The Congress was significant for one more reason. It was attended by Jawaharlal Nehru, as an official delegate of the Indian National Congress. Nehru had left India in March 1926 to accompany his ailing wife Kamala Devi to Switzerland for medical treatment. While he was in Berlin, Nehru heard of the Congress of the Oppressed Nationalities to be held in Brussels; and, asked the Indian National Congress to sponsor him as its delegate to the meet. After attending The Congress at Brussels, Nehru, also agreed to serve on the Executive Committee of the newly formed League Against Imperialism (LAI ) ; and continued in that position until end of January 1930*.
[*Regarding the relationship between Nehru and LAI which ended in January 1930:
When Nehru signed the Delhi Manifesto in November 1929, the Gandhi inspired attempt to seek dominion status for India in exchange for end of the Civil Disobedience. The Manifesto also called for reciprocal amnesty and freedom for political prisoners. Then LAI sent letters to Nehru calling his signing as a ‘betrayal of the Indian masses’. Nehru in January 1930 in his letter to LAI secretariat shot back: I am afraid you have not the least notion of conditions in India; and yet you do not hesitate to lay down the law for us. The Indian National Congress has welcomed you and has agreed to cooperate with you, but it cannot tolerate the outside interference of the kind you have been carrying on”
With that, Nehru ended his association with LAI, although nothing came of the Manifesto. The events that followed proved Nehru right. Had he not signed the Agreement, the Congress would have split on the eve of the Civil Disobedience movement.]
In any event, it appears that the Comintern had already made up its mind to keep Roy away from the centre of action. Zinoviev had hinted about that in the Fifth Plenum of ECCI following Roy’s hostility with the CPGB.
Roy was assigned the task of trouble-shooting the alliance between the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party which was suffering increasingly disruptive stress. But, by the time Roy arrived in China in early 1927, the events were moving rapidly and were going beyond control. And, a totally new and an alarming situation confronted the Chinese Communists, Borodin and Roy.
On April 7 1927, Chiang Kei-shek and several other Right-wing KMT leaders held a meeting, during which they came to the conclusion that Communist activities were socially and economically disruptive and must be undone for their national revolution to proceed. And, by about the next week, 12 April 1927, the KMT decided to expel the members of the Left-wing of the KMT along with other members of the CPC from its fold.
After completing his northern expedition, Chiang Kai-shek broke his ties with the Left Wing of the KMT; and, began an onslaught on the Communists, on the streets of Shanghai. This was followed by arrest and execution of hundreds of CPC members at Shanghai. This came to be known as Shanghai massacre.
After the bloodbath in Shanghai, landowners in Wuhan region anxiously looked to Chiang Kai-shek’s regime for support. For, they were scared of retaliation by the communist-peasants in the Wuhan for what happened in Shanghai. They resisted workers’ strikes by closing down factories and shops. They deliberately organized runs on banks and shipped their sliver to Shanghai. In rural areas, merchants and usurers refused to lend money to the peasantry, making them unable to buy seeds for the spring months. Feudal powers joined, by shutting down their firms, while speculators drove up prices to unbearable levels. The economic collapses and rising mass movement terrified Wang Ching-wei, the leader of the Left-Wing KMT.
Following that massacre and onslaught, the gulf between the Left Wing KMT / Communists and Right-Wing KMT further widened. And, Chiang Kai-shek with his base in Canton (in South China) and Wang Ching-wei, the leader of the Left -Wing of KMT in Wuhan province (in Central China) became bitter enemies. Wang Ching-wei, in anger, therefore wanted to march against the Right -Wing forces of Chiang kei -shek.
But, in the meanwhile, Wang Ching-wei was confronted with another serious problem, at his home province, Wuhan. There suddenly was a violent uprising of the peasants in the Wuhan area, much to the annoyance of Wang Ching-wei. Some members of Left Wing KMT belonging to the peasant class were joined by members of the CPC who adopting the Communist Party line started a fight against the bourgeois landowners. They demanded abolition of feudal landlord-system of Wuhan province, confiscation of their lands and handing over of those lands to the tillers. In many rural areas, peasant associations had, in fact, driven out the landlords and were functioning as the local authority.
But the problem was that Wang Ching-wei and most of other leaders of the Left-Wing of KMT and Army officers in Wuhan, despite their left leaning, belonged to the landowning class. Now, they had become the target of the agitation raised by their own members and followers.
The CPC was caught on the horns of the dilemma. They were unable to decide whether they should take control of the Wuhan area, support the peasants, and lead them on to a full scale agrarian revolution against the landlords in the Wuhan branch of the Kuomintang (KMT). Or, whether they should (for the present) suspend support to local peasants; and, now join hands with the Wuhan Kuomintang (KMT) and march on with it to fight against the Right-Wing Chiang kei-shek.
The conflict had now opened up on many fronts; and, was indeed very complicated.
Roy, who had just then appeared on the scene, it appears, urged the Communists to support the revolutionary uprising of the peasants; and fight against the leaders of the Wuhan Kuomintang. He seemed to think that immediate campaign against the Chiang Kei-shek in the North was fraught with great danger. His argument was based on the information he had obtained that Chiang Kei-shek was threatening the right flank of the Wuhan forces, while its left flank was also vulnerable to attack. The basic position of Roy was that the Chinese Communists had two options: either to support the peasants’ demand on the land or to retard the agrarian revolution. But, supporting peasants demand right then would lead to confrontation with Wuhan Kuomintang.
But, Borodin, Roy’s friend and teacher from his Mexico days, who was stationed in China, for the last four years, as a representative of the Comintern, advised otherwise. He was asking the Communists to support Wuhan Kuomintang in their march against Chiang Kei-shek. The true intention behind his argument seemed to be that Communists cannot possibly establish a firm base in China unless the proletariat take control of the situation ; and for that to happen , it was necessary to rely on Wuhan Kuomintang. The implication of Borodin’s argument was that the agrarian revolution should be deferred for the present, otherwise it would antagonise the military officers and the Wuhan Kuomintang; and thus destroy ‘revolutionary bloc’ before the Peking regime could be over thrown.
[For more, please see the very well documented M.N. Roy’s Mission to China: The Communist-Kuomintang Split of 1927 by Robert C North and Xenia J Eudin]
Since no decision could be made on the ground, the issue was referred to Moscow seeking instructions.
On 1 June 1927, Roy received a telegram from Stalin containing his instructions. And, that worsened the confusion.
Stalin instructed that both the courses should be followed at once – that is to support the agrarian revolution and also to support Wuhan Kuomintang. Stalin had made it clear that the support to the Wuhan group was to be only a temporary expedient. He had said “The leadership of the Left Wing Kuomintang must be freshened and reinforced by new leaders who have come to the fore in the agrarian revolution. It is necessary to liquidate the unreliable Generals immediately…Organize a revolutionary tribunal headed by prominent non-Communist Kuomintang. Punish officers who maintain contact with Chiang Kai-shek… The scoundrels must be punished. If the Left-Wing Kuomintang do not learn to be revolutionary Jacobins, they will be lost both to the people and to the revolution.”.
The flaw in the instructions conveyed by the Comintern’s telegram was that the support for the Kuomintang and the support for the agrarian revolution were conflicting, mutually exclusive policies. The Chinese Communists, left to themselves, might have chosen one course or the other. But the attempt to do both was a sure recipe for disaster. It also showed how little did the Comintern understand what was actually taking place on the ground. It also did not foresee the difficulties inherent in bringing together ‘the revolution from above’ and the ‘revolution from below’. It also showed how the Communist leaders in Moscow and in China were working at cross-purposes.
In any case, soon after the receipt of the telegram, Borodin who had greater influence with the Chinese Communists, because of his long association with them, asked them to withdraw their agitation and support Kuomintang (KMT) of Wang Ching-wei. And, they had agreed to abide by Borodin’s advice.
But, the events that followed overtook Borodin and even the left wing of Wuhan branch of the Kuomintang.
Roy read out the substance of Stalin’s telegram to the Chinese Communists (CPI). It is said; they were totally bemused and did not know whether to laugh or to cry at the fairy tale from the overseas. They all agreed that what the Russians had asked to do did not make sense; and cannot be carried out.
Roy then thought that Wang Ching-wei the leader of the Left Wing KMT, which is Wuhan branch of the Kuomintang, would perhaps be able to convince the Communist Party of China. Roy was also hoping that Wang Ching-wei could be persuaded to follow the mass revolutionary way if he was assured that Moscow will back him up fully.
When Roy discussed the issue, Wang Ching-wei wanted to see the telegram from Moscow. Roy then committed an act of utter indiscretion for which he was later blamed and virtually hounded out of the Communist Party. Roy showed Stalin’s telegram to Wang, who in turn showed it to his followers (who were already in touch with the Right- Wing leader Chiang Kei-shek). Therefore, within about an hour, what was till then a secret instruction from Moscow became common knowledge and spread among all sections of the Chinese conflict – right, left and centre.
Wang Ching-wei consulted his colleagues and followers to decide upon the future course of their action. Wang understood that he was one among the ‘unreliable generals’ referred to in the telegram. And, he debated within himself that even if Moscow were to support him for the present, he surely was marked for ‘liquidation’ eventually. He realized that his position in the Soviet camp was temporary, vulnerable and highly insecure. The Wuhan Kuomintang leaders (most of whom were landlords and army officers) also, by then, realized that they had more in common with Chiang Kei-shek than with Russian backed Communists. Wang Ching-wei then decided that it would be wiser and safer for him to make peace with Chiang Kei-shek at Nanking; to dismiss the Russian advisors; and, to expel the Communists from KMT.
The two wings of the Kuomintang then became one; and together fought against Chinese Communists. The Communists, of course, lost all sectors of the battle; its troops were disbanded; thousands of its fighters were arrested; and many were executed. Trade unions and peasants unions affiliated to Communist Party were destroyed. The Chinese Communist Party was outlawed. And Martial Law was declared against Communists and all communist affiliated units.
As John Chan writes : “on July 15, Wang Ching-wei formally issued an order demanding all communists leave the KMT or face severe punishment. Like Chiang, it was Wang who squeezed the CPC “like a lemon” and then cast it aside, unleashing another, even more brutal, wave of repression against the communists and the insurgent masses….
The Kuomintang’s “white terror” lasted for years. From April to December 1927, an estimated 38,000 people were executed and more than 32,000 jailed as political prisoners. From January to August 1928, more than 27,000 people were sentenced to death. By 1930, the CCP estimated approximately 140,000 people had been murdered or had died in prisons. In 1931, over 38,000 people were executed as political enemies. The Chinese Left Opposition was not only hunted down by the KMT’s police, it was also betrayed to the authorities by the Stalinist CCP leadership.”
Thus, victory of the counter-revolution, very swiftly, was almost complete; for the time being.
The duo of Borodin and Roy having nothing more to do were, mercifully, allowed to escape. After being in hiding for some time, Borodin with help from Wang Ching-wei boarded a special train from Hankow on 27 July 1927. Roy also thereafter, on 8 August 1927, left Hankow. After crossing the Gobi desert by car, he caught the Trans-Siberians railway to reach Moscow. In the end, both Borodin and Roy banished from Wuhan and had to return to Moscow crestfallen.
Roy’s mission to China was a disaster. He was blamed for his colossal blunder of sharing Stalin’s telegram with Wang Ching-wei. Some went even to the extent of calling him a betrayer to the cause. Thereafter, his stock in the Comintern plummeted, leading ultimately to his expulsion.
There were also a few who defended Roy’s position. Yes, the Chinese mission was indeed a failure they too agreed. But, they pointed out it was not the failure of the individual; it was in fact the failure of the system. The fault, they argued, basically was, in the Comintern policy and in its decision of preserving Kuomintang alliance at the cost of the just emerging Chinese Communist Party. The Comintern had in fact sacrificed the Chinese Communist Party for its own reasons. And, it would not be right to blame Roy for the inevitable failure of Comintern’s faulted policy.
It was also said that the leadership of the Wuhan Kuomintang (inclusive of Wang Ching-wei) had already decided, as advised by the Christian General Feng Yu-hstang, to dismiss the Russian advisers and suppress the Communist Party in the interest of the unity of all nationalist forces. Thus, Wuhan Kuomintang, in any case, would have done whatever it did, regardless of the telegram for Roy. There is therefore no need to blame Roy.
[Given the blunders that Comintern committed in 1927, it is indeed a wonder that Communism could even have a presence in China. Ironically, in a way of speaking, it was the quick and hurried exit of the Russian communists and advisors that helped Communism to take root and to succeed in China.
The failure of the Kuomintang uprising had marked the end of the revolution in the urban centers. Those CPC leaders, who did not join the Left Opposition such as Mao Tse-tung , fled to the countryside. Mao, whose political outlook had more in common with peasant populism than with Marxism, emerged quite naturally as the new leader.
Before joining the Communist Party, Mao had been deeply influenced by a Japanese Utopian socialist school, ‘New Village’. The New Village advocated collective cultivation, communal consumption and mutual aid in autonomous villages as the road to “socialism”. This “rural socialism” reflected not the interests of the revolutionary proletariat, but the hostility of the decaying peasantry towards the destruction of small-scale farming under capitalism. Even after joining the Communist Party, Mao never abandoned this orientation towards the peasantry.
The withdrawal of the Russians from the scene made room for Mao Tse-tung and offered him complete freedom to form his own army , his own police force, and to build his own political institutions ; as also to work out his own special mixture of varied indigenous and revolutionary tactics and elements ‘ from below’ as also those from ‘above’ . The Chinese Communism is thus a result of its indigenous effort. The Communist movement in China has therefore stood independently on its own and has flourished regardless of the vicissitudes in the fortunes of Communism in Russia.
About nine years after the Russian-Kuomintang fiasco , it appears that Mao Tse-tung in a conversation with Edgar Snow, the American journalist noted for his books and articles on Communism in China called Borodin a ‘ blunderer’ who in 1926 favored radical distribution of land among peasants ; but , in 1927 he completely reversed his position opposing his own earlier stand of 1926. Borodin was just an official obeying orders and eager to please his bourgeois masters.
As regards Roy, Mao Tse-tung called him ‘a fool’ who just stood and could only talk; and he talked too much, without offering any method of realization.
As per Mao’s analysis, it was Chen Tu-hsin the leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) who was most responsible for the failure and defeat of the peasants’ revolution; Borodin who completely reversed his stand between 1926 and 1927 was next; and, Roy who just stood and talked was the last.
But, although Mao called Roy a ‘fool … who just stood and talked and talked’, his method of creating a mass proletariat movement and rising agrarian revolution was much similar to the one that Roy had been advocating all along. ]
Roy left Hankow for Moscow on 8 August 1927. On his arrival in Moscow Roy had more troubles waiting for him.
While he was in China, a delegation of Indian Communists in Moscow submitted a complaint to Comintern charging Roy with exaggerating the size of the Communist apparatus in India and with misappropriation of Comintern funds.
But, the major trouble was that while Roy was away in China, Stalin had dispatched his trusted confidant fellow Georgian Vissarion Vissarionovich Lominadze to check on the situation there. Lominadze was appointed Secretary of the Communist Youth International in the spring of 1927; and later was made a full member of CPSU Central Committee. He had a voice in Comintern affairs; it was also well known that he enjoyed the confidence of Stalin; and therefore Lominadze was very powerful person indeed in Comintern.
Stalin had sent Lominadze to China because he did not trust Roy or Borodin. Lemonade’s mission in China, initially, was to find some remnants of the Kuomintang left-wing leadership still willing and able to allow a communist fraction to operate within the Kuomintang. During about the same time, Stalin had also dispatched a young German named Heinz Neumann to South China to look for some stray communist elements who could stage an urban uprising .
Both, Lominadze and Neumann reported back to Stalin saying that leaders of the Kuomintang , the Chinese Communist Party and Roy had messed up things in China; and communists were lying low unable to create to any trouble for the bourgeois .
Lominadze complained that many mistakes had been committed in the recent past by the personnel of the Comintern and the Central Committee (CC) of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) particularly with regard to Chinese revolution. Lominadze charged that the CC of the CCP had committed ‘serious errors of rightist opportunism and had violated the directives of the Comintern’. He demanded that an Emergency Party Conference be convened as soon as possible to reorganize the party leadership.
Lominadze convened an Emergency Conference, starting from 7 August 1927 (that is a couple of days before Roy’s return to Moscow from China) with the object of correcting mistakes and re-organizing party leadership.
What was really happening in Moscow was an on-going power struggle within the Comintern. Stalin was intent on eliminating all trouble-makers and potential rivals. Roy returned to Moscow where factions supporting Trotsky and Lenin’s former ADC Grigory Zinoviev were busy fighting with Stalin.
[Earlier during 1926, Grigory Zinovyev, Lev Kamenev and few others had come close to Trotsky’s supporters in forming what was known as The United Opposition. Stalin who was annoyed with splinter opposition groups had sent threats to Trotsky. And, Trotsky, then, had made tactical retreat, mostly to preserve his alliance with Zinoviev and Kamenev. Though the United Opposition was formally ‘out’, it did still exist; and, Stalin was intent on wiping it out clean. In 1927, Stalin started using the GPU (Soviet secret police) to infiltrate, harass and discredit the opposition. Some were expelled from the Party and some were arrested.
Trotsky kept on criticizing Stalin’s economic policy which opposed rapid industrialization and collectivization in agriculture. Stalin had then used Bukharin to rebut and undermine his chief rivals—Leon Trotsky, Grigory Zinovyev, and Lev Kamenev.
But, with failure of his attempts in Germany, Trotsky came under attack. Bukharin and Roy had stood by Stalin against Trotsky. They were promoted in the Party hierarchy.
And, earlier at the ECCI, on the question of alliance with Kuomintang, Trotsky and Roy had opposed the proposal. But Bukharin had argued for the proposal; and Stalin agreed with Bukharin.
Thus, there were many un-settled issues that had to be straightened out.]
The Emergency Conference was held at time when Stalin was seeking to consolidate his power. He needed to sideline and subdue Trotsky who was still airing his opinions about Stalin’s economic policies. Now, Trotsky using the failed policy of the ECCI on Chinese Revolution was attempting to pin the blame on Stalin.
The Emergency Conference would not have been convened by Lominadze unless it had Stalin’s sanction. In fact, Stalin, on 8 July 1927 had warned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to correct the fundamental errors of the Party as per the directions of the ECCI.
At the Emergency Conference, Trotsky committed the indiscretion of blaming Stalin for approving the Kuomintang-policy that was bound to fail.
Roy sprang to the defense of Stalin, shielding him against the charges made by Trotsky. Roy placed the entire blame for the failure of the ‘China-Mission’ with Kuomintang and on the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CPP). Roy supported Stalin, justifying his decision. (The plain truth was that Roy along with Trotsky had earlier opposed Stalin’s proposal).
[In October 1927, Leon Trotsky and Grigory Zinoviev were expelled from the CPSU.
Trotsky, after being expelled from the International Communist Party in November 1927 was exiled to Alma Ata in Kazakhstan on 31 January 1928. He was then expelled from the Soviet Union to Turkey in February 1929. Trotsky continued in exile to oppose the Stalinist bureaucracy in the Soviet Union. On Stalin’s orders, he was assassinated in August 1940 while he was exiled in Mexico.
As regards Grigory Zinoviev who was at one time the head of the Communist International for a fairly long period, was forced out of the Politburo and the Comintern, in 1927. Zinoviev remained politically inactive until October 1932, when he was expelled from the Communist Party. In 1935 he was arrested, secretly tried for “moral complicity” in the assassination of the party leader Sergey Mironovich Kirov (December 1934), and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment. The following year, however, he was re-tried at the first Great Purge trial, found guilty on the fabricated charge of forming a terrorist organization to assassinate Kirov and other Soviet leaders, and was executed. ]
Roy was aware that Trotsky was right in his view. But, to say that openly would have meant facing the same fate as Trotsky and Zinoviev. Roy therefore chose to support Stalin and his policy; and wrote articles and books vindicating Stalin’s Kuomintang policy. Roy, in his writings, continued to place the entire blame for the 1927 debacle on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP); and totally absolving the Comintern and Stalin of any responsibility.
Roy, lucky to scrape through the Emergency Conference did not stay much longer in Moscow. And, on 3 October 1927 he left for Berlin.
[Here, I may mention about one of the tactics that Stalin employed to discredit those who he was either afraid of; or those he despised. He took to the then unusual propaganda weapon of wiping out the traces of his enemies from the history books; or falsifying their images in the public domain.
In his book The Commissar Vanishes, a visual history of the falsification of images as a means of propaganda in the Soviet Union, David King explores how Stalin manipulated photography to erase all memory of his victims or to vilify them. At the heart of authoritarian propaganda, he says, is the manipulating of reality.
David King wrote that during the Great Purges, in the 1930s, ‘a new form of falsification emerged. The physical eradication of Stalin’s political opponents at the hands of the secret police was swiftly followed by their obliteration from all forms of pictorial existence’.
His book highlights classic cases of ‘now you see me, now you don’t’. It includes series of images featuring the same backdrops but with rotating casts, depending on who was or wasn’t in favor at the time.
Such propaganda, as Jemimah Steinfeld writes, did not work just on what was shown; it worked also on what was omitted. Stalin was a master of this. Long before the advent of Photoshop, technicians in Russia manipulated photos so much that they became outright lies.
For example, a photograph of 1917 shows Lenin addressing a huge crowd with Trotsky and Kamenev, at his side. But, in the doctored version, Trotsky and Kamenev are erased out.
Another picture showed Stalin, with Nikolai Yezhov the then chief of NKVD (Secret police), strolling along the Moscow-Volga Canal, where Volga becomes a stretch of water. But, in the edited version circulated after Nikolai Yezhov was arrested and executed in 1939; his image was wiped out.
In all such cases,’ un-persons’ were either simply blanked out; or were merged into other objects; or were shifted around to fill such gaps.
It is said; a similar practice was followed in Mao’s China, though less creatively
Despite his tactical alliance with Stalin, Roy was vulnerable because of his association with Trotsky, Borodin and Bukharin.
Some say that fall of Roy was easy to accomplish, for he had many powerful rivals and his theories were also suspect. And above everything, for all practical purposes, Roy was an outsider.
As regards his theories that were found suspect were: (a) his skewed theory exaggerating the strength of the proletariat and deprecating the Indian National Congress, thus misleading’ the ECCI of the Comintern; (b) his thesis on the national and colonial question presented at the Second World Congress (1920) though was a Supplementary thesis, officially, yet considerable attention paid to it by the Comintern policy makers. But, the failure of the attempts to carry the revolution to industrialized countries, brought attention back to Roy’s thesis. And, in the Seventh Plenum, Roy was asked to explain; and (c) the theory that caused much discomfort to Roy was the one that came to be known as the ‘decolonisation’ thesis.
On his return from China where the right wing forces had dealt a huge blow against the Communists, Roy was asked to review the India situation and submit a thesis. Roy stated that during the post-war period the British were forced to revise their old policy of obstructing industrial growth in India. He pointed out that a significant change was taking place in the Indian industrial scene. In his draft-thesis, Roy said “The Indian bourgeoisie, instead of being kept down as a potential rival, will be granted partnership in the economic development of the country under the hegemony of imperialism.”
The new policy, according to Roy, will encourage industrial development in India and will also expand the market for British goods and services in India. He also said, encouraged by the British move, other countries will also try to find openings in India. He also predicted that India would eventually be granted Dominion Status; and, the Indian bourgeoisies will be granted partnership by the imperialist bourgeoisies for the joint exploitation of India.
Thus he said:” A gradual advance of the Indian bourgeoisie from the state of absolute colonial oppression to self government within the British Empire is taking place. Therefore, it is not necessary for them to travel the risky path of revolution.
In other words, the progressive ‘decolonization’ of their economic and political status would make Indian bourgeoisie averse to revolution, and in the near future it would turn out to be counter-revolutionary. The transfer of some political power to colonial bourgeoisie would not weaken, because the native bourgeoisie would come to wield this power, not to further develop the struggle against imperialism, but to suppress the revolutionary movement… ‘Decolonization’ of the Indian bourgeoisie thus is not an illusion. It is a fact which is the key to the situation”
This theory of Roy produced a storm. The ECCI members of the Comintern were horrified with the thesis which suggested that industrial grown and Commerce will flourish under the benevolence of imperialism; and that there is no need for a revolution in India. At the Sixth Congress of the Communist International (1928) Knusinen accused Roy of ‘fathering a theory of decolonization’ which would gradually lead the Indian people to freedom.
Roy kept denying such interpretation; that he never meant it that way; and never did he try to show imperialism in better light. He also said, the term ‘decolonization’ was originally used by Bukharin; and it was not truly his own. And, that made it worse for Roy. He was accused of being a lackey of Bukharin who already was a suspect and was sidelined.
Another problem that the Comintern had to deal with during 1928-9 was the question of fascism that was raising its hood in Germany. The German Opposition Communists August Thalheimer and Heinrich Brandler advocated joining hands with the German Social Democrats to defeat fascism. Roy also expressed his support to such joint action to bring down fascism. But, the Sixth Congress was strongly against any collaboration with the Social Democrats, even for defeating the worst form of fascism – the Nazis. Roy who supported the proposal of the German Opposition was branded and clubbed with the ‘Brandlerite Opposition’ .This together with the controversy over ‘decolonization’ contributed to Roy’s expulsion from Comintern.
When the Ninth Plenum of ECCI (9 – 25 February 1928) opened in February 1928 and when he still was a member in the good standing of the ECCI, Roy continued to be under the belief that both Stalin and Bukharin were his personal friends. Roy tried to meet Stalin and to explain to him the true intent of his thesis. Stalin refused to meet Roy and give him a hearing at the plenum in February 1928.
It was the ‘decolonisation’ thesis that was to get Roy booted out of the Comintern. Further, Roy had the ill fortune of being championed by Bukharin, who was then chairing the Congress. Stalin, desperate to be rid of the Old Guard, allowed his apparatchiki free rein in distorting Roy’s argument, and his theses were construed to mean that the British were, for some reason, literally de-colonising India.
[ To make matters worse for Roy, while he was still under attack ,the British Statuary Commission began considering proposals for granting further autonomy to Indian bourgeoisie ahead of the schedule; and to offer Dominion Status as the natural ‘issue’ of India’s constitutional progress.]
When you look back and take a historical perspective, you will realize that the campaign against ‘decolonization’ and against Roy was not of much significance. But, what was more damaging to the communist cause was the directive issued by the Ninth Plenum of the ECCI to adopt an Ultra-Left policy of isolation and adventurism. That policy was amplified in the Tenth Plenum of the ECCI.
The Indian Communists were asked to break off relations with ‘counter revolutionary’ organizations like the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Leftist bodies like the Independence League (IL). They were instructed to organize mass rallies against INC and IL shouting them down as imperial lackeys and betrayers of the revolution of the proletariat. The worse was, the Indian Communists were asked to liquidate Peasants and Workers Party (PWP) established earlier ; and to build new anti-imperial united front against Congress. The new PWPs were asked to be organised along the lines of resistance movements- centralised, illegal, and furtive. Similarly, the Trade Unions built earlier were to be dismantled and build new Red Trade Unions preparing them for a countrywide strike.
These directives, proved to be most unrealistic, disruptive and disastrous.
It was a calamitous injunction – globally, and in India. In India, the Communists were driven into wilderness and broken into small sects. The CPI was wiped out from effectual political process, right at the critical juncture when they were consolidating their power in the main national stream. Similarly, the new directives had equally disastrous effects in Europe, particularly in Germany. And, some historians opine that the new injunctions contributed, in some measure, to the raise of fascism and the Nazis. The Communists in Germany, under their new prescriptions, came to be looked down as worse enemies of Communism and its principles than the fascists. Because, as the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) under fresh instructions from Moscow began to split and ruin the established trade unions; and that broke the spirit of the workers and weakened their will and strength to resist to Nazi menace.
That policy arrived at the Ninth Plenum and amplified in the Tenth Plenum of the ECCI, was totally against the line that was developed, and followed , till then, under the guidance of M N Roy. He had devised a strategy of working along with INC, infiltrating it, influencing its policies and eventually taking control of its leadership. Philip Spratt too had followed much the same line. Although the Communist Party of India had not entirely succeeded in its scheme, its groups (covert or otherwise) had managed to infiltrate the INC, influence some of its policies and draw some Congressmen into its fold.
Roy’s aim in all this was to capture the bourgeois Indian National Congress and make it a ‘people’s’ or ‘revolutionary nationalist’ party based on a democratic programme of national independence. Historian John Patrick Haithcox writes: “Roy hoped that Indian communists would be able to duplicate the apparent success of their Chinese counterparts in working within the Kuomintang.”
Yet; Roy had not learnt his lesson – even after the debacle in China and rebuke for his ‘decolonization theory. When Stalin launched the Comintern on its “third period” the Ultra-left turn, Bukharin and Roy opposed Stalin from the right. But, Bukharin soon capitulated to Stalin.
[As the Nazis came to power in Germany, the views of the Comintern changed once again. The Seventh Comintern Congress , held between July 25 and August 20 of 1935 , decided to replace the tactics of ‘ class against class ‘ by the struggle of ‘ nation against nation’, in which all classes including democratic nationalist bourgeois were expected to unite in a common front against fascist powers. Those tactics were extended to the colonial countries, because of the ‘necessity to re-adjust the program of world revolution with the bourgeois democratic movement’.
In effect, the Seventh Congress went back to Lenin’s call (in the Second Congress -1920) to build alliances of communists with the national movement. The Comintern now abandoned its earlier stand of ‘ultra-left’ taken in the Sixth Congress (1928) about seven years ago . It now made a total reversal and directed that: ‘while maintaining their political and organizational independence , the communists in India must carry on active work inside the Indian National Congress to facilitate progress of crystallization of a national revolutionary wing among them.’
Roy, in a way, was vindicated. He might have been hoping that he would be re-admitted to Comintern. But, that did not happen.
As regards the Communist Party of India, the reversals, the twists and turns in Comintern’s policy did not help in reviving its fortunes, because by then, as they say, much water had flown under the bridge. Add to that, most of the active Indian communists had been rounded up and put behind bars in Meerut Conspiracy case which dragged on from 1929 to 1933; and thereafter the accused were sentenced to various periods of imprisonment. The Communist movement in India during those periods was in its lowest ebb.]
Even while the Ninth Plenum of the ECCI was in progress at Moscow during February 1928 Roy fell ill. But, he was denied a decent treatment for an infected ear (attack of mastoiditis). That truly scared Roy. However, with help from Bukharin and Borodin, Roy managed to escape from Moscow in March 1928 by boarding Berlin-bound plane of the Russo-German Airline Deruluft, under a fictitious name. But for that flight, Roy might have been shunted out to a Siberian prison. The cruel irony of it was that his friends -Bukharin and Borodin- who rescued Roy at a grave risk to themselves, were, later, condemned, arrested and executed by the order of Stalin.
Soon after the Ninth Plenum, there began a campaign for ‘enforcing discipline’ within the Party. As a part of those ‘disciplinary measures’, it was decided to throw out of the Party and Comintern all those who did not accept the new policy of shifting to the extreme Left. Under this prescription, large numbers of communist leaders were expelled, arrested and executed. Even senior leaders like Bukharin and Borodin were not spared. Roy’s rivals, taking advantage of Stalin’s need for a shift of policy to the extreme Left, pressed elimination of Roy from the Communist International.
Some surmise that action against Roy was delayed, perhaps, because the Comintern gave him some room and expected him to recant, to apologize and to send a note of regret. On the contrary, soon after his escape from Moscow, Roy joined hands with the Opposition Communist Party (KPO) in Berlin and started writing articles criticizing Stalin and his policies in the journals published by Heinrich Brandler and August Thalheimar.
[The real reason for Roy’s expulsion could be the power struggle that was taking place within the Comintern, specially after the Fifth Congress when Stalin was trying to consolidate his position by ruthlessly eliminating the old gourds of the Bolshevik revolution. With the support of the Left-wing Bukharin, he successfully sidelined and banished the Right-wing Trotsky; and, ultimately eliminated Bukharin too.
Roy from his early days in Comintern had aligned himself with the Left-wing Bukharin regarded as ‘the theoretical authority, next only to Lenin.’ With the rapidly changing developments in International Communism, following the Chinese debacle, Roy and Bukharin came together to form a central position. Meanwhile, Stalin had shifted his stance to extreme Left. Roy and Bukharin had to be expelled, by necessity, as they might oppose Stalin’s ultra-left policy adopted in the Sixth Congress in July/August 1928. Roy writing articles in the journals of the Opposition Communist Party of Germany , only made it easier for ECCI.]
But, for some reason, action against Roy was delayed for while, even though he was accused of being a ‘lackey of imperialism’ and ‘father of the decolonization theory’. The Tenth Plenum which met in June 1929 also condemned Roy as a ‘renegade’. But, Roy’s expulsion from the Communist International was affected in September 1929. The announcement of his expulsion appeared in Inprecor of 13 December 1929, almost simultaneously with Bukharin’s disgrace.
[Bukharin lost his Comintern post in April 1929 and was expelled from the Politburo in November 1929.]
The notice published in Inprecor of 13 December 1929 mentioned the cause of Roy’s expulsion as: “contributing to the Brandler press and supporting the Brandler organizations.” It clearly said; ‘’In accordance with the resolution of the Plenum of the ECCI and the decision of the Presidium of the ECCI of 19 December 1928, adherents of the Brandler organization cannot be members of the Communist International. The Presidium declares that Roy, by contributing to the Brandler press and by supporting Brandler Organization, has placed himself outside the ranks of the Communist International, and is to be considered as expelled from the Communist International.”
[Heinrich Brandler (1881–1967) was a German Communist trade-union politician. After being expelled by the Communist Party in December 1928, Brandler, along with Thalheimer, set up in Germany a rival Communist Party named the Communist Party of Germany Opposition (KPO).
August Thalheimer (1884 to 1948), a journalist and theoretician, was initially a member of the Social Democratic Party before the First World War and later formed the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) . However a during 1928, he and Brandler were expelled from the KPD; and the two together went on to form the Communist Party Opposition (KPO) , a faction within German Communist Party.
The KPO, in its new communist opposition journal, Gegen den Storm (Against the Storm) edited by August Thalheimer started publishing articles criticizing the foreign policy of the Soviet Union; which meant criticism of Stalin.
The Comitern was properly annoyed with Brandler and his organization – the KPO. Roy contribution to Brandler – organization journal Gegen den Storm, criticizing Soviet policies, was the last straw. And with that the ECCI decided to expel Roy from Communist International.]
Roy felt that he was expelled from the Comintern mainly because of his “claim to the right of independent thinking.” Roy asserted: ‘the crimes attributed to me, I have not committed. My offence is that I lay claim to the right of independent thinking. and this is not permissible in the present critical period through which the Communist International is passing through.’ In a way of speaking, Roy had burnt his boats; and there was no way he could return to the official communist fold.
But Roy’s career in Comintern all along was dotted with controversies, stating with his Supplementary thesis on the colonial and national question in 1920 , just as he was entering the portals of Comintern. He had opposed Commenter’s supporting bourgeoisie nationalist organizations. He fought against putting the Indian Communist party under the control of the Communist Party of Great Britain. He had opposed ECCI’s decision asking the Chinese Communist Party to withdraw the agrarian revolt. He almost always had a running-battle with Trotsky. But , his argument against Stalin’s extreme Left Industrial policy, just when Stalin was eradicating all rivals and establishing his sole authority in Comintern , proved to be his final undoing in the Communist Party. Given the highly dangerous environment prevailing in the background of power struggle, it is a wonder that Roy could survive and even thrive for about eight years in the dog-eat-the-dog world of Comintern.
The break with the Comintern was, of course, a serious blow to Roy. He lost the power, prestige that he had as a member of the ECCI. He also lost the capacity to influence the India question. Yet, he went on writing articles in the Communist journals.
He then had to consider other means of being connected with India- its communism and its national independence.
More of that In the next part
Continued
In
Next Part
Sources and References
Communism in India by Marshall Windmiller
Communist and Socialist Movement in India: A Critical Account by Chandrika Singh
In Search of Revolution: International Communist Parties in the “Third Period” edited by Matthew Worley
M N Roy – apolitical Biography by Samaren Roy
M N Roy by V B Kulkarni
Communism and Nationalism in India: A Study in Inter-relationship, 1919-1947 By Shashi Bairathi
Mao Tse-tung in Opposition, 1927-1935 by John E. Rue, Hoover Institution on War
Political Philosophy of M.N. Roy by Prakash Chandra
All pictures are from Internet
Posted by sreenivasaraos on January 16, 2016 in M N Roy
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No I’m not. I only think about this day-and-night and it never once occurred for me to pray. Yes, I’m using sarcasm.
God only blesses you with a spouse when you learn to be content in your singleness.
Then Lord knows (literally) that I would have never gotten married, because frankly, I was not really okay with a lifetime of singleness. I thought for a season that this was my future but I wasn’t okay with it. Nor did I force myself to be okay with it thinking I was making a deal with God. My wrestling self knew that myself was not in the way of meeting John because I was living my life to the full. It’s okay to be discontent through singleness, but it’s not okay to let that discontentment rob you of your very life. Or to lead you to “make deals” with God. Or lead you to compromise your soul. Wrestle with this discontentment. The world needs the heartbreak you risk.
It will happen when you least expect it.
What this really means is it will happen when you just stop worrying about it. It will happen when you let your guard down for a second, when you’re thinking about something else, when for a moment all the stress and frustration and heaviness part like clouds, and some guy gets a glimpse of the real you that’s been hiding underneath. This is so conditional on you to be in the perfect situation so you can be surprised by love. In the literal sense finding your match will happen when you least expect it because you will be living your life to the full and then you will turn around and find that one who is keeping up with you.
You’re too picky. You should probably lower your standards. You’re only interested in men/women who are above your level. You need to be more realistic about who you are and what kind of guy/woman you can expect to be interested in you.
Umm…you can re-read this passion-filled article I wrote and realize the best thing is for you to not compromise your standards.
Next for what? How do you know what is going to happen in my future? Do you have a way to control my future?
Guys are intimidated by you. The more you accomplish, the less guys will want to ask you out.
So you want me to change me to get a guy? You want me to trick a guy into being with me?
Loneliness is God’s way of drawing you to Himself.
Is this said to married people? Because many will tell you (like me) that you can be even lonelier in marriage. Loneliness is real. What you are feeling is real. But something is not wrong with you because you are lonely. Loneliness is a signal that you are alive and living vulnerably. Loneliness will push you to relationships—not the idealized romantic relationship which you think will cure your loneliness–or to this advice-giving person who is talking to you. I have a lot to say about loneliness such as Merry Christmas to the Lonely and Loneliness Soup Served at Christmas.
If you were a better Christian you would find that good Christian match.
If you were better how? And why are you not living that way now? This sounds like a hustling thought. Stop. There is shame involved here and we expose a lot of shame problems at Bravester. Shame is your storystealer. You need to be living your life now to the full—which is attractive—even as you desire to be married.
There’s sin in your life that God wants you to work through first. Once you work it out, he’ll bring you a spouse.
You get to be married to Jesus. Just think of him as your husband.
I just threw up in my mouth. Which is a statement I hate and is overused but felt it was perfectly descriptive here. I am created for marriage because that is how God created me. God did make an Eve for Adam, right? God didn’t say to Adam, “here is Jesus, your helpmate.” I love Jesus so much but I don’t want to be married to Him.
I can’t remember the last time I was single on Christmas/my birthday/insert holiday.
Really? Keep that thought inside your head please.
By the way, it’s okay to have a constant longing for marriage because you were made in the image of a God who understands because He is longing for connection with you. It is a struggle that we are allowed to have, and one that can draw us even closer to a God who longs to connect with us through it. Wrestle it out. Live your unique life to the full and see who is catching up to you.
(Photo credit: https://imgflip.com/i/ntj05)
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A small book about being the people that hurting people need.
“This is the book that I wish I had had for people in my life that have suffered and needed me to be that compassionate friend. This is the book that I wish others in my life had read before they dismissed my pain, or compared it to theirs, or stumbled horribly through trying to lessen my pain because it was actually really about THEM not feeling comfortable with it.”
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Beauty in the Awkwardness of Dating - Bravester says:
February 18, 2020 at 12:01 pm
[…] that hurts and wears on you. You are frustrated at not being asked out. You are frustrated at the stupid comments people make around you. You are frustrated at God for his (or her) […]
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My life is a story of getting my heart smashed and the many times I have chosen to get up. It is the getting-up-again stories that are best told.
I’d like to share my story with you—and your people. So you all can get-up-again and discover the truth that God truly is close to the broken-hearted as Psalm 34:18 tells us. Or is Psalm 34:18 more true because you are bravely living broken-hearted so God is close to you?
I have a free download for you that is a piece here and a piece there of my message…with a Star Trek reference I love. I don’t want to mislead you. I’m only a bit of a Trekky but this story with the quote, ”I need my pain” is for real. That truth became bearable when Captain Kirk taught me it back in 1989. (I’m one of the few who actually saw this movie in the theatre.)
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Small businesses have been particularly hard hit by COVID-19. While many larger companies are able to remain fully operational after being designated as businesses that provide essential services to the community, many smaller businesses have had to shut their doors entirely due to stay-at-home orders. Even...
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What Does Homeowners Insurance Cover?
Written on June 3, 2020 .
Homeowners insurance can be somewhat confusing, with many homeowners uncertain about what is covered and is not covered by their policy. The better you understand the things this type of insurance does and does not cover, the better prepared you are to get the insurance protection that best meets...
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James Reed, an African American laborer, was lynched by a mob in Crisfield, Maryland on July 28, 1907. Reed, originally from North Carolina, resided in Maryland for only eight months before his murder. The lynching was prompted by the murder of the night Chief of Police John H. Daugherty. Reed was accused of murdering Daugherty after Daugherty arrested Reed's business partner, who was only known as Hildred. Hildred was arrested for selling whiskey. Chief Daugherty and Officer Evans were walking their prisoner, Hildred, through the African American business section of town. When Reed learned of the arrest he ran to an African American billiard in the area and borrowed a .44 caliber revolver from Lemuel Showers, the owner of the establishment. Reed then supposedly followed Daugherty and Evans several blocks before firing. One bullet hit Daugherty in the back of the head, exiting above the right eye, killing him instantaneously. Both Reed and the prisoner fled the scene and were immediately lost among a crowd of people.1
Officers were dispatched to different parts of town in order to prevent Reed's escape. The search party believed Reed had secured a boat and exited town through the local waterways. However, it was reported that Reed stole a bicycle and followed the railroad out of town before reaching the area known as Coulbourne Creek. It was here that Reed reportedly stole a small mail boat. Authorities chartered a fleet of small gasoline launchers to search the waterways for Reed. Reed was at least 10 miles outside of Crisfield before he was spotted by Captain Chelton of the Ercliff Vessel. Reed hid in the cabin of the mail boat. After several commands to surrender, Reed then jumped into the water and was shortly apprehended by Captain Chelton. The search party returned to Crisfield with Reed in custody. As they led Reed back towards the scene of the crime, the mob became explosively violent. Reed was killed from blows to the head which resulted in a fractured skull. His body was then hung from a telegraph pole as citizens celebrated and photographed the lynching. Reed's body was then buried cruedly in the marsh. However, later that night angry citizens dug up the body and further abused the cropse with bullets. Rioters then threw his body upon a bonfire. The rioters continued to run through the African American community, pulling people from their homes and beating them indiscriminately. The mob reportedly threatened several black men to leave town immediately.2
The town council assembled the following afternoon in an effort to restore peace to Crisfield. African American leaders and professionals attended the meeting to offer several resolutions to produce peace among blacks and whites in the community. They requested that all African American owned places of amusement be closed in order to prevent people from congregating or organizing a retaliation. Several saloons and billiards were closed immediately. Many African American residents were arrested for vagrancy. Councilmen accepted a motion that all African American visiting from out of town report to authorities and state their reason for being in town, asking permission to stay. Delegates offered another resolution condemning Reed for the murder of Daugherty. The council further stated that the African American community would have joined in the search and that the lynching was justifiable. Officials may have offered this resolution out of fear that future violence would plague their community. Many must have believed these resolutions would prove their willingness to cooperate thereby calming angry citizens of Crisfield. However, several newspaper articles did not agree that the lynching was justifiable. The Afro-American -Ledger stated on August 3, 1907 that it was unbelievable that the better element among the colored people would endorse the lynching of James Reed.3 The Baltimore Sun stated:
"There are abundant reasons why the people of Crisfield should deplore the lynching of James Reed, a negro murderer. In the first place, the murderer would have been hanged by due process of law if the courts had been left to deal with him. Maryland justice lacks, in such cases, neither swiftness nor sureness...No mob is capable of administering the law in a way that will strengthen our civilization or add to the security of society. Lawlessness begets contempt of the law and of orderly procedure. The lyncher of today may be the victim of mob law tomorrow. The safety of every community rests upon the prompt and rigid enforcement of the law in courts of justice. To encourage Judge Lynch is to place a premium upon acts of violence and to expose every citizen to vengeance of a mob incapable of acting calm and discriminating justice. Let the courts of Maryland punish lawbreakers in Maryland."4
There was no investigation into the lynching of James Reed. There was also no interference or sentiments about the event from a state level. Lemuel Showers, the owner of the revolver that Reed used to kill Chief Daugherty, was arrested after leaving town. Showers was jailed in Princess Anne to await his trial, but no report has been found on the outcome of his trial. Nor is there any report on the capture of the prisoner Hildred. It is believed he escaped during the chaos.5
1. "Mob Kills Negro." The Baltimore Sun, 29 July 1907.
3. "Another Lynching." The Afro-American Ledger, 3 August 1907.
4. "Crisfield in a Frenzy." The Baltimore Sun, 30 July 1907.
This web site is presented for reference purposes under the doctrine of fair use. When this material is used, in whole or in part, proper citation and credit must be attributed to the Maryland State Archives. PLEASE NOTE: The site may contain material from other sources which may be under copyright. Rights assessment, and full originating source citation, is the responsibility of the user.
Governor General Assembly Judiciary Maryland.Gov
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1) If I want to see myself grow, I’ve got to be willing to risk failure. I have to be willing to venture into the unknown, to walk away from all my familiar surroundings.
2) For years, I have been adamant that I wouldn’t believe in God because God was just another “parent figure” to make me feel unheard, unseen, and abandoned. As far as I was concerned God was never there in my pain. Maybe scripture says I am forgiven but I don’t know if God should be.
Okay, you’re probably wondering how these revelations, or epiphanies, came about. On Christmas Eve my cousin told me about this group of people who meet and worship and then go have beer afterwards. He told me they were really liberal and accepting and that they don’t see God or religion the way we grew up seeing those things. Being the outcast, black sheep, religious reject of the family, I was intrigued. So, that night I took a leap and went to the worship service. And I’ve got to say… something about those people felt like home. I’m not one to easily discount something like that, so I went back tonight to see if there was any validity to what I felt before. Maybe there is… but that isn’t what this blog is really about. This blog is about how taking that leap and then taking it again led me to tonight’s message on retreat. That is what has inspired this blog.
As I listened to the various members of this group talk tonight I thought about another leap I took just yesterday. And how that leap felt so daunting in the moment. It felt impossible. It made me feel like I had cast myself adrift in some vast chasm with no tether to bring me back. It made me feel like I was being led into the unknown. But, it was good. It was a good leap.
Monday my therapist asked me if I would be willing to throw away my razors, right then and there. I hesitated. I think my pregnant pause was pregnant with pause, the silence and contemplation lasted for so long. How could this woman, this trained professional really be asking me to give up the one thing that feels constant in my life right now? How could this woman, who cannot guarantee that I’ll be able to regulate my emotions ask me to give up the one thing that never fails to bring me back? How could this woman be asking me to risk almost certain failure? I’d like to say she asked because she cares. I think she cares enough to want to help me make this journey, to encourage me to jump into the unknown. I chose to trust her but at that point it was a blind trust. I handed my blades over because she holds onto hope for me when I am drowning in a sea of darkness and she reminds me that people survive, that I can survive. I trusted her then without knowing the lessons that today would bring.
Now, I feel that trust has taken a different form. I can see that, giving up my razors, as one step toward something potentially amazing. I can see that the cutting has been my home, my safe place, my place of familiarity. But, I think that I’ve been so immersed in this life, this pain, this struggle that I’ve stopped seeing the magic of all the other things around me. I think we often get so caught up in our day to day struggles that we just disconnect, put ourselves on autopilot and lose the motivation to witness the wonder around us. We stumble from one familiar place inside ourselves to another, being sure to keep the blinders on the whole way. I’ve been living that blind life. I’ve become so focused on just making it from point A to point B that I have failed to appreciate the journey. And, shit, I know it’s cliche but maybe it really is about the journey.
Right, so, that second point of realization. I have literally no idea where it came from. I was driving home from the worship thing tonight and the thought just hit me: God is another parent to emotionally abandon you. This is something I’ve grappled with for years and years and years. I prayed when men made a conquest of my body. I prayed when I couldn’t see the light anymore. I prayed when the church and my mother told me I was an abomination. I prayed when I realized I didn’t love the way I was supposed to love. I prayed and I fucking prayed and I received no answer. There was no solace, no peace, no love. There was a dark, empty silence. A big, fat nothing. A gaping hole in my heart. A crater where my soul should be. There was no one. I don’t know how to move past that but part of me wonders… is there any way to marry these two revelations? Can I risk a belief? Is it that simple? Surely not. Surely I can’t just decide: I’m walking into the unknown and that unknown is a belief in God. Nope. That’s not it; that’s not me. But, what?
Do I let myself believe in all the moments I felt like I hadn’t been abandoned but that my mother assured me weren’t real or valid? Like the time right after I tried to kill myself. I went to some church thing with my youth group, to see a guest preacher. This guy stopped mid-sermon. He swore as he walked down the aisle that he had never done this before but that God was laying something heavy on his heart that he had to get out. When he reached my row he looked me squarely in the eyes and said, “you are here for a reason. I know you’re hurting but God has plans for you. You’re going to do great things. You’ll be a witness. Your story will change lives.” In that moment there was literally no doubt in my mind that God was talking to me through that stranger. I felt “saved” that night. But when I relayed the story to my mother she said, “you’re not special. That was probably all an act. You haven’t been saved.” I felt so belittled, so small, so ignorant and naive. I have never been able to remember that experience with the same fierce conviction as I had before. The warmth, the love, the goosebumps… gone. Just like that, the moment meant nothing. So, maybe that’s the place where I have to start taking back my power. Not even necessarily just where it pertains to religion but in everything. Maybe I start by taking back my memories and my experiences. I wanted the unconditional love of a mother so badly that I was willing to burn myself at the stake for it; I was willing to disavow everything I thought to be true just for a morsel of that love. I sacrificed myself. So maybe that’s where the two revelations converge. Maybe I am the unknown. Maybe I have to start by taking myself back, one memory at a time, one feeling at a time, one intimacy at a time.
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January 10, 2018 at 5:53 am
OH my God your mother…. that is just wrong, KD.. Reading this post made me feel a lightening inside me. I think you are really ready to trust this therapist. I think that is why the issue of the fear of being abandoned by your higher power is coming up now. I know it may be hard to believe but there is a force in you that is whole and seeks your growth. It has the capacity to contain your wounded hurting parts. Dont listen to that voice of your mother. She was just diminishing you and she was not speaking the truth. True none of us is ‘special’ but we also are, if that makes any sense and every single one of us deserves love. I am here cheering you on. I think recognising you have been living in a darknes where any light or good was eclipsed is a huge realisation and shows you are ready to start to deal with and get out of that darkness. Love to you, Deborah
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KD says:
January 10, 2018 at 6:28 am
I feel like I probably make my mother out to be awful. She did do a lot of damage but she was hurting. She was just one hurt person, hurting people. I get the irony of me defending her here after having literally just said I’d be taking myself back. This is maybe the self-sabotage thing I’ve been talking about with my therapist. And the whole, “I’ve got boatloads of compassion for everyone except myself” thing.
This therapist is good at what she does… the trust thing is still touch and go though. I let her in and then other parts of me self-destruct and try to obliterate that closeness. So… who knows… but I hope you’re right. I hope it does mean I’m ready to seek new terrain.
January 10, 2018 at 9:24 am
That push pull dynamic will probably be something you struggle with for a long time. I also used to defend my own mother because I knew the scars and deficits which led her to emotionally abandon me at times. That said a symptom of not having enough validation is just what you wrote as well as evidence of high compassion. Its also self protective in a way because dealing with the real core feelings is hard.
KD says:
January 10, 2018 at 11:32 am
January 10, 2018 at 6:38 am
you can do it. i struggle with my faith too. a lot. well done for giving those razors to your therapist. xoxox
KD says:
January 10, 2018 at 3:34 pm
Thank you, love. Faith is hard.
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 10, 2018 at 2:51 pm
That’s such a huge step handing over your razors. That’s such a great way to dive right in to new learning and new skills that are hard to really devote yourself to when the safety net of the razors is readily available.
KD says:
January 10, 2018 at 3:33 pm
Thank you for your kind words. It’s scary. I really feel certain I will fail. I just have to remember to be kind to myself when that happens.
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 10, 2018 at 6:24 pm
Congratulations on taking one of the most difficult steps in your life hugs to you
KD says:
January 10, 2018 at 6:26 pm
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 11, 2018 at 6:32 pm
easetheride says:
January 10, 2018 at 8:20 pm
I think it takes a lot of strength to let go of your razors. A leap of blind faith, like you said. Although perhaps not as blind as you think because you know yourself better than anyone and you know your own resilience. I also loved what you said about taking a moment to really absorb life. In many societies, people (myself included) really do not take the time to appreciate what’s around them because we are all trying to get by and survive. I have a pin of a firefly jar that when I see it, it helps me take a step back and get perspective because last summer I was thinking about how I hadn’t seen any fireflies yet. I wondered where they were and why they weren’t around. But when I took a second to observe that night instead of breezing in from my car to my house, I saw them. Clear as day. They’d been there all along but I’d never stopped to pay attention. Such a good message in your post to remind us of that. Keep up the awesome choices and hard work!
KD says:
January 10, 2018 at 8:26 pm
I love your story about the fireflies. Thank you for sharing that with me. And thank you for your encouraging, kind words about letting go of my razors.
Kalyn Courier says:
January 10, 2018 at 9:05 pm
Hi, thanks for the follow I read what you wrote here, and I just wanted to share something with you.
I hated being alive. I saw no point, there was no will to live, and I wished I were never born. My parents dont sound so bad when you written about yours, but I don’t agree with my parents and their method of parenting. How they’d make me feel, I never felt like I could tell them anything. I had abandonment and trust issues, friends and family would die or leave or cause me pain, so I found myself alone one day. I had no job, no money, an addiction to cigarettes that was terrible and hard to break free of. I thought I’d end up on the street homeless or something someday.
It was when God was all that I had, I saw that nothing and no one in this whole world compares to Him.
Instead of seeing my life as an utter mess and failure with no hope, I saw it as a blessing in disguise. Because I know how these struggles feel like, and many people have struggles like these.
I don’t know you, what exactly your story or struggles are, but I want you to know that it’s satan who has it out for you, not God. And I hope you can use all that satan ever hoped to destroy you with, for some good and light in this world.
I used to cut, i used to strangle myself, i used to think of thousands of ways to die, and I almost have many times. I’ve had a broken heart, multiple times, friends betrayed me, and people died.
I saw that its satan who throws all these bad things into our lives, since its his job, he does not want us to think God exists, and that He is good and loves us.
The battle of the mind and heart is the hardest. I had read books by Joyce Meyer, she knows what’s up.
I was just touched and moved by your post, it reminded me of the doubtful girl I used to be, until I found this song, and God had come to teach me.
If you ever have any questions, doubts, or if you ever feel like you just need a kind friend, feel free to contact me.
My name’s Kalyn btw, nice to meet you I hope you will stay alive, and I hope you’ll find peace in your life. Church and Christianity and all that, it’s not a place to go on Sundays, it starts with you, and I just hope you would know that God does love you. He wants to have a relationship like none other with us, and we all have a choice to say yes.
Take care okay, and God bless
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KD says:
January 10, 2018 at 11:53 pm
Thank you, Kalyn, for taking the time to read and to respond. I really appreciate you reaching out and sharing some of your story with me here. It means a lot to be able to connect with people who’ve experienced and felt similar things and who are so willing to be open with their experiences.
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 11, 2018 at 5:23 pm
I’m sorry that you’ve been belittled and taken advantage of in the past. I know how painful it can be to not have the support or proper love you expect from a parent. From your epiphany though, it’s easy to see how strong and resilient you really are. I believe God has been looking out for you and is ready to welcome you back with open arms. Remember, one day at a time. Xo
KD says:
January 11, 2018 at 5:24 pm
Thank you so much for this. I really needed these words today.
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 11, 2018 at 5:41 pm
LB says:
January 13, 2018 at 8:34 pm
Your mom and dad sound so similar to my father. He always used to say, “who in the world do you think cares about your ass?” I’m convinced that instead of cutting with a physical object, I’ve long been cutting by repeating the things he used to say to me and still believing them.
I’m a huge fun of this therapist of yours, by the way. How has it been without the razors?
KD says:
January 13, 2018 at 8:58 pm
I think it’s pretty normal for us to hold onto those voices and repeat the negative messages to ourselves, in a way perpetuating the punishment we have come to believe we deserve (at least on some level).
As for my therapist, she is pretty great. She has been endlessly patient with me. About the razors, it’s been okay. It sucked at first. And I’m sure it will suck again. But for now I’m not thinking much about it.
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At Kozmo, time seemed to have stopped. It is a haven in the heart of Budapest where you can disconnect and unwind after a long day.
Personalized service and a great cuisine will make your stay a wonderful experience in a world rich in details in a warm and friendly environment.
info@keilleyFebruary 11, 2022Lifestyle
Has anyone else noticed how hard it is to recover from the holiday money crunch? To be perfectly honest, it usually takes most people a few months, which is why it’s always a good idea to think about affordable Valentine’s Day date ideas. In a world where a single movie ticket costs more than $16 (not including service fees), it can seem like there are very few things to do on a budget. The good news is you don’t have to spend a lot of money if you use a little imagination.
After all, celebrating February 14 is all about spending time with the one you love (or the ones, if you’re spending it with some friends instead of a significant other). Other than the obvious option of making dinner at home, there are plenty of fun, creative things you can do that won't break the bank.
1 Make playlists for each other.
Spend some time putting together playlists for each other on your favorite streaming service. Choose songs that spark memories of your relationship or simply tunes you know your significant other will love. Then pour some wine, turn on the music, and reminisce.
2 Go stargazing.
You don't need a telescope to set up a stargazing date. Just head to your own backyard with a warm, outdoor blanket and use a stargazing app to help identify constellations in the night sky.
3 Volunteer
together.
One of the best ways to spend the day together is to choose a cause you're both passionate about and sign up to volunteer—you'll do some good for others and yourself, as volunteering can make you feel more connected to each other and the community. Visit volunteermatch.org to search local organizations and volunteer opportunities.
your own town.
Is there a landmark in your town that you've always wanted to visit? Or a museum you've never seen? Become tourists in your own home and finally check off one or two of those bucket list items you keep putting off. Get into the role by snapping tons of pictures throughout the day.
5 Eat breakfast in
bed.
Whip up a delicious breakfast spread on Valentine's Day and enjoy it lounging in bed. It will be a nice change of pace from the usual morning hustle and bustle.
6 Go for a drive.
No destination? No problem. All you need for this fun Valentine's Day activity is a sense of adventure and a full tank of gas! You'll both get out of your comfort zones while you explore new terrain. There's no telling what you might stumble across.
7 Enjoy a wine and chocolate tasting. (one of my favorites)
Wine and chocolate: Both delicious on their own, but even better together!
to each other.
If you've never done it before, now's the time to put in writing why your partner is so special to you. Tell them which of their qualities you most admire, how they make you feel, and why you fell in love with them.
For a bubble bath worthy of a honeymoon suite, surround the tub with candles, sprinkle rose petals in the water, and set a tray of chocolate-covered strawberries and a bottle of Champagne within arm's reach.
10 Practice yoga together.
Enjoy some Zen time together while stretching and breathing in sync.
Grab a bottle of body oil, set the mood with candles and relaxing background music, and give your partner at least 30 minutes of massage therapy. They can thank you by returning the favor.
Spend the day coming up with a bucket list of everything you'd like to do together—from romantic vacations to take to new activities to try to concerts you want to see—then spend Valentine's Day making plans to start checking things off.
You can celebrate love all 365 days of the year, but it’s always nice to do a little something extra to commemorate your partner on Valentine’s Day. Of course, you can buy chocolates, flowers and gifts — but few things are more romantic to. Being honest about what you both need in a relationship is really impotant in a ensuring that it flourishes and is not left to flounder. Comunication is the KEY.
So, whatever you are doing this valentine´s Day, try to ensure it involves one-on-one tme together... and make sure you leave your phone behind!!
Lubos Barton basketball career
When you have a career like Lubos it’s hard to know from where to start, but like always we will start from his early beginnings.
I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. If you are making mistakes…you’re Doing Something. “
When you have a career like Lubos it’s hard to know from where to start, but like always we will start from his early beginnings.
In summer 1992, Barcelona Olympics, American Dream Team. That was the moment when he fell in love with basketball.
“It was as if someone from Mars had suddenly come to play.”He got into basketball when he was 7 years old. Under the leadership of coach Miroslav Potměšil, he developed rapidly in the youth teams in Česká Lípa and was also included in the U17 and U19 national teams. At the age of 17, due to faster player growth, he moved to the first-league BK Děčín.
Barton possesed a long wingspan and physical attributes from his parents who were also good athletes. With these good physical parameters, a jump, strength it was easy to predict that he is going to be a very good professional athlete. After hight school, he went to study and play basketball in the USA.
He was a four-year started at Valparaiso University, and helped the team make NCAA tournament three times during his time there. He was the leagues MVP in his final senior year in 2002. He put his name in the NBA draft and unlike his Czech peer Jiri Welsch, he was not selected. Even though he put up a quite good impression in the NBA summer league that year, Barton prefered to come back to Europe and signed with italian powerhouse Fortitudo Bologna.
In the following years, he played in clubs in Italy (Fortitudo Bologna, Virtus Roma), Spain (Joventut Badalona, FC Barcelona, Fuenlabrada and Valencia). His most successful years were in Spain where he took many titles with Joventut and with Barcelona teams. Impressive 5-year run was capped with Euroleague title in 2010. After returning to the Czech Republic, he played briefly for USK Prague, and in the summer of 2014, he transferred to the ČEZ Basketball Nymburk team. At the end of 2015, he took advantage of the offer of the Barcelona Club, where he played in the reserve team. Besides obvious playing, his duty was to mentor young players and prepared himself for a coaching career.
He began his career as a coach at Europrobasket, leading the Europrobasket team as a Head Coach. After two months with Europrobasket, he was offered a position as assistant coach of the FC Barcelona Cadet team.
He saw a unique chance to “fix” someone at his young age from a basketball and human point of view.Thanks to his rich career, he has a clear idea of how basketball should be played and that’s what he demands from his players. He served 3 years in the FC Barcelona youth categories.
His specialty has been working with the big guys, as well as mentoring the young star players. In that season, Barton took his Cadet team to the final game of the Spanish championship, where he lost by two points to the other Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid.
During that time, since 2017, Barton has been also working with the Czech basketball association. First, he joined the senior national team for the Euro championship in 2017, then shortly after he was named the head coach of the Czech Republic U18 national team in 2018, and the team to advance to division “A” in 2019. In 2020, it was his 4th year, leading the group of players born in 2003 and 2004.
In the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Istanbul, coach Barton led Basket Brno for its first victory in ANGT history as it knocked off U18 Tofas Bursa 71-66 in overtime to finish seventh in Istanbul.
To put a extra plus in his career Lubos have won another ticket to The Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament enters its 20th edition this season. he brings Basket Brno another year with more experience.
We can talk days about Lubos Barton’s interesting basketball career, but one thing is sure, he was an amazing player on the right track to becoming an even better coach, teaching young players important things in life and basketball.
Brno basketball will be represented in the best youth competition in Europe for the second year in the row.
Basket Brno team called Next Generation led by coach Luboš Bartoň will be one of the 32 top european teams this year.
The road to the 2022 Euroleague ANGT Finals will pass through Munich, Germany; Belgrade, Serbia; Patras, Greece; and Varese, Italy.
The Next Generation project was created in Brno club last year and during that time, it attracted a lot of attention. Coach Lubos Barton selected a lot of talented young guns prepared to play and learn during the whole year.
The aim is to ensure the best possible conditions for young players to learn the basics of basketball from well-known professionals. One of the goals for Basket Brno is to regularly take part in Europe’s top tournaments such as Addidas Nextgen Tournament.
I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. If you are making mistakes…you’re Doing Something. “
The aim is to ensure the best possible conditions for young players to learn the basics of basketball from well-known professionals. One of the goals for Basket Brno is to regularly take part in Europe’s top tournaments such as Addidas Nextgen Tournament.
During last year’s tournament In the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Istanbul, coach Barton led Basket Brno for its first victory in ANGT history as it knocked off U18 Tofas Bursa 71-66 in overtime to finish seventh in Istanbul.
This year we can expect a step forward in the right direction. It is going to be the second time for young players to attend the tournament. Coach Barton along with his staff is bringing many players back, hoping that their last year experience will push their chances for better play this this year.
It’s hard to expect them to win tournament, but hard work, desire, passion, and skill will be enough to show themselves in bright light. And the and, it’s a sport….anything can happen.
I know it seems like there will be no party for the New Year´s Eve this years!
I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes…you’re Doing Something. “
To anyone who noticed my recent 4-month inactivity on my Instagram.
They shot me down, but it was all my mistake!
I have been verified on my FaceBook page, YEAH!, and until then, everything was going great. And then I noticed that my name on FaceBook was not the same as the one on my Instagram profile.
So I decided to change that and make things right. But as soon as I changed that, I realized that my new name was too long. I thought to myself, if I changed it once, I can change it again. But then at the moment of the question, if it was me that wanted to change the name, I answered no, trying to make things happen faster. WRONG!
Instagram froze my account, on my phone, on my computer and it wasn’t for just a couple of hours. It took exactly 4 months and countless emails about verification that it is ME that owns the account and that it was me that made that silly mistake.
Here is what I have learned:
2. I realized that without Instagram, it is not the end of the world. First week was very hard for me, especially with the circumstances, I was only thinking about the engagement that I was losing, about all the energy and thought that I have spent on the whole Instagram thing. And suddenly it was gone. Completely gone. I felt small and insignificant. But as time went by, I realized that all other things that I have been ignoring these past years and I was able to connect more with people around me. The time that I have spent previously on Instagram I used on other things. In many ways, it was liberating.
Here is what I have learned:
2. I realized that without Instagram, it is not the end of the world. First week was very hard for me, especially with the circumstances, I was only thinking about the engagement that I was losing, about all the energy and thought that I have spent on the whole Instagram thing. And suddenly it was gone. Completely gone. I felt small and insignificant. But as time went by, I realized that all other things that I have been ignoring these past years and I was able to connect more with people around me. The time that I have spent previously on Instagram I used on other things. In many ways, it was liberating.
3) That there are many people that are not my followers/admireres, but those that I consider my friends, either close or bit distant. Those are usually the ones that are genuienly worried when they don’t see me on Instagram for a while. These friends are usually quick to write if everything is ok and they do it via different type of media than Instagram. So it has been great to see that my close friends pay attention to my daily life and worry when things are different #LoveYouGuys
4) I have learned that there are more Apps to get engagement. I was pleased to find out that my Snapchat grew easily to over 5k within a few weeks and my Facebook fan page got a boost from it as well. Yes, Facebook still lives. It might be an older App, maybe without glitter and fame, but FB is still as solid as it comes. I recommend highly to keep on connecting FB with your other accounts and use it wisely.
Another way that I have been in contact with others via online has been Google Maps. Yes, Google Maps! My visits, reviews and opinions, along with photos has been wanted and searched and highly appreciated. I reached Level 7 of the Local Guide and my reviews help millions of people.
Este blog sigue vivo también, it has as many as 350 visits each week and I also have some fans on my Tiktok. And we all know that YouTube is another way to get engagement and the real moneymaker. (My next move, BTW!)
Overall, I have had good and bad experiences in social media. It has never been black and white, there are always people searching and hunting for something generic, not real, even fake. And there are also many people, who use social media to learn, to improve their lifestyle and connect with others in a meaningful way.
So I hope that in today’s world, which is full of people that “hate” or “have to have an opinion about something that they have zero knowledge about”, there are still many that will share positive thoughts, encouraging stories and more love overall, which is always needed. We have to understand more and judge less!
That is why it is so good to have the ability to share my thoughts and maybe influence some people through these social media, where I am able to experiment, to try new things. I am very happy to be back!
Turkey is an unforgettable experience.
Turkey is home to infinite locations that are beyond your wildest dreams! Full of ancient sites, unique beauty, and unparalleled destinations, visiting Türkiye is an unforgettable experience.
I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. If you are making mistakes…you’re Doing Something. “
Türkiye is home to the freshest and tastiest fruits and vegetables since it enjoys a temperate climate with all four seasons. The food here is mind-blowing! It is a true culinary paradise!
In next 3 blogs that I will write, I will bring you closer to the country that divides east from the west and has a lot to offer and many places to visit.
Turkey is friendly, beautiful, culturally rich and good value for money. Also it is modern enough to be comfortable yet traditional enough to be interesting. Turkey is one of the world’s top 10 travel destinations, welcoming more than 35 million visitors every year.
I might not be telling you anything new but you should be hearing this.
Put a visit of Istanbul Turkey in your traveling plans! This city that is half European and half Asian is within reasonable travel distance, and offers so much, that you can make a week vacation just to see this incredible place. People are very serviceable and want to always offer you better for less. In other words, you feel special when you are going through the streets of Istanbul.
Located at the crossroads of Aegean, Central Anatolia and Mediterranean regions, at the junction point of Anatolia, Denizli has hosted many civilizations throughout history with its geographical location and natural beauty.
Denizli where you can see the traces of many civilizations such as Hittite, Phrygian, Lydia, Roman and Byzantium, is known all over the world for Hierapolis Ancient City, included inUNESCO World Cultural Heritage List. Denizli, located on the fertile soil of Lykos Valley, has a rich potential in terms of historical, archaeological, cultural and natural beauties.
Patara was one of the heavenly corners of Antalya since ancient times, and has maintained this feature till today. In parallel with its sea, its tides and current, Patara was frequented by thinkers, pioneers and mystical aspects from across the world. This tradition continues in our days with visitors who come from across the world to explore the city and its famous beaches.
Thanks to its geographical and climatic feature, the harbour of the city has become one of the indispensable stops of the east-west maritime trade route in the south of Anatolia, and thus a first-degree determining factor in the history and development of the city’s settlement. The alluvium carried by the water of the 130 km long Eşen River have filled the harbour of Patara, which ended settlement in the city in the 14th to 15th century CE. Today, the desert-like sand dunes close to the sea provide a different atmosphere to visitors.
Cappadocia is a beautiful region in central Turkey famous for its fairytale scenery, cave dwellings, remarkable rock formations and, of course, the hundreds of hot air balloons that soar in the sky during sunrise each morning.
There is also so much awesome hiking in Cappadocia, that it will take you at least a week to explore all of the diverse hiking trails in the region.
Your very best day
Türkiye’s many magical lands are full of fairy-tale wonders that create once-in-a-lifetime memories. Whether it is for a wedding, a honeymoon, or a special occasion, Türkiye promises to make the best day of your life even more special! Get ready for the next blogs!
Life in the Bubble, with Euroleague (Junior) Basketball
When you have a career like Lubos it’s hard to know from where to start, but like always we will start from his early beginnings.
I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. If you are making mistakes…you’re Doing Something. “
Life in the Bubble, with Euroleague (Junior) Basketball
Honestly, I have never thought that I would be part of the team that would spend the extended weekend “in the bubble”, meaning that nobody from the group of 23 people couldn’t leave the premises of the hotel and the arena.
I joined the team of Basket Brno Next Generation in their first ever trip to Adidas NG Tournament, held in Istanbul. I was assigned as team’s PR manager, meaning that I would do some interviews, and mostly be taking pictures.
My husband is the head coach and director of the team that was invited to the tournament, that includes some big names on club scene in Europe, such as Real Madrid, Zalgiris Kaunas, Efes Pilsen, among others.
The Euroleague did a good job of keeping the players, staff and team’s followers excluded from the outside world. They tried their best to separate even the teams, different times for meals, meeting rooms, etc. Nobody was hanging out in the lobby, which is very usual during these tournaments.
Tournament itself was broadcasted online, via Euroleague and YouTube, which was great since the games were closed to public.
I was fortunate to be allowed to be on the floor, and even though I had to always have a mask on, I was able to change spots on the floor, go into the stands and even get some cool pictures taken from above the floor.
People were genuinely nice and helpful, which is great in such times like present pandemic.
It was great to be part of the team, to feel their excitement from their first experience from the tournament, and even though they managed to win just one game out of four, they all seem to enjoy just to play and compete.
At the end, Basket Brno finished 7th but one of their players got selected in the All-Star team, which is very unusual, and it shows its value. It was definitely a great experience and everyone seemed to enjoy to play games, to compete and to feel a bit normal during this strange time.
Weekend escape in a lovely Wroclaw
I love the basketball lifestyle, especially since it allows me to travel and visit new places. Sometimes, these places I would never have thought of going. Now I can tell you about a place where little Gnomes rule. Do you feel like making the visit with me?
I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. If you are making mistakes…you’re Doing Something. “
Let’s enjoy this magical experience of getting to know this wonderful city in the southern part of Poland. I tell you my dear readers, what a pleasant surprise Wroclaw has been!
City with many different architectural styles, an old part of town, new neighborhoods and places where time has stopped completely.
It’s a perfect place to spend a great weekend with family, or a nice getaway for couples.
It’s impossible to walk around and not feel moved by your surroundings. You might browse through many streets in this polish city, where there are as many as 180 bronze statues of Gnomes. These little creatures “rule” the city and it is one of the main attractions. If you want to make a collage of selfie photos with all of them, you might need a lot of space on your SIM card.
This beautiful city offers opportunities for adventurous types, like myself. River Oder cuts through the city and gives it the powerful image along with many bridges the cross quite imposant body of water. There are 12 islands that the river created within the borders of the city, and there are as many as 100 bridges that make Wroclaw known as Venice of The East. Where, of course, you can find another collection of Gnomes.
I highly recommend to use some comfortable shoes to go around because you can walk some serious distances, depending how active you want to be.
If you are interested in architecture, you should visit Rynek square that should please you well. The more you walk, the more you get to see and the more you will love it. You will see renaissance and gothic facades of the buildings, some of them well kept, some of them, well, not so much. To my surprise, there was a lot more to see even outside of the city center, where you can usually find most of the sights to see.
And then, there is the gastronomy. Another positive thing about walking is to create appetite and there are plenty of places to conquer your hunger. You can literally find any type of restaurant with a variety of quality, just like pretty much any big city. Meaning, you can eat like a kind and you can also go low cost with pretty good quality food. Your choice!
I have heard great stories about club life and being able to go out literally all night, all the way to the morning. Unfortunately, we live in a pandemic and all the clubs are closed, but it is something that would really make me come back and experience it.
Maybe a visit as a couple will be in order once things get to normal. I can’t wait to be able to sit outside, drinking my beer or glass of wine, and feel the great scenery of the city.
I already know that I will be coming back soon enough, and anyone, who is in Germany or Czech Republic, should definitely consider visiting Wroclaw. You will not regret it!
info@keilleyDecember 28, 2020Lifestyle
When you have a career like Lubos it’s hard to know from where to start, but like always we will start from his early beginnings.
I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. If you are making mistakes…you’re Doing Something. “
I know it seems like there will be no party for the New Year´s Eve this years!
But you know what, there are just two options: to go to bed early or make your own party!!
So don´t forget to get dressed nicely, put on some expensive perfume you have gotten as present this christmas, and put a good looking make up.
After that you should make a toast to be alive with health and have a positive attitude.
Year 2020 definitely wasn’t a great year, we thought it would be twelve months ago.
Yeah, it was pretty much the quite opposite, in fact. But we’re not gonna let this dumpster fire of a year stop us from popping the champs and shooting it out the door—in a safe and socially distant way, of course.
My advice:
Do a playlist for NEW YEARS PARTY
The is a long list on youtube, but you know what spotife is the best!!
Prepare a good meal even more sofisticared if you feels that much!!
1 Meatballs,They’re quick, easy, and perfect for any party!
2 Potato in any kind of preparation
3 Chocolate truffles, I have a huge sweet tooth, so when I host a party, there are a bunch of sweet snacks on the table. And these sinful chocolate truffles are one of them!
4 Chicken tenders, Flavorful meat that’s crisp on the outside and juicy on the inside? Who can say no?
And of course there are as many good reasons to pop a bottle of champagne as there are reasons to celebrate!!
_My favorites one is Dom Perignon, but of course there a many goods ones and better price
Just because you won’t be sweating profusely at some dive bar trying to find a face to make out with at midnight or smushed in a crowd of people in Times Square while freezing your toes off or counting down ’til 12 a.m. with all your friends at some house party doesn’t mean you can’t have a dance party in your room with a bunch of bangers to set off all the right ~vibes~!
info@keilleyDecember 22, 2020Lifestyle
When you have a career like Lubos it’s hard to know from where to start, but like always we will start from his early beginnings.
I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. If you are making mistakes…you’re Doing Something. “
Christmas day comes on the same date every year, but it somehow always manages to sneak up on us. Between all the baking, decorating, and wrapping, sometimes a handful of gifts slip through the cracks, causing you to rush to the mall at the last minute.
While you can always shove a few bills or gift cards in a card and call it a day (no judgment here), these last-minute Christmas gifts feel way more personal.
It’s going down to the wire to buy your last-minute gifts, since many regular shipping deadlines to get things under the tree before Christmas are today.
And this year (with many people canceling Christmas to shelter in place), everyone probably has a similar idea: Online shopping to avoid the crowds, and rushing to ship gifts to their family at the same time. Eek.
Last-minute shopping can be hairy, but it doesn’t have to involve boring, expected gifts (or gift cards). And just because you’ve waited until the 11th hour to shop for friends and family doesn’t mean you’re totally out of options. From cozy layers to thoughtful gift sets, we found plenty of things that are still available to make the fitness lover, home chef, beauty enthusiast, or wellness fanatic in your life feel appreciated.
1 True wireless from sony WF-SP800N with noise Cancelling
Today’s media portrays Christmas as such a consumer holiday by implementing large savings and deals during this time of year. Consumerism runs this country (world), and frankly sometimes it’s hard to just remove it from our every day lives. Yes, it’s OK to purchase these items on sale and gift them to your kid, but a gift does not substitute love and compassion.
The world we live in is so materialistic. We judge each other on status: which brands we wear, what music we listen to, how much stuff we have. Giving and receiving gifts during Christmas is by no means a bad thing, but it is not the sole focus of the holiday. The holiday is a celebration of the birth of Christ and a holiday to spend time with the people who really mean the most to you: your family. It’s not about getting that perfect toy for your kid, but rather a time to spend time with them and enjoy their company. After all, they’re not children forever.
My advice to you is to really think about the meaning of the holiday and try to let that shape your life. Think about it — what if people acted like they did around the holiday, every day. Think about the religious significance, think about how you’re supposed to treat each other with dignity.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and Christmas is in the air. Don’t Forget The Reason For The Season!!
Building a brand has just become easy with Keilley Lee Marques. A name that is all over, describing various fields including digital and influencer marketing. If you look out for maximizing efforts for your brand strategy, ours is the name to look out for!
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Thanks for replying Nadia x we will see our boys again when it’s our time, it’s their wonderful memories and zest for life that will get us through the coming days, months and years. I hope you read some others while you were here. Hopefully see you soon with Cathy x
June 27, 2016 at 7:42 am
What a lovely Poem with memories from you and perfect use of prompts. I would have missed it, if I had not visited your blog. Thank you for participating again even though it was late.
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You probably have heard about injuries suffered by Canadian interpreters since the end of March when Parliament started meeting virtually over Zoom after a short break due to the onset of the Covid-19 crisis (read Hill Times article). Indeed, there have been as many health and safety incidents reported in the month of April 2020 alone, as there had been for the whole year 2019 and the first three months of 2020. Government-accredited interpreters in Canada are not new to remote interpreting. In fact, up until recently, they were called upon to interpret participants over the phone in audio remote and audioconference settings (see AIIC definitions of those two terms here).
The Translation Bureau, the department in charge of providing interpretation services to the whole Government of Canada, is no longer offering those services, or very rarely so, as telephone lines in Canada do not lend themselves to simultaneous interpreting, given that they can only transmit a maximum of 4,000 hertz, well below the 15,000 hertz required for interpretation as per ISO standards. This enormous gap in frequency response makes it very difficult, even sometimes impossible, to convey the speaker’s message faithfully and accurately. It also significantly adds to the cognitive load of interpreters, who are straining to hear and will often raise their volume to compensate for poor sound quality. Increasing the volume, however, will not replace the 11,000 hertz not being transmitted but will instead increase auditory fatigue and may cause earache, headaches, tinnitus, hypersensitivity to normal sound and undue fatigue.
And what about acoustic shock, you might wonder? Well, if sound levels are relatively even, as was usually the case for audio remote interpreting in Canada where everyone was participating remotely via phone lines, the risk for a major acoustic shock seems to be much lower. The setting that has proven to be the most dangerous in Canada has been audioconferencing, where interpreters are on site with most participants, and some participants attending remotely via phonelines. The reason why this setting presents much higher risks is the significant difference in sound levels. Participants in the room can be heard loud and clear; however, participants on the phone may be very difficult to hear and as a result, technicians and interpreters alike will often raise their volume in an effort to hear the participant better. With sound levels significantly increased in this way, if a participant in the room turns on their microphone, this may create a major feedback being transmitted to the booth. In cases where a proper built-in compressor-limiter has been installed in the sound system, the feedback will be greatly attenuated. If no compressor-limiter is present however, this kind of feedback might send the interpreter directly to the hospital with concussion-like symptoms. This is why government- accredited interpreters were all provided with a PreservEar device, which is basically a portable compressor-limiter device that the interpreter inserts between their headset and the interpreting console. It should be noted that a properly set compressor-limiters will cut off the feedback signal, but it doesn’t do it instantaneously, taking a few milliseconds to kick in. Hence, some injuries of a lesser severity may still occur depending on circumstances.
That being said, most virtual meetings taking place on Parliament Hill these days are held via videoconferencing, namely through the Zoom platform. Interpreters work from a booth on Parliament Hill, one interpreter per booth (as per social distancing rules), with a technician on site, and the Zoom platform is linked up to a regular interpreting console. Monitors are set up so that interpreters can see the speaker. With the proper equipment being used, this setup could very well be ISO-compliant, and provide good sound quality to both participants and interpreters. But as you may have guessed, this is not always the case. Despite the fact that Members of Parliament have been provided with a headset with an integrated microphone, not all of them are using it. Sadly, the model that was sent is not ISO-compliant, something that can still be remedied. It should be noted however, that intensive education efforts have significantly increased the number of MPs using the headset. The major problem lies with witnesses, who are not at the moment being sent one, although they actually have more air time than MPs. Witnesses are strongly encouraged to get a hold of one by their own means, but they do not always use one for numerous reasons, either because they couldn’t find one, or simply do not understand the impact of not using one. Some participants might think that their laptop built-in microphone is very good. Afterall, that’s what they use for all of their videoconferences since the beginning of the crisis and nobody has ever complained. Or they might think a proper headset is preferable, but that earbuds with an in-line microphone is a perfectly acceptable solution. However, this latter piece of equipment has proven quite unreliable, due to the fact that the in-line microphone is just too far away from the mouth and often rubs against the participant’s shirt, making it very difficult for interpreters to hear the speaker clearly. Also, some participants tend to be fidgeting with the microphone, thus producing very unpleasant sounds that will cover the speaker’s voice at sometimes crucial moments of their speech. All this to say that participants using this type of earphones often need to be reminded to hold the microphone directly in front of their mouth, but after a few reminders, the chair of the meeting might be hesitant to remind them yet again.
Similarly, most participants believe that a wifi connection is a perfectly acceptable option. Once again, that is what they have been using for at least the past ten years, and it has always worked perfectly fine. A cabled Internet connection is often seen as a technology of the past, reminiscent of dial-up connections. However, wifi often leads to choppy sound. The interpreters themselves might think the sound is acceptable, until a word gets eaten up by the wifi connection and he or she is suddenly left wondering if the speaker actually said can or can’t, symptomatic or asymtomatic. A very tricky choice to make! A cabled internet connection provides a much more stable and continuous sound, not to mention that cabled connections are a lot more secure than wifi, a crucial factor when the proceedings are highly confidential.
The third element to take into consideration is the platform being used. I cannot speak for the Zoom platform as I do not have the technical data required to make a determination – nor would I have the technical knowledge to make such a determination – but any platform that is not ISO compliant will undermine sound quality.
Let’s be clear, the headset with integrated microphone, the Internet connection and the platform are all part of the transmission chain. Any element that does not meet the requirements for proper sound with regard to interpretation will directly impact sound quality, and therefore, the quality of the interpretation.
When technical requirements are not met, interpreters are exposed to toxic sound, that is poor, choppy sound with a signal to noise ratio well below the threshold for interpreting, background noise, echo and distortions of all sorts. Faced with toxic sound, interpreters are likely to increase the volume and strain their hearing. Under such conditions, the mental effort (also called cognitive load) required is considerably greater than normal, which leads to excessive fatigue, putting the interpreter’s health at risk. Interpreters working on Parliament Hill have been reporting earache, headaches, tinnitus, hypersensitivity to sound and undue fatigue, as well as mental fog, difficulty concentrating and difficulty sleeping. Some of them have had to take time off – anywhere from a couple of days to several weeks – to recover from fatigue or from an injury, despite the fact that booth time has been reduced from 6 hours to 4 hours. And in most cases, interpreters are only working a maximum of 2-3 hours a day. Interpreting is already a very demanding task under good working conditions. Working remotely adds to an already heavy cognitive load. If interpreters are also forced to work with inadequate sound quality and a poor sound/image synchronization, is it any wonder that interpreters end up completely exhausted after a two-hour remote assignment?
Given the high number of injuries, interpreters are strongly encouraged by management to interrupt service if sound quality is poor and could potentially lead to injuries, and not only if sound is completely catastrophic. Indeed, experience has shown that repeated exposure to bad sound produces acoustic shock-like symptoms.
To try and improve the sound, sound tests are carried out before most meetings and interpreters are asked to weigh in. Adjustments can be made to improve sound quality. Witnesses are asked if they have a proper headset on hand. If they have nothing, they are strongly encouraged to find at least earbuds with an in-line microphone, such as the ones that come with smartphones. This latter solution is far from ideal but is still preferable than the built- in laptop microphone. If using earbuds, participants are asked to hold the microphone directly in front of their mouth. In cases where the sound is not deemed adequate for interpretation, participants are told that the interpreters will try their best, but that the service might have to be interrupted. Clerks and chairs are informed of the risk of interruption in advance.
Time and again, participants need to be reminded that interpreters need better sound quality than participants, as participants will often argue that they can hear just fine and wonder why the interpreters have stopped working. Some chairs do not hesitate to remind participants that interpreters are doing a particularly demanding job and are speaking on top of the speaker, and therefore, need better sound quality. Such a strong support from chairs has proven to be key in reducing the stress involved with interrupting a parliamentary committee and in getting compliance from all participants.
If left to the participant, the choice of equipment will undoubtedly continue to compromise the health and safety as well as the wellbeing of interpreters. Clear rules need to be put in place. A delegate would never be given the floor at a conference if he or she refused to turn on their microphone. The same should apply to remote meetings: if a participant is not using a proper microphone, he or she should not be given the floor, not if interpretation services are being offered. Injuries are serious and can last a lifetime, preventing interpreters from earning a living and doing what they love and as such, they are not to be taken lightly. A lot of education has taken place amongst clients and interpreters alike, and this has borne fruit, but a lot remains to be done. Indeed, every effort should be made to improve working conditions and make them safe and sustainable over the long run, because we know that the Covid-19 crisis will eventually subside, but the demand for remote will most certainly not.
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Is your machine included in the Machinery Directive? Then read these tips on the best way to translate your operating manual! | MK Vertalingen
Is your machine included in the Machinery Directive? Then read these tips on the best way to translate your operating manual!
16 October 2015
Companies that manufacture machines or parts of machines will need to comply with the European Machinery Directive. The directive came into force on 31 December 2009 and its aim is to harmonize the rules for the sale of machines in Europe. Here, the health and safety aspects are important; all machines in Europe must comply with a number of health and safety requirements that have been set out in the Machinery Directive.
You can find the contents of the Machinery Directive here.
Is it mandatory to comply with the Machinery Directive?
Yes, it is mandatory to comply with the directive. A directive from the European Union is legally binding for the states that belong to the EEA (European Economic Area: all countries of the European Union, Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland) and its inhabitants. As stated in the European Directive, each Member State must include the requirements in their national legislation. In the Netherlands, the Machinery Directive is included in the Commodities Machinery Act.
A so-called CE Marking is attached to the machine. CE is French for ‘Conformité Européen’. In addition to this marking, there also needs to be a certificate of conformity; this indicates the directive/s with which the machine complies.
What does the Machinery Directive have to do with translations?
The Machinery Directive requires that the machine is accompanied by a user manual in the language of the country where it will be put into operation, as well as the operating manual which must be in the original language. If a Dutch manufacturer exports his machine to Germany, then the technical documentation (i.e. at least the user manual and a certificate of conformity) must be translated into German. The documentation in both the original Dutch language, and in German must be supplied with the machine. By way of derogation from this requirement, it is permitted to include the maintenance instructions intended for the specialist staff of the manufacturer, or his authorised representative established in the Community, to be drawn up in only one of the Community languages understood by this staff. Very often, these are specific setup and maintenance instructions, to which users have no access.
The language spoken in my company is English, and the official language used by my customer in France is also English. Do I still need to translate the user manual?
Yes, you do, as the machine operator may not master the English language or has a poor understanding of the English language. This guideline has been drawn up to ensure the machine operator’s safety. So, if English is not one of the officially recognized languages of the country of import, then the user manual must be translated. Dutch is the official language in the Netherlands. In Belgium, this is French or Dutch.
Who is responsible for the translation? The manufacturer or the company that imports the machine?
The manufacturer established within the EEA is fully responsible for the safety of his machine. In the event of derogation from the requirements of a directive, penalties may be imposed, ranging from fines to recalling the machine from the market. The party importing the machine is allowed to facilitate the translation, but the manufacturer remains responsible!
Who is responsible for the machine when the machine is manufactured outside Europe?
The European importer is responsible and liable; he cannot pass on any legal liability to manufacturers located outside the EEA. The directive mentions ‘the manufacturer or his authorised representative established in the Community’. In practice, this means that the person importing a machine from outside the EEA is responsible for ensuring the machine complies with the European Directive/s.
Am I the only company that does not translate its user manuals, even though I should?
Unfortunately, there are many companies with products that fall within the Machinery Directive who have failed to make a correct translation. They are taking the risk that their company may be held liable and that the safety of the operator of their machine abroad is compromised! Also, a potential customer can refuse to buy the machine when a user manual in the relevant language is not available. Especially in Germany and the Scandinavian countries, many companies are aware of the relevant European legislation.
If you have a job that needs to be translated, please request a quote from us or contact us by phone or email.
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The Islamic commission for justice and Freedom has appealed to Muslims in the country to be fully responsible for the maintenance of their masjids.
Joyce Banda Supports Female Students
Man Commits to Improve Lives in Malawi
The call has been made by the national coordinator of the organisation Shaibu Abdu Rahman Ajasie at the workshop held at Blantyre lodge in the city of Blantyre on Sunday.
Ajasie says that Muslims should change their mindset on how they manage their prayer houses.
“Masjid committees should take full responsibilities to develop their masjids. They should come up with projects that will develop their masjids. They should also be creative enough and come with modern ways to fundraise for their respective masjids rather than waiting for those who built the masjids,” said Ajasie.
ICJF coordinator also reminded masjid committees that they should start respecting their imams at their respective masjids.
“Our Asian Muslim brothers respect their sheikhs that they even call them MAULANAS. They are given good houses to live, they are well taken care of. We should also emulate the same and start respecting our masjid imams,” he said.
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Below are three of ten short reflections I wrote on the theme “Children and God” which are currently running in the Words of Hope devotional series; you can find them all here (April 16-25).
“Lord, when did we see you?” (v. 37)
On the same August day when 30,000 people attended Rick Perry’s prayer rally in Houston, over 100,000 people crowded into Houston’s convention center for the first-ever back-to-school event, where children and their families received backpacks and school supplies, uniforms, medical and dental checkups, and groceries. By mid-morning the building was filled to capacity and security officials had to turn families away.
Currently, one in every five children in the United States lives in poverty. Of course we need to pray for our country. But we also need to put our prayers into action. Martin Luther once noted that even the everyday, mundane task of caring for children can be one expression of serving “the least of these” (v. 40). Children are not only dependent on caregivers for food, clothing, and shelter but also on communities to advocate for them, to be their voice in the halls of power where decisions are made that will affect their safety, education, and health. Across the globe, vulnerable children are threatened by famine, war, natural disasters, human trafficking, and forced labor. They rely on us to seek justice on their behalf.
Bearing responsibility for children is a daunting but holy task, one that belongs not just to parents but to all of us. Remember that you were once a child too. And remember that Jesus answered the question “who’s the greatest among us?” by taking aside a child and declaring, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me” (Luke 9:48)
Learning to Trust
“Like a weaned child is my soul within me.” (v. 2)
With the image of a weaned child, the psalmist conveys humble contentment in God’s presence. In comparison to the frantic, urgent cries of a nursing child, a weaned child gradually learns to enjoy a parent’s embrace in a new way. It is the difference between the hungry wails of a newborn, sounding desperate as though the next meal might never come, and the toddler who learns the joys of a contented cuddle and discovers delights beyond simply having her immediate needs met. A child being weaned may be frustrated that her instinctive desires for gratification are not being met. Gradually, though, she learns to let go of former ways and to trust that sustenance will come in new ways.
We too do not always understand why God seems to withhold the familiar and prod us forward to new horizons. Does the psalmist feel reluctant or relieved when he surrenders the need to understand those things that are “too great and marvelous” and instead places his trust in God’s provision? In either case, it is a picture of bonding, a glimpse of a relationship that is maturing. To calm ourselves in God’s presence in this way is to trust that our hungers will be met, to learn the soul’s equivalent of appreciating more than just where the next meal will come from. It is to experience God as the one in whose secure presence we will surely find rest. As Augustine said, “our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”
“I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (v. 6)
I love Isaac Watts’ paraphrase of Psalm 23, “My Shepherd will Supply my Need,” especially the last verse: “The sure provisions of my God / Attend me all my days; / O may Thy house be my abode, / And all my work be praise. / There would I find a settled rest, / While others go and come; / No more a stranger, nor a guest, / But like a child at home.”
God’s presence is described as a safe sanctuary, a home where a beloved child rests in the secure knowledge of God’s love and care. Unlike a stranger or a guest, he can let his guard down and simply be himself. Home is where we know we belong.
Whether your childhood home was a stable place where you felt safe and loved, or a place filled with fear or sadness, you probably recall yearning for a sense of belonging, of being wanted, of being loved unconditionally. You probably still want that. We carry remnants of our childhood yearnings, whether fulfilled or unfulfilled, throughout our lives. Whether they’re our wounds or our triumphs, we may spend a lifetime trying to heal or to make sense of them.
God wants to be home for you wherever you go. God is the dwelling place where you are known, where you can discover wholeness in the midst of brokenness. May you know the deep love of the Lord who provides, protects, and consoles, and who always leaves the light on to welcome you back.
(Image is of a mosaic from Singapore displayed at the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem)
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We are using this moment to make an internal change by restructuring our organizational chart and reimagining how our team collaborates and coordinates. I will confess that this restructuring feels like we are performing deep surgery on ourselves through a reshuffling of roles, reporting structures, communication patterns, and the crafting of an “essential intent” of each role and department.
It has not been easy. It’s not going to win us any press and doesn’t neatly fit into a MailChimp template, but I am placing a bet on how a tighter and focused organizational structure will make us far better at our work next week and next year. If we look back one day and say that actually the COVID-19 season was the best long-term thing that ever happened to Uncharted, I believe it will have been because we restructured the internal human and operational system. I’m proud of our team for trusting the process and letting go of the safety in our familiar status quo. Each day they are choosing to lean into an unfamiliar future with the firm hope that on the other side of this complexity, there just might be simplicity.
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The Insider - October 2022
The radical choice to take a sabbath every week
One of life’s great joys and surprises is to continue to discover delightful new parts of the people we think we know best.
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The Birman is a domestic breed of cat. Alternatively referred to as “the Sacred Cat of Burma,” these cats are incredibly calm pets that make great companions for all age groups.
While they are not as common as other breeds, you can still adopt healthy Birman kittens from good cat breeders.
People adore these cats for their lush fur coats, royal look, and friendly nature. Further, Birman cats are great for first-time owners since they do not need much care.
Besides their riveting nature and looks, modern Birman cats have an amusing origin and history.
This post discusses everything a cat lover should know about the Birman cat breed. If you already own a Birman cat, we will give you some helpful tips to care for your pet.
Plenty of myths surround the origin and history of Birman cats. Old notes and records are unclear about the exact roots of the cat.
However, modern researchers have developed some general theories about the Birman cat saga. While most of it is based on verified facts, some views may be mere speculations.
“Birman” comes from the French word for Burma, “Birmanie.” Researchers believe Birman cats originate from Myanmar, which was formerly Burma.
However, there aren’t many concrete facts linking the cats to the country.
While the breed allegedly originated in Burma, it came to France sometime in the 1920s and was eventually recognized by the French in 1925.
There are several other tales and mythical stories about the arrival of the Birman cats in France and their origin. These are just a few of the most popular myths and beliefs:
Some people believe that some Burmese priests gifted a pair of Birmans to the defenders of their temple. The recipients of the gift were Major Gordon-Russell and August Pavie, two Englishmen who were then living in France.
Another theory suggests that Vanderbilt, an American tycoon, smuggled a Birman cat out of the country and ran to France. People believe this theory to be the closest to reality. The arrival of the cats and Vanderbilt in France dates back to the early 1900s.
Some legends also narrate that the Birman cat got its unique exterior as a magical gift from the heavens. These tales depict an ordinary temple cat that remained loyal to its dying master, the Priest, who thieves attacked in an invasion. As a gift for the temple cat’s love, a Blue-eyed Goddess gave the cat stunning blue eyes and golden fur. The progeny of this cat became the modern-day Birman cat.
The Sacred Cat of Burma
In ancient times, people referred to the Birman cat as the “Sacred Cat of Burma” and the “Tibetan Temple Cat” These names result from the cat being considered the feline friend of the Kittah temple priests in Burma.
According to the origin story above, the Goddess Tsun Ksan Kse blessed the Birman cat kind. Kittah priests devotedly adore and worship this blue-eyed goddess. Hence, they extend their devotion to all the temple cats blessed by the goddess.
The next reason for the cat being called “sacred” comes from another legend. Followers of Kittah priests believe that the spirit of a priest flows into his cat partner upon death.
The Kittah priests reside in this world in their cats’ bodies before moving on to their next lives.
The events of World War II were a critical point in the modern Birman cat species’ evolution. Records and theories after this time are more evident and certain since it is pretty recent.
While people have a rough idea of what these temple cats initially looked like, nobody can picture an exact image. According to the Cat Fanciers’ Association, this cat species was nearly wiped out from France during the Second World War.
Breeders could not breed this species further during that time, so it nearly went extinct.
Only two of these pedigree cats likely survived the war, and fanciers used them to re-breed the species. This incident is why Birman cats became rare, and many myths about their origin arose.
Ancient breeders cross-bred the living pair of the Birman species with other similar breeds to carry this unique bloodline.
Siamese and Persian cats were the most common species to cross-breed with them. Hence, modern Birmans hold a striking likeness to the Siamese breed and are often called the “cousins” of the latter.
Since Birmans were so popular and high in value, people kept track of various Birmans throughout history.
Some of these famous cats might be mythical, but plenty of proof backs the existence of others.
Here are a few of the most popular Birman cats throughout history:
Orloff and Xenia: According to various sources, Orloff and Xenia were the final living pair of Birman breeding cats in the War. So, the modern Birmans are likely to be off-springs of a former couple of temple cats.
Poupee De Madalpour: This seal point Birman is the only known ancestor of all the Birmans in the West. There are several records of this cat surviving the War.
Madam Marcelle Adam owned this cat, born in 1920 in Nice, France. Further, the Birman’s dam was Sita, a cat supposedly smuggled from Burma to France. Later, Poupee’s litter became the foundation of Birmans in the West.
There are several pictures of the Birman and its kittens.
Choupette: This blue point Birman was the pet of a famous German fashion designer, Karl Lagerfield. The cat was born in 2011 and surfaced on social media in 2012. Afterward, Choupette became quite famous on the internet and has an Instagram account.
Appearance
Birman cats have distinct features that might help you tell them apart from other cats. Below are some noticeable traits of Birmans.
Build and Size
A regular Birman cat is an average-sized cat with a slightly longer body. It has a hefty and muscular build with a broad, round head.
The cat appears stocky, with heavy jaws and a soft, circular muzzle. Finally, it has a “Roman” medium-length nose.
Birman kittens are always born white and gradually develop colors as they mature. Their silky fur coats give them a royal look and do not mat. Most of their fur is pale beige or golden.
However, they have some darker color points and unique markings around their faces, paws, tails, and ears. They also have white “gloves” at the end of their paws.
The most common color types are seal, blue, and chocolate point Birmans. Other rare color patterns include cream and lilac point Birmans.
A Birman cat’s most prominent feature is its striking blue eyes. Their glossy, deep blue eyes are the main reason cat fanciers fawn over the breed.
Some may mix up Birmans with Ragdolls, because they look similar in appearance.
But you can easily tell them apart by their size. The Ragdoll is much bigger than a Birman. To learn more, read our post on the Birman vs Ragdoll breeds.
Since the cat is rare to find and so precious, one might think it requires a lot of care. However, Birmans are amongst the simplest breeds that require minimal care.
Here are some tips that every Birman owner should know.
The cat’s smooth and lustrous coat may appear hard to groom, but it takes minimal effort.
While Birmans have thick and long fur, they only have a single layer. The lack of an undercoat makes the pile easier to brush.
Moreover, since the hair is silky, your brush will slide right through it with zero resistance.
The velvety texture also helps to keep the fur from tangling. You can use a soft, slicker brush to care for your Birman’s coat. Also, you must brush your cat companion’s fur weekly.
The next step in grooming a Birman is looking after its nails and other hygiene factors. It’s generally a good idea to keep your pet’s nails trimmed short to prevent it from harming itself, babies, and other pets, intentionally or otherwise.
You should also ensure that the cat does not sit in its litter for too long. It could lead to many diseases and infections.
Lastly, make sure to check your Birman’s ears every week. Clean the insides carefully if you spot any dirt or wax. However, if it appears clean, do not poke the cat needlessly. You can use cotton balls or special pet ear cleaners to perform the task.
Please note that you should avoid using a cotton swab as it might harm the insides of their ears. If the pet’s ears appear red or irritable, you should instantly visit your vet.
One of the most important things that all pet parents must know is how to keep their cat fit. If a cat becomes obese, it could cause some health issues. So, you must ensure that they have enough activities to do.
You can get a playhouse or toy trees for your Birman to play with and climb. This would ensure that they move around enough.
Health and Diseases
The Birman breed is very healthy and does not have any breed-specific diseases so far. Also, since they aren’t particularly difficult to care for, they rarely develop health concerns that would naturally have come up in other cats due to neglect in care.
However, regardless of the breed, cats can grow sick or injure themselves at any age. In such a case, you must immediately schedule an appointment with your vet.
Also, even if there are no obvious problems, you should take your pet to the vet once a year for regular checkups.
Keeping a cat happy is crucial to keeping it healthy, especially if it is a Birman. Your pets require as much love and attention as a human baby does.
Birman kittens are very playful and love to follow you around the house. So, you must try to hold regular play sessions with your pet to ensure it does not grow lonely.
You can use toys like play wands or jingle balls to entertain them. You can also pet or scratch it to display affection.
Furthermore, it would help if you set up some scratching areas in the house, like posts or cat trees. This might help relieve the cat from time to time.
This article discusses most of the details about identifying a Birman cat. However, people often confuse the breed with other cats due to similar looks or features.
So, this section notes the most common mistakes people make while adopting a Birman and clarifies them.
While people believe that both cats come from Myanmar, they are very different. Birmans are larger, fluffier, and have longer fur.
However, Burmese cats are round, sleek, and have short fur. The latter also has a much darker coat than Birmans.
Birman vs Siamese and Persian Breeds
Since breeders likely cross-bred Birmans with Siamese and Persian cats, they look pretty similar.
All three cat breeds have similar color patterns and markings. However, a closer look reveals that a Birman cat has a different build than the other cat breeds.
It is also much calmer and friendlier than the other two, with a long face and a heftier body.
The Birman cat breed is currently very trendy in the U.S. This cat has blue eyes and unique markings on its coat.
Birman cats were on the brink of extinction around the Second World War before they resurfaced.
Further, cat fanciers in the 1900s cross-bred them with Siamese and Persian breeds to preserve their lineage.
Currently, Birmans are not very common, but you can easily find them with reputable cat breeders.
This cat is sweet and playful, requiring minimal care in the form of weekly grooming.
All in all, a Birman cat is a great option for first-time cat owners since they do not create much fuss.
Steven has been studying cat behavior ever since adopting two stray kittens in 1996. After rescuing many homeless cats over the years, he developed the skill of finding new homes for cat lovers seeking to adopt.
Hi, I'm George!
Thanks for checking out IncredibleKitty.com, a cat blog like no other! It's incredible, just like me.
I'm George by the way and along with my human, (he doesn't talk much, just writes a lot), we share interesting cat facts, the incredible things cats do, and other delights of being a cat person.
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The law ministry on Monday forwarded its opinion to the home ministry on the application for BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's treatment abroad.
Law Minister Anisul Huq informed the media on the development, but refrained from making any disclosure regarding the ministry's opinion.
The home ministry is expected to forward its assessment on the application to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The BNP on 20 December said there has been no improvement in the health condition of its chairperson Khaleda Zia, who is currently undergoing treatment at Evercare Hospital.
Khaleda, a 76-year-old former prime minister, has been under treatment for various health complications, including arthritis, since 13 November.
Her medical board members say Khaleda needs to go abroad immediately for better treatment being diagnosed with liver cirrhosis.
On behalf of her family, Khaleda's younger brother, Shamim Iskander, submitted an application to the home ministry on 11 November urging the government to allow her to go abroad for better treatment.
The home ministry sent the application to the law ministry, seeking its opinion on the matter.
Law Minister Anisul Huq recently said the government is looking for a legal option to allow Khaleda to go abroad for treatment.
The BNP chief landed in jail in February 2018 for the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case. On 30 October that year, the High Court extended her punishment to 10 years, dismissing her appeal.
Following the outbreak of Covid-19, the government on 25 March last year granted her temporary release conditionally at the request of her family. Till now, the term of her release has been extended four times.
She is still facing at least 36 ongoing cases.
Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anisul Huq / Anisul Huq / Law Minister Anisul Huq
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I'm Katie, a thirty-something mom of three in the Deep South. I'm here to help you live your best life in the ways that make you, YOU. No matter your strong points, we are all in this together. I love to create a beautifully imperfect life, tell my story, break the rules, and to wander as far and as often as possible. Hang around for a laugh (or maybe a cry).
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I'm Katie, a thirty-something mom of three in the Deep South. I'm here to help you live your best life in the ways that make you, YOU. No matter your strong points, we are all in this together. I love to create a beautifully imperfect life, tell my story, break the rules, and to wander as far and as often as possible. Hang around for a laugh (or maybe a cry).
Archives Select Month June 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015
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As the founding batch prepares for their final placements, we bring to you a sneak peek into the persona of a unique group of people who are going to cross the borders for their 6-month long internships.
It was June 2015 when a set of 51 students set foot on the doorsteps of IIM Calcutta, ready to embark upon a journey filled with chaos! They had no idea how their decision to join this new course – Postgraduate Diploma in Business Analytics (PGDBA), hosted by the three prestigious institutes in India and the oldest ones in this field would shape their future career. Even though they were all convinced of the strength of data and how it could be used to disrupt entire markets, they themselves weren’t sure what a roller coaster ride they were going to go through. Then, as the time to start the internship semester draws near, 6 students were offered foreign internship offers and today, four of them are traveling to various countries to start their foreign interns. In this founding batch, these six students also contain a blend of people with work experience and freshers and come from diverse backgrounds. Here’s a showcase of their profiles:
Alok Mani Singh The civil engineer from BHEL, and the “stud” with 4-year worth of experience from a Maharatna PSU and IIT Guwahati attached in his name was the first person who secured his foreign intern in the prestigious Dunia Finance in Dubai. The “Perfect Statistician” as well as the “Management expert” who can solve any problem that comes his way “within a night or two”. He also likes to play guitar and has entertained us for past one and a half years with his pleasant voice. Now he will be working closely with the head of strategic analytics function at Dunia during his 6-month internship in Dubai.
Siddhant Sanjeev “Coder” as everyone in the batch knows him to be, was the only other person to impress the company Dunia and accompany Alok to Dubai. Everyone in the batch knows him as a fresher with computer science background from NSIT and a national level coder. He also got himself an interview offer from Google owing to his coding skills as well as won case competitions from PwC and Deloitte. He also developed an e-commerce website using intricate concepts of natural language processing, recommendation systems and information retrieval.
Ankitkumar Sonthalia Better known as “Sonthu”, this guy has 3 years of work experience from Cognizant and now he is going to work for Rocket Internet in Myanmar. He has worked on marketing strategy, predictions and recommendation systems. He is a travel enthusiast and has organized many unforgettable trips for our batch. He has also conducted cricket fantasy league and freshers’ party.
Rachit Tripathi A mechanical engineer from IIT Kanpur by mind and a quant trader by heart, Rachit bagged an internship in France at QuantCube Technology, a niche fintech company. He’s also part of the team selected for data science game, an international inter-university competition held in Paris. In his pursuit of becoming a quant trader, he obtained CFA level 1 certification and solved various cases from those on Walmart to those on Yahoo data. He is also known as the “data scientist” of the batch and has recently been selected as one of the finalists in Goldman Sachs Quantify competition.
Avinash Kumar He is a mechanical engineer from NIT Jamshedpur and has worked in L&T for 3 years. He was offered an internship at Rocket Internet which he did not take as he aspired to work in India. He has written an international research paper and also has been part of the Data Science Game with Rachit during this course. He also won NASA systems engineering award while being a B.Tech. student. Besides, he is also a skilled TT player as well as a chess enthusiast.
Bharathi Ramaraj Bharathi got the internship offer from Rocket Internet but she decided to stay in India. The only girl to get a foreign internship offer, she is a fresher with B.Tech. in Electronics and Communications Engineering. She has worked on uplift modeling, high-frequency data and news analytics and has taken part in various Kaggle competitions. She is also an international chess player and has traveled to as many as 16 countries representing India. She envisions being a financial analyst and to use advanced analytics techniques in a financial credit company to build her career.
Despite such varying backgrounds and profiles, students of PGDBA were able to spread the word about the program and attained internships in various places like Dubai, France and Myanmar. A lot of us were not sure about what we will be able to achieve when we started this journey, but now seeing the accomplishments, as showcased by the examples above, we have grown a lot more confident in our abilities and can envisage a clearer picture of our future in the analytics world.
Best wishes to the entire batch for their internship semester! We are sure that all of you will imprint the brand PGDBA in the world of data analytics.
Post author By pgdba_admin
Post date September 20, 2016
Grown-ups love figures. When you tell them that you’ve made a new friend, they never ask you any questions about essential matters. They never say to you, “What does his voice sound like? What games does he love best? Does he collect butterflies?” Instead, they demand: “How old is he? How many brothers has he? How much does he weigh? How much money does his father make?” Only from these figures do they think they have learned anything about him.
Our first exams in this first semester at ISI have finally arrived. One of the subjects of the course, and of the more interesting ones I might add, is ‘Probability and Stochastic Processes’. This was also the subject of our first exam. I have been pouring over notes and hundreds of pages of text in preparation of this exam. The intricacies in some of the ideas reminded me of these lines taken from ‘The Little Prince’ and quoted by David Freedman in his book on Statistics. Are such matters as figures and charts always dry and boring? In our first class, the professor of the same subject also remarked, “Maybe our insistence on numbers is the limitation of man”.
‘The Little Prince’ is a famous classic written by Saint Antoine du Exupery. Although it was first written as a children’s book, it has been enjoyed over the years by adults alike as a heart-warming story on friendship, growing-up and the curious fascinations of man. One of the oft used coinages in the book is the phrase ‘matters of consequence’. The Little Prince finds, at one point, a man aimlessly counting stars to the extent that he reaches ‘five hundred and one million’. This man then ironically refers to his counting as a matter of consequence.
In these days leading up to our exams, I began to wonder whether factuality could be made interesting in the context of some intricacies I came across in problems of Probability Theory. Are there questions that I can ask that are not as dry as the character’s occupation of counting in The Little Prince?
Consider the following questions. How many random people would I need to collect in a room, such that there would be half a chance that at least two of them share their birthdays? The answer to this is a surprisingly low number. Let’s look at a different question. How many people would I need to catch hold of and ask birthdays of to have half a chance of finding someone who shares my birthday? It is also interesting to note that this number is different from the first one. Louis CK, the famous stand-up comedian, made an interesting remark in one of his live shows. He said that there were enough people attending his show for there to be a fair chance that a few of them would die in the coming year. Ouch! Let’s pose that as a question on chance. Assume a population with a certain death rate. What is the number of people I would have to randomly collect in a room, such that there would be half a chance that someone would die tomorrow?
Enough with birthdays and death days. Consider coin tosses. Say, I keep tossing a coin and keep getting heads for a hundred tosses. I only know that it is equally likely that my coin is anything between a perfectly rigged coin to a perfectly fair coin. What is the chance that I win if I bet on the next toss to be heads? Let’s stretch this slightly further. Let us assume that when the universe was born, the probability that the sun would rise over planet earth each day was made to depend on a coin toss. We only know that this coin was likely to be anything between a perfectly fair to a perfectly unfair coin (God is playing a cruel game). What is the probability that the sun would rise tomorrow, given that it has been rising each day over all these years since the birth of the universe?
Let’s give some rest to our poor coin and move on to other questions. The Monty Hall Problem is a famous example on how sometimes the idea of chance can stump intuition. Here’s a different example in a similar vein. Suppose there are three suspects in jail who have been cleared of any wrongdoing and are all going to be released soon. It is announced that two of the three would be released the next day but these three don’t know exactly which two of them will be released. One of them decides to go ask the guard which one of the other two prisoners is going to be released. But then he thinks the following to himself, “After I have asked, I have only a one in two chance that I’m the second guy to be released. But before I ask, there is a two in three chance that I will be one of the guys to be released. So should I rather not ask?”
Like one of our professors quips so often, ‘Remember that there’s a chance model somewhere in the background.’ Somebody somewhere is flipping a coin. Maybe someday a story will be written on a travelling mathematician who visits magical planets to ask questions on chances of consequence. It’s a long shot that it would be anything as beautiful as the masterpiece that is the ‘The Little Prince’. But I wager it wouldn’t be as bad as dry pointless counting.
Post author By pgdba_admin
Post date September 7, 2016
A peek into Team Tabs, one of the three teams representing India at DSG.
It was a crisp Friday morning and I was seated comfortably in the plush IIMC library. The PGDBA semester was well underway, assignments were raining thick and fast…life was busy…life was good and I was brimming with excitement.
I had only just begun working on a competition, which had started 4 days ago on June 14th 2016. It was an inter-university data-science competition called the Data Science Game. With so many constraints such as limited number of submissions in a day and final selection of only one team from a college, it was, by all means the “big deal” and a glance at the list of competing universities showed us some tough nuts. There were the usual suspects i.e. Stanford, Cambridge, Oxford et al., supplemented by a host of premier universities from across the world.
Certainly our team of four from first-ever batch of PGDBA, though no novices, were far from being among the best in the world… or were they?
And so we – Team Tabs – prepared a starting output, clicked on the ‘Make Submission’ button and waited with a muted yet expectation-laced anxiety that any Kaggler worth his salt would be familiar with and then this image popped up on our screen:
Most authors describe moments like these with the cliche ‘There was a moment of silence followed by….’ I discovered that they were quite wrong…as my uncontrollable Hagrid-like laughter filled the breadth of the IIM Calcutta library, defiant of the several bemused yet stern glares that were pointed in my direction! Second in the whole world! Irrespective of its ephemerality, irrespective of the pains required to maintain it or the challenges that we were about to face in the coming three weeks – it was a moment of reckoning for us, a moment to cherish, a moment to savour. Yet, when I look back I can say with certainty that it was at this point I started believing that international glory wasn’t beyond our reach.
What followed were some of the most gruelling days of my life. Over the next three weeks, we went on to learn and implement Deep Learning (Convolutional Neural Networks) algorithms for image classification. We travelled to multiple universities in a quest for servers to run these algorithms. We learnt, we toiled, we toiled hard and we thrived. When the competition ended, we were the top team from India – Yes! Our hard work and perseverance led to us being the Rank 1 Indian team. We were among the 20 teams from around the world selected to travel to Paris for the final phase of the competition and folks, as you read this article, we’re on the flight journey towards the finals of the competition in Paris, to be held on 9th September.
What fills me with even more delight is that not just us, but three teams from India have made it to the final 20 – one each from IIM Calcutta-Team Tabs, IIT Kharagpur and ISI Kolkata- The Frequentists (in their ranking order). India has made its presence felt in this 2nd edition of Data Science Game and interestingly enough, all the three institutes are what together constitute PGDBA! It is encouraging to see that three Indian teams have proved themselves worthy of being the global top 20 when 146 teams from 28 countries participated and showed their mettle in this grueling competition.
The competition contained an image classification problem. A set of images were given, which had to be classified into four categories. The problem at hand could have been done in various ways. We decided to use deep learning as a lot of interesting work is being done around it and it’s one of the most advanced techniques currently available. We had a basic knowledge about it and developed more understanding as we moved along. The process of compiling and executing codes went on and we worked hard every single day. The machine learning algorithms take time to execute and with limited computing power at our disposal and time constraint of the competition, we ensured that every iota of it was used. As we were fighting neck to neck with all top notch universities across the world, the task was not at all easy and there were a lot of hurdles on the way. The limited computing power slowed us down. Every iteration of the code required a whole day and thus constrained our capacity to experiment with the algorithm. Soon other teams caught up with us on the leaderboard. To wrinkle out the problems we went to IIT-KGP and ISI to gain server access. However, the terminals at both places were preoccupied. As a last resort, we decided to use Amazon Web Services (AWS). AWS was difficult to set-up because of the complex technicalities and as none of us was acquainted with the process, it made our job all the more difficult. We quickly took charge and read about it from the scratch, spending a precious time of 3 days to figure everything out and get it running. In hindsight, it was worth the effort. Our first run in AWS increased the accuracy by 5 % and it all paid off with the jump on the leaderboard.
Now that we look at it, a lot of edge was given to us by our PGDBA curriculum. The basics of machine learning and computing were well laid out throughout the course. It enabled us to deep dive into deep learning and comprehend the technical aspects around it. We also consulted with professors for guidance. With Team Tabs standing at 12 in global rankings, we realize that we have learnt a lot on the way, when we were actually working on the problem statement.
We will now be competing with some of the top Kagglers in the finals. The finale would certainly provide us with global exposure as we will get a macroscopic view of what’s happening around the world in the field of data science by interacting with top-notch data analysts spread across the world. Since it’s a 2-day competition, the dynamics of the game is bound to change. We haven’t been able to put in continuous concentrated efforts towards the final round owing to the rigorous academic curriculum this semester and us coping up on classes. We do have a lot to cover but we will keep learning new stuff as we have been doing in the past year. Thus a great opportunity for knowledge transfer and networking lies ahead. With everyone’s hopes in us, we make our journey to Paris, where the final leg of the competition awaits… along with our fateful turnout in the 2nd Data Science Game competition.
Pranita Khandelwal – She completed her graduation (B.Tech.) in Electrical & Electronics Engineering and Masters in Economics from BITS Pilani. Initial interest in statistics and then further exploration of online courses made her pursue a career in the data science field.
Ritwik Moghe – He is a Mechanical Engineer from IIT Madras. With no coding background in the beginning, he learnt everything after joining the PGDBA program.
Avinash Kumar – He is a Mechanical Engineer from NIT Jamshedpur and has worked in manufacturing industry prior to joining the PGDBA program. While in college, he participated in some analytics competitions and enhanced his data science skills after studying in the three institutes of PGDBA.
Rachit Tripathi – He is a Mechanical Engineer from IIT Kanpur. He has worked on multiple projects in Robotics, programing and data handling areas while he was in college. His keen interest in mathematics and computing drove him to join PGDBA.
Do check out the team from ISI at the link: The Frequentists
The Journey of Identities
Post author By pgdba_admin
Post date August 14, 2016
To all those who just joined in. And to all those who couldn’t.
I’ve jumped ships. I’ve made the leap.
I am now a part of what they call Tata Hall- the luxurious guesthouse at IIM C, when I used to be a part of what they called Himadri (my IIT Delhi hostel). I am convinced that recording my first impressions of this maddening, surreal odyssey that I have set out on will not only prove to be fruitful in retrospect, but in fact help me in retaining my sanity in the present. For those of you who have been wondering what I’m going to blabber about, I would like to give you some context before you abandon me.
I am now a student at the PGDBA program. I am comfortably living in my posh suite of the guesthouse of IIM C, with my amazing roommate, situated in Joka, which is nearly thirty kilometers away from the city of Kolkata. There are one hundred and three other students in this program who live with me, so I am sometimes tempted to forget that we are literally in the middle of nowhere. We are being fed an illusion – but an irresistible one that I don’t have the heart to snap out of. In some ways, the fact that the city is beyond my reach is liberating. The five years I spent living in the heart of Delhi, and then another two years in the legendary city of Mumbai, I craved for an escape, for a way out. I think this program has finally answered my call for help.
Here, I am constantly told that I am special, that I am the chosen one. The twenty-four years of my life that have led to this moment have made me so cynical that I doubt their belief in me. But at the same time, I greatly value it. After a very long time, I am around people who are willing to invest in my future simply because the three accomplished panel members saw a spark in me, during the twenty-five minutes I spent interviewing for the program. I feel humbled and terrified. The two years ahead are going to demand every inch of me, it is going to consume me, and it is going to change me. But for so long I have felt nothing, that this rush, this constant buzz in my head, this restlessness feels good. I am sleep-deprived, surviving on n number of cups of terribly made tea and coffee and hopping from one assignment to the other with some extended breaks thankfully, and yet, I am alive. How often is it that you are so committed to the moment that every other structure inside and outside your mind breaks form, and this particular moment is all that you can see, all that you can register? This program is one such moment in my life.
The program, which aims at producing a team of unparalleled business analysts and data scientists, supposedly the sexiest job in the market these days, has been ideated by the three premiere institutes of India – Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Indian Statistical Institute Kolkata and Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur. This very credibility generates the “Pygmalion effect” and drives me to excel in the area of analytics.
The coming two years make me realize, that I’m far away from the comfort zone and stability that life had offered just before I decided to enroll into PGDBA. But I am also glad that it happened, for I can now appreciate the morning for what it truly represents – a fresh start. I like the concept of this new beginning, for it brings with it the exciting journey of exploring new dimensions and reconstruct your identity. I am tempted to fantasize about the future, but I am trying to contain my excitement to the moment. So many paths seem to call out to me that my brain will explode if I start to think too much. What do I want, you ask? Organized chaos. If you think that is romantically abstract, then you have understood me just a little more than you did before you began to read this note.
I will end with a few lines that so perfectly describe my state of mind right now, that I might just marry Robert Frost.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
Post author By pgdba_admin
Post date January 15, 2016
The first semester started on July 20, 2015. The classes were held initially at the Kolmogorov bhavan. Within a month we were given our own classroom in the Satyendra Nath Bose Bhavan.
Our curriculum consisted of 5 subjects. The subjects and the professors involved were:
By far the stars of the course were the faculty members. It was an honour to interact with a Padma Shree awardee in Dr. Bimal Roy. To be taught on a regular basis by such an esteemed personality was slightly overwhelming and hugely enriching. The sheer brilliance of the man and his way of looking at probability and its applications was an experience difficult to pen down. Dr. Kishan Chand Gupta shared the course and taught Markov Chains.
Diligent and sincere, Prof. Debashish Sengupta was the ideal teacher. He covered every topic rigorously starting right with the basics of statistics to the highly complex multivariate analysis. What seemed an easy course initially, became heavily loaded and among the toughest by the time the course came to its completion. Tutorials were held every week to discuss exercise problems.
The jovial Prof. Amitava Banerjee taught us the habit of drawing meaningful inferences out of large volumes of data. Drawing from his vast pool of consultancy experience, he inculcated in us the ability to convert real life business problems into statistical problems. His assignments involved working on datasets and testing hypothesis in the correct way.
Dr. Pinakpani Pal was interactive, and worked hard to ensure that our stay was a comfortable one. His course had 2 parts: the theoretical knowledge of databases, and a hands-on SQL application. He shared the course with Amiya Das, a seasoned professional at Oracle.
The friendly and ever enthusiastic Dr Sourav Sengupta was always approachable and motivated the entire batch in getting accustomed with highly complex ideas. His passion for teaching shone through as he went through the concepts of linear algebra and machine learning algorithms. He organised the course superbly and the web page for his course was among the best resource repositories we could have hoped for.
The invited lectures were top drawer, with experienced professionals coming in to share their insights and recommendations about the field of analytics. Overall the first semester was a learning experience beyond compare and laid a solid foundation on which we can build in our journey towards becoming well-rounded data scientists.
| 24,993 |
Recently a friend of mine told me that – “he didn’t care what they (government) did, they should just fix it (the economy)”.
I was amazed at his conviction that “they” could fix “it”.
When I was in school – one of the dominant right wing political parties in India was trying to alter History textbooks to show a certain historic incident in positive light.
That became a huge controversy and I was really peeved at the – Historians for not telling “History”, as it is. It is much later that I realized that there is no History, as it is. It is the reconstruction of past events and is full of human biases.
I am fairly certain that my friend too will someday realize that no one has any certain answers to fix the economy, only opinions; but that will take time.
They Should Fix It
The real import of this statement hit home much later in the day. My friend viewed the recession as a problem created by someone else and which needed to be solved by someone else.
I am fairly certain that all the bailout packages – whether banks or homeowners, have at least one side effect for sure, and that is – Moral Hazard.
Moral Hazard is when someone knows that they will be safeguarded from a certain risk, and therefore they alter their behavior.
For example, If homeowners know that the government will bail them out if home prices fall, they will take on more risk than they would have otherwise taken.
Similarly, banks who know that they are “too big to fail” will take more risks than they can handle, because they know that if something goes wrong the government will have to bail them out.
When the CEOs of the car companies first asked to be bailed out, they basically said – bail us out or the whole industry will collapse.
I am fairly certain that no one took the taxpayers hostage in such a way at any time other than the current recession. It is creating a – Moral Hazard so big that it may end up pervading the consciousness of a whole generation, who may learn that it is okay to make mistakes as long as every one else makes the same mistakes.
That can’t be the foundation of a healthy society, but some would argue that – hey, you need the bailouts to have any form of society to start with.
Will We Remember?
I think that despite the good intentions and nobility of all involved, the current approach is going to fail. The question is how many people will remember that the current approach failed when the next recession comes up?
The housing bubble was not the first bubble and it certainly is not the last bust. Something tells me we will not learn from this chapter of history, but then I guess that is just how humans are wired and there is nothing we can do about it.
Miss M February 20, 2009 at 6:57 am
Sadly personal responsibility left this country some time ago. Even the people responsible feel they are due a bailout, the ‘not my fault’ mentality is pretty pervasive. This makes your moral hazard scenario more likely to happen. I’m not sure when it started or how we got to this point.
Manshu February 20, 2009 at 9:02 am
Thanks for visiting and commenting. The whole world is getting more protectionist with India banning Chinese toys and such. It is getting worse.
Kim Woodbridge February 20, 2009 at 9:28 am
This is a really good point. Though people are taking a risk in assuming that they will be bailed out just because they were before. I suppose it’s the same risk they took in buying a house they really couldn’t afford because they were given a mortgage for it.
I don’t think lack of personal responsibility is a new thing though – I think it’s part of human nature. People who are more self-aware accept that they are responsible for themselves but many people never do.
manshuv February 20, 2009 at 12:40 pm
Did you see those ads which said – “Let me show you how you can take $12000 from the government and not repay it”
It made me scream when I saw that!
Imani February 20, 2009 at 5:22 pm
Manshu, If India banned Chinese toys, it was a good move to protect the children of India.
Did you not read about the dangers of the those toys containing way too high levels of lead?
How about the melamine in baby formula in China?
We may differ in opinions, and that is OK because it makes the discourse more interesting, and I can even change opinion given the right information.
But I don’t think protecting one’s children against known dangers is equal to protectionism.
Peace, and thanks for your insightful blog…
P.S. Still planning that eye-fluttering request for a modest discount :-).
Manshu February 20, 2009 at 6:02 pm
Imani, Its just that they even banned wooden toys! And I think the Chinese now control about 70% of the Indian toy market.
But what’s really interesting is that the ban came just a few days after Pakistan announced that it gives a – Carte Blanche to China to negotiate on its behalf with India on the Mumbai blasts.
Could that have anything to do with this? I wonder
Anyway back to the point in this post – I really wanted to say what Kim said in a later comment, about this being a part of human nature, more than anything else.
Thanks for your comment Imani, it really did bring out a new dimension on this post.
frugalCPA February 21, 2009 at 8:47 am
This is one of the things I worry about most with all of the government “bailout” strategies. Bailout implies companies and people not being held accountable for their actions. A lot of companies and a lot of people have taken advantage of great markets and easy credit for a long time. Half of me wants the government to just let things fail that would naturally fail. The other half can definitely see why we wouldn’t want national banks and industry giants to go down. Lots of casualties.
The sad part is that we’re not even sure the bailouts will end up working, so in the end, we might have spent a couple of trillion dollars to keep a sinking boat afloat for just a little more time.
Or, it could work. Which is all of our hope.
manshuv February 21, 2009 at 10:33 am
I sure do agree with you. In fact now that I have seen ads that proclaim to get you money from the government, without having to repay it – I am tipped against bailouts of any kind or form.
Kim Woodbridge February 21, 2009 at 11:22 am
Manshu – The only television I watch is online or on DVD’s so I didn’t see those ads – I’m sure I would have been appalled.
Imani February 22, 2009 at 11:12 am
Manshu, So, do you think India made a mistake banning Chinese toys? Who knows what chemicals are in the wooden toys? I don’t have young children anymore, but I surely wouldn’t buy a piece of toilet paper from China.
About Pakistan giving China responsibility for negotiations between Pakistan and India over the Mumbai bombings…I admit to ignorance here.
The bombings and other goings on in Mumbai were horrific! From what I read (maybe it was all fantasy) the bombers/attackers were from Pakistan. I watched those events in horror just as I watched, in horror, the events in London, Spain, and in the US on September 11. What the H*LL is going on??? We live on a tiny planet, in a small solar system, one of many millions.
My personal opinion is that Pakistan is not doing enough to stem the tide of terror emanating from within its borders. Not sure why.
Sorry if I am off-topic here.
Thanks again for your blog and for the opportunity to express my opinion.
manshuv February 22, 2009 at 2:56 pm
A six month ban on all Chinese toys without any corresponding demands to improve safety standards will certainly not offer any long term solutions. What will happen after six months?
However China’s southern province – Guangdong, which was called the toy capital of the world till recently, and which has shrunk to half its original size due to reduction in exports – will certainly feel the heat of the Indian ban.
So to that extent – I think India has made the point it wanted to make.
P.S. – Feel free to use HELL here, there is no editing going on in here.
Kids March 16, 2009 at 2:10 pm
I just wanted to say that I love this site
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عربي
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HLP
(EB) is an independent Syrian media organization that was founded in 2011. EB offers 24-hour news coverage through its multilingual interactive websites, and it publishes a weekly newspaper that covers Syrian political, social.
Hundreds of people await the release of their detained relatives under the President’s Bridge in Damascus - 4 May 2022 (AFP)
Hundreds of people await the release of their detained relatives under the President’s Bridge in Damascus - 4 May 2022 (AFP)
Hundreds of people await the release of their detained relatives under the President’s Bridge in Damascus - 4 May 2022 (AFP)
"عفو" يقتل ذوي المعتقلين.. موت بطيء تحت جسر "الرئيس"
“I knew that my son Ayham was martyred inside Damascus University, his colleague who had been arrested with him told me. They were tortured in a hall at the Faculty of Medicine, which the Syrian Students’ Union turned into a prison containing torture tools. After we paid our respects to my son, a newly-released detainee who was with my son said he was in good health, where a new searching phase began.”
In an interview with Enab Baladi, Maryam al-Hallaq, the mother of Ayham Ghazoul and the director of the Caesar Families Association, tries to highlight the painful experiences of the detainees’ families, waiting for any certain information they might receive about the fate of their loved ones detained in Syrian prisons.
The detainee’s family is a human model that belongs to a world full of obsessions and anxiety about the fate of family members with whom they shared their past, dreams, and passion for the future.
Most of the detainees who were forcibly disappeared by the Syrian regime were arrested because they tried, even for once, to express the image of life they wanted to live with dignity and freedom.
During the past days, photos of hundreds of the detainees’ families gathering under the President’s Bridge in Damascus went viral. They were waiting for prisoners who were released from the notorious Sednaya Military Prison as part of Bashar al-Assad’s general amnesty that included provisions in the Anti-terrorism law of 2012.
Since early May, people have gathered in various squares in Damascus, their faces shriveled and sullen, and their days exhausting and grueling, far from their loved ones, and this misery will not be repaid from them unless they know the fate of their sons, for they only need that.
The released detainees, who were welcomed in hot eagerness and deep groans, ended a harsh experience, the ugliness of which absorbed from their lives the strength they needed in order to return to their normal lives.
A large number of events related to the detainees’ file are still taking place in Syria, especially during the past few days, as the regime’s government released several batches of detainees in different Syrian governorates, most notably the capital Damascus.
The first detainee releases were random, characterized by chaos and a complete lack of transparency, without clarifying the numbers and names of those released. Soon, the latest releases, on 5 May, were accompanied by lists and photos of the release process in the presence of the families of detainees in the governorate buildings.
Enab Baladi is trying in its weekly in-depth article to explore the regime’s motives for issuing the recent amnesty since it is the first of its kind that links to crimes classified as “terrorist,” as well as to examine whether the presidential pardon has any human rights and political consequences at the regional and global levels.
Dreams being killed in security cells
Al-Hallaq’s son was arrested twice during his participation in the Syrian revolution, the first was on 16 February 2012. He was released in May of the same year, and the second time, he was arrested on the campus of Damascus University at the Faculty of Dentistry, where he was preparing a master’s thesis on 5 November of the same year. That time, his family received information that he was killed under torture five days after his arrest.
The searching journey for the truth about Ayham’s fate lasted for 17 months.
Al-Hallaq, who co-founded the Caesar Families Association, said, “I searched everywhere for the truth, and finally, I obtained a death certificate from Tishreen Military Hospital that my son had died of cardiac arrest only five days after his arrest.”
Although she received her son’s death certificate personally, al-Hallaq still had hope that he would be alive, to realize the dream that he had always worked to achieve, “I did not receive his body, nor even his identity, nor anything that was with him.”
Ayham had a dream of a new Syria free of al-Assad’s domination, and he played a great role in raising my awareness of what is going on in Syria through his readings, the mother says.
“He was in the tenth grade when he brought me The Shell (a famous novel that exposes the violence and brutality of the Syrian regime and another book entitled ‘Syria Assad’s Farm,’” she added.
Ayham Ghazoul participated in the demonstrations since their inception and began working at the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression to document violations, where he was arrested from the center the first time, but Ayham’s dream in his journey towards change ended when the torture photos of Caesar were leaked in 2014. Al-Hallaq said, “at that time, I realized that I had lost him and would never see him again.”
Syrians await the release of their detained relatives on the President’s Bridge in Damascus – 5 May 2022 (The Association of Detainees and The Missing in Sednaya Prison (ADMSP)
“Massacre in disguise”
The Syrian regime promoted the decree and the releases as “a tribute that Mr. President gave to the terrorists whose hands were not stained with blood.” Despite the hope this step brought to the families of the detainees, the regime’s policy turned it into a series of violations against the detainees who were left in the public streets, while the families gathered in the squares in search of their sons in a scene described by Syrians as a “massacre,” as a symbolic expression of the failure to organize the process of releasing detainees, and the humiliation of their families.
“Whatever the context in which the amnesty was placed, what the regime did to release the detainees, to humiliate the entire Syrian society, led to exposing the regime’s violations and the extent of the tragedy,” Mohammad al-Abdallah, director of the Syria Justice and Accountability Center (SJAC), told Enab Baladi, referring to the threats the residents received and the way the regime used to disperse the gatherings, using the most dangerous threat in Syria that “we can make your fate the same as the prisoner you are waiting for.”
Random release, what are the reasons?
During the first days of the release of detainees, the regime did not announce the numbers or names of people who would be included in the amnesty, as the Deputy Minister of Justice, Nizar Sedkni, said on 2 May, “there is still no specific number for those who have been released because there are many sides working on implementing the release process, but when it is finished, there will be statistics,” which is an indication of the randomness in which the Syrian regime deals with the issue of detainees.
The younger brother of one of the released detainees, Omar, 27, told Enab Baladi that his brother arrived at his home on 3 May, about ten years after his arrest, and they lived the first three years of it between hope and despair for his return, until In 2016, his family received his death certificate.
“We lived for years on the basis of the martyrdom of my brother Mohammad, my older brother married his wife to embrace his sons, and we all cried for long nights in despair of his return,” noting that despite the great joy that the family experienced upon his release, the joy was not complete due to the arbitrariness of the regime, even in documenting the deaths of detainees in its prisons.
This was not the only case that confirmed that the regime’s policy had manipulated the emotions of dozens of families, even those who had received news of the death of their children. The return of detainees whose families believed they had been killed under torture lit a spark of hope in the lives of others who had lost hope and offered condolences to their sons.
The relative of the detainee Omar, whose full name Enab Baladi withheld for security reasons, said that “since the release of the detainees, hope has returned to my family’s home in Damascus, despite the passage of ten years since the arrest of my cousin, which prompted his mother to wait in the streets for two consecutive days, perhaps to get any news about her son,” noting that any news she will receive today will bring her back to the moment when she received news of his death and that the pain of loss will be repeated in a more severe way, as he said.
Al-Abdallah said that “the Syrian regime has a desire to dilute the issue of detainees and missing persons, and until today no official number has been issued on the number of detainees,” noting that this has been the regime’s permanent policy for years to obscure issues and obliterate the “crimes” that condemn it regarding the issue of detainees and other cases.
Although the release of detainees is in the regime’s interest to polish its image, the regime has deliberately followed the same random policy to preserve the confidentiality of facts and figures that show the number of detainees in its prisons, according to al-Abdallah.
Diab Sariya, co-founder and coordinator of the Association of Detainees and The Missing in Sednaya Prison (ADMSP), confirmed to Enab Baladi that the regime benefits primarily from the absence of statistics, as this option serves the regime’s denial of the number of detainees.
Sariya added that the regime needs many years to count the number of detainees in Sednaya prison alone, pointing out that the years of detention and killing inside prisons in Syria make it difficult to count the people who were killed under torture or are still alive in detention because it became a complicated matter even for the regime.
A group of 43 persons of those released under the Presidential General Amnesty of 30 April 2022 in Aleppo’s provincial building – 6 May 2022 (Al-Watan newspaper)
Detainees file turned a regime-run business
Since the start of the arrest campaigns in Syria in 2011, hundreds of brokers and fraud gangs have been active, taking advantage of the impotence of the families who are always ready to lose anything in exchange for one piece of information that reassures their hearts of their loved ones, in light of turning most of the arrests in Syria into cases of enforced disappearance.
“The regime is benefiting from the financial spread of brokering, as it is part of the (local business) managed by the security services,” according to al-Abdallah.
The regime’s relationship with brokers is increasing in activity, coinciding with the issuance of general amnesty decrees or news of the release of detainees.
“If the extortion carried out by the brokers could reassure the people by providing real information, they could ignore all the warnings provided by the organizations and pay all the amounts required to obtain one accurate information,” al-Abdallah added.
The human rights defender believes that brokerage is systematic by the regime, explaining that out of every thousand cases, the regime can release five cases to serve a fraud gang by blackmailing the families emotionally and pushing them towards the broker responsible for the release process to try to help their sons.
For his part, Sariya recommended that the families not be drawn into the gangs that have been very active during the past few days, stressing that no one will be able to add the names of the detainees to the list of persons covered by the amnesty.
In 2021, the ADMSP launched a guide to protect against fraud and financial extortion for the families of detainees and forcibly disappeared persons.
The guide consists of a 33-page booklet that presents the most prominent methods and means used by fraud and extortion gangs, security men, and some lawyers and mediators inside Syria to extort the families of detainees financially and forcibly disappeared persons in exchange for providing or forging information and documents about their detained or forcibly disappeared sons and loved ones.
It also contains some ideas and tips that can help families and workers on the issue of arrest and enforced disappearance in detecting and paying attention to fraud and forgery.
The association launched an emergency response campaign to respond to the inquiries of the detainees’ families, provide psychological support and help in the search process, and provide advice and directions during the question about the detainee or the forcibly disappeared person.
To avoid extortion and deception during the current circumstances. They can contact the ADMSP at any time, 24 hours a day, on the following numbers:
The Family Center for psychological support services 00905387240727
Does General Amnesty apply to prisoners of conscience?
At a time when there is no evidence of the seriousness of the new general amnesty decree, the step of releasing detainees is an important matter and a definite demand by all Syrian and international human rights organizations.
The importance of the decree lies in the fact that it deals with crimes committed under the anti-terrorism law no. 19 of 2012. In the same year, al-Assad ratified law no. 22 establishing the Anti-Terrorism Court to rule that law.
The Syrian regime has used the anti-terrorism law and its specialized exceptional court against human rights defenders and other peaceful activists who are being tried on charges of promoting terrorist acts, according to the lawyer Al-Mutassim Al-Kilani.
The decree, like previous general amnesty decrees, did not require the surrender of the same person within a specified period, nor did it require the payment of fines or compensations awarded to the state or the pardon of the aggrieved party.
But at the same time, the new amnesty did not address crimes against state security in the Syrian Penal Code and also did not include all prisoners of conscience or wanted opponents who are exiled outside Syria.
This crime is not committed against the state as a person of internal law, as it does not aim to undermine its independence or sovereignty or threaten the integrity of its lands, but rather aims to rise up against the organs of government, rebel against the institutions of power established under the Constitution, or make a change in the state and the rules stipulated by the Constitution to determine the form of government and the principles of its exercise.
As for those who are being tried before the terrorism court, their relatives can refer to the court, as for those arrested before the civil court and security branches, they cannot do that.
Al-Kilani told Enab Baladi that the courts specializing in terrorism are based in Damascus, and the court is not bound by the rules stipulated in the legislation in force, in prosecution and trial (it is not bound by the rules stipulated in the Code of Criminal Procedure).
All terrorism cases pending before all courts are transferred to it according to their current status, he added.
Munir al-Faqeer, a human rights researcher at the Omran Center for Strategic Studies, told Enab Baladi that the regime always works to establish sovereign moves related to the file of detainees outside the scope of any consensual political solution with the parties to the Syrian conflict, in order to send a clear and direct message to all parties that this issue is in the hands of the regime only, and there is no willingness to give it up.
Al-Faqeer explained that the released have been detained for a few years, and most of them are from the regime-held areas, who do not pose any danger to the Assad power, whether politically, legally, or militarily.
The release of everyone is important, but those released do not have a declared political position and did not participate in a dangerous activity against the regime and its security services, and those who were seriously influencing the regime until now, no one has escaped from them or were killed under torture, according to al-Faqeer.
The researcher explained that a large part of the activists are sentenced under (Article 305) of the Syrian Penal Code, which states that carrying out a terrorist act that led to the killing of a person, even indirectly, requires execution or imprisonment for a period of 15 to 20 years if the act does not lead to death.
A number of those released under the Presidential General Amnesty in Damascus countryside’s provincial building – 5 May 2022 (Al-Baath newspaper – Hama office)
What is the difference between arrest and disappearance?
Detention, according to Amnesty International, is defined as the detention of persons without a legitimate reason or without legal process, which usually precedes the disappearance.
The United Nations International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance aims to prevent enforced disappearances defined in international law.
Article 2 of the Convention defines it as the arrest, detention, abduction, or any other form of deprivation of liberty by state agents, persons, or groups of individuals acting with the authorization, support, or consent of the state, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or concealing the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which deprives him of the protection of the law.
It is the responsibility of the state to take appropriate measures to investigate the actions specified in Article 2 by persons or groups of individuals acting without the permission, support, or approval of the state and to bring those responsible to justice.
Near and long-term goals
The general amnesty for “terrorist crimes” was accompanied by a number of regional variables, most notably the high level of political discourse calling for the return of Syrian refugees to Syria, as it is “safe,” in addition to continuous complaints about the “burdens” of receiving them.
Voluntary return from Turkey
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan clarified on 3 May his country’s efforts to return one million Syrian refugees to 13 regions in the cities of Jarablus, al-Bab, Tal Abyad, and Ras al-Ain, in cooperation with the local councils in those areas.
Erdogan’s statements, which came during a video call during the ceremony of handing over the keys to prefabricated houses in Idlib, in coordination with the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), and in the presence of the Turkish Interior Minister, Süleyman Soylu, were preceded by sharp criticism from politicians of the Turkish opposition parties, which dealt with the Syrians going to “liberated areas” to spend the Eid holidays, and then return again to Turkey, which means that Syria, according to the vision of these politicians, is ready to receive refugees.
In turn, the Turkish Immigration Management canceled the Eid holidays on 20 April, followed by frequent official Turkish statements talking about the “voluntary return” of one million Syrian refugees, with the approach of the Turkish elections scheduled for next year.
Among the most prominent of these statements was what was stated on 5 May by the Turkish Interior Minister, who confirmed Ankara’s readiness to build about 100,000 homes in Idlib governorate, and to hand them over by the end of this year, explaining that financing home projects with an area of each 40, 60 or 80 m², came entirely from international charitable organizations.
Three million, 712,47 Syrian refugees reside in Turkey under “temporary protection,” according to statistics from the General Directorate of the Turkish Immigration Presidency issued on 28 April.
In light of the deteriorating economic and living situation in Lebanon, and on the same day the general amnesty decree was issued, the Lebanese Minister of Social Affairs, Hector Hajjar, stated that his country had informed the UN of its inability to bear the file of the Syrian refugees.
Hajjar indicated that he met with the representative of the High Commissioner for Refugees in Lebanon, Ayaki Ito, to hand him the official position of the Lebanese government following the meeting of the ministerial committee in charge of discussing the issue of the displaced.
About 900,000 Syrian refugees reside in Lebanon, 89 percent of whom live below the extreme poverty line in a 34 percent increase from 2019, according to a report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on the vulnerabilities of Syrian refugees for 2020.
Hundreds of people await the release of their detained relatives under the President’s Bridge in Damascus – 4 May 2022 (AFP)
In addition to the dissatisfaction with the situation of Syrian asylum in some neighboring countries, the general amnesty took from the Tadamon massacre a time background that appeared in public only three days before al-Assad’s decree, as The Guardian revealed a massacre committed by the Syrian regime forces on 16 April 2013, in the Tadamon district of Damascus, which resulted in the killing of 41 people, the burning of their bodies, and their burial in a mass grave.
The massacre has lost part of its shocking impact in front of the gatherings of people who were waiting for the release of detainees from the regime’s prisons and detention centers, but al-Abdallah, the director of the Syria Center for Justice and Accountability, said there is no link between the massacre and the general amnesty decree.
He explained that preparing for the decrees requires weeks of prior work, determining the number of people who can be removed, looking at their charges, and transferring them between detention centers and prisons, pointing out the regime’s indifference to this type of documenting killing video in front of thousands of recordings and previous scandals, including “Caesar” photographs.
Media contempt and wordplay
In front of thousands of citizens gathering under the President’s Bridge in Damascus, waiting for their sons and relatives detained in the regime’s prisons, the pro-regime media coverage was absent, as explained by the assembled crowds not far from the headquarters of the state TV.
The coverage from Damascus was limited to a video report published by the local Sham FM radio station on 4 May, before it was deleted from its social media platforms.
The report surveyed the opinions of the detainees’ families, who criticized the chaotic release conditions and the long hours they spend waiting on the roads, in addition to the absence of name lists for the detainees, so that some people are not waiting in vain, especially since the hope of seeing their detained sons is what keeps them on the streets.
The report, which lasted for approximately five minutes, carried a lot of complaints on the part of the detainees’ families, which was preceded by phrases of supporting the regime, but it was followed by inquiries about the fate of sons and brothers who have been missing for years in the basements of prisons without knowing their whereabouts, the charges against them, and whether they were ever prosecuted.
The Sham FM report was removed from the digital media outlets without explaining the reasons for its deletion by the radio since the detainees’ families assured that their sons are not terrorists and they have not committed a crime or misdemeanor but, in fact, they were forcibly disappeared for a period ranging between seven and 11 years.
According to the Sham FM report, some detainees’ families have more than one detainee from the same family. One of the people said his father was arrested by the regime 11 years ago, and his brother was arrested eight years ago.
On the level of news coverage, the local al-Watan newspaper and media outlets and networks close to the regime reported the release of the detainees, with a cosmetic change in their description, considering them as arrested and not detained.
The absence of the security decision to film what is happening, at least in the first batches of detainees, made the official media absent from the course of an event of this magnitude, and the echo achieved by the Sham FM report came more than expected, as the authority’s thanks went beyond demanding the detainees, which prompted the radio to delete it.
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(EB) is an independent Syrian media organization that was founded in 2011. EB offers 24-hour news coverage through its multilingual interactive websites, and it publishes a weekly newspaper that covers Syrian political, social.
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Everyone knows the value that user research can bring to product development, right? Whether you own a wine shop or work for a company with a large digital presence, it is simply smart business to understand the needs, desires, and objectives of your customers and prospects. Once you understand what makes them buy, and what satisfies them, you can incorporate this into a sound strategy to deliver the best value proposition. Ensuring that the experience you create meets, and better yet exceeds, your customers’ expectations is the holy grail.
For years, research has validated the fact that improving the usability of a site increases conversion, reduces customer service calls, increases customer satisfaction, and boosts loyalty. Additionally, it’s been proven that thoughtful integration of UX testing into the development process can reduce costs, minimize development time, and ensure the end product more closely aligns to the user's mental model.
We see success stories and specific case studies where companies have championed how user research turned things around (e.g., Airbnb) or how it is essential to their success (e.g., USAA, Amazon). Online and at conferences throughout the world you will find research conducted by intelligent individuals that breakdown the ROI of UX and have metrics to back it. There are infographics, reports you can buy, and an endless list of related content.
But, knowing the value of UX and making a compelling business case for conducting sound UX research is merely part of the equation. The impact of UX research, and UX thinking, is directly related to how effective you are at integrating it into the fabric of your organization. We’d like to share some common misconceptions and obstacles that impede the successful integration of UX and provide prescriptive ways we’ve attempted to solve them:
MISCONCEPTION: User research is costly and/or time consuming. “It can’t be done at the agile pace required.”
FACT: User research can and should be part of the development process. Understand that not all user research needs to be formally conducted in the lab with a formal or tangible finished product. Your customers are resilient, capable of understanding loose concepts, and can provide insights from ideation to product deployment. Ideally, UX lives within your iterative design process.
Key Lime Interactive (KLI), for example, has a program called QuickInsights™ ,which is designed to take the shape of the product development project that you assign it to. This program injects user testing, provides actionable insights, and harmonizes next steps with your team all within a one-week period so development teams can continue moving at an agile pace.*
OBSTACLE: The belief that internal stakeholders know what the customer wants. “Customers don’t know what they want, but I know what they want.”
FACT: You are NOT your customer: It is too easy to think that as the subject matter expert you are best equipped to ideate and come up with the next innovative solution. There may be some truth to that, but recognize the value of perspective and the unique journey that each of your customers brings with them. By virtue of understanding the business objectives you are trying to achieve, and how the system is supposed to work, you have developed an intimacy with the product that “outsiders” don’t have. Even the most well-intentioned designer/developer/product manager can fall into the trap of operating with an unconscious bias towards what an experience should be. Remember, one of the intrinsic benefits of UX research is collecting data from various sources to ensure you are making the most informed decision possible.
OBSTACLE: There is an unwillingness to hear/discover what you’ve built is flawed. “We’re already too far down the development process to turn around now.”
FACT: My baby isn’t ugly: You’re right, it’s not ugly, but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect either. Finding out what critical adjustments need to be made is ideal insurance for long-term product success. This holds true whether you’re closing in on your launch date, or just starting to build. In most cases, you have one opportunity to get it ‘right’, so delaying launch to ensure the user experience matches your user’s mental model could be the smartest decision. Don’t take these new learnings as an indictment on the quality of your work, but rather as an opportunity to refine the experience so you can delight your customers.
OBSTACLE: Usability insights are not effectively shared throughout the organization (across various teams). “Why does it feel like we heard this before? Are we still making the same mistakes?”
FACT: Socializing and reapplying information learned about your users and how they behave in a given scenario is among the most difficult issues UX professionals face. Many mature UX organizations are decentralized in that they work in silos, a.k.a. Pods, a.k.a. Product Teams, and sharing knowledge becomes an afterthought to uncovering insights and implementing fixes.This, however, is not an excuse to let these valuable insights fall through the cracks. To address this problem, we’ve come up with a number of solutions:
1. At KLI we have created a system to log each of the observations, related recommendations, and a severity rating aimed at communicating the frequency and impact each issue has on the experience. Each report has its own collection of findings and recommendations, but we also have a running log that we update regularly. We consistently reference this log both as we are analyzing new results, but also before research is commissioned to identify if we already have the answer based on previous user feedback.
2. Another tactic we use in our reporting is to visually catalog observations as ‘repeat findings’. This affords us the necessary leverage to move this issue up the priority chain as we can show that it either happens with greater frequency than you initially realized, and/or it impacts more than a single product’s success.
3. Lastly, a practice that has proven invaluable is to create one-page executive summaries for each of the user research projects we’ve worked on so the core findings can be more easily shared. When possible, this one-pager includes an embedded video that helps “sell” what was learned. These videos, in particular, have proven to be invaluable to quickly disseminate information AND keep peers engaged.
This is not a complete list, but among the most common excuses and/or hurdles that UX professionals face on an ongoing basis. I encourage you to continue spreading the message that UX brings value and can be as nimble as it needs to be. Please use these solutions, or variations of them, to more effectively integrate UX within your organization so your business can produce experiences that consistently delight your customers.
Now, ready to incorporate UX into your organization? Not sure where to begin? Download our full guide, 10 Questions to Ask a Prospective Usability Research Partner.
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ABOUT KLI
Key Lime Interactive is a user experience research and service design agency, with a sweet spot for emerging technology. As UX experts, our goal is to make your life easier, optimize user experiences, and make the world a better place.
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“Just want to say, a big thank you to Ascend Plant Displays. We are extremely happy with the plants. They look lovely and have made a massive improvement to the office. I appreciate all the hard work and efficiency of getting the plants to our company in a very tight deadline and hitting the brief as requested. Both Managers where extremely impressed. Would definitely use Ascend Plant Displays and would recommend them to others”
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Loneliness & Social Isolation 101 Coping With Loneliness Relationships During the Pandemic Connecting With Others to Ease Loneliness Video Education Podcasts
Find Similar Activities
As children, we found friends simply by proximity—kids play sports together, learn in classrooms with others, carpool to activities, etc. The same is true for adults, it just takes a bit more effort (especially during a pandemic). Engaging in recreational activities or hobbies with other people is a great way to meet like-minded people (and people who are different from you!). Commonalities and differences can both be helpful ice breakers when meeting new people. For example, if you meet someone who loves to bake like you do, you can chat about your favorite recipes or techniques. Similarly, if you meet someone who has never played soccer but loves running, you can compare how you each warm up and share knowledge of the sports. Do you enjoy cooking? Zumba? Volunteering with children? So do others…and chances are, a new friend awaits.
We are often great at making and keeping our doctors appointments or work meetings because we deem them mandatory or at the very least, necessary. Try prioritizing your activity (commitment to yourself should be non-negotiable, too!) by scheduling it into your calendar and treating it like a necessary appointment. Write it down, tell your partner, or make a phone reminder—whatever will help you get to the appointment. Remind yourself of the importance of attending the activity, especially when the thought of canceling or rescheduling creeps up. For example, what makes this activity important to you? How will it help you get to your goal of meeting people with similar interests?
It may take some time to warm up to an activity or to other people. Researchers who study friendships have found that familiarity can help create a connection between strangers over time (Reis et al., 2011). Choosing an activity that can be done routinely can help you become a familiar face to others and help break the ice over time. Is there a place you could go get coffee once per week? Can you attend a community class/event on a regular basis? Is there a local meet-up group you’re interested in?
It’s okay to feel nervous about reaching out to new people. While it can be awkward and uncomfortable, know that it doesn’t just feel that way to you. Acknowledging how you are feeling is important. Give yourself permission to feel what you are feeling and label it (e.g., “I am feeling nervous and that’s okay.”). An important thing to keep in mind is that we can feel a negative emotion and still move towards the desired behavior. The mind can trick us into thinking that we have to choose between feeling nervous and engaging in the behavior (e.g., “I want to make new friends but I feel nervous, so I shouldn’t go to the class tonight.”). This kind of thinking can stop us from making new changes by telling us we have to choose either/or. However, both of these two thoughts can be true at the same time—you can be nervous AND you can still go to class and make new friends.
An act of kindness is a boost for both the giver and the recipient, because doing something positive for someone else feels good for everyone—and it’s good for your health. Whether you volunteer for a cause that is meaningful to you, or do something thoughtful for someone else like baking cookies, picking up groceries, or smiling at a stranger, these acts of kindness can help combat the negative effects of loneliness for you and those around you.
There are countless ways we can be of service to others. Here are five ways we use our support of others to build a greater sense of connection in our lives:
Give undivided attention
When we’re having conversations with people or doing shared activities, give the gift of being fully present without distractions. When you’re spending time with someone, try to avoid multitasking with other activities, planning what’s next, or thinking about other things. Giving your full attention not only allows you to enjoy the present moment, it sends the affirming message that, “I’m really here with you.”
Perform acts of service
Acts of service can be divided into two categories: physical and emotional. Physical acts of service include things like cooking or sending a loved one a meal, doing an errand for them, offering to take care of children or pets so they can take time for themselves, or helping less tech-savvy people better understand their phone or computer. Emotional acts of service look more like sending someone you love a note of gratitude, lending a listening ear to a neighbor who is going through something difficult, or telling your partner how much you love them.
There are many ways in which you can donate to support people, specific causes, or small businesses—for example, you can give your time, donate products, offer skills, or give money. Depending on the person, cause, or business in need, your donations can range from simple and heartfelt to financially impactful.
There are many opportunities to support efforts addressing various causes. Almost anything you can think of has a base of support rallying around it—animals, food insecurities, community culture, or broader social issues. Choose a cause you care deeply about and determine your capacity for helping. Would you like to focus on education, general mentorship, children, animal welfare, conservation, disaster relief, mental health? Are you able to be involved with onsite projects, or do you prefer to help from home with administrative tasks or outreach? Or perhaps due to distance or limited time and resources, it makes sense for you to get involved with “micro-volunteering” through activities like signing petitions, or forwarding educational information via email. Most causes appreciate support in whatever form it comes, so consider what you’re comfortable offering and get started.
Maybe you’re already involved in activities or acts of service, but you have the time, energy, and desire to ramp things up a bit. If that’s the case, go the extra mile! For example, if you already make monthly calls for a cause or to a family member, add an extra call sometime within the next month. If someone else is usually the one who reaches out to you, try being proactive by being the one to do the dialing every once in a while. It’s just about giving a little extra where you can, whenever you can.
Extending ourselves to others allows us to get out of our own heads for some time, and put our situations into perspective. Building community and getting involved by supporting someone else can decrease your own experience of loneliness. If you’re in a position of being able to give more, do what you can. When you begin to broaden how you think about and engage in giving—even through a simple (and free) act of kindness—it can inspire others to pay it forward. The result is a stronger community of care, and more meaningful connections to strangers and loved ones alike.
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The problems of Small Businesses: A Case of Lebanon
In 1996, and during a regional conference held in Beirut, hosting a large number of financial experts and economists, an internationally recognized economist and visiting professor of economists in a number of reputable universities worldwide announced that one of the indicators used to measure the development and performance of an economy was the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This international economist was once a Prime Minister in the late 1970s, in the late 1980s and in the early 1990s. Towards the end of 1998, he was once again assigned as Prime Minister of Lebanon amidst severe economic decline and after three years of recession. Premiere Hoss, and several months of assuming office, has not yet had the time to deal with the problem of financial sources available to SMEs in Lebanon, partly because of the economic burdens facing the cabinet, and more emphatically, due to the nature and structure of financial sources and institutions that make funds available to enterprises in Lebanon.
SMEs have always been the backbone of the Lebanese economy. During the 1960s and early 1970s, the entire economy was based on the operations and performance of SMEs, except for exceptional corporations that were publicly enlisted on the Bourse of Beirut. During the civil war that extended from 1975 through 1991, the Bourse of Beirut was shut down, and the economy, suffering as it was, depended entirely on the operations and performance of SMEs. Today, SMEs still constitute the majority of enterprises in Lebanon, especially that the Bourse of Beirut has not yet become satisfactorily active. Nonetheless, between 1996 and 1999, SMEs suffered heavily as a result of the continuos recession that by the testimony of economists and experts is about to turn into a depression. Austerity measures recommended by the IMF and imposed by the state have further worsened the situation. The problems of small businesses can be similar across nations as well.
The situation of SMEs in Lebanon can be best summarized by the words of a janitor of a commercial center. “A year ago, there were twenty-four enterprises occupying this building; today it is a ghost tower with only five operating.”
At the same time, the Ministry of Labor found itself involved in a large number of labor conflicts resulting from the laying off of several hundred employees affiliated with a number of SMEs, including two small banks. The layoffs did not result from the SMEs going bankrupt. Rather, these SMEs were either purchased by holding companies, or were simply merged with other SMEs to cut costs down and make up for the severe lack of financial sources.
The laying off of employees and the disappearance of SMEs (through bankruptcy, termination of operations, mergers or buyouts) are both serious indicators that have to be taken into consideration when evaluating the causes of the problematic and unstable situation of SMEs in the Lebanese economy.
The current situation of SMEs in Lebanon is the product of various causes, the most important of which is the lack of funds and financial sources available for these enterprises. With more than seventy banks operating throughout the country and with the top twenty banks making profits sometimes reaching $70 million a year, the cause is obviously not in the lack of funds in the economy. The banking industry in Lebanon is one of the strongest in the Middle East, and now that the war is over, this industry is once again reviving the position of Lebanon as a financial safe haven for depositors, but not necessarily for investors.
One of the major causes for the strength of the banking industry in Lebanon is the strict and conservative banking management policies followed. Business, personal, industrial and agricultural loans are only granted under very tough conditions, tough to the extent that most SMEs are not able to fulfill them. In fact, bankers themselves complain that 80% of the loans are made to less than 5% of customers, very few of which are small businesses. As a matter of fact, financial trust and faith in SMEs and their ability to repay their loans has declined severely in the past few years, but his is not incidental or solely due to the economic decline. Interest rates, that is the cost of loans, has been tremendously high for SMEs to afford in the 1990s. At their lowest level, interest rates on business loans in Lebanese pounds range between 14% and 20%. The rate on US dollar loans is somewhere between 12% and 15%. Between 1996 and 1999, the officially declared growth rate in the economy was hardly 3% and skeptics argue it was far below 2%. The severe discrepancy between the economic growth rate and the interest rate on business loans clearly explains why SMEs are not theoretically able to pay back their loans or the interests on these loans.
The managers and owners of SMEs in Lebanon argue that they have been exposed to international competition too early. The state stopped subsidies and support to most industries, and at the same time, eliminated many of the customs to meet its obligations to international trade agreements. Lebanese SMEs were already exhausted from the war. They were suddenly made vulnerable to competitors who were far advanced financially and who also enjoyed a clear technological advantage. As a result, not did Lebanese SMEs have to suffer from financial limitations, but also from declining market shares and the loss of competitive advantage. The result of the decline further exacerbated the financial difficulties of the SMEs, especially as their declining performance made them less eligible than ever to qualify for receiving the very limited bank loans available.
The lending policies demands further elaboration at this point. Most Lebanese banks have the same policy with respect to lending, namely, demanding convincing guarantees that the loan would be repaid. It is noticeable that almost all business loans are made by the top twenty banks, all sharing similar strict policies with respect to lending to SMEs. In a typical case, the bank will not only require the accounting and financial statements of the SME for the past two years, but it will demand guarantees from the owners such as a mortgage, financial or other kinds of assets that may be useful. Interestingly, the smaller the business and its loan, the higher the risk calculated by the bank, and hence, the higher the interest rate to be paid. This is an ultimate disadvantage for SMEs, since it simply means that those who need small funds to generate small profits will be penalized by paying higher prices for these funds while at the same time the larger enterprises will access larger funds to generate more profits at less costs. This relationship is evidently impeding to the performance and growth of SMEs, since even if the SME gets a loan from the bank, it will have to pay a higher price for it than a larger firm would.
Another impediment to SMEs is that banks demand a full commercial registration of the firm with the commercial authorities. According to the commercial regulations in Lebanon, such a registration is only needed to give the owner of the business the right to vote in the elections of the Chamber of Commerce, not for any other reason. Registration fees vary, depending on the size of the business and other legal fees, but in general, the cost starts at £2,300 and above. In a country where the annual per capita is only £3,500 such a condition imposed by banks is similar to a penalty to SMEs.
Needless to mention, banks will almost always refrain from lending SMEs that have been in business for less than three years. This is despite the fact that it is these newly established SMEs that are in need of funds and loans than other enterprises.
One of the controversial and contradicting policies adopted by banks towards SMEs is that an enterprise will be eligible to receive a loan if it freezes in its account a sum equal to or at best 20% less than the loan demanded. Thus, an SME that demands a loan of £10,000 will have to deposit and freeze in its account between £8,000 and £10,000. Put in plain words, SMEs have to deposit their funds in the bank in order to get them back at an interest. Although this policy is often the source of ridicule and protestation by SME owners, it is strictly adhered to by the banks. Bankers argue that such a policy is only adopted with an SME for a period that ranges between one to two years during which the SME should prove its ability to generate a satisfactory level of revenues and profitability. Yet, such an achievement on the side of the SMEs is arguable, especially when considering the restrictions and limitations, not to mention the economic recession.
All these issues and various others related to the policy of the state will be discussed in this research, with a comparison and contrast to the policies adopted in the United Kingdom.
Any economy with a healthy banking structure and industry is more likely to be stable, and accordingly, its SMEs are more likely to benefit from the stability that the banking sector bestows upon the economy. The major source of benefits for SMEs in this case is the availability of capital and funding for projects undertaken by these enterprises.
A typical SME in Lebanon can be started with a capital ranging between £3,000 up to £1 million and more. While some of these businesses may be industrially oriented, the majority are service-oriented. Industrially oriented SMEs depend on funding from banks and other financial institutions in order to afford their capital investment, specifically in machinery, raw materials and others. Traditionally, industrial SMEs have enjoyed better relations with banks, resulting in more credit facilities, especially that their machinery and inventories were usually used for mortgaging purposes. Since the mid-1990s, however, this has not been the case, especially as a number of banks ended up with bad debts resulting from the bankruptcy or inadequate practices by SMEs.
As a result, banks eventually began to develop tough policies towards industrial SMEs that demand credit, requiring that more liquid guarantees be available to back up the loans. Yet, by resorting to more conservative policies towards industrial SMEs, banks have thus rendered a severe blow to a number of industries, especially poultry, dairy, florists, petrochemical fabrication businesses and many others.
On another level, service-oriented SMEs suffered even more, especially that most banks did not provide sufficient facilities to these SMEs from the beginning. To illustrate, while an industrial SME was granted loans even before it started, loans to service-oriented SMEs were usually restricted, usually for three years after starting up and proving profitability. Evidently, an SME that is capable of succeeding for three years and earning profits would no longer be in need for bank loans. At the same time, without adequate capital, a service-oriented SME (eg. tourist agencies, car rental agencies and others) could drag on for years without adequate financial performance, and eventually would either end up for sale or bankrupt, or at best, unable to meet the standards demanded by banks to receive a loan.
SMEs also face another procedural impediment to seek and obtain loans from banks, namely registration. Every SME in Lebanon (that is a proprietorship or a partnership) has to be registered at the Commercial Registrar if the owners of the SME wish to enjoy the facilities provided by the Chamber of Commerce or to participate in the Chamber elections. The law, however, does not demand such a registration, although it demands registering the initiation of the business at the municipality for taxing purposes. Banks, however, insist that every SME wishing to obtain a bank loan should be registered with the Commercial Registrar. Bankers often justify this condition on the basis that they need to make sure that all transactions related to the loan are legal. Registration fees could range widely, depending on the fees of the lawyer as well as the number of owners, thus, fluctuating between a low £2,500 and a high £5,000. In an economy where an average small business starts with £7,000 registration fees are not only a burden, but also an unjustified one.
Banks are even strict on offering cash, credit and debit card machines to their SME customers if these SMEs are not registered. Accordingly, many SMEs are not able to offer cashless transactions to their customers. In addition to this, even with a registration available, the rates at which these machines are offered vary considerably. For example, American Express usually demands about 4.5% of all transactions whereas Master Card demands a monthly fee that could run as high as £50 in addition to a percentage on every transaction which could run between 3% and 8% depending on the negotiations between the SME and the bank.
The general policy of banks in Lebanon today is to refrain from lending SMEs because SMEs are the sector suffering most in the economy. Accordingly, the risks are higher, and it is more likely that the banks would suffer as well. Furthermore, at best, the bank is capable of receiving higher returns and profits on investment if it lends the government through short term and long term Treasury Bills whose interest rates vary between 14% and 18%. Indeed, investment in Treasury Bills has been the major source of income for most banks in the past few years, and destructive as this is to the economy and to SMEs, the government has not shown any intention of limiting the involvement of banks in lending to the government because of the government’s need for domestic loans.
Banks have tried to support SMEs by making credit available to the customers of these SMEs. For example, it is now possible to purchase cars, household items, and other various goods and products on credit from SMEs, as a bank and an SME would enter a trade arrangement through which the SME will require from its customers certain guarantees (statement of employment, statement of income, endorsement of income for the bank, etc). This means that customers can purchase more of the products or services of SMEs even if they did not have the cash on hand. However, this policy has proven to be very risky, and even damaging for SMEs for several reasons.
First of all, in most arrangements, the SME has to wait for a period of one to four weeks before it is cashed the amount owed by the bank, and since many SMEs have to pay for their inventories in cash, this imposes liquidity limitations upon them. Secondly, in most deals, the SME has to lose a considerable percentage of its profit to the bank as an interest rate, not counting the interest rate that the SME’s customer would pay to the bank as well. As a result, even when sales at the SME increase, in reality, there is little benefit from this increase. Thirdly, although credit facilities are available to the SME’s customers, in reality, no income increase has been noted in several years on the economic level, and accordingly, the purchasing ability of these customers has not improved significantly. Accordingly, SMEs do not actually benefit from the arrangements that they make with their banks, and all in all, it is only the bank that benefits first and last from any arrangement with the SME, whereas the SME has to mobilize its efforts in order to cover its dues to the bank.
Failure to cash bank transfers on time is also another serious limitation imposed on SMEs in Lebanon by banks. This situation is specifically apparent when the SME is dealing with customers in other countries. Banks in Lebanon, specifically in Europe, cannot send money directly to banks in Lebanon. The majority of Lebanese banks have affiliations with banking institutions in New York, such as Chase and Citibank Corp. Once a transaction is made, the money has to be transferred to the US bank where it is deposited in the account of the Lebanese bank. From there, it is then transferred to Beirut. Such an operation takes up to four weeks, and mistakes and other inconveniences are not irregular. This problem is due to the slow reaction of local banks and the Central Bank to the changes in international business. Another reason is that on many occasions, the banks would delay the cashing of the transfer for several days or even a week in order to generate more interest income for themselves, thus inflicting more damage to the operations of the SME. In general, such a problem has been destructive to the international operations of SMEs.
What remains the most serious limitation to the funding of SMEs through Lebanese banks is the set of financial terms and conditions that are imposed prior to the approval of a business loan. First of all, any business willing to be granted a loan from a bank has to provide collateral. While in the past inventory was sufficient as collateral, the situation is no longer applicable today, especially with a weak liquidity in the economy. Real estate mortgage are effective either for the majority of banks will only grant 10% to 30% of the value of the mortgage to the business, and even then, the interest rate is quite high, reaching in usual cases an average of 15%. Almost all banks require an 80% to 100% collateral in cash. This means that if a business intends to borrow £15,000 from the bank, it has to deposit 80% to 100% of this amount in the bank’s accounts, and the business would not be allowed to withdraw any amount from this account. This condition obviously discourages businesses from borrowing from the bank, since it defies the purpose of lending in the first place. A business that owns the cash already will not borrow the same amount from a bank and further pay a higher interest rate than it would actually gain in interest income for keeping the deposit in the bank.
Bankers themselves are not responsible for this situation, as the Central Bank has been imposing severe limitations on lending to SMEs. The Central Bank’s policy is due to two causes. First of all, it wants to protect banks and stabilize the banking industry by eliminating the possibility of bank failures through bad loans. And secondly, the Central Bank wants to assure that banks will be lending the government rather than the community, since the government is in a real need for domestic loans.
The Decline of Community Investors and Lenders
Traditionally, owners of SMEs, especially smaller business enterprises in Lebanon did not usually resort to banks as a source of banking. Rather, they resort to their families, relatives, friends and interested investors. This huge informal network of fund providers have always provided SMEs with the necessary cash and funds needed to start, improve, and expand an SME.
Until the early 1990s, this informal network of investors was responsible for providing the funds needed to start up the ultimate majority of SMEs. Today, these investors are no longer available due to four major reasons.
First of all, the collapse of the real-estate sector in the past four years has consumed most of the funds available in the hands of these investors, while at the same time, warning many others against investing in SMEs in Lebanon. This problem further exacerbated as Lebanese expatriates working the Gulf and other countries, traditionally constituting most of these investors, reduced or stopped their cash flows into the Lebanese economy. This factor alone was responsible for a severe reduction in the movement and availability of funds in the economic sectors, not to mention the fact that it also led to money hoarding as the political situation fluctuated in 1996 and again in 1999.
Secondly, the ongoing economic recession since 1996 has made many investors uncertain about the value of their investments in Lebanon. Accordingly, many of them have transferred their funds outside the economy, or simply preferred to lend the government instead. Lending the government through Treasury Bills is not only safe and secure, but also profitable, and as a matter of fact, much more profitable than lending SMEs. In 1996, for example, lending the government through Treasury Bills yielded between 25% and 30% annually whereas lending SMEs hardly generated 20%. Today, yields from SMEs have further dropped, and even though Treasury Bills interest rates have also dropped significantly, most investors are willing to lend the government rather than take a higher risk and lend SMEs. Accordingly, the majority of SMEs in the Lebanese economy today are either under-financed or inadequately financed.
A third important reason that discourages community investors from investing in SMEs today is the lack of the legal settings that protect their investments against fraud. Commercial laws in Lebanon have not been updated in many years. An investment who enjoys the status of partner is less likely to end up as a victim of fraud, but an investor who merely invests his money cannot secure his rights even if all documents are formulated and signed through a lawyer. The reason is that commercial laws in Lebanon, especially those governing SMEs have not been updated, nor have they paid any special attention to interests of investors who only invest capital with SMEs. In the past, this did not constitute a serious problem, especially that among community investors and SMEs dealings were based on traditions such as honor and personal commitment. Yet, following the socio-economic upheaval in the 1990s, the collapse of commercial ethics and standards, and more seriously, the failure of a large number of SMEs, many investors have refrained from investing in these enterprises. To strike an example, if a community investor invests £10,000 in a business, but documents them as a loan, the loan is immediately treated as a commercial loan if the intention was to generate profits for the investor. Commercial loans, unlike noncommercial loans, are dealt with softly by the law in a way that hardly protects the interests of the investor. For example, in such a case, if the small enterprise fails, the owner of the enterprise can repay the investor by installments for a period that might extend for several years.
The fourth reason that has contributed to the decline of community investors is the availability of other opportunities of investment for them, other than SMEs. In the past, a community investor would scan the market in search for an adequate SME that would generate profits for him. Today, this is no longer the case. Many community investors are now either starting their own businesses, or simply investing in other areas such as stocks. The opening of the Bourse of Beirut was an opportunity for many of these investors to experience profitability through direct management of their funds. However, three years later, the losses in the Bourse of Beirut have shunned many of these investors away, and most of them have either turned to lending the government or are simply investing in international money markets. All these developments came at the expense of SMEs which now have to put a double effort in order to identify new sources of funds for their operations and expansion.
Exchange and transfer desks that are specialized in currency exchange played a significant role in financing SMEs during the early 1990s. The availability of high liquidity in the hands of these small but highly liquid institutions enabled them to play the role of investors. They demanded higher interest rates, usually at 25% per year, and at the same time, their lending terms and conditions were relatively friendly when compared to those of banks. However, as the currency speculation market died in 1994, and as a number of these lending enterprises lost heavy amounts of cash, especially after speculating in the Euro market early in 1999, they no longer play any significant role in lending SMEs in Lebanon. Furthermore, the tight money market that has been dominating the Lebanese economy for the past five years has forced many of these lending and exchange enterprises out of business, not to mention the fact that the tough regulation by the Central Bank has deprived them of much of their liquidity.
Lack of Proper Accounting & Taxing Laws
The Lebanese laws related to trading and commerce, especially among SMEs is based on the laws that were applied in France during the 1940s. On several occasions, these laws have been updated and upgraded. However, until now, SMEs suffer a lot because of the inadequacy of the accounting and taxing laws.
To illustrate, a proprietorship for example, is not demanded to keep proper accounts, but it is never actually taxed according to these accounts. In practice, the tax officer would simply take a look at the enterprise, estimate its annual income and then scribble down a figure that has to be paid by the owner. The owner of the enterprise would be lucky if the inspector arrives on a poor business day because in that case, the enterprise would be under-taxed. In reality, however, the majority of proprietorship owners simply bribe the tax inspectors and clerks and rarely pay any taxes at all. In fact, they even rarely keep any books at all. As a result, accounting procedures at small businesses have been very sloppy and inadequate, and this alone has been a major reason why many investors and banks shun away from lending proprietorships or funding them on any basis. There are simply no legal or procedural forms that can protect investors or lenders, and accordingly, with the economy in recession, these prefer to refrain from funding or lending any proprietorships, unless the proprietorship has been in business for many years, and enjoys a very strong name in the market. Yet, in such a case, the proprietorship does not need to borrow from banks, but rather, can expand its operations depending on its own goodwill and reputation.
For partnerships, however, and these constitute almost all medium-size businesses, taxing is based on the accounting books kept by the enterprise. Accounting procedures and laws are very clear and have to be presented to the Ministry of Finance on a regular annual basis for taxation. All these enterprises are required to have their books maintained, updated, and presented to the tax department through certified accountants. The problem, however, is that the accounting procedures themselves are very flawed, containing numerous loopholes through which the accountant manipulates the books. Accordingly, and by tradition, each partnership has two parallel procedures of book keeping, one for the tax department, and the other for the management. This does not only reflect poorly on the integrity of the enterprise, but it also gives the managing director of the enterprise, usually a partner, an upper hand with respect to other partners in the enterprise. So many complicated legal cases have emerged in the past few years as a result of this malpractice. The law has not been able to curb these problems, and accordingly, less and less investors are encouraged to invest as partners in small and medium size partnerships.
The reflections on the banking sector are even more severe. Bankers are more willing to lend to a large proprietorship rather than to a small partnership, unless the partnership enjoys a clean name in the markets. This is particularly that much of the banker’s decision to lend or not to lend the enterprise depends on the books and the financial results of the enterprise.
Furthermore, the majority of banks demand that any proprietorship or partnership applying for a bank loan, should provide detailed and audited financial statements for the past three years. Providing such audited statements, however, can be costly, especially that auditing expenses are relatively very high in Lebanon. Many SMEs are simply discouraged from seeking a bank loan on this basis because the provision of financial audited statements does not under any condition secure getting the loan by the enterprise.
Following the Internet boom in the mid-1990s, a number of Lebanese small and middle size enterprises started online businesses in 1995 and 1996. Today, hundreds of Lebanese enterprises use the Internet for commercial purposes. However, serious procedural restrictions still prevent these enterprises from making any significant profits or money from going online.
The single most impeding problem is that Lebanese enterprises are still unable to cash their customers online. A law firm, for example that is established online, is not able to charge the credit card of its customers simply because the credit card companies established in Lebanon have not provided such a facility yet (American Express, Visa and Mastercard). The Ministry of Finance has allowed these companies to provide such services to the commercial community, but so far, almost no enterprises have benefited from such a provision for three major reasons.
First of all, the procedure is very costly. While American Express requires only a 4.5% commission on any transaction that takes place online, Visa and Mastercard have not yet finalized their offer to the SME community. Yet, in most cases, a £730 is demanded by every SME as a starting expense, in addition to 8% on every transaction and a £50 monthly fee. These terms are very discouraging and so far no SME has ventured to get involved. Negotiations between banks and the commercial community, however, promise to lead to some compromise, particularly after American Express announced a soon-to-come competitive package. Banking analysts believe that before the beginning of 2000 Lebanese SMEs online will be able to charge their customer at a cost of 3% to 4.5% as a commission on every transaction.
However, even in that case, the credit card companies believe that these SMEs will still face a serious problem, namely that any transaction completed online can be challenged by the card holder within 180 days after the transaction was completed. Only transactions under £35 will be spared such a term. In other words, Lebanese SMEs that operate online enjoy almost no protection under the law from fraud or from mishandling by customers. This problem could eventually be resolved in the future, but currently, very few if any SMEs at all are willing to take such risks and make use of the vast opportunities available for them on the Internet.
Evidently, Lebanese SMEs are in a very critical situation today. The number of SMEs that have closed down in the past two years is very high. Official records do not reveal such figures because most businesses that went out of business have not yet registered their termination for the simple reason that the termination of a business requires a heavy registration fee. Ironically, even the closing of an almost bankrupt business requires the availability of cash and liquidity. Most owners of closed SMEs prefer to remain in the market for a year or two, even with their establishments closed, because in this case they can enjoy cuts on taxes rather than having to pay a heavy termination fee which is arbitrarily set at the Ministry of Finance. The Ministry of Finance, on the other hand has been lax with such behaviors because of the tight economic situation and the need to update laws.
Furthermore, many owners of SMEs that have been shut down will not be able to terminate their enterprises before a settlement is made with the Ministry of Finance over previous taxes and over previous municipality fees. Due to the destruction of infrastructure and the failure to update the Ministry of Finance rapidly, collection of taxes and municipality fees has not taken place in years, and accordingly, businesses now find themselves forced to settle with the Ministry of Finance before they shut down. This, many owners of shut down SMEs will be leading to numerous legal problems in the coming years, thus further discouraging SMEs from playing a significant role in the economy.
The situation of SMEs in the Lebanese economy today is very seriously handicapped. The availability of funding is extremely scarce, and even with such scarcity, terms, conditions, and laws discourage the possibility of SMEs getting the finances they need in order to start up or improve their businesses.
The financial difficulties that SMEs have been suffering in the 1990s have seriously reflected on their operations. In every commercial sector, SMEs have been disappearing. In very few cases, they have been purchased by or merged with larger enterprises, but in the majority of cases, they have been forced to shut down and simply leave the economy without any further contribution.
Needless to mention, the closing down of hundreds of SMEs every year has not only resulted in complicating economic problems in general, but they have also contributed to a significant loss of income for many individuals and families, and at the same time, contributed to the ever increasing unemployment rate which is now estimated at a high 20 to 25%.
The situation and operation of SMEs in Lebanon cannot be improved or expected to develop without serious reformation of the economy, procedures, laws and lending terms. Neither can SMEs be expected to survive without developing new and innovative banking policies and procedures that will enable SMEs to have access to the funds that they need to improve their businesses. In other words, a full reform policy is required for the improvement of SMEs in Lebanon.
Reforming Tax Laws
Reforming tax laws is perhaps perceived as an indirect contribution to the improvement of SMEs in Lebanon. However, the impact of such a reform cannot be overlooked. To start with, tax laws and tax collection should be highly regulated and clear so that SMEs will not resort to unethical and illegal means in order to evade taxes. Needless to mention, the evasion of taxes does not only affect the economy, but it also results in a severe reactions by the Ministry of Finances which inevitably have negative impacts on SMEs in general.
Reforming tax laws means that taxation will be based on the disclosure of sound and audited financial statements to the Ministry of Finance. Once tax laws are applied properly and SMEs show an adherence to these laws, they eventually become forced to have their financial statements in order, a prerequisite for any sound financial deal that involves financing or lending.
Furthermore, reforming tax laws will protect SMEs from violations by tax collectors who usually apply tax rates arbitrarily depending on highly subjective and personal observations. However, such a reform will also require that the Ministry of Finance combat corruption within its own ranks, not to mention the computerization of all its taxation-related procedures.
Even if tax laws and procedures are reformed, the major challenge is to reform accounting procedures. So far, Lebanese accounting procedures are in many ways considered to be progressive, but the problem is in application. The Ministry of Finance should require that every SME provide its financial statements through an auditor and a certified public accountant. Auditors and CPAs who violate the procedures, usually for the benefit of the SME owner or owners should have their licenses cancelled, and this should on the long run force these auditors and CPAs to conform to the laws and regulations of the Ministry of Finance.
The overall objective of forcing SMEs to adhere to clear and fair accounting regulations and procedures is to achieve and attain accounting and financial transparency of SMEs, especially that such transparency is an indispensable prerequisite for sound financing. Banks and other financial institutions and investors would in such cases be more encouraged to finance and lend SMEs with less risks and degrees of uncertainty. In fact, bankers and SME owners alike admit today that the lack of transparency of SMEs remains the single most important psychological impediment to the granting of loans and funds to SMEs.
Many SMEs will definitely suffer in the short term, mainly by having to pay realistic taxes, but on the long run, the results will be favorable as the availability of funds and loans from banks and other investors will enable SMEs to improve and expand their business undertakings, hence resulting in more profitability.
Registration of SMEs in the Commercial Registrar is not legally obligatory, but banks still demand that such registration be made. Registration in the Commercial Registrar is favorable for SMEs and the economy as a whole for many reasons. First of all, it facilitates the collection of taxes by the Ministry of Finance. Secondly, it gives SMEs access to commercial and trade information that would otherwise not be available to them. Thirdly, it enables SMEs to make use of and benefit from the contacts of the Chamber of Commerce, be these benefits represented in the form of conferences, new applications, or trade contacts, etc. Fourthly, when all SMEs register at the Commercial Registrar, such a registration will give the Ministry of Finance and the Chamber of Commerce better opportunities to regulate the commercial markets and establishments, and hence, making proper and reliable statistics available for investors and banks. This would definitely give banks better opportunities to be able to compare the performance of SMEs in their relative sectors and markets. At the same time, it would enable banks to have a better and a more realistic perception of the SME as a whole and of its opportunities in the market, with a clear evaluation of competition and its impact on the SME that is applying for loans.
Nonetheless, registration fees at the Commercial Registrar should be fundamentally revised. The aim of such a revision or reform is to assure that SMEs will be paying their registration fees based on clear-cut criteria. These criteria could be the size of capital, the commercial or industrial sector in which the SME operates, the number of employees, and various others. Furthermore, SMEs could be granted a grace period before they complete their registration fees, and in fact, making it possible for SMEs to pay these fees on installments or through credit facilities would encourage SMEs to voluntarily register at the Commercial Registrar and to pay their dues.
High interest rates still constitute a major problem for investment in Lebanon. Instead of investing in any business and bearing additional risks that can be made up for by a higher return on investment, the majority of investors prefer to lend the government directly, thus enjoying both security (certain repayment) and a relatively very high interest income (15% in contrast to 6% in most other countries or banks).
At best, an SME can provide a return on investment of 20%. An average investor is willing to sacrifice the additional 5% that the SME promises because the risk that the investor takes with the SME is at least 10%. Meanwhile, the Central Bank has maintained a high rate of interests for a good reason.
The Central Bank wants to maintain a tight monetary policy that will protect the Lebanese pound from deteriorating. In the early 1990s, the Lebanese pound fluctuated very heavily, sometimes losing 80% of its value in one week. Since 1994, the Lebanese pound has been stable, at an established rate of 1,500 pound for ever US dollar. The Central Bank believes that high interest rates are still needed to discourage any speculation against the Lebanese pound. In fact, the Central Bank has been able over the past five years to reduce the interest rates from a high 32% on short term Treasury Bills down to 14% in the summer of 1999. Cuts in interest rates are still expected, but they will remain slow in order to avoid any undesired shocks in the economy. Meanwhile, SMEs will still have to suffer. However, the Central Bank has also eliminated a number of very short-term Treasury Bills (eg. the 90-day Bills) in order to set the bulk of the domestic debt on the long term. This could benefit SMEs since short term and immediate interest gains from lending the government will no longer be available.
However, it is obvious that the only way banks, financial institutions and investors will start lending SMEs on a significant level is through further cutting interest rates to the 8% level. Only in such a case will these investors find that investment with SMEs through direct investment or through lending will be profitable, even though such investment will remain might remain relatively risky.
Needless to mention, cutting down the interest rates will also make liquidity available in the market, and this alone will be a serious and strong motive for investment in MSEs as well as in newly emerging SMEs, eventually leading to a stronger and a healthier economic growth.
Bankers and financial analysts believe that major cuts in interest rates will not be significantly felt before a period of three or four years, a period during which the Five-year Economic Reform Plan set by the government in 1999 will have achieved most of its goals, one of which is the revival of the sectors in which SMEs operate. However, financial analysts are still skeptical about the plan and about the possibility of cutting down interest rates in significant levels without suffering a backlash on the exchange rate of the Lebanese pound.
Requiring banks to lend SMEs without collateral or at least transparent financial information is nothing but an act of folly that would put banks in a precarious situation, the last thing that the State or bankers want.
However, with the reformation of tax and accounting procedures, the availability of sound and audited financial statements and transparency, lending SMEs should no longer remain a major risk.
In fact, the Commercial Registrar can impose special subscriptions on SMEs such that a special fund will be established. The goal of this fund can be to help troubled SMEs repay the debts that they owe to banks. In this case, banks will be under less uncertainty when lending SMEs, given however that clear conditions are met before lending.
Furthermore, the Commercial Registrar, in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and the Banking Association, can establish an insurance company whose sole duty is to insure all SME commercial loans. The Chamber of Commerce and SMEs can both contribute to the establishment and management of this insurance company so that bankers will be encouraged to lend SMEs and at the same time have their rights preserved and protected. Although such a step will be revolutionary by Lebanese standards, such insurance companies and provisions are available in many countries worldwide.
However, another more important aspect that relates to the reforming of bank lending operations is the establishment of clear-cut measures by banks, and this should be sponsored and closely monitored by the Central Bank. In reality, many banks do offer commercial loans, even to shaky SMEs. This, however, happens when the SMEs is backed by a political institution or figure, and accordingly, the SME obtains the loan merely on political rather than financial or managerial bases. It is such practices that had in the past led to the collapse of a number of banks, and even though this practice is very limited today, it still constitutes a major discriminatory practice against SMEs. Commercial banks should have their criteria for offering loans made very clear. If an SME qualifies for a loan, the only lack of funds at the bank should prevent the SME from getting the loan it deserves.
Furthermore, the Central Bank should start discouraging banks from investing in Treasury Bills, especially that this has had a destructive impact on the economy. A clear and low ceiling should be set such that most of the funds and financial resources available to commercial banks should be used in the original purpose that they are made for, namely lending SMEs and larger businesses. Lending the government, on the other hand, has only deprived the majority of SMEs of any chances to start up or expand their operations.
All these reforms are in the end intended at making more funds available at commercial banks for lending to SMEs, while at the same time, protecting the loans against the risk of default. Eventually, banks will be requiring less strict collateral to protect these loans, and thus, will be more encouraged to provide SMEs with the loans they demand, so long as these loans are justified and backed up with the necessary documentation and analysis.
Commercial banks should also start establishing credit analysis departments. Such departments are already available but in most cases, they are only responsible for rejecting loan applications. The reason is that most applications are not supported with transparent financial documents, which definitely leads to a negative response by the banks. With the availability of proper documenting procedures, sound financial statements and policies, these departments can carry out their duties, and as a result, a significant increase in the lending rates to SMEs will be witnessed.
Apart from this, and since commercial banks are directly involved in credit card servicing in Lebanon, reforms should also be made in this domain. This will inevitably affect companies that operate their businesses online. Experiences in this respect should be adopted from Europe and the United States in order to make credit card more effective, especially in its contribution to the growth of SMEs in Lebanon. Hence, regulations, laws and conditions should be in conformity with those that are established worldwide to protect both cardholders and SMEs.
Updating Commercial Laws
Commercial laws in Lebanon are classified as civil regulations rather than as criminal regulations. Civil laws have not been updated for many years, and as a result, a regular lawsuit could take years before it is resolved. This is one reason why banks try to refrain from lending SMEs that do not have strong guarantees. Another reason is that lawsuits can be very expensive, and often unproductive. To avoid all these risks, banks simply avoid lending SMEs unless liquid cash collateral is available.
One important way of changing the status quo is by updating commercial laws, making them more effective and productive. Accordingly, banks that lend SMEs should have at least the ability to seek effective and efficient redress in commercial courts, rather than simply suffer losses that they cannot compensate.
Updating commercial laws, however, requires a very comprehensive plan and a long legislative procedure. To resolve this problem, however, the banking association, together with the Chamber of Commerce can initiate a special independent commission that will establish a new set of laws agreed upon by the various sides involved. The government and the legislature can also be represented in the commission. Once the works of this commission are done, they can be submitted to the ministries of Finance, Economy and Justice to prepare a bill project. The bill project can then be discussed, modified and ratified in parliament. Choosing this path would take only a year or two rather than five or six years as it would actually consume under the current conditions.
The final step towards reforming the SME sector in Lebanon should be in planning. The Ministry of Planning was established in 1960, but today, it no longer exists. This Ministry or any alternative department that carries out planning functions should be deeply involved in reforming the status of SMEs.
Today, there are no rules or regulations that govern the operations of SMEs. For example, any number of small businesses offering the same services can open up in any area, thus competing against each other and destroying each other’s business. Planning and organizing SMEs should be the core responsibility of a planning department or ministry, not only to protect the SMEs against unfair competition, but also to make sure that these SMEs will survive and grow, otherwise their decline and collapse will only reflect negatively on the economy as it is doing today.
Finally, the Department of Consumer Protection should be vitalized in order to establish effective monitoring of SME operations in order to protect the interests of the consumer. Today, the lack of such regulations makes SMEs operate in manners that are not only unethical but also illegal. Lack of monitoring does not only harm the consumer, but also SMEs especially as many of them are looked at as operating against the interest of the community. With the availability of proper monitoring, competition is revived and at the same time, consumption will grow, thus reflecting positively on SMEs in terms of growing sales and profits.
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If some concerned friend were to give you an advice about why you should never try to get your ex back, would you heed that advice? Or would you tell them to mind their own business? I guess it all depends on the situation at that point in time: which varies according to the individual.
However, you should listen to what they have to say because they might know something you don’t know. Or they might be using the benefit of their own experiences. The point is, just listen. You might learn something that would do you a lot of good.
I have to admit though that most of the time, the advice you get is never worth your time. But, what you read here is based on the fact that most relationships have many things in common.
And most importantly, it is based on the sound psychology of human relations.
So, these are the reasons you should never try to get your ex back on a whim or impulsively.
Never try to get your ex back without knowing their current situation
Understand why you guys broke up
Never try to get your ex back if the wounds are still fresh
Who has moved on
Never try to get your ex back without knowing their current situation
Knowing what your ex is up to at any moment is basically a bad idea even at the best of times. There is a good reason you guys broke up in the first place. Basically, to keep your emotional state on an even keel, it is better not to track their activities. Ever.
However, if for some reason circumstances dictate you guys have to get back together, then it is prudent to know what your ex has being up to during your time apart.
The things you find out might be very hurtful. But it is better to know them before getting back and finding out too late about them. That way you can make an informed decision.
People change. For worse or for the better. So if your ex’s current situation does not meet your standards; or they did things, during your time apart, you can’t live with or forgive, knowing about them before getting back is very important.
Understand why you guys broke up
It should go without saying that you should never try to get your ex back until you come to terms with what led to the break. It would surprise you to know that many people bury their heads in the sand and pretend there are no unresolved issues. They would never face up to the reasons the relationship collapsed initially.
This is important. It would help you know where to make adjustments and avoid a repeat. On the other hand, if you feel changes can’t be made, then the best option is to never try to get back your ex. Obviously, it won’t work out.
So understanding yourself and the problems you had is crucial in rekindling your relationship with your ex.
Never try to get your ex back if the wounds are still fresh
It is sad but true that some people never recover from a breakup. It is even worse for those who keep on pining for their ex lovers for a very long time.
There are many things to be said for healing and moving on.
It is bad to go back to your ex if the wounds of the past are still fresh. At this point, you are very vulnerable and you actions cannot be trusted.
Because the wounds are still fresh, you might want to rekindle the affair just so you can exact revenge. On the other hand, going back with the wounds still fresh might make you very sensitive to everything your partner does.
Most times, you’d find yourself tensed and over-analyzing every word or action from your partner. That is the classic definition of paranoia, a psychological problem that is as bad as anything you can think of.
Who has moved on
That is another important thing to be taken into consideration. Have you moved on? Has you ex moved on?
Trying to get back would be an exercise in futility if your ex is now happily hooked up to another person. Or if you are also into a relationship, there is no point trying to get back to your ex.
Moving on can mean a lot of things apart from having a new partner. But most importantly, moving on is the state of mind. Your ex could still be into you even if they are in a new affair. In which case, it won’t be hard to get back together.
Though that would mean hurting an innocent person. Which is not fair. But then again, who says life is fair? The pursuit of happiness can lead us into many dicey and uncomfortable situations.
At the other end of the spectrum is the fact that your ex could still be single but in their heads, getting back with you is the worst thing they could do.
In a case like this, they’ve completely moved on. Nothing you do would get you guys back. Trying would only be a waste of your time.
So broadly speaking, these are the four issues you must take into consideration before you try to get your ex back. Even if all the signs favor getting back together again, understand that things would never be the same.
Both of you must have to put in a real shift to make the relationship work this time around. Or all your efforts would have been in vain.
Please, tell us what you feel about this in the comments box below. We would love to hear your views. And remember to like our Facebook or Twitter pages if you haven’t done so.
Cheers.
About The Author
I read. I brood. I write. In between all that, I ponder one of the biggest existential questions of the modern era: would Arsenal ever win the league again?
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To solve today’s most complex and urgent societal problems requires innovative thinking. This is especially true in the public/non-profit/social sectors where workers are increasingly expected to do more for their clients with fewer resources.
The certificate program in Social Innovation prepares students for working in fields that seek to improve the lives of society's most vulnerable and disadvantaged people. The program will teach students how to design and execute evidence-based strategies for advancing human welfare, and it advances one of the campus' three strategic imperatives, which is to "Be the Top University for Innovation."
The program's curriculum will provide students with:
A substantive understanding of social problems;
A methodology for conceiving solutions to such complex problems;
A broad set of skills needed to implement solutions in new or existing organizations; and
The tools for critically evaluating the effectiveness and sustainability of solutions.
Career Possibilities
By training students to be social innovation catalysts, this program will enable graduates to maximize their social impact and be effective in a world that rewards professionals comfortable with change, experimentation, and working across disciplines. It will prepare students for a variety of careers that "make a difference" and promote the common good, ranging from policymakers, civil servants and social enterprise managers to community organizers, health and environmental scientists, and frontline helping professionals.
The program will give students numerous opportunities to work with and be mentored by successful social innovators from Boulder (recently voted the most creative city in America) and elsewhere. Students can develop plans for creating a new social enterprise or implementing solutions within existing organizations. They can also focus on societal problems they have identified or have been identified by mentors and other experts.
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The first lottery dates back to the 15th century in the Low Countries, where various towns held public lotteries to raise funds for poor people or for government projects. These games became popular and were welcomed as a relatively painless form of taxation. Today, the oldest continuous lottery still exists in the Netherlands, called the Staatsloterij. The word lottery comes from the Dutch noun ‘lot’, which means ‘fate’.
The rules of the lottery vary from state to state. If you win the jackpot, you may have to visit the lottery office to claim your prize. However, if you win smaller amounts, you can usually claim your winnings at the store where you bought the ticket. Some supermarkets also have self-service terminals where you can purchase lottery tickets.
Lottery games started in Europe and made their way to the United States when the country was a British colony. Benjamin Franklin started a lottery to raise money for the war effort. Since then, lottery games have become an important revenue source for state governments. Some lottery games are even available online for players in the United States. However, there are certain legal restrictions to keep in mind when playing the lottery online. You must also be aware of the laws and regulations in each state before playing the lottery.
US lottery sites are mostly operated by state governments. However, online lottery sites are becoming more widespread. In the United States, there are more than half a dozen lottery websites. The lottery website Jackpocket allows you to play lottery tickets from more than a dozen US states. It is not illegal to play the lottery online as long as you are at least 18 years of age. But the rules and regulations vary from state to state. It is important to check with your state’s lottery website before purchasing lottery tickets online.
When playing the lottery online, you should also consider location restrictions. Some websites use location information to determine whether you are a resident of the state. For example, the Illinois Lottery allows residents of Illinois to purchase tickets. This means that if you live outside of Illinois, you may need to disable your location settings on your browser. If you are unsure about these rules, read the website’s terms and conditions.
Mobile-friendly sites are a great option if you are looking to bet on the lottery on the go. Most lottery betting sites will support mobile websites so you won’t have to download anything to enjoy the games. They will look just as good as a native application and will automatically apply updates. If you are not a mobile user, you can also try lottery betting sites on your computer or tablet.
Legitimate lottery sites are regulated by the state’s gaming authority and are highly secure. Be careful of scam sites, which are usually out to make a quick buck. Legitimate lottery sites, on the other hand, care about their customers and their experience.
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Demon’s Tier+ is a top-down dungeon crawler developed by Diabolical Mind (Xenon Valkyrie, Riddled Corpses) in which you take control of a medieval adventurer and hack, slash, and burn your way through randomized, monster-filled levels in your quest to take revenge upon an ancient demon. In an age when the term “dungeon crawler” is increasingly synonymous with loot-centered Diablo clones, it’s refreshing to get something that feels a bit more arcade-like that seems to draw inspiration from the early ‘90s Dungeon Explorer series. You are encouraged to run through sections of the dungeon over and over to earn currency, which can be spent to buy useful items and unlock additional characters.
Whether playing alone or with a friend (local multiplayer only), Demon’s Tier+ provides plenty of frantic action. All eight characters (only one of which is initially playable, and two of which are unlocked after finishing the game) have rapid-fire ranged attacks with power and range that vary from character to character. Other statistics, such as health and defense vary as well, but you can spend gold in between levels to improve any stat. This adds a lot of flexibility to the roster, as you can start with the “glass cannon” wizard and focus on improving her maximum health to make her an unstoppable fire-blasting force.
Each floor of the dungeon has a specific visual style/theme (crystal mines, fire caverns, etc.), but the placement of enemies, treasure chests, and exits is all randomized. Objectives are randomized as well, and range from “defeat all enemies” to “open all chests.” You might feel like you’ve lucked out when you get an objective that can be more easily completed, but you’ll absolutely want to spend as much time collecting gold on each floor as possible before descending to the next one so that you can improve your stats. Just don’t take too long, or, in one of several nods to Gauntlet, the undefeatable Reaper will begin stalking you throughout the level.
After every second or third level, you’ll encounter a gigantic boss. While the game can already feel like more of a shooter than a hack-and-slash action game due to its ranged combat, boss battles take this a step further and can sometimes even delve into the dreaded “bullet hell” territory. Fortunately, every character is equipped with an “evade” ability that allows them to deflect or nullify enemy attacks. This ability has a cooldown mechanic, however, so you’ll have to be strategic and save it for when it’s most needed.
Demon’s Tier+ has a simple pixel art style that conveys a lot of charm. The playable characters themselves are very tiny and lacking in detail, but their bouncy animations have more than enough personality. Scale is also used to great effect, with towering bosses and large, detailed character portraits. The more detailed art is very anime-influenced, with brooding, spiky-haired male characters and, um… “well-endowed” female characters. Music and sound effects sound straight out of a Super NES game, and while most of the music is meant to be more on the atmospheric side, a couple tunes are downright catchy.
Demon’s Tier+ is a difficult game with an unforgiving nature. “Rogue-likes,” a subgenre in which defeat often results in little-to-nothing gained, are more popular than ever these days, but having to start the entire dungeon over with base-level stats after each death can feel a little too punishing. You can use a magic rope item to escape the dungeon at any time in order to use D-tokens (a separate currency from gold) to purchase characters or items in the hub town, but death can come so quickly and unexpectedly – especially for characters with lower health – that you’ll often find yourself staring at a game over screen in bewilderment before you have a chance to escape.
If you die, you lose any stat improvements purchased since entering the dungeon, along with all of your gold and D-tokens. You have one opportunity to reach the point where you perished to recover your D-tokens, but if you happened to die on the last level, you might not want to spend an hour getting back to that point only to feel obligated to warp back to town to spend the tokens. Oh, and did I mention that using magic rope also causes your stats to revert to their base level?
The game is divided into three tiers of difficulty, but you have to finish a tier to unlock the next. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it), the hidden character who is unlocked after finishing Tier 1 is laughably overpowered due to her excellent attack power and range, along with the ability to heal herself regularly. I didn’t feel particularly motivated to build up a weaker character while playing a more difficult version of the dungeon when I could play as a god-like character from the get-go, so much of the replay value was diminished.
The sheer number of tiny pixelated sprites on screen can make things feel chaotic very quickly. Especially with a second player, it’s all too easy to lose track of your character and end up running directly into a spike trap or explosive barrel. Factor in the debris from destroyed objects and some muddy textures (especially in the fire caverns) and you often have an indiscernible mess of an environment that will leave you squinting at the monitor.
All of this leads to my biggest complaint about the game, which is that its difficulty balance is inconsistent. Some common enemies (I’m looking at you, blue wizard!) are significantly more difficult than others, and they tend to roam the floor in packs. You might feel like you’re unstoppable one moment, but the next you’re surrounded by fast-moving, flanking enemies while trying to kill a bullet sponge that spawns even more enemies. This game is certainly not for those lacking in patience.
Demon’s Tier+ can be frustratingly difficult at times, but it’s worth the effort for those looking for a more arcade-inspired dungeon crawler. Charming retro-inspired aesthetics and fast-paced gameplay make for a fun weekend’s worth of dungeon-diving. Your mileage may vary in terms of how much content you get out of it, but it’s a fun experience once you wrap your mind around its quirks. Just be sure to put out the swear jar before starting it up.
Geek to Geek Rating: 3.5/5
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I like bad movies, good video games (Dragon Quest, Castlevania, etc.), and all manner of trivia. ...OK, I like some really bad video games too. AKA Falion.
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Jeffrey SCHWARTZ, a minor by his mother Zorya Schwartz, Plaintiff, v. Louis SCHUKER, individually and as Principal of Jamaica High School and Max Rubinstein, individually and as District Superintendent of District 29, New York City Board of Education, Defendants.
United States District Court E. D. New York.https://leagle.com/images/logo.png
March 27, 1969.
March 27, 1969.
Attorney(s) appearing for the Case
United States District Court E. D. New York.
Plaintiff, Jeffrey Schwartz, a minor (Jeffrey), a student at the Jamaica High School, claims he was suspended for exercising his First Amendment right of freedom of speech in distributing off school grounds near the property of the high school, Issue No. 5 of a newspaper entitled "High School Free Press", criticizing the principal, Louis Schuker, and other members of the administration. Accordingly, he brings this action through his mother, Zorya Schwartz, under 28 U.S.C.A. § 2201 et seq. and 42 U.S. C.A. § 1983, against Schuker and the District Superintendent of the school district, for a declaratory judgment and an injunction to prevent further deprivation of Jeffrey's rights, and to mandate his reinstatement as a student at the Jamaica High School. To accomplish this purpose, Jeffrey moves for a preliminary injunction under Rule 65, Fed.Rules Civ. Proc., 28 U.S.C.A., and for immediate action to enjoin the suspension and any further disciplinary proceedings against him in order to protect him from further injury to his academic career.
Jeffrey is a senior at the high school and was found on April 2, 1968, distributing Peace Strike materials on school grounds during the school day, calling for a student strike. He was not punished but was advised by the Dean that students were not permitted to distribute outside literature on school grounds without specific permission and that a violation of this resolution would constitute a serious breach of school discipline. Subsequently, on December 9, 1968, at a time when there were city-wide riots by students protesting the lengthened school day, Jeffrey was interviewed by an administrative assistant concerning materials to be distributed in the school calling for a student strike during school hours, and admitted that he was part of the student strike movement. No charge was made at that time that he was distributing any material but he admitted in his affidavit that at the interview he refused to give the administrative assistant the names of the members of the Student Union. The next day, December 10, 1968, Jeffrey's parents were interviewed upon the subject of their son's association with student strikes, at which time, according to Schuker's affidavit, there were five hundred pupils from other schools at the Jamaica High School attempting to "seduce pupils out of Jamaica". As appears from Schuker's affidavit, both parents asserted that their son had a right to carry on student strikes and to attack the "Establishment" at all times and in any manner that Jeffrey deemed proper, although Jeffrey in his affidavit denied that they said that he had a right to attack the "Establishment".
On January 20, 1969, Principal Schuker conferred with Jeffrey about the proposed Issue 5 of the High School Free Press (which is independently published off school property for circulation among many high schools) and advised him that under no conditions would he be permitted to distribute this material in school or on school grounds. Schuker based his reason upon the fact that he had read the previous issue, number 4, which was attached to his affidavit and which the court can verify, after reading, contained four-letter words, filthy references, abusive and disgusting language and nihilistic propaganda. Nevertheless, Jeffrey, on January 24, 1969, appeared on the school grounds carrying thirty-two copies of Issue 5 of the High School Free Press. This issue, among other things, criticized Principal Schuker, referring to him as "King Louis", "a big liar", and a person having "racist views and attitudes". Other pupils were apprehended distributing copies of this newspaper on school grounds, and four admitted violating school regulations and surrendered this material. Jeffrey was not charged with distribution but upon demand refused to surrender to the Dean the material unless taken by force. At the same time he advised a second-year student to disobey the Dean and to likewise refuse to surrender his copies.
As a result of this action, Jeffrey was excluded from classes "for contumelious behavior at the end of the school day", as stated in a letter to his parents requesting an interview which was held on January 27, 1969. Upon this occasion the parents were informed in Jeffrey's presence that Jeffrey was formally suspended and that a suspense hearing would be set up in the future. This notice was confirmed in writing by a letter to Jeffrey's parents on the same day. Nevertheless, on February 5, 1969, Jeffrey appeared in the classroom at the Jamaica High School and admitted that he was present in defiance of the superintendent's order by his mother's instructions. The suspense hearing was held, as a result of which the district superintendent recommended that Jeffrey be graduated on January 31, 1969 or, as an alternative, be transferred to either of two other high schools in the same district. This option was not exercised by Jeffrey or his parents and to this extent injury to Jeffrey's academic career was not demonstrated.
I
Plaintiff complains that (1) he was never charged with or had a hearing upon any alleged violation of school regulations and (2) he was unconstitutionally punished for the exercise of his First Amendment rights. The first charge may be dismissed upon the ground that the administrative procedures applicable by statute to this offense were followed. What constitutes due process free from specifics of the Fifth and Sixth Amendments depends upon the facts in each particular case and the particular procedures followed. In this case the applicable provisions of the New York Education Law, McKinney's Consol.Laws c. 16 (Education Law) provide that the Commissioner of Education shall be the chief executive officer (§ 305(1)) with general supervision of all schools and institutions (§ 305(2)), and that a school principal shall be responsible for the administration, instruction and control of the teaching and administrative staff of the school, with the obligation to carry out the requirements of the Board of Education according to its by-laws, rules and regulations (Board of Education By-Law § 89). The school authorities, including the superintendent of schools or district superintendent of schools, may suspend a pupil who is insubordinate or disorderly or who endangers the safety or morals of himself or other minors (§ 3214(6)). The student is required to be subordinate and orderly while attending school (§ 3210(1)). The charge against Jeffrey was insubordination and insolent behavior, for which he was suspended. Before the event, there were informal conferences with him and his parents, at which time he had ample opportunity to explain his position.
Section 310 of the Education Law provides for an appeal by an aggrieved student to the Commissioner of Education concerning any official act of the school authorities relating to any matter under the Education Law pertaining to the schools. Jeffrey and his parents did not choose to take advantage of this appellate procedure. This was not a criminal proceeding and there is no statutory or other legal necessity for a formal charge or hearing involving Jeffrey's suspension from school. The proceedings amply satisfied the applicable principles of due process and were so held in Madera v. Board of Education, 386 F.2d 778 (2d Cir. 1967), cert. denied, 390 U.S. 1028, 88 S.Ct. 1416, 20 L.Ed.2d 284 (1968), where Judge Moore, after a review of the cases, among other things, said (386 F.2d pp. 788-789):
"Law and order in the classroom should be the responsibility of our respective educational systems. The Courts should not usurp this function and turn disciplinary problems, involving suspension, into criminal adversary proceedings—which they definitely are not. The rules, regulations, procedures and practices disclosed on this record evince a high regard for the best interest and welfare of the child. The courts would do well to recognize this."
A more serious charge is the alleged offense against freedom of speech mandated by the First Amendment. It has been repeatedly held that the provisions of the First Amendment apply to high school students as well as to others. See, Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District, 393 U.S. 503, 89 S.Ct. 733, 21 L.Ed.2d 731, February 24, 1969; Burnside v. Byars, 363 F.2d 744 (5th Cir. 1966); Jones v. State Board of Education Of and For the State of Tennessee, 407 F.2d 834 (6th Cir. 1969). The difficulty with plaintiff's contention is that it is far from clear from the affidavits submitted by both parties, that Jeffrey was suspended because of protected activity under the First Amendment rather than flagrant and defiant disobedience of the school authorities. While his action might have also included actual or threatened dissemination of the paper on or off school premises, his conduct went much further. When cautioned not to bring on school premises copies of the newspaper, he nevertheless did so; when asked to surrender the same, he refused and in addition attempted to influence another student to do likewise; when suspended from school and told not to report, he nevertheless appeared in school and admitted defiance of the superintendent's orders. While the latter event might have been ex post facto, it nevertheless confirmed a pattern of open and flagrant defiance of school discipline, aided and abetted by his parents' encouragement. There surely was another way if he and his parents so desired, to squarely present the issue of his right to disseminate off but next to school property, copies of the subterranean paper, High School Free Press. In referring to this possibility, the Court does not express an opinion that distribution of such an underground paper under those circumstances would or would not be immune from restraint under the First Amendment. A special note should be taken that the activities of high school students do not always fall within the same category as the conduct of college students, the former being in a much more adolescent and immature stage of life and less able to screen fact from propaganda.
In our system of government, there is no right to suppress or censor speech or expressions even though they may be hateful or offensive to those in authority or opposed by the majority. Cox v. State of Louisiana, 379 U.S. 536, 551-552, 85 S.Ct. 453, 13 L.Ed.2d 471 (1965). It is likewise true that the freedom of speech and association protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments are not "absolutes" and are subject to constitutional restrictions for the protection of the social interest in government, order and morality. Konigsberg v. State Bar of California, 366 U.S. 36, 50, 81 S.Ct. 997, 6 L.Ed.2d 105 (1961), reh. denied, 368 U.S. 869, 82 S.Ct. 21, 7 L.Ed.2d 69 (1961); Beauharnais v. People, 343 U.S. 250, 256, 72 S.Ct. 725, 96 L.Ed. 919 (1952); Giboney v. Empire Storage & Ice Co., 336 U.S. 490, 501, 69 S.Ct. 684, 93 L.Ed. 834 (1949). While there is a certain aura of sacredness attached to the First Amendment, nevertheless these First Amendment rights must be balanced against the duty and obligation of the state to educate students in an orderly and decent manner to protect the rights not of a few but of all of the students in the school system. The line of reason must be drawn somewhere in this area of ever expanding permissibility. Gross disrespect and contempt for the officials of an educational institution may be justification not only for suspension but also for expulsion of a student. Cf., Jones v. State Board of Education Of and For the State of Tennessee, supra.
In the context of the facts disclosed by the affidavits, the Court finds no basis for a preliminary injunction and the application is accordingly denied.
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A revolutionary bio-based furniture board, joint development by Koskisen and Stora Enso - News | Stora Enso
A revolutionary bio-based furniture board, joint development by Koskisen and Stora Enso
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Published 21 September 2022
Koskisen is a Finnish wood industry company producing sawn timber and panel products, such as birch plywood, furniture, and construction boards made of chip board. Koskisen uses Stora Enso’s bio-based binder, NeoLigno® by Stora Enso, to replace fossil-based resins used in furniture boards. Both the furniture board raw material and the binder are made of wood and sourced from the production process flows of both companies. This results in all raw materials of the Zero Furniture Board being bio-based.
“Our experts have been working together with Stora Enso to come up with this brand-new bio-based product offering. Koskisen constantly looks for opportunities to optimize its CO2 balance. One of the biggest sources for CO2 emissions in our production are the binders that we use in the panels, as they are traditionally fossil-based. The co-operation with Stora Enso has offered us a unique opportunity to address this issue: the lignin-based NeoLigno® makes the Zero Particle Board bio-based. It is an excellent opportunity to bring something new into the market. Being bio-based, Zero Particle Board is an excellent example of a circular economy product. At Koskisen, the main raw material of the panel, wood chips, come from our own production. Similarly, Stora Enso gets lignin from their Sunila pulp mill in Finland, extracted in connection to pulp production. Combining these two ingredients, we can bring something new and valuable to our customers. It is hard to imagine a stronger message to our customers and their customers, than offering something that has a lower environmental impact and is bio-based,” says Koskisen’s CEO Jukka Pahta.
“We have now been working with Stora Enso for two years, and we are finalizing and optimizing the production of Zero Particle Board in Järvelä, Finland. Our target is to launch the commercial product and deliveries to our customers in autumn 2022. Once we have launched the furniture board to our customers, our intention is to extend the use of NeoLigno® also to plywood. I am very much looking forward to extending the range of our bio-based products,” he concludes.
“Consumers are very eco-conscious and are aware of their health and indoor air quality. NeoLigno® is a unique ingredient for indoor furniture, that is equally safe and reliable as it is sustainable. With Zero Furniture Board, we can fulfill our customers’ requirements for indoor air quality, as well as for low-carbon products. The glue in wooden panels has been non-renewable for decades. It has been very cost efficient and hard to replace with bio-based materials. We have studied different bio-based options for years at Koskisen, and now we have been able to take big steps forward with NeoLigno® by Stora Enso. It is the most promising binder in bio-based gluing, and the first bio-based binder that can be integrated into our product,” says Eemi Valjakka, Product Manager at Koskisen.
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As usual now in the Home Nations, the top 16 got their last 128 match held-over to the venue. They are, of course, expected to win those but there are always upsets. This time, we got three unexpected outcomes as Zhao Xintong, Ricky Walden and Jack Lisowski lost their opening match.
The biggest surprise probably was Lyu Haotian’s 4-1 win over Zhao Xintong, especially as Zhao had won the first frame with a big break. Zhao has not been consistent since his big UK Championship triumph and it’s easy to forget how good Lyu was as a junior. It’s good to see Lyu playing well again.
Ricky was beaten by 4-1 by Xiao Guodong. Xiao is a very, very good player when on form and he seems to be on form this week. As for Jack Lisowski … I’ll abstain to say anything, he’s just too frustrating.
Here are the reports by WST:
Day 1 – October 16, 2022
Judd Trump claimed that emulating Alex Higgins has helped him to woo the Belfast crowds, after securing a 4-1 defeat of Rod Lawler in the opening round of the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open.
Trump is the most successful player in the event’s short history. The Ace in the Pack lifted the trophy, which is named after Higgins, on three consecutive occasions between 2018 and 2020. Remarkably, all three of those finals saw Trump beat Ronnie O’Sullivan by a 9-7 scoreline.
The opening frame wasn’t played on Trump’s terms this afternoon, with Lawler taking it after 35-minutes to lead 1-0. From that point, 2019 World Champion Trump sprang into gear. A break of 114 gave him the second and he stole the third on the black to lead 2-1.
Trump then doubled his advantage, before a break of 88 saw him take his fourth on the bounce to run out a 4-1 victor. Next up Trump will take on Ireland’s Aaron Hill in the last 64.
“I’ve won this event a few times now. It is up there with my favourites. The greats of the game have won events five, six or seven times. I want to try to to that at this tournament,” said 23-time ranking event winner Trump.
“Every time I’ve come here I’ve always had amazing support. I don’t know what it is, it might be something to do with the fact my style of play is like Alex Higgins. They get behind that and can see that I am trying my best, playing all these different shots for the fans out there.”
Shaun Murphy kept his hopes of qualifying for the Champion of Champions alive with a 4-0 whitewash win against China’s Xu Si.
This week is Murphy’s last opportunity to qualify for the prestigious invitation event. The 2005 Crucible king fired in contributions of 51, 79 and 62 on his way to the win. He plays Jamie Clarke next.
“I’ve come here with the clear goal of trying to win to get in the Champion of Champions. That is one down and six to go,” said 40-year-old Murphy.
“I’ve had the same opportunities as everyone else. This is the last chance saloon. I’ve not taken the chances and I am going to give it everything to get in.”
Neil Robertson needed just over an hour to brush aside Fraser Patrick 4-0. The Australian made breaks of 85, 120 and 55 on his way to victory. Robertson is now up against former European Masters winner Fan Zhengyi in the last 64.
Mark Selby was made to work for a 4-2 win over 12-time women’s World Champion Reanne Evans. He is also still to secure his place at the Champion of Champions. The four-time Crucible winner progresses to face Sam Craigie here in Belfast.
The match between Mark Selby and Reanne Evans could have been really close had Reanne got off to a better start. But she played really badly for the first two frames, before finally finding some form. But it was far too late.
Day 2 – 17 October 2022 – early sessions
Mark Allen made a strong start to his defence of the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open, claiming a 4-1 opening round victory over Chang Bingyu in front of a raucous crowd in Belfast.
Allen defeated John Higgins 9-8 at the Waterfront Hall last season to secure his first professional title on home soil in what he later described as his best ever professional win. The 36-year-old, who reached the final of the Cazoo British Open earlier this month, will be hoping to add a seventh-ranking title to his tally this week.
But, it was Chang Bingyu who started the better of the two in this match, taking the opening frame. The Pistol then found his rhythm and drew level with a clearance of 123. Allen took the second frame before runs of 56 and 70 moved him 3-1 ahead. The Belfast crowd were then treated to a century break in what would prove to be the final frame of the evening – Allen scoring 108 to seal a 4-1 win and a place in the last 64.
“I walked in from practice and I actually thought in my head, ‘this is the first time I’ve been in here since I won that final frame last year’, so those sort of feelings came flooding back,” said Allen, who plays Chen Zifan in the next round. “But you’re trying to block all of those out and just focus on your job which is quite hard to do. When I first walked out into the arena, all of a sudden I felt really edgy. I felt really calm all day and then suddenly it hit me. But I was happy to put that to bed in the second frame with a century and I played well after that.
“I always felt like I had something to prove to the people of Northern Ireland. But now that I won last year, I don’t feel like I’ve got that to prove to them (home crowd). I feel like winning it before should help me, it should ease the pressure a little bit. I’ve done it before, so why not do it again.
“The Belfast crowd always support their own really well. It’s probably the most supported Home Nations event and I think it has the best identity of the lot. People in Northern Ireland just love sporting events so it was great to be involved in tonight. I wasn’t feeling that when I missed a few in that first frame but after that it was pretty flawless.”
Ronnie O’Sullivan is also through. He made light work of Lukas Kleckers in a 4-0 whitewash. O’Sullivan took the lead in the match with a break of 66 before edging the second frame 78-46. The German struggled to get going in the contest and the Rocket soon made it 3-0 with a break of 77. Kleckers hopes of securing his opening frame of the match were extinguished following a safety exchange on the brown. Trailing 56-53, he left the object ball over the top right pocket, allowing O’Sullivan to clear up the final four colours and see out a comfortable 4-0 win.
“He (Kleckers) wasn’t at the races and I just had to pot a few balls. I didn’t do anything special,” said O’Sullivan.
“I haven’t even picked up my cue since the Hong Kong Masters! I came home and had a nice weekend with the dogs. They’re the best thing. They’ve restored my faith in life and they give me so much love.”
Two former world champions Mark Williams and Stuart Bingham came from behind to win their qualifying matches against Peter Lines and Allan Taylor respectively. The Welshman took the opening frame of the match before Lines drew level. The current UK Seniors champion then moved in front with a break of 53. Williams responded, winning the following three frames with contributions of 128 and 69 to see him through.
Meanwhile, Bingham won four frames on the bounce after going behind to book his spot in the last 64, with breaks of 110 and 61. World number 11 Luca Brecel eased past Joe O’Connor 4-0, knocking in three fifties in the process, to earn a place in the next round.
Day 2 – 17 October 2022 – later sessions
Neil Robertson revealed that completing the Home Nations set is acting as extra motivation to lift the Alex Higgins Trophy for the first time this week. He booked his place in the last 32 of the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open this afternoon with a 4-2 defeat of Fan Zhengyi.
Robertson is a two-time winner of the Welsh Open and was victorious at the Scottish Open in 2017 and the English Open in 2021. However, his record in this event is a poor one by comparison. The Australian has never been beyond the last 32 in Belfast.
The 2010 World Champion took the first two frames this afternoon to move 2-0 ahead, before 2021 European Masters winner Fan pulled back within a frame thanks to a fine break of 91.
A run of 48 helped Robertson to restore his two-frame cushion. However, Fan refused to wilt and showed his class with a 108 break to make it 3-2. It was to no avail as Robertson got himself over the line in the sixth to emerge a 4-2 victor.
“There extra incentive and motivation having won the other three Home Nations tournaments. Nobody has ever won all four. In the last couple of seasons, myself, Judd, Ronnie and Selby have won two or three. It would be nice to be the first person to do it,” said 23-time ranking event winner Robertson.
“We get beautiful replica trophies made of crystal. I’ve got all three sat in my man cave with my other trophies. It would be really cool to have all four. That is the kind of motivation in my career now. I am trying to complete little sets. That is a nice position to be in.
“I’ve not done too well in this tournament in previous years. It would be nice to go deep in this event. The venue is set up really well for good crowds later on in the week. I remember what the atmosphere was like with Mark Allen and John Higgins in last year’s final. It would be awesome to be a part of that.”
World number four Mark Selby came out a 4-2 victor in a clash with Sam Cragie, a player he had previously sponsored.
Selby is still chasing a place in the upcoming invitational Champion of Champions and faces either Hammad Miah or Lu Ning next in his quest to win this week’s event.
The four-time Crucible king revealed after the match that he used to sponsor Craigie while he was initially trying to make it as a professional. Although he lauded the talent of world number 47 Craigie, he fears he may not fulfil his potential.
“I sponsored him for a little while when he was trying to get on the tour, but he wasn’t really putting the work in,” said 39-year-old Selby.
“He didn’t really have much money. I was with Mukesh (former manager) at the time and we said we would pay for him to travel to events and we put him up in a hotel around the corner from a club. He wasn’t turning up until four o’clock in the afternoon to practice. We said we are willing to help you, but don’t want to waste money either.
“He has everything. He has a good technique and scores well. You watch him in some matches and he blows people away. It is frustrating when you see players like that not fulfilling their talent.”
Last year’s runner-up John Higgins battled past Fergal O’Brien 4-2 to book a last 64 meeting with Jackson Page. Glasgow’s Higgins took two frames on the black en route to victory this morning.
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Some “better” news about the status of snooker in Hong Kong →
One thought on “2022 Northern Ireland Open – the held-over matches”
Lewis says:
October 18, 2022 at 3:23 pm
Zhao Xintong’s performance was not helped by having to isolate for 8 days after his positive test in Hong Kong. He only arrived back in the UK on Thursday. They talked about him on ES after his loss, but never managed to mention the name of the player who beat him. Zhao spent his junior years losing to Lyu Haotian (I first saw a video of them playing in 2012), and in view of Zhao’s success last season Lyu must always be thinking what might have happened had he been properly looked after when he came to England alone. But that victory will nodoubt be satisfying for Lyu.
But most of the matches were straightforward for the seeded players – there were no deciding frames at all.
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When son was in elementary school and we went out for shopping or on a long drive one thing was certain. After couple of minutes’ of drive he would feel the need to use a restroom No amount of reminders before we started seemed to have any effect. Leaving us with 2 choices: Either drive back home for him to take care of business or look for the nearest shop with restroom. Availability of restrooms for public use in the USA is something that is nice and probably taken for granted. After the business was transacted we would be on our way (Thirsty feeling would soon follow but The Raj generally takes care of that by keeping couple of bottles of water handy in the car ). Not long after I caught on to that habit too. On long drives whenever there was a need for relief the usual excuse would follow: car running low on gas, need to fill up Pull over to the nearest gas station, fuel the car, grab a cup of coffee and oh, by the way, be back after a quick trip to the restroom Wife is never amused whenever that happens. I guess she doesn’t understand guys have the most efficient disposal system in the world. When a man has to go he has to go
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Author: Rajaram 'Raj' Gopalan
Hi All, Welcome to my home in cyberspace! You can call me Raj. Feel free to explore, discuss, comment and most importantly have a good time! View all posts by Rajaram 'Raj' Gopalan
Author Rajaram 'Raj' GopalanPosted on February 16, 2019 July 25, 2019 Categories On a lighter noteTags humor, humour
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I remember as a girl, my sisters and I going to my grandparent’s pottery studio and getting to paint almost anything we wanted to. I loved my creations and I really loved getting to spend time with my grandparents. Those are special memories I will always cherish.
It started back in 1979 when my Grandma and Grandpa along with my Aunt Rose-Marie bought the ‘Pour House’ in Grande Prairie. Grandma and Rose-Marie ran the shop and Grandpa was the mud-man and kiln master. Back then it was a lot of work, but they truly did love it, and even after they sold it many years later, they kept the art going by giving lessons and painting endless pieces themselves.
My mom is also an artist, and throughout the years she painted countless acrylic and oil paintings, murals and even store fronts! Her passion continues to this day and paints at least 3 – 4 pictures a year. You could say we were surrounded by art growing up!
In 2018, my sister Amber, along with sister Kim, started Paint of Interest Art Cafe in Grande Prairie. Combining both the love of pottery and art, they created a place where anyone could come and create. It took off and is now considered the best place in Grande Prairie to paint pottery or canvas, or glass, or…. the list goes on!
Paint of Interest Red Deer Art Cafe opened September 21, 2019. We have grown to be a favorite place to come in to create and paint. Along with our staff, we look forward to helping people Create What You Feel.
Kailey is amazing at all things ceramics. She can show you how to paint almost anything, and of course can do all the specialty creative techniques like Dot Mandala’s! Kailey is also our kids artist. She is amazing at teaching children of all ages how to paint and create their own works of art with both glazes and acrylics.
Kaitlyn (Kaity) Buckland
Growing up in what felt like in middle of nowhere, Kaity had plenty of time to teach herself how to paint. She has an amazing knowledge of how to create special effect with glazes, and can give you really unique and cool ideas. She also has a really good eye for color and creation so you know you’ll always come out with an amazing piece of art!
People are connected to their creativity and are free to express their colourful uniqueness. Finding the Colorful You. Unleashing the Creative You.
To provide a space and a variety of opportunities for people to explore ways to express themselves that will excite, nourish, feed, heal and connect through art. To provide an exceptional customer experience that will positively impact each and every customer.
In a world where people are more stressed out and disconnected than ever before, there is a way to help us overcome this and that is through the creation of art. Art has been proven to relieve stress and heal through art therapy, it can connect people through feelings and experiences. Art can also create positive memories, fuel passions and fill hearts and souls. There are not very many places where people can go to experience all that art can provide, and being one of those places fills my heart and soul with gratitude that we will be able to provide a way to positively influence so many people and that their lives are enriched and better for it.
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I am asking this question before I make the decision and, depending on your advice, I might not do it at all.
We saw a beautiful house recently when we were out walking the dog and we decided to view it. Unfortunately or perhaps fortunately, the house, whilst very beautiful on the outside , has no saving grace at all inside, not one architectural asset left as it has been utterly ruined (vandalised is not too strong a word) by previous owners.
I now think that perhaps I would like to find a similar style of house and buy it if it is affordable. What I want to know is what happens if, say, I do find such a house and I buy it and our present house takes a while to sell. When our present house does sell, will we have to pay capital gains tax on it as it will then be one of two houses that we own?
Do you get allowed a time lapse for selling your own property if you have bought another one in the meantime?
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Posted February 6, 2008
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Posted February 6, 2008
I have made a few assumtions and.
With the example you have given, you are unlikely to be troubled by CGT
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Posted February 6, 2008
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Posted February 6, 2008
We owned and moved into our present house before the sale of our original property was completed and paid no capital gains tax BUT we do not own any property in the U.K. Hope this helps.
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Posted February 6, 2008
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Posted February 6, 2008
The best deals that I have ever done when buying and selling houses are those when I have sold before I have bought. The pressure and worry during the overlap period if you buy before you sell is horrid.
Last time, I even moved into rented property with 2 dogs and 4 children (and a husband) so that I could sell first. I steeled myself against looking at anything until we had completed on our sale.
But, then, if you have seen something that you love...
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mint
Posted February 6, 2008
mint
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Posted February 6, 2008
Thanks Leo and Sue. Makes everything seem much more feasible.
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Posted February 7, 2008
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Posted February 7, 2008
there is a 1 year holiday from CGT burden in cases like this, I belive it is possible to extend upto 2 years in certain circumstances. Others may know the relevant legislation for this.
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Posted February 7, 2008
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Posted February 7, 2008
With the current market this would seem a risky thing to do. Houses are hanging around for years on some of the AI forums. Having said that I did buy before I sold and had a bridging loan. I spent a month or two worrying about it but it all turned out fine in the end and the two transactions were only two weeks apart, which was pure luck and not judgement.
Wooly's house sould quickly though, maybe he can give you some pointers. Whilst we're on the subject when's the house warming Wooly?
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Posted February 7, 2008
Did I read on another post that you are selling a house in Wales? If that sells then you would have some spare dosh to play with.[:)]
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mint
Posted February 7, 2008
mint
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Posted February 7, 2008
Thanks for your thoughts, folks. Cendrillon, the house in Wales sold eventually. We had already bought the present French one by then.
It was OK in the end, but it did mean that we bought a French house that possibly we would not have bought had the funds been forthcoming from the UK house, if you see what I mean? We had to buy what we could afford.
I know, I know, we should not have bought until after we sold. But, poor OH (getting on now) was so.....disappointed and so wanted to come here that I didn't have the heart to make him wait.
Having said all that, our present house, a converted barn, is lovely. We had to "finish" it off and the project is still ongoing. But, for various reasons which I will not bore everyone with on here, I would like to move provided we find one of those lovely Charentaise stone houses on a quiet lane or one one of those "green routes".
I just think it would be so nice to be able to get out with the dog and not have to drive her some place where we can walk. I can also get my bike out and /or put on my running shoes. Bliss.
Not in any rush and will hang about until we find the right (affordable) property. However, if I do find one, I don't want to wait around to sell this one. Would like to "just do it" as the Nike advert had it.
If we play our cards right, the one year we get for selling after buying could be just what's needed.
Will be insufferable if I do find such a property and will no doubt be back on the forum asking for all sorts of advice thereafter.
You have all been warned!
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mint
Posted February 7, 2008
mint
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Posted February 7, 2008
The best deals that I have ever done when buying and selling houses are those when I have sold before I have bought. The pressure and worry during the overlap period if you buy before you sell is horrid.
Last time, I even moved into rented property with 2 dogs and 4 children (and a husband) so that I could sell first. I steeled myself against looking at anything until we had completed on our sale.
But, then, if you have seen something that you love...
Cathy
Sorry, didn't see your post as I posted just one minute after you did!
You are so right. I am normally such a level-headed, belt-as-well-as-braces person, you wouldn't think I'd do anything rash.
Must be my age or something. These days, I actually feel quite adventurous and will commit to things before thinking too much.
Inklings of mortality, I guess; you know, do it before you cop it!
I will get the immobilier in to begin with and see how things stand with the present house. I do like it here and it would not be the end of the world if we didn't move. Just feel a bit restless; not bored or unhappy or anything like that, but looking for something biggish to happen.
I also think it's partly to do with the fact that a lot of the renovation work here is not exactly to my taste although it is all pretty-pretty and perfectly serviceable. Just not ME I guess!
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Posted February 8, 2008
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Posted February 8, 2008
Good luck with your search. I do hope it all works out well for you, let us know how it goes.[:)]
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Posted February 8, 2008
I would like to move provided we find one of those lovely Charentaise stone houses on a quiet lane or one one of those "green routes".
I think you will find your "dream house" whenever you decide the time is right to move. There are always beautiful stone homes on the market - & the right one will come along at the right time. If you wait until you have already sold your house it will also put you a much better bargaining position, as well as not having the worry about overlap.
I know Mr Cat & I are probably over cautious (born worriers, if you really want to know!) but it's the only way I'd go. Sell first, rent if necessary & then buy - & if you're really stuck we can put you up for a while, as well!! [:-))]
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Posted February 8, 2008
mint
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Posted February 8, 2008
Mrs Cat, I know you are giving me good advice so I will do things in the right order. Sell first and then look around.
It's not as though I don't like our present house. On the contrary, I am quite happy here. Would just like to be more in the countryside and be in a nice old stone house that hasn't been renovated to death.
We always knew we'd probably move quite soon as this was always just to get a toe-hold in France.
Believe me, Mrs Cat, you wouldn't want to put us up! But thank you for the incredibly generous offer!
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Posted February 8, 2008
It is expensive to move in France because of the costs of buying and selling (agents, notaire, tax if a second home). I wish that I had known about that when I bought our French house (my fault, I know, but then I wasn't a member of this Forum). We thought that we could move here, live here for a while and then move to more of our dream (out in the country). The reality in France is harder - our costs for moving are buying 14%, selling 8%, tax 16% of the gain, meaning that over a third is taken away. So, if I listened to my hubby, we would wait for 5 years when the tax starts to reduce. It doesn't stop me looking at estate agents' windows, of course. [:)]
As you said Sweet, life is short and so, go on, follow your dream. But TRY to sell first! If you can... [Www]
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Posted February 8, 2008
mint
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Posted February 8, 2008
Thankfully, Cathy, we no longer have a UK house and so I don't think we will be liable for CGT. Also, we bought at a very good price and we added the value to the house by sorting out the utilities for it. Mind you, it hasn't been cheap, installing the phone line alone cost hundreds as we had to have our own "poteau" or telephone post! As for the cost of connecting to water, electricity and a fosse that needs a pump to get the waste up to the top of the plot.......we have the bank account still showing the scars!
I'm not really one of these people who must always be looking out for something else to own or be ever dissatisfied. As I have said before, I am NOT unhappy and would only want to move if we do find something we prefer.
I shall keep a look out but, in the meantime, I do think I will sell first. All the advice (including yours [:D]) has been to do that. And, I don't seek advice just to discount it because it's not what I want to hear.
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The US coronavirus death rate is quite high compared to other countries (on a population-corrected basis)
US coronavirus deaths have surpassed 300,000. Many of these deaths could have been avoided if swift action had been taken in February and March, as many other countries did. This graph shows an rough estimate of the number of US deaths that could have been avoided if the US had acted similar to other countries.
This graph takes the rate of coronavirus deaths by country (normalized to their population size) and imagines what would happen if the US had had that death rate, instead of its own. It then applies that reduction (or increase) in death rate to the total number of deaths that the US has experienced. The US death rate is about 600/million people in September 2020 and if a country has a death rate of 60/million people, then 90% of US deaths (about 180,000 people) could have been avoided if the US had matched their death rate. The government response to the pandemic is one of several important factors that determine the number of cases and deaths in a country. This means proper messaging about the need to wear masks and socially distance as well as providing payments to citizens and business to help them during the economic shutdown. Other important factors can include the overall health of the population, the population structure (i.e. age distribution of population), ease of controlling borders to prevent cases from entering the country, presence of universal or low-cost health care system, and relative wealth and education of the population.
The graph lets you compare the potential reduction in US deaths when looking at 30 different countries. You can choose those 30 countries based on total population, GDP or GDP per capita. These give somewhat different sets of countries to compare death rates, which is an indication of the effectiveness of the coronavirus response.
A valid criticism of this graph is that testing and data collection is very different in each of the countries shown and the comparisons are not always valid. This is definitely a problem with all coronavirus data but for the most part, the very large differences between death rates would still exist even if data collection were totally standardized. Some of the data from the poorest countries is less reliable, because they have less testing capabilities.
Source and Tools:
Data on coronavirus deaths by country is from covid19api.com and downloaded and cleaned with a python script. Graph is made using the plotly open source javascript library.
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One Response to Most COVID-19 deaths in the US could have been avoided
December 13, 2020 at 1:58 am
This is rather disingenuous as it assumes that variation between countries is mostly explained by policy interventions, which is a hypothesis that has very weak evidence to support it: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(20)30208-X/fulltext
Quite disappointing that this infographic is included alongside other excellent visualisations on your website.
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Lisa and Greg are spiritual partners who co-lead the Fellowship of the Lord and Lady. It is very traditional for Wiccan groups to be lead by both a woman and man who act as High Priestess and High Priest in ritual and who represent the Lady and the Lord.
We organize the events of the Fellowship, teach classes on Wicca, host community ritual at the Sabbats, and work to educate the community about our traditions. In addition, we provide a variety of religious services to support the spiritual needs of Wiccans in the community.
We are the founders of the Fellowship of the Lord and Lady
Who is she:
Lisa has been practicing Wicca since 1979. She was born in Kingston, and became a permanent resident in 1987. And began working with a local group right away.
Over the many years, she has given workshops and taught courses on Wicca. She has designed and led ritual, contributed to Pagan events and has been a visible face of Wicca in the Kingston community.
Greg
Who is he:
Greg has been practicing Wicca since 1997. He first moved to Kingston in 2000 and became a permenant resident in 2001.
He was integrally involved in the Kingston Pagan community for over a decade. During which time he has given workshops and lectures, designed and led public ritual and been a spokesperson for Paganism in the Kingston community.
Our mission is to foster a positive, stable and fruitful Wiccan community in our home city, Kingston, Ontario. And to provide Wiccans with the religious and spiritual support system they need for healthy and fulfilled living.
Pub Moot is where friends gather to share and enjoy each other's company, and where complete newcomers can visit us in the comfort of a public space to find out more about us.
Our Online Community offers a private space where curious folk can learn more about Wicca and discuss their experiences and share their knowledge without risk of social stigma.
Wiccan Circle is an in-person repeating event at a quiet and rented space, but open to the public for anyone to attend, where you can come to join in our community rituals, to learn and practice Wicca with others.
We abide by the Wiccan Rede, in love and trust.
Live and let live.
We are not dogmatic. What we teach is an esoteric tradition; it is not the only valid way to live. We're here to help and support your spiritual growth, but we will not tell you how to live your life.
Soft of eye, light of touch, speak ye little, listen much.
We are non–judgmental. We are compassionate and accepting of the disposition of others.
When ye have and hold a need, harken not to others greed.
We are not for profit. We do not make money through our activities. We do ask for donations to cover our expenses of rent, materials and supplies, so that we can continue to serve the community's needs.
With a fool no season spend, nor be counted as his friend.
We will not tolerate behaviour in others which is counter to the standards being laid out here. If someone cannot comport themself with dignity and respect the rights of others he or she may be asked to no longer participate.
The following statements are of traditional Wiccan laws.
No one may tell any not of the Craft who be of the Wica.
Your privacy is very important to us. We will not reveal your religious and spiritual leanings to anyone without your express permission. We expect you to follow this law as well.
No one may do or say anything which will endanger any of the Craft, or bring them in contact with the law of the land.
You will never be asked or pressured to break the law of the land.
No one, however great an injury or injustace they recieve, may use the Art in any to do ill or harm any.
We are a good people. We do not seek retribution or vengeance against those who have wronged us. For we know that karma and the justice of the Gods will be brought against them in the due course of time.
What Services We Provide
We are available to provide the following religious and spiritual services, in either a private or community context.
A Wiccaning is a celebration of the new birth of a child. A ceremony that welcomes the child into the world and into their community. This ceremony does not make a child Wiccan. Each person must walk their own path when they are old enough to make their own decisions. It is traditional for a community to come together in joy and to give thanks to the Lord and Lady for a new child and to help provide the new parents with the support they need in this most wonderful new adventure.
Handfastings.
A handfasting is the spiritual and religious ceremony in which two Wiccans are joined together in marriage. It is a formal but joyous event where the two people take commitment vows before the High Priestess and the High Priest, before the God and Goddess and before the members of their community that they will love and support each other as friends, lovers, companions and soulmates, reflecting the eternal relationship of the Lord and Lady.
A handfasting is a religious ceremony, by itself it is not recognized as a legal marriage by the Government. Additional paperwork, which we do not provide, would be required for a full legal marriage. We support same–sex marriage.
Requiems.
A requiem is the solemn ceremony during which we honour and celebrate the passing of a person from this life to the next. Depending upon the circumstances and the wishes of the family, this can be a time of mourning and great sadness, or a celebration and rememberance of the life of the deceased. We believe that death is an essential stage of life, and a reality of Nature that we all share. But, just the same, it is important for proper health and wellness that we have closure, and an opportunity to formally bid farewell to our lost loved ones, in the presense of our family, friends, spiritual community and the Gods.
Spiritual Guidance.
Wicca is an esoteric religious tradition. What that means is that we do not tell people that they ought to be Wiccan, nor that they ought to live in a specific way. However, when a person feels him– or herself to be Wiccan, and they are looking for spiritual guidance and support to help them through something that is happening in their lives, we are here to listen and if necessary will make the effort to meet with you privately.
However, we are not registered social workers, nor are we trained or suited to issue clinical advice. In the case of a crisis which is beyond the scope of our role of providing spiritual support and religious advice, we encourage you to seek the assistance of a professional healthcare provider.
Please send any inquiries to
We provide several community oriented services.
Please see our Events page for more information about Pub Moot.
Please see our Events page for more information about Wiccan Circle.
We maintain a mailing list used very sparingly, to send out notifications and reminders about upcoming events. Typically there are only around two emails sent per month, usually the day before, or sometimes the day of, either Wiccan Circle or Pub Moot. Just so you don't forget.
The events we are notifying you about are free of cost. You may leave the mailing list whenever you want simply by replying to it and requesting to be removed. The list is maintained by people, not by machines.
To join the mailing list, please fill out and submit the form under the Participate section of this site.
We maintain, host and moderate the Online Community website for Wiccans and Pagans in the Kingston area. If you are interested in getting access, reach out to us using the Join Our Community contact form and check the box that indicates your interested in the Online Community.
It is our intention to create and maintain a positive and helpful space online, where members of the local community can share information, links, opinions, resources, notes and more, online. Privacy and freedom from online harassment are of utmost importance to us.
We are a non–profit Wiccan Fellowship and donations are welcomed.
Our political policy is that we are not a political organization. We do not exist to forward or promote a particular political agenda. We treat everyone as an individual not as a representative of their group identity, and we require the same from people who participate in our events.
We welcome anyone to our community who is genuinely interested in Wicca or a compatible form of Paganism.
As is the policy of many societies, clubs, and associations, discussion of politics is off limits. There exist other places and other times, where and when it is suitable and justified to focus on the advancement of your political views. Our events are not that time or place.
We host and provide community space where we can grow our knowledge and experience of Wicca, and build and strengthen our relationships with each other and with the God and Goddess. In short, to work towards the ecstasy of the spirit, joy on earth, and love unto all beings.
We support healthy consensual relationships whether they are heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual. We support the rights of individuals to identify as the opposite sex of their birth sex. We accept and respect an individual's preference to be referred to in the third person by the pronouns he and him, or she and her.
For religious reasons, we do not recognize non-binary as a gender, nor do we recognize third, forth or nth genders.
We are not a business or a public service. We are a religion, with specific traditions and religious worldview. There is one Moon and one Sun, there is one Wiccan Goddess (with many names and personas) and there is one Wiccan God (with many names and personas). The Fellowship has one High Priestess who is female who represents the Goddess. The Fellowship has one High Priest who is male who represents the God. The gender binary is one of the central pillars upon which Traditional Wicca is based.
We respect everyone's human dignity, but if an individual cannot accept that we only acknowledge the gender binary in our religious tradition then they should seek a different Pagan group who can better fit and fulfill their spiritual needs.
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Jeffrey was born on December 12th, 1937 in Wiluna, Western Australia. He was educated at Kent Street Senior High until the age of 16. He then attended the Royal Military College in Duntroon which is the Australian Army's officer training establishment. He graduated from the Royal Military College in 1958. He served in a variety of junior positions until he was posted to Malaya in 1962.
From 1966 to 1969, Jeffrey served in Papa New Guinea. The duty was followed by a tour of duty in Vietnam. During his service he received the Military Cross. Regarding Australia's role in the conflict in Vietnam he stated, as recently as 2002, "I believe passionately that Vietnam was a just cause in the circumstances of the time." He said this in a speech he gave to Australian veterans of the war.
In 1972, Jeffrey was promoted to lieutenant colonel. In 1974 he was given command of the 2nd Battalion of the Pacific Islands Regiment. He served in the position until 1975. In 1976, he assumed command of the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR or sometimes SAS), an elite special forces unit of the Australian Army. After leaving in 1977, he was promoted to colonel. In 1979 he was named the first Director of the Army's Special Action Forces. In the position he was instrumental in developing the surveillance concept for Northern Australia and helped prepare the development of the Australian counter-terrorist concept and capability.
In the 1980's Jeffrey headed the Australian national counter-terrorist co-ordination authority. In 1985 he was promoted to major-general and was appointed to command the first division in 1986. In the 1990's he became Deputy Chief of the General Staff, the second highest appointment in the Australian Army. He retired in active service in 1993. He is still considered an honorary colonel in the SASR and holds the ceremonial role of inducting new soldiers into the regiment.
In 1996, Jeffrey was appointed Governor of Western Australia, which is the representative of Queen Elizabeth II in state. During his seven years in the position he was criticized for making public statements regarding his conservative views on various subjects including marriage and education.
In 2003, Jeffrey was appointed as Governor-General of Australia. This made him the representative of Queen Elizabeth II in all of the Commonwealth of Australia.. He was the first soldier to be appointed to this position. During his time as Governor-General he was made Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps, which was previously held by the Queen. It is expected future Governor-Generals will hold this position. He was also named Chief Scout of Australia, a non-political role it is a ceremonial position for the Scout Association of Australia. The Scout Association of Australia is part of the global scouting movement which includes organizations like the Boy Scouts of America, although the two are not directly affiliated.
In 2008, Jeffrey stepped down as Governor-General. He continues to be active in a variety of non-profit organizations of which he is either a member or founder.
Jeffrey was initiated into St George No. 6 in 1994. The lodge is now JD Stevenson St George’s Lodge.
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You are here: Home / Crime / Courts / Hero or traitor? ISU picks Edward Snowden to lead live lecture on privacy
Hero or traitor? ISU picks Edward Snowden to lead live lecture on privacy
March 1, 2021 By Matt Kelley
One of the most controversial figures in the past decade involving international espionage and the leaking of government secrets will be speak live from Russia in an Iowa State University lecture this week.
Edward Snowden, a former CIA officer and National Security Agency consultant, will address the topic, “Digital Surveillance: How Gen Z Gave Up Its Privacy to Corporations and the Government.”
Amanda Knief, director of the ISU Lectures Program, knows Snowden was an unusual choice.
“There are people who consider him a traitor, there are other people who consider him a hero, and I think it’s important to explore those issues and get his information,” Knief says. “You can hate him or love him but he is an expert on digital surveillance and that’s something our students need to think about, experience and talk about.”
Even blenders now have smart technology and Knief says such advances have truly impacted the way our personal information is collected and used by companies and by the government.
“This generation that’s in college right now, Gen Z, has really grown up with digital devices in their hands,” Knief says. “A lot of the issues about privacy and being tracked and giving your information out, these are things they have grown up with and are just every day.”
Snowden fled to Hong Kong in 2013 after revealing the U.S. government was pursuing an unprecedented system of mass surveillance. He shared highly-classified documents with The Guardian and The Washington Post, shining an international spotlight on issues of individual privacy and national security.
The whistleblower’s talk is available to anyone, free, via the ISU Lectures Program YouTube channel. Iowans, and anyone else, will be able to contribute to the conversation.
“On the YouTube channel, there will be a way for people to submit questions,” Knief says. “We’re going to have a couple of students facilitating those, so they will be seeing the questions in real time and then they will be able to convey those to Mr. Snowden.”
The lecture from Moscow will start at 7 PM/Central on Thursday.
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Six years ago, I published some research entirely dedicated to the Boris Johnson phenomenon. The title of the report – Are You Serious? – encapsulated two things: the reaction of Boris-sceptics to the idea that he might rise to an office greater than the London Mayoralty, and the question many voters, intrigued but not altogether convinced by this unusual adornment to public life, were asking of Boris himself.
We know the answer to the second question, if it was ever in doubt: yes, deadly. His pursuit of the top job has been skilful and relentless. His apparently playful approach to life masks a fierce determination, which voters can sense. If the achievement of his ambition were not itself proof enough, his ruthless remaking of the government around his central policy of a Halloween Brexit puts to rest any doubt about the seriousness of his intent.
Strangely, the first question – can this possibly be happening? – is alive and well among elements of the commentating class, as well as some of his adversaries. Here there are echoes of the reaction not just of the EU referendum result and the election of Donald Trump – which stemmed from an inability to understand why a reasonable person could vote for either – but more distantly to Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. Despite their opponents’ continued belief that they were too hapless, dim or otherwise unqualified for public office, both were re-elected – partly because of their critics’ inevitable tendency to underestimate someone whose rise to power seemed to them some sort of cosmic mistake. If this is how Boris’s elevation appears to those who already want to see the back of him, that can only work to his advantage.
Despite coming down on the side of Jeremy Hunt in the leadership election, I wrote a few weeks ago that I did not fear disaster in the event of a Boris victory. Both were proper Tories, committed to honouring the referendum result, personally engaging and with good ideas. The first hours of his administration have confirmed that. Though I wonder about some of his appointments – the loss of Penny Mordaunt is particularly regrettable – the sense of direction is unmistakeable and refreshing. His speech on entering Downing Street was ambitious and wide-ranging, and more specific in some of its ideas than many would have expected. And while the cynics increasingly equate optimism with delusion, tone matters, and the cheerful sense of belief he exudes is already a welcome contrast from the last three glum years. Most important of all, he is making it clear that he intends to do everything he can to deliver on his promise, at a time when so many are exasperated with parliament’s inability or refusal to carry out the country’s wishes.
But this is only day three. When the smoke clears from the initial burst of shock and awe, the tiresome reality will come back into focus – the precarious parliamentary maths and the so far unwavering stance of the European Union. There is also the fact that sooner or later, voters are going to pass judgment on their new PM – their third in 37 months.
Here is it instructive to look at what people actually said about him in my 2013 study. A majority of voters thought of him as “different from most politicians, and in a good way”, while the next most popular view was that he was “not really a politician at all”. While he was famous for speaking his mind (“He says it how it is. In a very posh voice,” as one of our focus group participants put it), most were at a loss to say where he stood on any particular issue, including Europe. And though obviously a Tory, he seemed somewhat detached from the party and had his own appeal. Though people thought he was a good Mayor of London, many thought the role was about being an ambassador for the city rather than carrying any executive authority (“do we want someone on zipwires making decisions about the NHS and education and going to war?”Boris as PM “would be excellent until it all went tits up.”) Offered a range of potential descriptions for Boris, people were most likely to choose “likeable” and “a people person”; they were least likely to say he was “on my side” or “a safe pair of hands.”
As it happened, he did not have to alleviate these concerns (which still persist, along with others, as my research during the leadership contest confirmed) before reaching Number Ten. But he will have to do so if he wants to stay there. Though he remains unlike any other politician, he and the Conservative Party, and the Conservative government, are no longer mere nodding acquaintances. Despite his declaration that EU migrants in Britain can stay and his appointment of the most diverse Cabinet ever, he seems unlikely to re-emerge as the cuddly cosmopolitan of a kind who could persuade socially liberal London to give him the biggest personal mandate in British politics. When it comes to executive ability, people will make their judgments as they see him in action – just as they will as to whether he is on their side, especially if they put something other than Brexit at the top of their priority list. Retrieving those voters tempted by the Brexit Party is crucial – but neither can the Tories afford to lose those at the other end of their voting coalition.
One more thing leaps out at me from my six year-old study. Despite the regular mishaps, outrages and minor scandals that seemed to punctuate his career, people often went out of their way to put a generous interpretation on them. I observed that “Boris is given the benefit of the doubt to an extent that other politicians can only dream of”. We’re about to find out how true that still is.
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“There is but one good; that is God. Everything else is good when it looks to Him and bad when it turns from Him.” (C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce)
“Oh, I feel so good!”
“That was a good movie.”
“She is a good person.”
What is the primary meaning of good? Am I saying the same thing whenever I use the word? Is good an essential concept, or merely a word I use to show I have a positive feeling about something?
Widely used definitions of the term good include: beneficial, pleasurable, successful, and happy. All of these are both subjective and selfish. Without an objective basis for good there is merely what is good for me and mine. However, in this subjective, selfish sense, what is good for me could be harmful to you. My good, (like “my truth”) could well be your idea of evil. Take a hot button issue like abortion. There are those who consider “a woman’s right to chose” to terminate her pregnancy good. However, preserving unborn human life is good to those who are against abortion. So, who is right? What is good?
Eighteenth Century philosopher David Hume said the concept of good and evil is nothing more than “positive and negative approbation,” meaning the terms are another (perhaps stronger) way of expressing subjective likes and dislikes. This is a disastrous view. If good is only in the eye of the beholder, then what is to keep a nation from upholding racism and genocide as good, as was the case with Nazi Germany? What is to stop a culture from embracing pedophilia or rape as good? Who can say that sadism or masochism is bad to someone who genuinely believes one or both to be good? These may seem to be extreme examples to you, but there are already groups who would support such ideas. And it may not be long until the culture shifts to support some or all of them, unless there is a consensus for recognizing an objective basis for good and evil.
What is the objective basis for good? What can we all look to as a standard and agree, “yes that is what good means”?
There are philosophers who have pointed to the idea of human flourishing as an objective basis for good, This means whatever promotes happiness and growth for the human population is the standard for determining good. The question is, how do we define happiness for an entire population? Some might ask about animals. What of their flourishing? Eating meat makes many people happy, and it is arguably healthy. However, that is certainly at odds with the interests of the animal being eaten! What if I am only concerned with my own happiness and/or that of my family and friends? On what basis would I concern myself with happiness and growth for billions of other people, all of whom are competing for resources. From this perspective one could well support extreme measures in population control in order to ensure that there is enough to go around. For many years the Chinese Communist Party only permitted the citizens of China to have one child per family. If a woman became pregnant with a second child, she was forced to have an abortion. They believe this is good because it promotes human flourishing by ensuring China doesn’t become overpopulated. Is that really what good is?
What is good for me and mine may deprive others of life. Is it right to be forced to sacrifice your life or happiness for the “good of humanity”? For some that is noble, but is it good? Human flourishing may be a good aim, but it cannot be the objective basis for good.
It is ironic to observe that some who refuse to believe in a good God base their concept of good on what Christians attribute to God: love, justice, righteousness, patience and the like. Recently, several high profile Christian leaders have left the faith, but seek to maintain their status as “influencers.” These celebrities are now influencing others to be atheists. Where they were once passionate in their proclamation of Christianity, they’re now equally zealous about disbelief. The moral advice of many of these erstwhile Christians, however, sounds quite familiar: be forgiving, love people, be compassionate. Sounds like, well, Jesus. Why promote Jesus’ teachings? All it got him (and most of his closest disciples) was an excruciating death. If there is no good God, one could hold (as Ayn Rand famously promoted in her philosophy of Objectivism) that selfishness is the supreme virtue. Many agree with this. Why should I care about anybody else? Why in the world should I listen to “influencers” who once persuaded their followers to believe what they now repudiate? Who is to say they’re right now. All they’ve proven is their own instability, while affirming an objective good, but without any basis beyond an emotional appeal.
The Form of the Good
The Greek philosopher Plato believed in a world of perfect forms above our own, and at the highest level of this theoretical world exists what he called “the form of the good.” Plato’s concept affirms the need for an impeccable, objective standard for good beyond subjective human feeling and evaluation. Some have observed that Plato’s world of flawless forms could be realized within the mind of the perfect God, Creator of everything.
Apart from a good God there is no objective good. Apart from objective good, there is no evil. As philosopher William Lane Craig frames it:
If God does not exist, then objective good does not exist.
Therefore, good exists.
Therefore, God exists.
Amazingly, this syllogism uses the existence of real evil as reason to believe there is objective good, and a real God. God defines what good is.
Does that mean whatever God says is good becomes so? What if he decides murder is good? Could he simply reverse the 10 Commandments because he feels like it? If you find that problematic, then is God accountable to a law outside himself? Going back to Plato once again, we find that he and his students wrestled with this problem and stated it in what is known as the Euthyphryo Dilemma
A) Is it good because God wills it?
B) Does God will it because it is good?
If “A” then God could call evil good and it would be so.
If “B” then God is subject to something higher, which would mean something rules over God, which would make him less than the supreme being. Are we stuck on the horns of this dilemma? Let’s go to the teaching of Jesus to resolve it.
“A certain ruler asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’
Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.'” (Luke 18:18-19, NRSV)
God is Good. Good is essential to His nature. “God works all things after the counsel of his will” (Ephesians 1:11). God wills what is good because He is intrinsically good. Therefore, God’s nature is the objective standard for good.
God is great. God is good.
God established a moral law, which is revealed through the Law of Moses in the Old Testament, but good is perfectly realized in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17, CSB). Whoever believes in the Only Begotten Son of God walks in the light of perfect good. “God is light and in him there is no darkness at all” (1st John 1:5). “I am the light of the world, whoever follows me will never walk in darkness” (John 8:12).
God promised to write his law on the minds of his people (Jeremiah 31:33), so they will always know what is good. He promised to give them a new heart, so they will always be willing to do what is good (Ezekiel 36:26-27). These promises are realized when a person believes in Jesus and receives the Holy Spirit. Jesus didn’t come to earth to show us the right way to live, then leave us on our own to do it. Rather, he came to make us new people with a new nature that seeks to do what is good and right.
God is good. Jesus is God. Jesus Christ is the perfect objective standard of good.
This entry was posted in Book and tagged Christianity, God, Jesus, moral philosophy, Sam Harris, theism, William Lane Craig on August 15, 2021 by deorl.
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The Transaction Guy hasn't returned from his post-season sabbatical (that he didn't tell anyone about), but I'm here to talk about the fact that the Cubs re-signed Glendon Rusch to a two-year deal. Contract specifics: 2006: $2.75M 2007: $3.25M There is up to $500K in incentives (based on games started) in each season. I don't have a problem with the cost of the contract, but I question the need for a two-year deal. This is a situation where Rusch is being rewarded for not going on the free agent market, which is nice. My concern is whether the Cubs are going to give him the benefit of the doubt over Jerome Williams for the #5 spot in the rotation because of a sense of duty.
Comments
I heard from a friend with
Submitted by billy on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:27 pm
I heard from a friend with insider(read please verify if you ARE an insider) that Gammons is reporting both Giles and Furcal will land with Chicago, with nomar going to LA Dodgers
well that sucks cause now
Submitted by Rob G. on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:33 pm
well that sucks cause now there's a 98% possibility that we won't land either. damn you peter gammons!!! :) I always thought Nomar to LA, made the most sense, they wanted him last year to play second, they need a one year stop gap and when Izturis comes back, he can play 3b. Of course with no GM, how does anyone know who they're targeting?
espn.com now has epstein
Submitted by Rob G. on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:49 pm
espn.com now has epstein stepping down as GM of the Red Sox, interestng
Submitted by Ienpw on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:57 pm
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/baseball/2010AP_BBA_Red_Sox_Epstein_Resig… Wow. I'd love to have him, but I am contempt with Hendry
BYE BYE Hendry...HELLO
Submitted by mannytrillo on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:03 pm
Submitted by mannytrillo on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:06 pm
AS for Rusch, I am not a fan of the signing. I don't think too much of him, even as a 5 starter, partly becuase we already have a #5 starter for $9 million (Maddux). But Hendry said on the radio that Rusch will be given every oppurtunity to make teh starting rotation. So the #5 spot is his to lose. i would of rather kept Williams for cheaper, but maybe Hendry is planning on using him for trade bait to pick up a big time player. If so, then signing Rusch make more sense. And like I said the other day, what a bad week for SABR GM's. Two big SABR GM's without a job.
Rusch gets the 5 spot but
Submitted by jessica on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:30 pm
Rusch gets the 5 spot but you do NOT trade Williams Jeez what are the odds you don't need AT LEAST 6 starters for the Cubs? Hill, Mitre etc are not reliable enough for me but Williams is and you KNOW someone is going to go down. I REALLY like Rusch and though I am not a huge numbers cruncher like the rest of you I would like re-interate interesting stats from last year when he was in an out of the BP like a yo-yo. In his first STARTING stint he had 10 starts and an e.r.a of roughly 3.3. In his last five starts he had an e.r.a of roughly 3.3 in his middle four starts when the dragged him out of the BP for the 2nd time he sucked with an e.r.a of about 10 which drove his starting numbers WAY up. You might think letting him start at beginning of the season would be a nice novelty for the Cubs. The five spot should be his to LOSE and Williams can just wait for Kerry's arm to fall off. Prior's heel to act up, Z to get suspended for a month or Maddux to get run over by a truck for his chance. Sadly I doubt it will be a long wait. Jessica
I have espn insider and I
Submitted by tem on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:34 pm
I have espn insider and I didn't find anything about furcal/giles from Gammons. The most recent gammons column is about the Dodgers GM situation. McCourt is a boob.
Gammons was on Dan Patrick
Gammons was on Dan Patrick today. He did talk about those 3-giving his feelings on where they are headed. I do not believe there was any solid basis for that other than Gammons sayting what he thought.
the #5 starting slot just
Submitted by crunch on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:56 pm
the #5 starting slot just got a lot more interesting and it looks like j.williams could become the tradebait that'll hand the team the RF they're looking. of course it could be jim hendry getting tired of losing 1-2 starters a year at ANY given time for months+ either way mitre/hill's situation (especially mitre) seems a bit up in the air and possibly in the same boat as j.williams. hard to not like a guy getting a reasonable contract...and rusch is still kinda young...but wow, 2 years...at least its not a lot of money and could be a good gamble while still remaining tradable.
If the commitment is to
Submitted by tribe22 on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:22 pm
If the commitment is to Rusch at 5, is everyone comfortable with Jerome at 4 should Maddux not return? Seems we're certain Kerry can come back and assume the number three starter, Zambrano at 1 and Prior 2. Are we sure about Kerry and Maddux's return? And even if we're sure about Maddux, can he still put it together for one more year? I didn't check the Free Agent lists, but is there any available help there? OR are we in the position to trade for a number 4. Makes it pretty clear how lucky the Sox were with the emergence of Contreras and Garland.
put this is the last post
Submitted by crunch on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:26 pm
If the commitment is to
Submitted by Ron Galt on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:31 pm
If the commitment is to Rusch at 5, is everyone comfortable with Jerome at 4 should Maddux not return? Under the "nothing good ever happens to this franchise" clause, Greg Maddux is guaranteed to return for the bargain-basement price of $9 million or whatever it is.
Last two years combined
Last two years combined records of the Cubs six SP's. Zambrano 30-14 +16 Prior 17-11 +6 Rusch 15-10 +5 Maddux 29-26 +3 Williams 16-17 -1 Wood 11-13 -2 Rusch doesn't look half-bad when you look at the staff this way.
its very doubtful maddux
Submitted by crunch on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:32 pm
its very doubtful maddux wouldnt return to collect 9m...its his right and its the contract given to him, though im not looking forward to it. personally i'd like to see williams over rusch, but this signing seems to signal either some strong want to be protected for injury or williams being some strong trade bait for a strong OF'r trade. its entirely possible that williams will stick around and rusch will be an overpaid emergency starter and long-relief, but i kinda doubt that's the case with him coming back relatively cheap for 2 years. honestly, any healthy/young-ish pitcher who can go 200 innings can easily pull 3m a year...espeically the lefties. guess we'll find out what'll come of it in the months to come.
Yikes, Rusch hasn't thrown
Submitted by tribe22 on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:50 pm
Yikes, Rusch hasn't thrown for 200+ innings since he went 1-12 for the Brew Crew in 02. HE went 145 last year, I guess he would hit 200 as the number 5? Guess this means we're putting our trade hats on as I still have that all too familiar, queasy, "this is not nearly enough" feeling in the pit of my stomach...
Yeah P.Gammons was on Dan
Submitted by Bogey on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:06 pm
Yeah P.Gammons was on Dan Patrick's radio show and Dan just asked a rapid fire group of free agents and asked Gammons where he thought they'd end up. Furcal and Giles were the two that he thought the Cubs would land. There wasn't any "insider" info included in his responses...just what Gammons opinion would be. Of course Gammons also wrapped up that interview by saying that he thought the Epstein deal would get done by the end of today and when I got home from work Gammons was on ESPN News reporting that Epstein had just rejected the Red Sox's 3 year offer. Here's what Gammons claimed Furcal - Cubs B.Giles - Cubs T.Hoffman - SD Bj Ryan - Mets (because he'd have the opportunity to close) but he also said the Yanks and Tigers would probably offer $7-8 mil a year) Damon - Red Sox Wagner - Philly Konerko - Angels Nomar - Dodgers (possibly as an OF) Sosa - (Gammons said he didn't have a clue) Bernie - Texas (as DH, and because of Showalter) Patrick didn't ask him about Aj Burnett or Millwood or any starters at all. Giles is from SD so they're going to have first shot..but if they don't bring him back, I can't see the Cards having an inside track on him. I can't think of any former Padres/Pirates there that would influence Giles into coming there. It's not like his buddy Jason Kendall or his bro Marcus are there trying to lure him in. The agent is just playing the Cubs and Cards to get a better deal with the Padres.
This is really a great
Submitted by Jody Moulton on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:20 pm
This is really a great signing...I don't see how one could categorize it as anything different. $3 million per year is a slight bargain for any healthy major league lefty whoís capable (and reliable) of putting up league average numbers as a starter. His VORP was 11.1 last year (95th overall in MLB, > 100 IP) and it was 27.8 in 2004 (53rd overall). Iíd posture that Rusch would have performed even better had Dustiny not misplaced him in the bullpen and left him alone in the rotation from the get-go. For fun, letís look at some of the pitchers behind Rusch last year and note what they got paid: Mark Redman: 11.1 VORP, $4.25M Corey Lidle: 10 VORP, $3M Woody Williams: 7.4 VORP, $3M Orlando Hernandez: 6.1 VORP, $3.5M Joel Pineiro: 4.4 VORP, $4.2M Kip Wells: -2.4 VORP, $3.2M I think you get the pictureÖand none of these guys had a manager that didnít understand the role they were best suited for and left them alone in their respective rotations when healthy. A full year of Rusch in the rotation would probably place his value somewhere between what it was in 2004 and 2005 and leave us with a serviceable starter at a bargain. At age 31, Rusch is right in the prime of his career as a pitcher so regression is not likely. Other positives: 1. Virtually no MLB team goes through a whole season with their starting 5 intact, so having an extra quality starter on the cheap really helps. 2. Jerome Williams will only be 24 in December, so if Rusch is taking his place in the rotation itís not like weíre blocking his prime years. Williams will also likely be rostered near the minimum again next year, so weíre not losing money there. Methinks Williams could also use additional seasoning at AAA should we have options left on him, and I believe we do. 3. Should a better starting option come along for Hendry to sign in the offseason/inseason, this contract is not hard to trade by any stretch. In fact, it might be very attractive to any team in need of pitching because itís affordable. 4. Itís likely Hendry has no further decisions to make on the rotation and can now focus on upgrading the offense. Getting this signing out of the way early also leaves a great deal of money to sign pieces needed for the offense. Of course the downside of this signing would be if Rusch doesnít live up to recently established performance levels. However unlikely that may be, swallowing $2.75M next year to find out is a pittance. His peripheral numbers suggest heís an above average starter with better than a 2 to 1 strikeout to walk ratio. He also doesnít give up an unreasonable amount of Home Runs, even with Wrigley as his home park. Think about what weíve paid some of the Remlingers of the world recently and this contract pales in comparison for the amount of quality innings weíd receive. For some reason there seems to be a fair amount of opposition to this signing amongst the ranks here at TCR and Iíd love to hear some reasoning as to why. Any by reasoning, I donít mean another post by ìThe Rockî who seems to lack a grasp on how realistic rosters are built and maintained.
I'm not as concerned about
Submitted by tribe22 on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:24 pm
I'm not as concerned about Rusch at 5 as I am about Williams at 4. I still feel like we have holes there unless Williams breaks out.
I'm not as concerned about
Submitted by Jody Moulton on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:27 pm
I'm not as concerned about Rusch at 5 as I am about Williams at 4. I still feel like we have holes there unless Williams breaks out. I'd be a lot more concerned with Maddux regressing even further next year. $9M is a lot to pay for a guy who will likely pitch like a #4 or 5.
I am really unconcerned
Submitted by NCFAN on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:27 pm
I am really unconcerned about the Rusch deal IF it doesn't prohobit the following: 1. Signing a leadoff hitter (Furcal) 2. Signing or getting a #2 or #3 starter 3. Getting 2 outfielders that can hit As long as we are still on track with the above i AM ok. I am also OK with the walker signing IF we get furcal and we do NOT resign neifi. (Let cedeno back up SS and 2b and start 2b against lefties.) I would LOVE to trade ARAM for someone with more speed and a better glove.
I like this signing. It's
Submitted by J on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:28 pm
I like this signing. It's not a ton of money. Rusch isn't effective enough vs. lefties to be of much use in late inning relief, but he's a nice insurance policy to have as a starter, and a very capable long reliever. I hope Rich Hill or Jerome Williams beats him out in spring training (assuming we don't deal one of them), but I'm betting he'll prove useful at some point. If it spares me from seeing any Koronka or Leicster starts it's money well spent.
Submitted by J on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:32 pm
re: #21: if signing rusch for 3 million a year prevents us from getting an outfield bat or leadoff hitter we weren't getting a very good outfield bat or leadoff hitter anyway. but a 2 or 3 starter? we need that? we've got prior, wood, z, maddux, rusch and williams, all capable major league starters. i would be surprised if one of the hill, mitre, guzman, nolasco etc... group didn't step up in spring. we've got a ton of starters.
nice post Jody. I'm all for
Submitted by cubster on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:45 pm
nice post Jody. I'm all for the Glendon Rusch signing. I like having a lefty in the rotation especially against certain lineups that have better lefty hitting. The Cubs have really not had many lefty starters in the last 40+ years. Dick Ellsworth, Ken Holtzman, Steve Trout, Jamie Moyer, Steve Wilson and Greg Hibbard is a pretty short list. So the next Cub news that's expected is Maddux picking up his option at $9M. How soon is that news coming? This week is the organizational meetings for the Cubs what news should be coming from those meetings? from mlb.com... Hendry was set to leave Tuesday morning for organizational meetings in Arizona. He said Cubs priorities include pitching and defense, and he also left the door open on a possible contract extension for All-Star first baseman and National League MVP candidate Derrek Lee.
Gammons is and IDIOT. He
Submitted by Chad on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:49 pm
Gammons is and IDIOT. He has not inside info or insight to anything. He was sure Nomar would never be a Cub. You can count on neither Furcal or Giles being a Cub...ever.
Submitted by mannytrillo on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:03 pm
Cubster- The Maddux option has already been picked up. It was vested this year when he pitched 400 IP over the pasy 2 seasons. There is no need for him or his agent to do anything. He is making $9 million next year and that is one of my problems with the Rusch signing. He will be the 5th starter for $3 million, but we already have a 5th starter and he is making $9 million. So we are paying our 4th and 5th starters $12 million and we are hoping for .500 records out of each. Actually we should be pleased with that.
So the next Cub news that's
Submitted by Jody Moulton on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:06 pm
So the next Cub news that's expected is Maddux picking up his option at $9M. How soon is that news coming? Cubster, his option was automatically picked up because it was based on the number of inning he pitched in 04 and 05. Technically it wasn't an option, but more a clause where the Cubs could have voided the 06 contract if he didn't pitch enough 400 innnings over the last two seasons.
You know who is AN idiot?
Submitted by Chad on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:07 pm
You know who is AN idiot? ME. If you are going to flame someone, you should at least get your grammar right. But I still think that old coot is AN idiot.
Question: When is the
Submitted by mannytrillo on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:10 pm
Question: When is the earliest Mark Prior can become a free agent? He has 3.131 service time thru 2005. So after he makes his $2.5 million next year is he arb eligible for 2007 and 2008? Thanks!!
post #14 was well said. im
Submitted by CUBBY on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:12 pm
post #14 was well said. im glad they picked up rusch for most of the same reasons. makes good sense. can still possibly trade him, though i hope they dont. i do disagree with starting him. i still think williams should get the start ahead of him and let rusch go long relief and spot matchups. just to be different, here is my OPTIMISTIC picture of our rotation: -carlos is the ace once again -mark figures out the 1st inning and is awesome -maddux will avenge his sub-par season and make it a point to not give up the long ball -they will shove wood down our throats again, and...thats all i can bring myself to say. -williams wins a shitload of games when getting the run-support he lacked in 05. and rusch helps anchor the pen if we dont sell him off!
Gammons isn't an idiot, I
Submitted by Bogey on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:28 pm
Gammons isn't an idiot, I think he's a Duke grad so he can't be too dim. I actually like listening to his opinions because he's a true fan of the game...but the problem with him is that he actually has too many sources...including GMs that use him as a filter to get leaked info into the press..playing FAs and agents against other clubs etc. I can't think of anyone other than Gammons who have direct lines of communication into virtually every GM, it's just that those like Billy Beane have taken advantage of his position.
Did anyone notice that the
Submitted by Adam on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:29 pm
Did anyone notice that the tentaitive 2006 schedule was released? Wow, that's pretty early. I think last year most other teams had theirs before ours was out...think someone in the front office wants the fans to start thinking about next year sooner than later. - Open the season on 4/3 in Cincy, home opener on 4/7 versus the Cardinals - Yet again, after a hiatus from stupidty this year, we will not play the Astros or Cardinals after August. - We play the Astros 12 times between June 5th and July 20th. - Play the Cardinals 19 times, 9 in Stl, 10 in Chicago - Visit the White Sox on May 19th-21st, they visit us 6/30-7/2 - Host the Tigers, At Cleveland and Minn for interleague (yawn) - 18 of final 29 games at home (which is not necessarily a good thing) - Final 9 games against Reds, Brewers, Rockies - From July 18th through August 16th Cubs play 29 games in 30 days - From July 10th to July 17th, Cubs play 3 games in 8 days (including all star break) http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/chc/schedule/tentative_2006_seas…
Adam- According to Al over
Submitted by mannytrillo on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:03 pm
Adam- According to Al over at BCB, 28 or so teams had already released their schedules weeks ago. A few weeks ago he had the tentative schedule of the Cubs based on the other teams schedlues.
funny Manny...Guess I'm slow
Submitted by Adam on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:36 pm
funny Manny...Guess I'm slow on the take. I did that last year, but I thought it was late November by the time I got close to figuring out the whole Cubs schedule.
d'oh. It was released on
Submitted by Adam on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:40 pm
d'oh. It was released on October 26th last year..well after most other teams released theres...guess there is no difference this year, and I'm just a fool...nothing new
"VORP" WORTHLESS
Submitted by X on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:59 pm
"VORP" WORTHLESS
No.
Submitted by BillT on Mon, 10/31/2005 - 10:26 pm
No.
a friend of mine who read
Submitted by CUBBY on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:42 am
a friend of mine who read the business section of i think the LA times said and there was spectulation that the tribune may put the cubs up for sale due to their stocks being in dire straits. anybody else hear of this?
This week is the
Submitted by cubster on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:01 am
This week is the organizational meetings for the Cubs what news should be coming from those meetings? ---- Based on the newspapers today it looks like the list is: Furcal (probably they will try hard to sign him, if the Braves don't sign him first...there is an article today that his agent has told the Mets Furcal would agree to playing 2B if Reyes is at SS) Patterson (writers are speculating a trade is probable) Giles (writers say he wants to go the the Cardinals, if no Padre deal...I want Giles here, if just to keep him from StL) Pierre (a trade, but their 2nd choice for a leadoff hitter) I wonder if there is any Cub interest in Caveman (Damon)? Must be the 3rd choice for leadoff hitter. also some discussion on Burnett/Millwood interest excerpt from Sully/today's Tribune: At the Cubs' organizational meetings next week, the biggest topics will be whether to go hard after Atlanta free-agent shortstop Rafael Furcal and what to do about center fielder Corey Patterson. Atlanta has discussed the possibility of re-signing Furcal, whom many in the Cubs organization covet for his defense and leadoff experience. Patterson worked for two weeks recently in Mesa, Ariz., with minor-league instructor Von Joshua, who tutored Ronny Cedeno and Matt Murton. Early indications are Patterson may be packaged in a trade, though nothing has been decided. With free-agent right fielder Brian Giles appeared headed for St. Louis, the Cubs are likely to sign or trade for one or possibly two outfielders, depending on the Patterson decision. Florida center fielder Juan Pierre reportedly is on the market, and despite a down year with a .276 average and .326 on-base percentage, his 57 steals and experience as a leadoff man would aid the Cubs. Murton and Cedeno have earned starting jobs, though their positions will be determined by Hendry's winter moves. "No one is assured of anything," he said. Hendry promptly paused and corrected himself. "[Derrek] Lee will be at first," he said.
Rusch is not a 5. He's a 6.
Rusch is not a 5. He's a 6. He's a 2.7 Million dollar insurance policy. If you end up not needing him, it won't be hard to move that contract. Good move by Jim.
"the tribune may put the
Submitted by Christian on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:25 am
"the tribune may put the cubs up for sale" The article that talked about this was pure speculation. The writer was simply looking at Tribune Co. and speculating about what pieces would fetch a good price. There has been no actual discussion of this reported anywhere.
I just received my latest
I just received my latest issue of ESPN the magazine. I ranks Furcal as the best defensive shortstop in baseball-predicting he'll get even better. Lets see 1)leadoff man 2)50 steals 3) excellent defense 4)28 yrs old. He fills several needs of this club. We have the money to spend, I can't see why he wouldn't be at the top of the list.
Submitted by DC Tom on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:51 am
Re ##38 and 41 -- the Trib is in a world of hurt financially do to some poor legal and accounting advice related to the Times Mirror acquisition a few years back. Having lost in US Tax court, they do have a lump-sum of a few hundred million dollars -- well above their reserve -- that they owe to (most of) us, the U.S. taxpayers. Personally, I would be willing to forfeit my portion of that tax liability if it were invested in Furcal. But if they intend to spend it on, say, Preston Wilson, I would rather the money go to FEMA, where it will be better spent.
"Personally, I would be
Submitted by X on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:23 am
"Personally, I would be willing to forfeit my portion of that tax liability if it were invested in Furcal. But if they intend to spend it on, say, Preston Wilson, I would rather the money go to FEMA, where it will be better spent." LMFAO! Imagine if this was actually how all of the nation's economic decisions were made? Well, I'll pay my taxes this year, unless the Cubs go and get me a left handed OF with power - in which case I'll divert my tax money to the Tribune Corp - a much better use of funds.
The Trib will sell some
Submitted by X on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:27 am
The Trib will sell some pieces - or will refinance debt. But they will not divest the Cubs unless they are able to find some sucker willing to not only buy the team, but give a sweetheart deal to WGN for TV/Radio until the end of time. It would take an idiot with loads of money and absolutely no desire to be fiscally prudent (almost no such thing exists) in order to make this happen. On a scale of 1-10, I'd rank the likelihood of this a 1. With peace in the Middle East and a Jewish Pope ranking a 2.
Rusch is a servicable lefty.
Rusch is a servicable lefty. He has been healthy, has decent enough stuff, and isnt ridiculously expensive. In the event of a big trade in order to get Sosa back, I think that someone would take on Rusch in a deal. Maybe even straight up for Sosa. Id take that trade. Well, maybe not.
Submitted by Moreland's_Rou… on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:27 am
Regarding post #31, Gammons is a North Carolina grad. Confusing Duke with Carolina is akin with confusing the Sox with our Cubbies. . . though maybe it would be nice to be thought of as World Series champs. Come to think of it, if I say it enough maybe it will come true. . . . .
What the HELL is wrong with
Submitted by WPZ on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:05 am
What the HELL is wrong with the world where Ron Santo can't get in the Hall as a 3B but gets nominated for the Frick award every year? I feel like the rest of the world is watching and listening to a different game.
Does anyone have a breakdown
Submitted by Brad on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:06 am
Does anyone have a breakdown of Rusch's stats as a starter and as a reliever? Seemed like he was more effective as a starter, but I don't have numbers to base that on. I think you need J. WIlliams and Rusch, these days you need 6 solid starters, because you never know.
Does anyone have a breakdown
Submitted by big lowitzki on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:11 am
Does anyone have a breakdown of Rusch's stats as a starter and as a reliever? From ESPN.com:
In his two seasons as a Cub, Rusch is 11-9 with a 3.94 ERA in 35 starts, and 4-1 with two saves and a 4.30 in 43 relief appearances.
You can also see his split stats for 2005 here.
So clearly worth a lot more
Submitted by WPZ on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:31 am
So clearly worth a lot more as a a starter, due to better numbers, more innings and starters' relative price to non-closer relievers. The rotation picture really has me scratching my head now. It would be a lot more simple if we could trade either Wood or Maddux - Steve Finley anyone?
Why the heck would we want
Submitted by big lowitzki on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:37 am
Why the heck would we want Steve Finly? Have you seen his numbers from this past year? I would rather have Preston Wilson!!
regarding the starting
regarding the starting rotation: Recently Jim Hendry said that he doesn't really trust the medical reports he's been getting on his players (all of which say that everyone is 100%). And the person he is most dubious about, deservedly so, is Kerry Wood. He intimated that if he has five starters ready after spring training he may put off adding Wood to the rotation so that he can get his arm in shape. I infer from that that he may decide to use Wood as a setup man from time to time early in the season. I also infer that from Hendry's remarks that Dusty HAS TO start being concerned about getting off to a good start in April and May. If you have Wood setting up Dempster next Spring, even if it's irregularly, you are going to see more Cub wins. Saving Wood for the end of the year by using him to set up the closer at the beginning of the year, sure looks like a real possiblity.
Wood in the bullpen is a
Submitted by tribe22 on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:57 am
Wood in the bullpen is a reasonable theory, but now who's the number 3 starter? Maddux, if he comes back, but if not--JWilliams is our number 3? Yikes. This sounds like we need to sign a number 3 or make a deal, assuming Wood can't go to start the season. In addition to being the set-up man, Woody's a lot better long relief guy than Wellemeyer. Still need some veteran help in that bullpen.
i can't think of anyone i'd
Submitted by nate on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:57 am
i can't think of anyone i'd want less on the cubs than steve finley, except for maybe eric milton.
oh come on nate, there's
Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:04 am
neifi and macias were too
Submitted by nate on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:09 am
neifi and macias were too easy... and i'd still rather take burny back than finley. the rest of the list, you're right about
LOL Rob (sorry for the LOL
Submitted by cubswinthepennant on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:11 am
LOL Rob (sorry for the LOL everybody. I won't do it again.)
We need a #2 starter. We
Submitted by NCFAN on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:31 am
We need a #2 starter. We would have z as a #1. A FA #2 Prior #2 at #3 Maddux then Rusch/Williams. Set up wood and If all goes well have him replace rusch/williams. Imagine a 7th 8th 9th inning with Williamson, Wood, and Dempster. Prior could go 6 on 125 pitches then. Greatly shortens the game. Also how many more wins would Maddux have had if he could have left after 6?
Submitted by jacos on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:45 am
Your openning day Rfer-Carl Everett! AHHH!! "If you have Wood setting up Dempster next Spring, even if it's irregularly, you are going to see more Cub wins" Devils advocate-What from a small sample shows that? First of all you need to have the lead to get to him, (# 3Starters-Rusch, Williams, Maddux) I don't think so. Second he has to be healthy. Third he has to have a mentality that says I will not walk the 8th hitter on 4 pitches!! You are already talking about him not being ready for the start of the season. C'mon lets put the horeshoe down and get real. The Cubs need 2-3 good, not quality, starters to have a chance next year.
Submitted by jacos on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:46 am
Your openning day Rfer-Carl Everett! AHHH!! "If you have Wood setting up Dempster next Spring, even if it's irregularly, you are going to see more Cub wins" Devils advocate-What from a small sample shows that? First of all you need to have the lead to get to him, (# 3Starters-Rusch, Williams, Maddux) I don't think so. Second he has to be healthy. Third he has to have a mentality that says I will not walk the 8th hitter on 4 pitches!! You are already talking about him not being ready for the start of the season. C'mon lets put the horeshoe down and get real. The Cubs need 2-3 good, not quality, starters to have a chance next year.
Submitted by mrcubslover on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:55 am
On second thought, now's the
Submitted by MrCubsLover on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:00 pm
On second thought, now's the time to assimilate a Rich Hill into the rotation. He's not getting any younger. I'm still confused what role Rusch is going to play.
On second thought, now's the
Submitted by MrCubsLover on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:02 pm
On second thought, now's the time to assimilate a Rich Hill into the rotation. He's not getting any younger. I'm still confused what role Rusch is going to play.
Jacos, Hendry said he does
Jacos, Hendry said he does not want to put Wood iinto the rotation early in the year unless he's absolutely convinced that he's 110% ready to pitch quality starts (that's six innings or more). But due to the nature of his injury and surgery he still can pitch. So using him in relief should result in more wins than simply having him pitch side sessions. I'm not advocating this, but I suspect that's what Hendry has in mind. No telling what Dusty will do though.
Ok, I can see that point,
Submitted by jacos on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:09 pm
Ok, I can see that point, the lesser of two evils.But it is a drop off from Z,Prior to the next three, that not even the Yankees could over come.
i'm not convinced that
Submitted by nate on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:21 pm
i'm not convinced that maddux will be any worse than he was this year, which was somewhere between a 3rd and 4th starter. i wouldn't be surprised if he gets a handle on giving up the long ball and is more effective in '06 than '05
even if wood has to pitch
Submitted by crunch on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:26 pm
even if wood has to pitch for a month or so outta the pen its highly doubtful the cubs will search another starter... z/prior/maddux...rusch/j.williams...mitre/hill... guzman is close enough... that's 7-8 guys not even counting wood who will most likely (practically 100%) rejoin the rotation when he's able. they definately got enough top-order guys. hell, a lot of clubs would be thrilled to have Z/Prior...much less have the others to kick around in the 3-5 slots. to go out and try to spend 6-8-10+ million on another starter would be quite confusing.
"On second thought, now's
Submitted by X on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:46 pm
"On second thought, now's the time to assimilate a Rich Hill into the rotation. He's not getting any younger. " Until he develops another pitch, there is no time to put him into a major league rotation. Sorry - but right now he has a mediocre fastball and a yakker that he can't consistently locate. That's why he got pounded last year in Aug, Sept. Oct. After there was some footage of him from June and july, it was plainly clear that you could wait on him, take lots of walks, and pound his fastball if he threw it.
You're right. Hill just so
Submitted by MrCubsLover on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:50 pm
You're right. Hill just so happened to be the first of our young pitchers to come to mind--Mitre would be a better idea.
Submitted by Barry Foote on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:59 pm
Finley. 'Roid casualty. Along with Byrnes, Aurilia, and Bret Boone.
"Mitre would be a better
Submitted by X on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:07 pm
"Mitre would be a better idea." Not until he fixes his facial hair - that's hideous. Seriously - he was terrible in his 7 starts also this year. If we plan on being competitive, we can't count on Mitre either. If this is a rebuilding year, then he's a fine 6th starter. The plan Hendry has professed for a while now is to be built around pitching. Given all the problems we have with Wood and Prior's health and Maddux's declining performance, I'm not sure if that holds true anymore. The problem is that we have between 25 and 30 mm spent on our rotation, and we can't guarantee any sort of consistent performance from anyone except Zambrano at this point. I'm afraid about next year. It has the potential to go gravely wrong early.
yeah, mitre was real
Submitted by nate on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:13 pm
yeah, mitre was real terrible against Florida in June: 9 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 18 gb-6 fb
Oh, so you want to isolate
Submitted by X on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:19 pm
Oh, so you want to isolate out one or two starts? I can play that game too. How about games vs the Sox, Yanks, Padres and Rockies? How about looking at the body of work? I was referring to his performance of the course of his 7 starts. 5.20 ERA, 2-3, his 1.4+ WHIP, and being beaten like a drum in most of his outings. Nate, are you actually trying to make an arguement that based on what you saw of Sergio Mitre last year that you feel he is ready to be in the rotation next year? I can't imagine that. Let me know Nate...Do you think Sergio Mitre is a good major league pitcher who should be starting on a 100mm+ team with post season aspirations?
I agree, you can't isolate
Submitted by MrCubsLover on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:30 pm
I agree, you can't isolate one of Mitre's starts. On the other hand, you can't continue to hold him back, or any of our other young pitchers for that matter. It's not as if Mitre was horrible. We can't continue to depend on Wood and Prior and Z to carry us. It's time to move on from that illusion.
Submitted by jacos on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:35 pm
I have my reservations about
Submitted by MrCubsLover on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:42 pm
I have my reservations about Burnett--the risk/reward factor regarding injury. Milwood wouldn't be a bad addition for the right price (4-5M tops imo) but I think he'll be asking for quite a bit more than he's worth--and will probably get it.
err..maybe I'd give 6M tops
Submitted by MrCubsLover on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:50 pm
err..maybe I'd give 6M tops to Milwood
Submitted by X on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:52 pm
"18 gb-6 fb" Fantastic stat... wholly irrelevant, but fantastic. If he keeps getting hit, and gives up over 5 runs per game, why is a 3:1 G/F rate at all important? If you are going to tell me he just has really bad luck on where the balls go, I'm gonna laugh. Sergio Mitre is not a major league ready pitcher. If he was, he'd have been pitching in the major leagues last year when we were desperately seeking anyone who could effectively get outs.
"It's not as if Mitre was
Submitted by X on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:56 pm
"It's not as if Mitre was horrible." He had a 5.37 ERA. That's horrible. List off any starters with an ERA of 5.40 or more that you want starting for us... short list... "you can't continue to hold him back, or any of our other young pitchers for that matter." Until they have major league stuff, they shouldn't be on the major league roster. This is not a training ground. And our coaching staff is particularly poor at teaching while guys are here. "Milwood- Burnett" got 4 years, 80mm will get you the two of them... I don't think that's in the cards unless we plan on going Cedeno, Murton, Pie, Greenberg as the starters at SS and OF next year. "(4-5M tops imo) but I think he'll be asking for quite a bit more than he's worth--and will probably get it." He will get what the market says he is worth...and that will be much more than 4-5mm, probably closer to 10 than to 5.
Submitted by nate on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:27 pm
geez, x... first, relax. 2nd, gb/fb ratio isn't irrelevant, groundball pitchers obviously as a whole give up a lot less home runs than flyball pitchers, though the defense of the infield makes them more susceptable to errors. 3rd, I'm not arguing that Mitre deserves a spot in the rotation, but I do think he's got some good qualities and deserves a spot in spring training. all i was trying to do in my post was respond to this: "he was terrible in his 7 starts also this year" i remember being really impressed in his shutout, so i thought i'd remind you about it. need to cut down on the caffeine, perhaps?
that should read "deserves a
Submitted by nate on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:28 pm
that should read "deserves a chance to earn a spot in spring training"...
Seven starts is a pretty
Submitted by vorare on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:59 pm
Seven starts is a pretty small sample size for a starter. Look at the individual starts: 5/24 7.0IP, 2ER, 1BB, 5K 5/29 5.1IP, 6ER, 1BB, 1K 6/03 4.2IP, 5ER, 3BB, 0K 6/08 7.0IP, 0ER, 1BB, 6K 6/14 9.0IP, 0ER, 0BB, 3K 6/19 5.2IP, 5ER, 4BB, 2K 6/24 4.2IP, 7ER, 4BB, 2K That's two excellent starts, one very good start, and four bad starts. I'd wager you can find a similar seven-game stretch in many MLB pitcher's game logs.
To prove the point, here's
Submitted by chifan3887 on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:19 pm
On the Burnett/ Millwood debate even though I love Burnett's stuff I would feel more secure giving Millwood a Pavano deal with both of them and maybe even Jeff Weaver will get. Millwood is just more of a sure thing he more often than not gives you a quality start. The only bad years he has had was with PHI and that more likely than not had to do with CBP than anything else. Why in the hell did Jeter win a gold glove? Tejada is better with the glove and he had better hitting numbers. Uribe has a better glove too. Iguchi should have had one today too he is better than Hudson or Roberts with the glove and the stick. As much as I hate the Sox they got screwed with the Gold Glove voting. Rowand is better than Wells. Chavez should not have been in consideration due to his injury. Arod, Blalock,Crede all were more deserving. FWIW here will be the NL Gold Glove winners: C: Aumas 1b: Dlee 2b: Grudz ss: Furcal 3b: Ensberg of: A. Jones of: Edmounds of: Abreu p: Pettitte
Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:50 pm
Furcal report, agent is leaking teams, this rarely makes the teams happy: http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/braves/1105/02braves.html -- To sum up Mets and Cubs both called (confirmed by agent). Rollins's contract is the barometer (avg salary 8.75 mil for 4 years w/ 5th year option) All things being equal (in other words $$$), Braves are his top choice. Of course in the article it has this line: "Also in Furcal's favor: The free-agent crop is thin among position players ó Furcal, White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko and Boston center fielder Matt Damon top the list." So whoever wrote it has one helluva a sense of humor or is just clueless.
Submitted by Bleeding Blue on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:48 pm
Something to ponder if DLee wins the Gold Glove tomorrow. Has anyone ever one both the Silver Slugger, and a Gold Glove, and then see someone else who plays the same position win the MVP? Just seems funny to think that DLee could be the best offensive and defensive 1st baseman in the NL, but fellow 1st baseman Pujols will likely be the Most Valuable Player in the NL.
Submitted by jumbo on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:17 pm
Interesting point Blue. If DLee wins both and Pujols wins MVP that's an open admission of the value of playing for a winner to the MVP race.
i also remember that mitre
Submitted by CUBBY on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:45 pm
i also remember that mitre game. i followed every pitch on that mlb.com gameday thingy. i can remember saying we needed to bring him up again and give him a shot cuz hes ready. not cuz i studied the damn minor league stats or yadda yadda, i just had a feeling on him. so they brought him up. and i said YES! here we go. i was even thinking up nicknames for him. but he definitely doesnt wow anybody in his first 3 outings, and im thinking, "oh shit." but then on june 8th we win 2-0 on 7 innings of 2-hit ball, and then on the 14th he throws the shutout, and im fucking pumped. "i knew it! i told you!" i said to my buddies who doubted and believed more in koronka. ...and then it all went to shit. and he gave up so much ass they banished him to the bullpen where half his appearances he gave up more ass and i only seemed to be catching games where he looked terrible. so now i dont trust the guy anymore and as usual i have no point, other than that i at one point was pumped on him, but that mojo seemed to go somewhere after that shutout.
C'mon guys, you seem to be
Submitted by cubswinthepennant on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:50 pm
C'mon guys, you seem to be forgetting that Pujols was just ranked the best player in baseball according to MLBs Elias system.
2nd, gb/fb ratio isn't
Submitted by MikeC on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:20 pm
2nd, gb/fb ratio isn't irrelevant, groundball pitchers obviously as a whole give up a lot less home runs than flyball pitchers, though the defense of the infield makes them more susceptable to errors. That is all fine and dandy but is completly meaningless when applied to Mitre. He may be a ground ball pitcher but he also gives up the HR ball alot. There is a reason his nickname is the "Meat Tray." He can serve up a HR ball just as well as everyone's favorite pitcher to hit a HR off of Eric Milton. 11 HR's in 60 IP is about 38 HR's in 210 IP. Factor in his poor K/BB rate and your looking at a recipe for disaster. Grounball pitchers "should" be able to keep it in the park because that is entirely what their pitching success is based on. A guy gets a single, the next hitter hits into a double play. But when the ball is hit for a HR it doesn't matter how awesome your defense is. Not saying Mitre can't be good down the line, but he hasn't shown any ability to stop giving up the big hits. He can cruise with the best of them for 3-4 innings and then like clock work he just falls to pieces on the mound. Whether this is hitters adjusting to him during a game because he keeps throwing the same stuff in the same spots or just simply falls apart mentally, can't really be explained. Mitre had most of his success early in the season. After that not so good. That tells me the league figured him out and Mitre failed to adjust. He is a possible starter if 2-3 guys go down before him. He doesn't deserve a shot over Williams or Rusch. I like to get the rookies some time but Rusch and Williams will probably do a better job.
Arg better catch those times
Submitted by MikeC on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:23 pm
Arg better catch those times you mis-speak or people will jump down your throat with, "Mitre wasn't a rookie, thus your entire point is invalid! Hahaha" Anyways, rookie should be replaced with younger players. I was thinking of Murton, Cedeno, and Dubois while speaking of Mitre.
Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:45 pm
The list of AL Gold Glovers (in parenthesis is their DEFENSIVE win shares and rank, and who finished 1st) AL Gold Glovers ---- C Jason Varitek (WS 4.9 10th - Joe Mauer 9.2) 1B Mark Teixeira (WS 3.3 1st) 2b Orlando Hudson (WS 7.9 1st) SS Derek Jeter (WS 6.0 6th - Juan Uribe 9.3) 3B Eric Chavez (WS 5.2 2nd - Chone Figgins 5.5) OF Vernon Wells (WS 6.7 2nd), Ichiro Suzuki (4.3 9th), Torii Hunter(WS 3.8 16th) - (Aaron Rowand 7.6, Wells, Grady Sizemore 6.4) P Kenny Rogers (no calculation for pitcher defensive win shares) -- Still think they should give a GG to each OF position...
Submitted by dave (big lowitzki) on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:58 pm
Rob...do you if figgin's winshares are solely at third base? If so, that is even more impressive.
I thought so at first, but
Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:13 pm
I thought so at first, but apparently not. He's not listed at second or outfield, so that must be his cumulative. Hardball Times needs to fix that.... His breakdown 2b - 42 G 3b - 56 G SS - 4 G LF - 15 G CF - 50 G RF - 8 G So they must just list a guy at whatever position he played most at. So Chavez did deserve it by WS standards, Crede was 2nd
figgins isn't a very good
Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:09 pm
figgins isn't a very good defensive 3b anyway, great range but he short arms his throws too much. His best position is center in my opinion, followed by 2nd.
"To prove the point, here's
Submitted by X on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:23 pm
"To prove the point, here's A.J. Burnett's last seven starts:" So you can select AJ's bad block, and compare it to Mitre's entire season? Nice job! Selective use of statistics is pretty nifty. Mitre was not prepared to be a starter in the majors last year. That's why he was demoted after 7 starts, and when he was brought back he didn't get a chance to start over Hill, Williams, Rusch, etc.
Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 11/01/2005 - 11:42 pm
So you can select AJ's bad block, and compare it to Mitre's entire season? Nice job! Selective use of statistics is pretty nifty. I think that was his point, using 7 games as the barometer is pretty silly. Mitre has the stuff to be a pretty good #3 or 4 pitcher in the bigs, someone just needs to give him the chance. The Cubs probably aren't that team. Put him on a team with a good defense and he could very well be the next Jon Garland. He relies A LOT on his defense, but he generally keeps the ball in the park. (well, until last year in the bigs) His HR/9 rates: 2002: 0.37 (Lansing) 2003: 0.37 (AA) 2003: 1.04 (Cubs) 2004: 0.79 (AAA) 2004: 1.05 (Cubs) 2005: 0.64 (AAA) 2005: 1.64 (Cubs) Before you jump on the, "this is the bigs" argument, he pitched nearly the same amount of major league innings in 2004 and kept a rather nice HR/9 rate. Although the ERA's were simialr last year as a starter or a reliever, his Home run totals were way off: 4 HR/43.1 IP as a starter (.84 HR/9) 7 HR/17.0 IP as a reliever (3.7 HR/9) Many sinkerballers, which is what Mitre is, claim their sinker is better, the more tired they are and the longer they go in a game. Maybe this is where his problem lied, that he was too fresh coming in as a reliever and his out pitch wasn't as effective. He showed an ability, albeit brief, to dominate major league hitters. I think he's young enough, and has enough of a minor league track record to be given an opportunity somewhere. Most likely not the Cubs, but I'm guessing Hendry is finely willing to deal him this season and he'll probably get his chance.
Rob nailed it. You can't
Rob nailed it. You can't whine about selective use of statistics, and then turn around and blast Mitre based only on his ERA during a seven game stretch.
"I think that was his point,
Submitted by X on Wed, 11/02/2005 - 11:46 am
"I think that was his point, using 7 games as the barometer is pretty silly." Selecting 7 out of Burnett's 32 is silly. Using 7 out of 7 for Mitre is, in fact, not. Selecting 7 bad starts from a guy with a 3.40/1.27/.237 is silly. Taking 7 starts (all of the starts he made) that are exactly on par with Mitre's season numbers (5.37/1.41/.261) is not. Selecting one year for AJ from a career that has spanned 7 years, and selecting 7 unrepresentative starts from 131 total starts is silly. Using the 7 starts of Mitre this year that are, in fact, significantly better than his career average (6.12/1.62/.300)is not. I can't believe this is even a discussion. 7 pretty good starts from Mitre's so far ineffective career vs the 7 worst consecutive starts of AJ Burnett's career? That's ricockulous.
"Rob nailed it. You can't
Submitted by X on Wed, 11/02/2005 - 11:52 am
"Rob nailed it. You can't whine about selective use of statistics, and then turn around and blast Mitre based only on his ERA during a seven game stretch." Want to discuss the entirety of his major league career? We can do that. I was giving Moustache-Boy the benefit of the doubt by only discussing his 7 starts last year. Want to talk about his 9 starts in 2004? They were MUCH worse than his 7 starts in 2005. I'll take a pass on his 2 starts in 2003, although they were even worse. Mitre is not ready to pitch every 5th day on a playoff contending team. If we intend on competing, there is no room for him. I don't have a problem with Mitre - unless the Cubs intend on competing next year. Garland, if you exclude his first season in the bigs, never had a year with an ERA over 4.89. He had 3.69, 4.58, 4.51, 4.89 up until last year. If Mitre could do that, he'd be fine - but nothing we have seen of him over any stretch that he was here, 2005 or 2004 indicates that. Look at Mitre's MLB body of work... Really guys...
"You can't whine " Oh, and
Submitted by X on Wed, 11/02/2005 - 11:01 am
"You can't whine " Oh, and by the way, nobody is "whining".
what's the link on those
Submitted by billy on Wed, 11/02/2005 - 11:36 am
what's the link on those gold gloves? Or is it just speculation???
From what I've seen of Mitre
Submitted by jacos on Wed, 11/02/2005 - 11:40 am
From what I've seen of Mitre I do not want him in the rotation next year unless the plan is to throw away 2006 and get experience for these guys to see what value they have. The Cubs have to be competitive now.
This Mitre discussion is a
Submitted by The Dude on Wed, 11/02/2005 - 11:04 am
This Mitre discussion is a waste of time. I would say that Mitre does have a chance of being a solid major league starter in the future, probably nothing better than a back of the rotation guy though. With that being said, I don't think a team with aspirations of contending for a championship can afford to give a guy like Mitre a shot based on potential, not recent performance. Just like I would be a bit skeptical of handing Rich Hill a spot in the rotation, I also wouldn't feel too good about giving Mitre a shot of landing in the rotation. Contending teams don't just hand over rotation spots... you have to earn them, something Mitre has not done. Starting him in the minors until he can show some consistency or using him as trade bait makes sense. Advocating him for a spot in the 2006 Cubs rotation doesn't.
"From what I've seen of
Submitted by X on Wed, 11/02/2005 - 11:08 am
"From what I've seen of Mitre I do not want him in the rotation next year unless the plan is to throw away 2006 and get experience for these guys to see what value they have." and "Contending teams don't just hand over rotation spots... you have to earn them, something Mitre has not done. " I agree 100% with Jacos and The Dude. Unless the plan is to toss 2006, there is no way we can go into the season having a serious discussion about Sergio Mitre in the rotation. (unless that is the barbershop chair rotation - shave this dude's stache - it is sick.)
Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 11/02/2005 - 11:34 am
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2210670 AL GG winners NL winners should be announced today and I hear Barrett and Ramirez have a good shot. I mean if Jason Varitek is going to win one for his bat, those 2 might as well be in contention.
Submitted by big lowitzki on Wed, 11/02/2005 - 11:56 am
My NL GG picks: C - Barrett 1B - Derek Lee 2b - Todd Walker SS - Nomar 3b - A-Ram OF - Dubois OF - Dunn OF - Murton Okay...Derek Lee just got it for his bat... Dang our defense was bad...
Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 11/02/2005 - 11:58 am
Using 7 out of 7 for Mitre is, in fact, not. Really, that's a fact, huh? Seems more like an opinion to me. An opinion that his minor league #'s and scouting reports mean jack s****, and that all we should do is look at how he's done in the majors so far and particularly last year.. An opinion which I do not agree with it (nor others). A fact is irrefutable, everything else on here is opinion. I can't believe this is even a discussion. 7 pretty good starts from Mitre's so far ineffective career vs the 7 worst consecutive starts of AJ Burnett's career? Once again, no one is really comparing Burnett to Mitre, once again, just pointing out the fallacy of basing anything off of 7 major league starts. Hey, Juan Cruz was pretty damn awesome in his first 7 starts!!! Garland, if you exclude his first season in the bigs... Garland's 2000 season he made 13 starts, so can we exclude Mitre's first 13 starts as well? this is fun.... What else can we start excluding to make our points? In the end, I don't disagree at all with your conclusion about MItre, just your method of getting there.
I might up-chuck my
I might up-chuck my cheerio's if Barrett wins a gold glove. Worst defensive catcher in the NL wins a GG? Might as well just stop giving out the award.
that was a joke about
Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 11/02/2005 - 11:57 am
Speaking of Barrett, I
Submitted by BLOOP on Wed, 11/02/2005 - 11:58 am
Speaking of Barrett, I didn't see the failed rundown vs. Philly in cubs.com's Play of the Year. What play in this bunch could possibly be called a play of the year? THE CANDIDATES Patterson's catch - 4/19 at CIN Patterson's walk-off homer - 4/27 vs. CIN Perez's running catch - 5/31 at LAD Hollandsworth's grab - 6/25 at CWS Perez's grand slam - 7/24 at STL Maddux's 3,000th strikeout - 7/26 vs. SF Maddux's defense - 9/22 at MIL
from
Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 11/02/2005 - 11:17 am
from rotoworld.com --- Sources have told Deadspin.com that Matt Lawton has tested positive for steroids. So, this is the notable AL outfielder who has tested positive? According to the report, Lawton is currently appealing the suspension, which is why there has been no announcement from MLB. ---- Well at least we got something for him....
X, I don't think Mitre
X, I don't think Mitre should be starting '06 in the Cubs rotation either. I was simply responding to the fact that you blasted Mitre based on a single seven-game stretch of starts (of which, only four can be considered "bad").
ESPN off season power
Submitted by JSturty on Wed, 11/02/2005 - 11:48 am
ESPN off season power rankings have the Cubs at #22. 22?
ESPN knows there's more than
Submitted by crunch on Wed, 11/02/2005 - 11:10 pm
ESPN knows there's more than 3 teams playing baseball? nyy/nym/bos... wow...go ESPN.
"In the end, I don't
Submitted by X on Wed, 11/02/2005 - 11:23 pm
"In the end, I don't disagree at all with your conclusion about MItre, just your method of getting there." My method of getting there is twofold. One, the results of his performance - which can be assesed only as bad. The second is from my observation of him pitching. And my observation is that he is very hittable. FACT - He's not Burnett. FACT - He's not Garland. FACT - He's not good. OPINION - He needs to be somewhere other than our starting rotation next year.
i wouldnt worry about mitre
Submitted by crunch on Wed, 11/02/2005 - 11:47 pm
i wouldnt worry about mitre being in the rotation anyway... z/prior/wood/maddux... rusch/j.williams...mitre/r.hill... if mitre is there someone's injured. unless some trades go down he fits in somewhere around 7th in the "depth" of starters... assuming wood *might* miss a month or so out of the rotation and j.williams (or other) is traded (or sucks hard in spring)...that's about the only way he's got a legit shot to start it seems.
let me just fix a couple of
Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 11/02/2005 - 11:30 pm
let me just fix a couple of things and I think we'll be okay here.. --- "In the end, I don't disagree at all with your conclusion about MItre, just your method of getting there." My method of getting there is twofold. One, the results of his [major league] performance - which can be assesed only as bad. The second is from my observation of him pitching. And my observation is that he is very hittable. FACT - He's not Burnett. FACT - He's not Garland. OPINION - He's not good. OPINION - He needs to be somewhere other than our starting rotation next year. --- Pardon my snarkiness, but one of my pet peeves around here is folks trying to pass off their opinions as if they're the lone voice of reason and truth. Ultimately, it's where a lot of the bad vibes come around here and I think it's completely avoidable. Most of what we say around here is opinion, just our point of view, and the heavy-handed way in which folks go about trying to pass off those opinions tends to get under people's skins. Saying so-and-so sucks or is the worst defender or the best hitter or whatever is just an opinion, someone else will almost always have another take on it and sure, it may be an educated opinion but there's very little around here that is written that can be considered irrefutable. Put 10 Cubs fans in a room, you'll get 10 different opinions on how to run the team. Yours may or may not be the best way. My weekly/monthly rant on how to make the comments more enjoyable.
If we don't plan on
Submitted by NCFAN on Wed, 11/02/2005 - 11:32 pm
If we don't plan on scrapping 06 and letting the youth play WE NEED ANOTHER DAMN STARTER! HOw could everyone not realize that? If we want to go to the playoffs we need an innings eater that can have quality starts. This hoping Hill, mItre, Williams will all be great starters is nonsense. I have a novel idea. Let's spend some damn money on starting pitching and then trade some of these "Prospects" that only the die hard cub fans think are any good anyway.
"If we don't plan on
Submitted by crunch on Wed, 11/02/2005 - 11:14 pm
"If we don't plan on scrapping 06 and letting the youth play WE NEED ANOTHER DAMN STARTER! HOw could everyone not realize that?" 1-zambrano 2-prior 3-maddux the amount of clubs who even have a 1-3 like that are very few. 4-wood 5-rusch/j.williams wow... even if its just rusch/j.williams working the 4/5 for some reason...hey, that's not a bad way to close it out. assuming wood is coming back to start, though...wow. that leaves mitre/hill as guys who can also start that the club controls and guzman nipping at their heels. that's 9 starters already. i agree that some of this young pitching needs to be traded, but im looking at wellemeyer/leicester/koronka before im thinking about any of the other 9. honestly, though...j.williams seems like just the prime trade bait to get the team a RF'r or other high-end need. that's pure speculation, but with rusch sticking around 2 years now it seems like one of the big guys is on his way out.
Rob, using your logic, just
Submitted by X on Wed, 11/02/2005 - 11:26 pm
Rob, using your logic, just so I understand, Opinion - John Wayne Gacy = SCUMBAG Sorry - that's a fact. One of the definitions of the word FACT, (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=fact) is "Something believed to be true or real" One of the greatest tragedy of the new revolution in baseball is the feeling that if you can not quantify something, then you can not say it is true and be sure to be correct. I can tell you, with no doubt in my mind, that it is a fact that Sergio Mitre should not be a MLB Contending Team's starter. Is it possible I am wrong? SURE - but that doesn't make it any less a fact, per the legitimate dictionary definition of the word FACT. The morons who have delivered the Sabermetric revolution to us have bullied people into believing that if you don't have numbers to support it, it is not a fact. They have fooled many into believing that your eyes deceive you, that old school scouts don't understand, and that the only true mesure/indicator is a statistic. That is not true. "Saying so-and-so sucks or is the worst defender or the best hitter or whatever is just an opinion" I'll agree that saying that someone is the worst or the best is more opinion than anything. But saying that Manny Ramirez sucks in the OF - that's a stone cold statement of fact. Same with Mitre not being an MLB calibre starter. Don't believe the morons at BP. Their bombastic pontificating about numbers lacks a true understanding of statistics and how to use them.
Submitted by X on Wed, 11/02/2005 - 11:37 pm
"1-zambrano 2-prior 3-maddux 4-wood 5-rusch/j.williams" Is that 900 innings? History tells me no. Teams that make the playoffs usually get 900-1000 innings for their starting 5. Sure - the Yanks are an exception. But if you have 35mm tied into 5 starters, and can't get close to 1000 innings from them, your are in trouble. Teams drool at the thought of Mitre, Hill, Guzman, Rusch and Williams. Now if suddenly Prior and Wood could both get healthy, that would change the dynamic completely. But I see no evidence that they will suddenly get a case of health.
Submitted by nate on Wed, 11/02/2005 - 11:00 pm
when you bring serial killers into the argument, it becomes fact that you should chill out and have a beer. Rob, excellent post.
"VORP" WORTHLESS Mr. X,
Submitted by Jody Moulton on Wed, 11/02/2005 - 11:31 pm
"VORP" WORTHLESS Mr. X, please share with the class your research that has finally debunked the myth of VORP. While youíre at it, please let us all know what statistics are ok with you for analysis so we can talk apples to apples. Is it simply the statistics you can understand/digest or is your mind open enough to consider there might be people out there that have done years of research to validate their work and might be on to something? Is any new statistic science uncovers WORTHLESS because it might make an older one look inadequate? Is the world still flat? One of the greatest tragedy of the new revolution in baseball is the feeling that if you can not quantify something, then you can not say it is true and be sure to be correct. Mr. X, if youíre still referring to this silly argument about Mitre making the Cubís rotation next year, then no, nobody on this planet can say with certainty that Mitre will never be good enough to make a major league rotation for a contending team. Not you, not me. Not statheads, not scouts. Not Hendy, not Baker. Using statistics to back up your argument (no matter which side youíre on) only makes your argument more sound. For instance, if you told us Burnitz was a better home run hitter last year than Lee just because you think so, and someone challenged you with a stat (total home runs for 2005 in this case) proving Lee was a better home run hitter, would you still think you were right just because it was your opinion? What stats donít do is prove anything about the future being certain, and nor does your opinion. I can tell you, with no doubt in my mind, that it is a fact that Sergio Mitre should not be a MLB Contending Team's starter. Is it possible I am wrong? SURE - but that doesn't make it any less a fact So while weíre on the topic of your opinion Mr. X, maybe you could share with us your qualifications as a talent evaluator of professional baseball players. Are you a scout? Did you play professional baseball? Perhaps youíve got access to the MLB scouting bureau reports that the rest of us canít seem to get our hands on. From your posts it seems clear you believe ìold school scoutsî donít like Mitre as a starter. How do you know that? I wonder why Mitre has been a trade target of other teams for several years now when they come calling on Hendry? Probably nothing to do with his mid-nineties sinking fastballÖor his excellent curveball. Donít believe me? Iíll back it up with one of those pesky facts you seem to disdain. This quote is from Baseball America. If you donít know them, theyíre considered the top scouting publication in the US. Hereís their quote: ìBecause of that overabundance of pitchers, Mitre is likely headed to Triple-A Iowa to start the season. Last year, the 6-foot-4, 210-pounder went 7-9, 3.34 for Double-A West Tenn. The California native struck out 128 batters and walked 41 in 146 inningsÖHis fastball ranges from 86-94 mph, and he sets it up with a solid curve and changeup.î Last I checked, 23 year old pitchers that have a 3:1 K/BB ratio in AA and can throw mid-nineties heat donít grow on trees. If Mitre could harness his control at the major league level thereís still plenty of time for him to be a quality starter. Heíll only be 25 in February so donít count him out just yet. The morons who have delivered the Sabermetric revolution to us have bullied people into believing that if you don't have numbers to support it, it is not a fact. They have fooled many into believing that your eyes deceive you, that old school scouts don't understand, and that the only true mesure/indicator is a statistic. That is not trueÖDon't believe the morons at BP. Their bombastic pontificating about numbers lacks a true understanding of statistics and how to use them. Wow, that sounds a lot like fear Mr. X. Are you afraid you might be wrong? There must be some reason you feel you need to lash out at anyone who tries to take a more scientific approach to evaluating baseball. Have you been bullied by those hooded nasties from Baseball Prospectus? If you spent a little time reading BP and some of the work from other fantastic organizations doing groundbreaking research on baseball, you might realize they respect ìold school scoutsî very much. Hell, you might even like reading their work when you realize theyíre just as passionate about the game as you are. After all, only a quality scout can watch a 17 year old play baseball and identify the characteristics about that boy that might make him a major leaguer. His stats from high school arenít going to significantly tell us much about his odds of becoming successful. There is room for both disciplines here Mr. X, one is not better than the other. They both make hits and misses on players, but the wisest front office personal in the game with listen to both sides before rendering a decision. Look, everyone that comes to TCR has a valued opinion and yours might be right about Mitre. But donít ignorantly slam people who disagree with you because you think youíre more of an authority than quality research you havenít taken the time to read or opened your mind to. Is that 900 innings? History tells me no. Teams that make the playoffs usually get 900-1000 innings for their starting 5. Sure - the Yanks are an exception. Now this is just wrong to post without thinking. We can look just as recently as the 2005 season and see that only 3 of the 8 teams that made the playoffs had their starting five throw 900 innings in total. The better question is, how does the number of innings pitched by the top 5 starters a team goes into a season with have any correlation to their odds of making the playoffs? Now if suddenly Prior and Wood could both get healthy, that would change the dynamic completely. But I see no evidence that they will suddenly get a case of health. Really Mr. X? Perhaps you could share your qualifications with the group as an evaluator of an athleteís health. I assume youíve poured over Wood and Priorís MRIîs and meticulously evaluated their extensive medical records then? Do you have evidence they will not be healthy next year or is that another opinion youíve construed to be fact? For all of your ranting about how the Cubís pitching is in such bad shape, Iíve yet to see a reasoned post that outlines your plan for dramatically improving this situation. What free agent pitchers should be brought into Chicago? Why are their odds better than many of the pitchers already under contract? Who will you let go to make room for these new pitchers? How will you afford to pay these pitchers? If you have a realistic solution weíd all love to hear it.
I knew the text definition
Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 11/02/2005 - 11:41 pm
I knew the text definition was on it's way.... ""Something believed to be true or real" So let me get this straight, one person believes that something is true and it becomes fact for everyone else. Eww, I want to play, watch this. It's a fact that Dusty Baker is the wrong manager for the Chicago Cubs. Now that I've claimed it to be fact, I have the right to be apalled whenever someone disagrees with me. It's a fact dude, live with it. The morons who have delivered the Sabermetric revolution to us have bullied people into believing that if you don't have numbers to support it, it is not a fact. I find that statement either highly amusing or ridiculously contradicting considering at least half of your argument about Sergio Mitre is based on 7 major league starts. I grow tired of dissecting the word fact, as Crunch eluded too, Mitre is 7th, maybe 8th(Hill) or 9th(Guzman) on the starting pitcher depth chart at this point with the Cubs. Once a team gives him 33 starts for a year, I'd be pretty shocked if he didn't put up at least league average #'s, skewed one way or the other dependant on the quality of defense behind him. Peace :)
I grow tired of dissecting
Submitted by Mr. Whipple on Wed, 11/02/2005 - 11:39 pm
I grow tired of dissecting the word. Rob, I think what you meant to say is: Your dissecting has grown tiresome. Would you like to touch my monkey? Touch him! Love him! Liebe meine abschmenkee! Just in case X didn't understand. Now let us do the trout dance.
I had Furcal pegged as a
Submitted by Horace on Thu, 11/03/2005 - 11:58 am
I had Furcal pegged as a future Cub back in Jan when the Braves pissed him off by extneding Huddy's contract before Furcal's. Now the media is into it, and I'm worried they'll jinx it. Great range, great arm, leads off, speed. He's what the Cubs need. I'd go up to 4yrs/$35M. Then think about picking up Dunn, Jearns, Juan Pierre or Tori Hunter via trade ( their teams are all looking to shed payroll). Then look for a defensive second baseman. Orlando Hudson or Castillo come to mind. If not, keep Nomar around and slide him over to second, or left. Jim Hendry has $30M to play with. He'll Git R Dun.
"I grow tired of dissecting
Submitted by X on Thu, 11/03/2005 - 11:52 am
"I grow tired of dissecting the word fact, as Crunch eluded too, Mitre is 7th, maybe 8th(Hill) or 9th(Guzman) on the starting pitcher depth chart at this point with the Cubs." Either way - 7, 8 or 9 are not ready to play for a contender. It all depends on what we want to be in 2006.
Here is how I think the Cubs
Submitted by Arizona Phil on Thu, 11/03/2005 - 11:13 am
Here is how I think the Cubs starting pitching rotation looks going into the off-season cum Spring Training 2006: 1. Carlos Zambrano COMMENT: Stud. On the vege of winning a Cy Young Award. Nuff said. 2. Mark Prior COMMENT: Needs to come to camp in better shape, so he is 100% at the start of the season. If he does that, he is a second #1 stud starter. 3. Greg Maddux COMMENT: In the twilight of his career, he has not had the positive affect on the young Cubs starters as I had hoped he would (not his fault, though). But at least he makes all of his starts, and once he gets going, he pitches well enough to hold a spot in the rotation, although he is NOT worth $9 mil. 4. Kerry Wood COMMENT: If he can come back somewhere near to where he was in 2003, that would be fine. He is too much "Kerry Wood" to ever be anything else, so it's best to just accept him the way he is and figure that the Cubs will buy him out after the 2006 season for $3 mil and we will watch him reach his potential later this decade with the Rangers, D'backs, Yankees, or Red Sox. 5. Glendon Rusch COMMENT: He gives up too many hits and allows too many baserunners to be an effective and reliable relief pitcher, but he isn't any worse than any of the other free-agent lefty starters, so if Hendry and Dusty want a lefty starter mixed into the rotation, then Rusch is OK until someone better comes along. 6. Jerome Williams COMMENT: Likely to be used as a trading chip to help bring a right-fielder to the Cubs this off-season. Although I still think Hendry will pursue FA Jacque Jones, Hendry would save more payroll for other needs by trading J. Williams and one or two other pitching prospects (TBD) for somebody like Austin Kearns or Jay Gibbons. Also, J. Williams has one minor league option left, so he could be sent to Iowa to start the 2006 season, or he could be used out of the bullpen as a middle reliever if he is not traded and if he is not needed as a starter. 7. Angel Guzman COMMENT: From what I have seen of Guzman in the AFL, he is healthy, he is throwing a 95-97 MPH 4-seamer, a 92-93 MPH two-seamer, a knee-bending curve, ans an effective straight-change, and (with the exception of one outing) he is throwing strikes. I would have no problem starting him out at Iowa, but if he stays healthy and if he throws in the PCL like he is throwing in the AFL right now, then I can't see how the Cubs can keep him in the minors for very long. With four pitches he can throw for strikes, he is a strong candidate to be a top-of-the-rotation starter, but he could be used out of the bullpen for a while. 8. Sergio Mitre COMMENT: Could be a #5 starter with a half-dozen major league teams right now. Because he is out of minor league options, he either has to make the Cubs Opening Day 25-man roster coming out of Spring Training or else the Cubs will need to trade him. He certainly won't clear waivers. Since he doesn't have the type of stuff that lends itself to success pitching out of the bullpen (like Rusch, he gives up too many hits and allows too many baserunners to be an effective reliever, plus he needs to start because that's how he gets the fatigue he needs to make his sinker work, and also he doesn't have a "strikeout pitch"), so either he stsrts in Chicago or someplace else. I figure Williams + Mitre would be a possible combo-package used to acquire Kearns or Gibbons. 9. John Koronka COMMENT: Poor man's Jamie Moyer/Glendon Rusch, he is throwing great out here in the AFL as a CLOSER (for cribes sake!). I can see him possibly being LOOGY 2 on Cubs '06, but if anything happens to Rusch and Dusty HAS TO HAVE a lefty to replace him in the rotation, I believe Koronka would get the call over Rich Hill. 10. Rich Hill COMMENT: I guess Hill could be a LOOGY for the Cubs, but he probably has mote value right now as a trading chip because there still is some belief that he could be an effective Barry Zito-type lefty starter in the big leagues. Could be part of a deal (with J. Williams and/or Mitre) to acquire a CF (bridge to Pie), RF, or proven major league set-up type reliever. 11. Todd Wellemeyer COMMENT: Out of minor league options and with pitching mechanics that make Karry Wood look like Greg Maddux, I believe Wellemeyer is the 2nd-most likely Cub to get traded this off-season (Corey Patterson is #1). The Colorado Rockies supposedly wanted Wellemeyer and Ronny Cedeno for Preston Wilson last season, so maybe Wellemeyer will get traded to Colorado. for somebody like super-sub utility guy Luis A. Gonzalez. I would be VERY surprised if Todd Wellemeyer turns up in Spring Training with the Cubs in 2006. 12. Jon Leicester COMMENT: Of the three Cubs pitchers out of minor league options (Mitre and Wellemeyer are the other two), I believe Leicester has the best chance to make the Cubs Opening Day roster. But as a reliever, not a a starter. He had a half-year of success in the major leagues in 2004, so he has proved that he can pitch at the highest level, and would be a better fit than either Mitre or Wellemeyer in the Cubs bullpen in 2006, although he still would have to win a job in Spring Trsining 13. Bobby Brownlie COMMENT: Pitched very well when he was moved to the bullpen at Iowa in mid-season 2005, so I believe that's where his future lies. I see him as a major league middle-reliever. Nothing more, nothing less. Nothing wrong with that, though. 14. Ricky Nolasco COMMENT: Needs to start 2006 at Iowa and get a solid year of AAA success under his belt. If he can throw at Iowa in 2006 like he did at West Tenn in 2007, he could be a starting pitcher candidate in 2007. 15. Renyel Pinto COMMENT> Same thing as with Nolasco, but Pinto will be out of options after next season, so he is under more pressure than Nolasco to prove himself in AAA in 2006. He needs to improve his command, trust his stuff, and THROW STRIKES. 16. Jae-kuk Ryu COMMENT: Needs another year free of injuries or assaults on game & fish. 17. Sean Marshall COMMENT: Needs to stay healthy for one full season so we can see just how good he really is. LIKELY STARTING ROTATION AT IOWA 2006 (AS THINGS STAND NOW): 1. Guzman 2. Hill 3. Nolasco 4. Pinto 5. Ryu LIKELY STARTING ROTATION AT WEST TENN 2006 (AS THINGS STAND NOW): 1. Marshall 2. Marmol 3. Mateo 4. Wells 5. Mathes LIKELY STARTING ROTATION AT DAYTONA 2006 (AS THINGS STAND NOW): 1. Gallagher 2. Johnson 3. Billek 4. Petrick 5. Shaver LIKELY STARTING ROTATION AT PEORIA 2006 (AS THINGS STAND RIGHT NOW): 1. Pawelek 2. Veal 3. Yepez 4. Downs 5. Estrada
And after my morning hit of
And after my morning hit of peyote, I'm going to go WAY out on a limb and try to see past the near-future and project the Cubs 2007 starting rotation: 1. Zambrano 2. Prior 3. Wood or FREE-AGENT (TBD) 4. Guzman 5. Rusch OTHERS IN MIX: 6. Nolasco 7. Pinto (out of options in 2007) 8. Ryu 9. Marshall 10. Marmol I can't be more sprecific right now, but that's the way it's headed.
Submitted by JJ on Thu, 11/03/2005 - 11:49 am
Excellent summary Arizona Phil, thanks! Man that's a hell of a rotation at AAA. Those boys could rack up some strikeouts. Curiously missing is Chadd Blasko. Anybody now how he's coming along after tearing the labrum? He didn't pitch at all last year.
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Essays are beautiful shapeshifting creatures that can refashion their form to fit a whim, or slide into a pre-existing shell, like hermit crabs. They’re diverse and transgressive, modern and traditional, surprising and soothing; they can make you laugh out loud, or weep like a child; they’re often hopeful, usually reflective, but always unexpectedly delightful (that is, if they’re done right).
Among such an unconventional, hodgepodge of a species — and one known for its nuance — I wonder: is there a “wrong way” to start a personal essay?
A professor of mine certainly thought so, or at least, he strongly discouraged us from ever beginning an essay in a certain way, which is: by withholding important information for the sake of creating suspense or being intentionally misleading.
I’ve come to agree with him on this best practice of transparency.
As a writer, it’s tempting to lead readers down the garden path, only to make a blind-siding revelation several pages in. There’s drama in this technique, and it’s used the opposite of sparingly in fiction. But it seems rather out of place in the realm of the essay. I’ve often felt tricked when an essayist withholds information; suspense in this context seems more like a gimmick.
And yet, I’ve seen this guideline bent, with pleasing effect. I came across it a few months ago while reading Max Beerbohm’s essay “Something Defeasible,” which begins this way:
“The cottage had a good trim garden in front of it, and another behind it. I might not have noticed it at all but for them and their emerald greenness. . . . I liked the look that [the cottage] had of honest solidity all over, nothing anywhere scamped in the workmanship of it. It looked as thought it had been built for all time. But this was not so. For it was built on sand, and of sand; and the tide was coming in.”
Until we read this almost biblical line about the cottage being built on sand, we are envisioning a completely different one.
Beerbohm spins the same kind of literary joke as Charles Lamb, who declares at the beginning of his essay, “A Chapter on Ears,” “I have no ear.”
This inspires a startling imagination of his physiognomy, yet he immediately implores us not to imagine (even as we are) “that I am by nature destitute of those exterior twin appendages, hanging ornaments, and (architecturally speaking) handsome volutes to the human capital.” Two full paragraphs later, he finally explains what he means: “When therefore I say that I have no ear, you will understand me to mean—for music.”
In both instances, the essayist intentionally withholds: Beerbohm that the cottage is made of sand; Lamb that he isn’t referring to the physical ear. But I do not begrudge Max or Charles these omissions.
Rather, I laugh, and congratulate their cleverness and the pleasing effect of these omissions, which then causes me to reflect that perhaps we all take ourselves too seriously.
But I’ve also seen the pleasing advice of my professor play out well on the big screen, in a movie that immediately impressed me as being essayistic. I recently re-watched Sully, a 2016 film staring Tom Hanks who plays the real-life pilot Captain Sullenberger who guides a commercial aircraft to safely on the Hudson River after birds strike both engines shortly after take-off at New York’s La Guardia Airport.
Instead of withholding, we know early on in the movie that the landing was a success, not a crash, but a deliberate, if unprecedented landing, in which everyone on board — all 155 people — survive. This movie doesn’t hang on the trope of suspense. Or at least, not the kind with the life-or-death dramatic effect it could easily have been. It’s not merely a recreation of the experience.
Granted, we are perhaps given a trick similar to Beerbohm’s and Lamb’s at the beginning when we see a commercial airplane roar through and crash among skyscrapers, only to be woken up from Tom Hank’s nightmare not three minutes into the film. So there’s a hook of suspense, but the briefness of the scene, with little build-up before, is not the same kind as it could have been. But, unlike Beerbohm’s and Lamb’s essays, we are not laughing.
This opening, rather, allows the drama of the event to ooze off the stage so that a different consideration can come into focus: the unfolding of a mind. The movie is filled with numerous replays of what happened or what could have happened, flashbacks triggered by a word, something Sully sees, nightmares, and simulations: it’s a movie concerned with memory, with time. It feels very real, and fittingly so, with a realistic portrayal of the mind which trauma leaves in its wake. Around this extraordinary event, we recognize the humanity of us all, beautifully, mimetically portrayed.
It’s not that there isn’t a plot to Sully; the film follows the personal investigation that he must afterwards endure. But the suspense in Sully is that of witnessing a mind unfold.
Question: How do you practice this unfolding in your own writing?
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Eilene Lyon November 7, 2019 at 3:22 am
This is a genre that I would like to do well. Essays are about my favorite reads. I have a shelf dedicated to books of essays. Yet, I’ve never learned to analyze them the way you have. I really appreciate your take on this idea of whether an essay should have suspense or deliberately mislead the reader.
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Heather Thomson November 13, 2019 at 12:44 pm
I was so happy to hear that you love essays so much! Now I’m curious to know what’s on your essay shelf. Though I was taught to “read like a writer” in my MFA program, I feel like I’m just starting to understand essays, what makes up their parts, so I appreciate your encouragement. Thanks for commenting, Eilene!
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Hi everyone! Today’s discussion post is part of a larger conversation that has been going on in my head and relates a bit to the discussions that have been happening in the book community as a whole. This particular topic can easily become something completely different, so I think this will be part of a larger group of discussions on book blogging in general and my thoughts and feelings these days.
Okay so, blogger burnout. For me specifically, I’ve been really struggling with my content and what I want to write next. As I write this, I’ve got 63 drafts just sitting there, half finished or not even started because I get an idea but then have almost zero motivation to actually write the damn thing. Add in the pressure that I know if I’m not consistent with my content, my engagement will drop. And let’s all be honest with each other here – engagement is a HUGE reason for us to keep going, no matter how many people claim that numbers don’t matter. Would I still be blogging 3 years after I started if no one but my family was reading what I was putting out there? Absolutely not.
In the wider book community, the focus seems to be shifting a lot more towards other forms of blogging such as tik tok (or booktok, if you will). Bloggers have always struggled to be seen when put next to BookTubers and Bookstagrammers, who are much more visible and get more views and interactions. Because of all this, bloggers aren’t being treated very fairly within the publishing industry. If you haven’t been on Book Twitter, then you will have missed the discourse about how people interact with blogs and bloggers, with the largest part of that discussion centering around payment for our work, which is a whole discussion in itself.
Maybe it’s because I’m more in touch with publishing now than I was when I started blogging, but it definitely appears like publishers are more inclined to work with people who use these other mediums because their engagement is better than a book blogger. This is something that is certainly having an impact on my drive to write blog posts and its definitely a little upsetting to not be appreciated, especially when the majority of us do this as a hobby and not a full time job because we love to read and talk about books.
This is probably somewhat my fault, but even three years into blogging, I still don’t feel like I’ve found my group of people. I read mainly fantasy, but I don’t feel like I’m truly a part of the SFF community. Maybe this is partially impostor syndrome and feeling like because I haven’t read all the popular fantasy books I don’t really belong, or maybe it’s because my engagement with the rest of the community is lacking. I know plenty of people who have groups where they talk about the books they’re reading and can talk spoilers, but I haven’t had any of that. I know that I don’t make friends easily, but after 3 years you would think that I would’ve found someone that I can talk to not just about book stuff. No matter what the reason is, I feel like I sit on the outside of the community.
Blogging is a lot of pressure
I’ve talked about this before, but there’s a lot of pressure once you’ve started blogging to keep at it, be consistent, and have good quality content. A lot of this pressure comes from ourselves, and for me that’s definitely the case. I put myself under a lot of pressure to continue to better myself and my blog. Add in the fact that blogging is a time-consuming hobby that I do in addition to a full-time job, other hobbies, and actually reading the books that I blog about, it takes a lot out of you. In the three years I’ve been blogging I’ve never taken a break longer than a week or two because I’m afraid about being forgotten if I’m gone for longer than that.
So basically, I’m tired. I personally haven’t experienced some of the things other, larger bloggers have encountered, but even just seeing these things happen is difficult. Combine that with a lack of motivation to write and not really feeling like a part of the community and I’ve just been feeling so burnt out. I know there will be people who say maybe it’s time to take a break from blogging, and while that seems like the most logical thing to do, I don’t want to because I still love blogging, it’s just hard right now to find that motivation.
How do you get through burnout? Do you take a break? Push through it? Or maybe you take a stab at different content? I’d truly love to know!
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March 26, 2021
Blogging is a lot of pressure. Sometimes, I look at bookstagrammers and think they don’t put in half the effort that bloggers do, though I’m sure they would disagree. I use many different mediums with the blog being my base. It’s okay to take a break, though. Or maybe even try other mediums. There is no wrong move
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March 26, 2021
I also have a bookstagram, and it’s definitely just as much work! I think anytime you put yourself in the role of content creator it puts a lot of pressure on you, even if it’s something that you start out just doing for yourself.
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March 26, 2021
I agree with so much of what you said, even with blogging being a hobby it is so much work! The last time that the pressure got to me I decided to reduce my posting down to once a week. I did this thinking that it would be a temporary change but it’s gone on for longer than I thought it would, but that’s okay because it has given me more time for reading. I would say do whatever works for you, and try not to pay attention to what anybody else might be doing
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March 26, 2021
Thank you! I’ve thought about lowering the number of posts I do in a week, but I’ve been trying to do three days a week for so long that I don’t know if I can do it if I miss a day or two though I don’t worry about it too much.
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March 26, 2021
I totally understand what you are feeling because most of the time I feel the same way
With the shift towards booktok I feel like no matter how hard I try I will never be good enough because there is a faster and quicker medium to consume that publishers rather work with than hardworking bloggers, and I don’t mean to shade anyone, I know it takes time to create tiktok videos but it also takes time to create blogs and it sucks that most of us are so under appreciated
Also I totally get the feeling of not meeting your people, I have been blogging for a little over 3 years as well and I have made some amazing friends but haven’t found a group of people who I connect with
Usually a break is what helps me move on from a burnout and also talking to either my blogger friends or IRL friends helps, if you ever wanna talk to out my DMs are always open
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March 26, 2021
Thank you! I definitely would say that you’re one of the people that I interact with the most, and I really appreciate that . I wish so badly that I could continue to say that I blog for myself and my own enjoyment, but at some point it becomes much more than that and it isn’t just about you anymore, you know?
LikeLiked by 1 person
April 17, 2021
I do know, it feels like you are trying to prove yourself to someone or something that you don’t understand or isn’t even there. What helps me the most in those times is stepping back
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March 27, 2021
I do feel bloggers will always be treated differently and will never be on the same level as booktube, booktwitter, booktok, etc. I do think is unfair, just because we have a different way to reach readers it doesn’t mean we are less than those who use other platforms. I personally don’t care for other social media platforms and I’m not especially active anywhere else. The blogging community is what I enjoy the most. I feel the blogging community is more open and accepting than other communities so I’m always coming back to bogging right now tho, I’m in a bit of a break from blogging in general.
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March 29, 2021
I agree with all of that! I’ve tried running a BookTube channel, and it’s not my cup of tea. I’d much rather be behind the screen than in front of it!
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March 29, 2021
This is an interesting post and topic for discussion. Thanks for your honesty about the struggles of being a book blogger and burnout.
I’m still a fairly new blogger (I created my blog in January this year), but surprisingly I’m ALREADY experiencing some of these things
My engagement is low, which is what I’d expect when I’m still so new, but it can be disheartening when I spend up to 10 hours planning and writing a post for it to get a couple of likes. Personally, I try to focus less on numbers and more on ME and what I’M getting from the blog. If I enjoy writing a post, it doesn’t matter how much engagement it gets because it was fun for me and I’m proud of it. I created my blog for myself and my enjoyment of books, so I try to focus on doing what I want to do, writing the posts I care about and feel passionate about even if I know they won’t necessarily be that popular or widely read in the community.
I think a lot of pressure comes from the competition. The book community is generally supportive and friendly, but the reality is that everyone is competing against each other. Everyone wants their blog to stand out and to draw more readers. And like you mentioned, competing with more accessible and digestible mediums like TikTok, YouTube etc. creates more challenges. It’s frustrating for me personally because it feels like those of us that aren’t confident in front of a camera are penalised and not given the same opportunity for our content to be seen and our voices heard as people on other platforms.
I also think that for people like yourself that are blogging alongside working, it’s VERY difficult. You’re coming up against bloggers that are full-time booktubers, bookstagrammers, bloggers etc. and when you have limited time to create content it’s really difficult.
My honest advice is, be realistic with how often you post. I post twice a week and just about manage that with studying part time and working part time, so I’d say that 3 times is maybe a little too much considering you work full time. Don’t be afraid to drop that down. The people that love your blog will stay with you no matter what and you don’t owe anyone anything! You need to take care of yourself first and foremost. Once you feel less pressured and stressed, you’ll probably find that your inspiration for posts returns. I often find that pressure creates a massive writing block for me.
Good luck!
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 29, 2021
Thank you! I’ve definitely considered dropping down to two posts a week, but at this point it’s more of a “post whenever I can” kind of thing
Startingcoff which a new blog can be pretty discouraging, but what I found that helped the most was making a Twitter account to share my blog posts on then following other bloggers!
I’ve also tried a booktube channel before, and it’s definitely not for me since I was having a hard time seeing myself on camera so I totally get not wanting to be in front of the camera!
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 29, 2021
I’ve felt the burnout before in regards to blogging. I think, for me, it stems from being worried that you’re not posting enough/posting too much or your content isn’t engaging fo people. Worrying sucks the fun out of blogging! I really love writing about things I love, whether that’s books or not and would definitely recommend trying to write about different content. Otherwise, it’s helpful to take a break and do a massive brainstorm of content ideas; try to find inspiration anywhere I really hope this burnout passes for you x
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 29, 2021
Thank you! I like the idea of brainstorming content, I might need to take a minute to do that and collect myself.
LikeLiked by 1 person
April 2, 2021
This is a brilliant post, Katie. Book blogging is a lot of pressure and takes time. I used to do three posts per week and that was hard to sustain so I lowered it down to two. It does seem unfair that book bloggers are more marginalised compared to those on other mediums. I don’t know anything about TikTok haha. My feeling is that you should do what works best for you
LikeLiked by 1 person
April 4, 2021
Thank you! It’s just really disheartening to feel under appreciated by the publishing industry as a whole. It’s a shame that all the hard work bloggers do is overlooked by more visual mediums, even though it’s great for the ones who are able to commit to YouTube, tick too, or instagram! And while I say I do three posts a week, it’s really more like whenever I have content
LikeLiked by 1 person
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Alienor @ a fox's wanderings
May 12, 2021
This post is so heartfelt, I love it I definitely can relate to everything you mention, and as much as I love blogging, I had to take a 3-years hiatus because it was too much, you know? I missed it a lot however so now I’m trying to find a balance… Not always easy, but *finger crossed*
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 12, 2021
Thank you! I would miss blogging so much if I took a break! Finding a balance is hard, especially when you just want to do everything and there aren’t enough hours in the day! Sometimes I wish I chose a less time consuming thing to blog about
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Just to say Thank you for your prompt delivery of my order and for all the help you gave I hope to do business with you again
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I feel so out of it with school starting this year. I've volunteered heavily in the past but I need to focus on other things right now so I haven't signed up for much - I mean I will sign up for things, I just haven't yet.
But I feel like the other parents are shunning me for lack of participation. I feel like they all had raging parties, fun sleep-overs, or weekend trips together over the summer and I was left out. Not that any of those things happened when I was heavily involved, it's just that during low self esteem moments I let my imagination run wild.
I started this year happy to see the mom's that I've spent at least 5 yrs. trudging through the "chaperon - room mom - raffle ticket - book fair" life with. I was ready to pick up where we left off, running into each others arms with a 'Yeah! School has started!' or a '*sniff* my little baby's growing up'. But instead the vibe is very cold. I'm smiling, going for the hug however the hug doesn't seem available.
I don't understand.
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Modern Myth: All but 11 verses of the NT could be constructed from the writings of the early church fathers | Thinking to Believe
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January 17, 2012
Modern Myth: All but 11 verses of the NT could be constructed from the writings of the early church fathers
Posted by Theosophical Ruminator under Bible, Textual Criticism, Theology
Have you ever heard it said—or said it yourself—that if all the Bibles and Biblical manuscripts in the world were destroyed tomorrow, we could reconstruct all but 11 verses of the NT from the writings of the Ante-Nicene Church Fathers alone? Recently, while listening to an interview featuring NT textual critic, Daniel Wallace, I learned that this claim is demonstrably false.[1] Unfortunately this has been repeated in one form or another by many individuals, including prominent NT textual critics.
Apparently this misinformation began to circulate widely in 1841 with the publication of Robert Philip’s memoir of John Campbell titled The Life, Times, and Missionary Enterprises of the Rev. John Campbell. The Life contains a written anecdote of Campbell, who was rehearsing a story told to him by Reverend Dr. Walter Buchanan pertaining to the research David Dalrymple conducted into the church fathers’ citations of the NT. According to Campbell, Buchanan and Dalrymple were both in attendance at a literary party when someone raised the question: “Supposing all the New Testaments in the world had been destroyed at the end of the third century, could their contents have been recovered from the writings of the three first centuries?” No one had an answer. According to Campbell, two months later Dalrymple contacted Buchanan and reported to him that he had taken up the question raised at the party, researched the writings of the church fathers, and had an answer to the question. According to Campbell, Buchanan told him that Dalrymple told Buchanan he discovered that all but 7 or 11 verses (Dalrymple could not recall the exact number) of the NT were quoted in the early church fathers.
Fortunately for us we have Dalrymple’s notes. Unfortunately they do not corroborate Buchanan’s story. Based on several dates provided in Dalrymple’s notes, we know he was working on this project for no less than four years (1780-84)—not two months. And more importantly, Dalrymple did not discover that all but 7 or 11 verses of the NT are quoted in the Ante-Nicene fathers. Instead, he found that only 46% of the verses in the NT could be reconstructed from the writings of the church fathers (3620), meaning 54% (4336) of NT verses are missing (Wallace said that Dalrymple found all but 11 verses of the Gospel of John in the Ante-Nicene fathers, but Dalrymple’s notes do not bear this out).
Campbell related this story some 50 years after Buchanan shared it with him, which was itself “some time after” the event in question.[2] So either Buchanan misunderstood Dalrymple, or Campbell misunderstood Buchanan’s telling of the story, or Campbell “misremembered” what Buchanan had reported to him five decades earlier. Whoever deserves the blame for creating the myth may never be known, but now that we know it is a myth, let us not be blamed for perpetuating it. While a significant portion of the NT text was quoted by the early church fathers—and that is significant—we should present the facts as they are, and not as we once thought them to be.
[1]This was brought to light by Muslim apologists, going back as far as May 2007 as far as I can tell. See http://www.islamic-awareness.org/Bible/Text/citations.html, which serves as the basis for the majority of the information that follows.
[2]Campbell seems to have recorded his anecdotes in the six months prior to his death in 1840. He said Buchanan told him the story about 50 years earlier (~1792), and at that time “some time” had already passed since the actual event. The latest date contained in Dalrymple’s notes comes from 1784, so there may have been as many as eight years between the event in question and Buchanan’s retelling of it to Campbell.
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46 Responses to “Modern Myth: All but 11 verses of the NT could be constructed from the writings of the early church fathers”
January 17, 2012 at 4:46 am
It has been said that the essence of the New Testament is contained in the book of John. Someone said that if he could have only one book of the Bible on a deserted island, he would take the Book of John. If all but 11 verses of the 4th Gospel are contained in the Ante-Nicene writtings, maybe that is the source of the original misunderstanding.
On a similar note, the writings of Papias ( who was a friend of Polycarp, and Polycarp knew John) were contained in 5 volumes and they somehow disappeared (about 1100, I think). It is thought that Papias was widely read, but we have only fragments that come from those sources who quoted him.
January 17, 2012 at 12:05 pm
Actually, while Wallace said that Dalrymple found all but 11 verses of John, the website I referenced in my footnotes shows that 100s of verses from John’s Gospel are missing from the Ante-Nicene fathers.
The loss of Papias’ work is an absolute tragedy. Oh how I wish it would be discovered!
January 17, 2012 at 1:34 pm
Thanks for that important and useful information Jason, while I never used that point in my defense of the Bible, I have read it and heard it stated by ministers. In fact, the reason I never used it was because I notice that it never was accompanied by an original source reference and there are just to many verses that I just could not see church Fathers include in their writings.
There are many connecting passages that are not needed when quoting a verse to make a point. I also do not share the level of admiration and trust for the “church fathers” as a whole that some seem to though I acknowledge the importance and benefit of some of their work.
Your advice is sound and I hope that this information will reach those who adore the church fathers so that when the atheist and liberals get a hold of this, they won’t get much use out of hammering some believers with it.
January 17, 2012 at 3:13 pm
Danzil,
The value of the Church Fathers is not necessarily their theology, but the fact that they refer to books of the NT and quote from them. Since most of our manuscript evidence comes after the 4th century, it proves that certain NT books existed early in church history, and can confirm that the text has not undergone substantial changes between their day and our first extant manuscripts.
January 24, 2012 at 12:01 pm
Non-believer here.
I find this disclosure fascinating. Is this the Christian equivalent of Piltdown Man? How did this remain unchallenged for so long?
I first heard this about 5 years ago and I believe it was Gary Habermas on video. I have to admit I was immediately suspicious and it was on my list of 5 questions to ask Bart Ehrman should our paths cross.
Now in other weird questions, I would like to pose to Biblical scholars . . .
January 24, 2012 at 12:08 pm
I’m not sure why it remained unchallenged for so long, but I am glad it was challenged. Unfortunately that challenge had to come from Muslim apologists, and most Christian apologists are still not aware of the issue.
Well, if you would have asked Bart Ehrman he may have also told you it was true since it was also included in his book co-authored with Bruce Metzger (according to the Muslim website I referenced in my post — although they say that the book does not say the precise number of verses or delimit the time frame of the Church Fathers’ writings)!
January 24, 2012 at 12:18 pm
How unfortunate. The claim smelt wrong and I missed my chance to jump on it in 2007. I could have authored a book and been on the speaking circuit right now. Oh well, next time. I think I’ve seen it in one of the Strobel or Papa McDowell schlock books too, but I am less certain of that.
One of the big lessons I learned at my Christian college is primary sources, people, primary sources. Thank you Dr. Kolb.
January 24, 2012 at 12:23 pm
Thanks Jason for this post. It is interesting and humbling to read as I have used that statement myself, which I heard from Charlie Campbell when I first took up studying apologetics.
I need to check my site and make sure I don’t reference this argument there as I desire to be intellectually and factually honest.
I would say this is one of the flaws of living in such an information rich age, one simply has no time to go back and check all the facts ‘first-hand.’
January 31, 2012 at 4:37 pm
I just want to comment on the Islamic awareness site. What does everyone think about it? Apprantly Daniel Wallace has praised it but I’m not happy about this as it’s a anti-christian site and a top scholar like Wallace praising it can only mean their information is accurate.
January 31, 2012 at 4:43 pm
Oliver,
At first it seemed like you were saying you didn’t trust the information at that site because it came from enemies of the Christian faith, but then when you said if Wallace gave his thumbs up it must be legit. So I’m confused on what your view is. Do you question the legitimacy of their findings or not? Personally, it appears that their research is legit. They even have pictures of the guys notes, showing many verses that were blank, indicating that he found no reference to those verses in the Fathers.
January 31, 2012 at 4:54 pm
Thanks for your reply.
Well it’s hard to trust a site that writes 100s of articles trying to ‘debunk’ the Christian faith but since a top Christian scholar has given it thumbs then their likely to be doing good research. I have read a couple of articles from that website and it seems like they want to prove the Bible is unreliable which is expected from a Islamic site.
January 31, 2012 at 5:17 pm
Thanks for the clarification. I agree that we should be skeptical when dealing with those who have an axe to grind, but their research looks legit. Sometimes non-Christians are more apt to see our errors than we are, so we should welcome their criticisms…with an equally critical eye of course.
January 31, 2012 at 5:30 pm
Their research does look reliable yes but I have seen some Christian sites write rebuttals to them. But on the 11 verses, I think they are probably right. I was amazed myself when I heard that argument but 46% is still a good number of verses. About welcoming their criticisms, I agree but it’s not suprising since Christianity is probably the most attacked religion and has dealt with criticism ever since it was formed.
By the way, how can I contact you? I have a couple of questions.
January 31, 2012 at 5:39 pm
January 31, 2012 at 5:49 pm
I just sent you an email.
February 1, 2012 at 3:44 pm
Jason did you get my email?
February 1, 2012 at 4:28 pm
Yes I did. I just haven’t had a chance to read and respond to it yet.
February 1, 2012 at 6:13 pm
Okay. Take your time in answering it, I just wanted to make sure you received it.
Thanks
February 20, 2012 at 6:26 am
Reblogged this on With All I Am and commented:
Is it true that the entire New Testament minus 11 verses could be constructed from the writings of the early church fathers? Explaining the origin of this myth.
February 29, 2012 at 12:43 pm
Apparantly this has made its way around pretty fast!
March 3, 2012 at 8:56 am
I’ve made this reply on Tekton:
I probably am the non-Christian you cite as citing Habermas and Strobel or McDowell.
Case B or like cases are clearly unimpressive as an apologetic’s defense. We can almost throw a stone from 1400 to the age of Luther. Regardless of whether we’re technically talking Case A or Case B, it leaves an impression to the layman that before the Bible entered wide distribution it could be duplicated from the writings of CONTEMPORANEOUS church fathers.
35th verse of Mark 10
25th verse of Acts 18
51st verse of John 8
5th verse of Revelations 20
3rd verse of Matthew 11
March 5, 2012 at 5:05 pm
Thanks for the link Derek. I largely agree with J.P. Holding and I’m in the process of writing an update for the article to correct the false impression.
April 4, 2012 at 5:43 pm
Jason, sorry to leave this request here, but I could find no simple “contact” page. I am preparing a powerpoint on the Evidence for the Resurrection, saw the “Empty Tomb” image on your website, and am interested in using it. Is it yours? Can i use it? Does it belong to someone else?
April 4, 2012 at 10:40 pm
April 11, 2012 at 5:37 am
[…] we could reconstruct all but 11 verses of the NT just by reading the Church Fathers , but this has been disproven as an apologetic urban legend. It is more likely that the Gospel of John could be reconstructed in this […]
April 28, 2012 at 1:19 pm
Jason, you still haven’t replied to my question
July 13, 2012 at 6:24 pm
Oliver,
Are you referring to a question you emailed me? Did I respond yet? Sorry, I get too many emails to keep track. If I haven’t, resend it to me. Thanks!
September 18, 2012 at 5:37 pm
Just found this on another website. Similar assertion but lacks supportings resources http://www.gotquestions.org/original-Bible.html
June 24, 2013 at 11:48 am
Interesting article. Regardless of Dalrymple’s results, it seems to me that the question “Could the contents of the New Testament be recovered from the writings of the three first centuries?” would be an excellent research project for serious scholars. The point isn’t that all the New Testament ought to be in their writings, however, a full comparison would be excellent to know.
July 20, 2013 at 11:07 pm
46% is reasonably good external backing to what was in the early versions of the Bible. Especially in regards to arguments that centres around omissions or additions to the text. An argument based on the Codex Sinaiticus being oldest manuscript and does not contain some of the text that the received text has in its copies, but if the early church fathers are referring to to supposed missing text, then maybe they where originally there. We should bear in mind that there is always scope for more discoveries that could shed additional light upon the subject and might even alter that percentage above 46%. Who knows what was available to the early church fathers that we no longer have access to today, or at least is laying dormant waiting to be discovered?
January 7, 2015 at 6:30 pm
If Wallace knew then why does he say this in his debates? I’ve heard him use it. Even up til recently
February 4, 2015 at 1:20 am
littleg00se, if you read J.P. Holding’s brief comments at http://tektonticker.blogspot.com/2012/02/one-good-myth-deserves-another.html?m=1 it will clarify this. It’s true that one can reconstruct all of the NT except for ~11 verses from the church fathers (which includes all writings up to ~A.D. 1200). It’s just not true that one can do so from the Ante-Nicene fathers alone. So Wallace is accurate. What’s inaccurate is to claim that the NT could be reconsructed from the writings of the church fathers in the ~250 years following the age of the apostles.
March 12, 2016 at 9:42 am
The fact that so many verses of the NT, if not even close to all, are quoted in the writings of the early church fathers should be a great encouragement to Christians that the NT we have today is extremely close to the autographa
May 25, 2017 at 4:16 am
May 25, 2017 at 4:19 am
December 9, 2018 at 4:14 pm
I have been researching what the correct number should be, and I have come up with about 63%. The data is here at https://www.biblequery.org/Bible/BibleCanon/EarlyChristianNTQuotes.xls
December 9, 2018 at 9:52 pm
“Supposing all the New Testaments in the world had been destroyed at the end of the third century, could their contents have been recovered from the writings of the three first centuries?”
The answer must be “NO”. If all the New Testaments in the world had been destroyed the writings of the first 3 centuries would presumably also have been destroyed.
Since the New Testament is derived from the writings the hypothetical question is meaningless. It’s a snakes and ladders game for scholars perhaps but meaningless otherwise0 and I can’t see any value in the speculation.
December 16, 2018 at 1:56 pm
The original question implied that all of the New Testaments were destroyed at the end of the 3rd century, i.e. after the Pre-Nicene church fathers wrote their works. I have no idea why you think the Ne Testament is derived from the church fathers. For example, p46 (the Chester Beatty II manuscript) contains 70% of Paul and Hebrews. That is 1,680 verses. It was written about 100-150 A.D. AMong the early Christian writings we only have 40% of Hebrews and 53% of Paul, so even ignoring the fact that most of the Pre-Nicene writings were after that time, we could not get 70% from the early church writings. You have to give some evidence why you assert something, otherwise we can only assume that what you say is just wishful thinking. About an hour from now I will have an updated version of NT quotes at https://www.biblequery.org/Bible/BibleCanon/EarlyChristianNTQuotes.xls. It will have a new tab for which verses are in which manuscripts prior to 350 A.D. Do you have any date upon which to make your assertions?
December 16, 2018 at 4:00 pm
Religion was formulated on wishful thinking and no belief has ever been more wrong than religion’s idea of guilt tripping sin.
The following statements are the most inaccurate and ungodly assertions made. Only the dogma of self appointed messengers to a created God, could have dictated and promoted religion to the world as a factual belief system. Religious belief systems have never been based on fact, nor can they be; otherwise, they would be knowledge based systems.
“……….In God’s eyes, all of us are failures in who we are. On our own, we have no hope of ever satisfying God’s demands for justice without going to Hell forever. God made for us a great and certain hope in His Son, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for our sins as to satisfy the demands of justice……….” (Statements of High crimes, misdemeanors and baloney)
The narrative invented by religious zealots who then proceeded to give all the attributes of man to their created God thereby inventing a God created in the image of man. The complete opposite of what they teach—— that man was made in the image of God ……….and failures at that!
All human beings are born with the Spirit of God within them. Babies are not born in sin just because the founding church fathers decided sin entered the world through sex; babies are born guilt free and pure. “…..From the mouths of babes your praise is assured…..” and “….Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven…..”
It was the church founding fathers who, with their heartfelt resentment against life, first made something unclean of sexuality: it threw filth on the origin, on the Essential fact of our life. And wrote the story of Genesis to support their narrative.
So please grow up and stop the guilt tripping the world and the children about being failures because of religion’s presumptive guilt trip that sexuality is the original sin.
December 17, 2018 at 4:07 pm
If I may say so, you sound like you believe those things quite religiously. Of course anyone is free to pontificate, but what if God did communicate something to us in space and time? I think many people would have too many preconceptions that God’s message would have to satisfy before they would believe it.
By the way, the idea that babies are born into sin because they were procreated by sexual union is totally absent from the Pre-Nicene church writers. This idea came into being around the time of Augustine of Hippo (around 380 A.D.), so it is not accurate to ascribe this to “founding church fathers”. I would advise you to check the facts before dogmatically stating things as true when in fact they are not.
December 17, 2018 at 5:40 pm
Who is born with preconceptions about God? Nobody.
We shouldn’t have to “believe” in a God; we should be able to know God don’t you think?
What is an Axiom?
A self-evident and necessary truth, or a proposition whose truth is so evident at first sight that no reasoning or demonstration can make it plainer.
Religious beliefs are pregnant with assumptions:
1st. If there was a God it would be self evident,
2nd. Religions would not have to proselytize; and,
3rd. There would not be a fractured human race, each faction promoting their God Brand and Messenger by making extravagant claims of myths, magic and miracles seeking converts to convince.
I am talking about the early founding church fathers of the Old Testament. Judaism wrote the story of Genesis to describe how sin came into the world through the fall of Adam and Eve because of sexuality and thereby every baby born since was born in the state of original sin. The guilt trip, with which to lord it over the masses by shoving sexual sin down their throats from birth.
Original sin, also called ancestral sin, is a Christian belief of the state of sin in which humanity exists since the fall of man, stemming from Adam and Eve’s rebellion in Eden, namely the sin of disobedience in consuming the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In other words participating in the sexual act for which humanity and all living creatures were designed. However divine messengers, gods and deities were born of virgins bypassing the natural means of procreation: “…..taken painlessly from the side of the mother…..” as Buddha. Or Jesus born of a virgin without knowing a man.
That original sin is a sexual sin there is little doubt and religion has been bent on making it known in their continuous attempt to control sexuality throughout the history of mankind. One can still see the final remnants of sexual control in places in the middle east where half the population is forced to cover the natural design of their humanity by wearing tarpaulin tents.
Western countries only began crawling out from under the religious sexual dress code rock in the last 100 years of the 20th century.
Until at least the 18th century, the wearing of a hair covering, both in the public and while attending church, was regarded as customary for Christian women in Mediterranean, European, Middle Eastern, and African cultures. Women who did not wear hair coverings were interpreted to be “a prostitute or adulteress”. In Europe, law stipulated that married women who uncovered their head in public was evidence of her infidelity.
January 1, 2019 at 7:11 pm
The trouble with self-evident axioms of people, is that sometimes they can be wrong.
I believe God has in fact left “evidence” about Himself, but He deliberately did not leave “proof”. It would be harder to have the free-will to choose against God, if God made it unarguable to deny His existence.
Should God’s people share with others? Yes, if God said to, and no if God said not to. God is the boss, and He gets to decide. We only decide if we want to obey Him or not.
The “One True God” is not the only game in town (so to speak). You also have Satan and his fellow demons trying to so counterfeits. They sow multiple counterfeits, because they don’t care which one you believe, as long as you don’t believe the real one. Again, we cannot know this by “axiom” but because God has revealed this to us.
Pardon me, but you seem rather hung up on sexuality. The forbidden fruit was something they ate, not sexuality. The fist that I know of who claimed it was all a forbidden sexual relationship were Gnostics, not real Christians. In contrast to that, God COMMANDED that they replenish the earth.
You write “That original sin is sexual sin there is little doubt…”. Actually that is patently untrue, a false axiom? Genesis and the Old Testament, I remind you, were written by Hebrews, not Christians. Do Jews teach that? No! Did early Christians teach that? No, they taught that sexual relations in marriage was fine. Did many Medieval Christians teach that, starting around 400 A.D.? – Even then no, they did not teach the fruit was sexual sin. But unfortunately they did teach (what I would call) an unbiblical view of sex.
On a lighter note, if you are so convinced that the Bible is so dead-set against sex being bad and evil, perhaps you need to read the Song of Solomon 10 or 20 times.
But seriously, the BIble does forbid sex outside of heterosexual marriage, but it delights in families (i.e. children and sex too) within marriage.
Psalm 113:9 “He [God] settles the barren woman in her home as a HAPPY MOTHER OF CHILDREN. Praise the Lord.” (NIV, caps added)
January 1, 2019 at 7:46 pm
Sorry, there is no such thing as God’s people. Where did you get the idea that there are God’s people and other people that are not God’s people?
Curious to see that sex outside of heterosex marriage is forbidden but sex outside other type marriages are okay.
Self evident axioms are NEVER wrong, certainly not just because you say so.
Satan and his fellow demons? Please give me a break from your fantasy indoctrination about made up caricatures from several thousand years ago.
The bible forbids sex period. What you mean by “outside marriage” is outside of the Clergy /Church’s idea of what marriage is according to those who are supposed to practice celibacy. Marriage is when the Church says it is okay iof you get married their way. The bible says something different; the bible says that marriage is the “sexual act” when a man leaves his mother and clings to his wife in sexual union.
You can say that the garden original sin was not sex but that is hiding your head in the sand. Sex has always been the original sin in religious circles.
It is amazing how old fashion and out of date with reality, church believers are. It shows the power of indoctrination over and over unto every generation when kids are told what their parents believe and kids are ostracized if they believe or practice things like leaving your mother and clinging to your wife.
Dod you not read about marriage according to Jesus which is the same as what I propose.
He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” Matthew 19:4-6
That is marriage, not a piece of paper with the priest’s signature on it giving you permission to have sexual relations with your spouse. Which believers seem to think it is as long as it is sanctioned by the church or the Pastor or the Priest or the Prophet, the Preacher, the Pope or any other number of sexual, holier than thou Perverts, then it’s okay.
But if you do it God’s way, the Natural way without religious oversight and cling to each other and you have a child from that relationship, the Church will dub your child a bastard and ostracize you and the child into a black abyss of religious insanity.
Tell me what is Original Sin if not related to sexuality? Any suggestions to explain otherwise?
January 1, 2019 at 7:54 pm
What’s the difference between evidence and proof? Nothing!
Evidence is proof and proof is rendered by evidence so I don’t know why you think you can separate evidence from the proof it proves or the proof that evidences confirms. Evidence is proof and proof demands evidence. They are not separate and exclusive to each other.
What school did you learn that from?, The religious school of religious insanity is the only school that can contradict everything it says and says anything it wants because religion is not a knowledge based business it is based purely on speculative imagination. That’s why it called BELIEF…without knowledge!
January 21, 2019 at 8:59 pm
Steve, I downloaded your Excel document and have looked through it. It looks extremely helpful, although I do have some questions about how to interpret some of the data. Perhaps you could walk me through it. If you would be willing to do so, email me at theosophicalruminations [at] gmail.com. Thanks!
December 17, 2019 at 3:17 pm
Evidence is material that could suggest a conclusion but does not demonstrate it. Proof is material that fully demonstrates a conclusion and suggests that the case is closed. This may be helpful for the uneducated who believe they are the same thing:
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Surviving a brain tumor might seem paramount to many. Surviving high school is something many never live to tell. However, for myself, the challenges that often followed were often traumatizing. It was often the changes and adjustments I’d have to make later that proved to be the toughest. Though we’re talking a lifetime ago, I still remember that follow up visit to my doctor when the surgeries and treatment were done. I recall going through the ordeal with him while going over some C-A-T scans and being told how lucky I was to have survived. Then came to bad news about how I needed to restrain from the sports loved, which meant no more baseball, hockey, soccer, and above all, fighting, explaining that even one blow to the head could kill me. What else was a kid to do? Wear a fitted helmet for the rest of my life? Maybe an iron robot suit. I might have sucked at basketball and football., but damn, I still loved boxing, had a nasty left hook, and had made the all-star team with my little local league the year before.
High school turned out to be quite a challenge. While I wisely chose a school close to my home that had its share of older friends that looked out for me in varying degrees, I soon found new people who, for whatever reason, designated me as a target.
Just as the bell rang and I could see our teacher Mr. G steps away from the door. I made my move leaping from my desk, gripping the front of his and flipped it over with him in it. “No, Motherfucker, we’re going to do this right now.” the combination of the look on the kid’s face and the alarm in which our teacher entered the class served as proof of perfect timing during the most desperate of times. Though my hastily devised plan didn’t give me the protection that cooling my jets during a lasting after school would have. It scared the fight out of my opponent. Like my mother always told me and my father would go on to add. “If you think you can’t win, make them think you’re crazy and capable of anything.”
While no further words exchanged between myself and my aggressor, his previous call to meet him after school spread throughout the hallways, cafeteria, and gymnasium long before the final bell concluding the school day rang.
Though the walk from the school doors to the buses and trains blocks away were never lonely ones. It felt as if the entire school was heading in the same direction and ultimate destination that was the IHOP parking lot where the fight was to take place. As the crowd grew and began to create a physical circle, my older friend Jimmy took his school ring off and placed it on mine. ‘Put this in his eye. You got this.’ I remember taking some deep breathes and mentally devising a plan based loosely around the countless other fights I had before. Only this time, my focus was more on survival than winning.
While I can’t recall if I thought of what that doctor had told me about what the chances of a blow to head killing me were, but I’m pretty sure it crossed my mind. As the minutes passed and the crowd began to disperse, it became apparent that this clown wasn’t going to show. Perhaps he forgot, maybe I convinced him that I was, indeed, crazy. I guess I’ll never know though we would cross paths the next day and many other times during our tenure at Monsignor Mc Clancy. We would never again speak. Though others might confront the aggressor, knowing full well that he would have probably hand me my ass, I took that little victory and kept it packed away for another day. Just as I appreciate my Dad for teaching me how to fight my mother’s lesson of making your opponent think you’re crazy and capable of anything might have been my saving grace. Thanks, Mom.
April 5, 2020 photogeek23Fight Club, IHOP, Memories, Monsignor McClancy High School, Non Fiction, Northern BLVD., Queens, School Days, Tomfoolery1 Comment
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Everybody loves good news. The good news of an engagement, a pregnancy, a clean bill of health, a sudden salary boost. And certainly, the list goes on and on. Well, here's the best good news anyone can receive...
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever BELIEVETH in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
“I declare unto you the gospel ... that Christ died for our sins ... that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day”
Why is this good news?
God's Son died for you.
Sin is rebellion against what is right. Have you ever told a lie? Ever stolen anything? Ever been angry at someone? Ever used God's name as a cuss word?
These are only a few examples but if we're honest with ourselves, we're all guilty of these moral failures, called sin. If a person is guilty of one sin then they have broken God's law.
For instance, in your neighborhood, there is probably a posted speed limit sign. There are many ways to break the speed limit: I could go 10 over, 20 over, or I could even go too far under. In the end, I still broke the speed limit and therefore I broke the law.
"All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)
Because we have broken God's moral law we are guilty of sin.
"For the wages of sin is death..." (Romans 6:23)
"Death" means eternal separation from God and all the goodness of God!
The GOOD NEWS is that God does not leave it up to us to figure out how we can be forgiven for our sins. God sent His only begotten Son to be our substitute. Christ took the punishment of sin so that the world would not have to.
God's Son was buried for you.
The burial of Christ is as important as His death. His death paid the penalty for sin. His burial promises that the work is finished and the punishment is buried away never to be seen again.
For the person who puts their faith in Jesus Christ alone, their sins will be forgotten and buried away.
God's Son lives for you.
After Christ died, He did not stay dead. This assures us that His sacrifice was accepted! Christ has defeated death and sin, once and for all. And God promises forgiveness of sin and everlasting life for all those who put their faith in His Son.
How can I be saved?
Bow your head and pray, "Dear God, I know that I am a sinner. I confess that in my sin, I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus Christ alone is able to save me. Jesus, I call on you to save me from the penalty of sin, and I trust in you to provide me with eternal life. Amen."
"by grace are ye saved through faith"
If you have just trusted Christ, we would love to know about your decision and help you learn more about your new relationship with God and His Son.
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Protester Leina Bocar stands outside Zuccotti Park after police removed the Occupy Wall Street protesters from the park early this morning.
A State Supreme Court judge has backed New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the owners of Zuccotti Park, saying police had a right to enforce rules that prohibit camping at the park overnight. In the pre-dawn hours, Bloomberg ordered the removal of protesters from the park.
Earlier, another Supreme Court judge had issued a temporary injunction and ruled the protesters could return to the park with tents and sleeping bags.
As we reported, earlier, at issue here was whether the city and owners of the park were imposing "reasonable time, place and manner restrictions," which are permitted under the First Amendment.
In his ruling, Judge Michael D. Stallman said despite being privately owned, for the purposes of this ruling he would assume the owners are bound by the First Amendment. However, he said the protesters had "not demonstrated that they have a First Amendment right to remain in Zuccotti Park, along with their tents, structures, generators and other installations to the exclusion of the owner's reasonable rights and duties to maintain Zuccotti Park, or to the rights to public access of others who might wish to use the space safely."
The New York Times' City Room blog reports on the hearing and both sides' arguments:
"Alan Levine, one of the civil rights lawyers representing the protesters, said that not allowing the protesters to return with their sleeping bags and tents was akin to stifling their message.
"'The power of the symbolic speech resides in the fact that it is a 24-hour occupation,' Mr. Levine said in court. 'It an essential part of their speech that they are able to protect themselves from the weather.'
"Despite the protesters' constitutional protections, they were violating the parks' purpose for the public, said Sheryl Neufeld, a lawyer for the city.
"'It requires them to maintain it in a manner that is accessible to all, all the time,' Ms. Neufeld said. 'The protesters took over the park for their own means.'"
Update at 7:11 p.m. ET. Protester's First Meeting:
Live video of Zuccotti Park shows that protesters have started their first post-eviction General Assembly meeting. If you haven't seen one of these things before, the protesters have come up with a creative way around the no-amplification rule at the park. One person talks and the rest of the crowd repeats what they've said so everyone can hear.
"We're really happy to be here," said one of the protesters as the crowd echoed his words. "Last night was really hard. We lost a lot, but have so much more. They showed us their power and we're showing them ours."
Update at 6:39 p.m. ET. Live From The Park:
Tim Pool, of the The Other 99 Percent, which has been covering the protests is live-streaming from the park using his cell phone. You can find his stream here. While it's unedited and raw, it gives you a feel of what's going on at the park:
Update at 6:27 p.m. ET. What's Next?:
The Nation talked to a few of the protesters outside of the courthouse, earlier today. They spoke to 31-year-old Alejandro Varela who had this to say about the future of Occupy Wall Street:
"Varela explained that physical space was a crucial factor in Occupy Wall Street's ability to attract supporters. 'We're reclaiming the commons. These parks were designed as places to talk, to share ideas, perhaps over a meal.' He added that the location of Zuccotti Park in the financial district gave it a chance to send its message directly toward its intended recipient: Wall Street. 'We disrupted
"business as usual" by being there,' he said. 'We were a reminder that what Wall Street does is negative society.'
"But with or without the park, most Occupy supporters do not appear ready to back down from the momentum the movement has gained through laborious organization, ongoing outreach and visible public actions. 'No one piece of this movement is indispensable, except people—not even the park,' said Varela. 'We need people most of all. Without the park, we'll just have to be more creative.'"
Update at 6:16 p.m. ET. The New Rules:
The New York Civil Liberties Union is keeping tabs on what the new rules of the park are. The organization is tweeting @nyclu and they report:
So we have it confirmed from a white shirt that folks can stay the night, as long as no tent or sleeping bag
No musical instruments either now. They rejected an accordion and guitar
People are being denied entry because of "large" bags. One guy rejected for having a football.
Update at 6:08 p.m. ET. Park Re-Opens:
Mayor Bloomberg announced that Zuccotti Park is now reopen. Protesters are allowed back in, but they can't camp out. The mayor released a statement that read in part:
"The court's ruling vindicates our position that First Amendment rights do not include the right to endanger the public or infringe on the rights of others by taking over a public space with tents and tarps. The City has the ultimate responsibility to protect public health and safety and we will continue to ensure that everyone can express themselves in New York City. Zuccotti Park will remain open to all who want to enjoy it, as long as they abide by the park's rules."
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Caroline Richardson tries to keep an open mind, and stay clear of judging others. “I think it’s okay to argue your opinion and stand up for what you believe in, and protect the people that you care about.”
April 23, 2021
Caroline Richardson 10 is an outgoing person who stands up for what they believe in whenever they can. However, she makes sure that she keeps an open mind, and is never quick to judge others.
“If what you’re gonna say to someone isn’t going to improve them or it’s not a positive thing, then just hold it back. If someone’s not hurting you or anyone around you then you shouldn’t judge them. You shouldn’t judge someone off of one opinion, you should be accepting. If they have an opinion that isn’t hurting anyone, then it’s okay for them to have that opinion. It’s also fine for you to voice your opinion, as long as you’re being respectful to the other person and being open minded. Sometimes people are being so close minded that they think they’re opinion is the only right one, and they don’t leave any room to think about changing their mind. Try not to be quick to judge. I’m one to give people multiple chances and I’m going to be a forgiving person. I always put myself in the other person’s shoes in any situation, and try to think about how they’re seeing it. Just be respectful of everyone.”
Riley Smith is a junior at Lewis-Palmer High School, and is an Editor In Chief for the Ranger Review Newspaper. This is her third year on staff, and second...
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As an author and humorist, Reid Champagne is known for his absurd & sophomoric observations of everyday life. While the story of how Reid met wife Carol (after being widowed late in life) is so sweet it belongs on Hallmark, his family would argue his inept & smart-ass tendencies belong on a 2020 reboot of Grumpier Old Men.
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Blank piece of paper
December 20, 2018
In Bruce Springsteen’s one-man Broadway show, he talks ruefully about being 20 years old with a blank piece of paper still before him that represented the rest of his life. Later, after Carol and I had shut off Netflix for the night, she said to me, “I want our life together to be a blank piece of paper.”
That it was exactly what I wanted for us as well was just one more gift that is the magic of us. But that blank piece of paper does not come without a context. At twenty, the “boss” had the entire rest of his life ahead of him. Carol and I have already lived most of ours. There can and are blank pages ahead for us, but they will be written within the context of a near lifetime of pages already filled in. That none of those previous pages are constraining or preclusions to how the blank pages ahead can be filled forms a testament to the miracle that is us.
Within those earlier pages are years of youthful travel on both our parts. Not only does that provide a common foundation for our current travel experiences, it provides a way for both of us to harken back to that time of our youth, this time together. Widowhood has also bonded us in the common experience of the fragility of companionship, and the shared commitment to not put off filling any of those blank pages of ours for too long. And we shouldn’t forget we both grew up in the Age of Aquarius and share “the sixties” and at least a few petals of the Flower Child.
Madigans at play
The one disparate experience is family. Here in southern California, we live essentially within a Madigan Compound of daughters, son-in-laws, grandchildren and grandparents – a Martha’s Vineyard without the touch football (though there’ve been pickup baseball and soccer games of mixed gender and generations, all executed with more laughter than skill.) As I did in Seattle, I arrived here alone with about the same number of boxes that I’d arrived in Seattle with.
It is a very participatory family life, of which I am largely unaccustomed. Carol remains keenly and empathically aware of this, and has broadly sketched out the parameters for my participation in her family life, with plenty of room left over for us. I also believe it’s important for all to know there’s plenty of space and time for them and just Nana and Mom, too.
So, those blank pages will be written, in tiny script so there’s more room on each page. Except for the fact that Bruce and I attended different high schools together, we clearly share nothing else in common. Except for one thing, perhaps. With our next big trip on the horizon for March, as well as road trips in between, it does seem for Carol and I that we have already reached the Promised Land. We’re not stopping there though, because, well, lol, “baby, we were born to run.” (Really, really sorry about that one.)
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meet
REID
As an author and humorist, Reid Champagne is known for his absurd & sophomoric observations of everyday life. While the story of how Reid met wife Carol (after being widowed late in life) is so sweet it belongs on Hallmark, his family would argue his inept & smart-ass tendencies belong on a 2020 reboot of Grumpier Old Men.
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ICYMI: The Times had a sobering piece Wednesday titled "9 of Every 10 Restaurants and Bars in NYC Can't Pay Full Rent."
Mehenni Zebentout, the owner of Nomad at 78 Second Ave. between Fourth Street and Fifth Street is predominately featured.
Nomad, a North African and Mediterranean restaurant in the East Village, shut down in March after the pandemic engulfed New York City, leaving its owner unable to pay the full $11,500 rent for months.
After opening for outdoor dining in June, the owner, Mehenni Zebentout, has struggled to pay 70 to 80 percent of the rent. But he had to cut his staff from nine full-time employees to four part-time workers. And his landlord still wants Mr. Zebentout to pay what he owes from the spring.
"We're just hoping for some miracle," he said. "I believe, according to my experience, two out of three restaurants will close by December, and I'll be one of them if there's no help from the city or the government."
Posted by Grieve at 5:00 AM
9 comments:
40 years cyclist said...
Let’s just face up to it, we serve the landlords. And they don’t care what happens to any tenant, their only objective is to keep the rents high for a potential flip of the property. Providing a service isn’t important.
September 25, 2020 at 8:50 AM
DJ said...
What do we do ? What should we champion? Should we support an aggressive reopening plan for those who feel comfortable? Do we demand more rent relief for our businesses? Will this finally trigger a rent reform to fill our neighborhood with restaurants and retailers? (Hands in the air yelling at cloud)
September 25, 2020 at 9:02 AM
Anonymous said...
It kills me to walk the streets and see the inevitable. Some places with outdoor seating may actually survive, but it's really like watching the final hurrah. As soon as the cold weather sets in, we'll see the majority of businesses close. It's shameful there is no relief for businesses from the state or feds. We (regular people) are expected to bear the burden of keeping the city afloat, but it's just not possible. Too many people are unemployed, evictions are just on hold for a while, and those with jobs likely don't have security that there won't be layoffs. Something has to give.
September 25, 2020 at 9:35 AM
don't think---bailing out restaurant owners (and by default GREEDY landlords is the answer)---a comprehensive LONG TERM (vaccine/official end of pandemic) that targets the 20,000,000 unemployed may be a better plan :)
September 25, 2020 at 1:03 PM
On the positive side, I rode by Nomad this evening and his tables were jam packed, even with extra tables going down the sidewalk. I hope this helps to jump start some good fortune.
September 25, 2020 at 8:41 PM
Linda Justice said...
Unfortunately, a major correction is warranted. The city must offer the businesses relief. And the landlords, well we know where they can go!
September 26, 2020 at 7:28 AM
Linda Justice said...
Exactly
September 26, 2020 at 7:29 AM
Linda Justice said...
No, money is to be shared. It is that simple. Share the wealth with those in need.
September 26, 2020 at 7:31 AM
Anonymous said...
It looks like Nomad is now closed. Is this true? This was a really great little restaurant - wonderful food, great staff, music and just an overall good vibe. We've lost one of the good ones.
June 8, 2022 at 9:23 AM
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Gavan McDonell is an Australian civil engineer, economist and political sociologist. This blog is a mixture of family reminiscence, memoirs, travel and other jottings. Click on 'My Sites' and then below on 'Posts' on the left for list of contents.
Posted on May 26, 2016 May 30, 2016 by Gavan McDonell
And, now, what about the Breens, my mother’s family? In many ways, compared with the McDonells, a very different kettle of fish!
The Breen family came from central-western Ireland, from Tipperary County, whence came, indeed, most of the Irish people who migrated to Australia in the 19th century. Their home district was in South Tipperary, round a place called Donohill, but various members had settled in other, nearby neighbourhoods. I haven’t been able to trace them back past about the 1840s, but, like most devoutly Catholic Irish people, they had been poor after the occupation of Ireland by the English in the 17th century. Various members seem to have gradually built themselves up a bit, getting leases to land and thereby being able to have their own cattle, the main source of wealth, and being able to do some farming. This not only provided them with food to eat, but also some extras left over which they could sell at market. In the middle of the nineteenth century there was a great famine in Ireland. It is still a heavy memory for many Irish people-several million were said to have died, and its causes are still debated. Anyway, as a result, many Irish emigrated over the following decades, especially to the United States and Canada, but also to Australia.
My grandfather, Michael Breen, was one of a large family and seems to have come to Australia about the same time as the Doolans, my grandmother’s family. He was the youngest, and probably because of that had no hope of inheriting anything from his parents, and so life in the new country was his best hope. Although family legend has it that at least one other Breen from this family came to Australia I have no record of any other of those Breens coming to Australia. Of course, there are other Breens-the name is found in several parts of Ireland-but it is not common in Australia.
The Doolans came in the mid 1870s arriving in Rockhampton in the “Scottish Bard’ on 18 August 1976. Like so many others they were attracted to the district because of the boom, and, IN great grandfather Doolan’s case by the construction of the large Lake’s Creek meatworks, for he was a butcher and soon opened his own butcher shop in Rockhampton. So, by the standards of the day, he and his family were comfortable and I have heard that he later opened one or more shops and, in particular, stood by Nana when her husband turned out to be pretty hopeless as a provider.
There were two links between the Breens and the Doolans-another Breen cousin married Johanna elder brother John Doolan-so perhaps they knew each other back in Ireland, and perhaps Grandfather Michael and Grandmother Johanna did too. Gold had been discovered north of Rockhampton at Canoona in the 1850s and then large deposits were found at Mt Morgan, just 38 kms south of Rocky, as it used to be called in the family, in 1882. Already Queensland had been growing quickly, with many migrants from the British Isles, and now it became even more popular. This is no doubt why the Breens came there, and the McDonells, too, although they stayed on the land.
Michael Breen, however, had neither money nor special work skills-although I was often told by my mother that he had gone to school ’till he was a man’-that is, about 18 years old, because, she said, the family had a great love of learning. In those days in Ireland such a level of education was rare indeed, and he must have been regarded as smart and also much favoured by his parents and brothers to be able to do that. Also, again, perhaps because he was the youngest, and would not get any of the family land. But in Australia the education wasn’t much use to him and so he went as a labourer into the mines in Mt Morgan. As far as I know he worked there and around Rockhampton all his life. I never heard much about Grandfather Michael although Mum said he was a great singer and dancer, and was often called upon to entertain at weddings and parties: he used to get up on the table and tap dance and sing-it was a great act, apparently-and all of his sons were good dancers, too, and most of them sang or performed poetry. It was, as they used to say, ‘in the blood’. But it seems he used to drink a lot, and no doubt was well ‘plastered’ at all the parties, and he didn’t get enough money to provide well for his family. He died fairly young, when he was 53, in Maryborough and it seems that he had been thrown out by his family. Indeed, I have been told that it was my mother who was instrumental in getting him to leave the family because of all the stress he brought upon Nana.
His wife Johanna, my Nana Breen, was, as I remember from the late 1930s/early 1940s, a handsome, very Irish-looking woman, serious, not very talkative, kind enough to me but not very affectionate, but the dominant figure among her family. By all accounts she had had a pretty tough life and her children idolised her for what she had done for them in just bringing them up. She and Michael had 8 children, as follows, in order of birth:
Mary, Lawrence (Larry), James (Jim), Catherine (Kit, my mum, born in 1895), Patrick (Paddy), Michael (Mick), Cornelius (Con), John (Jack). All of these names were common in the Breen and Doolan families in earlier generations.
During the years in the forties when I knew her, after we had come back from Roma and Ipswich, she was living in a house in Davidson St, Newmarket, Brisbane which the children, but especially Mary, had bought for her. We stayed with her till we were able to move into our Ashgrove Avenue house. My parents had come down to Brisbane in the late 1920s/early 1930s from Roackhampton, where my brother , Brian was born , nearly ten years before me. Dad had got a promotion and got the move to the Queensland capital, the ‘big smoke’, probably because they reckoned that there would be better opportunities, especially in education, and also probably because Mum thought she should be near her mother. (By this time, both of Dad’s parents were long dead.) It was also the beginnings of the Great Depression when all the economies of the world went into a tailspin, and there was a huge amount of unemployment-in Queensland it was 30 or 40%-that is, more than a third of men were out of work and they and their families had to live on the ‘dole’, a very small amount of money which the government paid out each week. (Of course, very few women worked at paying jobs in those days, so that if the man lost his job the whole family was in trouble).
Fortunately for us, the people employed in the Railways were not, because of the strength of the railway unions, affected nearly so much-they had ‘permanent’ jobs and couldn’t be fired. So Dad was never out of work, but other members of both the Breens and the McDonells were unemployed during these years. When we came back to Brisbane from the years we were in Roma and Ipswich years, and I was about seven, this whole area of the stream and its big banks and flood plains, and rough land where there were no houses, with bush all around, was a great place for me to wander and play in. But more of that later.
Because the Breen family needed the money which Michael, the father, didn’t provide, Larry, as the eldest boy, had to leave school before he was ten and so didn’t get much of an education. But he was very keen to learn, and very ambitious. Years later, he told me-and was very proud of the fact-that he was determined to get some education, somehow stole some money, and bought himself ‘table books’, that is, arithmetic books for learning the multiplication and division tables, and other books so he could teach himself. This he did, and then he got himself jobs in the mines and the industrial works around Rockhampton which involved machines. He did trade studies as an apprentice and got certificates which allowed him to operate big machines, like cranes, and large digging machines, and just about any of the many machines which were common in those days, and most of all, motors and electricity generators.
Many years later, when I got to know him when I was about 10, he showed me all his certificates, and it was a very thick pile that he had. I was impressed. So before long, he was licensed to operate just about any sort of machine around. In those days, many factories and places like hospitals and railway yards and tram yards and steel works had their own electricity generation facilities, because the electricity plants that the towns ran were too small to handle anything apart from household and street lighting. Even many towns didn’t have much of that. And, also, in those days, and for many years later, the towns themselves were not connected to other towns in one grid so that they could help each other. It wasn’t until after World War 2 that big transmission grids were built which linked up the whole State, and it wasn’t until after 1995 that the whole of eastern Australia was linked into one grid. Now, there is one electricity grid which stretches from North Queensland to Tasmania to the west of South Australia-the longest in the world, a development which I, in turn, had something to do with, as I shall retail.
So, Uncle Larry was very proud of the fact that, as still a young man, he was put in charge of installing the electricity machinery for the project which brought electricity to the whole of Rockhampton, which by then was quite a large city-it was a big accomplishment for a boy who had left school at ten, and stole money for tablebooks! During this time he became a member of the Federated Engine Drivers and Firemen’s Association (FEDFA) which was one of the largest and most politically active unions. Of course, its members were powerful because they were the only ones who could run all those machines-just as the members of the Australian Railways Union, like my father, were powerful because they ran the whole railway network and the big telecommunications system which covered the whole State of Queensland. But more of that later.
Grandfather Michael who was born on 20 October 1855-his address is given as Lisheendarby, probably a part of Donohill-was the son of Lawrence Breen (though it is spelt Laurence in the record of the marriage that I got from the Tipperary Family History research group of the Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly in Ireland) who married Winifred Hickey on 9 February 1832. I don’t have a birth record for Greatgrandfather Laurence but Greatgrandmother Winifred was born on 1 December 1811, so probably he was a few years older. The address of both of them is given as Shanadanganon, According to the marriage certificate.Michael had the following siblings, according to the records:
The address of all of them at birth is given as Lisheendarby
Greatgrandmother Winifred would have been 44 when she had Michael.
Grandfather Michael married my Grandmother Johanna Doolan who was born at Cappamore, not far away in County Limerick, on 9 June 1887 in Rockhampton. He died on 13 August 1914. Johanna was born on 9 November 1865 and her parents were James Doolan and Catherine Deere. So she was ten years younger than Michael.
Michael and Johanna had the following children:
Lawrence born 4 Dec 1887 died 5 December 1887
Mary Winifred born 24 march 1889, died about 1960 in Brisbane
Laurence born 9 June 1890 died about 1954 at ‘Remilton’ Beverly (Larry’s daughter) and Norman Robinson’s property west of Goondiwindi
James born about 1894 died 1942 in Brisbane
Catherine Cecilia born 7 March 1995 died 1966 in Brisbane, my mother
Patrick born 5 April 1900, died about 1950 in Ipswich
Cornelius born 18 March 1902, died about 1975 in Brisbane
John born 7 April 1904 died about 1970
The details of their marriages and children are recorded in the Family Tree file.
The only member of the family in Ireland about whom much is known was Daniel Breen, son of a cousin of Michael, and therefore my mother’s second cousin. During the later years of the nineteenth century and the early years of the twentieth century there was a great upwelling around the world of desires by the underclasses and the underpriveleged to have a greater say in their lives, to achieve ’emancipation’ or ‘independence’. It was then that the working class movement which developed trade unionism and produced the Labour parties of the world started to mobilise; the first attempts at revolution were made in Russia; and the colonies, such as India and Ireland, started to develop political movements designed to drive off the colonialists (in these two cases the British) and to achieve political independence. In 1901 Australia itself became independent: before that it had been a collection of states which were colonies of Great Britain.
Ireland had been occupied by the British for centuries. It is a long story and there are good histories of it. Not only did it suffer from the oppression of occupation by a foreign army, but there was also religious persecution and discrimination. Roman Catholicism was the deeply held religion of Ireland, or Eire, as it was known in Gaelic, the native language, going back many centuries. Most of northern Europe had been converted to Christianity by Irish missionaries during the Dark Ages from about the 5th century to about the 10th. So it was a very long tradition. Anyway, the Irish in general were poor, had little of the good land, had great difficulty in getting education, and were not even registered when they were born-the only records were the baptismal record in the parish church when they were christened. (This continued well into the 19th century-the records I obtained of my grandfather and his family are all baptismal certificates: there were still no official records kept by the government even at that time.)
In 1916 there was an uprising of nationalist Irish in Dublin, which became known as the Easter Rising. It was defeated by the British Army, and the ringleaders were executed or jailed. This was the first major attempt by the various Irish patriots to organise a major action against the British, though there had been informal movements begun years before. Dan Breen, with his more famous mate, Sean Tracy, were the founding members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood which later became the Irish Republican Army. Its first unit was the 13th Tipperary Brigade. From the beginning it started military training for its members and, in his book, ‘My fight for Irish freedom’, first published in 1924, he describes these early days and how the Brotherhood, many of whom later became the Irish Volunteers, trained and organised. His book is a very good, swaggering, self-promoting read-I have a copy.
Dan and his companions made several raids on police stations and police parties and also tried to assassinate the British Governor of Ireland. Today he would probably be called a terrorist, but of course to many of the Irish people he was a freedom fighter and a hero. Later on there were many military engagements with the British Army. During this period Dan reported directly to Danel O’Connell, the leader of the Irish independence movement. It seems that he was put in charge of ‘flying squads’ which were undercover operations carrying out the assassination of British informers and other enemies of the independence movement. At this time also the British brought over from England a militia group infamously known as the ‘Black and Tans’, because of the uniforms they wore. These were used to keep order with great brutality among the Irish people.
As a result of the whole political campaign that was going on in Ireland of which Dan Breen was a part, the British finally decided to give Ireland the independence that was sought. It is a long story which Dan Breen gives a lot of detail about in the book, but, anyway, in 1922 Ireland won ‘home rule’ and a few years later became a completely independent Republic. Dan Breen became a member of the Irish Parliament, known as the Dail, (pronounced doil), where he served for many years. He is still regarded as an important historical figure in Ireland. He was often spoken of with glowing praise by my Breen uncles, but in fact most of them were not very active in the political struggles of the time. The exceptions were Larry and Paddy, while the others, as my father used to say, ‘talk a lot but don’t do much’. He was very opposed to this-for him, a rather silent man, he thought that ‘if you want to know what a man is like, watch what he does, not what he says.’
My aunt Mary was the eldest of the Breens, and being a girl, it wasn’t considered important that she get a good education, especially as the family was poor. So she left school early-I don’t know when-and before long was working in the Railway Refreshment Service, which I described above. She must have been so employed for years, and was moved around various towns that were important in the railway system and so had Railway Refreshment Rooms, as they were called. These were large rooms with a high counter running around one or more sides from behind which the waitresses served the people when they came in from the trains. Usually the stop was for about half an hour, while the train took on water or while some other operation had to be completed, just time enough to get a cup of tea and some sandwiches or cakes or pies; but at the bigger places the train would stop for lunch or dinner for about an hour, and so there would be a big rush to get seats around the large tables. My father always seemed to be a bit of a wizard at being able to get cups of tea and whatever at the refreshment rooms and bringing them back to Mum and me and anyone else we happened to be with.
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Today’s myth is that traveling in the United States has no real interest or importance. I know many people who travel the world, but fail to see their own country. My current travel tally, (yes, I’m counting!) is 40 countries, 50 states, 6 Canadian Provinces, and 42 National Parks. From that information, you might get the idea that I love traveling in America, and you would be correct. For the past few years I’ve been piling on foreign countries with no regrets. But I can only travel so much (money, you know!) This new year I’ve decided that I want to get back to my traveling roots, and will do half foreign and half domestic. Plus, I’m chipping away at my goal of hiking the 59 National Parks, and I want to eliminate at least three a year. I can’t do that if I’m in Africa or Asia!
I urge all travelers to discover America. I’ve heard the age-old complaint about the expense of traveling in this country, and that going abroad is cheaper. The secret: road trips. Become a do-it-yourself traveler. If you don’t want to take a full-out road trip in your own car, book some cheap airfare (Las Vegas is a GREAT place to start), and rent a car from there. Pull out the old Rand McNally road atlas, ditch the GPS, and start dreaming. Book mom and pop motels. Is the cost of the bed you sleep in so important? Look up images on Google and imagine the selfies. Better yet, close your eyes and imagine the freedom and comfort of traveling in your own country, not having to deal with the passport hustle, and stopping to see exactly what you want to see, what you want to do, where you want to eat. There’s no place I’d rather be than the American road. In fact, in a few years I plan on living on the road. I can’t wait!
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Author: barblee
Barb Lee is a native of Western Massachusetts who loves to write, travel and hike the world, and hang out with her beautiful Jersey Wooly bunny Muffin. Her whole life changed when she was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer in October of 2019. By January of 2020, she was bouncing back in a major way. Now, in addition to all her favorite activities, she wants to help others make the most of life following a devastating diagnosis, while she continues to beat the odds. View all posts by barblee
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Online dating services Messages — How to Write a Good Earliest Message | Northern California Cognos Users Group
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Online dating services Messages — How to Write a Good Earliest Message
When it comes to internet dating, first latin brides for marriage impressions happen to be everything. The best first announcements have a few key elements to help them stand out from others. When you’re over a dating website, you’re obtaining dozens of email a day – it’s easy to get passed above if you the same thing while twenty other people! Here are some tips that will help you come up with a very good first note. These 3 common hey there are all lousy ways to start up a message.
Produce it light-hearted. If you’re writing a message on the dating webpage, don’t write an article about yourself. This will only make hard for anyone to answer. Instead, reveal something light-hearted or fun. A great online dating sales message will keep the level of engagement excessive. Once the discussion has come to a certain level, you can begin to focus on a more serious subject. For instance, you may write a funny story with regards to a new movie or an amazing travel encounter.
If you have difficulties starting a conversation, focus on a question. Requesting a question is going to spark a conversation. Try finding some personal information in the person’s profile so you can ask them an identical question. You can even look for a amusing or interesting fact regarding yourself that would spark the conversation. In this manner, you can make one of the most of the connection you start. Some online dating subject matter tips will help you put together the perfect meaning.
Do not be scared to send some messages to your matches. Keep in mind, not all of those will answer back. There are many explanations why someone might not respond to your message. Some people are just too busy or perhaps aren’t looking forward to a romance. Others may well not like your profile, or seen something about you that wasn’t embellishing. Either way, you can move on to the next person and try the luck! Is not going to miss to have fun!
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When you’re writing into a potential match, make sure your email are well crafted and grammatically correct. Getting simply no response can be frustrating and cause you to mail bad sales messages. Fortunately, generally there a few simple hints that can help you stand out in a sea of bad email. By following these pointers, you’ll have a better chance of getting a response to your message. When you’re not confident with your writing skills, be sure you ask an individual for a second opinion.
Your first concept can make or break your web dating knowledge. If you send a message that’s common, you won’t about the date. The majority of people feel weighed down when they mail their initial message, and so they neglect to maintain an appealing conversation. Don’t be that person! Rather, try to write an interesting and creative sales message. You’ll be very likely to get a response if you use interesting words and create a great emotional connection.
Be funny. Funny internet dating messages go a long way. Remember, you’re hoping to get the attention of a potential day, and becoming funny is one way to stand out of the crowd. Keep in mind to make your message simply because memorable as possible. A few humor are a lot fun to learn to read! You don’t have to become a genius towards your message throughout, so bear in mind to use your imagination! If you’re not funny, your communication will not be seen.
It’s important to know very well what to say when ever sending communications to over the internet daters. It’s important to convey really are interested and you’re not seeking to scam all of them. Remember, you are not the only one to the Internet who is interested in internet dating. But the best way to accomplish this is by becoming yourself. You can stand out from other people and make the experience more enjoyable. The right communication can make all the difference in a romantic relationship.
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When chartered accountant Katie Travis first stepped in to assist her husband’s family business with advice on building up its cash reserves, little did she know the move would culminate in a director role with the engineering company and a prestigious business award.
Travis, who trained with BDO in Manchester after university, had until then spent her career working in a variety of management and financial accounting roles, latterly as finance director of healthcare communications group Fishawack Ltd, where she was involved in an MBO. After having her second child, Travis decided to take a break from juggling parenting with a demanding job and three-hour commute, but some part-time financial troubleshooting at her husband’s engineering business prompted a change of direction.
The family company Chelburn Precision Ltd - founded in Rochdale in 1982 by Roger Travis and now run by his son, Katie’s husband Neil – is a specialist manufacturer of key components for machines needed in industries such as oil and gas, industrial gear boxes and printing and canning. “Cash reserves had reduced by about 50%. I stepped in to put some more robust reporting procedures in place including formal cash flow forecasting and KPI measurement.”
In 2012, she officially joined the business, albeit with an ambition of stepping away from finance, and became a director in July 2018. Earlier this year, the company was awarded the Queen’s Award for International Trade after its overseas sales increased fivefold in three years – from £360,000 to £1.7m of a total turnover of around £5m – primarily to the USA and mainland Europe.
While many of Chelburn’s local competitors have fallen by the wayside in recent years, Travis says the combination of a focus on quality and investment in state-of-the-art machinery have been key to its increasing success and its ability to meet growing customer demand for both high quality and low cost. “If you don’t deliver on that they will go somewhere else.”
Investing in technology has also resulted in efficiency gains, allowing the business to manufacture more components in a shorter time and to a much greater tolerance. While domestic competition has dwindled, foreign competition buoyed by a lower cost base remains a constant competitive threat. “Our machine-shop typically manufactures large components weighing up to 10 tonnes; the associated transport time and cost mean we have an advantage,” Travis explains.
Brexit has been little more than an inconvenience as far as Travis is concerned – the business ran up stocks in anticipation but apart from some delays to sourcing replacement machine parts from abroad, it’s been something of a damp squib. “In terms of exporting, we just do the extra paperwork and our freight forwarders handle it. You just get on with it.”
In contrast, the impact of COVID has been far bigger, Travis says. “It was 16 March last year ahead of the national lockdown but we knew there was something seismic afoot. I’ll never forget the conversation I had with every single employee. We were clear that we would keep our doors open and safeguard jobs for as long as we could, but we were waiting to find out what the government did. The fear and uncertainty was palpable.”
Travis is grateful that the business, deemed a critical supplier, was allowed to stay open. “Our machine financing is our biggest cost and no revenue means no contribution to that cost. That said we had to change our working practices very quickly to remain COVID safe.”
Despite a worrying lull in orders over the summer, the business has more than bounced back. The plan is to continue the business’s expansion slowly but surely. At the same time, she is already thinking about the future of the industry as new technologies look set to revolutionise component manufacturing methods. “We foresee over the next 10 to 20 years 3D printing will improve and could potentially be a low-cost replacement or complementary activity but it’s early days still.”
Travis says her ICAEW qualification and accountancy experience have been invaluable in helping her to navigate the trials and tribulations of the business world in a way that she didn’t imagine when she was in her early 20s. “When you’re training, it’s all about the numbers and passing exams but that’s just a fraction of it. Visiting clients, talking to different people, understanding how different businesses are run and watching what really inspirational clever people do - it gives you such a broad insight into different methods and setups and you can pull out what you think is successful and use it.”
When you come across someone you admire, try to dissect their innate or learned skills and try to emulate them, Travis advises. “You can use other people’s methods – they don’t need to be your own.” And don’t be afraid of making mistakes, she urges. “I hate making mistakes but they’re crucial to helping you learn.”
Working closely with her husband as a fellow director hasn’t presented any issues. “We’re both looking in the same direction in terms of family life and our business and we’re supportive of each other.” However, she admits moving into an established business as the wife of the managing director was a challenge. “I feel as if I’ve had to prove myself in this role more than in any other.” As she takes time to reflect on the Queen’s Award, it’s clear her efforts have more than paid off.
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2022 was a special year as we saw the release, for the first time, of QD-OLED equipped TVs which is the natural progression and evolution of OLED that has been the king of image quality for a few good years now. After testing the Samsung S95B we got a pretty good idea of what QD-OLED could do, so now in our Sony A95K review we will be looking at the second of the QD-OLEDs released this year and determine what similarities and what differences the two competing brands have.
With the arrival of QD-OLED it seems that Sony had to change a bit their release lineup. The A95K obviously takes the top spot as their newest flagship but after that things become a bit more complicated as the A90K, that is supposed to replace the A90J comes only in 42″ and 48″ sizes. As such the next new release is the A80K. And for that reason, in case you are wondering, Sony kept the 2021 A90J in circulation for one more year in order to bridge the gap between the A95K and the A80K.
As for the A95K in particular, let’s see quickly what do we actually get here. The Sony A95K uses a 120Hz QD-OLED panel, comes with Cognitive Processor XR and Sony’s most advanced Acoustic Surface Audio+ system. There is Dolby Atmos, DTS and Dolby Vision support, two HDMI 2.1 ports with VRR out of the box, and is packed with the latest Google TV platform including plenty of extras like Chromecast, Airplay 2 and Homekit, Bravia Core, voice control, Netflix calibrated mode, IMAX Enhanced, Calman Ready and Bravia Cam support.
In terms of extras and features the A95K comes with the standard set that most higher tier Sony TVs have like the A80K OLED we saw recently. The major difference here is the QD-OLED panel and what it has to offer. Is it on the same level as Samsung’s S95B? Let’s start our analysis to find out…
QD-OLED retains some of the design characteristics of OLED TVs and as such the A95K is an extremely thin TV that has an unusual stand compared to most other OLED offerings from other manufacturers.
One thing that made an impression was that while most OLED TVs from all manufacturers use an extremely thin panel along with the plastic box that houses all electronics at the back of it, the A95K actually has a slightly curvy panel at the back that we usually see in LED LCD TVs. It is still very thin, much more than any non OLED but this design change seems to be happening in many Sony releases this year as the A80K had also the same characteristic.
Looking at the TV at the front we see that it comes with very thin borders measured at 0.30″ (0.8 cm) while overall thickness was just 1.7″ (4.3 cm) making it even thinner than the A80K.
The back of the TV is also different, the grid style design is preserved but gone are the diagonal grooves we had seen in previous Sony TVs while the ports are separated into two groups with one looking sideways and the other downwards. The power connector is still isolated on the left side while the VESA mounting holes and a couple of speaker grilles are the only other elements visible. Also gone is the XR logo that was engraved in the middle of some 2021 top tier TVs.
What is unique in the A95K is surely the stand. It doesn’t follow neither the central stand or the bench type design and instead Sony created a flat stand that extends the entire length of the TV and can be placed in two different positions. Either at the front or the back.
Although this is personal taste what we didn’t like was the fact that this type of stand does not leave any space between the furniture and the panel. As a result you are unable of placing a soundbar under it unless you resort in some short of special furniture or extra stand. As it is the TV panel sits entire on the surface and surely looks a bit strange if you are used to so many TVs leaving some breathing space under the panel.
Lastly as far as cable management is concerned you get the usual Sony treatment as there is none. No grooves to drive the cables through and no special clips that can be attached to the legs and keep all cables together. At least with the TV sitting flat on the furniture these does not show at all.
As for the new updated remote, this feels simpler, less cluttered and easier to handle. Design wise the remote of the A95K is no different from all other Sony releases in 2022. The only aesthetic difference is that this comes with a brushed silver finish while some other premium models use one made of brushed black finish. The one that comes with the A95K has backlight functionality and special sensors that illuminates the buttons when the remote is moved.
We really liked Sony’s 2021 remote but to be honest it had too many buttons with many of them never to be used. So making the remote smaller and simpler was the right thing to do and we do love what they have come up with for 2022.
The Sony A95K is surely a premium looking TV but the stand will surely make a lot of consumers dislike it. A more usual stand would definitely be more practical than this so hopefully in future releases we will see QD-OLEDs with more traditional designs.
In terms of image processing the A95K uses the same Cognitive Processor XR which is the same chip used across most premium and top tier TVs from Sony. As is the case with all new models we don’t know if this is exactly the same chip as it was last year as Sony is secretive about anything that has to do with their chips but judging by its specs and features it seems to be the same.
The Cognitive Processor XR divides the screen into hundreds of zones and recognizes individual objects in these zones better than ever before. What’s more, it can cross-analyze around a few hundred thousand different elements that make up a picture in a second like focal points, contrast, colors, motion and clarity and determine ways in order to improve the end result even more.
As always in order to determine the up-scaling capabilities of the TV we go through various content in different resolutions and quality. These vary from low quality broadcasting material, 480p, 720p and 1080p content. The A95K up-scaled everything with no obvious artifacts from the process and essentially behaved similarly to other top tier Sony units we had seen before.
But the new processor is not only good at providing excellent picture quality as it has also a few interesting audio features. Being included in the XR Sound suite the processor supports XR Sound Position in order for the audio to match exactly what is displayed on screen through the included Acoustic Surface Audio+ system while XR Surround is responsible for creating a virtual 3D environment in order to up the immersion even more.
Also with the new Bravia Cam the built-in Ambient Optimization Pro can calibrate the audio no matter your viewing position. But more on the audio in the appropriate section.
As the A95K comes with the Cognitive Processor XR, the TV comes with all the bells and whistles we have seen from Sony using in all TVs with the same chip, so nothing new here really.
The main strength of the A95K, and a major step forward in panel technology in general, is the use for the first time of Samsung’s Display QD-OLED panel which is exactly the same technology being used in Samsung’s own S95B.
Traditional OLED panels feature self emitting pixels and as a result these TVs have no need for a backlight as we see in LED LCD models. Being able to control it’s individual pixels has many advantages with the most obvious ones being the extremely accurate light control and the infinite contrast they have with deep blacks being a sight that needs to be seen to be believed.
On the other hand the problem with OLEDs is that they cannot reach the high brightness output of LED LCD TVs. This has been a problem since the inception of OLED panels and although there have been some developments like Panasonic’s solution to add a heatsink in order to push the panel more without damaging it, OLEDs still remained a distant second when it came to peak brightness output.
And this is where QD-OLED comes into play as this hybrid design is meant to take all the strengths OLED has and with the use of Quantum Dot technology boost the brightness and color reproduction in levels that were not possible with the OLED panels available till now.
We are not going to analyze very much how this technology works as this is a subject for another article but in theory the A95K, with the use of the new QD-OLED panel is meant to have superior brightness output, higher color coverage than any traditional OLED panel so far, better viewing angles and better image reflection handling. And if Samsung’s S95B was any indication then we also expect similar performance from the A95K.
If there is one thing we noticed during our time with the A95K, it is that due to the unusual subpixel structure of QD-OLED you may notice some green or red lines in content that have black bars on top or bottom of the screen. Also due to this, using the A95K as a PC monitor may not have the most clear text among the top tier models. This is not a problem of the A95K specifically as the Samsung S95B had exactly the same problem and it stems from the panel’s subpixel structure, so in essence this is a disadvantage of the QD-OLED panel itself.
In our blooming test patterns the A95K did amazing and as good as any OLED TV we had tested before. Being able to see a bright object in a completely dark background and don’t have any blooming on sight is a real treat and shows the strength of QD-OLED technology.
As we said in our S95B review, the QD-OLED technology seems to be the future and we see this replacing traditional OLED TVs in the next few years. And with that in mind we cannot wait to see what the future holds.
Onto our brightness tests now and it will be interesting to see how Sony’s QD-OLED offering fares compared to Samsung’s competing flagship.
For this test we used the Custom mode, which tends to be the most accurate one in many Sony TVs, Expert 1 color tone and Brightness set to max. In our SDR brightness test over a 10% white window we got 425 nits, which is good enough for SDR content but we cannot say we were amazed by this number as we have seen much better.
On our HDR brightness test we switched to Expert 2 color tone and over a 10% white window we got 994 nits of brightness which is amazing for an OLED TV.
As with all OLED TVs, the A95K comes with an Automatic Brightness Limiter (ABL) that lowers the overall brightness of the screen when large parts of it become very bright. This may not be very obvious when watching a movie for example but it can be noticed more with bright static images or if you use the TV as a computer monitor. And Sony’s implementation of this system is a bit more aggressive compared to some other brands we had tested before.
Unfortunately these numbers indicate that the A95K is slightly less bright than the Samsung S95B although both of them are really close and with real world content the difference is hard to spot.
Brightness levels followed the EOTF reference values almost perfectly up to its relatively sharp roll-off point which means that some details may be lost. Just keep in mind that in order for the TV to follow the curve so accurately you have to use its Gradation Preferred tone mapping as the other options are far less accurate and overall more bright than it should.
As for contrast, having an QD-OLED panel means that the A95K can switch off it’s pixels entirely meaning it gains almost infinite contrast ratio resulting in true deep blacks compared to greyish blacks we see in many LCD models while it’s panel uniformity was almost perfect from what we saw.
The Sony A95K may not be as bright as Samsung’s offering but still is one of the brightest OLEDs to this day. On the other hand due to Sony’s better tone mapping the A95K manages to produce images that while less bright are equally impressive.
OLED TVs always had the upper hand when it came to viewing angles and it seems that with QD-OLED things got even better. To be honest here, while we do like that QD-OLED managed to push the viewing angles to even better values this was never a real problem to begin with so from all the advantages this new panel has maybe this one is the least important one.
In general, light has a linearity, so when viewing a display, it affects the brightness or color depending on which angle you look at the screen. With the characteristic of QD-OLED that emits light uniformly in all directions, the QD display provides optimal image quality by delivering uniform luminance and color regardless of viewing angle.
As for the A95K in specific, the TV managed to maintain excellent picture quality at angles that could reach 70 degrees from the center and thus making it perform on par with what we measured in the Samsung S95B which is not all that surprising given that both TVs use the same panel technology. More than 70 degrees and the image would degrade a bit but these are extreme angles we are talking about and most would never watch in such conditions.
As a result the A95K, along with the S95B, can be considered the best TV as far as viewing angles is concerned. If you want this for family use where many members will watch from different angles this is as good as it can get.
HDR support
As far as HDR protocols Sony likes to include the same across the entire lineup, either it is top tier or lower end TV. So here things are pretty much the same as the rest of the 2022 offerings.
In total the A95K features the standard trio of HDR protocols that include the basic HDR10 which is required for 4K UHD playback, HLG that is used in broadcasting and lastly the more advanced Dolby Vision that uses dynamic metadata and offers the best quality from the three available.
If you don’t care about HDR10+ then you shouldn’t really worry about it. Dolby Vision has far more support although HDR10+ seems to be getting some traction both from online streaming services like Amazon Prime and in the UHD format.
If you really want to have both HDR10+ and Dolby Vision then you will have to look at some other brand like Hisense or depending where you live to Panasonic or even Philips as none of the big three (LG, Samsung and Sony) support all of them.
Unfortunately it seems that after so many years none of the big three is going to offer full HDR support forcing consumers to choose what they want the most instead of offering all in a single package.
Color coverage
The A95K, as with some other premium Sony TVs, is equipped with certain tech in order to allow it to display deeper and more lifelike colors. As such Sony has used XR Triluminos Max technology in combination with XR Color technology which is included in their XR Picture suite. This is a step above the Triluminos Pro tech that is included in all premium Sony TVs that come with the Cognitive Processor XR and the XR Picture suite.
According to our measurements the TV has 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 color space which is perfect. On the wider REC.2020 color space we got a coverage of 89% which is extremely good and one of the best we have measured so far. Keep in mind that we took these measurements with the Gradation Preferred tone mapping setting.
Overall the Sony A95K seems to beat the Samsung S95B here. And this shows that Sony’s TV goes for more color accuracy than higher brightness that ultimately makes a more impressive but also less accurate image.
Before calibration the A95K had very good color accuracy but not without a few problems. White balance needed some adjustment but most colors had values below the DeltaE limit of three. But both of them can be corrected after calibration making the final image quality almost perfect.
Color gradients were amazing with almost no visible banding at all. There is also a Smooth Gradation feature in case you notice some but you are going to loose some fine detail if enabled as is always the case with this feature.
We move on to our motion performance tests and the A95K behaved very close to some other Sony OLEDs we had tested lately. The TV uses a 120Hz panel along with Sony’s XR OLED Motion tech which is the company’s motion interpolation feature included in the XR Picture feature set of their Cognitive Processor XR.
You have the option to use either the standard motion interpolation system or use the Black Frame Insertion (BFI) interpolation that is adding black frames in between individual frames and can potentially smooth out motion. BFI can be enabled, as usual in Sony TVs, by turning Clearness to max if you use the Custom setting in the MotionFlow menu. Unfortunately BFI works only with 60fps content so you cannot use it for 4K@120Hz gaming.
The TV behaved exactly as we were expecting it to. With fast panning shots the TV interpolated very efficiently but not without some artifacts becoming visible. But if you compare it with some other interpolation systems, Sony’s implementation worked much better, at least with the A95K. In all other, slower paced scenes interpolation worked wonderfully without any blur of judder visible.
Also the A95K presented 24p content without any bothering judder. OLED technology suffers from almost instantaneous pixel response time so you may notice some stuttering that can be fixed with engaging a low setting motion interpolation. Just make sure you go easy on this in order to avoid the Soap Opera Effect.
From the content we tried out on the TV we can say that the A95K is surely Sony’s best when it comes to motion performance in their OLED category.
Onto our input lag tests next and here we are expecting to see good values overall. After all most TVs nowadays, no matter their price range, are doing exceptionally good in this part.
According to our measurements the A95K measured an average of 17.0ms input lag in both 1080p and 4K resolutions at 60Hz with the use of Game mode. At 120Hz we measured 9.1ms in both 1080p and 4K resolutions which is amazing and low enough for all kinds of gamers either it be casual or hardcore ones.
These numbers are great but still not as good as the ones we measured in our Samsung S95B review. But even as such, with such low figures gaming can really be a pleasure, just make sure you use the available Game mode as outside that the input lag will greatly increase to around 156ms which can still can be fine for slow paced games but not good at all for fast action online gaming.
We should also not forget to mention that the TV supports Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) that can be used with any devices that support that like the PS5 and Xbox consoles and can greatly benefit users. As with all Sony TVs there is no HGiG mode but we do get Auto Genre Picture Mode and Auto HDR Tone Mapping which are Playstation 5 specific features.
Thankfully, this year the A95K comes with VRR support out of the box unlike 2021 Sony TVs that we had to wait for an update. HDMI Forum VRR and G-Sync are supported but unfortunately not FreeSync. Sony is not supporting that in any of their releases so don’t except that anytime soon.
One thing that we noticed is that while the Samsung S95B supports 144Hz the Sony A95K does not. So if you really want such high frame rates in your QD-OLED then the Samsung is your only choice for this year.
Before closing this part of our review we connected our PS5 to the TV and tested both Astro’s Playground and Call of Duty: Vanguard which come with VRR support. Our time with them didn’t showcase any problems at all. VRR engaged normally, response times were very low and all our commands registered immediately on screen. To summarize, we had a perfect gaming experience even though the Samsung S95B offers even more when it comes to gaming.
From all the above we can say with certainty that the Sony A95K is one of the best TVs you can get in 2022 in terms of image quality. It has amazing color accuracy, great HDR brightness for an OLED TV, excellent viewing angles, solid upscaling and motion performance and strong gaming capabilities.
It may not be the brightest in SDR content but surely most will not be interested in such when buying such a premium TV. In terms of gaming it’s missing some features that competing brands are offering like FreeSync and 144Hz while it only features two HDMI 2.1 instead of four that we see in LG and Samsung TVs the last few years.
Onto the sound now. When it comes to audio Sony has developed several technologies that uses in their TVs and the one that is included in the A95K is their most advanced one called Acoustic Surface Audio+. This is the same system that is being used in the A80K but with a slightly different configuration applied here.
This system basically uses actuators at the back of the panel that vibrate and use the whole panel as a huge membrane and thus create sound. This way it seems like audio is coming from within the screen giving you a better sense of realism.
The A95K is using two actuators and two subwoofers in this system. In comparison the A80K is using three actuators so it seems that the A95K is using the same configuration we saw in the 2021 A80J. The difference with real world content may not be so dramatic as all these systems have relatively limited capabilities no matter what manufacturers do.
There is support for Dolby Audio, Dolby Atmos and DTS Digital Surround sound but as always even if there is support for these, the final audio output leaves a lot to be desired and cannot even come close to a real surround system.
Also keep in mind that Sony is one of the few companies that still supports DTS and can even pass-through both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X signals from its eARC port so if this important to you then the Sony is your only choice from the big three (Samsung, LG, Sony).
The inclusion of the XR Cognitive Processor has allowed the A95K to include a few more advanced technologies which is the XR Sound suite. This includes the XR Sound position which with the help of the Acoustic Surface Audio+ technology makes sound originate from the exact spot on the screen making audio so much more realistic.
Also with XR Surround the A95K is using 3D surround upscaling in order to create a more immersive virtual surround environment. As with most TVs that include some short of virtual tech, the A95K does not offer true surround activity as there are no real rear speakers to begin with. As such the action is entirely front oriented.
Before closing this part we should mention that the A95K also features Sony’s Acoustic Auto calibration in order to get the best audio performance no matter your sitting position. This can be used in combination with the new Bravia Cam as it will detect where you sit in the room and calibrate the audio accordingly.
Overall the A95K offers what you should expect from a modern flat TV. It is enough for most casual use but if you really want to pair the amazing image with equally good sound we strongly suggest you go for a good quality soundbar or even better for a dedicated surround system. It’s a pity to have such an expensive flagship and not an audio system that can do real justice to what you see on screen.
Ports and Connectivity
Strangely enough the ports layout of the A95K is not the same as some other Sony OLEDs, like the A80K that happened to have all ports looking sideways but rather has the same design as some LED LCD units like the Sony X95K. As such there are two groups of ports available with some of them looking sideways and the rest are looking downwards.
The group looking sideways includes a Remote IR input, a AV input that needs a special adapter, a USB port and a single HDMI along with a small switch at the bottom for turning on and off the built-in microphone. The only difference in the A95K is that here we get an additional center speaker input at the top that was missing in the X95K.
On the other group looking downwards we get the antenna/cable port, an Ethernet port for connecting to a local network, a digital optical output, an RS-232 jack, three more HDMI ports and another USB.
Again there is no headphones output and there are only two USB ports instead of three that was available in previous years. Not big omissions, and this seems to become the standard in most new releases, but nevertheless we have to mention it.
Sony, unlike some of the other big manufacturers, actually provide a USB 3.0 port in most of their TVs, even the most low cost ones. Usually manufacturers don’t seem very fond of using the newer USB ports and rely mostly on the archaic 2.0 version even for many of their top premium models so this is definitely a plus and good for Sony that decided to do the obvious.
Also another thing to mention is that, as with all Sony TVs, we get two HDMI 2.1 ports along with two more older HDMI 2.0 ones. Although some other manufacturers. like LG or Samsung, offer more HDMI 2.1 ports at least two are better than one.
The problem here is that one of them is also the one with ARC/eARC functionality so if you plan on using that then you are left with a single HDMI 2.1 port. In general all TVs that feature only two ports use Mediatek’s SoC but at least the HDMI 2.1 ports in the A95K provide full 48Gbps bandwidth in order to allow high frame rate gaming and all HDMI 2.1 gaming features.
The HDMI 2.1 ports of the A95K support ARC, eARC, HFR, ALLM and VRR. With VRR you should know that it is supported out of the box, something that applies for all 2022 models, but only HDMI Forum VRR and G-Sync are available. FreeSync VRR is not supported in any Sony TV so far.
Also we are disappointed to see that the TV will only supports up to 100Mbps when connected through the Ethernet port which is a real shame but not entirely surprising given the fact that all manufacturers still include 100Mbps adapters in their TVs, premium or otherwise. We don’t believe that upgrading these ports to Gbit speeds would up the cost so much and with streaming requirements increasing every single year this change should have been made some time ago.
And considering that the A95K comes with Bravia Core we are even more harsh to Sony for not updating their Ethernet adapters. The reason for this, is because in order to access Bravia Core’s highest quality Pure Stream available at 80Mbps you must have a minimum internet speed of 115Mbps. So in essence you cannot do that with a wired connection and have to rely on wireless with all the problems this can bring. For a premium priced model as the A95K this is completely unacceptable.
As for its wireless capabilities things are pretty much the same with all Sony releases so the A95K comes with built-in WiFi (802.11ac) along with Bluetooth v4.2. Unfortunately no Bluetooth 5 for one more year although to be honest we didn’t experience any connection issues with v4.2 available.
OS, Apps and Features
The A95K is using the same Google TV platform that Sony is using in all their releases this year and is the same as the one we saw in our other 2022 reviews like A80K, X95K and X90K so our observations here are entirely the same. In our opinion Sony did the right thing to move from Android TV to Google TV as this proved to offer a better overall experience in comparison.
Now many of you may be puzzled what the difference between Android TV and Google TV is. Well, it’s not so much difficult to understand what has changed really. Google TV is still Android TV but with an extra layer on top of it. Think of it like it is in Android smartphones. Most manufacturers that use Android in their releases they use on top of that their own layer that gives this extra something to their UI that make them unique both in appearance and functionality.
The same is with Google TV. You still basically use Android TV but there is the extra Google TV layer on top in order to make the UI feel different both in looks and functionality. It seems that all 2022 Sony TVs come with the same Google TV 10.0 we saw in last year’s models so almost everything is once again the same as what we experienced a year ago.
Google TV seems to have been designed around recommendations, either it be movies, TV shows or applications and this seems to be the main focus of the latest OS in general. During setup the wizard asks you of what specific streaming services you use in order to customize the Home screen recommendations.
Keep in mind that Google TV is still Android at its core even though it looks different. But with Google TV things seem more fluent, more direct and more easy to navigate around.
If there is one thing that Android has in abundance that is huge app support. Through the included Google Play Store you can find literally thousands of apps that you can download and use except from the pre-installed ones. There is so much content available that you will definitely find the ones you are looking for and the list goes on and on.
All the big names are obviously present like Google TV, Disney+, Netflix, Amazon Video, Hulu and Youtube as well as Pandora, Tidal, Google Play Music, Spotify or iHeartRadio. As always some of them are region dependent so make sure the ones you are interested in are working in your area. Lastly many apps like Netflix and Youtube support playback for both 4K and HDR content for those interested in it.
The A95K also comes with the updated Netflix Adaptive Calibrated Mode and what this does is to allow you to experience picture quality close to a filmmaker’s vision and intent for all content that is streamed through the Netflix streaming service.
We say updated because now this feature works together with the ambient light optimization feature of the A95K by optimizing the picture brightness based on your room lighting conditions.
The TV also comes with Bravia Core and this is Sony’s online streaming service that promises high quality streams up to 80 Mbps and additional IMAX Enhanced content. Bravia Core offers some very decent and high quality streams but unfortunately, as we mentioned above, you cannot use a wired connection for their best quality as this needs a 115Mbps connection and the Ethernet port is capped at 100Mbps, thus forcing you to use wireless only.
Chromecast is also available here and it gives you the ability to stream content from other Chromecast enabled devices like mobile phones and tablets directly to the TV. Voice control is also present but it seems that it is a bit limited compared to other competing models. By that we mean that although you can use the remote’s built-in microphone to give commands to Google Assistant, for Amazon Alexa you will need an external Alexa enabled device to work. Additionally there is also Sony’s Voice Search available.
We have seen the same thing in many other Sony TVs and probably this has to do with the fact that it’s using Google’s Android system and thus having Alexa built-in was not possible. With voice control you can issue various commands to the TV but functionality extends far beyond that as you can control any smart devices you have in your house also.
There is also a built-in media player available that you can use to playback various video and audio content from an external storage connected to the USB ports. Support is pretty great for a built-in player and compared to previous years we can admit that it will be able to play more files in comparison but in general don’t expect it to replace your dedicated media player box if you use one. If there is a file that is not following the usual standards it will not play it, something that a dedicated player will.
Most of our test files run without any problems and only a couple that have extremely high bitrates or feature unusual codecs failed to playback. In general it behaved as we were expecting from a built-in media player so expect this one to cover most of your needs without problems.
Sony has also added support for both Apple Airplay 2 and HomeKit. With Airplay 2 you can stream content from other Apple devices on your TV while HomeKit lets you control certain aspects of the TV through your mobile device. Also if you are all Apple then keep in mind that the A95K supports Apple TV which is Apple’s online streaming service in order to have the complete Apple’s suite. So in case you favor Apple’s products the A95K will certainly cover you in this respect.
For one more year all Sony TVs are Calman Ready. To address color variations from the production process, the TV is ready to use Portrait Displays’ high-performance Calman auto-calibration software.
This allows an unprecedented level of calibration and the ability to fine-tune adjustments simply not possible through conventional picture settings. It delivers high-fidelity color reproduction that’s true to the original TV signal, and can even adapt to the subtlest changes in color that may occur over time.
The A95K also comes with IMAX Enhanced certification, something that all Sony higher tier TVs do. This means it can playback IMAX Enhanced content although this is still very scarce to find. Sony is the only manufacturer out of the big three that offers some of its premium TVs with IMAX Enhanced.
As with all other Sony TVs in 2022 the major addition this year seems to be the new Bravia Cam. This an optional accessory that can be purchased separately and can further enhance the functionality of the A95K.
With the Bravia Cam the TV can detect where you sit in the room and adjust the picture and audio accordingly. Other functions include gesture control and power saving features among others.
One last thing we need to mention is that there is no official app support for controlling the TV. If you want to control the A95K using your mobile device you can use either the Android TV app made by Google that supports many of Sony’s TVs the last few years or you can download Sony’s own TV SideView app.
The A95K comes with the full feature set Sony has released in 2022 that includes plenty of online and offline features. And being the flagship release this year the A95K misses nothing, as it should be.
We reached the end of our analysis and we are certain that many of you will be asking if it is worth it to go for the A95K or choose the Samsung S95B instead. To be honest, things are not so complicated so we will be as direct as possible.
The Sony A95K has the most accurate image quality money can buy in 2022. If image quality is your aim and budget is no problem then sure, pay the premium and go for the Sony. On the other hand if budget is of some concern or gaming is your main focus then go for the Samsung as it is much cheaper than the Sony and comes with certain gaming features like four HDMI 2.1 ports, 144Hz support and FreeSync. It’s as simple as that.
The A95K really reminded us of the debate last year and if it was worth it to go for the Sony A90J instead of the A80J. The A90J was more expensive than the A80J and offered slightly better image quality and brightness. In the end, it’s really all about your budget and what you are willing to pay for. That is why we said that if you really want the best of the best then the A95K with its premium price is the only way to go.
Closing we will say that the Sony A95K really impressed us in terms of image quality. In terms of features it comes with the standard that many premium Sony TVs have but Sony’s first QD-OLED release is surely a major landmark and will remain the king of image quality…until we get something better the following years. From all the above we give the A95K our highest recommendation.
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September 22, 2022 at 11:45 am
As my own house is down to its finishing touches, I am scouting for a TV set that would be perfect for our living room. Straight to the point, I prefer Sony over Samsung simply because of the picture quality. Samsung isn’t that bad but I would always prefer Sony. And your review seems to confirm what I have seen in some others, that is that the A95K is the best right now. Price is high, but this is Sony so it was to be expected.
September 23, 2022 at 9:21 am
Hello Alice. As I mentioned in my review the A95K is the best but also the most expensive. If you can afford the price and willing to pay the premium to have the best at this moment then go ahead. Otherwise the S95B is really close and at a much lower price.
September 23, 2022 at 7:22 am
I didn’t like the ironing board stand on the A95K, because it looked weird.
It would be better if all of Sony’s premium tv remotes were inspired by the B&O style remote design.
September 23, 2022 at 8:34 am
Many people didn’t like this stand. Let’s hope they will change it for their 2023 flagship.
September 24, 2022 at 12:23 am
I fully agree with you, Hope in 2023 and beyond Sony doesn’t make a pretty awful stand design.
September 24, 2022 at 9:13 am
Sony is at it again. I previously had a Sony but now I have two Samsung TVs. I really did love the Sony when I had it. I always found their picture to be better. When I’m in the market for a new tv in the coming months I’ll be sure to refer back to this article. Thanks for all the information.
October 4, 2022 at 9:38 am
Hi Jamie. Sony makes good TVs but some of them are a bit overpriced. And the A95K is the best example of that. It was the same last year with the A90J. Best image overall but when it comes to price you have to pay a hefty premium.
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In recent decades we’ve seen the rise of an emerging interdisciplinary field that brings together neuroscientists and educators. As technologies like brain mapping and scanning continue to advance our understanding of the human brain, a sub-sector of experts are applying those findings to the classroom.
Instead of being based on traditional or individual assumptions about learning, education is beginning to be treated more like a science. The new discipline, neuroeducation, serves to apply the scientific method to curricula design and teaching strategies. This comes with attempts for a more objective understanding of learning that is based on evidence.
All human abilities, including learning, are a result of our brain activity. Hence, a better understanding of how our brains operate can result in a better understanding of learning.
As we continue to unravel the issues and limitations of traditional education, many solutions involve a better scientific basis behind how we teach. The goal of neuroeducation (also known as mind and brain education or educational neuroscience) is to solidify a scientific basis in teaching and learning. The field uses the latest findings from neuroscience, psychology, and cognitive science to inform education and consequently, teaching strategies.
A significant responsibility of this field is to make the latest findings accessible and practical to educators and policymakers, who often come from non-scientific backgrounds. This includes addressing any popularized “neuromyths” (such as the widely-discredited idea that we only use ten percent of our brains) and other misunderstandings about how our minds work.
There have been many ongoing trends and findings in the field. For instance, we know the brain can continue to re-wire and re-configure itself, even if the rate of change slows down as we get older. This so-called neuroplasticity has been a widely-studied subject in the field.
What’s fascinating is that teaching young minds about neuroscience and neuroplasticity alone can have a positive impact on their learning. One research team conducted a study where seventh graders were taught that learning changes the brain and intelligence can be improved upon. The researchers found that students in this experimental group did better on math tests than peers who did not receive that instruction.
Another significant series of findings has to do with the role of emotions in learning. We know that negative emotions such as fear or stress can have a detrimental effect on the learning process. On the other hand, many have noted the powerful and positive impact that awe-based or passion-based learning can have.
These positive brain states that can be accounted for in supportive and cooperative groups are described to increase memory retention along with pleasure, motivation, perseverance through challenges, and resilience to setbacks. Together, they emphasize the importance of a positive, supportive, and stress-free learning environment.
In extension, effective learning is found to a be a particularly social process. Research has found that from infancy, we learn “better through social cues such as recalling and emulating the actions or words of another person.” Numerous studies have also shown that active, experiential, and problem-based learning dramatically trumps traditional lectures.
Many like to point out that neuroscience, despite all its breakthroughs, is still in its infancy, as is neuroeducation. As exciting and helpful as these findings are, one can only imagine how much farther we can go.
In the future, it may be possible to use individual data from brain structure and activity to understand each learner’s unique strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, we could use that information to derive personalized learning styles. Some experts even hope for a complete mapping of human synapses to discover how learning occurs and thereby develop biological strategies for improvement of learning.
As a result, understanding these mechanisms also paves the way for a wave of cognitive enhancement drugs, genetically-enhanced intelligence, and integration with AI devices through brain-machine interfaces.
Earlier this year, the first study to show significant improvements for the cognitive enhancement drugs modafinil and methylphenidate in chess was published in the peer-reviewed journal European Neuropsychopharmacology. In addition, a team of experts from Italy have set up a plan for an e-learning platform that operates on a brain-computer interface called BRAVO to customize the educational experience according to users’ reactions and preferences.
Naturally, there are many challenges to making these speculative technologies a reality. In the words of Michio Kaku,“The human brain has 100 billion neurons, each neuron connected to 10,000 other neurons. Sitting on your shoulders is the most complicated object in the known universe.”
It is important to recognize that while our understanding of our brains has come far and we continue to anticipate many breakthroughs, we do have a long way to go before we understand the activities of the 86 billion neurons, and trillion connections, that make us who we are.
From Research to the Classroom
The studies and findings outlined in this article are just a handful from neuroeducation. They represent a growing body of knowledge and understanding on how our students are learning best and how we can improve teaching strategies.
Discovering and communicating these findings is only half the job. For them to have a meaningful impact, the findings need to be effectively applied into mainstream education. As our understanding of the brain and learning continues to improve, our curricula and teaching strategies need to be constantly updated to keep up.
The National Academy of Science suggests it might be unethical to continue to use the traditional lecture approach when we have growing robust evidence from many different studies that other methods are far more effective.
As student loan debt surpasses credit card debt to leave many graduates unhappy, educational institutions have a moral obligation to provide students with a learning experience that gives them their money’s worth. Applying the latest findings from neuroscience into their classrooms is one way to do so.
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Raya is the Founder & CEO of Awecademy, an online platform that gives young minds the opportunity to learn, connect and contribute to human progress. She is a writer and regular speaker on the topics of innovative education, the future of work and the effects of exponential technologies on society.
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After 5 days on the Gut Flush Cleanse by Dr. Junger, my sister provides the final verdict:
The weigh in: Energy! That was VERY apparent. Also feeling pretty darn happy on days four and five. Physically I lost 4 pounds, and I noticed that my face seemed brighter. My skin was rosier. The puff under my eyes when I wake up was gone. I also noticed that the allergies I’ve had that usually block one or the other nostril at night had disappeared, and therefore better sleep. Yes the sleep. I slept like the dead (except when getting up to pee) and I had some weird and vivid dreams. I’m not sure if this was cleanse related but it was unusual so maybe. My husband was convinced that he’d gained weight and the scale confirmed it on Day three, but by day five he said that weight was gone plus another two pounds. And maybe it was my imagination but his waist looked slimmer. My co-worker suffered none of the blah that I did at any point, but she eats consistently healthy, without the curbs and breaks I take. She did tell me that her pants that were previously too tight for her were now fitting loosely and she was thrilled.
The Aftermath: I’m on day two of my non-cleanse, it’s 7:17 and I haven’t had my glass of wine. I want to feel full of energy at work tomorrow like I did on days four and five, so I’m abstaining for now. Can’t say there won’t be a glass in my hand this weekend though. I’m finishing up leftovers from the cleanse, but I must admit I sprinkled a little grated cheddar and sea salt on the vegetable frittata tonight, and it was better. So, I’m not going hard-core anymore, but I’m inspired to stick with Dr. Junger’s general guidelines for now because I really loved how it made me feel…at the end anyway. “The first three days are the hardest.” That’s what a few friends who had completed different cleanses had warned us, and they were absolutely correct.
The Questions: If I were to give feedback to Dr. Junger or to Dr. Oz who posted this cleanse on his website I would request that portion amounts be included in the recipe. Some recipes made LOADS and could feed four, and others were rather anemic for even one person. I would also prefer that the recipes clarified between canned coconut milk and the refrigerated coconut milk that comes in the carton. I assumed when it called for “full fat” it meant canned, and when it asked for “unsweetened” it meant the carton, but some recipes said neither. It just said, “coconut milk”, so there was some guess work. The importance of strictly following the recipes versus going by the general do’s and don’ts was not exactly explained. For example, sweet potatoes were on the “Eat these foods” list, but they were not listed as a possible snack, and they were not in any of the recipes, so I didn’t eat any, even though I love them and would have welcomed one. I wondered if the timing of the meals was crucial as well. It seemed like the recipes started with a lot of fat on the first two days, then the fat tapered down quite a bit. Was this coincidence or a progressive meal plan tailored to allow your body to cleanse itself more effectively? I followed the recipe schedule as strictly as I realistically could, only rearranging a meal due to work, and I’m curious now if that was even important. Still all in all, it was a little five-day adventure, and I feel pretty darn accomplished for having graduated alive and well. Who knows, next year maybe I’ll try the Whole 30, but between now and then, there will be wine, there will be ice cream, and there will be donuts piled with maple glaze and bacon.
800 arrow note: Dr. Junger recently released two new books, “Clean Gut” and a new cookbook, “Clean Eats” (proceeds go to charities supporting children’s nutritional health). Some of the above questions could be clarified in those resources. Another option for learning more about this cleanse is to contact a member of the Clean Team on Dr. Junger’s website.
HUGE thank you to my sister for sharing her cleanse experience with all the 800 arrows readers.
Back to my sister’s experience on her first cleanse.
Day Four: Pretty sure the Cleanse Fairy visits cleansers the morning of Day Four because I woke up feeling ten years younger. Revitalized, energized, empty…but in a good way. Dare I say, clean? I hop out of bed to make the chocolate ginger shake. Now I love ginger, my husband does not, but we agreed that this was a pretty nasty shake. I may have used too much ginger. And my blender isn’t the best, so the ginger wasn’t as liquefied as I would have liked. I would probably microplane it first then add it to the blender if I were even to make it again, which I probably won’t. My sudden burst of energy led to a productive morning of spring cleaning the house, then preparing the vegetable frittata.
We went off schedule on this one. Sunday lunch was supposed to be the same Thai chicken soup from Day two, but I decided to save those leftovers for dinner on day five since it was a work day. More time to cook and chop on Sunday for the frittata. I’m actually having the rest of the frittata for dinner tonight and I can honestly say that I’m not looking forward to it. The coconut milk in it was all wrong. I would go with almond milk instead, and perhaps that would save it.
But we choked it down and had higher hopes for the acorn squash wedges with the Asian broccoli salad.
Now, if I hadn’t over steamed my beautiful farmer’s market broccoli and if we had quadrupled the amount of that delicious Asian dressing, this would probably have been a winning meal. As it was, we had fleeting tastes of the dressing and a lot of over cooked veggies (totally my fault…I likely saw something shiny and completely forgot about all the steaming that was going on). So it’s probably unfair to pan the meal, but I doubt I’d make it again.
I WILL make that dressing again though. So we were hungry after eating, but this was nothing new to us. We were old pros by now. So we went to bed with familiarly empty tummies and looked forward to Day Five. Graduation Day!
Day Five: I woke up again feeling absolutely wonderful, and totally confused. I had been looking forward to the last day SO much on days one through three, but now I was a little sad it was ending. My head spun with thoughts of how we should eat when we’ve completed this cleanse. Do we just go back to our old ways? We shop organic and farmer’s markets, we cook light and use healthy ingredients. We indulge in junk food enough to feel satisfied but not so much as to be sick or significantly overweight. But there’s still another cleanse day ahead and a work cleanse day at that, so putting my ponderings aside I blend up our purple shake. This was probably my favorite of them all, and more like the smoothies that I make myself on non-cleanse days with the healthy dose of nut butters and the blueberries. After drinking, I still felt empty in that good way, and off to work I went. As the morning progressed, I anticipated that 9:30 hunger, the weakness, the slurring words, the utter lack of brain power, but it never came. I was fine. Flew home for lunch to power down the Euro nut shake, which was supposed to be for dinner, but I tweaked our schedule slightly to make Monday night dinner an easy leftover. I think I made that shake wrong. Too much nut butter. We don’t have hazelnut butter available, so I went with cashew butter and some almond butter to substitute. It was good, but it was REALLY rich and thick. I had to eat it with a spoon. My husband LOVED his (I’d made them that morning and put his in a thermos for work.). He thought it was more like a dessert which was just fine with him. My portion was smaller than what was recommended because I gave my husband a little more than half so he wouldn’t go hungry at work, but I felt satisfied enough to last my second leg at work. So, everything went smoothly, my husband came home and we had our final cleanse meal with the Thai chicken soup again. There was no more complaining, no more wishing for the foods we couldn’t eat. We felt just fine. Never full, but usually satisfied.
800 arrows note: Stay tuned for a wrap up of the 5 day experience, over all thoughts, pounds lost and some great questions…… if we only had access to those celebrity doctors that put together this fun, food experiment!
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NHA operates at two locations, but as one school. There is a location in Yardley, PA and Doylestown, PA.
Posted in Slogan
Benefits to Parents
Posted on January 15, 2015 June 9, 2017 by Tim Simmons
We regularly contact parents to update them on interactive behavior, tests, cooperation, & respect for authority.
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Los Angeles City Council member Kevin de Leon sits in chamber before starting the Los Angeles City Council meeting, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022 in Los Angeles. The…
Los Angeles City Council member Kevin de Leon sits in chamber before starting the Los Angeles City Council meeting, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022 in Los Angeles. The three Los Angeles City Council members at the center of a scandal over a recording of racist comments have each had long, influential careers in state and local politics. Now, those careers could soon come to an abrupt end as Kevin de Leon, Nury Martinez and Gil Cedillo face enormous pressure to resign — including from President Joe Biden. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
Key LA leaders face political fallout for racist remarks
Posted: Oct 12, 2022 / 04:11 PM EDT
Updated: Oct 12, 2022 / 06:35 PM EDT
Los Angeles City Council member Kevin de Leon sits in chamber before starting the Los Angeles City Council meeting, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022 in Los Angeles. The…
Los Angeles City Council member Kevin de Leon sits in chamber before starting the Los Angeles City Council meeting, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022 in Los Angeles. The three Los Angeles City Council members at the center of a scandal over a recording of racist comments have each had long, influential careers in state and local politics. Now, those careers could soon come to an abrupt end as Kevin de Leon, Nury Martinez and Gil Cedillo face enormous pressure to resign — including from President Joe Biden. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
Posted: Oct 12, 2022 / 04:11 PM EDT
Updated: Oct 12, 2022 / 06:35 PM EDT
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The three Los Angeles City Council members at the center of a scandal over a recording of racist comments have all had long, influential careers in state and local politics.
Those careers are now in jeopardy as Kevin de Leon, Nury Martinez and Gil Cedillo face enormous backlash to comments, made nearly a year ago, that were revealed this week.
The recording captured a crude conversation between the three council members and a powerful labor union leader that included language to mock their colleagues while discussing the city’s redistricting process.
Martinez resigned from the council Monday. De Leon and Cedillo have not resigned, despite calls to do so from numerous groups and politicians, including President Joe Biden.
Known simply as “KDL,” de Leon has been a force in California politics for decades. Born in Los Angeles to immigrant parents, de Leon got his start organizing against Proposition 187, an ultimately unsuccessful initiative that sought to bar immigrants living in the country without legal permission from using state services.
He was elected to the Legislature in 2006, rising to become the leader of the state Senate, a powerful position that gave him a major say in decisions about the state’s budget and policies.
In 2017, de Leon made the brazen decision to challenge veteran U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, setting up a bitter intraparty fight that he would ultimately lose. He soon got elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 2020. He ran for mayor this year but finished third in the primary behind businessperson Rick Caruso and U.S. Rep. Karen Bass.
Born and raised in the San Fernando Valley, Martinez is a veteran of Los Angeles-area local governments.
Martinez got her start on the San Fernando City Council, where she was first elected in 2003 and also served as mayor. She got elected to the Los Angeles Unified School District board in 2009, helping to run the second largest district in the nation. While there, she battled unions over policies to make it easier to fire teachers in sexual misconduct cases.
In 2013, Martinez got elected to the Los Angeles City Council, replacing Tony Cárdenas, who was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. She helped pass a law raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour.
The Los Angeles City Council unanimously chose Martinez as president, a position she assumed in 2020, at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. She oversaw the city’s response, including setting up a renters’ assistance program. She resigned her seat Wednesday.
Cedillo rose to prominence as the leader of Los Angeles County’s largest union in the early 1990s, but he lost the job in a power struggle with the union’s board, the Los Angeles Times reported.
He got elected to the Legislature in 1998, where he was known for his futile attempts to pass a law allowing people who were not U.S. citizens to get driver’s licenses from the California Department of Motor Vehicles. Former Gov. Jerry Brown finally did sign that law in 2013, after Cedillo had left the Legislature.
Cedillo was more successful with the California Dream Act, which lets some students who are not U.S. citizens qualify for some financial aid and other scholarships.
Cedillo left the Legislature in 2012 because of term limits but was elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 2013. He served two terms and was trying to have at least one more, but he lost in the primary election this summer to community activist Eunisses Hernandez. Cedillo will leave office in January, but many have called on him to resign immediately following the recording of the racist comments.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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State and territory governments met with the Commonwealth on the weekend to negotiate funding agreements for public schools and vocational education and training.
Of course you’d have to been living on the moon to miss recent media coverage of all this, so forgive me any repetition in outlining how this is likely to affect us.
In a nutshell, these new agreements will provide significant, and welcome, new resources for NSW – more than $1 billion extra over the next five years in Commonwealth funding.
This includes:
Additional funding for the Digital Education Revolution, to a total of around $380 million in NSW public schools.
New ‘National Partnerships’ for low SES schools; literacy and numeracy and teacher quality with up to $750 million over five years available to NSW.
A lift to the base funding for public schools, an increase of an estimated $166 million over the next four years.
The funds will enable us to strengthen our support of high quality teaching and school leadership, and make intensive interventions to help tens of thousands disadvantaged students in some of our neediest communities.
There will also be challenges as we negotiate the detail of the new agreements.
The Commonwealth expects the States to continue with reforms to the way we account to the community for what we achieve in schools, and how we operate within schools, across schools and in support of schools.
The Commonwealth will provide an extra $807 million across Australia to meet the additional on-costs for the States and Territories to implement the National Secondary School Computer Fund.
With our share of the additional funding we’ll be able to provide laptops for every student Year 9 to 12, running on new wireless networks in their schools.
The Premier has written to the Commonwealth asking that the second round applications for funding be re-opened.
We hope to be able save schools the trouble of making individual applications for laptops by making a single application on behalf of all participating public schools.
My thanks to principals, and especially the Secondary Principals’ Council, for your patience and support through this process.
This is a great result for our students, and will support further improvements to teaching and learning for our senior secondary students.
We’re getting cracking straight away on procuring the technology and support services. We’ll call for expressions of interest to supply and install the new technology this week.
As soon as we have more details about each step between now and delivery we’ll communicate directly with those principals who are affected.
New National Partnerships
The Commonwealth has funded three major new partnerships to provide much needed resources to our schools:
National Partnership on Improving Teacher Quality
National Partnership on Low SES School Communities
The partnerships provide a real opportunity to try new things and to direct more resources to our highest priorities – such as backing our teachers and principals and directing resources to areas of greatest need.
We now know the Commonwealth funding that each partnership will attract and the results and sorts of reforms expected it is expected to support.
Our next step very early next year is to negotiate with the Commonwealth the details of how we will implement the partnerships in NSW.
Obviously the final sign-off on the arrangements rests with our minister and the government, but to prepare our implementation plan we’ll work very closely with schools, parents, principals associations, unions and other interested parties.
Additional Base Funding
NSW has long argued for the Commonwealth to treat public primary and secondary schools equally.
I’m delighted to report that on Saturday we finally achieved equal funding treatment for primary and secondary schools.
From 1 January 2009, the base funding grant for primary schools will be increased to 10 per cent of the average government school recurrent costs. As well as settling an important principle, the additional funding will provide a relatively modest but necessary boost to our budget.
In increasing the base funding, we’ve also managed to cut a lot of the red tape that been associated in the past with Commonwealth funding.
In the future you should see a significant streamlining of your reporting requirements and ours.
The agreement reached on Saturday is significant on all counts: there’s significant new money, and significant opportunities and challenges to implement the new partnerships.
Before closing I want to especially thank our colleagues in Leslie Loble’s team, and other groups in the department, who’ve worked so hard, and so effectively, to represent the interests of public school students.
I know many other people in professional associations, unions, parent groups and other government agencies have all contributed, but I’ve seen the work of our day-to-day negotiators at close hand and I can assure you that your students are represented by the best team in the nation.
With my best regards,
November 30, 2008
Connectivism in Plain English
December 4, 2008
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State schools in NSW are grappling with a post-DER world. The Digital Education Revolution funding from the federal government provided Lenovo laptops, technical support and wireless coverage to schools. For the last 5 years Year 9 students have been issued with a laptop. That has all evaporated with no funding from the state government to […]
February 6, 2013
“The Australian Government supports the use of new technologies in Australian schools to prepare students to learn, train and live in a digital world.” (sic) SOURCE It has reached the stage where the contradictions in government education policy in Australia are leaving satirists with very little to parody. In […]
January 24, 2012
Colleagues, Your mission today is to spend some time thinking and sharing about learning in your 1:1 laptop classroom. The key issue about learning in a 1:1 laptop classroom is not the technology but the pedagogy. Today we will share our knowledge, accumulated over the least three years since the rollout of netbooks, using an online […]
May 21, 2011
I Music & Photography: A Digital Renaissance This century, the digital revolution in photography and music, has led to the democratisation and proliferation of human beings sharing images and sounds, experiences, knowledge and beauty. How have these two industries, with entrenched interests and well-established systems, changed so rapidly that they little resemble their former selves […]
May 12, 2011
Back in 2007, some ‘fresh ideas’ excited many Australians, especially those involved in education or who had an interest in the schooling of their own children and grandchildren. In short, that’s pretty much everyone. Here’s a reminder of the commitment our current federal government had, to the ‘Digital Education Revolution’ when seeking election in 2007: […]
April 28, 2011
‘Shut Down The Schools!’
A new report asks a very important question in, ‘What can we learn today about the students’ aspirations, adoption and adaption of emerging technologies for learning than can help us plan for the future?’ A major national survey concluded that students were already very effectively implementing a vision of socially-based, un-tethered and digitally-rich learning on […]
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As I watch him endure a grueling schedule and the slings and arrows of Vince Gray’s campaign, I sometimes wonder how he keeps going when the challenges are so great.
Then I remember what I told the Woman’s National Democratic Club in a speech I delivered back in January:
Read more
Feb27
In January I had the honor of giving a speech for members and friends of the National Woman’s Democratic Club. At first I asked: Why should these women listen to Barbara Wells? But then I understood the answer. Tommy has hundreds of friends who have witnessed his work for the District over the last 28 years, but I’m the only one who’s been there from start to finish, and I do have a story to tell. Now I want to share it with you:
Read more
With just six weeks to election day, I've been feeling the pressure for Tommy to break out of the pack of mayoral candidates. This week, he did!
Tommy showed us over and over: he is different.
First, in the two key Council votes that gutted the marijuana decriminalization bill and rewrote ethics rules that other Councilmembers just don't like, Tommy stood firm on correcting a social injustice and holding our elected officials to strict rules of behavior. We all know even in tough situations, Tommy votes for what's right.
Read more
Jan31
A note from Barbara Wells
I’ve been Tommy’s No. 1 fan, cheerleader and partner since we were married 26 years ago. But my support has never been more important than it is right now. Midnight tonight marks our first major fundraising deadline of the year. That's just four hours from now, and Tommy needs all of us to help him hit this one out of the park. Over the next 60 days—from today until election day—every single dollar you contribute to Tommy’s campaign goes straight to voter outreach and education.
Read more
Tommy's Win
On November 13, at the first mayoral debate of the season, my husband, Tommy Wells, joined five other candidates at the first 2014 mayoral forum and knocked it out of the park.
You might think, "Of course she says so. She's his wife!" But the opposite is true. No one is more anxious than I am watching Tommy face the challenge of showing a roomful of supporters, strangers and opponents why he should be mayor.
After 25 years of marriage, I know better than anyone his ethics, ingenuity, compassion and drive. But can he capture that in a series of 60-second responses?
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“To me being a great cheerleader means having pride in your school and having pride in yourself.” -Jillian Walters, sophomore, said.
The cheer team takes the sidelines at football games to encourage the team and rile up the fans.
Often when shows and movies have a cheerleader character they are portrayed as the bully or villain of the story. These are stereotypical and preconceived ideas of cheerleaders. People outside the sport of cheer may want to know exactly what cheer is and what it means to those involved. Is there more to cheer than pom poms?
Mia Harmon and Jillian Walters, sophomores, are both at the varsity level on the competition and sideline cheer teams. This is their second season cheering for the school. When asked why she joined cheer, Walters said Harmon encouraged her to join the team as a freshman, and she fell in love with it.
“I remember going into sixth grade and one day she was like you should cheer with me and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re so right,’” Walters said. “I just started it and I fell in love with the aspect that I love stunting. And I love having that trust and bond with other people and I felt like no other sport has.”
Harmon joined cheer in third grade and stuck with it due to her love of stunting.
“I felt like I found where I belonged and that place was in front of a crowd showing my school pride,” Harmon said.
Beginners may wonder what skills they need to join cheer. The answer is none, according to Harmon and Walters.
“Cheer is something, especially with our team, where you can go into it not knowing anything and our coaches are so sweet that they’ll help you through the whole thing,” Harmon said. “And our team is a very supportive one. So if you have no experience in anything cheer-related, you will come right in and feel like you belong.”
Walters describes the team as being like “one big family.”
“A lot of girls on the team who are willing to help each other out,” Walters said.
When you think of cheer the first thing that may come to mind is pom poms and “Friday Night Lights” but there’s another part to it— competition. Harmon and Walters both describe traditional competition as being difficult, as it comprises stunting, tumbling, and dance.
Roop Aporupa, sophomore, is an exchange student from Bangladesh. Aporupa joined the cheer team this year.
“I feel like my coaches are really nice, especially the first year and it is not something that I have seen a lot of exchange students do,” Aporupa
Aporupa also touched on what people in Bangladesh think of cheer.
“They think it’s very stereotypical,” Aporupa said. “ I’m starting like right now telling people they see me doing cheer and they’re like, ‘Wow, it’s not perfect.’”
Joseph Murphy, junior, has been a part of the journalism program for two years. He enjoys football, basketball, running cross country, and a good...
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A couple of resolutions that I finally made my priority, when I put my mind to something, then you know that it isn’t a maybe but a 100% guarantee. I have worked my ass off (quite literally) to be the best possible version of me I can be. I have won some, lost some but I continue to start each day with a fresh perspective, renewed purpose and try again. I’m still proud of the better me, that I strive each day to be.
My physical health was one of those top priorities and I’m happy to report that there’s a much healthier and smaller version of me going into 2018. It’s astonishing the difference a few pounds can have on so many things. I found an amazing gym family that always sets their focus on empowering women, positive vibes, inspiring, the beauty in each member and lots of dancing, laughing, booty werk and all the sillyness that fits me perfectly.
Unfortunately I did have a few health issues that required 3 emergency surgeries and I’m still recovering from the last one. I pray it gets better and don’t lose my sight permanently.
Another focus was to dig down deep in order to sit with my anger, pain, and finally talk about some of the broken pieces that have been hidden inside for an eternity. While that has taken a toll on some relationships, finally calling someone out on their bullshit was quite therapeutic for me.
I shouldn’t have been so surprised when you waited until no one was around in order to spew all that hatred and completely obliterate every part of me but at the end of the day, you will forever stay stuck with only the memories and the knowledge that you will never again hear from me. Continue to twist the words for sympathy, turn others againist me, but please remember I know who you really are since those evil pieces were inherited by me. The difference is I turn it inward instead of using it as arsenal againist those I call family. I’ll be the scapegoat of your pretend fairytale family since you’ve paid such close attention to convince others and have a real talent for re-writing the truth out of actual history. I’m the one covered in the physical and mental scars of your choices, your mistakes, your neglect so there is no lying to me.
My little Sky bear, a true gift from God, has absolutely grown into the most perfect guy and I cherish his love, laughter and all the sweetness he shows me. I am so proud of him in so many ways, his heart, his intelligence, his strength, his ambition, his complete acceptance and the many things he has taught me. I adore his morning hugs and cuddles and the fact that I get to be his Mom, his safe place and I love him 100% unconditionally.
I’ve experienced some amazing success, loss, heartbreak but still was able to find my inner peace. I have laughed so hard that I could barely breathe. I’ve cried so hard all I could do was fall to the floor and beg God for his loving mercy.
In some of my darkest hours I found myself completely alone, I know I’m a complex person but just needed the same love and support in return that I have always shown. I’ve given up control of a few things in order to better focus my energy on those most important to me. I have realized that there is a very small number of people in this entire world that I can depend on if I’m in an emergency, go to for advice, won’t judge or share my words and accepts my crazy, silly, loud, broken and all the sharp edges that makeup the pieces that are me.
Thanks to the devastation from hurricane Harvey, I’ve lived through some terrifying and stressful moments that still continue. When you see your whole life floating under water it is a new sadness that I didn’t want to know. Trying to rebuild this house isn’t an easy task and it still doesn’t have the same warm feeling as the place I use to call my home.
We are no closer to being finished as we were a month ago, in fact the only things accomplished so far are new walls, partial flooring, and some doors half done so a long road ahead until I can finally say we are done.
Water has always been my safe place, something that provided comfort but now the rain brings back those memories of quite desperation and the fear of the unknown.
The kindness of a few people, mostly complete strangers, fed my family, provided necessities, even helped with demo when there was no one else who was here to help my family. It was a surreal feeling not knowing how I would fed my family, we were stuck, no vehicles, no kitchen, no frig or freezer so only some pantry items that didn’t get ruined and I didn’t eat for days to ensure my guys had enough because that’s what was most important to me.
Thanksgiving day came & went, we had chips & dips and went driving around since I finally had a car again to get out of the house and see some preblack Friday deals. I truly felt like a failure as a mom since that is never the thanksgiving memory I wanted him to have but couldn’t prepare him a big feast and with no invites for dinner I did the best I could with what I had.
I hope and pray that 2018 is a more joyful year and that we are able to put all the missing & broken pieces together and re-direct our focus on the hopes, dreams and make many happy memories that will bring smiles to my little family because that is what I hold close to my heart and their happiness is most important to me.
Some days a domestic goddess, and other days a lost woman that still hasn’t bothered to brush her hair. My journey is full of life’s whimsical tales, love, laughter, heartache, trauma, passion, fantasy and everything in between. My writing is raw, sometimes too raw but I write it anyways, it’s my truth, my voice and I will share it. I’ve been described as honest, even complicated and have a whole lot of sassy undertones, so things get interesting, even comical at times.
Glad you are here and hope you enjoy reading my thoughts, stories and poems, as much as I enjoyed writing them!
If you would like to have your work published in Post Prose send your submission to poetrybar1@gmail.com with a few words about yourself and a link to your blog!
Published by lunaiswriting
View all posts by lunaiswriting
5 thoughts on “2017 tried to break me”
Taylor Grace September 23, 2019 — 1:19 pm
Thank you for sharing Luna
lunaiswriting September 23, 2019 — 1:42 pm
Navin September 23, 2019 — 8:36 pm
The broken inside of you is healing in the depth of yours.
Manoj Mehra September 24, 2019 — 4:21 am
You are very strong, you didn’t give up when things were not in favor of you and that’s a big thing. My best wishes that now everything becomes good in your life.
No, you weren’t broken and you’ve come out even stronger from your difficulties. I read, a powerful expression of self and a hint to those in adversity.
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Tom Clancys Ghost Crack We know that Bolivia has the largest drug cartel, according to prehistory. It trades and supplies hazardous substances in large quantities including cocaine almost worldwide. The assailants’ organization is called. Their activities have led to an important place for drug manufacturing in a small country. The local people are overwhelmed with panic and fear because everyone feels impunity, cruelty and unlawfulness become a common phenomenon. One of the ghosts, you can become. It is a group of special forces that have gone through various hot spots and won in the most appalling Tom Clancys Ghost torrent, confrontations. The fight against drug trafficking is a great responsibility. It is now important that the system is shaken so that leaders are afraid.
Tom Clancys Ghost PC for computers Every player can change tactics with a focus on various task tasks in Ghost Recon Wildlands. This is because the developers have left clear structures for implementable tasks. The user selects all actions before the players have freedom. Now the story, tasks, and complete tasks must be approached. In the Ghost Recon Wildlands game, you can use the hidden mode. Down, twist or open your opponents – it’s all in your hands. Most importantly, stick to your tactics and as much as possible Tom Clancys Ghost IGG-Game, confuse and disorient the enemy. The main advantage of the computer game is that players can have an open world of games, a universe never before. As the creators have said.
Tom Clancys Ghost CPY The group’s members make important decisions for Gammell. And each will influence the team and will also affect the development of the history of the game project. Your adversaries will react to your movements too. Earlier were the tactics of the previous Ghost Recon Wildlands project, and they presented their work in the form of an open-world arcade game led by a third party. The reaction between a fantasy group and drug dealers promises to be spectacular and Tom Clancy Ghost reloaded dynamically. The ones who decide to download Ghost Recon Wildlands should consider that the game involves the use, whereas up to four people can play, of one single mission or team mission.
Tom Clancys Ghost Download The arcade shooter was opened by Tom Clancys Free Download. The player is reincarnating as one of the members of the Bolivian drug dealer Ghost group. You can play on your own or in a group of four. You will be available to download Ghost Recon Wildlands via torrent and we will update you so that everyone can enter this incredible world of games. Ghost Recon: Wildlands Torrent provides a dynamite level of subtle elements in terms of images. You cross different scenes in Bolivia, starting with the cold peaks in the deserts and the tropical deserts. Wildlands Tom Clancys Ghost Plaza, offers a unique player and community mode for four persons, as with previous recreations of the event.
How to install?
The first thing we do is download the game files.
Go to the directory and run the «setup.exe» file after downloading.
We specify the location on the drive where it is to be installed during installation.
At the end of the extraction process, a shortcut appears on the desktop.
Oly Crack. Crack.
NEW-DeltaT has registered
Every DLC is included and turned on; Most clothes/thing is unlocked, some UbiClub material is 100% lossless and MD5 locked. Perfect: after installation, all files are identical to the original
Nothing was shaking, nothing recoded
Selective Download Feature: You can skip the voice package that you do not need to download and install
Significantly reduced file size (86.5 to 30.3 compressed ~ 34.9 GB depending on the components selected)
The installation time: approximately 45 minutes in the 8-cord CPU; approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes in the 4-core CPU
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When designing a swimming pool it is important to consider how one gets in and out of the pool. Easy entry into the swimming pool will cater for children, elders and the disabled.
The easiest way to get into the pool is the beach entry. Beach entry swimming pool is becoming the most desired pool feature. A designed beach entry swimming pool provides beauty aesthetic for your backyard. It comes with a striking entrance and a stylish modern design.
What is beach entry or zero entry swimming pool? A beach entry swimming pool, or zero entry swimming pool is an in-ground swimming pool. It is designed with an entry that has a very slight slope into the pool, providing you with a long, slow and gradual entry.
The beach entry swimming pool is also called the zero entry pool. The initial entry into the pool begins dry, which is where the term zero entry pool comes from. The construction of this pool is done in such a way that the position of the pool lies at the shallow end side. The slope of the pool gives out the much deep end.
Beach entry swimming pool is a popular option that replaces the top step with a gentle slope. The depth starts out at zero and slowly slopes to a depth of one foot. They are fun, functional pools that look similar to what you can find out at a resort.
A beach entry swimming pool is when one or more sides of your pool slopes gradually into the water. As you enter the slope will take you deeper into the water until you safely enter your swimming pool.
This swimming pool has a very innovative design that can bring out the aesthetic sense of the pool. The pool is specifically framed to have a transformation from the shallow to the deep water. Beach entry swimming is good for people who want to have a relaxing time and can also enjoy sunbathing.
The amazing thing about beach entry swimming pool is its perfect for lounging. One can sit in the foot of water. Its very relaxing and comfortable. You can also place furniture into the shallow area of the pool.
Large shallow entrance provides a splash area for children to safely play. Parents can easily monitor their young children and give place where they can have fun.
It is perfect for gradual entry. If you are the type of person who likes to slow enter the water beach entry pool makes it possible. Children have a perfect way of entering the pool without running or jumping in.
It makes you feel like you are at a beach. Sitting pool-side of a beach entry pool gives the feeling of sitting lakeside. Skip installing traditional steps designs into your pool. Beach entry pool provides an innovative alternative to enter the pool.
Comes with a beautiful view. It looks cool and gives beauty to its surrounding area. It also gives you a variety of options for landscaping ideas. Pool builders can also build the decorative artistic boulders that can produce the beach a very pleasing attribute.
Individuals enjoy a pool’s recreational benefits. This makes it a great choice for those with mobility issues or physical disabilities. Wheel-chairs can even role into the water and remain in the depth that suits them.
Allows sunbathing on shallow area of the pool without being immersed in water. One can also feel the soothing motion of the light wave while listening to music or reading a book.
Sensitive swimmers can enjoy a bit of added comfort since they can descend into the water much more gradually than they could with regular pool steps. If you have a dog or puppy who enjoys playing in the pool, a beach entry can be safer for your pet.
The slope is very similar to a real beach. The depths start out at zero and slowly slopes to a depth of one foot and has a warm shallow water at the entry due to the design making the pool a great spot to sunbathe or relax without being completely immersed in water.
Positioned at the pool’s shallow end. Entry point is constructed to be even with the deck. The top part where it meets the deck is usually dry. The entry becomes progressively deeper with each step. As you walk into the pool, this configuration provides a gentle transition into deeper water.
A popular approach for demarcating the entry is using partially submerged accent boulders or small ornamental statues. It doesn’t require any kind of steps that needs to be made as it just require the entry. Gentle slope replaces the top step.
In larger pools it may be gentle slope the entire way, in other pools it slopes and then drops off into slightly deeper water. Requires plenty of space in your yard to allow the sloping access area. Stylish modern design. It has a striking entrance.
Materials include decorative materials, pool deck materials, coping material and interior finishes.
Choosing a beach entry pool design means the pool construction material will be concrete. One of the longest lasting of the building material available.
The best choices are flagstone and any kind of poured and decorative concrete. Natural flagstone is used. Flagstone performs well on both dry land or in water. This produce a coordinated aesthetic for the pool.
Concrete pools need to be finished with some sort of fine surface usually ceramic tiles and glass mosaic tiles. Designer rocks, fountains, showpieces can also be part of your pool. It can create an appealing visual art that gives your pool a unique aspect.
Pool-marcite, quartz or pebble is also used. These materials are used for configuration modification. Sand finish colored concrete and stonescapes are also used.
A pool deck provides space for lounging near the water. A smooth flat surface will make it easy to move furniture around the deck. Deck materials include stone, pavers, concrete, brick, tile and wood.
Coping provides an edge of your pool that creates a finished look. Most popular coping materials are cast concrete and brick.
These include Plaster, Aggregate and Tile finishes.
Plaster Finish. Plaster is a mix of white cement, white sand or marble aggregate and water.
Aggregate Finish. To upgrade your pool aesthetic you can opt to mix a material like pebbles with cement instead of sand. Common aggregate materials are pebbles, glass beads and quartz.
Tile Finish. Tile is typically made of porcelain {standard}, stone or glass. Porcelain tile can be glazed, textured or hand-painted for a fancier look.
When you think of tropics, water and relaxation automatically come to mind. Beach entry swimming pool is a tropical or lagoon pool style. A tropical pool can bring a bit of the vacation atmosphere to your backyard. Waterfalls, lush plants, boulders and palm trees are all hallmarks of tropical style swimming pools.
The style of the pool takes up more space because of the length you need to make up the transition from shallow to deep. Pool shape and entry width can influence the final amount of length that a beach entry requires.
A beach entry swimming pool costs more than a traditional swimming pool. This is because the technology for beach entry pool is relatively new.
The size of a beach entry pool is one of the foremost reason that will change the cost. If you accommodate an extra space in the pool then costing of the pool will automatically increase.
Apart from size of the pool the cost of material will also depend upon the cost of the pool. The more expensive type of material used the more will be the cost of these pools.
Considerations For Beach Entry Swimming Pool Construction Project
The style of pool takes up more space because of the length you need to make the transition from shallow to deep. The pool deck will need to be part of your overall landscaping and pool project for this style pool because a beach entry requires different planning.
Project budget depend on size, complexity of the construction, amount of features and finishes selected.
Related Questions
Are Beach entry pools safe?
Beach entry pools are safe. The shallow section is perfect place to teach kids and non-swimmers to swim allowing them to be gradually acclimated with increasing depths. Toddlers and small children will delight in an incorporated splash zone while adults can supervise from close proximity.
Which material is best for constructing Beach entry swimming pool?
Most beach entry pools are built into existing or new in-ground concrete pools. Concrete is durable which makes it best for constructing a beach entry pool.
Are Beach entry pools expensive?
Beach entry swimming pools are expensive and also exclusive in nature. These pools are very premium in cost.
What is the difference between a Beach entry swimming pool and a Zero entry pool?
They are the same thing. The two terms are used interchangeably.
When it comes to swimming pools, there are two main sanitizers that people use: chlorine and baquacil. Both of these products have their own set of pros and cons, so it’s important to know the difference before deciding which one to use. Chlorine is the most common type of pool sanitizer. It’s effective at killing […]
There are many skimmers available to various kinds of pools, and it is essential to pick the one that best fits to meet your needs. The most fundamental skimmer is the manual, which isn’t generally a gadget, yet a level net, similar to a butterfly with a shallow net. Be that as it may, for […]
Hi, I’m Austin Mitts, the founder of PoolBuyerGuide.com, a site I started with one goal: to help people understand how to clean and take care of their pools on their own.
Pool Buyer Guide is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for website owners to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, audible.com, and any other website that may be affiliated with Amazon Service LLC Associates Program.
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Total dark, total silence on stage, then the curtain goes up, we see all those analog synths on stage, they look so big and wonderful !
But, where are the musicians, were is Jean Michel ?
We hear “bonsoir†and a white round seat to the left of the stage turns, Jean Michel is in it !! He looks so handsome with his dark suit, he begins to speak in French, thank everybody to have come, a girl shouts “I love youâ€, Jean Michel answers “Me tooâ€, then Jean Michel begins to speak about the problems they had with “a man from the desert in the garden of the theatre†! He tells this is a premiere as this is the first time the whole Oxygène is being played, he speaks about the old gear, telling they are poetical and that they can do all the sounds. He thanks Pierre Schaeffer and quotes him, speaks about the artwork made by Michel Granger.
Then, he introduces the three musicians with him he is going to “carry this concert everywhereâ€, Dominique Perrier, Claude Samard and Francis Rimbert, speaking a bit about them. Then he introduces the Theremin.
Then, he says that the entire concert is going to be played live, without sequencer “when nowadays concert are playbackedâ€. He warns the audience, telling that there might have mistakes, “but not too much then we can have pleasureâ€.
Then he comes to his setup, and hit the EMS AKS, this is the first track, the introduction, they tune all the synths, the sound is huge, sounds are coming from everywhere, I was really astonished at how huge the sounds of the Eminent could sound, the AKS was very powerful as well, I had expected a louder sound though !
Little pause, and Prelude begins, Jean Michel goes on his MemoryMoog and begins to play his sequence, Dominique plays the Mellotron, Francis is on his Eminent, I can’t see Claude at all, too bad… This was sounding exactly like on the DVD Oxygène Live In Your Living Room, as wonderful, really Tangerine Dream orientated. Jean Michel is really concentrated, no mistake at all on this track, pure like… Oxygen… then he takes his Doepfer ribbon controller and begins to make his solo on it, the sound is aerial, sometimes deep, Jean Michel feelings, his heart is speaking… he takes the ribbon controller on the Yamaha CS80 and goes on his Eminent 310, Oxygène 1 begins…
Aerial, breath-taking, perfectly played, Francis plays the glissandos like on the DVD, then Jean Michel walks to his AKS and begins to play his Theremin-like solo, while a red bar is going down in the background. Still no background video, only the huge amount of synths, the 4 musicians and the black background.
The higher chords of Francis’ Eminent are making some noise, poor old organ… suddenly, the MiniMoog bass of Claude comes, huge, Jean Michel goes on his ARP2600 and plays with his little box adding a nice solo, like the one of the original album, all is perfectly played, pure pleasure for the ears… the bass goes away, the Eminent strings played by Jean Michel comes back again, is that a dream or reality ? It sounds so wonderful and perfect… Jean Michel switches back to his 2 AKS just in front of the stage and plays some effects, he moves his body with the modulation of the sounds, total symbiosis with the synths… he loves his AKS !
Oxygène 2 sequence is coming, the bass, a green shape comes to the background, turns to blue, yellow, the red bar goes away, Oxygène 2 is launched, Jean Michel makes the AKS cry, the sequence comes, loud, soft, loud, soft…BAM, the drumtrack is launched with the effect by Claude, this drumbox has such a powerful sound, I was astonished and surprised, Jean Michel played an excellent solo, much better than the one from the DVD if you ask me ! And he playes, the time of the second part of Oxygène 2 comes, he will play the solo on the MemoryMoog, 1, 2, 3, go ! Ow ? What is happening ? The sound is so detuned…! Oh no, the MemoryMoog has got a problem ! Jean Michel tries to turn some potentiometers to arrange the sound, but it’s not his fault, the power supply of the synth has a problem (as we have been told by Francis Rimbert just after the concert). During the whole end of the track, Jean Michel tries to get the good sound, the fans are applauding, “this is not your fault, Jean Michel, go on !â€. It seems like Jean Michel managed to modify the sound to make it sound a bit better at the end of the track, all the musicians on stage try to play some additional chords to help Jean Michel not to feel alone and stupid on stage, but finally, us, fans, were amazed by how excellent they were at solving this problem, here we have true musicians !
Oxygène 2 leaves with crazy strings and a huge wind, and Oxygène 3 comes, the deep bass introduces it with power, everything is perfectly synchronised, Claude adds a powerful kick, Jean Michel then goes back on the MemoryMoog and tries to repair it, tries some sounds, but it’s still detuned, so he goes to the Theremin and begins his solo which will be much longer than expected I guess because of the problem with the MemoryMoog, to me it seems like Francis, Claude and Dominique try to force Jean Michel to stop playing the Theremin at changing the end of the sentences they were playing.
Then, comes the first Variation, Variation I, I didn’t remember at all the one from the DVD, but that one sounded better than what I had in mind, Jean Michel added powerful bass sounds, the Mellotron just sounds amazing in that one, then Jean Michel goes back on his AKS and plays the Theremin-like sound, Francis (or was it Dominique with the Moog55 ?) plays a bit the sequence on the ARP2500 and then cut it, then, some minutes after, the sequence comes again, with a huge wind sound, and the sequence ends.
Oxygène 4 begins, Jean Michel, Claude, Dominique and Francis say together “un, deux, trois, quatre†and then, it begins, perfectly synchronised, a huge mirror comes from the ceiling and shows the stage from the upper side, that was excellent to see it like that ! They played Oxygène 4 perfectly well, even if I still miss the original solo of the RMI from 1976… the track ends, the bass continues a bit though, and then, some bubble sounds come.
Variation II comes with a very Tangerine Dream-orientated sequence, with some Mellotron sounds and bass on a solo is played, but it sounds horribly detuned at some points though, Jean Michel adds some AKS effects on it, then goes to his Doepfer ribbon controller to play a solo on it and then switches back on his AKS to finally finish in front of the Digisequencer.
Arrives the string sound of Oxygène 5 played by Dominique and the bass played by Claude, in the meanwhile, I don’t really what is Jean Michel tring to do, he plays some random keys on his RMI, trying to program a new sound, and then switches on his MemoryMoog to fix it, it could have been perfect if Jean Michel had to played those notes, I really don’t know what happened to him ! Oxygène 5 sounded more like a fairy tale, sadder than on the original album. Then Jean Michel comes to his RMI and plays his part, he plays it well. Claude comes with the Taurus and plays with his fists, that’s funny to see, his part was well played ! Jean Michel launches the first sequence and the sequence with the bass sound of the RMI and adds all the layers of the sequence, he turns some potentiometers on his RMI and makes sure everything is well before walking to his portable synth, the Moog Liberation on which he begins to play the solo with some nice improvisations, I have to say I liked it much, it was much better than on the DVD ! Then he went back on his setup and launches the last sequence of Oxygène 5, which is the base sequence of Variation III.
So, Variation III begins, the pads and strings are played, but… the main sequence is missing, and it suddenly comes, completely detuned, no, not again a problem on a synth !! Oh ? Is it double played ? No, this is Francis playing it by hand while Jean Michel turns off the detuned sequence and goes on his ARP2600 to play his solo, so Francis saved the track which sound fantastic, he even improves a little solo with the sequence at one point, it was sounding very good to finish, Jean Michel adds some sweep sounds from the CS80, it’s very spectacular to see how they managed to avoid a real mess for the second time, those guys are amazing ! Jean Michel even adds a solo on the AKS with Theremin-like sound while Francis plays with the sequence he is still playing by hand. So finally, this Variation III could have been called Variation III bis, at the end, the audience applauds frankly while Oxygène 6 is coming.
Oxygène 6 comes, the mirror leaves, the Earth appears in the background as a video, begins to turn, Jean Michel plays some random notes on the RMI to make sure it works well, the Earth turns and we see the skull, Jean Michel prepairs things on the Digisequencer, would there be another track after Oxygène 6 ? Then, Jean Michel plays his solo part on the RMI like the one he does on the DVD, the sound is, in my opinion, too close to the sound of the chorus of Oxygène 4, it would have been better to have another sound, but on the other hand, it would have been too long to program, and another synth on stage would have been one other source of error possibilities. Then, the sound fades down, the wind comes.
Some strings are played, the strange distortion noise of Oxygène 12 is played, a sequence comes, the audience applauds in rhythm, another sequence comes, some strings, it sounds good, the light is dancing, appearing, disappearing, a slow bass sequence comes from a low to a high range, some blue projection shapes appear in the background, Jean Michel plays a solo over the track, the second solo begins to play some notes of a known sequence… Oxygène 12 ! Jean Michel adds a solo on the ARP2600, the strings of Oxygène 12 are played, the solo becomes the sequence of Oxygène 12, the bass stops, only the strings remain and the sequence, pitched in a very nice way in the end of the musical sentence, the famous projection video appears, Jean Michel adds all the layers of sequences with the Digisequencer, the drumkit then comes, the audience applauds in rhythm, it seems like everybody is enjoying this nice surprise !
Jean Michel then switches on the famous CS80, used on Oxygène 7-13 for the lead sound of Oxygène 12, and plays perfectly this lead, very very powerful, huge, enormous, all the track sounds like the original one !! This is amazing, they did an excellent job on that track, and with the video, it is as if that was the end of the world, as if he was shouting “heyyyyy world, wake up and see what you are doing !â€. The audience is astonished by such a power, nobody moves, Jean Michel makes the CS80 scream and uses the ribbon controller in an excellent way, making the sound going from very low to very high, then, everything goes mad, the strings are going crazy, the white light is blinking and there is a huge sound, Jean Michel literally takes his arms on one synth, the audience has a very powerful light in the face, as if that was the end of the world, we were totally surprised by that, for my case I didn’t expect the end to be that powerful, we are very far from Oxygène 13 as an end !
Too bad, it’s finished, time went so fast !
Then, we decided to go out of the room to buy some things, I bought 10 posters (4 for Oliver) and 7 programmes, for my friends of www.zoolook.nl and me.
I discussed with some fans in the hall, from France and Holland, and then we went to the other side of the Théâtre.
When I arrived, I saw Jean Michel’s Jaguar car surrounded by a lot of fans, they wanted to wait for Jean Michel to come. I waited there some minutes and someone told me that Francis was going out of the Théâtre by the artists exit, I ran to there, there were a lot of fans, I found some French friends fans. There I managed to take some videos and photos of the mess, someone told me that Dominique and Claude has already left. Francis remained there a lot of time, all the French fans from Aerozone forum made some photos with him, then Gert came to me followed by all our team, some seconds after, Jean Michel was trying to get out of the Théâtre, but everybody wanted an autograph, after some minutes at trying to get out, he came back in, that was the last time I saw him… So, the French fans ran back to Francis and discussed with him, took photos and all. He told us about his project in the meanwhile, he would make a concert in London for his own in March, news to follow closely ! When I turned the head, Gert and all the team had left, some minutes after, they came back and told me they managed to see Jean Michel on the other side of the Théâtre, going out to take his car and get home. Gert even asked Jean Michel if he knew Zoolook forum, he told that yes, but who knows, maybe he has never heard of it…
As the French fans and the admin team of www.zoolook.nl were quite hungry, we decided to go to Quick on the Champs Elysées to eat something. We took some chairs on the third floor and began to speak together about how we liked the concert, about the little problems and all, but then, as it was almost 1AM, our Dutch friends, as they waited for long hours in a train station, wanted to go to the flat where we, Oliver, Christophe, Gert, his girlfriend, Hans, a French girl from Aerozone and me were sleeping.
After more than 40 minutes in the Metro, we arrived at the flat with Guillaume, told him good night and went to sleep. After having laughed and fun, we finally began to sleep at 3AM.
Hans took his train early, I took mine in the morning, Oliver and Chris bought me to the Gare De Lyon and then came back to Swiss, the French fan left a bit after and Gert and his girlfriend remained in Paris !
So, to conclude, I have to say I am quite unsure. On the one hand, I was expecting something more spectacular, not with more videos as I knew there wouldn’t be a lot of them, but I was expecting the sound to be louder, and I didn’t see a lot of things from my seat, the guy in front of me was hiding the stage, I didn’t properly see Claude either…
That was my second time I saw Jean Michel live, the first was completely different, that was Teo&Tea showcase in Cannes in May 2007, so sure it wasn’t the same atmosphere, but in fact, I shouldn’t have watched the DVD before, some fans were right at deciding to watch it after the concert, as I knew what I was about to see, the pleasure in the concert was much lower.
But on the other hand, I wasn’t expecting at all Jean Michel and the whole crew to play that well the tracks, to use in such an excellent way all the gear and to solve all the problems live without cancelling tracks, or even worse, the whole concert !
So, to really conclude, I have to admit that, if they would have managed to play everything properly without any problem with synths and all, I wouldn’t have had as much pleasure as I really had in this place.
All I can say, Jean Michel, if you read me (I can still dream), is that you really NEED to play live your concerts, it gives them a soul, and I am really convinced that you are prouder when you have played a concert during which you successfully managed to solve the problems than when you mime on synths on a music we all (including you) have already heard millions of times before.
I was really suspicious between the release date of the DVD of Oxygène Live In Your Living Room and the concert date, as some rumours were telling quite negative things, but now, I’m really positive and I truth you, you will make marvellous things again with all your nice analog gear ! Jean Michel, you were, are and will be my god forever !
Discutez de ce sujet ici
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Monday, June 29, 2009
After getting independence in 1947 India tried to construct a mixed economy and then it slowly move towards a socialist economy. But in the end in 1991 government forced to open up the economy. But even then the key sectors like Defence, Insurance, Retail etc remained with PSU companies. To open the defence sector government took too much time.
But in the end that too happened. Defence sector will no longer be a sacred cow. Government opened it and private players like Tata Motors, M & M, Tata Power, Godrej, L & T, Bharat Forge, Tata Power Strategic Division etc are already taking the advantage of it. Along with this government also allowed 100% investing in Manufacturing sector and 26% FDI both are subjected to licensing. Hope that this licensing factor will not become anothe licence raj.
Reserving Defence sector - which will not be affected by any economic problem as Governments all over the world are more interested in Manufacturing weapons instead of food- for Public sector already done its damage. Defence sector is the one which required a lot of investment and remain strict to its time frame. We cant develop a third generation fighter plane when all others including our neighbours developing a fifth generation fighter plane. But now in this area a lot of deals are signed and many others are in pipeline.
Tata and Sikorsky Aircraft company reaced a deal on developing a S-92 helicoptor cabin in Hyderabad. L & T and EADS reached a deal for manufacturing high end defence electronic products. L & T, Godrej and Tata Advanced Systems already set to build a unmanned Aerial Vehicle called - Drone. M & M acquired 6 acras of land in Faridabad to to build miitary application vehicles. Hero group is there to invest 500 crore in MP and in Gwalior Punj Liyod and STK are investing 200 crore. M & M already have agreements with Lockheed Martin to build a simulator and with BAE systems to build heavy artillery. Now Godrej & Boyce supplies the Vikas Engine for Rockets. L & T is building vessels for Navy and Radar systems with Bharat Electronics.
Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, Rockwell Collins are also trying to invest more in Indian Defence Sector. What is the advantage of Indian companies is an Offset clause by Government which states that - All foreign companies that get a defence contract of above 300 crore from GOI(Government of India) have to bring back 30% of the contract value back to that country. And Government is to issue contracts worth over a mind blowing 1,50,000 crore. Its 30%; who can shut their eyes towards this huge amount?
But Government have to move fast at the sams time with necessary precaution in awarding projects. It should not be like Pinaka Multi Barrel rocket Launcher. where L & T and Tata Power Strategic Division got the project 20 years ago and business scope materialised only in 2002. It took 4 more years to get the order. The delays like that results only in wasting of Money and time. And when the world advances with superior technologies we will remain in stone age.
Raksha Udyog Ratna(RUR) scheme which earlier freezed due to the opposition from left is also going to see tha sunshine. According to this scheme once a company got a RUR status it will be treated on par with Public Sector Companies which operates on Defence field. The companies will also have the access to Foreign Technologies and will be able to build main systems for defence department. Besides they will get a government financial investment up to 80% for design, develop and Manufacture fighter aircrafts, tanks and warships.
As GOI is no longer depandable on Leftist parties and premier Manmohan Singh have majority in his secon term it will be very easy for the govenment to go on with the new policies and remove the last remains of Licence Raj.
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There seems to be no attempt being made to create an atmosphere of congeniality that will go a long way in building trust that is necessary to make an administration to perform as one unit. In Delhi, the officials and politicians continue to hurl loaded words at each other.
On Wednesday, the IAS officers deplored the way their colleagues in Delhi were being treated in a power struggle between chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung. This was a natural reaction of the bureaucrats being made to suffer for implementing orders.
On Thursday, a member of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) sent out a tweet that seems bad in taste and fails to appreciate the anxiousness of the officials, who may be expressing sentiments of all the employees. AAP leader Ashutosh tweeted on Thursday "IAS association was sleeping like Kumbhkaran when home secretary and foreign secretary were humiliated and removed."
IAS association was sleeping like Kumbhkaran when Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary were humiliated and removed.
The tweets reference was to the sacking of the two top bureaucrats by the BJP-led government at the centre earlier this year.
It will be interesting to study how many belonging to IAS association were clean when in service !
The IAS Officers' Association had met to discuss the escalating turf war between Kejriwal and Jung, resulting in ugly precedent being created in the corridors of the power. One official was publicly criticized and another was locked out of his office.
Among those present in the meeting was Shakuntala Gamlin, whose appointment by the Lieutenant Governor last week triggered the controversial war. Kejriwal alleges that Gamlin had favoured power distribution companies and acted against public interest.
Read More: LG has power to appoint & transfer steno to officer, says Jung’s letter to CM
The officers passed a resolution saying: "We view with anguish the way IAS officers have been treated and subjected to character assassination, we condemn it."
Kejriwal and deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia had met with officers on Wednesday morning.
The association’s unanimous resolution urged Jung, Kejriwal and union home minister Rajnath Singh to create a conducive atmosphere where officers could function in a free and impartial manner.
“We view with great anguish the way IAS officers have been treated, publicly humiliated and subjected to character assassination in public, we can only condemn it,” Umesh Sehgal, Former Chief Secretary read it out to the media persons. “We urge the Lieutenant Governor, the Chief Minister and the Home Minister to create a conducive atmosphere where officers can function in a free and impartial manner,” he added. (Also read: LG-Chief Minister fight escalates, Najeeb Jung declares appointments made in 4 days void)
“Urge Delhi Government to operationalise civil services board to make recommendations on posting and transfers of IAS officers as directed by the supreme court,” he added.
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Cycling is a passion for many, and it is a way to fitness too. With rising numbers of vehicles on the road, the government encourages this environment-friendly mode of transportation, but it comes with numerous challenges. An accident last month on the Mahipalpur flyover of south Delhi, which took the life
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Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now
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DISCUSSION: As a powerful Typhoon Lionrock continues to march in a northeastward direction at this time, the core structure associated with the core circulation of this typhoon is very impressive. As seen in the animation attached below, the near-perfect asymmetry tied to the eye of this typhoon has become very photogenic based on its overall consistency around the inner-core of this tropical cyclone. Having said that, this particular tropical cyclone continues to remain a threat for the island of Japan being as though it will soon begin to turn to the northwest (similar to the way in which Hurricane Sandy turned to the northwest just offshore from the New Jersey coastline back in 2012) which will deliver substantial impacts to the island nation of Japan within the next couple of days! Also, not the sheer size of this tropical cyclone and the large spatial area over which its associated cloud-mass covers from north-to-south and also from east-to-west. This certainly is a neat tropical cyclone from start to finish without question! To learn more about other high-impact weather events from across the Western Pacific Ocean, be sure to click here!
Tropical Storm Omais Forms In Western Pacific Earlier! (credit: National Weather Service Guam)
DISCUSSION: Just after the recent Category 1 Hurricane Earl made landfall in the Eastern Yucatán Peninsula (located in Eastern Mexico) very early this morning, things quickly ramped up on the other side of the world today. More specifically, as a relatively new Monsoon Depression continued to become increasingly more organized, it was officially upgraded to Tropical Storm Omais! Though this storm is predominantly expected to remain over the warm waters of the Western Pacific Ocean, there is still a marginal longer-term threat for the potential impacts to parts of extreme Southern and Eastern Japan within 4 to 5 days! However, since that estimated forecast position is more than 72 hours away, this estimated forecast position has a high-degree of uncertainty associated with it! To learn more about other high-impact weather events from across the Western Pacific Ocean, be sure to click here!
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What is special about clairvoyance is that it gives you the opportunity to make incredible discoveries about your past life, your present life and your future. Through clairvoyance, you can also get a glimpse of the events that may come up in your life. Nowadays, it is easy to see that more and more people are turning to psychic offices because of the many benefits they find there. However, it is not always easy to find a serious, honest psychic with a good understanding of the divinatory arts who can accurately predict your future. Therefore, if you are looking for a serious and honest psychic in Whitefish Bay who will have the ability to find resolutions to the problems you face in everyday life, then I am the psychic in Whitefish Bay for you. I can assure you of excellent results, no matter what situation you find yourself in.
Psychic medium in Whitefish Bay, WI using the best techniques for predicting events in your life
In fact, with my twenty years of practice, I am a psychic in Whitefish Bay who is far from a beginner. And so if you are looking for an psychic in Whitefish Bay who can solve all your problems whether it is sentimental, professional or financial, let me tell you that you have come to the right place.
Don't hesitate for a moment to join me to benefit from my services of clairvoyance in Whitefish Bay of quality. Even if you wish it, I will be able to place at your disposal my services of psychic for a clairvoyance by phone.
It is important to know that the number of people with real clairvoyance is quite limited and if you have to search for serious and honest clairvoyants, you should not be surprised to meet some clairvoyants who can discourage you forever.
To mark the difference between me and all the psychics in Whitefish Bay you've had to meet so far, I will be able to give you a real insight into the situations you are going through in your life. The most fascinating thing is that you don't have to give me any information about yourself before I do the consultation.
The only thing that may be asked of you is your date of birth. I am completely open to giving answers to all your concerns and problems that are bothering your mind and well-being.
The gift I possess is directed towards multiple areas of my clients' lives who place their trust in me as I am the best free medium in Milwaukee offering many services.
I offer services related to astrology, but also to psychic reading. I also offer psychic services and also services related to numerology and dowsing.
I have a clairvoyance practice in Whitefish Bay, WI that offers real consultations at low prices
It is true that there are many people who are not really into psychics. However, it must be said that by opting for a consultation with a psychic in Whitefish Bay, you can enjoy a lot of benefits.
Also, note that there are certain events in the past or present that are likely to have a direct impact on your future. This is the main reason why when you use a psychic in Whitefish Bay of my kind, you are almost certain to have sincerity on all aspects in order to have a more accurate understanding of the events that are upsetting you.
Nowadays, it is quite rare to meet a serious and good-hearted psychic in Whitefish Bay since many psychics take advantage of this title to extort poor innocent people who are just looking for a boost in their lives.
This is a phenomenon that has blocked some individuals from using psychics and mediums for their problems. Nevertheless, even if by now you have totally lost hope, let me tell you that my 20 years of experience in the field of clairvoyance in Whitefish Bay will be to my credit so that I can offer you a quality service.
You will be satisfied every time after your visit with me. It would be great if there were serious psychics in Whitefish Bay who could translate the events you are going through on a daily basis. Of course, there are plenty of people who are going through similar situations to yours, so you shouldn't think that it's fate that's working against you.
Contact me and I will be happy to do your consultation and more if you need it.
Is consulting a tarot reader in Whitefish Bay, WI or a medium necessary for you?
Among the techniques of divinatory art, we find tarology, numerology, astrology or cartomancy. Indeed, tarology is a divination technique that includes cartomancy. In fact, I use tarot cards.
For example, to make predictions according to the symbol of the tarot cards, I can use the tarot of Marseille. However, it is important to know that the tarot is not only used to make predictions, because I can also use them to give you a more precise view of the events or situations you are facing.
I must confess that I have spent almost my entire life mastering the reading, understanding and interpretations of the cards. The main reason for this dedication is my desire to offer high quality services to my clients who trust me.
If you want to get in touch with one of the best tarot reader in Madison with a perfect mastery of her practice, then there is nothing to worry about. I am available and you can contact me by phone or email.
However, the number of people who prefer face to face meetings is increasing and I am quite open to face to face sessions.
The services I offer are for anyone who seeks my help, regardless of the situation they find themselves in. In the event that you are not able to come to me, I am able to come to you if you are comfortable with that.
Also note that you can contact me through a communication. The goal is the same, to offer you services that can positively impact your life. What is more interesting with the contact by chat is that you make a real saving of time and there is almost the same efficiency as a face to face consultation.
This is also the case with telephone contact, which allows you to save on travel costs, especially if you are not too fond of direct contact.
What is related to your birth date and life number in the field of numerology?
As I said so well in one of the paragraphs above, I also offer services in the field of astrology and numerology. So, it is important to know that in terms of numerology and astrology, your date of birth contains enigmas about who you really are.
In truth, the sum of all the numbers in your birth date represents your life path in a way. Indeed, there is a special energy that is linked to each number of your birth date symbolizing an ability that impacts your personal path.
Thus, by adding up the day, month and year of your birth, I will be able to show you the path that numerology gives you.
In a simple way, we can say that numerology is a divinatory art that is based on a deep study of numbers and letters. I have the ability to do the numerology of your date of birth and even of your first name. It is taking into account your date and your first name that numerology will be able to grant you a number included between 0 and 9. The number assigned will be the incarnation of a given vibration.
It is from the number that will be assigned that your character traits will be determined and the reading of your future made possible. Chances are that you will get information about your professional career, your health, your relationships, your travel plans and more.
Even for questions related to numerology, you can contact me directly by phone, email or chat. I can also give you clarifications on the signs of the zodiac thanks to the decans and the ascendancy.
In truth, numerology can be broken down into several numbers. We can therefore find ourselves in the presence of an active number, an expression number, an intimate number or even a hereditary number.
If by any chance you feel the need to find out your number and discover your true personality and perhaps get a glimpse of what the future holds for you, I urge you to contact me without hesitation.
I will be able to make a direct intervention and give you convincing results in record time. I offer clairvoyance and psychic services in Whitefish Bay giving you an opportunity to examine your knowledge from every angle.
What are the different forms of clairvoyance that I offer?
It is important for you to know that there is a strict disparity between a psychic and a medium. A psychic in Whitefish Bay is a person with a gift and the ability to see events in your past, present and future.
A psychic on the other hand is a person who has a singular assignment. His or her role is to act as an intermediary between you and a loved one who is no longer of this world. The majority of rational people will only turn to astrology and numerology services, while those who wish to make their own discovery through the cards will turn to a serious tarot medium reader in Appleton with a good mastery of tarology.
Nevertheless, you should be very careful not to trust psychics in Whitefish Bay who use practices such as witchcraft, divination, magic and negative energies. When you come across such people, be aware that they are not psychics, but rather charlatans.
Discover a psychic medium in Whitefish Bay with experience to give you excellent predictions
A good clairvoyant in Whitefish Bay can be recognized by the first consultations. She must be able to consult you without you being able to say a word about yourself. This is the only way you can be sure of the predictions she makes.
In fact, a psychic must have the ability to give you information about events in your past life, events in your present life and probably events in your future life.
If this is not the case, then I advise you to get out of here quickly. Personally, I make sure that the client in front of me is zen and really relaxed.
In the previous paragraphs, I have highlighted the sectors in which I can intervene. I have laid all this information bare so that my clients can really know the services I offer and my work technique.
As a rule, when you come to me for a consultation, I try to find out your birth year. This will allow me to do my work more efficiently.
I strongly advise against going to psychics who use techniques that are not healthy. There are in fact psychics who can predict your future with runes, ink stains and even coffee grounds.
All you need to know about free and low cost psychic packages
When you decide to call on an psychic in Whitefish Bay for help, she will offer you several packages. There are even packages that are totally free and you can also get advice from some professionals in the field.
However, it must be said that if you choose the formula yourself, the best thing would be that the formula can meet your needs. So, let's emphasize that in order to choose the formula that will suit you best, it will depend above all on the information that you will provide to the psychic.
I offer you free clairvoyance in Whitefish Bay by email
Just as you have noticed on other platforms, I offer you a consultation formula by email. This is a convenient alternative with almost the same effectiveness as face-to-face consultations.
In the case of contact by email, all you have to do is to set up a series of questions that you will send to me. After that, I will take a moment to give you some suggested answers to your concerns.
As a rule, my analysis is based on draws as well as a good understanding of the being you are materializing. There are some people who may use obscure techniques to give you quick answers.
You can also reach me by SMS or phone in Whitefish Bay, WI
I also offer my clairvoyance services by SMS or by phone. After this free consultation, you will be led to opt for the paid formula to have access to more and more intense revelations.So through this first free consultation session, you will be able to make the judgment by yourself. When you contact me by email, the only difference is that after the free consultation, you will have to leave your bank details. I will then send you an invitation so that you can continue your experience.However, you have to be careful when you opt for the formula of contact by e-mail, because it is difficult to cancel this subscription as soon as you subscribe to it with some psychics.
Opinion of my medium services
My first phone experience
The truth is that I still haven't recovered from the incredible encounter I had with you. I realized with you that there were enough things I didn't know about my life that I really wasn't aware of. This has not only impacted my professional life, but also my romantic, friendly and professional relationships. By getting in touch with you, my life has really changed. I feel very lucky to have met you and now I have a better understanding of some aspects of my life. I am truly grateful for what you have done for me.
Very professional psychic
I contacted you by email for a trial and I absolutely do not regret my choice. I had been looking for a serious psychic for ages and many people had extorted money from me on several occasions. You have changed my perception of psychics with the gift you have and the accuracy of your predictions. This psychic has given me back my confidence and today I understand a lot more things. You are an exceptional person with incredible professionalism. Even though I had doubts at first, I finally gave in. I personally think you have a good grasp of the divinatory art and that is why I recommend you to others who are looking for a quality psychic. This psychic will predict perfectly all the events of your present and future life. I don't doubt her talents for a second, as I was satisfied beyond my expectations.
She has enlightened me about my life!
I met this psychic after reading an article on the net. I contacted her via chat and she gave me some insight into the problems that had been weighing on my life for years. I was looking for a professional tarot reader who would be able to read the events in my life and I found you. Beyond your sympathy, you have an incredible expertise and you have given me more strength to face the difficulties of every day. I am truly grateful for that.
For almost a decade, I have never been able to have a steady job. Doubt filled my life on a daily basis to the point that I no longer had confidence in myself. When I met you, I discovered the wonders of life and today I have more confidence in myself than ever. I'm not going to say much about my experience with this psychic, the only thing you have to do is make your own experience.
No more doubts, now I'm moving on
I can't thank you enough for what you have done in my life. Nature has endowed you with an incredible gift that you do not hesitate for a moment to put at the service of the most needy. I met you through a friend and I am very pleased with the work you have done in my life. In the past I had a totally negative idea about psychics, but thanks to you my opinion is no longer the same. You have solved most of the mysteries in my life and to this day I am living normally. Thank you so much for your work.
Very accurate in these predictions
Thank you for your precious time that you put at my disposal. When I came to you, I did not say anything until you made your prediction. I was speechless at the incredible revelations you made about my life without knowing me before.the accuracy of your predictions amazed me so much that I almost thought you were a family member. Thank you for your assistance and I recommend you to anyone looking for a psychic of good character with real gifts.
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Online education and distance learning are fast becoming normative in regards to master’s degree programs. Even master’s programs that require a hands-on experience, like clinical hours in a graduate nursing program, are becoming more widespread. As a matter of fact, the online Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree is one of the most popular online master’s degree programs, and for good reason. For nurses who want to specialize in a particular area or increase their earning potential, a master’s degree is a natural choice. We hear you though—you may wonder how future employers will view your online MSN degree. There is no need to fear that they will view your degree any less favorably than if you uprooted your family and moved across country to attend the same school in an on-campus program. We know as a working nurse that you have precious little time to devote to advancing your education—adding a big move into the mix just seems unnecessary to say the least. That’s why we here at Master’s Programs Guide have done the research to make sure you are covered in your online MSN program. Read on to understand the must-have factors in any online program, and you’ll gain the confidence you need to pursue your MSN degree online.
The two most important factors in choosing your online MSN program are accreditation and accreditation. Here we are talking about both regional, institutional accreditation and programmatic accreditation. Picking a university or college with a brick-and-mortar location and regional accreditation from a recognized accrediting agency is very important. With the rise in popularity of online degrees there has been a rise in degree mills that offer all of the convenience without any of the credentials of a respected school. Regional accreditation is an unbiased assessment of the school’s attributes–certain standards have to be met, and if the school has regional accreditation, students can be confident that their school is meeting the standards of higher education. Program accreditation is just as important, because it is a stamp of approval on the program itself. For online graduate nursing programs, accreditation should come from either the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) or the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN). An additional bonus for a program is designation by the National League for Nursing (NLN) as a Center for Excellence (COE)–less than 100 institutions in the United States have been awarded that designation.
The next key factor in picking a program is how hands-on clinical hours will be implemented. Employers want to know that MSN graduates have worked with real people as patients, so picking a school that offers you assistance in finding a site to put in your clinical hours is a plus. Not every school will offer assistance, which is not enough to discount them as a possibility (especially if you are already employed and can use your current work towards clinical hours). Just understand the expectations and make sure you have a plan.
The bottom line is, as long as the school you choose has that third-party accreditation and the program it offers is also accredited, you are in good hands. Most diplomas don’t even make note that the degree was “online,” so it shouldn’t be an issue with future employers. To help you find a program that meets your needs, check out the list we’ve compiled of the 50 best online master of nursing degree programs.
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against the same vessel win prevent a release of the vessel upon such a motion. Such a motion, whSn granted, terminates the cause, so far as the vessel is concerned, and the hearing thereon is deemed a final hearing within the principle of the case_ of Hayford v. Griffith, above referred to. The clerk's taxation of a docket fee of $20 is affirmed.
A vessel under charter IS naOle lor tne wages ofseamfln hired by the char. terers, although the owner may not personally be liable therefor.
1\. seaman is not bound by 8. clause in his shipping contract unfavorable to his interest if it was concealed from him, or its meaning and if, from any cause, he is UMble to read the contract, he may show tha.t it (jU. fers from his oral engagement, upon clear proof that the written contract was not read or explained to him.. '. .
In Admiralty. F. Cunningham, for libelants. H. P. Harriman, for claimant. NELSON, J. The claimant, EdwardE. Small, of Provincetown, chartered the schooner Samuel. Ober for a cod.fishing voyage of seven months from May 1, 1882, on the coast of Maine. The libelants; Manuel Francisco, John Francisco, and Manuel,Caton,areI'orttlgt,es9 fishermen, living in Provinoetown, unable to read or write. They allege tha.tthey shipped as fishing hands on.the. schooner for this voyage, under an oral agreement by which they were to sene for five months from May 1st, and weratoreceiveas wages for suoh SentiMj respectively,' $250, $240,and The.y left th6 vessel OoMber 2d, wtSouth.west Harbor, M"ountiDesert, after having.sened;five months; and now sue for their wages according to the verbal: contract. The shipping articles fixtheinvagesatthe BUlliS stated:; and contain this elause written in below the printed -part,above: thesignat'tl'r6sof the men: ,;
"And it isfurtqer,agroocl that the fisb,ermen, whose names are to this agree· continue in said schooner Samuel Oper during the time for which, she is chartenid, viz., seven tnonths from May I, 1882, and shall receive the foll<Hving'w,ages or lay; providing, however, that if they should leave the vessel for any otheli reason, excepting sickness; before the expiration of seven months from :May I, 1882, this contract shall be null and void. and they shall receive a, pr(J'l'ata, amount of wages at the ritteaa follows.",
BEllow the signatures is a memorandum, written in after the men had signed, as follows: .
" Now, providing the above-named crew shall continue in the said vessel for seven months, they shall receive the above wages for five months. and onehalf for what they make in the other two months, less their proportionate part of the whole expense of the voyage; but, as before agreed, should they leave the vessel before the expiration of seven months, they shall receive oneseventh of the amount for which they have shipped for every month engaged."
The libelants allege that they signed the shipping articles, supposing that they contained the verbal agreement; that the written parts were not read to them; and that they were induced to sign them as they now appear by the fraud of the claimant. . A veasel under charter is liable for the wageso{ seamen hired by the charterer, although the owner may not personally be liable therefor. Flaherty v. Doane, 1 Low. 148; The Adelphi, an unre,ported de· cisionof Judge SPRAGUE, cited by Judge LOWEI,L in Flaherty v. Dnane. A seaman is not bound by a clause in his shipping contract unfa. vorable to his interest, if it was concealed from him or its meaning misrepresented; and if from any cause he is unable to read the contract, be may show that it differs from his oral engagement upon clear proof that the written contract was not read or explained t(} him. W{)pe v. Hemmemva.y, 1 Spr. 300; The Qltintero, 1 Low. 38. But I am convinced, after a careful examination of the conflicting evidence, that the. shipping articles correctly state the contract made by the lihelants with the charterer. The evidence wholly fails to show- that he was guilty of any unfair or dishonest conduct towards. these men. The whole contract, including the written parts, was reaq and' carefully explained to them. The clause inserted after the· signatures was written in their presence, and was read to them. It. was intended asan.additional inducement for them to remain with the vessel after the expiration of .the five months·.. It certainly was. for theirbenefit t since it gave them a half.line share in the catchings. for tbe last:tWQ months of their .servic.e, in addition to their round wages. The had hired the vessel for a seven months' voy·'
age, and she was not to return to Provincetown until the end of the voyage. Under such circumstances, it.is highly improbable that he would have elfgaged a crew for round wages months only. As it was, owing to the advanced state of the season when the ants left, the skipper was una1:l1l:l,to procure I1lenat South-west Hrirbor to take their. places, al1d .In consequence the voyage was broken up. The amount of the stipulated wages also inditlates that seven months was the agreed length of the service. ,The evidenc9showectthat from $30 to $40 a is ,what is usually earne,d by fi;sherrnen on voyages such as this. The libelants, although illiterate, are not unintelUgent. They converse readily in English. They have lived fo; manyyeara, in Provincetown, and are familiar with its peculiar usages. They as well as their neighbors what a fishing contract means, When they heard this contract read, they must have comprehended: its terms, and must have known that it took the of. any p,revipus verbal arrangement which they may have made with theiremplo¥er. I think it is quite clear that they understood their contract to be that expressed in the shipping The amolitits due, them, after deducting the sums advanced during the voyage, correctly st80ted in the answer. As these sums 'were tendered and, refused before suit brought, the libelants are not to recover costs. One other matter should be adverted to! This is a proceeding against the vessel. A warra1;lt {)f arrest was Issued', and 'she was seized and held by the marshal until released,uponthe olaimant's giving the usual stipulation, with sureties, to abide' the' final decree. A very considerable expense was thus incurred.' The amounts involved in the suit are small. The claimant lives in this district, and is of ample pecuniary responsibility; and this was known to the libelants and their proctor. ,/ The libelants ,shoUld h'ave proceeded against the claimant in personam. There was 000c08lsion to immr the expense of the arrest and detention of the .vesseL' This expense was wholly unnecessary. If I had given costs to the libelants, I should have allowed for the service of the warrant of.'a,.rLlestonly the (lost of serving the claimant with fl, simple monition to appeal'Qnd answer the suit. ,Decrees are to be entered for the libelants, without costs, ,as fbI· lows: For Manuel Erancisco, $111.75; for John Francisco, $140.60'j for Manuel Catoll,$57.32.· Ordered accordingly. '
("
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March 5, 1883.)
The non-observance of the statutory rules of navigation is itself a fault which charges the vessel with damages, where it appears that but for this fault the collision would have been avoided. 2. STEAMER IN SPEED-RULE 17. Where a steamer in a fog does not go at " moderate" speed nor" slacken," as soon as there is perceptible danger of collision, as required by rule 17, and a collision ensues, which would have been avoided had the rule been observed, held, that the Ilteamer ischargcable with fault, and responsible, notwithstanding the fault of the othel' vessel, also without which the collision would not have' happened. 3. tinTED. Where the steamer," C. of N. Y.," in a fog, kept on her usual speed- of 10 knots, and heard the fog;horn from the bark H. about a point on her starboard bow, and starboarded her helm, without either moderating or slackening her speed until she saw the bark coming across her bows about an eighth of a mile distant, alid a collision 'afterwards ensued by which the H. was sunk, held, that the steamer was in fault both in going at too great a rate of speed, and also in not slackening her speed when the fog.horn was heard: it appearing that if she had done either the collision would have been avoided. 4. CONTRmuToR'r CAUSE-MUTUAL FAULT-DAMAGES DIVIDED. The bark being, at the time of the collision, headed about E., four points to the eastward of N. E., the usual course of vessels under similar circumstances, and the witnesses from the steamer testifying that when first observed the bark was heading N. E., but changed her course across the steamer's bow, while the mate of the bark testified that the only change auout the time of the collision was a slight. luff a few moments preceding it, and alleged a prior change from the course of N. E. nearly three hours previous, and it appearing that the latter change alleged by the mate involved extreme improlJabilities as to the previous navigation, and was not in harmony with other parts of his testimony as to the bearing of lights,' held, that the mate's testimony as to this ch&nge should be rejected, and the change of four points held to have been made near the time of the collison, notwithstanding the usual rule giVing superior credit to a vessel's own ollicers as to her navigation, and the difficul. ties of observation from the steamer in the fog; and as this change of course contributed to the collision, the bark was also in fault and the dama!Zes should be divided.
In Admiralty. Scudder x Garter, for libelants. A. O. Salter and R. D. Benedict, for claimants. BROWN, J. The libel in this case was filed by the owners of the iron bark Helen, a British vessel of about 450 tons burden, bound from Havana to New York, against the steamer City of New York, bound from New York to Havana, to recover for the loss of the bark and her C:1rgo, valued at $52,0:>0, which were sunk by a collision with
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There are many dental implant specialists, and choosing the right one for your needs can be challenging. This article will walk you through the steps you need to take to find the best implant specialist and the full dental implant cost for your family. We will also provide you with some tips on how to choose an implant specialist and some pointers on how to ensure a positive dental implant experience.
Are you really in need of dental treatment?
A dental exam is performed before surgery to rule out tooth abscesses, infections, or dental problems (gum disease). That is critical because tooth infections can allow bacteria to enter the circulation and settle in surgical regions, causing difficulties.
You may need or want to get clearance from your dentist for various surgeries. Still, it’s especially critical for heart procedures like valve replacements, joint replacements, and organ or stem cell transplants.
A recent study found that dental care can help lower the risks of serious cancer surgical complications.
What are your qualifications and experience in implant surgery?
Dental implant dentists are oral surgeons. Thus they receive additional education and training than regular dentists. Their surgical background enables them to detect and treat complex mouth problems successfully.
Education
A college degree in sciences (chemistry, physics, and biology) and mathematics is usually required to pursue a career in oral surgery. To get admitted to dental school, candidates must typically complete their degree and meet the standards of the dental school, as well as achieve a strong score on the Dental Admissions Test. Although a four-year degree is not necessarily required, most candidates obtain a bachelor’s degree first.
After completing their studies, oral surgeons in training must obtain a state medical license. Most states require a dental degree from an approved school and a passing score on the National Board of Dental Examinations, which comprise both practical and written tests, to issue a certification.
What are the benefits of implant surgery?
Dental implants provide numerous advantages, including:
Their speech has improved. This is caused by poorly prosthetics may cause you to stumble or slur your words as the teeth move about in your mouth. Dental implants allow you to speak without fearing your teeth falling out of place.
Comfort has improved. Implants reduce the discomfort of removable dentures since they become a part of you.
Easier to eat. Chewing can be challenging with sliding dentures. Dental implants work the same way as natural teeth, allowing you to consume your comfort meals confidently and pain-free.
Installations have a lengthy lifespan and can survive for many years. With proper maintenance, many prostheses can last a lifetime.
What are your fees for implant surgery?
Sort of investment can you expect if you wish to replace a missing tooth with a dental implant.
According to current market rates, one dental implant might cost anywhere from Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000. That includes the implant crown itself and the procedure for its implantation.
May incur extra expenditures if you require additional treatments before the implant, such as a bone graft if there isn’t enough bone beneath the gums.
If you’re looking for the best dental implant specialist for your family, you’ve come to the right place! Our blog will guide you through the process of finding a specialist that is the correct type of dental implant. There are many factors to consider when choosing a dentist, such as an experience, credentials, and location. By following https://dantkritidentalclinic.com/ guidelines for selecting the best dental implant specialist for you and your family, you’ll be on your way to a restored smile! Stay tuned for more updates!
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Dental implants provide numerous advantages, What are the benefits of implant surgery
Oliver James is a professional blogger, content marketer, traveler and entrepreneur. He's a full-time staff writer at zippyholidays, and he blogs about photography. Oliver is an avid reader of books, both fiction and non-fiction and enjoys reading about psychology, business, and self-development. You may Also Like: > <a href="https://www.zippyholidays.co.uk/">cheap holidays</a> > <a href="https://nedeserv.com/residential-estimating-services/">Residential Estimating Services</a>
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Washington State has some of the most restrictive tobacco laws. Internet sales are banned, no indoor smoking is allowed anywhere, not even in a tobacconist, and they have proposals to ban all flavored tobacco, and for it to be illegal to smoke in your car if minors are present. Today, Washingtonian pipe and cigar smokers got some good news for once.
State lawmakers are looking to ease Washington’s strict smoking ban by allowing cigar and pipe smoking for a limited number of tobacco retailers.
A key Senate committee approved a bill Thursday that would permit up to 100 cigar lounges and 500 retail tobacco shops to allow smoking. Cigarettes would still be banned.
Businesses would have to pay annual fees of $17,500 to obtain cigar lounge endorsements and $6,000 to obtain tobacco store endorsements. Supporters say the bill could help some local businesses hurt by the smoking ban that voters approved in 2005.
Critics say the measure threatens the health of employees and the public. The bill approved by the Senate Ways and Means Committee requires employees to sign acknowledgements accepting that tobacco smoke might be present in their workplace.
The Seattle Pipe Club’s Gary B. Schrier, Bob Ramstad, and Matt Guss vigorously lobbied to make this happen, as did Stacy Thrasher of F. K. Kirsten Pipe Co. in Seattle, and Jeff Packer, Owner of Tinderbox in Tacoma WA.
All Washington State pipe and cigar smokers should thank them.
Hopefully, they will get lucky and and overturn the Internet sales ban and defeat the other asinine proposals as well.
May 6, 2011
8 comments
Written by Kevin Godbee
Publisher & Founder of PipesMagazine.com Certified Master Tobacconist (CMT) #1858 from TobacconistUniversity.org My grandfather didn't smoke a pipe, but my uncle and some of my elementary school teachers did. In 1998, my neighbor Sam invited me out, and we ended up back at his place where there was a cigar humidor, and pipe rack on the coffee table. I had my first cigar, and then decided to try pipes too. I love the elegance and relaxation of smoking a pipe. In 2002, I started learning how to make websites, do SEO, and create content. I had a cigar content site and forums from 2005-2008 when it was bought out. In 2009, I launched PipesMagazine.com, which is now the largest, busiest community forums, and article content site for pipe and tobacco enthusiasts. We have one of the longest running pipe and tobacco focused podcasts since 2012 with lifetime industry veteran, Brian Levine.
View all posts by: Kevin Godbee
May 6, 2011 at 11:48 am
May 6, 2011 at 1:10 pm
Pipe and cigar smokers should patronise those shops to help them pay for the endorsements and smoke diligently there to make it public that smoking is a choice everyone should have (has) and that requires awareness of the choice. Why are there no children suing the gov’t for attempting to withhold the existence of one of their future personal freedoms? It’s an abuse of power to indirectly keep us from smoking. If I were a US citizen, I would!
May 6, 2011 at 2:02 pm
I think that’s a little ridiculous honestly. I get the need for revenue but I saw this post on BOTL recently and it made me ask, are B&M shops really making enough money to not only pay all the state taxes and government BS but now a $17,500 fee so they can allow patrons to smoke?
I DO like the cigarette ban part of it though.
May 6, 2011 at 2:16 pm
I guess the “science” upon which the initial bans were predicated doesn’t mean squat if there’s a way to generate more revenue for the state.
May 6, 2011 at 2:37 pm
The only thing ridiculous is the situation to start with: That you may not smoke in private venues. It’s perverted to charge a sum for an unquantifiable amount of smoke, but it’s manageable. 17500 means that you have to pay about 1500 a month for a cigar lounge, or 50 a day. Smokers who benefit – and they definitely should – from the lounge should consider it an alternative to going to a bar or to the cinema and whatever they may be doing after church. Normal stores may struggle a bit but they have the choice.
May 6, 2011 at 4:32 pm
Congratulations to Matt and Gary. Very well done!
connolse says:
May 6, 2011 at 9:29 pm
I’m glad these options are now open, but what troubles me is once again the nanny state charging fees and taxes to ‘permit’ us to what by nature is already our right. I’m afraid I must be getting old and cranky, because I fear how things are first outlawed, then once again ‘given’ to us, assuming we pay through the nose. . .
I am, however, happy Washington State pipe smokers may practice their rights more freely! Congrats!
May 7, 2011 at 10:49 am
“Businesses would have to pay annual fees of $17,500 to obtain cigar lounge endorsements and $6,000 to obtain tobacco store endorsements. Supporters say the bill could help some local businesses hurt by the smoking ban that voters approved in 2005.”
Jesus Christ! THIS is a “solution”??
I’m sure some B&Ms don’t net $23,500 a year as it is. Now, for a “license” to allow patrons to smoke on your own premises?
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August 23, 2022 Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 519
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 519! Our featured interview tonight is with pipe maker Doug Finlay. Doug started making pipes as a hobby in 2017 since he enjoyed smoking a pipe so much. After only two years, in 2019 one of Doug’s pipes was one of seven winners in the 2019 North American Pipe Carvers Contest at the The Greater Kansas City Pipe & Tobacco Show. He is a full time pipe maker now. In Pipe Parts, Brian will have a show report from last weekend’s North American Society of Pipe Collectors show. Sit back, relax with your pipe, and enjoy The Pipes Magazine Radio Show!
August 16, 2022 Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 518
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 518! On tonight’s show we have a new episode of an ongoing segment of what Brian likes to call “Inside Fred’s Head” with Fred Hanna. Fred is a well-known pipe collector, author, and speaker at pipe shows. He has a PhD. in psychology and teaches the same at the Chicago Campus at Adler University. He is also author of the book, “The Perfect Smoke”. This is the 10th in the series with a long form discussion of pipe and tobacco questions sent in by our listeners. In the opening “Pipe Parts” segment, Brian will have a totally unfair pipe tobacco review, and it’s unfair for so many reasons. Sit back, relax with your pipe, and enjoy The Pipes Magazine Radio Show!
August 9, 2022 Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 517
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 517! Our featured interview tonight is with pipe maker Robert Amundson. Robert might be the most northern pipe maker in the world. He lives in Alaska, and there is a town named North Pole, and it’s south of him. Like many pipe makers he has a background in carpentry. He was inspired to explore pipe making while buying a pipe in a store in 2014 and seeing a block of briar, which he also bought. Robert is a member of The Seattle Pipe Club, and he made their Pipe of the Year in 2021. In Pipe Parts, we will have an Ask the Tobacco Blender segment with Jeremy Reeves. Jeremy is the Head Blender at Cornell & Diehl, which is one of the most popular boutique pipe tobacco companies in the USA. Sit back, relax with your pipe, and enjoy The Pipes Magazine Radio Show!
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 516! Our featured interview tonight is with Dr. Charles “Matt” Watson. Matt holds a Ph.D in Quantitative Biology, an M.S. in Biology, and a B.S. in Wildlife Science with a minor in Forestry. He is an Associate Professor at Texas A&M University-San Antonio. In our opening Pipe Parts segment, Brian will offer advice on what to look for when buying old / estate tins of tobacco to tell if the seal has been compromised. Sit back, relax with your pipe, and enjoy The Pipes Magazine Radio Show!
August 1, 2022 Heat Waves
I do not like hot weather. When the mercury pushes close to body temperature, my icy heart begins to melt, and when it reaches the point where I break out in a sweat as a result of the strenuous act of sitting upright, I consider calling around to see if I can book time in one of the refrigerated drawers at a local morgue. Heat and I just don’t get along well. We never have. Indulge my rambling, if you will; this really is about pipes and tobaccos. During the cooler months, I’m most often drawn towards fuller mixtures, rich with latakia, redolent of those wonderful aromas of campfires and leather and the smells of classic British sport cars and motorbikes that occupied so much of my youth. Seriously. It’s not the spice of orientals alone that brings comfort, but the warm blanket of latakia itself. These fuller mixtures recall some of my fondest smoking memories. I’m reminded of walks in the woods on cool, misty days, when the smoke would hang in the air, chilled by the moisture, its perfumed clouds delighting my senses, or evenings by the fire, accompanied by a wee dram of a fine malt, a comfortable chair and a good book. When the weather is all “hotting up,” though, I find latakia, in more than gentle seasoning proportions, to be too much of a good thing, almost overwhelming, so I turn to lighter mixtures and especially virginia blends, with or without perique. It’s something I’ve always found interesting, if occasionally vexing. Is it the temperature? The humidity? The pressure of the air molecules as they dance around, mingling with the tobacco’s smoke? Cosmic rays? Is it a subtle change in body chemistry that results from seasonal changes in diet? Set and setting? Or, is it some confluence of all these factors, and others not noted, that has such a profound influence on my smoking pleasure? I know I’m not completely alone; over the years, I’ve had conversations with pipe smokers who experience similar changes in tastes as the weather shifts. Interestingly, others insist that I’m delusional, that climate has no influence at all upon their choice of tobacco, and that they smoke the same tobaccos year round. Perhaps they live in relatively constant climates, or choose tobaccos with smoking characteristics that are less influenced by climate. Sometimes, I’m a little jealous of them; having my choices limited by something as intractable as the weather can be challenging to my inner control freak. But, the influence of climate on smoking can be subtle or alarming, and no amount of note-taking has led me to anything resembling actual understanding. Hold that thought. I first became aware of this phenomenon one cool autumn evening while waiting with some friends for a table at a popular restaurant. I had with me a lovely smooth Drucquer/LaCroix apple, one of my finest smokers at the time, and a tin of my recently discovered Benson & Hedges Finest Smoking Mixture[fn]The B&H was a beautiful mixture, produced by Gallaher, Ltd, and it came in a beautiful red and gold tin. Virginias, with a bit of latakia and perique, and it was this blend that inspired my own Piccadilly. Tonight, as I scribbled my final paragraphs, the weather was cool, breezy, and felt like rain might be coming; rumor has it there’s a storm developing off the coast. I’m enjoying that very combination that I enjoyed so much that evening so long ago. We’re all quite a few years older, tobacco, pipe and smoker, but the experience is no less superb, and the memories kindled, equally so.[/fn]. Knowing that we’d have at least a 45 minute wait, I had time for a bowl. That smoke was one of those memorable ones that always brings a smile when recalled. (How many remember when you could smoke a pipe in public without a torch and pitchfork brigade instantly forming a circle, insisting you are killing babies not yet conceived and chanting demands for your head? How far we’ve fallen in so few years.) It wasn’t the first time I’d smoked that tobacco in that pipe, but it was somehow different. It led me down a path of wonder just how much environmental factors can influence the enjoyment we take from burning a bowl of shredded leaves. One of the most dramatic examples of this that I can recall happened in August of 2002, while visiting friends in Denmark. There is a certain tabac, a Virginia flake loved by many, but one that I generally find tortuous; smoking it has always seemed to me to be the pipe smoking equivalent to sucking on the business end of a plasma cutter. I figured it was just a body chemistry thing. But when a friend offered a fill of this hell-spawned leaf, his regular smoke, I graciously accepted, rubbed out a flake, tamped it into the smallest pipe I had with me, and was astonished by the experience of a cool and enjoyable smoke. What? Figuring there must be some difference between the “home trade” tobacco sold in Denmark, and what was exported to the US, I bought a couple tins for further exploration. During my visit, I smoked through most of the first tin, enjoying every bowl, but when I returned to California, that very same tobacco, in the very same pipes, reignited my fear and loathing of the stuff. The temperatures at home and in Copenhagen at the time were not much different, so clearly something else was at play. If I were to throw a dart at the guess board, it would be that humidity was a factor. Another, albeit somewhat embarrassing anecdote might put a bit of meat to the bones of this hypothesis. One morning, some years ago, while still brain-fogged by insufficient sleep following a late night gig, I found myself coming to barely-waking consciousness whilst in the shower. Nothing odd there. But, the pipe clenched between my teeth at the time […]
Ah, the dog days of summer. Just think of your poor family dog who must endure the heat and humidity in a fur coat. The Pundit’s beautiful Golden Retriever just plops down on the floor exhausted and sleeps. A lot. And speaking of heat and humidity, a frightful thought on the global front, it is time to think of good summer tobaccos. Nothing too heavy, just a light little tap on the shoulder, so to speak. Maybe a Virginia-burley blend with a touch of Perique. I like the ribbon cuts for summertime smoking when the “livin’ is easy and the fish are jumpin’ and the cotton is high,” with thanks to George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess opera. And, yes, back in the day, Pundit was quite the fly-tying, pipe-smoking, chest-wading, trout-hunting, crazy rod-toting, fly-fisherman. Corn cob pipes were for smoking when fat, high-flying trout were jumpin.’ Never one of those beautifully designed and lovingly hand-crafted pieces of old wood briar. No sir. No risks are taken when excited and shouting for joy with a large trout on the other end of the fly line. Only to note in the splashy chaos the magnificent briar leaped from mouth to the fast-moving stream and sped off downstream. But now back to dog days and pipe tobacco. Virginia-burley flakes are also a fav in the blistering days of summer. And let’s not bypass our light English blends. Or the noticeably light aromatics. Nothing drenched in dressing. A wee dram of topping will do. A few of the heavier Virginia-Burley blends, say from Cornell & Diehl, require patient puffing. Nothing rolling down the tracks at full steam sort of thing. Slow and easy with some of the heavier VaBurs. Especially if you are a nicotine wimp like the Pundit. A moderate nic hit is fine. But I have occasionally gone so far over the dark nic abyss with strong tobaccos loaded with nicotine so as to experience the onset of that most disconcerting sensation of falling, spiraling into the dark unknown, with cold sweats, hazy thinking, and hallucinations. “Quoth the Raven ‘Nevermore.’ Poe’s “The Raven!” would then be the exquisitely apt verbal utterance we squeak out involuntarily when suffering the turbid depths of that awful green gills feeling. Okay, light up the Virginias with perhaps a little touch of perique and a dab of burley. Slow and easy on puffing, like hot evenings in the South. This next thought from the Pundit might be too much of an existential question, but here goes. Is it possible to own too many pipes? Have you successfully reached the end of pipe collecting and stuffing the cellar with more tobacco than you will ever consume? And do you then find this quiet realization quickly subsumed by a sudden and viral case of PAD, compelling one to add even more to the seemingly ever-expanding herd? Which then sends PAD sub-variants of TAD into whirls of ignition. Thus adding more pipes and tobacco to a sagging pipe shelf and a bloated tobacco cellar. How does one curtail the lifelong pleasure of collecting beautiful handmade pipes and artfully created tobacco blends? Cull and sell much of the overgrown collection, did I hear someone say! Nay, nay, replies Pundit. This is just not going to happen on Pundit’s watch. So, what to do? That’s a reasonable question. With perplexing problems that arise in every life, I fill a briar bowl with an aged blend of Virginia and puff away until a light goes on somewhere within the deep folds of the mind. No lights yet, but I’m working on it. Maybe a museum! Mayhaps my daughters will decide to keep them instead of tossing them (oh, the horror, the horror!). All suggestions toward a possible solution to this nagging problem will be greatly appreciated. No need to mention sales talk. It won’t compute. And now for a notable major cigar smoker and pipe personality from the past—Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. And commander of the “Birds” and other scary movies such as “Psycho,” both of which should not be viewed alone in the dark. Sir Alfred was born in Leytonstone, England, near London, on Aug. 13, 1899, and died in Los Angeles, Calif., on April 29, 1980. His legendary films collected 46 Academy Award nominations, including six wins, although he never achieved the award for Best Director despite five nominations. But he did earn two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame! He was once referred to as a “young man with a mastermind.” And Sir Alfred was indeed the master of melodrama, suspense, and thrillers. Just the memory of “Psycho” gives Pundit the heebie-jeebies after all these years. A quote or two from the master of suspense: There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it A glimpse into the world proves that horror is nothing other than reality. And yes, boys and girls, Sir Alfred did indeed smoke pipes, despite his fearsome film noir. No less authority than guru tobacco reviewer Jiminks says the wizard of the thriller smoked Dunhill pipe blends. Amen to that. And one more notable consummate pipe smoker, former President Gerald R. Ford, who served our great nation from August 1974 to January 1977. The 38th President stepped up his vice presidential duties and guided the nation through its “long nightmare,” after Watergate took down his predecessor, President Richard M. Nixon. Again, Jiminks, says Ford reportedly smoked Field & Stream, Walnut, and also noted in a book publication he also puffed Edgeworth Ready Rubbed. The Pundit leaves you with one of his gems of thought: Pipe smokers are the mind workers of the world, an oft-repeated pipe proverb by the Pundit. We are an eclectic group that enjoys each other’s company and conversation. Those qualities seem to be in scarcity today. We need more pipe smokers, Quoth the Pundit.
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What do colleges look for in students? Our goal at ReadyEdgeGo is to help students destress from the pressures of high school. The leading cause of this stress is misinformation. We have encountered countless students and parents who have misconceptions about the “steps” they need to take in order to gain admission into a certain college or groups of colleges. This misinformation is the real cause of the stress and pressure. We hope that this article can help clear some of those misconceptions up!
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What Do Colleges Look For In Students for 99% of Universities
What Really Sets a Student Apart?
It’s not the numbers, that’s for sure. Stanford rejects around 69% of perfect SAT scorers every year, and we’ve seen the same trend apply to all the top universities in the United States. So, what gives? Why is it that so many students spend so much time and money on numbers, yet don’t always see the results?
The first thing that comes to many people’s mind for this topic is “weighted classes” and AP Tests. Students should absolutely take weighted courses in the areas of interest. However, what sets students apart is how far they went into learning it outside of class. Sure, summer programs are nice, but they are also extremely common and expensive. Instead, we suggest reading more and asking meaningful questions about what you read and in general. While everyone is spending $5000+ on the same summer programs, you can spend $5 on a book and get the same value, if not better. That’s how you truly set yourself apart, since no one reads anymore.
Leadership
In this context, what do colleges look for in students? This is leadership. Leadership is defined by convincing others to do something that they otherwise wouldn’t have done. Thus, starting an AI club for your friends to join, who are all already interested in technology, doesn’t really count. Same goes for becoming a class president and doing what the advisor tells. What Do Colleges Look For In Students? It’s Leadership. It’s about leading others to achieve something that they otherwise would not have accomplished had it not been for your leadership.
Remember, to truly stand out, you have to encounter challenges and map out your own path. Don’t aim to follow the path that you’ve seen or heard numerous other students follow. In our 15 years of mentoring students, we haven’t encountered a single leadership experience that wasn’t challenging. By nature, leadership experiences require a challenge – it’s the only way we lead ourselves, and others, to something greater.
This isn’t about completing your service requirement. It is also not about how many hours you get or the Gold Award, the Presidential Service Award, Eagle, etc. You may ask “What makes me stand out from other applicants?” It’s about serving. To be about serving only for the sake and benefit your community. To make a difference.
Another myth is that continuity among various experiences is what colleges are looking for. Continuity is important, yes, though having numerous experiences isn’t. We’d rather you serve deeply in one experience rather than lightly in three.
What Do Colleges Look For In Students In The Top 1% of Universities
Intellectual Range Outside of Class
Okay, we get you want to become a doctor, but that doesn’t mean all you should study and participate in is Biology. Yet, that’s what we see again and again and again in the students (and their families) who want to “stand out”. Meanwhile, the top of the top pre-med places and Biology ranked schools are virtually all liberal arts universities — which places a heavy emphasis on versatility and intellectual range. Particularly in reading, writing, and critical thinking. This lesson applies to all majors, even Undeclared. If you want to stand out, start studying other things beyond just your major! Be curious and well rounded!
Innovative Leadership
This term started in UC Berkeley Admissions several years ago, and it rings true of all of UC Berkeley calibre schools. The top 1% of universities aren’t just looking for captains of sports teams, or presidents of clubs. The top 1% are looking for something slightly different. How did you lead in a way that was innovative? Class officers don’t typically do this. They usually just perform tasks that every other class officer did before them. Same as sports captains, usually nothing out of the ordinary. So how will you contribute differently and in a positive way? This oftentimes doesn’t involve a club or sport or a fancy title of “leadership”. It’s usually just about solving a problem that involves other people, just in a unique way.
Time for some real talk. Stop counting the number of hours you’ve served. Stop signing up for different kinds of volunteer opportunities. Find the one or two service options that allows you to make a meaningful and lasting impact on people directly. By “meaningful and lasting”, consider whether your work is changing someone’s life for the better, and for how long. For example, serving food to the homeless is a good deed, but does it transform a homeless person’s situation in a meaningful or lasting way beyond that day? Probably not.
Furthermore, those who serve the homeless in this way often don’t get to know the individuals they serve, hence making it difficult to extract what impact was really made. Fundraising often doesn’t check the box here, since your work is often distant from the people you will ultimately help. Your service shouldn’t necessarily have anything to do with your major. In fact, it’s usually best to serve in a way that’s completely different from what you plan on studying, simply because it demonstrates a more well-rounded life experience.
What Do Colleges Look For In Students? The Conclusion
That’s it for this week. We hope that this has helped you approach your 2021 new years resolutions a little differently. Good luck on all your finals and happy holidays. This will be our last post for the year. See you in 2021!
If you need any help with this, please reach out! For a full feature and even more detail, check out our YouTube video about it.
We specialize in youth mentorship and college counseling. From 8th grade to 12th, we have you covered for any stage in your high school career. Schedule a free consultation with us here.
In conclusion, we are always posting more helpful tips and tricks to help reduce the stress of college application season. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
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Q: How many total years of experience do you have in your current role, including but not limited to ReadyEdgeGo?
Q: What about working with students do you most enjoy?
A: I love to motivate students to find their true passion. It’s so rewarding to see students succeed in a field they enjoy.
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: I enjoy arts and crafts, doing outdoorsy things such as hiking or picnics and the nightlife with friends.
Q: What is your one piece of advice for high schoolers?
A: Time management is key. Have a healthy balance between your work/school and social life.
Major Advisor - Premed
Q:How many total years of experience do you have in your current role, including but not limited to ReadyEdgeGo?
A: 3 years.
Q: What about working with students do you most enjoy?
A: Every student is so unique, with their own story, skills, strengths, and personality. I love embarking on that journey with them, albeit temporarily, in helping them envision and execute their own vision for their life.
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: I love spending the little free time I have exploring new foods with friends and family. If I'm lucky, I spend it trying to build my sketching/design/sewing skills in hopes of building my second dream career as a runway couture designer.
Q: What is your one piece of advice for high schoolers?
A: When envisioning a life career, utilize the Japanese philosophy of ikigai (translated as 'reason for being'). An ideal career meets at the intersection of passion, mission, profession, and vocation. Evaluate each of these components when envisioning yourself in a life path/career.
Admissions Advisor
Q:How many total years of experience do you have in your current role, including but not limited to ReadyEdgeGo?
Q: What about working with students do you most enjoy?
A: My favorite aspect of working with students is helping them discover their interests/passions/dreams and ultimately learning more about themselves.
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: I love live music! My time is mostly spent attending concerts, watching movies, and spending time with my dog :)
Q: What is your one piece of advice for high schoolers?
A: My best advice to high schoolers is embrace who you are: play into your strengths and surround yourself with people who contribute to your life in a positive way.
Q:How many total years of experience do you have in your current role, including but not limited to ReadyEdgeGo?
A: About 18---started helping students with their admissions letters in 2004.
Q: What about working with students do you most enjoy?
A: It's fun showing them how to translate their passion and character into a sharply drawn short bio.
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: Music, reading, gardening, hiking, cooking, and most anything to do with water.
Q: What is your one piece of advice for high schoolers?
A: Take it one step at a time.
Q:How many total years of experience do you have in your current role, including but not limited to ReadyEdgeGo?
Q: What about working with students do you most enjoy?
A: Getting to hear their stories and help them on their individual journeys towards their passion.
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: In my free-time I enjoy reading, travelling, spending time with loved ones, and learning Italian!
Q: What is your one piece of advice for high schoolers?
A: Be your most authentic self and don't let anyone else tell you who you are!
Admissions Advisor
Q:How many total years of experience do you have in your current role, including but not limited to ReadyEdgeGo?
Q: What about working with students do you most enjoy?
A: One of my favorite experiences working with students is opening student's eyes to possibilities they didn't know would be an option for them.
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: In my free time I like to stay active playing sports / running, but most of the time I am hanging out with my wife and daughter (usually with college sports on in the background).
Q: What is your one piece of advice for high schoolers?
A: It's possible there could be several colleges that are a good fit for you. Don't lock in on just one preferred option, and work toward finding places you can thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.
Q:How many total years of experience do you have in your current role, including but not limited to ReadyEdgeGo?
Q: What about working with students do you most enjoy?
A: I love helping students discover how special they are as unique individuals.
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: I enjoy making music and reading in my free time.
Q: What is your one piece of advice for high schoolers?
A: Don't be afraid to dive deep into your interests and hobbies!
Q: How many total years of experience do you have in your current role, including but not limited to ReadyEdgeGo?
Q: What about working with students do you most enjoy?
A: The ability to help students find their passion for their lifelong careers.
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: I am an avid hiker/backpacker, musician, and love to learn about medical breakthroughs
Q: What is your one piece of advice for high schoolers?
A: Take time for yourself and enjoy life, so that when you are in school, it does not feel like a chore.
Major Advisor - Business
Q:How many total years of experience do you have in your current role, including but not limited to ReadyEdgeGo?
Q: What about working with students do you most enjoy?
A: When they have the lightbulb moment and everything clicks into place for them.
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: Travel, yoga, run, hike, eat lots of good food
Q: What is your one piece of advice for high schoolers?
A: Enjoy life as it today; don’t be in such a rush to be an adult because most of life is being an adult.
Q:How many total years of experience do you have in your current role, including but not limited to ReadyEdgeGo?
A: In writing, editing, tutoring, and college support, I have a combined 9.5 years of experience
Q: What about working with students do you most enjoy?
A: I like getting to know students as individuals, holding space to help them connect more deeply with themselves, witnessing “green light” moments when new ideas or perspectives create a positive shift, and learning what feels important to them.
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: I enjoy spending time with friends, meditation and yoga, listening to music, being in nature, making/consuming art (painting, singing, poetry, performance), and learning about the world and universe we live in.
Q: What is your one piece of advice for high schoolers?
A: Be kind to yourself.
Admissions Advisor, Apps Advisor
Q:How many total years of experience do you have in your current role, including but not limited to ReadyEdgeGo?
Q: What about working with students do you most enjoy?
A: I love hearing their stories. There's so much to discover about a person. It's very rewarding when my students get comfortable and know that I'm there for them.
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: Swim, read, write, sing, enjoy nature, and play with my two crazy boys.
Q: What is your one piece of advice for high schoolers?
A: Do what you love, and everything else will fall into place.
Apps Advisor, Major Advisor - Social Sciences
Q:How many total years of experience do you have in your current role, including but not limited to ReadyEdgeGo?
Q: What about working with students do you most enjoy?
A: I love getting to know them and helping them know themselves!
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: Scuba dive, write, travel.
Q: What is your one piece of advice for high schoolers?
A: Don't worry about everyone else's opinion, be your authentic self!
Admissions Advisor, Apps Advisor, Essay Editor
Q:How many total years of experience do you have in your current role, including but not limited to ReadyEdgeGo?
Q: What about working with students do you most enjoy?
A: Hearing each student's unique stories, guiding them in discovering their passions, and helping find their voice!
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
Q: What is your one piece of advice for high schoolers?
Q:How many total years of experience do you have in your current role, including but not limited to ReadyEdgeGo?
A: I have five years' experience in coaching student writing, but this is my first year with ReadyEdgeGo.
Q: What about working with students do you most enjoy?
A: I love helping students find depth and meaning in their own stories—but I also just love it when they make me laugh!
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: In theory, I enjoy painting and writing poetry, but these days I actually spend most of my free time socializing or watching movies with my husband.
Q: What is your one piece of advice for high schoolers?
A: Don't just focus on achieving top grades and credentials because they look good on applications, or your education will be meaningless. The numbers and awards have their place, but stay connected to your sense of curiosity, discovery, excitement, and wonder so that the content you're learning is constantly transforming you—it's something you care about, something you remember after the final exam. Work on the aspects of yourself no one can measure, like integrity, wisdom, kindness, and compassion, so that you're not only developing your academic and career potential but also investing in the type of adult you're going to be, the person you'll have to live with after you clock out every day for the rest of your life. Doing the hard inner work of building your character and learning deeply instead of just earning grades will set you up for a satisfying, well-rounded life. Strange as it sounds, it will also put you ahead in your academic and career goals, because colleges and hiring managers aren't looking for an empty set of data on a spreadsheet; they want a fully fleshed-out person marked by passion, creativity, and a story no one else has lived. So go on studying hard for tests, but also spend some time asking yourself what matters in life and who your role models are. Read up on topics that amaze you, and build something incredible just for fun. Cultivate that spark of joy you feel when you're immersed in a subject that fascinates you. If you can hit that balancing act of doing your homework and meeting deadlines but also investing in the kind of person you want to be, then trust that all the rest will follow: schools will recognize you as a dynamic, all-star person, and you will also build a life of happiness, close relationships, and peace.
Q:How many total years of experience do you have in your current role, including but not limited to ReadyEdgeGo?
A: I have more than 15 years experience teaching writing to all ages.
Q: What about working with students do you most enjoy?
A: I love assisting students to achieve their educational goals.
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: I love to go hiking on the trails around the dunes of Lake Michigan.
Q: What is your one piece of advice for high schoolers?
A: Use a calendar to help you meet your deadlines and to stay stay organized.
Q:How many total years of experience do you have in your current role, including but not limited to ReadyEdgeGo?
A: 5 years high school mentoring experience. I was heavily involved in it all throughout college and after graduating.
Q: What about working with students do you most enjoy?
A: I love hearing about their passions and what they genuinely love to do. It also makes me extremely happy to.
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: I recently picked up the electric guitar! I also have multiple aquariums, and founded a company that built body armor.
Q: What is your one piece of advice for high schoolers?
A: Don't go down a path just because you think that's "what you're supposed to do." Life is more diverse and unexpected than any of us could ever know.
Major Advisor - Engineering
Q:How many total years of experience do you have in your current role, including but not limited to ReadyEdgeGo?
Q: What about working with students do you most enjoy?
A: Getting to know student's interests and seeing their growth as students and people.
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
Q: What is your one piece of advice for high schoolers?
A: You are more than your list of accomplishments. The growth and learning about yourself and others, and the hard work, failures, and lessons that lead to those accomplishments make you who you are.
Q:How many total years of experience do you have in your current role, including but not limited to ReadyEdgeGo?
Q: What about working with students do you most enjoy?
A: I love hearing students' stories and seeing their faces light up when they talk about their passions and dreams.
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: Cook, write, draw, save Azeroth .
Q: What is your one piece of advice for high schoolers?
A: Pursue dreams that matter to you and don't be afraid of forging your own path to where you want to go.
Major Advisor - Engineering
Q: How many total years of experience do you have in your current role, including but not limited to ReadyEdgeGo?
Q: What about working with students do you most enjoy?
A: It's amazing getting to know the unique and diverse passions that drive each student
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: Sleep, but also video games, climb, scuba dive, and ride my motorcycle
Q: What is your one piece of advice for high schoolers?
A: Do things. Just get out there and try as many cool new things you can! You never know what you'll love until you give it a shot.
Q: How many total years of experience do you have in your current role, including but not limited to ReadyEdgeGo?
Q: What about working with students do you most enjoy?
A: I love how open students are to learning and trying new things. As mentors, we get to see so much growth simply because our students are so open to new experiences and are looking forward to applying their learning and other skills.
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: In my free time I like to read and write. I also spend a lot of time just watching--my dogs, birds, trees. I also enjoy baking and cooking (even though I'm terrible at baking).
Q: What is your one piece of advice for high schoolers?
A: It's never too early or late to start practicing self-care. Build moments of joy and celebration into your week. Give yourself a treat for working hard. It's important to have things to look forward to. If you can get into the habit now, you'll have a much more balanced college experience.
Q: How many total years of experience do you have in your current role, including but not limited to ReadyEdgeGo?
Q: What about working with students do you most enjoy?
A: I enjoy getting to know them on a personal level and helping them see that their life story/experiences are unique and matter.
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: I coach wrestling at the high school level. Enjoy spending time with my husky, Lucy, on runs or hikes. Dancing mainly bachata and salsa. Collecting retro video games and playing them from time to time.
Q: What is your one piece of advice for high schoolers?
A: Make time to do things you love outside of academics. Whether that is clubs, music, art, sports, etc.
Q: How many total years of experience do you have in your current role, including but not limited to ReadyEdgeGo?
Q: What about working with students do you most enjoy?
A: As a major advisor for students interested in the humanities, I’ve found it immensely rewarding to offer an outlet for students to explore ideas that they often don’t get to delve into at school. Watching a student light up when they realize that there is in fact a community around their specific interests is easily the best part of the job.
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: In my free time, I love to be outdoors - I've been hiking around the Bay Area and recently started biking again. I also volunteer at community gardens and trail restoration projects in San Francisco. When I'm not outside, you can find me reading visionary fiction, practicing yoga and qigong, or cooking.
Q: What is your one piece of advice for high schoolers?
A: My advice for high school students is to focus on the present! Use this time to learn more about yourself and the world around you. Solid values and a sense of self will allow you to make challenging decisions for the future and create the life you want.
Chief Technology Officer
Q: How many total years of experience do you have in your current role, including but not limited to ReadyEdgeGo?
Q: What about working with students do you most enjoy?
A: Watching them accomplish great things.
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: Watch Formula 1, play ice hockey, and watch TV.
Q: What is your one piece of advice for high schoolers?
A: Spend time exploring different things -- you have a long time to become an expert.
Chief Executive Officer
Q: How many total years of experience do you have in your current role, including but not limited to ReadyEdgeGo?
Q: What about working with students do you most enjoy?
A: Inspiring a student towards self discovery, and wanting to learn about everything there is in the world. Reaching this moment can take time, but it's what makes it worth it every time.
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Are you planning to do Vasaloppet, the crazy 90km race in Sweden? Follow my experience and learn from my mistakes… Once I moved to Sweden and decided it will be my new home, I wanted to get to know the local culture and traditions as much as I could. Since I love winters, the tradition I wanted to experience first was Vasaloppet. What else can be more Swedish than a 90km long cross country skiing race? This oldest cross country skiing race in the world has already attracted over 1,700,000 participants who, sweaty and exhausted, completed different distances between Sälen and Mora. How will it be for me? Will I manage to complete the full distance with limited experience on cross country skis? If king Gustav Vasa made it when he was fleeing the war during the winter of 1520–1521 with poor equipment, I have to manage too!
Length of the race: 90km
Overall elevation: 813m
Recommended training time: 2 years
After a cloudy, windy, rainy, snowy and dark February, the first week of March 2022 finally brought the dream Swedish winter weather. It’s sunny! Swedes call this kind of weather “vårvinter” and it literally means spring-winter. I love vårvinter because it isn’t only pleasant for its sun rays but it’s also perfect for cross country skiing. While the days are quite warm, the nights still get pretty cold. These changes in temperature make the snow very quick.
My fiancée and I are driving now towards Sälen, a popular Swedish skiing resort but mostly the place known for the start of the most famous cross country skiing race in the world. The weather is supposed to be the same tomorrow. What a paradise weather for Vasaloppet!
We park our camper van at a parking lot just next to the Vasaloppet start. Now, the parking lot is almost empty. There are just a few more camper vans in the corner. It’s a quiet and peaceful night but volunteers preparing the tracks at the start remind us that something big is going to happen tomorrow. 15 800 skiers from all around the world will gather here in the early morning for one of the longest cross country skiing races in the world.
Joanne and I are curious how the track looks like so we approach the Vasaloppet start. It’s very cold outside but it feels very cosy. The snow pleasantly crunches under our feet. While we are walking the dark sky suddenly turns to green. Am I dreaming? Northern lights just started to dance above the hard and solid track. It will be wonderful conditions for all the skiers tomorrow! We admire the amazing aurora borealis for a while, but we can’t stay long. We need enough sleep before the race starts tomorrow at 8! Good night from our comfy camper van!
I am woken up by my alarm at 2:30 a.m. on a mattress in a gym surrounded by 50 other waking guys. Shit! It was a dream! I quickly realize the reality. It is 2014. I am in a small village called Nusnäs at Siljan lake. Today, my father, our friend Håkan and I are doing Vasaloppet. We are two and a half hours of driving from the start, and we have to hurry to get some breakfast. While eating oatmeal and drinking tea we are looking outside. It’s snowing and temperatures are around 0 degrees. Damn it. This means the slowest possible snow for skiing.
Evening before Vasaloppet. Lights were turned off at 8 p.m. and everybody went to sleep.
Why am I talking so much about the snow conditions? For someone who doesn’t ski, it might sound like too much unnecessary information, but it actually matters a lot for skiers. Looking at the results of the past years´ races the bad and good snow conditions make a huge difference in racing time. While Petter Eliassen, the winner of 2020, needed 4:25:14 to complete the race, the next year’s winner Tord Asle Gjerdalen managed the race almost one hour faster with a time of 3:28:18. Among the amateurs, the time differences are even more significant. Slow snow means much more tough and demanding conditions.
Beautiful winter weather but terrible for cross country skiing in Mora
After breakfast, we pack our skiing equipment, food supply for the race and head towards the bus. There I start to wonder. Did I train enough for Vasaloppet? As a kid I didn’t like cross country skiing much. It felt boring compared to other winter sports. Luckily, I was a happy kid. The winters were still cold so I could play ice hockey with my friends behind our house and my family spent most of the winter holidays in the mountains. There we did downhill skiing, and I enjoyed skiing at full speed.
After moving to Sweden though, my early disinterest in cross country skiing didn’t help me with my Vasaloppet goal. I was comfortable at downhills at least. These are often most scary for beginners. I was more worried about my poor technique and weak arms. Fortunately, I studied at Umeå University located in the north of Sweden, so I had a long winter to get ready!
First, I needed skis. As a broke international student, I only had money for second-hand skis. I bought all poles, ski boots, and skis for just 200 SEK (20 EUR). Well, the price equals the quality. My skis were made in 1988.
My old but very picturesque skis
When it comes to training, I never would have made it to the start without my amazing Swedish friend Håkan who is a big cross country skiing enthusiast and six times finisher of Vasaloppet. He often trained with me and gave me many valuable tips regarding technique. He also explained to me how important it is to do some race before: “Vasaloppet has many starting groups. If you don’t do a cross country ski race before, you automatically end up in the last seeding group 10. You’d rather start in some better group. If you start in the last group, there will be large queue in front of you and you will lose over one hour in time until you climb the first long hill.”
Take part in a preparation race outside north of Sweden
So that´s what we did. We participated in a local 40km race in Umeå called Vildmannaloppet. Unfortunately, I chose maybe the worst winter for the race. There wasn’t enough snow and Vasaloppet organizers were worried that the race will have to be cancelled due to lack of snow. A similar situation was going on in Umeå. The preparation race couldn’t happen on the usual 10km track due to the limited amount of snow so we had to do it on a 5km artificial snow track. We had to do 8 laps.
The race was not fun. Racing in the north of Sweden means that you compete with Swedes who were basically born on skis. It didn’t take a long time until all the local skiers left me behind. The only guy whose pace I managed to follow was another exchange student from France. Before I finished the first lap, I was already lapped by the fastest local skiers. This is not something that helps your self-esteem, but I kept on fighting.
The race was long and tough. I couldn’t even count how many times I was lapped but I was telling myself: “This will help you to qualify for a better starting group at Vasaloppet. You will have a better chance to finish it!” Here, I have to mention one more important detail. You can’t finish Vasaloppet in whatever time you feel like. There is a time limit and cut-off times on the way! The internal motivation helped me. I managed to complete the race even though I finished second last. Yes, I managed to beat the other exchange student! But most importantly – I will be seeded for Vasaloppet!
Another crucial task is to fix your skis. If you don’t know how to wax them and which way to choose, ask professionals. I was lucky to be helped by pros – my father and Håkan
The start of Vasaloppet is full of emotions
We are arriving to Vasaloppet start. It’s 6 a.m., two hours before the actual start. Our bus manager´s tactics are to arrive early, so we get a good spot within our starting groups. My father and I are going towards the last group 10. Håkan forgot to mention one rule for the seeding – you need to finish the preparation race before a certain time to be seeded. I finished the preparation race too late.
Coming early to the start helps for a better position for the race
It’s still dark outside but huge lights are lighting up the thousands of skis placed in the tracks. I am putting my new racing skis, which Håkan lend me for the race (Thank you so much!), somewhere in the middle of group 10 next to my father’s skis. Now it becomes real: we will really run Vasaloppet! Today, I will either finish or I will die! Other members of our bus have already placed their skis in better groups, and my father and I watch them warming up their muscles with exercises and runs. We decide to save as much energy as possible and we take a short nap in the bus before the race.
It’s 7:40. I am finishing the last snack before the start, and I am heading towards my skis. The atmosphere there is incredible. There is a tower in the middle of every starting group with dancers who have the task to warm up all the participants. Even my father and I dance to the Avicii songs. 5 minutes before the start all the dancers leave. We listen to Vasaloppets anthem, and I feel goosebumps.
The longest day of my life
BANG! The race is initiated. The elite racers move quickly towards the first hill. We wait for a couple of minutes until we can start moving. “Good luck, dad! See you in in Mora in 12 hours!” Our group 10 slowly moves forward. When we reach the first uphill the crowd stops. I see some space at the left of the track, and I manage to overtake some participants. I think I found a cool shortcut but it still takes a lot of time to get to the top of the initial hill. My watch says 65 minutes. Håkan was right.
I was surprised how many people I managed to pass. It must have been hundreds of racers. Very many of them chose the wrong waxing strategy and had to stop to re-wax their skis on both sides of the track. I made it to the highest point of the whole Vasaloppet without stopping. Here, the crowd finally starts moving. Let’s go racing.
Quick start of the elite racers
For people who like downhills the first 11km to the first stop Smågan are amazing. After the initial climb, the route goes smoothly down, and you can pass a lot of slow racers. It was my favourite part of the whole race. From this point the route starts to be challenging. After Smågan, there are six more stops on the way. To manage the whole Vasaloppet, it is very important to get enough energy at every stop. At each of these stops you can get the famous Vasaloppet blueberry soup, energy drink, water, a broth, a bun and at some stops also coffee. The distances between stops vary between 9 to 13km so it’s good to study the map before so you can expect what comes next.
One of great downhills but be careful: There are many falls every year. Google Vasaloppet Risberg falls if you want to laugh a little bit
I heard that many racers manage to complete the race just by taking what is offered during the race, but should I risk it? Since I have never experienced such a long race before, I didn’t dare to underestimate it. You might laugh at me, but I brought small pieces of bread and my favourite food for emergency – 5 small schnitzels.
Mångsbodarna stop
It turned out to be a great food strategy. At every stop I took one of each of the offered drinks plus one small schnitzel and I had enough energy for the first 60km of the race. Even though the snow was slow and my speed was only around 10km/h, I never had to stop. I passed Mångsbodarna, Risberg, Evertsberg and Oxberg and two thirds of the race were behind me.
A volunteer giving out blueberry soups to a racer
Count on an unexpected crisis
After climbing to Oxberg I felt quite confident. I had heard that there shouldn’t be any large climbs anymore. I believed I would manage to finish the race. But here I made a mistake. I underestimated my energy intake and my waxing stopped working due to a change in temperature. I collapsed somewhere halfway on the way to the next stop at Hökberg. The situation was bad. I suddenly went out of energy, and I experienced a big crisis. I could only go very slowly, and I was scared that I will have to give up. Many racers were passing me, and I felt hopeless.
When I saw this weather forecast before the race, I felt hopeless. It was very difficult to choose the wax strategy for the race on Sunday (Sorry, the screenshot is in Czech. Let me give you a short language lesson – pátek – Friday, sobota – Saturday, neděle – Sunday, pondělí – Monday, března – of March)
At this point only a miracle could save me. And the miracle occurred. Out of nowhere I saw an angel. There was a small girl standing next to the track. She was cheering on the racers with her father in typical Swedish: “Heja, heja” and she was giving out pancakes to those in need. When I heard her say “Vill du ha en pannkaka?” my emotions just got to me, and I started to cry of happiness. The pancake gave me enough energy to make it to the next stop at Hökberg. There was a waxing service which fixed my skies and I could continue.
At the end of the race there are usually worse snow conditions. Save some energy for the last kilometers.
The last 20 km hurt me everywhere in my body. I even felt pain in parts of my body where I didn’t know I have muscles. It was also getting dark but the supporting spectators along the way gave me enough energy to finish. At the last stop I took an extra boost by taking a coffee and at a time of 09:09:33 I successfully passed the finish line. What a feeling! Vasaloppet is finished!
I made it! I finished Vasaloppet 2014!
Now it’s just time to celebrate with my father and Håkan in a pub nearby over a local beer. We managed the Vasaloppet in one of the worst conditions in years. Out of 15800 who registered for the race only 11248 finished in 2014. We managed to beat for instance the Swedish ice hockey star Peter Forsberg who gave up his race somewhere between Evertsberg and Oxberg.
Eight years later, the dream I had before Vasaloppet 2014 came true. Joanne and I just took a different role at the 100th edition of Vasaloppet. This time I got a press accreditation to document the race. In this way I could return to my memories of my first Vasaloppet and show you pictures of how amazing the race is. If you consider doing the race, don’t hesitate for a moment. Even though it was the toughest physical exercise I ever experienced I would do it again. I actually already did. In my next post, I will tell you how Vasaloppet was in perfect vårvinter conditions, this time using a different skiing technique – skating/freestyle.
Vasaloppet belongs to the four grand classic races. The other races are Italian Marcialonga, Czech Jizerska50, and Norwegian Birkebeinerrennet. A victory in all four races, a grand slam, gives the winner 100,000 Euros! If you get good enough in skiing you can also get pretty rich!
An average racer drinks over a litre of blueberry soup during Vasaloppet. During the whole Vasaloppet week 2022 (consisting of different races) the participants consumed 33,900 litres of blueberry soup, 28,000 litres of Enervit sport drink, 11,900 litres of vegetable broth, 3,100 litres of coffee and 200,000 Vasaloppet buns.
No littering! If a participant is found to have littered in or along the Vasaloppet course (which is a nature reserve) then he or she will receive a time penalty of 15 minutes.
The average age in Vasaloppet 2014 was 42.1 years. The youngest participant in Vasaloppet 2014 was 18 and the oldest was 87.
2.195 racers in 2014 were women which means 13,8% of all participants.
Racers from 73 countries participated in Vasaloppet 2014.
The average racer loses 3kg of body weight during a full Vasaloppet.
All 15 800 tickets for Vasaloppet 2014 were sold out in just 10 minutes!
Vasaloppet organizes amazing logistics. You can leave your personal items in a plastic bag at the start and it will be delivered to the finish. Thanks to this service you can for instance prepare dry and warm clothes
Be ready to buy the ticket for Vasaloppet in time. They sell out in just a few minutes.
It’s recommended to start training at least two years before the race. During summer consider training on roller skis.
Try to participate in a race before to seed better than in the last starting group. Choose a race outside north of Sweden. There’s higher competition there, so it’s more difficult to qualify.
Take great care of your skis before the race. It’s worth spending some money for a professional waxing service.
Book your accommodation before the race close to the start at Sälen. You will have more time to sleep, and it will save you a lot of energy.
Plan your food strategy and test it before the race. Don’t experiment with something new on the race day.
Take some food at every stop on the way. You never know when a crisis gets you. Take some food with you for emergencies.
My last tip for you: Arrive well in advance so you don’t end up like these racers. Every year, hundreds of people come late to the start because of long traffic jams. You don’t want to miss the amazing start.
DISCLAIMER: Everything described in the dream actually happened. The only exception is the comfy camper van. We slept in a standard rental car and I have to admit: It could have been more pleasant. In -15°C we were pretty cold and when we got home we got sick. Rent a proper camper van.
January 21, 2022 • 0 Comment
There was a wonderful northern lights show on 14 January 2022. It was a night which people in Stockholm and actually the whole Northern Europe (other parts of the world had daylight, sorry!) will remember for a long time! We witnessed one of the strongest northern lights displays in years. It was actually the strongest one I’ve seen since I moved to Sweden 10 years ago! The sky was on fire and I could even see the dancing red aurora with the naked eye! Would you like to see similar northern lights in the future? Follow my tips.
I managed to record the show on my camera and my video was seen by more than 50 000 people on Facebook. I got many nice comments but unfortunately also many sad messages: “I missed it. When and where can I see the northern lights next time? How did you know there will be aurora borealis that day?” I decided to help out and write this guide. This is all you need to know.
Exceptionally strong northern lights in Stockholm
What are northern lights?
To understand when and how you can witness northern lights, you have to know first what the lights actually are and how they are caused. First, let’s take a look at the official Wikipedia definition:
“Auroras are the result of disturbances in the magnetosphere caused by solar wind. These disturbances alter the trajectories of charged particles in the magnetospheric plasma. These particles, mainly electrons and protons, precipitate into the upper atmosphere (thermosphere/exosphere). The resulting ionization and excitation of atmospheric constituents emit light of varying colour and complexity.”
In simple words: northern lights are caused by solar activity which reaches our planet via charged particles and they react with the Earth’s magnetic field. The reaction causes lights nearby the magnetic poles of our planet (which are nearby the actual North and South Pole). The animation below will make it even more clear:
How do northern lights work?
Why is it important to know this to forecast northern lights? It’s easy. By observing the Sun we can predict the aurora activity. Strong northern lights usually occur after unusual activity on the Sun (to make it simple let’s call them eruptions) and it takes approximately 3 days until the charged particles reach our atmosphere and cause the northern lights.
What time of the year is the best to see northern lights?
This is a very frequent question on social media under northern lights related topics and I often see random answers such as: “You can see them from January to March because it’s the coldest.” Bullshit. In fact you can see aurora borealis basically anytime when the sky is dark, when there are no clouds, and when the Sun is active.
The Sun doesn’t really think of when to make the largest eruptions based on the position of the Earth. The solar eruptions happen through the whole year, so be ready to see aurora anytime when there is dark sky if you live in Stockholm or even more north. I have seen the earliest aurora in the middle of August and the latest at the end of April. Here you can check the sunrise and sunset times for Stockholm. The auroras can be seen during night and astronomical twilight.
Northern lights captured at midnight on 25 April 2013 in Umeå. The sky is not dark anymore
If you are making a trip with the main purpose to see aurora, then plan it so you have a statistically bigger chance to see northern lights. Remember:
The longer the nights last, the bigger chance to see it.
Consider also the climate. Choose months with less rainy/snowy days.
Warmer days are also giving you a higher chance since you will be willing to wait longer outside for northern lights to show up compared to when it is -20.
Choose a time when there is no full moon. Moonlight is very strong and makes it more difficult to see aurora.
Where in Sweden is it the best to watch northern lights?
The auroras usually occur behind the polar circle but are more rare in the south. The geomagnetic activity is measured by the so called Kp index. It is a scale of numbers between 0-9. Using this scale, it is easy to determine what Kp number you need to have a chance of seeing auroras where you are (read more about the index here). These are the values to follow for cities across Sweden.
Kp 1: Kiruna (happens almost every day)
Kp 5: Stockholm (usually 1700 times during one solar cycle – ca 11 years)
Kp 7: Malmö (usually 200 times during one solar cycle – ca 11 years)
The Kp 1 is common. It means you can see the northern lights in Kiruna almost every day. The more south you are, the less often you will have the chance. Keep in mind that these numbers don’t guarantee northern lights. Forecasts are not 100% correct and there are of course exceptions. I have seen northern lights in Stockholm when there was Kp 3 shown in the forecast but I didn’t see anything with Kp 6. There are better tools to follow. See below.
What app is the best to forecast northern lights?
I have downloaded ten different northern lights apps and followed multiple websites and the most important thing to say is: it is very difficult to predict the northern lights activity and the apps are often wrong. The long term forecast is very unreliable. Since you know how the northern lights occur you understand this now. It is difficult to predict exactly when the Earth is hit by charged particles. That’s why it is better to follow short term forecasts and ideally live observations. I recommend following:
Do you speak Swedish? Follow FB page Norrsken. Actually, follow it even if you don’t speak Swedish. The FB translator works pretty well. The page Norrsken makes an amazing analysis every day when there is a chance to see northern lights in Sweden and they also organize observation feeds for all such days. Thanks to that you can see live observations from many followers around the country. It has just reached 100 000 followers so there is a lot of fresh data.
Follow the Soft Serve News website and its FB page. There you can see the short term forecast and they also notify about upcoming geomagnetic storms (Kp 5 and higher). Besides the Kp number you should also check Bz on their website. To make it simple: it should be negative so you can see great aurora. Another good thing is to check the Ovation map. If the map is yellow or ideally red then there are almost for sure northern lights in Stockholm at the moment.
Download one of the apps which offers notifications at certain Kp levels. I have for example the app Aurora Pro and I set the Kp notification at 5.
Download the weather app Windy. It won’t help you with the northern lights forecast, but it will help you plan where to go. If you click on the “cloud” layer you see how the clouds will be moving during evening. Make sure that there are no clouds in the north. Windy is a great weather app in general since you can check multiple weather forecast models there.
For further information and forecasts forecasts you can also check out these links: Space Weather Live, NOAA, Live camera in Abisko.
Patience is key!
I fell in love with aurora borealis when I moved to Sweden 10 years ago. I was studying at Umeå University and since the city lies pretty far in the north there is often a high chance to see aurora. Hunting northern lights quickly became my favourite hobby. I had a lot of great experiences which I could use later when I moved to Stockholm. Here in Stockholm I have seen many auroras too but two of them stand out: the one which I introduced at the beginning of this article and also in 2017. That time I managed to photograph an amazing panorama at Monteliusvägen.
That day my fiancée and I were waiting for two hours in freezing temperatures. She later decided to give up and went home. Luckily I stayed and after 10 minutes the amazing display began. I quickly called her to come back and she thought I was joking. It took some time to persuade her that it was not a joke. She ran back just in time to witness this beauty.
Remember, this doesn’t always happen. It happened many times we saw nothing. My success rate to see aurora in Stockholm is only one in four! You have to try, try and try but once you manage you will never forget the moment.
How do I decide if I go northern lights hunting in Stockholm? I check the above mentioned sources daily. It only takes a few minutes and you can see directly if there is a chance that day. If I see a possibility for the upcoming night (meaning the Kp 5 or higher is expected) I prepare my equipment. Besides camera and tripod, we always bring warm clothes, hot drinks and we often barbecue. I often go hunting with my fiancée or with friends. Even if we don’t spot any northern lights that evening we still have a great time! Remember, patience is the most important. The longer you stay outside the higher chance you have to see the northern lights.
What is the best location to see aurora (not only in Stockholm)?
In general, it is important to have a clear view over the northern horizon and to be on a dark spot. I recommend being on the southern shore of a large lake or sea with a great view to the north. In Stockholm Lappis beach is perfect for instance. I also like the Monteliusvägen viewpoint but there is a big problem. There is a lot of light pollution in the city center which makes it more difficult to see auroras. Try to find a spot as dark as possible. The best area nearby Stockholm is the archipelago. Check out the Light Pollution Map.
Wedding under northern lights?
My new challenge as a northern lights photographer is to shoot wedding photos under aurora. I work as a wedding photographer and it would be cool to connect my two passions – weddings and northern lights. Do you know anyone who plans a wedding and would be interested? Let me know!
My fiancée and I enjoying northern lights
Next article: How to photograph aurora?
Do you have any questions about aurora? Let me know and I can add it to my article. For next article I am planning to write about how to photograph and film aurora so you can take nice picture and movies. Keep posted! In the meantime you can check out my expedition during which I climbed the highest mountain of every European country.
Galdhøpiggen, Norway’s and also Scandinavia’s highest mountain is located in the Jotunheimen National Park. It is about the same distance from Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim. It takes time to get there but it definitely pays off. The Norwegian mountains are beautiful, and you can also visit the nearby fjords.
Date of summit: 9th March 2019 15:55
After visiting the highest mountains of Vatican, San Marino and Monaco, I waited for suitable conditions for climbing the next mountains. The climbing break took in the end two months. At the beginning of March days were finally getting longer in Scandinavia (about 10 hours of sunshine) and the weather was improving. The dark northern winter seemed to be over. Time to climb a new peak!
My Norwegian friends told me that March is the best time to climb Galdhøpiggen. There are wonderful winter conditions and the mountains are generally without tourists. Ideal mountain for tour skiing. This vision attracted me so I teamed up with two friends Honza and Víťa, who love ski touring, and we set out for a trip.
The only thing my Norwegian friends didn’t disclose was that it will be cold. The weather forecast was predicting −21°C for the weekend we planned our trip. We were afraid that the weather might make our climb to Galdhøpiggen impossible but we still decided to try.
We all met at Víťa’s place in Oslo on Friday. The weather seemed to be best directly on Saturday (still −21° C but clear sky and mild wind) so we decided to leave early in the morning to reach Galdhøpiggen already in the afternoon.
Speeding in Norway not recommended
The alarm rang at 3:30 am. We quickly packed our stuff and left Oslo at 4 am. The journey was smooth. You don’t meet many cars on Norwegian roads on a Saturday morning. It would just be great to have different road regulations in Norway. The speed limit of 90 km/h on highways is absurd. My experience told me though that exceeding this limit could result in a significantly increased budget of this trip. One year ago I was fined 5000 NOK (about 500 EUR) for speeding by 5 km/h and therefore we did not take a risk.
We arrived to Spiterstulen, the start of our climb at ten o’clock. This time was still promising. We can probably make it to the summit and back before sunset, which is expected at 6:45 p.m.. That’s enough time. We quickly packed our backpacks with proper avalanche equipment (the so called “ski alpinist holy trinity” – a shovel, a transceiver (beeper) and a probe), snacks and hot tea. We put on our skies and started our ascent.
It was cold when we were preparing our equipment but we had to stop after a while for another reason. Surprisingly, we were hot. Thanks to a windless and cloudless sky, we felt warm after the first 200 elevation meters. The first part of the climb was the steepest, maybe another reason. We took off a layer and continued up.
Luckily, we were not the only ones trying to reach Galdhøpiggen that day. Other enthusiastic ski mountaineers headed up ahead and created a nice trail so we saved some time by not having to look for the best possible route. After two hours we had the steepest passage behind us and reached the ridge. There was not much snow so we are took off our skis for a while and crossed the rocky passage with skies on our backs. Even though there was not much snow we were happy anyway. It means that the avalanche danger is low.
Fight for nose
After the next one and a half hour we stood on the top of Svellnose (2272m) from which we saw Galdhøpiggen for the first time. The wind also began to blow. It was suddenly very cold. We put on all of our layers. We climbed to the top as quickly as possible to warm up. The peak seemed to be near but the climb still took us an hour.
Finally we were on Galdhøpiggen. The views from the top were wonderful. I regretted a bit that all my previous ascents took place in summer. Winter ascents are simply amazing. I started to photograph the winter paradise. Since I was constantly moving I was not cold but my friend started to have a problem. I was in the middle of photographing a large panorama when Honza called me: “We have to go down. Víťa has a completely white nose. He doesn’t feel it at all. ”
Peak selfie including Víťa’s slowly freezing nose
It was clear that fun was over. I sent my friends ahead so they didn’t have to wait until I packed my photography equipment. Honza and Víťa are very good skiers so they left quickly. I just saw them gradually turn into two small dots and they disappeared soon beyond the horizon. I wasn’t happy about that. Even though I regard myself as a good skier (I worked several years as a ski instructor), this was only my second trip on back country skies in my life.
I realized that skiing with a heavy backpack isn’t fun. The snow conditions were not the best ones. There was an unpleasant ice crust so the skiing was difficult. I skied down in the most precise plow-style I could to descend as safely as possible. I went down at the speed of a racing worm. Finally, I appreciated the lessons as a ski instructor when I had to be in the plow position all the time. The descent was very long. What long. Infinite! My legs were hurting. The sun started to set and the visibility was getting worse. I just kept one hundred percent focus not to make any wrong move. I don’t know how I would deal with a fall or some injury by myself at −21° C and in darkness.
Fortunately, my legs were sufficiently trained so I managed to get back to Spiterstulen after two hours of seemingly endless descent. I came to the reception where Víťa and Honza were warming up. Víťa’s nose was already bright red. It looked good. His nose is safe.
Spiterstulen Hut reached
Although there is a hut on top of Galdhøpiggen it is closed in winter. Don’t rely on it and check the opening times.
Take your own meal with you to save money. It is very expensive to eat in the hut Spiterstulen and there is no kitchen to prepare your own food.
For skilled skiers, Galdhøpiggen is suitable for a back country skiing trip. The difficulty isn’t very high but be aware of snow conditions and avalanche danger.
Sweden’s highest mountain Kebnekaise is the peak furthest from civilization of all European countries. The shortest route to the summit is 29 kilometers long (one way). Therefore it can hardly be reached within one day. The easiest way to Kebnekaise is from the village Nikkaluokta and most often the return trip takes three days. How did I enjoy the hike?
Date of summit: 1st September 2018 6:55
Traveling mode: Hiking
Height of the peak: 2,098m
Hiking distance: 19.01 km (Back to civilization)
Elevation climbed: 1599m (Day 1)
Since I have already climbed Kebnekaise four years ago via the regular route “Nikkaluokta – Kebnekaise Fjällstation – Kebnekaise and back” I decided to set out this time for a seven day hike Abisko – Kebnekaise – Nikkaluokta, which meant a seven-day trip through the Swedish mountains.
Our train from Narvik to Abisko and lots of gear to be repacked
After climbing Halti, the highest point of Finland, my girlfriend and I took the train from Norway to a small Swedish Lapland village called Abisko. There we had to say goodbye to the civilization. During the next week we were supposed to be without mobile phone signal on the most interesting part of the famous Swedish hiking trail Kungsleden. We will experience 130 km of hiking.
Packing for one week. The majority is food
We bought the last food supplies in Abisko, packed our backpacks thoroughly and approached the scale where all pilgrims stop before heading to the Kungsleden trail. My backpack showed a weight of 26 kilograms. Joanne had a backpack weighing six kilos less. The difference was photo equipment (which became lighter after the Scottish accident – my back will thank me). Since we had nothing more to get rid of we set out on the road.
The first sunrise of our hike on a freezing morning
The first five days on Kungsleden trail brought us a lot of experiences. I can summarize them in just seven words: valleys, mountains, rain, lakes, sauna, reindeer and blisters. The hike had it all. A description of the hike would take at least a few more articles so I will just summarize them by a few sentences from my diary:
… The sun is shining. We are enjoying the first kilometers on our way along the wild river Abiskojåkka. What beauty…
… Sun is setting. The last mosquitoes of this summer have left their shelters to cheerfully attack the last tourists coming to the first Lapland settlement. My back also hurts. Why did I bring that huge 3kg lens with me?
… Morning cold wakes me up. I want to get out of the tent, but the zipper is frozen. At night the temperature dropped by more than 15 degrees. After I finally managed to open the tent I see a wonderful show. The sun is just rising above a mist above a waveless lake..
… We walk through a beautiful deep valley. My back got used to the heavy backpack, so instead of complaining I enjoy the landscape. Along the way I collect and eat the so-called gold of the north – cloudberry. I have never eaten such sweet fruit. Delicasy. On the way we will meet several reindeer…
… We walk through another incredibly long valley. Haven’t we already gone through this one? My legs are getting tired and a strong wind blows from the mountains. It brings dark clouds and it starts to rain. It is tough with my heavy backpack. We stop at the first cottage in another Lapland village. But it is full. “You can’t stay,” we are told. The next village is 10 kilometers away…
… We are slow. Joanne and I are low-spirited. It’s raining cats and dogs. After two endless hours in heavy rain we reach our destination. We knock the door of the village commander: “Can we stay here for tonight, please?” – “I am sorry. It’s full. The only option is to sleep on the ground,” we hear. We lie down in the corner of the room on a borrowed mattress where dogs usually sleep. But we are finally getting dry…
… It is pouring again. Why? What have we done wrong? Why are we punished?
… Sauna! There is a sauna in the next village. We don’t hesitate a minute and go there to warm up. Inside, a master is already waiting. Of course, there is no electricity in these Sámi villages so the sauna is heated by wood. It smells really good and the master heats the sauna above hundred degrees. We talk with other hikers about the last days on the trail. The conversation is interrupted by several jumps into a glacial lake. Incredible regeneration and body relaxation…
… We passed several waterfalls and walked around steep hills. The weather is beautiful. It is unbelievable how fast a hiking nightmare can turn into an amazing trip. This part of Kungsleden is most beautiful. Soon we see Kebnekaise Fjällstation, the base camp, from where we will head to Sweden’s highest point – Kebnekaise the following day…
We set up our tent nearby Kebnekaise Fjällstation when my phone suddenly started vibrating in my pocket. Finally a signal. Welcome back to civilization! After such a long time without a cell phone it was a great feeling. I felt ashamed of how happy I was. We had a beautiful view from our tent but ignored it for a while. Time to let our family and friends know that we are alive. Besides this, we could also check the current weather forecast. It seemed that the bad luck of the last days turned around. The next day was supposed to be a wonderful sunny day. Ideal for our climb of Kebnekaise.
We decided to get up at midnight to reach the summit at sunrise via the western route (the eastern route requires glacier equipment). The alarm was annoying but the view of the northern lights was worth it. We took a short breakfast and started to hike towards Kebnekaise. After the first three kilometers in the valley the path became steeper. In another half an hour we crossed a river and continued on the path recently built by sherpas. A much more pleasant accent than four years ago on rocky terrain.
The Sherpa steps led as far as to the peak of Vierranvárri (1711m). It meant that we are only 300 elevation meters from Kebnekaise. However, there was one more valley between Vierranvárri and Kebnekaise. It meant an additional 200 meters down and up.
Finally the last climb began. At 1700m we crossed the snow line and in a moment the landscape turned completely white. In a few minutes we ascended from autumn to winter! Meanwhile, the sun started to rise and lit the mountains around us with a beautiful pink-red light. Amazing scenery.
The final 30 meters were very steep and covered by ice, so we put the crampons on. We continued with them smoothly and were on the top in a minute. We admired the snow-capped mountains and the beginning of the red autumn in the valleys. Fog has formed over the lake between Nikkaluokta and Kebnekaise Fjällstation. Beautiful.
Which peak of Kebnekaise is the heighest?
Mountain Kebnekaise has two peaks – a southern and a northern one. In between, there is a steep ridge. We climbed the southern peak of Kebnekaise which has always been the higher one. However, global warming is making a change. In 2018 the northern peak became the highest point for the first time in history. The unusual heat in the north of Sweden in recent years caused serious melting of the glacier on the southern peak. I expected I will have to climb the northern peak but we were lucky. When we were getting soaked by rain every day in the valley it was constantly snowing on Kebnekaise.
According to the local guides at Kebnekaise Fjällstation, it caused an incredible rise of the Southern peak of Kebnekaise by 10 meters! That meant that it became the highest again. I did not believe the number myself, but when I compared my photographs with those taken there in the summer, there was a huge difference. And I was glad. Looking at the steep ridge I didn’t feel like going to the northern peak. At these icy conditions it didn’t look safe at all.
It was very windy and slippery at the top so we went down to the nearby bivouac. There, it was pleasantly warm unlike on the windy peak. We took a short break and headed back to our tent. The descent took us four hours and we came to our tent completely exhausted.
If you are exhausted take a helicopter
The next day we woke up very tired but there was still the last 19 kilometers to reach the village of Nikkaluokta. We would overcome that we were tired, but Joanne had seriously growing blisters, a result of too tight hiking shoes. They looked very unhealthy. She probably got an infection. “Joanne, do you want to fly back to civilization by helicopter?”
I asked seriously. Many lazy tourists shorten their way to the top of Kebnekaise and back with a helicopter, and big demand for this mode of transport made the flight affordable. The flight is relatively cheap compared to other Swedish services (it costs “only” 800 SEK per person; in comparison a night at Kebnekaise Fjällstation costs 1240 SEK ). If you sleep in tent you can use the saved money for the helicopter.
If you don’t want blisters like this Joanne recommends bringing large enough hiking shoes
But my girlfriend refused my offer, “I have done over a hundred kilometers. I want to walk the last nineteen.” It was the toughest part of the whole hike because of the blisters but Joanne managed it well. We arrived to Nikkaluokta after four hours, hitchhiked a car and the end of our seven days hike was only pleasant. We ordered a delicious pizza with reindeer meat and watched aurora borealis out of our hotel window.
If you have time, take the seven-day hike from Abisko via Kungsleden to the Kebnekaise Fjällstation and return to civilization via the village of Nikkaluokta after climbing Kebnekaise Mountain. It is an amazing experience. On the way do not forget the sauna.
If you have experience with glaciers, take the eastern route to the summit. You will shorten the hike and avoid significant elevation. Without glacier experience, a guide is mandatory. It is possible to book one beforehand.
Do not stay overnight at the Kebnekaise Fjällstation. It is overpriced and overcrowded. Bring your tent with you.
Finland is a bit sad country when it comes to mountains. The north of Europe can boast of a unique landscape including deep fjords, large glaciers, high mountains and thousands of lakes. However, Finland can offer “only” the lakes from these. It’s Norway and partly Sweden who has the high mountains. The Finnish highest point Halti is only 1,324m and its peak is not even lying in Finland. The actual peak is situated a few meters behind the border in Norway and it is 1328m high.
Date of summit: 26th August 2018 12:05
Traveling mode: Hiking with compass
Height of the peak: 1,324m
Hiking distance: 6.7 km
There are two routes leading to the highest Finnish mountain Halti. The first and longest leads from Finland from the village of Kilpisjärvi. It takes 5 – 6 days for a return trip. This route would certainly be more appealing in terms of exploring the Finnish nature. However, I didn’t have much time so I decided for the shorter route leading from Norway, the lake Guolasjárvi. This journey was supposed to take only one day.
Finnish flag on Halti waiting for our visit
Before I comment on my hike I would like to make a few remarks what happened before. I took a long flight from Geneva to Narvik via Oslo and I was looking forward to seeing my girlfriend Joanne after two long months. Fate, however, decided to make my traveling difficult. After landing in Narvik, I waited in vain for my backpack with all my equipment.
When all the passengers had left the airport and the belt carrying the luggage stopped, it was clear that my backpack was lost. Because it was the last flight of the day, I was nervous that I would not only end up without a backpack but also without the opportunity to get to Narvik. The last bus to Narvik was supposed to leave in a moment. I was running around the airport to sort out both my luggage paperwork and to keep the bus waiting for me. Fortunately, the lady at the counter helped me to finally persuade the bus driver to wait.
Norway is crazy expensive
When I paid 280 NOK (28 EUR) for the bus trip to the city center, I could finally relax a bit. Without all the warm clothes that I had left in my luggage, I did not feel the most comfortable, but I was warmed by the idea of meeting with Joanne soon. However, she got some stomachache and instead of a romantic reunion we went looking for some medicine.
In the morning I contacted the airport and I was told that the baggage would arrive in the evening. That meant the only thing: time to go shopping. I bought stuff for 5000 NOK, thinking I’d get the money back. According to the rules, passengers can buy necessary clothes in case of lost baggage. We were about to see how it would turn out. I wasn’t going to freeze outside all day or wait at the hotel.
Fortunately, the baggage arrived in the evening. Joanne also felt better, so we could plan our next days. The weather played the most important role in the planning process. There is no trail to the Finnish highest mountain Halti from the Norwegian side so it would be advisable to go to the top in good conditions not to get lost. As the forecast for the following day showed fog, we chose to visit the Norwegian town of Tromsø near the Halti mountain instead. We did not regret that choice, because the weather was much better there and we could at least test Joanne’s new hiking boots.
Tenting in Norway is a dream for every hiker
The view over Tromsø from a nearby mountain (where you can get by a cable car Fjellheisen) was beautiful as it is typical in Norway. The view over fjords and high mountains around was simply amazing. I got a bit disappointed at the moment, that the Norwegian highest mountain is not in the EU. But what could be done?
Climbing Halti from Norway
We were looking forward to the Finnish summit where we headed the following day. The plan was to camp at the starting point. Unfortunately, there was some maintenance work in the tunnel the night before so we had to settle for camping by some random fjord. We didn’t really mind. Norwegian nature is beautiful simply everywhere. In addition to the view, nature served us a lot of raspberries growing right next to the tent.
When we woke up we were hidden in a deep fog. As I mentioned, the only problem with conquering the Halti mountain from the Norwegian side is navigation. There is no path to the top from Norway, so one must rely only on the map and on his own instincts. I didn’t want to get lost in the fog somewhere in the Finnish mountains, so we waited until the noon for the weather to get better.
It paid off. The path along the rocky terrain was a pleasant change from the beaten paths on the previous mountains. After the initial three-kilometer climb we found ourselves on a plateau with smaller peaks around. One of them was the Halti mountain.
I checked my location according to the map and we marched to the mountain, which was supposed to be the highest point of Finland. Just to be sure, we cheated a bit and used a phone app called Mapy.cz, which confirmed to us that my presumption was correct. I highly recommend this app by the way. All hiking trails are perfectly marked there.
We were standing on the Halti mountain soon. The sad news for all Finns, however, is that the summit of the mountain doesn’t lie in Finland, but in Norway. The highest point of Finland is a few dozen meters away and a few altitude meters below. Fortunately, in this nice weather,we couldn’t miss it. It boasts of a stone-built pillar and a Finnish flag.
As usual, I grabbed my summit beer to celebrate the ascent when one Finnish guy suddenly climbed to the top from the Finnish side. I wanted to make a toast with him but Mr. Ylko stopped me: “I don’t drink alcohol anymore.” He then confessed that he had decided to summit Halti to put an end to his drinking. He told me he had drunk 6000 beers in the last calendar year, and because his wife wanted to leave him, he decided that he’d rather stop drinking. Symbolically, he brought the last Karhu beer can to the highest peak of Finland. He poured the beer on the ground in front of me as a gesture of the end of his drinking period. From his determination, I felt that the resolution to stop drinking would end up well. I hope he has not been drinking since.
Ylko ready to spill the last beer of his life
GPS navigation is necessary for the successful summit. There is no marked path to the top from the shorter Norwegian side.
I recommend high quality hiking shoes. You have to walk through difficult, rocky terrain.
If you have more time consider a trip to Halti from Finland. The return hiking trail is 89 kilometers long.
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Children of the Corn is one of those movies when you dig further into the story you realize just how absurd it is. The movie opens on a regular Sunday afternoon in the small agricultural town of Gatlin, Neb., which has experienced a bad harvest. We met one of the movie’s young protagonist and narrator, Job (Robby Kiger) who says that all the other kids attended a meeting out in the cornfrields led by a tween named Isaac (John Franklin). Job’s sister, Sarah (Anne Marie McEvoy) is at home sick.
Job’s father takes him to the local diner after church for a malt. There is a young teenage boy, Malachi (Courtney Gains), in the restaurant, and some of the staff are teenagers too. Suddenly when Isaac appears at the window to look in, Malachi and the others begin to kill all the adults in the diner, including Job’s father, who’s on the phone. We also hear the screams of Job’s mother on the other end of the phone as she is apparently killed as well. Job and Sarah are spared because they are children.
This is a great opening to a horror movie because it just hits so hard, fast and relentless. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie goes nowhere. We hear through Job that Sarah began to draw pictures which detail how the children revolted and murdered all the people 19 and over. We find out that Isaac led them in revolt for “He Who Works Behind The Rows,” a deity who commands sacrifices. But they get a good harvest out of the deaths.
Flash forward to three years later and none of the children have aged, just let their hair grow out. You know, because there’s no damned fathers bitching about their sons getting their hair cut and Floyd the Barber probably got a nice scissor stab in the heart. How could a community, even one as rural as Gatlin, go three years without anyone taking notice? Did the people have any friends or family that missed them? Surely, a delivery truck would drop off supplies to the diner or store where the food items are bought.
The children are told to do away with all means of entertainment. We see a picture of them burning all TV sets and Job and Sarah get in trouble for playing Monopoly. There’s also the issue of why everyone looks so clean if they seem to hang around dirty cornfields all the time. Nebraska can have cold winters and bad thunderstorms in the spring so what do they do then? Also, what the hell do they eat? It can’t just be corn. Three years of eating nothing but corn would totally damage their bodies worse than anything Malachi or Isaac could think up. We never see any livestock.
They also sacrifice a teenager on their 19th birthday as we see with the character of Amos (John Philbin) who is excited to give himself to He Who Walks Behind the Rows. But the most foolish part of the movie is the Man in Blue, i.e. a law enforcment officer who came to investigate the town some time earlier. Considering that all remains of the Man in Blue is his skeleton and worn clothing of his uniform, I’m going to venture and say it has been at least a year, maybe longer. One law enforcement officer goes missing and never returns for a location he was set to investigate and no one bothers to check up on it? I don’t think so.
But before all this, we’re introduced to a couple, Burt Stanton (Peter Horten), a physician who’s on his way to a new job with little to no personal luggage and personal items traveling throuhg Nebraska with his partner, Vicky Baxter (Linda Hamilton), who decide the boredom of cornfields beats the fast pace of the Interstate where there are exits and signs of civilization. They’re heading toward Seattle but don’t know about Interstate 80. They are on the road when they accidentally hit a young boy, Joseph (Jonas Marlowe). He had been trying to leave the community before he was stopped by Malachi who stabbed him and left him for dead in the cornfields.
With a dead boy, Burt and Vicky try to make it to the nearest town and stop at a run-down gas station operated by an old man named Diehl (R.G. Armstrong) who advises them to steer clear of Gatlin as there’s nothing there. Yet, they find themselves in Gatlin anyway. And Malachi decides to kill Diehl even though he was used to warn motorists from going in there. However, there has to be another way in from the west, so do they have a gas station there? Also, where does Diehl live, at the gas station. He can’t just stay there 24/7 on the unlikely chance some lost motorists will arrive. Isaac and Malachi get into an argument that Diehl would supply them with gasoline. And that has to be delivered by trucks.
Burt and Vicky notice something is off and can’t find anyone. Rather than turn around and go to the next town that is only a half hour away, Burt sees someone in a house and decides to stop to talk with them. They discover Sarah and Vicky stays with her as Burt walks around the town trying to find people only to discover the ceremony where Amos is getting ready for his sacrifice. Vicky is also captured by Malachi because the movie really has nothing for her to do but this.
But there’s a power struggling going on between Isaac and Malachi as Isaac wants to sacrifice Isaac instead of Vicky. And the children side with Malachi and put Isaac on a crucifix made of corn stalks and he is overtaken in completely shitty 1980s computer graphics as seen below:
Eventually they are able to burn the cornfield killing the deity because at this point, it just makes sense that a supernatural being could die by fire.
Without a doubt, Children must have scared up some good business back in the 1980s as it was part of the slasher craze of the decade. Produced cheaply and distributed by New World Pictures, it reportedly made over $14 million which was a considerable amount at the box office at the time. It spawned seven sequels with the fourth movie in the franchise starring a then-unknown Naomi Watts.
There was also a made for TV remake in 2009 that was closer to the short story’s source material that might explain some of the problems I have with the movie. Beginning in 1963 with the children revolting and killing the adults, it switches to 1975 with Burt and Vicky who are constantly bickering. Reportedly when Stephen King was tapped to write the screenplay for the 1984 movie, he kept it closer to the story and a good chunk of the script was Burt and Vicky arguing with each other. I got about half an hour in the 2009 movie before stopping it. There is also another version made and released during 2020 in Australia that I haven’t seen.
Believe it or not, but Children was produced by the Hal Roach Studios. This was the same studio that gave us Our Gang/The Little Rascals and Laurel and Hardy as well as other famous shorts, TV shows and feature movies. After rejecting King’s script, George Goldsmith was hired to write a version. He was inspired by the Iran Revolution of 1979 and focused on how an ultra-strict religious movement can affect the people. You can see similarities between Isaac and the Ayatollah Khomeini.
I guess it’s because the ending is such a letdown with how easily Isaac and Malachi are dispatched along with the deity being defeated by just fire. I think this was all part of the film’s budget and sometimes it works. Not seeing much of the deity leads us to suspect whether Isaac is scamming the other children. But it makes me wonder what exactly they were going to do once Isaac and Malachi turn 19. And Malachi already looks older at the beginning. Gains, himself, was only 18 when filming the movie. Franklin who is only five feet tall was in his early 20s.
But I think when you peel away the nostalgia as you get older, you kind of see what the criticis were brutal with this movie. But it still is not a bad King adaptation especially when you consider some of the other movies.
What do you think? Please comment.
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Posted bybobbyzane420 October 5, 2022 Posted inMovie Flashback, Movie Reviews
Published by bobbyzane420
I'm an award winning journalist and photographer who covered dozens of homicides and even interviewed President Jimmy Carter on multiple occasions. A back injury in 2011 and other family medical emergencies sidelined my journalism career. But now, I'm doing my own thing, focusing on movies (one of my favorite topics), current events and politics (another favorite topic) and just anything I feel needs to be posted. Thank you for reading. View more posts
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Our company’s mission at Oksana® Enrichment Programs is all about that middle word – “enrichment.” Offering private one-on-one lessons for students and our After-School Enrichment programs for public, private and charter schools, we are the consummate “one stop shop” for modern day scholastic and arts solutions.
Successfully established in numerous schools and expanding nationally, Oksana® Enrichment Programs offers private, one-on-one lessons in the following areas:
Music (including piano, singing/voice, guitar, violin, drums and more)
Foreign Languages (including Spanish, French, Italian, Chinese, and others)
Enrolling your child in the Oksana® Enrichment Programs curriculum, regardless of program or level, reflects a commitment to education excellence…one that will reward both you, as parents, and your child with success-laden gratification.
Furthering our mission, Oksana® Enrichment Programs offers franchising opportunities to entrepreneurs in the private education sector. We provide a thoroughly-developed program of training, materials and personal support that aligns with our exceptional brand.
Recently Oksana Kolesnikova, CEO/Founder of Oksana® Franchising International, Inc., has been accepted into the Forbes Business Council, the foremost growth and networking organization for successful business owners and leaders worldwide.
“I have had the pleasure of working with Oksana and her team since 2003. Oksana is passionate about her craft and has always enjoyed sharing her knowledge of music and her piano skills with others. This passion is what stirred her desire to open the Oksana School of Music and Oksana Enrichment. Since its inception, they have enriched the lives of countless students of all ages. They are creative thinkers who continually look for ways to enhance their program for students. The Oksana team works feverishly to ensure a portion of their work is dedicated to helping children. Honesty, integrity and their unyielding desire to develop the musician in each of us place the Oksana Enrichment above all others!”
from Liberty Hill, TX
“Hi Oksana, I just wanted to say that your classes have opened a whole new world for our son Jonathan. I am a singer/songwriter/musician, and I have been trying to get him to play piano for the past year and he refused to. Since taking your free class at the beginning of Quarantine time (6 weeks ago), he has found a LOVE for playing. The way you teach and make them feel confident, he truly appreciates playing. From the first day of you teaching and having them perform the song during the class, he played it twice, then it is already memorized! Then he went through 4 other pages in your book and started playing. After I saw this, I taught him some chords for a song I was learning and he learned and memorized the whole song in 3 days. My husband and I are so excited. We would not have seen his new found talent without him taking your class!!!! Also, I appreciate that you are teaching he music theory as well!! THANK YOU SO MUCH Oksana!! He looks forward to playing the songs for your class.”
from Beverly Hills, CA
“It has been a true pleasure having Oksana Enrichment teach music and voice at our school. Her desire to provide an enrichment class instructed with a high quality education is what I love the most! This desire and the reasonable priced enrichment classes has made it possible for our school to allow our kids to be exposed to a talented musician as well as be instructed by her team.”
Cassie E., PTA President
“My 9 year old son has been getting music lessons from the Oksana School of Music for several years now and our family absolutely loves them. He started off on drums, moved to piano, and then found his musical instrument of choice – the electric guitar, so he has had several different teachers from the school and every single one of them has been great. Everyone we have had contact with at the school has been wonderful- extremely nice, caring people. Payment is fast and easy- we do everything online and have never had any issues. And the teachers come to our place with a smile on their face, ready to teach our little rocker. He looks forward to the lessons every week. If you are looking for some talented teachers to give you music lessons from a fantastic organization, I highly recommend the Oksana Enrichment.”
from Beverly Hills, CA
“These guys are awesome. I’ve been working with them for a couple of years as a teacher, and they’ve always been friendly, knowledgable, and trustworthy. And if I ever have any questions about how to make my teaching mor effective, Alex and Oksana are always there to help. They somehow tend to attract very kind and hard-working clients as well!”
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June 2020 – In January 1838, Abraham Lincoln addressed a school of young boys in Springfield, Illinois. Months earlier, a young abolitionist named Elijah Lovejoy had been murdered by a violent mob in Alton, Illinois. At the age of 28, decades before fame or presidency, Lincoln took the stage to talk about the security of the nation, racially charged by the murder.
“At what point then,” asked Lincoln, “is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of free men, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.”
In other words, the only entity that can topple America is America itself.
According to Dr. David Black, founder of 2ndVote, this is a struggle that continues 182 years later, in today’s America, with the nation and its moral values under assault from the inside.
“Every day we witness the attack on our traditional Judeo-Christian culture and the manipulation of our children,” Black told AFA Journal. “Our society is being assaulted by overwhelming anti-Christian messaging that will negatively influence our future.”
Counting the votes
Another presidential election is in full swing.
In November, millions will get out and vote for one candidate or the other, choosing the next U.S. president. Odds are that most voters will purposefully vote for their carefully chosen candidate.
However, imagine if they voted blindly, aimlessly supporting a random candidate. Black contends this concept happens every single day in America, in a way many have never considered.
“Your first vote is at the ballot box every two years,” he explained. “Your second vote is the dollar you spend
each day.”
In 2011, Black’s wife Diane began two terms as Tennessee’s 6th Congressional District representative in Washington. It was the same year that, back home one day, the Blacks were grocery shopping, and the cashier asked him if he’d like to donate to March of Dimes. He gave a small gift, and they exited the store.
“Why did you do that?” she asked.
“Do what?”
“Give to March of Dimes! They support Planned Parenthood(PP).”
“I was stunned to learn this,” Black recalled, “and wondered why I didn’t already know that. And then I wondered what else I didn’t know.” (Incidentally, March of Dimes is still listed as a supporter of PP in 2019 at familycouncil.org.)
That discovery launched Black on an immediate quest to research more groups – nonprofit and for-profit – tracking where his money went after he spent it. That quest soon led to the founding of 2ndVote, a nonprofit service that exists to inform Americans where their money goes after they spend it.
“For over 50 years,” said Black, “the radical Left has been busy influencing corporate and nonprofit dollars to quietly support their [liberal] causes. Christians, conservatives, and constitutionalists do not understand that it is their money that is funding the attack on their values and their children’s future.
“We look to educate individuals on how they spend or how they donate their dollars and advise them on seven critical issues that are under attack by the Left.”
2ndVote aims to make people more aware that, just like their first vote at the ballot box, their second vote can have an enormous impact as well. The work of Black and his team highlights key areas that are battlegrounds concerning American culture and morality.
“After nine years of research,” Black stated, “we have identified the seven Judeo-Christian values that the Left is attacking to destroy our culture: life, religious liberty, 2nd amendment, marriage, immigration, education, and
environment.”
At 2ndvote.com, Black’s team displays a score for a vast array of U.S. corporations, in many different sectors, including retailers as well as restaurant, grocery, healthcare, and transportation industries.
2ndVote gives each company a score from one to five, with one having a liberal bent, five having a conservative bent, and three being politically neutral.
Each company is scored concerning its stance on the seven areas Black cited above. The team of researchers at 2ndVote analyzes each organization’s public stance and donation history before scoring it accordingly.
“We obtain tax records,” described Black, “of tax-deductible donations, public statements of executives, sponsorship information, of fundraising events, of bad actor nonprofits, and other verifiable data.”
“After collecting the information,” said Black, “we send a registered letter to the CEO and chief legal officer of the organization notifying them of our findings. This gives the organization a chance to correct our research if it is incorrect. It also places them on notice that we are watching what they are doing.”
The scores of these businesses and organizations can be found on the site, free of charge. Also displayed, below the company’s score, is a group of competing establishments that better support the moral issues such as life and the Second Amendment.
For example, Pizza Hut has a score of two, indicating the company supports liberal causes and organizations more than conservative ones. 2ndVote provides a list of other pizza restaurants that lean more conservative, such as Papa John’s and Little Caesars.
In addition to monitoring where large businesses and corporations give their money, 2ndVote also offers an incredibly simple way to ensure one’s money ends up supporting the conservative moral issues: Shop local.
“Go to those local places that you know support your values,” advised Black. “Those are the people you know, you go to church with, or support your little league.”
Many in today’s culture oppose the Christian principles that 2ndVote stands for. The political Left is bent against life, moral absolutes, and many other traits that 2ndVote wishes to instill in Americans. However, all is not lost. Conservative citizens of this nation are more than capable of exacting change, and 2ndVote is a tremendous tool that can aid in that change.
As Lincoln warned, danger has indeed sprung up amongst us: “If destruction be our lot, we ourselves must be its author and finisher.” Likewise, if the faith and moral anchors this great nation was founded upon are to be preserved, the duty rests entirely on informed Americans defending those values with their votes – and their pocketbooks.
“We must be strong,” said Black. “We must be bold, and we must act to defend our nation, a nation blessed by God since our founding.”
More of the story
Dr. David Black is president of 2ndVote, a veteran of the Vietnam War, and a doctor in forensic toxicology (University of Maryland at Baltimore). He founded Aegis Sciences Corporation in Nashville in 1990 and built the life sciences firm into a multi-million dollar entity before retiring in 2016.
Amy Wilhite is executive director of 2ndVote and oversees full-time staff members, who have a variety of education and experience backgrounds, and who understand the power of technology and social media in this modern age.
2ndVote also works with six consultants who provide expertise in areas such as church engagement and information technology. Learn more at 2ndvote.com.
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Our flagship list! Be informed of cultural issues affecting the morality of the country, the media, and our families.
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Poor data management is the key obstacle to banks achieving their ESG goals and complying with increasing regulatory pressure, according to new research by Avanade and Efma
21 April 2022
A new report from Avanade, a leading Microsoft solutions provider, and Efma, a global, non-profit organisation created by leading banks and insurers, has found that many banks are not on course to meet their environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals.
The report, entitled “Taking sustainability seriously: Are banks ready?”, highlights how banks and financial institutions are under increasing regulatory pressure to track and monitor their ESG progress, revealing that:
Only half of banks (53%) will be ready for regulatory reporting in the next six months, whereas almost 1 in 5 (18%) are still unclear as to what the requirements are and almost one third (29%) will not be ready for at least another year.
Over half of banks (57%) admit they will not hit net carbon zero operations until 2025. Only 15% stated they had already achieved this position, while just over a quarter (26%) said they will be carbon neutral in the next 12-24 months.
Only 1 in 4 have a climate risk model ready now. A third (34%) plan to be in that position in six months. The rest (42%) will not be able to test the impact of various climate scenarios for at least a year, with 12% having to wait two years.
Data integration is the biggest challenge to climate risk analysis - almost a third of banks (32%) are struggling with the lack of integration of climate risk data with their risk management framework.
The majority of banks (70%) see their ESG work as having a positive impact on their market reputation and credibility. This was the top benefit, followed by balance sheet protection (50%), attracting younger groups of consumers, such as Millennials and Gen Y/Z (44%) and better energy and waste management (34%).
In addition, increasing ESG investment options to attract younger customers is now the top priority for banks (42%), followed by greater transparency on the transition to a low carbon footprint (36%), fuller disclosure and reporting (34%) and a greener product portfolio (32%).
Established in 2016, the Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework, developed by the Task Force, has become the global standard for climate disclosures. In 2020, New Zealand became the first country to introduce a law requiring financial services firms to report the impact of climate change on their business. In the same year, the UK Financial Conduct Authority announced that all publicly listed UK companies with a premium listing would need to ’comply with or explain’ the TCFD’s requirements by 2023.
Nic Merriman, European Lead for Financial Services at Avanade says: “Clearly, some banks are struggling to get moving towards hitting their ESG goals. Whether it’s disclosure and reporting, having a climate risk model up and running or making hard choices about whether and where to discontinue client business, there is still plenty to do. Integrating climate data with risk management frameworks is a major concern. The good news is that there are technology solution to support banks as they face increasing regulatory pressure and the need for improved data management.”
“Banks have moved beyond merely including ESG goals in their mission statements,” says John Berry, CEO of EFMA, “They are now looking at how they can enact sustainable change. Banking leaders do not view sustainability as a challenge, but a major opportunity – probably the biggest one over the next decade.”
If banks are to meet the challenges of successfully transitioning to a low carbon economy, they will need to focus on five areas:
Showing full transparency in their operations
‘Lean into green’ through their product portfolio to appeal to younger customers
Creating robust stress testing and scenario analysis for climate risk
Leveraging technology to capture data more effectively in order to generate better reporting, scenario planning and risk management
Making hard choices about where to disinvest completely to demonstrate a clear transition program to a low-carbon investment portfolio.
For more information about the challenges facing banks, as well as how technology can help them to achieve their ESG goals, download the full report https://www.avanade.com/en/industry/banking.
Efma and Avanade conducted online research between November 2021 and February 2022. The survey had 51 respondents from Europe (68%), North America (16%), Asia Pacific (10%) and Africa (6%), covering 25 countries. In addition, Efma conducted ten in-depth qualitative interviews with executives from the following banks: ABN AMRO, Banorte, BBVA, Caixabank, Desjardins, Deutsche Bank, ING, Maybank, Novobanco and Standard Chartered Bank.
Avanade is the leading provider of innovative digital, cloud and advisory services, industry solutions and design-led experiences across the Microsoft ecosystem. Every day, our 56,000 professionals in 26 countries make a genuine human impact for our clients, their employees and their customers.
We have been recognised as Microsoft’s Global SI Partner of the Year more than any other company. With the most Microsoft certifications (60,000+) and 18 (out of 18) Gold-level Microsoft competencies, we are uniquely positioned to help businesses grow and solve their toughest challenges.
We are a people first company, committed to providing an inclusive workplace where employees feel comfortable being their authentic selves. As a responsible business, we are building a sustainable world and helping young people from underrepresented communities fulfill their potential.
Majority owned by Accenture, Avanade was founded in 2000 by Accenture LLP and Microsoft Corporation. Learn more at http://www.avanade.com/.
Efma is a global non-profit organisation established in 1971 by banks and insurance companies. Efma facilitates networking between decision-makers. It provides quality insights to help banks and insurance companies make the right decisions to foster innovation and drive their transformation. 120 financial groups in 133 countries are Efma members. Headquartered in Paris. Offices in London, Brussels, Andorra, Milan, Stockholm, Bratislava, Warsaw, Moscow, Istanbul, Beirut, Dubai, Tokyo, Singapore, Sydney, and Montreal. Learn more www.efma.com
Only half of banks worldwide will be ready for regulatory reporting in the next six months
Poor data management is the key obstacle to banks achieving their ESG goals and complying with increasing regulatory pressure, according to new research by Avanade and Efma
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UPDATE 6.3.22: I wrote the piece below back in February 2011 when the Obama administration was in full fervor over gun control. The truth of More Guns, Less Crime has not changed since then, yet the Biden administration— seemingly a third term for Barack Obama—is calling for a massive round of new gun controls, including an assault weapons ban. Biden, like all Democrats, seems eager to use any crisis to distract the American people from his many failures in the White House.
Originally posted February 4, 2011.
Yes, indeed, this statement is 100% correct. As a life member of the NRA, I have made it my business to conduct rigorous research on the subject of personal security and the firearms laws. In terms of the law, I would not want to be without the book Self-Defense Laws of All 50 States. When it comes to the academic study of crime and gun control laws, today’s standard is most certainly More Guns Less Crime by John R. Lott, Jr. Here is what is being said about Mr. Lott’s brilliant and extensive research.
“More Guns: Less Crime is one of the most important books of our time. It provides thoroughly researched facts on a life-and-depth subject that is too often discussed on the basis of unsubstantiated beliefs and hysterical emotions.”- Thomas Sowell
“John Lott has done the most extensive, thorough, and sophisticated study we have on the effects of loosening gun control laws. Regardless of whether one agrees with his conclusion, his work is mandatory reading for anyone who is open-minded and serious about the gun control issue.”- Gary Klec, Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Florida State University
“Lott’s work, embracing all of the data that are relevant to his analysis, has created a new standard, which future scholarship in this area, in order to be credible, will have to live up to.”- Dan Polsby, Kirkland & Ellis Professor of Law, Northwestern University
In the coming weeks don’t be surprised if the Obama administration attempts to gin up some political capital by promoting a package of anti-gun legislation. Here are some insightful past thoughts from President Obama:
“I am consistently on record and will continue to be on record as opposing concealed carry.”-Mendell, David, “From Promise to Power” (2007), p. 251
“I am not in favor of concealed weapons. I think that creates a potential atmosphere where more innocent people could (get shot during) altercations.”-Pittsburg Tribune-Review (April 2, 2008).
President Obama has backed federal legislation that would ban citizens from carrying weapons, except for law enforcement.
By way of 100% contrast, here are a few conclusions from John Lott’s book. Remember here, President Obama offers opinion. Mr. Lott, by contrast, delivers irrefutable conclusions based on empirical research. Here are Mr. Lott’s conclusions:
“Citizens can take private actions that also deter crime. Allowing citizens to carry concealed handguns reduces violent crimes, and the reductions coincide very closely with the number of concealed-handgun permits issued. Mass shootings in public places are reduced when law-abiding citizens are allowed to carry concealed handguns.”
“While the support for the strictest gun-control laws is usually strongest in large cities, the largest drops in violent crime from legalized concealed handguns occurred in the most urban counties with the greatest populations and the highest crime rates.”
“Murder rates decline when either more women or more men carry concealed handguns, but the effect is especially pronounced for women.”
“I find no crime-reduction benefits from state-mandated waiting periods and background checks before allowing people to purchase guns. At the federal level, the Brady law has proven to be no more effective.”
“The empirical work provides strong evidence that concealed-handgun laws reduce violent crime.”
“This provides additional support for the claim that the greatest declines in crime rates are related to the greatest increases in concealed-handgun permits.”
“Despite the opposition to these laws in large urban, densely populated areas, those are the areas that benefit the most from the laws. Minorities and women tend to be the ones with the most to gain from being allowed to protect themselves.”
What do you think? The evidence is compelling. And it is certainly Mr. Lott’s empirical research that must be embraced by Americans’not the posturing by President Obama. In the U.S., approximately 124 million citizens live in a household with a gun. The number compares to the 132 million Americans who voted in the last presidential election. Not much difference. The total number of guns in America’s households is thought to number about 270 million. A 2009 Zogby poll indicates that 69% of America’s citizens favor a law allowing law-abiding citizens to be issued a permit to carry a firearm for personal protection outside the home. A 2008 Gallup poll found the number of Americans favoring a handgun ban had fallen to a 50-year low. The media can rightfully be accused of promoting unwarranted firearms fear for personal gain. Here is a reality check. Since January 1, there have been 1,133 homicides in America. This number compares to 1,262 deaths by suffocation, 1,849 deaths by falling, and 3,304 deaths by poisoning. I am unsure of the last time I read about a death from suffocation or falling.
If there is any place on the planet where there are more guns and less crime, it is Switzerland. There is certainly more firepower per capita in tiny Switzerland than in any other country in the world. And Switzerland is one of the safest countries in the world. Switzerland has no standing army. Rather, the Swiss militia system requires all males aged 20 to 30 to keep a automatic weapon at home ( though liberals regularly mount efforts to change this) and a bolt action rifle when their days of service end. Since it’s founding in 1291, the Swiss have depended on an armed populace for their defense. Machiavelli wrote, “The Swiss are well armed and enjoy great freedom.” In 2009 there were 94,000 convictions in Switzerland for a variety of crimes’ both big and small. And only 84 were homicides. In Switzerland the prison rate is 79 per 100,000 residents. In the U.S., the comparable number is 740 per 100,000.
American culture is the cause for the massive differential, not gun ownership. In fact the Swiss crime rate as it relates to guns is so low that official statistics are not even kept. Remember, we are looking at a country with a population of about 6 million with over 2 million firearms, of which at least 600,000 are automatic rifles and 500,000 pistols. As my video concludes the key to freedom is to be able to have the ability to defend yourself. And if you do not have the tools to do that then you are at the mercy of whoever wants to put you away. Stephen P. Halbrook, Ph.D. (Target Switzerland: Swiss Armed Neutrality in World War II) writes, “There may be various reasons why the Nazis did not invade Switzerland, but one of those reasons is that every Swiss man had a rifle at home. The European countries occupied by the Nazis usually had strict gun controls before the war, and their registration lists facilitated confiscation of firearms and, in many cases, execution of their owners.”
Switzerland demonstrates that possession of firearms by civilians may help prevent large numbers of deaths and even genocide” The Holocaust never came to Switzerland; the Jewish population was armed just like their fellow citizens. What. Mr. Halbrook asks, if there had been not just one, but two, three, or many Warsaw ghetto-type uprisings in the rest of Europe?
In conclusion here are some words of personal freedom and liberty from our founders:
“No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.” – Thomas Jefferson
“The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference—they deserve a place of honor with all that’s good.” – George Washington
“The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed.” – Alexander Hamilton
“Whereas, to preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always posses arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them.” – Richard Henry Lee
Any American politician proposing any form of firearms controls is doing so devoid of the facts and for personal political gain. Such restrictions are both an infringement of our personal liberties and freedom and clearly unconstitutional. I hope you will assist me in circulating my personal freedom and liberty essay to all members of Congress. I suspect challenging days lie ahead.
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Richard C. Young is the editor of Young's World Money Forecast, and a contributing editor to both Richardcyoung.com and Youngresearch.com.
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The brand first attempted to enter the market in 2008 but left shortly afterward. It tried again in 2011 but had to leave the market in April 2019 due to stiff competition from local players.
At that time the brand said, “Forever 21 is constantly evaluating our global portfolio of stores and made the decision to close our operations in the China market after careful consideration of shifts in consumer demands and the long-term profitability of these operations.”
This time the brand went with a licensing model, as it has authorized Lasonic Limited Xusheng Co. Ltd. and its subsidiary, Xusheng Electrical (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., to manage its operation within the Chinese market, according to an announcement published on Forever 21’s WeChat account.
The brand also said it has re-entered major e-commerce platforms like Vip.com and Pinduoduo, and is planning to open a flagship on Alibaba’s Tmall, and physical stores across major cities in China.
The brand was bought out of bankruptcy by Simon Property Group, Authentic Brands Group, and Brookfield Property Partners for $81 million in February 2020. Its international business is being handled by licensing specialist ABG.
Daniel Kulle, a former H&M executive, was named chief executive officer at Forever 21 to steer the company out of bankruptcy, and through the coronavirus crisis. He told WWD earlier that the new Forever 21 comes with a more modern approach to customers.
Lasonic Limited is a Hong Kong-based electrical, electronics, and lighting products manufacture. It also does business in intellectual property licensing, event planning and merchandising.
In addition to Forever 21, Lasonic manages the licensing business of IPs like emoji, Hello Kitty, Little Twin Stars, Spongebob, and Pepsi.
Related:
Forever 21 to Exit China Market
Source: Read Full Article
COVID-19: Jet2 suspends flights and holidays until late June due to uncertainty over government travel plans
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Abstract: National and parliamentary libraries are searching for a new mission. In this presentation I argue for a public facing mission reinforcing the infrastructure of democracy through local public libraries.
Posted on January 24, 2020 December 20, 2021
Greetings all. I think it is useful for folks to share what we learn as we travel. We can identify broader opportunities and learn about a broader landscape than we could on our own.
The past two weeks I have been in Europe. On the 15th and 16th of January I was part of two meetings. The first was with a group called Public Libraries 2030. It is a not for profit created to promote and support public libraries in Europe. They have built up an impressive roster of elected representatives to the EU Parliament that pledge to support libraries.
PL2030 also runs a number of funded projects with backers like the EU, Google, and Microsoft. They host an annual gathering for librarians and members of parliament called Generation Code: Born at the Library that is an interactive exhibition showcasing the top innovative digital exhibits from public libraries across the EU.
Aside from a general update meeting, we were writing up an Erasmus + proposal around building mentorship and projects for new librarians (with an opportunity for our students to participate).
The second meeting was with the Royal National Library of the Netherlands, the Berlin Public Library, several library organizations in the Netherlands, and Italy. We discussed setting up a system of projects across the EU on common themes that would also train new librarians and library science students principles of community-centered librarianship.
While I was there I also met with the instructor of a course in Community Librarianship that we at the University of South Carolina have teamed up with on the professional development front.
These projects have special significance for the Netherlands as they no longer have any library science degree programs. Hopefully something like this could serve as a foundation for one.
Thanks to School of Library and Information Science Fellow Erik Boekesteijn and to Lily Knibbeler Director General of the National Library for hosting us.
I also had the great joy of seeing the first draft of the Dutch version of the New Librarianship Field Guide (already sold out) and some of the students that are using it as a textbook. Special thanks to Gert Staal for his work in translating the book!
This week I have been in Norway. I was invited to speak at the wrap up conferences for two very interesting and important projects.
The first was a project across Scandinavia and Germany to study the effects of “digitization” on the public sphere called ALMPUB. Digitization here is not about scanning documents, but converting analog functions to digital like paying taxes, getting government information, e-commerce and the like.
Since 2016 the project team has been reviewing policies, conducting surveys and doing anthropological observation of folks in Libraries Archives and Museums. I strongly urge you to read the following report. It shows that as digital requirements have accelerated, so have use of analog public service agencies like libraries, museums, and archives. One hypothesis is increased digital has people seeking out the physical aspects of community.
One of the highlights of the trip was to meet, dine, and talk with the great Professor Ragnar Audunson of OSLOMet.
A VERY interesting thing that is happening in Scandinavia; the library legislation that mandates public libraries in Norway and Finland both have convening and facilitating “democratic conversations” as part of the law. Public libraries of all sizes are currently building projects and programs to meet the mandate. It should be very interesting to watch.
While in Oslo I got to tour the newly renovated branch libraries and the new central public library.
The two branches we visited had experienced 200% usage jumps after the renovations. The first was all about light and openness.
The second branch was all about being a living room and club in the middle of a gentrifying neighborhood. Karen Gavigan would have loved it. A large part of the collection (like up to 70%) were graphic novels. They hosted an annual con there as well as two stages set up for live performances and music. The upstairs was dedicated to kids. Thee two libraries demonstrated in the most beautiful way how libraries should reflect their communities.
Then it was off to the new central library being built (I wasn’t allowed to take pictures because this is for the people of Oslo and they are really the first to experience it – love that). It is an amazing structure. However, what I found interesting was that only 50% of the collection from the former central library will be making the move. The rest have been handed to the National Library if they want them. The plan, by the way, is not to make room for newer materials, the plan is for a collection at the halved size going forward.
My last day in Oslo I gave a lecture to the library science program there (also an iSchool). They are talking about the fact that libraries are not required to hire librarians (those with a bachelors or masters) and some libraries are hiring folks from other fields (not familiar at all huh). They were very interested in the new curriculum we developed at SLIS both the process and the outcome, and the idea of a core course around communities.
My last stop in Norway was for a project funded by the National Library of Norway and headed up by the Tønsberg and Notteroy public library (about 1 1/2 hours by train south of Oslo). Libraries across the country surveyed the general population about where they got their information. It then examined the current tools and methods reference libraries use in answering questions. Lastly it engaged a marketing firm to think about a campaign around information consultants/reference librarians. The hope is possibly to build a national reference service.
I cannot express to you just how amazing the Tønsberg public library and those that work there are. It is literally built on the site of a former monastery and viking graveyard. The have kept the foundation stones for the monastery as a feature of the building, and carved replicas of the viking funeral boats into the floor. It is an amazing example of incorporating and honoring their past with their future.
A very special thank you to Britt Sanne and director Tone Eli Moseid (who introduced me to the life of a viking).
So there you are. I really think I am in love with Norway and certainly with the Norwegian library community. Thank you all for your hospitality. Apologies for errors and omissions – just let me know and I’ll fix them.
Posted on October 27, 2017
Abstract: The role of the public library as a place to collect and distribute information seems like an obvious success strategy for an increasingly connected and digital world. Yet there are many players doing this well beyond the capability of libraries. Could it be that the future is not about what libraries collect and distribute, but in how they help people learn from the torrent of information about them? This talk will look at how a shift away from containers and information to learning and knowledge not only situate public libraries for the future, but is the key to any successful industry of tomorrow.
[This is an edited version of the script I used for my talk. However, it is not a word for word transcript. I believe portions were also recorded, and if so I will point to that when available.]
I was asked to prepare my remarks ahead of time for translation. This means I need to read them. Watching me read things is boring, so I have provided some more interesting pictures to look at.
For my talks in Europe I have been challenging myself to try and summarize my talks in a tweet – that appears to be the way of American diplomacy these days, so:
Values only practiced in buildings are like great stores – Limited to those who can afford it, find it, or those that already feel welcome
The organizers of this conference have asked us “what is the future of libraries in the digitized and networked society?”
Now you can just enjoy the pictures.
This is a dangerous question for a geek professor from the states. First it almost begs me to dream in flying cars and futuristic scenarios where we all interact with devices implanted in our brains. What’s worse, this talk is being presented in Switzerland, and from a United States perspective I feel somehow obliged to be amazingly scholarly and reserved.
However, the topic of librarianship truly calls out for something altogether different. It calls for a blunt conversation motivated by passion. Because that’s what libraries are ultimately about – helping communities harness their passion and dreams to create a better tomorrow. Isaac Asimov, the science fiction writer, once said
“You don’t need to predict the future. Just choose a future — a good future, a useful future — and make the kind of prediction that will alter human emotions and reactions in such a way that the future you predicted will be brought about. Better to make a good future than predict a bad one.”
This quote fits beautifully with my personal philosophy on the future, summed up nicely by Alan Kaye:
“The best way to predict the future is to invent it.”
What I will talk about today are my guiding principles to bring about Asimov’s “good future.” A future where the boundless passions and capabilities of our communities are unleashed by librarians. This is not about maker spaces, or flying cars, or augmented reality in the stacks. All those things may well be a part of tomorrow’s library. However, they should only be there if they match our ultimate mission.
The mission of librarians is to improve society through facilitating knowledge creation in our communities.
Or put more simply, we help communities make smarter decisions, and those decisions in turn lead to a better tomorrow.
How do librarians do this? Well, in many cases we build and maintain libraries. Libraries are community owned platforms, mandated by that community, and curated by library professionals on their behalf. Libraries may be buildings, and may be books, and may have maker spaces. None of these services define the future, however. The future is defined by the dreams of the community.
For us to ensure great libraries for our communities we must, as librarians, become a missionary force. A profession of facilitators that go deep into the uniqueness of our communities, enabling that diversity to foster all sorts of innovation.
In order for us to invent a good future, I believe there are three principles that must guide our work:
The future of libraries is about knowledge, not data
The future of libraries is not neutral
The future of libraries is local and networked
I will takes these in turn.
Let me start out with the required provocative statement: I believe that information will kill librarianship.
I am not talking about the amount of information. Librarianship will not breathe it’s last because of too much information. We no longer talk about information overload. Why, because the mass of digital information that was once seen as overwhelming, has been tamed with the use of smart devices and the development of content filters, often self-imposed, that restrict our views to relevant information. We will come back to the consequences of that filtering in a bit.
I am also not talking about new forms of information access that will be the death of librarianship. This will not be a talk about how Google, or Apple, or Amazon will put libraries out of business. They haven’t and they won’t.
Will fake news and the fragmentation of the information landscape kill librarianship? Ah, now we are getting closer. But it is not fake news or fragmentation themselves that threaten the future of librarianship, rather it is understanding how librarians play a role in responding to these things.
What I am talking about is that information as an organizing philosophy and core concept of the field is the threat. Let me explain with a little history.
All living disciplines change and respond to changes in a larger culture or society. Farmers, for example, may have been around for millennia, but a farmer today no longer functions on the same core beliefs as his or her predecessor. Where once farmers waited for the seasons to dictate crop yields, today’s farmer is proactive picking crops based on forecasts, market forces, and the availability of fertilizers. Where once farmers slowly bred new varieties of plants, today’s farmer is intertwined into complex genetic experimentation and the design of new crops. Technology has transformed farming from a labor-intensive activity of small farms to an industrialized sector with global reach.
As it is with farming, so too is it with librarianship. Today’s librarians share a lot with those who had the title over the past 4 millennia. However, we have changed the underlying concepts that guide us. Libraries as closed stacks curated by scholars gave rise to a new populism that saw libraries as a way to educate the masses. Public libraries grew out of social movements aligned with a growth in democracy and an expansion of rights to the general population.
Much of how we think about libraries today was crafted at the end of the 19th century when industrialization thrust concepts of efficiency and standardization into our consciousness. This new industrialization was met with changes in technology, specifically the dramatic decrease in the costs of printing, to put in place concepts of book palaces. Growth in guilds and labor movements saw the professionalization of the librarian.
Most libraries of today have adopted a new perspective grounded in technology, data, and information. This is not surprising given the amazing advances in the field of information science, telecommunications, and computing. Librarians have come to see their jobs as informing users and serving customers. We all too often forget that our job is not to inform a customer, but to improve the life of a person.
We cannot, as an example, confuse access for impact. Giving an article to a person who cannot read, or providing internet access to someone who is computer illiterate is an act of access with no impact. No impact, other than making the person feel inadequate.
Informing as an act of access, or informing as a means of collecting and analyzing data does not meet our mission. Seeing people as users collapses complex human beings down to an information processor in relation to a system. They use a computer, they use a library. To meet our mission and to bring about our good future, we need to know more than what or how they use something, we must see people as makers of meaning.
In Madison County New York, the librarians of the Cazenovia Public Library sought to improve the life of families in poverty. They set up reading programs in a local food pantry. At the end of several weeks the director, Betsy Kennedy, gave each child a new book. As Betsy handed a book to one small girl, the girl began to cry. When asked what was the matter the girl said this book was the first new thing she had ever owned.
That program was not about giving information in book form to the girl. The program was not about informing the girl. It was about improving the girl’s life. They had done so not only in their outreach, but in showing the girl she was worthy of a new book. She was worthy.
They later expanded the program to provide education and training the parents who came to the food shelter. They then expanded the program throughout the county in food pantries, libraries, and churches. These families were not users, nor customers, but neighbors. The librarians sought to not only inform their neighbors but to demonstrate that these people had worth, and facilitate these families in making meaning of their lives. The library was not a source for access, but a platform to create a future.
In Cuyahoga County Ohio, the public library runs many branch libraries. One of these branches is in a prison. Behind bars librarians provide training and materials. When an inmate is due to be released the librarians set up appointments with a local branch librarian. There the former prisoner can not only check out books, but enroll in job training. It is not the goal of a librarian to provide prisoners with information, it is to provide them with hope and a sense of personal worth. In doing so they seek to decrease recidivism rate, and future incarceration. They are helping that person, and they are helping the community as a whole, and they are helping themselves because the librarians are demonstrating their value and improving a community of which they are a part.
A focus on library as information provider is both an abdication of the role a library plays in our communities and puts us in competition with tool makers. A focus on books circulated, pages transmitted, people in a building are easy counts that miss the larger goal. In our good future, we must traffic in the improvement of lives, not the caretaking of information.
Google, Amazon, Apple, all of these are excellent tools to help us do our jobs. Just as books, buildings, computers, and 3d printers are tools to help us do our job. The goal is not the tools. We are not caretakers of tools, but advocates of our communities. All too often we have adopted an information perspective that merges data with knowledge, books for knowing, and bits for thoughts.
We see this in how some approach the question of information literacy. The problem of fake news and the role of foreign powers in using social media to influence elections is important. However, in our discussion of solutions we give too much power to information and data, and indeed to those who seek to manipulate us. The real problem with fake news is not intentional misrepresentation of news for political or financial gain. That has been with us forever. The real problem is a fracturing of commonly held beliefs and values within our communities.
People are more likely to believe and seek out conspiracy theories and false narratives in the absence of a community held narrative. Nationalism and xenophobia grow when we allow communities to mistrust each other. The solution to rising extremism is not better identification of dates and authors, but bringing diverse community members together to learn and respect one another. In essence, information literacy needs to be less about sources and more about conversation. Less about data and more about trust. Knowledge is information with a social mission and action.
This leads me into my second principle: The future of libraries is not neutral.
And here is where we face the obvious. If you are going to talk about a good future, you have to define what good means. In doing so, you cannot be neutral. If you think a good future is one that uses tax dollars to support libraries? You have a point of view. If you feel more people should read? That too is a bias. Further, do you see the importance of literacy as a function of democratic participation and/or workforce readiness? Those are points of view, and not neutral.
During the recent refugee crisis in the European Union we saw librarians taking in displaced peoples. We saw librarians go out to refugee camps and offer services. When they did so, they were not neutral. Elements of EU communities very much objected as part of the rise of nationalism and xenophobia. These same forces of xenophobia and nationalism are seen in the US where libraries provide library cards to undocumented peoples, and where public libraries provide food support to any comer much to the irritation of nationalists. The librarians are acting out of a bias towards inclusion and service, and that will only become more uncomfortable in our increasingly polarized communities.
I want to be clear, I am talking about libraries being principled, not ideological. For me the good future for libraries involves an organization staffed by principled professionals working in the best interest of their communities and fighting for a vibrant public sphere. Librarians must counter discrimination in all its form. Discrimination based-upon race, gender, sexual preference, and religion (among others) stands in direct conflict with the underlying values of librarianship. We seek to provide physical and intellectual safety to our communities. We seek to become safe places to explore dangerous ideas. We believe that different views must coexist in an atmosphere of mutual respect.
There are those who feel that libraries must be passive, public servants bowing to the will of the people. This is not the role of a professional, nor should it be the role of any member of the community. Librarians should seek to shape the narratives and values of the community just as we expect all sectors of society to do so.
There are those that feel libraries, particularly public libraries, are incapable of shaping communities. That libraries are agents of a larger system of neo-liberal corporate and political interests and thus unable to bring about change. I say this is the worst form of pessimism, and ignores the impact of libraries and librarians throughout history.
In the 1800’s in the US there were many articles and editorials attacking libraries as including seditions and salacious materials. The thing they were worried about? The media that would have young girls thinking beyond their station, and farm boys beyond the farm? The materials that appealed to fallen ladies and denizens of the night? The literary novel.
Today we take for granted that fiction and literary novels are part of library collections. We take it as an assumption that literacy and story-telling are what librarians do. Yet that only happened because librarians chose to stock the materials, and defend them. How we view the public library of today is not an accident, or solely a result of outside influence. Librarians and library staff have continuously honed a vision of librarianship around diversity and narratives for centuries.
And we must continue to do so. We must recognize that while libraries should be a safe place to explore dangerous ideas, they will only be so if we make it happen. Our ideals trapped in a building are as useful as food stocked in a store. If we limit our services to those who can afford it, find it, or those that already feel welcome, we will leave parts of our communities to starve.
In Topeka Kansas, the librarians partnered with schools, and charities to ensure all children were ready for school. As they planned events, tutoring, and programs it became apparent that the neediest members of the community would never benefit from such efforts in the library. These communities were trapped in economic isolation with little to no transpiration to get to the library (or jobs or services). These primarily minority communities were trapped in neighborhoods with little nutritious foods, few jobs, and little ability to escape.
So the librarians approached busing companies, and sought to find means of transportation. When that wasn’t enough they trained their librarians and community volunteers in literacy and sent them out of the building and into the streets of need.
In my own state of South Carolina and in the northern reaches of the Netherlands, librarians have equipped busses with maker spaces, materials, and experts to go to the people in need. They do this not out of a sense of neutrality, but out of a sense of idealism and activism.
The problems our communities face are too important and too entrenched to solve as neutral servants within a building. The needs and suffering of our communities require empathy and passion. What we are bringing to these people is not information or materials, but hope and self-worth. Librarianship is a promise to communities that they are worthy, that learning is a key to happiness, and that all people, no matter their color, or wealth, or politics deserve support.
And this then brings me to my third principle on how we do this: The future of libraries is local and networked.
Switzerland is not the United States of America. It is not Kenya, or Tokyo. The cities and villages of this country are unique. A key part of the passionate caring good future of libraries is in embracing this uniqueness. Some communities aspire to growth, others to economic well-being, still others to a rural lifestyle, or quality of life issues. For some education is a barrier, for others an asset. Our libraries must look and act like these communities.
I do a fair amount of international traveling. I am often fortunate enough to spend some time sightseeing and being in these communities. Some folks in this situation seek out museums, or monuments. I seek out grocery stores. I realize this is odd. Why grocery stores, aside from a clear problem with buying sweets? Because I have found no faster way to discover the similarities and differences in culture.
For example, just about every country’s stores will have bottled water, bread, and cereal. However, when I walked into a grocery store in Beijing, I found a seafood section that to my American eyes looked more like an aquarium. Live shrimp flipping out of bowls, blowfish, and a huge number of living fish I couldn’t begin to identify. In the UK, the milk is warm. In Sweden, most of the candy comes in the form of gummies. I find it fascinating.
Then I walk into the libraries. Big reference desks, stacks of books, some reading space. Certainly, the architecture varies, from renaissance rooms in Italy, to shining steel and glass atriums in Scandinavia. However, how different are they really?
The future library needs to look like its community. Not only in the architecture, but the collection (if there is one) and the services it offers. In the tribal lands of Kenya, libraries keep a collection of tribal robes. These robes are not for display, but use. In the river country of Wisconsin, librarians loan out fishing rods. In Fayetteville, NY an educated community can check out electronics and telescopes. Their collections are shaped by the learning of the communities.
We must also take this localization a step further. We must realize that the community is the collection. In Pistoia, Italy the San Giorgio Library has become the new piazza, or central square for the city. Each week they host dozens of programs where members of the community share what they know. Social workers and iron smiths demonstrate their expertise. Citizens gather for movies and talk about the daily occurrences in a café. In Tilburg, the new library is being built in an old train repair factory – helping to transform the historic industry of the city’s past into an economic engine for the future. The library sits beside, and sometimes within, incubator space for new companies.
Our libraries and their offerings must be as diverse and unique as the communities we serve. We must think very locally. What is considered good, and knowledge, and aspirations must be tied to the ground, not imposed from an international discipline.
In order for this to succeed, however, no library is an island. These very local libraries must be networked. Here I am not talking just about data, and fiber, and the internet. I mean you. It is your job as librarians to seek out the best idea from other libraries, industries, other cultures, and other domains, and contextualize them for your community. Not every library needs a maker space. Those that do may consist of 3d printers, or sewing machines, or recoding studies. It your job to adapt not simply adopt, good ideas for the good of your people.
There is an old joke in technology, that IT never says no, they just how three letter acronyms at you until you stop asking. I am convinced there is a library equivalent. Librarians never say something is a bad idea, just that it is a good idea for someone else. Too often this leads us to compartmentalize the field. I’m not a librarian, I’m a public librarian. I’m not a public librarian, I’m a public services librarian, and so on and so on.
We must realize that we are all librarians and we can learn from each other. I should take a moment to say I have a rather broad definition of librarian. If you were hit by a bus and the library can’t function…you’re a librarian.
So there are my three principles for inventing our “good future” for libraries. Focus on knowledge and impact, not information and data. Be an agent for positive change, and don’t hide behind illusions of neutrality. And build locally while connecting globally.
How does this look in your library, in your community? That’s very much a conversation you have with your public. Will this future involve technology? Yes. Do librarians need to be well versed in internet tools and even data mining? Yes…not all, but some.
I end my remarks with an invitation. An invitation to join a new school of thought in the field, what many of us are calling the Knowledge School. This is not an academic unit in a college, or a place. It is not an association. Rather it is a movement. It is a movement around progressive librarians committed to improving society. It is a network of experts, scholars, practitioners, and allies. The Knowledge School seeks to link together change agents in libraries, government, and industry. It seeks to lay out an agenda to ensure librarianship remains relevant, and our communities vibrant.
The Knowledge School exists at the University of South Carolina and the Frysk Lab of the Netherlands. It is in the work of the Fayetteville Free Library and Chattanooga Public Library. The Knowledge School is in the streets of Toronto where librarians park Wi-Fi enables cars to provide service to neighborhoods. It is in the mountains of Switzerland and the marshes of Thailand. The school consists of librarians in large and small libraries, urban and rural.
The Knowledge School prepares librarians, information specialist, number crunchers, business leaders, and community educators. We send them to libraries and schools, fortune 500s, think tanks, & startups. We put information into action. We change the world. We are a movement. We are the knowledge school.
Thank you.
Posted on February 15, 2016 February 15, 2016
Abstract: We live in uncertain times of war, protest, terrorism, economic austerity, ecological disasters, and mass surveillance. What can librarians do to help communities in such turbulent times? Lankes will discuss how a proactive librarianship can build an alternative path to the growing “security versus freedom” narrative. Librarianship can shine in times of crisis, but it requires a focus on improving society over informing customers.
There is a video of the talk for VALA members.
Posted on January 28, 2016 February 17, 2016
The Obligation of Innovation
Abstract: Librarians must lead their communities in innovation by example. If our libraries are to be incubators of new ideas, librarians must model creativity, adaptability, continuous learning, and leading change that makes a difference. This isn’t about apps, or looking like Silicon Valley, it is about weaving together new ideas and expertise locally. Lankes will make the case for innovation as a core attribute of librarians.
The Obligation of Innovation from R. David Lankes on Vimeo.
Posted on January 12, 2016 January 11, 2016
There’s a lot going on at the Expect More Collaboratory at the turn of the year. Check out the update:
Posted on November 11, 2015 November 12, 2015
Customer, Consumer, Users, and Other Mistakes
“Customer, Consumer, Users, and Other Mistakes” LIANZA Annual Conference 2015. Wellington, New Zealand.
Abstract: Librarians and the libraries they build are turning towards the communities they serve. Librarians have found renewed relevance and purpose in unleashing the knowledge and aspirations of the world’s towns, schools, universities, and businesses. However, this realignment can go too far – to a place where the values and unique contributions of librarianship get lost in a rush to meet every demand and fad. This talk will focus on the new compact libraries and their communities must forge for the benefit of both.
Posted on October 23, 2015
“Day 45,626” NYLA’s 125th Annual Conference. Lake Placid, NY.
Abstract: This year NYLA celebrates its 125th anniversary (45,625 days). 45,625 days ago Melvil Dewey, one of NYLA’s founders, saw the future of libraries in standardization, efficiency, and industrialization. 45,625 days ago the future of libraries was in shared structures, shared methods, and librarians devoted to the maintenance of institutional libraries. On day 45,626 this is the formula for disaster. On day 45,626 the future of libraries is in librarians building libraries around the unique communities they serve. The success of the next 125 years is intimately tied to the success of the counties, cities, towns, and villages of New York. Our next 125 years is in the dreams and aspirations of New York’s citizens, students, and scholars not our stacks.
Posted on October 13, 2015
Here is a video of my talk in Tilburg (I have updated the original post as well):
Posted on September 24, 2015 September 24, 2015
Librarians as Agents of Transformation
Abstract: What can be learned from the U.S. librarians’ response to the economic crisis, and the importance of hope and optimism in librarianship.
Major Points: Major points
Librarians as Agents of Transformation from R. David Lankes on Vimeo.
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I am super excited to finally share with you this awesome collaboration with these amazing artists for the RegenerART BOOK about resilience and hope during these difficult times.
This project has been organized by Juliana Lauletta, who did an amazing job, selecting all the artist and putting the book together in such a short time. It is an Ebook at the moment and hopefully, it will be printed at some point.
So what is this RegenerART book about?
As artists, we reflect ourselves in our surroundings and we shed light on aspects that may otherwise be missed.
By sharing artworks and stories of resilience and hope, this Art Book aims to infuse the readers with optimism and help sustain our energy levels during these difficult times. It also offers the artists an opportunity to keep a sense of community and bear tough times with others. - Juliania Lauletta multimedia artist.
During the lockdown, we all have our ups and downs, the best way to cope with it for me is to focus on self-love. For me, painting is like therapy. Being creative helped me a lot to find myself again, to be in the present moment and mainly to find happiness within me. Months later, I can definitely say I enjoy being creative so much more. I love to paint with oils, explore photography with my Canon EOS M10 and explore writing poetry from the heart. I am still in the learning/ exploring phase, so I don't consider myself a fulltime artist at the moment, but how cool that I am featured in this book!
I am super proud of myself that I am part of this awesome collaboration and that I can share one of my painting journeys and one of my first written poems with the world among these amazing artist! I hope there are some people who can relate to my piece in this book and that it can be helpful/inspiring to find your happiness in life!
The painting that is featured in this book has travelled through a few places; I started with this painting from my old home and finished it in my new home. This painting is inspired by one of my favourite artist Modigliani and is all about love for yourself. As a caring person as many others I believe, we often forgot ourself in this busy jungle of life.
This painting will always have a special place in my heart and it is a reminder that even in moments of downs, the ups will be much brighter, much more joyful and fulfilling to the soul if we focus on our own journey to happiness.
To download this awesome RegenerArt book and see the incredible work of the other artists and myself, click here. To find my Poem on my blog click here.
There is even an Epub format of the book here.
Up to finding thyself and happiness from within!
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ABOUT ME
Hello Beautiful Soul! First of all, it is nice to meet you here. I am delighted you are taking a peek at my website. I am excited to go for new experiences and create beautiful memories here in London. One of my missions for these blogs is to be your local guide, so you can skip the standard site seeing and enjoy REAL LONDON. So if you are new in town [or not] and want to explore like a local, please check out the LIFESTYLE, join my DRINK TABLE and see you at the FOOD CORNER. Curious about me, click below.
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Video game researcher and Cow Clicker creator Ian Bogost has answered some questions from the geeks over at Slashdot. A good read, here’s one of the questions:
Question:I have long described both MMO gaming and Facebook social games as being a “well-padded Skinner box” for their staggered/random reward system. Do you see any possibility for anything else to eventually replace this model?
IB: I don’t know. Certainly the gold rush associated with a very bare version of these mechanics isn’t helping. If anything, the Skinner boxes seem to be finding their way into other genres. I haven’t played Diablo III yet, but someone who tried the beta opined that it’s “Farmville for hardcore gamers.” Then again, I suppose we might have said the same thing about World of Warcraft half a decade ago. These features have always been in games, but there’s no question that we’ve begun refining them in the way one refines oil, making them more pure and useful to drive the engines of commerce rather than experience.
We can’t just will ourselves out of this situation. It’s not simply a matter of developing a new design philosophy that will replace the old one through pure unfettered rationalism. Since the games industry responds only to economic incentives, perhaps what we need is an implosion. Just as the housing bubble was burst by the revelation of inviable lending and the related artifice of constantly-inflating property values, so perhaps something similar needs to happen to the behaviorist bubble. It may already be starting, thanks to the apparently disappointing performance of Zynga’s IPO. Still, it’s worth remembering that the founders and executives of today’s big tech companies have been enjoying the privilege of making liquid parts of their equity on secondary markets, so the tech investment community may not have the same deterrent to bubblethink that the market in general does.
In any case, this trend should remind us that the whole media ecosystem has been built on this promise of high-leverage value derived from the aggregated behaviors of a very large base of patrons who are actually the product of these services rather than their customers. Google and Facebook are the obvious examples, but Zynga derives all of its revenue from 2.2% of its players. The remainder are there as viral marketing infrastructure. Is it even possible to opt out of this situation? Not if you also want to live productively in contemporary society
Link to full Q&A.
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I'm Adam Clare I make games at Wero Creative and think about games as a Professor of Game Desgin. I wrote a book on how to make escape games and another book on Pokemon GO.
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