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So the lovely Indiblogeshwaris came up with a Secret Santa game of their own this year. Each blogger was asked to review a blog anonymously and provide honest feedback on what they thought of the blog they were assigned. And this secret would only be revealed on Christmas when the presents open so Shhh!
So I was assigned the wonderful Shaivi Sharma who blogs at Shaivi ka Funda. To begin with I thought that her blog was just so honest. Every post was like a sneak peak into her life, which is the true essence of blogging isn't it? She puts a piece of herself in her writing which instantly connects you to her and also inspires you to write something of your own. There is an alliteration in her name, so obviously her love for words is inevitable.
Her blog is almost 2 and has won many accolades in the form of goodies for blog contests because of the sheer creativity and sincerity in the writing.
Why you should head to her blog RIGHT NOW!
Cause I am her Santa Secret Elf and I said so
I love how there is a mixed bag that it has to offer. From Book Reviews, Travelogues, Food Recipes, Movies to the little bits from her personal life. She writes everything.
She is super regular in her writing. Which I really admire because personally I can't sit myself down and write as often as 4-5 times a month. Her creativity is always on its toes ;)
I think her blog is very vibrant. Light background and dark text, which is the perfect blend. I like people who have simple themes, soothing to the eyes.
Her style of writing is engaging and personal which makes all her posts more interesting and catchy.
No draggy descriptions. I love how crisp and just the right length her posts are. There is no race to reach a 1000 word + mark.
Her views and heartwarming stories make for a perfect companion when you want to snuggle in bed and read something nice.
I am glad I found her blog. And Shaivi I hope when you read this, it makes you smile. Keep Writing and Stay Awesome.
5 comments:
This is about.. Personal Ramblings
Tuesday, 17 December 2013
Sidenote: Obsession with Poetry is far from over. I am going to be a poet. Period. All of you who have not heard of Sarah Kay must die or just google her. She is brilliant and poetry is going to keep coming up in this space. Deal with it.
Her clothes are weary,
Just like her eyes.
Hair messed and her weak smile only a disguise.
She was lovely & then he left her
Is what they mouth every time she passes by
Only a shadow of what she used to be
So sad but she tries
They don't know what happened
Maybe they were always fighting,
or maybe they never did
Or maybe they left love
Maybe her heart
Now has a hole cut out in a shape
That resembles him
Maybe the words hurt, or just the quiet that kills
Maybe they didn't have what it took to love
Or maybe love took all they had
Her hair is messed up and her smile is weak
And each time she passes by
She was lovely and then he left her is what they speak
She is seen sitting on that park bench
Almost tracing where he would normally be
And as the sun kisses her arms
She feel his embrace
Wondering if her unwavering belief would set things right
That maybe if she still believed his love is around her
She'll survive.
A mark sits on her finger
They see her trying to hide it
But pryingly they see
Her is messed up and her smile is weak
And each time she passes by
She was lovely and he left her is what they speak
1 comment:
This is about.. poetry
Sunday, 8 December 2013
She is holding her drink
He thinks she's had enough
But she thinks otherwise
She puts his arms around him to say
That love is a butterfly
He smiles and whispers
Let's hold out our hand and let it settle then
And as those words leave his mouth
She feels a familiar twinge
An emotion she hadn't felt for a while
A memory, a night, a someone
Someone she knew so well but not quite
In a another part of the world
He is working hard
Addressing a crowd of peers
Who think he's out of his mind
And as he makes his parting speech
His eyes reach the lady who just opened the door
Something so familiar about her
That he can't ignore
She excuses her self for getting the wrong room
He just caught a glimpse but wasn't quite sure
He follows her out
Looking around he wonders if he'll see that familiar face
and when he turns he sees her
This time more closely
A little disappointment and an out of place smile
He gets back to work
With her on his mind
Made its way from unexpected places
A scent, a movie, a place, a thing
Little by little creeping in
The questions that usually linger
Now made a resounding sound
Why did it not work out?
How it all went down.
In a momentary moment of weakness
He picks up the phone
She too the dials the numbers
That she thought were long forgotten
And as they listen for the click
To listen to that voice
All they hear is a busy tone
Almost there, but not quite
And reality draws them in
They go back to being what they are
So close yet just as far.
4 comments:
This is about.. poetry
Sunday, 24 November 2013
It is going to be an awesome evening, I am going to be there too. Do come you guys! :D
1 comment:
This is about.. Personal Ramblings
Sunday, 10 November 2013
We fell in love so quickly that there was no time to think it through. No time to analyze if he'd fit my definitions of love. If he could be "The One". No time, how would there be? We were never off the phone. Months later it makes perfect sense though, I had to fall in love with him.Why? Because he makes me happy. From 812 kms away he can make me feel loved. Somedays we barely talk, and on others we talk only to fight and crib about the lack of time. But even on those days when we are snapping at each other there is a part of me that knows I wouldn't want it any other way. He is home. My person, the only one in the world who I could say anything to and he would still hold me tight and say he loves me.
(a chat from the first few months)
whats it like in new york city?
:|
i thought its oasis
me: See if u didn't have me
You'd spend all your life
not knowing that the song is by plain white teeP: I know! Tragic.
P and me were friends because of this very blog, its hard to believe that something I started out of plain boredom gave me the most important person in my life. So maybe it is true then, everything does happen for a reason. He's working for the Government of India in the defence forces. And I can't begin to explain such a pain in the wrong places that is. He has tough life, tough schedule and a very busy day. Every day the routine tires him, I wonder if he forgets me sometimes but he never forgets to remind me that he doesn't. I would love to be my demanding self, and many times I am but after a while I just don't have the heart to be.
In the first 6 months of our relationship he had to go for his first training. Which meant no calls, no texts and, not even the once in a blue moon skype call. We in any case had a long distance relationship which meant seeing each other only after months and several long STD bills. We thought it would be easy, the extra space would help us do our own thing too. But it was tough, very tough.
We wrote letters to each other. The really long ones, the 1000 words and more. The short ones just to say "I love you. And I am thinking of you." The one liners after a fight, the pages full of words which couldn't ever really capture how we felt. On days when he had time he sent multiple letters at once, the postman often joked with him, why write so much just make a quick phonecall in secret instead. But we preferred the letters, we could speak at length in them. Sometimes when the words ran out we sent things. The bracelet he made for me out of twigs, so delicately put together. It fit my hand perfectly like his would if he was here. The target sheet he stole for me from range practice. He was getting good at it, almost hitting the centre once in a while. The little cards I made for him each one with a reason why I loved him;
For that smile, when I do something stupid
For that phone call in the middle of the night just to say I love you. (Even when I don't remember it the next day)
For the way you believe in us
For the way you say "Let's not fight. I love you"
For each time you say "Listen" with the south indian accent and it sounds like "Lizzen"
....
We wrote of the bad days and the good ones. The time when I had the worst day at work, everything went wrong that day. Writing to him helped, it always does. Almost like he was listening and offering comfort. I wrote of the graduation ceremony he missed, as I threw my cap in the air for a momentary second I scanned the crowd hoping to see him. He wrote about his seniors, the cool guys and even the strict ones. He sent me sketches of the fighter planes he learnt about, each one distinct from the other (though I could never tell the difference). The letter he wrote in Shudh Bhojpuri! I remember reading it over and over and laughing till my stomach hurt. The drawings he made of all the possible positions that the seniors instructed them to make the most famous being the "Crab Walk","Side Roll" and "Murga"
We wrote cause we had no other way. He wrote about the friends he made. He observed whenever he made a new friend they were never standing, always rolling on the floor, or with their legs in the air, or simply lying down after the several push-ups and crunches. Once I put my scent on the letter I wrote to him, it is very cheesy when you think about it, but the smile it brought on his face was totally worth it. Besides he likes cheese. As a gesture of sweet reciprocation he sent me a tradeable WWE card. I have no clue how he managed to or why, but it was cute. I sent him a photo of me, that he kept in his wallet. A bookmark, I had painted myself that he kept in his textbooks, somehow I was everywhere even when I wasn't. I used to pick up free postcards from restaurants and send him those once in a while to break the monotony. It was only later that I knew he had to earn all the letters I wrote to him. 50 pushups for letters from the mother, 30 if they were from dad and 100 if they were from the girlfriend. The standards often changed on the time of the day and the mood of the seniors. He did each one eagerly, waiting to know what I had written this time.
Our story has it all, the distance, the age gap, differences in religion and of course parents who resort to melodrama at the drop of a hat. Right out of a movie, someone might say. But somehow the choice is obvious, it can't be otherwise, even the melodrama is worth it. So if you ask me what our day of love is I would say, it keeps evolving. Maybe it was the day I first spoke to him and thought he was full of hot air, or maybe the day he said I love you for the first time. It probably is the time he came back from the academy to see me and I was blushing like it was the first time all over again. Maybe it was the day he left, and I cried myself to sleep in his jacket because it would mean a few more months without him. Or maybe our Platinum Day of Love is yet to come. Because I'm in love with the memories we are yet to make.
8 comments:
This is about.. Letters, Personal Ramblings, Stories
Wednesday, 6 November 2013
A place called home
This was my childhood home where I spent those hot summer vacations. You know the age when the sun doesn't bother you. The carefree years. Its hard to imagine now that I once loved this place. In one of the distant and quaint villages of Gujarat, hidden somewhere far off from the developing cities and expressways there was a building I called home. It was like those vintage bungalows amidst trees and innumerable small houses, each having rattling noises of its own. The vessels clanging in the kitchen, the children being a riot, the old radio playing the tunes of the day, or just the creaking of granddad’s chair – the noises that somehow together spelt peace.
The slice of village life I kept hidden from my city friends, I don’t think I have ever mentioned this in detail to anyone. No one knew where I disappeared for a fortnight each year and came back tanned like a Dorito. It was my own secret adventure just like one of the many Enid Blyton books I carried with me here but never got to read. There was not an idle moment here, the village brimmed with life. A stark contrast to the fast paced concrete jungle where I came from. This house had seen a lot, the walls spoke volumes, the marks the children made on the wooden panel surrounding the door marking their height each summer also marked the years gone by. The clay vessels that we played with. And the pretentious tea we served to the old and young alike. This building I once loved. If only that one night hadn’t changed everything.
I was 8 , it was the rains that took him. Not once have I enjoyed that familiar pitter patter on my window since that day. The rains bring bad news I always say, and maybe they do. Maybe its the skies crying over the bad news. Maybe rains are a sign of destruction, maybe its His best illusion. That night I didn’t sleep at all. I don’t remember anything except that all night I was trying to wake my 6 month old sister, I pinched her awake every time she slept. Something was wrong, he slept and didn’t wake up I didn’t want her to do the same to me. The happy faces I usually saw here now had darkened expressions of deep sorrow. Why were they crying? It was finally raining. The hot summers were gone, and yet no one seemed happy.
The alley that led to my home was crowded with people, I tried to acknowledge the familiar faces but no one smiled at me today, I had probably grown taller than last time and they just didn’t recognize me. My mother held my hand tightly while we waded the crowd. As we got nearer I could hear wailing women and now I was scared. We walked into that door I knew so well, with elephants and horses carved into the thick wood and the door knob that I had picked when the last one broke. My mother didn’t bother to abandon her footwear in the verandah, something that struck me as odd. As we entered I saw that white mattress and he lied there lifeless, my 50 year old neighbour saw my mother and hugged her as she cried and my mother still holding my hand in hers fell to the floor near him. My aunt was there too her eyes red, my uncle perplexed and in some kind of shock. As my mother lost control I didn’t know if I had to cry too. My dad decided to take me away from this. But I saw him, his face blue. It had been 5 minutes since I had come home and he didn’t bother to look at me. I was now upset. Maybe I had to wake him up. I moved towards him but something inside me stirred with fear, some kind of instinct that tells you something was wrong.
I was 3 burning with fever, I was to start school the coming June. The panic was evident on his face. He was probably just tired of my constant crying. He walked 10 kms and back for the medicine I needed, that day he was some kind of a hero.
I was 5, atop his shoulder. It was Rakshabandhan, which meant lot of sweets and gifts for me back then. My mother tied him the rakhi I had picked. It had to be a Pokemon Rakhi, it didn’t matter if he was a little over 24. We were just about to say our goodbyes when I decided to pull at the curtains in the living room, the entire rod and the cloth that hung on it came crashing on me. I was about to cry when he came and picked me up and said “What?, are you going to cry now. Wuss!” and I didn’t cry.
I was 7, we had reached home after the celebratory dinner. He had bought his first car, it was obviously a reason to celebrate. As I got down from the car holding the icecream we bought on the way home I felt the door shut on my hand. I was screaming for exactly 3 seconds when he realised what had happened, got hold of me and released my hand. I was now looking at the swelling which had appeared over my tiny fingers with tears welling in my eyes. He had the same panic on his face, he always had when I was in any kind of pain and he decided to mock hit the car, I joined him while he asked my mother to rub ice on my hand, he couldn’t even bare to look at it. Should have known that car was evil.
Today as I sit in the same house, I sometimes feel his presence. Sometimes even now when I wake up in the car to realise we’ve reached home. In that moment between sleep and wakefulness I expect him to come and hug me tight and say “Finally, what took you’ll so long” Sometimes I feel blessed, I had good 8 years with him, all my sister has is a photo here and there and a vague account of what he was from the things we say, when we fondly bring him up. I never say anything. For a year after he was gone, I spotted him in various crowds. In the market where we went to buy vegetables, I saw that tall and lean figure with ruffled hair, he was so tall always easy to spot. Sometimes I even saw him at school during break though it would be odd if he was wearing the school uniform. I never had the heart to chase the stranger I thought was him, the fear of being disappointed was too much. Instead I decided to believe it was indeed him in the crowded spaces, and he was only looking after us. A superhero lurking in the corners looking out for a crisis. He was my hero and maybe these four walls remind me of him, and maybe I still somewhere hope that one day he’ll come walking back like he always does with the stride in his walk and his ruffled hair, so tall and easy to spot and then I’ll call it home again.
PS: Its nice to write again, now that feels like home. Wrote something on Darlings of Venus also a while back. You can read it here
This is about.. Personal Ramblings
Wednesday, 11 September 2013
Book Review: Frankly Spooking
Author: Sriramana Muliya
Given a choice I would never pick this book. I wouldn't even give it a second look, and I would certainly not struggle to complete it. I knew I wouldn't be able to read it at a stretch. For someone who has followed Sri's blog for more than 2 years now I know that it's not a good idea to read this like a page turner.
Innocent scenarios and well carved out story lines, give you the creeps as you turn each page, thinking that it won't get you this time. But it always does, when you least expect it. For someone who has always believed that ghosts are a lot more than blood dripping, white saree clad figures floating in thin air, I would say this book is a pleasure for the logical minds. You will not once say what bull-crap, but instead fear that it might happened to you too.
Not a fan of short stories, but this book has changed my view towards them. Somehow I always prefer the long and explanatory novel kinds that keep very little to your own imagination, which is probably a big plus for this one, because it leaves just the right amount of space for you to imagine the scenarios. You are picturing yourself in each story, in each really scary story mind you, and it leaves you a little squeamish each time.
My personal favorites would be in "Stuck in the Middle", "Team Player", and "Director's Cut". Peevee of the blogosphere reviewed the book here and I couldn't agree more to what she said, do read it. Also the book is topping the chart of bestsellers and is getting all the praise it deserves, I needn't say more.
By the end of the book I was terrified of all the things I use in my daily life, including my headphones, elevators and even stuffed animals. So my final verdict: take this book to that overnight camping trip and scare the Bejesus out of your friends or simply cozy up in your bed if you need to pull an all-nighter, cause there is going to be no sleep after you read this.
3 comments:
This is about.. book reviews
Friday, 30 August 2013
She sat there, resting in the hammock that he had built her on his last visit. She was wondering what he was doing then, if he was hurt. She internally scolded her self, think good things she said. Not a single leaf was moving today, there was no breeze, only a sullen silence.
She was about to get up and go back inside the house, she still had dinner to prepare and clothes to wash, lying there in his memories was not a luxury she could afford. Just when she was about to put the gas on , there was a knock on the door. It was her father, there was a tall man holding him up. She couldn't register what was happening.
"He's just had too much to drink" the man said.
"He'll be fine, you should let him sleep the night out" he said reassuringly. He was just about to excuse himself out of her house when she said a weak "Thank you." He just smiled and was out on his way in no time.
She took the shoes off from her father's feet and watched his rhythmic breathing, she remembered the first time she had found him at the bar, the day that had probably changed her life.
This story is part of a series I am trying to write. To read the earlier pieces of this click on Desinence
1 comment:
This is about.. Stories
Saturday, 17 August 2013
I’ve been keeping all the letters I wrote to you,
Each one a line or two,
I’m fine baby how are you?
But I know that its just not enough
My words are cold and flat and you deserve more than that
He was writing that letter for the hundred time now. Every time he tried to put different words on the paper, every time he tried to explain things differently. He could never reach the end of the letter, he could never complete it, cause something or someone always demanded his attention before he could.
There was so much he wanted to tell her but the words didn’t come out right. He was a completely new person now from when he had met her, he wondered if she would still understand, if she would notice the changes at all. She is waiting for him she had said in the last letter, he had read it over and over. She was waiting for him and that was all the reassurance he needed but even as he was writing to the love of his life, words failed him.
The first time he tried, he wrote about the life he was leading, the routine and the funny stories that he knew she wouldn’t understand , you had to be there to get the jokes. The next time he tried to ask about her, and how she had been but he didn’t think that was any good either. He wanted to tell her how much she meant to him but he wondered if that was the right thing to do, what if he didn’t make it, what if he didn’t survive this? Would it be fair to keep her waiting? Just when he had put the letters away he heard the first gunshot of the night, he had to rush. He dressed and armed himself in a hurry and within seconds he had joined his troop. One of them had been shot, the enemy had attacked at night even when they had agreed not to. You could never trust them.
It was his dream to join the army, he had aced the entrance exam and was recommended by the entire panel after his interview. He had met her only days before his final interview and he had to report for the training only a month later. That was the best month of his life, they had spent every waking moment together. He was her first love and she was going to be his last. Once the firing ceased he was back in his billet, this time determined to write something for her, he used to write poetry in his training days and sing them to her over the billet phones even when his friends hovered for their turn to make a call. He imagined her smiling when she would receive the letter and it brought the most radiant smile on his face too. He wrote:
I know I haven’t written to you for long , and I apologize, there is no time here but believe me when I say I have tried many times to write to you. I am fine and I hope you are too. There are days I really miss being with you and want to just run back to you but I chose this for myself and I must see it to the end.
You are the most beautiful person I have known, and the thought that there is someone like you waiting for me when I’m back is what keeps me going each day over here. I need to go now the Chief has asked for me , I love you.
No poetry ever written,
Could adequately capture,
What your presence
Has done to my life.
Sidenote: I always want to write a series but no theme/story ever appealed to me. I am trying again with this, it is the only piece I have written so far and more is to follow. Sometime from his point of view and sometimes from hers.
8 comments:
This is about.. Letters, Stories
Friday, 19 July 2013
Back in school my friends had these really cool boyfriends who played for the football teams and had heart melting smiles and made you want to be like those intense women from operas. In school I was above all of it. The tomboy with more GI-Joes than Barbies. The girl who cared less about how beautifully her dress flowed and more about winning a Harry Potter argument. I was a buddy. A buddy is someone who has only guy friends all her life and then dies alone with cats. Yeah that.
When I entered college not much changed, except that I had to make girl friends if I didn't want to be a stared at all the time. Then it finally began, hormones. Maybe that was the reason, maybe you need girls around for the girl hormones to kick in. I was a girl over-night. From one stupid boy to another, with my heart on a platter. It was very amusing at first. I was watching Rom-Coms without being forced to. I was reading Mills & Boons (that happened once, don't judge me) Basically I was ready for the prince in shining armor to come and sweep me off my feet, just like princess diaries.
A friend of mine got a puppy from her boyfriend. A puppy! A real, living, breathing, barking little thing. But the dog was diseased, and died in 3 days and she turned vegetarian for a year after that,mourning for its death *rolls eyes* and they broke up soon after. But that's not the point. Focus on the puppy part. They would all go to nice lunches and brunches and dinners and what not. I was never jealous then, it was stupid then. But I was jealous. 5 years after it happened.
My prince was obviously going to be a crossover of Tom Cruise and Orlando Bloom with roses lilies in his hand and perfect hair. But when I fell in love it was just not so fairy tale like after all. All I wanted was lunch. But I got long really long STD call bills, several snores from the other end and just a flip calendar on our one year anniversary. Yeah it is sad. This is what happens when you are in love with a guy who is a generation older to you(so i like to say) Things won't go your way most of the time. The time you think you've gone for the Man instead of puppy love. He shows you that he is just that a MAN, with no boyish charm and no tricks up his sleeve. He thinks he has you and he will hold and protect you till death do you'll part but all you want is lunch. To top it all it is a long distance relationship and frustration levels are so high that you want to poison every happy couple you see around. God and his evil ways didn't even want me to have a regular long distance relationship, why make it so easy. The love of my life is in the Indian Air Force and is training to be an air warrior. Phppt. Don't go all "Wow you should be so proud of him crap" cause I will take you down. Cause all you want is someone who is actually there after a long day at work. Someone who is bringing chocolate chip ice-cream to your place at 3 am and someone who is atleast present, if only on weekends.
How does this kind of set-up actually work? It works cause at the end of the day, the sound of his voice on the phone is the warmest hug, the random message from him through the day is my epic romance. The bracelet he made me out of twigs at camp is my favourite gift, and when he sleeps off because he's had a really tiring day, as much as I want to slap him awake, the sound of his breathing is my lullaby.
It's like a big pie chart, and the love in a relationship has to be the biggest piece. Love can make up for a lot.
6 comments:
This is about.. Personal Ramblings
Sunday, 23 June 2013
It was a very rainy Sunday morning and I was on a mission. A mission to get my goodie bag. Indiblogger has really spoilt all us bloggers with freebies, several meets and tonnes of free food. Not that I am complaining.
We had to choose from a few Reliance Digital Outlets, which by the way are hard to miss. Suddenly its like an explosion of electronic stores there is one in every 250 meters. I had selected the outlet in Infinity II, Malad. My affiliation with electronic stores is old. I am the person who goes and plays free video games on the large plasma TV until they physically snatch the joystick from my hand to give someone else a chance. Dirty looks don't work on me. So I wouldn't mind spending another Sunday doing that.
Me and my friend Karishma reached the store at roughly 12 pm after wading through the terrible Mumbai monsoons. We looked around rather awkwardly wondering who to approach as we were promised an experience we wouldn't forget.Finally we approached a friendly looking employee who had no idea what Indiblogger was and thought we were there to steal phones. Finally another employee told us to wait as the store manager was not around and once he arrived he would tell us what to do. While we waited, lusting over the various electronics we are missing in our lives. I walked to the phone section and looked at them like a hungry child looks at a stranger, he knows he shouldn't ask but can't help staring! (I really need a new phone, saving up!)
We waited and waited and waited some more. Finally we plopped ourselves on the large couch in front of a huge 52' Tv. My legs were aching and I was pretty sure I was not getting up from this couch until the store manager would get me my goodie bag. Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara was being played on the TV, but sadly it was only one scene played over and over and over again. We decided that there is only so many times you can watch one scene, and we'd probably be able to count the number of freckles on Farhan Akhtar's face or our eyes would bleed out. We decided to ignore the TV, and talk instead. We were meeting after a really long time, and a good chat was due. We talked about all our childhood memories (Yes, we are friends since 20 years :D) and on how things are. It takes time to grow and old friend and there is nothing that can make you more happy than spending time with them. We joked and laughed and embarrassed ourselves enough for an entire year. Happiness in a store? I think so !
Finally the store manager decided to show up. He took the printouts we were clutching the whole time of the invite we received from Indiblogger and asked us to look around the store (which we already had done 15 times in the past hour) and then asked us to leave. Quite a disappointment, cause we were actually waiting for something to HAPPEN! Sadly nothing did. When we shamelessly asked about the goodie bag we were told we would get it from Indiblogger itself.
Honestly the collection is not so impressive. Its probably because they are still new. The range of products in each category are very few. You can't expect to find every model, you would have to try your luck. The staff is nice and friendly, not to mention they hover like they do everywhere (which is very annoying btw!)
The pricing is a little off, its understandable though they are charging us for the ambiance and massive rent expense. But being from a world where Flipkart is available I'd prefer to save a few bucks. Also the typical Indian was very disappointed, No FREE gaming zone was set up !
The stores are spacious and impressive. Also since they are newly opened they have a few offers going on, on various products so you might want to check that out.
Reliance Digital also has an up and running website reliancedigital.in which easily impressed me more than the store itself.
1 comment:
This is about.. Personal Ramblings
Sunday, 2 June 2013
I was so excited for this particular meet, though I shouldn't be since it was my 7th Indiblogger Meet *insert veteran wave* but because the show that was going to be launched at the meet was associated Abhay Deol *drools*
Though I was heartbroken when he didn't really turn up, I don't think I've enjoyed myself THIS much in a long time. Indiblogger meets are always more fun than other meets. The energy and warmth stays with you for days after the actual event. Also I got to meet MALISHKAAAA :D
Radio plays such an important part of my life, its absurd, every morning I HAVE to listen to it on my way to work and in the evening on the way back, I always believed that listening to the radio is like having a friend for company, like you are talking to someone (Yeah, single child problems :P ). I am probably the only one who knows all the radio jockeys from all the channels.
The meet began with meeting all the fellow bloggers I love to meet each time, followed by many many bear hugs. Especially BlogwatiG, a powerhouse of energy always a pleasure to meet her. The forever lucky Wannabe-Wayfarer who won her second Nokia Lumia at a blogger meet. I suggest she just retires now and gives someone else a chance. Also this meet was special because this time I had my friend since 20 years with me for her first blogger meet - Karishma
Now for the actual agenda of the meet. Zee Tv's new show Connected Hum Tum has a unique concept. 6 Indian women will share their lives and bare their soul on national television. As Malishka exclaimed "For the last 6 months our hands had become tripod stands!"
We were shown a preview episode of the show, and it seems to be really interesting as each episode will feature 3 women and the episode will be based on a connected theme.
We also had a chance to meet the 6 ladies and interact with them :) Here is a little about them:
She grew up in Goa, the daughter of an navy officer. She lives with her twin sister and the two of them are very close. Sonal is in a serious relationship wondering if the parents of her lover will accept their unusual, unconventional bond and give their love story a happy ending. I had a chance to speak to Sonal and she seemed like a very fun loving and happy person, with a rebellious streak.
Who doesn't know her. Especially if you are in Mumbai. She has been No 1 radio jockey for as long as I remember. She is energetic and super spontaneous, she is going to bring so much energy to the show, I can't wait to watch her. She's made it big today but the question for Malishka is ...what next? Can she dare to risk a change in her career? Will she find a suitable man to settle down with?
She;s lived a life of unconventional choices. With two divorces under her belt, she's hit rock bottom and bounced back! Madhavi is about to be a grandmother for the second time. And her ex-husband has suddenly tried getting back in touch with her. Does he really want a life with her? Or does he just want some closure?
She is the mother of a two year old, has a husband she loves and a mother she wished hadn't neglected her in her childhood. A mutli-tasking superwoman, she juggles her responsibilities at home with her clinic as well as her passion for dance! Preeti wants to tick all the boxes, the conventional ones of 'wife', 'mom', 'dentist' and 'daughter-in-law' as well as the unconventional ones of 'independent', 'bold' and 'dancer'. As a result Preeti is not able to leave one profession for another. She craves the love she was denied in childhood, so she fears rocking her marriage too much. Yet her marriage prevents her from being as free as she'd like to be! She asks herself - "Women marry for love and care - Do I really get that in my marriage?"
She's been a bright student, has a career which she can show off and married a boy her parents chose. She barely knew him and things did not work out. So, against the family wishes she sought a divorce. Her parents were deeply embarrassed and she ended up blaming herself for 'not trying hard enough' She's getting married again to a guy she met at a friend's party and this time round she's determined to do everything even "righter"! But she asks -why should it be only upon a woman to make a marriage work?
Mahima Chaudhary
Starry-eyed small town girl hails from a large Jat joint family in Meerut. Mahima was the most humble and probably shy of the lot. A simple girl with big dreams, a boyfriend in Delhi who isn't from her caste, parents who want to get her married and ambitions that no one seems to understand. Mahima's journey is just out of the movies.
" Tell a woman what she can't have, and suddenly she'll know exactly what she wants "
With such a lovely mix of women from all walks of life, the show is bound to get interesting. The show airs on 3rd June on Zee Tv, explore the world of women and TRY to understand them ;)
Look at us all smiles :D After hearing that FREE BOOOZE was being served :P
With this I hope I am back to being regular here, or atleast wining a Nokia Lumia 520 ;)
4 comments:
This is about.. Personal Ramblings
Saturday, 9 March 2013
Hm.
I want to write. No really, I want to. But there is not a single inspiring thought and I think my vocabulary has suddenly given up on me too. Wren and Martin also frown at me now and then. Its sad.
So now all I do is constantly change how my blog looks instead of actually writing something. I know real smart. But the idea is so that no one remembers what my blog is or looked like thus never asking me why I don't blog anymore. And I will go back to being a forgotten specie of the blog world.
Who am I kidding? Only I think I am famous anyway. How can a name like BlluBluBling get famous. Please don't ask for the story behind it, its embarrassing. So why don't I change it, cause I think its famous. I'm telling you I am mental. Its a happy paradox.
In other news I am currently doing a part time internship sort of thing with Tamarind Rice. Since I am on exam leave and have some time on me, though I am supposed to be studying.
They are an enthusiastic team of people trying to promote Indian writing. Tamarind Rice is basically a FREE E-magazine which will have varied content including specific standard sections such as fashion, lifestyle, relationships, events, humour, food, travel etc. Subscribe to it here
Their first issue is scheduled to be out in April and all the content will be contributed by talented writers, photographers and anyone who wants to share any kind of content. This can be done by sending an email to content@tamarindrice.in
Also prizes to be won in several contests and stuff :D Do check it out. I hope to write for them and get rid of my writer's, blogger's block as well.
Must get back to studying. >.<
Love to my two regular readers. You guys complete me *does the celebrity wave*
9 comments:
This is about.. Personal Ramblings
Monday, 7 January 2013
Drop in the Ocean
I pledge that I will be aware and alert about things happening around me.
I pledge I will not ignore if I see someone in pain or trouble.
I pledge to be fearless and fight against injustice.
I pledge to not depend on the government, police or people. I pledge to be responsible myself.
I pledge to never walk past someone who may need my help.
I pledge I will not keep quiet if I or any girl around me is eve teased or even given a dirty look.
I pledge to speak up.
I pledge to not tolerate a sexist joke again.
I pledge to have an opinion and not be afraid to give it.
I pledge. Do you?
2 comments:
This is about.. Personal Ramblings
Wednesday, 2 January 2013
Rating 3.5/5
About the Author
Rishi Vohra recently relocated back to Mumbai after completing a Green MBA from San Francisco State University and a Masters Diploma in Environmental Law, prior to which he had a successful career in the Indian Entertainment Industry. After featuring as a guest columnist for various newspapers in India, he currently writes for delWine and is a Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW). 'Once Upon the Tracks of Mumbai' is his first novel.
“Autistic, schizophrenic, psychotic,” are the words people use to describe Babloo, but the problem is that no one understands him, no one talks to him and no one gets what he feels. No one treats him well expect Vandana, his love interest. He has no relationship worth mentioning with anyone else. He lives in the railway colony in Mumbai and dreams of making something of his life, but his lack of understanding when people talk to quickly and the constant disapproval of his parents lowers his spirits.
The story moves ahead with so many unpredictable twists and turns which keep the readers h0oked. Which incident changes Babloo’s life completely? How does he becomes the superhero Rail Man? How does his life change when he becomes Rail Man? Does his mental condition come in the way of his love? Does he get the coveted hand of Vandana or does he let her be taken by his Sikander who covets her as well. Can he teach Sikandar a lesson? Will life be the same again for Babloo?
Read the book and you shall get your answers. Not just the answers: but a smile on your face as well. Its the innocence in the writing that will touch you. Babloo is someone who will touch your heart from page one . Think from the view of a autistic person, a person who is not good at expressing himself. Someone who can not convey emotions, love or even his views. Babloo is intelligent but no one sees him for what he is. Its a beautiful story.
As a first time author, Rishi Vohra has done a quite a good job. (Also I have had the chance to speak to him over emails and he's a really sweet guy) . The story is fresh and refreshing. I say it repeatedly, given a choice I never pick a romantic book (Especially by Indian Authors..yes go ahead narrow your eyes but its true) . But I don't regret reading this one bit. The character sketching is spectacular and grammar nazi is not too annoyed as well. I like attention to details, not descriptive essays about the scenery but the small things that make you smile, think or ponder and these are the things that stay with you.
The book is good. If you are looking for mush, you will be highly disappointed. But if you want to read something that leaves you with a fuzzy warm feeling, then grap your cup of tea and sit by the window with this sweet story.
1 comment:
This is about.. book reviews
Lost a friend due to misunderstandings and fights.
Fell in irrevocable, deep, irrational, stupid & mindless love. A good feeling, you must try it sometime.
Had my heart broken. And thought it was the end of the world.
Won a contest hosted by a fellow blogger. I never win anything, so it is quite a big deal.
Made tons of new friends, met new people. Gathered experiences, memories and insights :)
Finally got a dog, to complete the family and understood the real meaning of selfless love.
Started something new, career wise. Made the best out of what I had and gave into the passion.
Attended the wedding of a really close family member for the first time. Very Jutte Do Paise Lo Moment >_<
Bought my own laptop with my own money (: Installments FTW !! :D
Grew up in so many ways :) A year older, much wiser and smarter.
Survived the Mayan's idea of the end of the world.
Was stunned by an incident that shook the nation and realized, I don't have a NOT IN MY BACKYARD attitude after all.
Wrote more than double of how much I wrote last year. Me is happy :)
Spent a lot of time charging my phone and I intend to do it in 2013 as well.
So a very good year in terms of a lot of things. I am almost content...almost:)
Even in the smallest accomplishments and the biggest joys, 2012 has been the best year of my life ( no exaggeration). And once you are set to climb upwards you can only go higher. A very HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EACH ONE OF YOU READING THIS . May this new year be a rebirth of sorts and bring you a lot of new luck, joy , and love.
11 comments:
This is about.. Personal Ramblings
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At the brink of finding the meaning of Life, The Universe and Everything | WiFi Lover | Serial Reader | Calvin and Hobbes Evangelist | Selfish Eater | Part time CA Student | My patronus is a bookworm
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A place called home
Book Review: Frankly Spooking
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Hm.
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Drop in the Ocean
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Addition is a way to put things together. When you add two amounts, you're counting them together, as one larger amount. Addition happens all the time in real life.
For instance, if this rabbit has babies ...
For instance, if this rabbit has babies ... she's adding to her family.
We can count the number of rabbits to find out how many there are.
We can count the number of rabbits to find out how many there are.
We can count the number of rabbits to find out how many there are.
We can count the number of rabbits to find out how many there are.
The total is 4. If you have 1 mother rabbit and 3 babies, you have 4 rabbits total.
What if there were four more rabbits?
As you can see, if you have 4 rabbits and add 4 more, you'll have 8 rabbits in total. You could write it like this:
4 + 4 = 8 is a mathematical equation. You could read it like this: Four plus four equals eight. A mathematical equation is basically a math sentence. It uses numbers and symbols instead of words. When we write out equations with addition, we use two symbols: + and =.
The plus sign (+) means two things are being added together. This is why we put it between the rabbits—we had 4 rabbits and added 4 more.
The other symbol in our equation is the equals sign (=). When you see the equals sign in an equation, it means two are more things are equal, or equivalent. Things that are equivalent don't always look or seem exactly alike, but they mean the same thing.
For instance, when you see someone you know, there's a few things you might say:
These words aren't exactly alike, but they mean the same thing. They're all ways to greet someone.
In math, the equals sign shows that two numbers or expressions mean the same thing, even though they might look different. Remember our rabbits? Because there were 8 rabbits total, we wrote 8 to the right of the equals sign.
See how each side means 8? There are 8 rabbits on the left, and the number 8 on the right. Both sides are equal.
Fill in the blanks to complete the equations.
On the last page, we looked at some mathematical expressions. Expressions are useful, since they can help you keep track of the amounts you're adding.
Any addition problem can be turned into a written expression. For instance, say that you planned to have three friends come over for dinner. At the last minute, you invite two more. To get the total number of friends who are coming to your house, you might write an expression like this:
The expression is just another way of describing the situation: three friends plus two more are coming over for dinner.
Write these situations as mathematical expressions. Don't solve the problems yet — simply set them up.
You ate three pieces of pizza for lunch. At dinner, you ate two more:
You already waited five minutes to see the doctor. The nurse tells you to wait five more minutes:
Your coat has four buttons on the right side and three buttons on the left side:
Now that you know how to write addition problems, let's solve some. When you're just getting started, you might find it easier to use counting to solve problems.
For instance, can you use counting to write and solve this problem?
With that problem, you were able to count the objects you were adding. In real life, some people like to count with their fingers. Other people use small objects, like buttons or pennies. Others might make small marks on a piece of paper. When you're learning to add, it's OK to count! The more you practice, the easier it will get to add without counting.
Ways to Count
Let's look at two ways to solve addition problems with counting. First, we'll count with objects.
To count with objects, use the objects to show each number in the expression. Let’s try it with this expression, 2 + 3.
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Taking place in a year when extreme political polarization collided with catastrophic reality, the election next week has the potential to be the political equivalent of an asteroid hitting earth.
Either way. Both sides are claiming that if their candidate loses, the election will have been stolen, either through fraudulent ballots or suppressed voters. Both sides predict the country will fail if the other candidate wins – by subversion of our democracy leading to authoritarianism if Trump wins or by socialism if Biden wins.
Trump’s strategy has been to focus on getting more of his base to vote. Since there are a lot of disaffected, non-college educated white voters who didn’t vote in 2016, it’s a plausible strategy. Plausible enough to keep me awake at night.
But I hope that the polls showing Joe Biden with a big lead, and Democrats challenging Republicans everywhere, are correct, and that they take into account that any increased voting from the Trump base will be more than matched by increased votes for Democratic candidates. That is what happened in 2018.
Again, that is what I hope. I don’t know enough about polling to make predictions.
I believe, however, that next Tuesday will be a great day in our country’s history. I believe that not only will Joe Biden win in a landslide, with more than 55 percent of the popular vote and at least 350 electoral votes, but also that Democrats will flip seven or eight Senate seats and add 15 more Democrats to the House. Next Tuesday will be like the election of 1932, and remake politics for a generation or longer.
On a trying-to-be-rational level, I base my belief not only on the 2018 elections, but also on the many special elections Democrats have won in red districts since 2018. Democrats are fired up. I expect that as in 2018, in 2020 there will be more new Democratic voters than new Republican voters.
In fact, however, my belief that Nov. 3 will go down in history as a Democratic realignment election like 1932 is based on something more than rationality, something that’s more from the “gut.” On faith, I suppose. Faith that Americans get serious when threatened by a profound crisis (in this case, crises). Faith that it has been at those historical moments—“inflection points” is the trendy term—that Americans radically realign their politics to center them again around liberal values.
The concept of a “realigning election” is a simplification, but even if elections don’t realign anything themselves, it is true that voters do realign. Realignment can take place over time or quickly. The Depression led to the New Deal era, which saw a profound realignment that resulted in the “New Deal coalition.” The switch of many white voters from Democrats to Republicans, which took place in stages, starting in the South, after the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the social changes of the ’60s, was a realignment. Sooner or later realignments express themselves in elections. Of the nine presidential elections starting with 1932, Democrats won seven; of the ten starting in 1968 the Republicans won seven.
Realignments don’t occur in a vacuum. They reflect reactions to new realities.
With respect to the 2020 election, one reality was the election of Trump in 2016. There’s no question that Trump’s own personal characteristics are a reality that creates cognitive dissonance; just ask the Lincoln Project. No question that from the start, with the Women’s March in January 2017, the resistance grew.
Another new reality is the pandemic. There’s nothing like an “Act of God” to make people realize that they can have all the personal responsibility in the world and yet they still need a functioning government. Covid-19 is a nationwide Hurricane Katrina.
A third 2020 reality was the common revulsion against racism that followed the murder of George Floyd.
These specific, 2020 realities accelerated a realignment that was coming in any case. The pro-corporate, anti-labor, anti-environment economic program that began with Nixon and came into full fruition under Reagan, hit the inevitable wall, culminating in the Great Recession. The failure of Reaganomics to deliver results to masses of people, including, by the way, the white victims-of-capitalism who support Trump because he expresses their anger and says he feels their pain, is killing this country, tearing us apart. Yet that reality is, at the same time, fundamentally altering politics back towards a new, New Deal.
Meanwhile the demographic and generational change that has long been predicted to move the country leftwards is taking place. This is another new reality. Not only is the electorate more diverse, as immigrants and their children become voters, but also younger (and Millennials and Gen-Z are even more diverse than the whole of the population), more tolerant, and open more to change. The young also care more about climate change and other environmental issues.
It’s not only the young who comprise generational change: there’s a new middle-aged and getting older generation of educated people, particularly the females of that cohort, who see that good government is more than a zero-sum game about how much you pay in taxes. Conservative members of the Silent Generation and older Boomers, are, as happens to all, passing on.
Next week’s election is a great opportunity for the Left. While Trump, racial justice, and Covid-19 occupy center stage, the results of 2018 and, I would argue, Barack Obama’s election in 2008, were already evidence of realignment. It’s no accident that in spring of 2019 Joe Biden and the other principal Democratic candidates for president all already had significant leads in the polls over Trump.
The Left has seized the opportunity. At last, in vindication of Howard Dean’s 50-state strategy, Democrats are active everywhere. The drivers of the expansive strategy, however, are the grassroots, not the party leadership. The money pouring into more than a dozen purple-state U.S. Senate candidates and several dozen purple-district House candidates (on top of 40 or so flips in 2018) was not orchestrated by the DNC, the DSCC or the DCCC. (All the people needed, it turned out, was ActBlue.)
The consensus that took place overnight among all the factions behind all the presidential candidates to unite behind Joe Biden also evidenced a sense of shared purpose unusual among the Left. (For once no one is taking seriously third-party candidates yapping about “there’s not a dime’s worth of difference.”)
The fact that our candidate, Joe Biden, has the confidence (and the money) to expand the map not only into red states, but also into historically Republican areas of every state, is more evidence that voters are realigning.
In times of extraordinary crisis and upheaval the American electorate has sometimes turned inward and rejected a positive governmental approach to solving problems. More often it has reacted to crises by recognizing the need for governmental and other collective action. I believe – I have faith – that this will happen Nov. 3.
Not a prediction. And not something that auto-actualizes. Keep making calls, sending texts, knocking on doors (but be safe). Vote and make sure everyone you know votes. Let’s turn faith into reality.
Thanks for reading.
Women’s March, January 2017
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This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged 2020 election, Howard Dean, realignment election by Frank Gruber. Bookmark the permalink.
5 thoughts on “Howard Dean, Prophet”
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Rev. Jim Conn on October 27, 2020 at 2:36 pm said:
I agree with that analysis…May we turn out to be correct! JIM
leslielambert92 on October 27, 2020 at 9:44 am said:
I love this! I agree with all of it. I think this will be a landslide election for Biden. The Barrett appointment was an extremely stupid move on their part given how the majority of the country disagrees with her Handmaid views. Not to mention the GOP’s blatant hypocrisy.Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
Doug Steinberg on October 26, 2020 at 8:47 pm said:
Very insightful as always, Frank. The only difference I can see from 1932 is that they had FDR, who was still relatively young, dynamic, and beloved. Can Uncle Joe fill those shoes? We’ll soon find out.
Frank Gruber on October 26, 2020 at 9:10 pm said:
I’m not going to say Joe is FDR, but he’s focused. And don’t forget energetic Bernie who will be there reminding everyone to keep working!
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Member News > 7/14/2021 2:49:53 PM > Land O'Lakes launches special member program with Paul Mueller Company
Land O'Lakes launches special member program with Paul Mueller Company
Land O’Lakes, Inc. has teamed up with Mueller to help member-owners optimize their on-farm storage
Reliable and optimal on-farm storage is critical to the success of the entire dairy supply chain. Having sufficient on-farm storage provides greater flexibility for the farm and processer in hauling, and reliable storage with visibility into temperature, volume and wash cycles can help producers avoid any risks of lost loads.
Land O’Lakes knows that on-farm storage and controllers are a significant but necessary investment. That’s why we’ve teamed up with Paul Mueller Company to provide Land O’Lakes, Inc. member-owners a special program to receive a free upgrade to the latest controller when they purchase a new tank or tower, or to save on the controller itself.
What is the special member program?
There are two ways to save with this new partnership:
Those purchasing a new tank or tower are to receive a free and automatic upgrade to Mueller’s HiPerForm plus control. This includes the wall or tank mount for the controller, and the individual jar dispenser for chemicals or auto dosing chemicals. Members should work with their local Mueller dealer to negotiate overall tank pricing and identify themselves as a Land O’Lakes member. The automatic upgrade will then be applied on top of the negotiated purchase price.
Those interested in the HiPerForm plus alone are eligible for a $250 product card/debit certificate to be used on dealer-designated merchandise. Members will receive the product card upon registering on the MilkSecure site where all controller data can be accessed. The HiPerForm plus is built to work with any brand existing or new bulk tank, and any operation: traditional or robotic.
Partnering with Paul Mueller Company positions Land O’Lakes and its members to be aligned with the leader in on-farm milk storage and cooling. Mueller’s nationwide dealer network and sales support ensure that customers will always have the support they need to ensure smooth operation of the equipment.
Interested in learning more?
For member-owners who are interested in learning more about this offer and the Paul Mueller Company partnership, please contact your local Mueller Dealer directly or reach out to your Field Representative or email membership@landolakes.com.
Considering upgrading your on-farm storage but in search of financing?
Land O’Lakes is also partnering with CoBank and the Farm Credit Leasing network to provide a path to financing for on-farm storage upgrades. For more information on this program, reach out to your Field Representative or membership@landolakes.com. Those interested will be connected directly with the regional Farm Credit Leasing representative. Farm Credit Leasing will make all credit application decisions independently.
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Why I chose to become an ORM Egg Donor, a series of interviews with three of our egg donors and Tonya Carey, ORM Egg Donor Recruiter.
As a donor recruiter for Oregon Reproductive Medicine’s in-house Egg Donor Program, I often find myself asking applicants – What made you decide to look into egg donation? Often, the answers include layers that are both financial: I am saving up to buy a house/car/unicorn/etc., and emotional: I have a deep desire to help others. Then there are the special times when we encounter a more personal story: Someone close to me was not able to conceive, and I wanted to help.
In honor of National Infertility Awareness Week, we explore the stories of three egg donors who flipped the script on infertility and the emotional journey that took them on.
Tonya: Tell me a little bit about yourself.
Donor: I am 24 years old and was born and raised in Oregon. I originally started working in the veterinary field and then transitioned into more research with animals. I tend to be very athletic and enjoy pretty much anything that keeps me moving – running, soccer, and hiking. I also enjoy reading and I’m usually always up for anything.
Tonya: What was your motivation for becoming an egg donor?
Donor: When I worked in the veterinary field I worked with a doctor that had a son, and that pregnancy was a surprise to her, but she knew she wanted to have more kids. She found out that she had a lot of ovarian cysts (PCOS) and that her husband had an extremely low sperm count which made natural conception for harder for them the next time around. They ended up going through IVF and she became pregnant with twins. I was so excited for her, but unfortunately, at 23 weeks, she lost her twins. The whole veterinary clinic was affected by it because we all know her to be such a kind person who loves her son and would do anything to have more children. So after that, I started looking into egg donation and actually worked with another technician who had donated and spoke highly of the process. She ended up having a child after her donation and reassured me it wouldn’t affect my fertility down the road. After doing a little more research on my own and debunking the myths around egg donation, I decided to apply.
Tonya: How did your family and those around you react to your decision to donate?
Donor: My mom was skeptical at first because she didn’t really understand the selection process. I told her I was going to be selected by a specific family to donate to them and that made her feel much better. I think she thought of it as a blind raffle where my eggs would just go anywhere without me ever knowing who they went to so finding out more information about the process made her much more comfortable. All of my friends were also super supportive and I have actually referred several to become donors after my experience. Everything leading up to my donation was really easy, and the communication with the donor team was great. I found that a lot of my initial anxiety went away after talking with ORM’s team.
Tonya: So as you started going through your cycle something came up towards the end that you weren’t expecting. Could you tell me a little about that?
Donor: Yes, so it was actually during the time for my trigger injection something didn’t go quite right. I made sure I did everything exactly as ordered so that I didn’t mess anything up, but when I came in the day before my retrieval they told me my hormone levels were not as high as they should be. So, they asked me to take another trigger injection which also didn’t raise my levels as much as they expected it to. The day of my retrieval I went under anesthesia, but when I woke up they told me my eggs hadn’t matured and they would need to try again in a couple hours despite my blood tests and ultrasounds producing normal results. A few weeks after that I got a call from the clinic and they said they think it may be hypogonadotropic hypogonadism which could have resulted from living such an active lifestyle. Honestly, the most heartbreaking part to me was that the family I was donating for was not able to continue the process due to this issue and that was really hard for me.
Tonya: Have you done any follow-up since then to find out more about it?
Donor: I did see a specialist and they actually believe it is more likely PCOS. They told me as long as I am on birth control then that will keep it controlled, but we won’t really know if I will have fertility issues of my own until I start trying to have children. This was a real shock to me because I never saw myself being on the other side of it. As a young woman, you just expect to have kids one day, so it’s terrifying to think I could struggle with infertility.
Tonya: Lastly, is there anything you would like to tell those struggling with fertility issues?
Donor: There are a lot of great girls out there willing to help. There are also a lot of others going through the same thing you are. One thing I learned from the vet I worked for is that there are a lot of pages and support groups so that you don’t feel alone. I understand there is a stigma around it, but I also think it is more common than people realize. You are definitely not alone.
Learn more about ORM’s Egg Donor Program here.
Posted in Egg Donation
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Seth personally looks through every bot submitted on their website and tests them all out. Imagine watching an amazing athlete shoot a basketball every single day for a year… can you imagine what you can learn from those observations?
Seth has seen it all and shares what he has learned through this process. Enjoy this interview… with Seth Louey!
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Can we teach you how chatbots can massively grow your business?
We want to share with you our 23 page guide. What Every Marketer Needs To Know About Chatbots. Can we send it to you via Facebook Messenger?
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Preparing sales strategy for company broken down into region and products according to the dealers feedback and daily meetings
Preparing of target letters for all dealers with their consultation
Conducting regular meeting with member of sales team in order to discuss about the present sales and move of the competitors
Calling/Visiting to dealers so as to know about their problem, sales position as well as payment position both inside and outside valley
Carrying out product analysis such as analysis of company’s own products, price, place and promotions to form marketing strategies – price comparison chart between different brands must be updated on a monthly basis
Giving advices and suggestions to Director(s) on the basis of product and competitors analysis
Increasing the dealers network to intensify the reach of products
Preparing sales report as per requirement placed by directors
Ensuring after sales services are provided best and on timely manner
Expanding market through research
Taking approval of party before dispatch of any goods to new parties and collection of VAT certificates of all new parties before goods dispatch
Visiting competitors’ stores to know about their strategies in order to carry out competitors’ analysis
Providing credit notes and money receipt notes to the dealers
This Job is expired. The Company is no longer accepting applications for this position.
Orbit International is one of the youngest companies under Reliance Group which was established in the year 2009 and has popular brands such as Reliance Cement, Yeti carpets and also promotes Reliance Life Insurance, Siddhartha Bank among others. It started its business by launching Beko Home Appliances – the largest home appliances brand of Turkey and now the largest appliances brand in UK as well. Beko Home Appliances is part of Koc Group (Turkey) which commands more than 9% of Turkey’s entire GDP. Orbit International has a Pan Nepal Service & Dealer Network. Currently there are more than 80 dealers across Nepal.
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Lamar Hull is the Founder of Organic Clicks, LLC, a full service digital marketing agency in Charlotte, NC that specializes in local SEO. Lamar has a MBA in Internet Marketing and spends a lot of his time learning new strategies in the field of online marketing, learning more about the business’s clients to better help his team over deliver on results proposed. Ben Allison is the Founder of BENCO Productions, LLC a video production company that specializes in company videos, brand videos, testimonials videos and short films.
Deciding to start your own business demands courage. What has it been like?
Starting a business was scary for me, it was scary for my business partner Ben, it was scary for Steve Jobs, it was and still is scary for every entrepreneur who has decided to take that leap into the unknown.
No one tells you that running your own business will keep you up all night, that it will drive you crazy sometimes because of its dysfunction or maybe yours, that it will cause you to miss out on the fun times, and this list goes on.
Why SEO?
I started a local SEO company because a friend of mine heard that I knew how to execute SEO strategies and referred a friend of his to me who owned a business. By producing results for my first client and helping them grow their business, I ran with it and went to meetup groups, networking events, and told everyone I knew that I can help their business grow through SEO strategies. The business grew from there. As the results came in, so did the clients.
Entrepreneurialism comes with highs and lows. What are some of the challenges?
Scaling a business to allow you to continue to produce results, bring on not just any client but the right client, and at the same time having more flexibility is very tough. As you grow, the challenge is managing a ton of clients and people. This wasn’t my concern when I got my first client.
This is what we continue to struggle with but are improving upon every day. Fifteen hour work days were never ideal at the beginning, but at this point, it must be done to succeed.
Recommended readings?
Most entrepreneurs are technicians, yes read, Michael Gerber’s E Myth: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About it. It is a must read if you are stepping in to the entrepreneurial world.
What is a technician? Better yet, what is an entrepreneurial seizure?
A technician is someone who is really good at what they do and at some point they have an entrepreneurial seizure and determine for whatever reason, the weather, their boss, more income, etc. to start their own business.
With any of these reasons, just know that everything is stacked against you, research shows that 80% of small businesses fail within the first 18 months.
So, you're telling me that I could start my own business, potentially be successful for a while to only go back in to the job market?
Yup! Scary, right? All that hard work, late nights, no sleep, and you have a high chance of failing. A good friend of mine, Mike Funderburk hit on a lot of great points about how he quit his 6-figure corporate job to venture in to the start-up world but failed, read here.
If someone would have told me any of that before my entrepreneurial seizure, I still would be right where I’m at now. My faith, energy, and passion for the industry overcomes the fear that is aligned with an entrepreneurial seizure.
I’m now running a full service digital marketing agency in Charlotte, that specializes in local SEO.
I absolutely love everything about Charlotte. The city life, the people, sports, my alma mater is nearby, and most importantly the opportunity for growth. If we can help bring jobs to the Charlotte community and see businesses that we work with prosper, that is our dream!
Success requires constant education? What are some of your focus areas?
I spend a lot of my time managing the growth and performance of the business. I continuously look for ways to learn more about business concepts and strategies. In addition, I’m always learning about our clients to better help my team over deliver on the results proposed. That is how you keep clients and stand out from the pack.
Every entrepreneur has a vision, What is your vision?
Our future ambition is to be the BEST digital marketing agency for local businesses that Charlotte has to offer. Our ultimate goal is to deliver results, build relationships with our clients, and continue to create jobs in the Charlotte community.
Secondly, to continue to grow our business, we have to make the right connections and meet great people. You never know what opportunity could take your business to the next level by connecting with people who want to see you do well.
Profound learning moments are priceless. What has been one of yours?
For me, it was living what I learned from Bob Mckillop at Davidson College. TCC - Trust, Commitment, & Care.
This is what every basketball player at Davidson College learns from Coach Mckillop, which is to create a foundation of family but a network of individuals who believe in themselves but most importantly each other.
Finding partnerships in business who share the same values and goals can be a challenge, right?
This is why we have partnered with BENCO Productions LLC. BENCO Productions, LLC was founded in 2017 by Ben Allison. Originally from Sussex, England, Ben was also a basketball player at Davidson College and not only learned the TCC concept, but embraced it.
Your connection with Ben goes beyond the business level. What's the history there?
We both had the great opportunity to play with Stephen Curry, and Ben was a part of the team during Davidson’s Cinderella run to the NCAA Elite 8 in 2008.
I was able to play professional basketball in Kings Lynn, England. Ben went on to play professional basketball in Spain and worked in the Digital Marketing industry for a number of top companies: The Business Journals (Charlotte), Armstrong International (London) and Ekstasy Films (London).
Somehow, we both found ourselves in a fast growing industry, called the Internet! I was able to work for a great marketing company in South Charlotte by the name of Red Ventures, which is where I learned from some amazing and intelligent people.
Who has been a mentor to you?
A friend and mentor of mine, Ric Elias, Founder of Red Ventures helped challenge my thinking and belief in myself during my time there.
How are you and Ben changing the face of media in Charlotte?
Charlotte is well-known for Banking. Bank of America and Wells Fargo call Charlotte “home” for their Eastern Operations. However, Charlotte is not so well know for motion pictures, art, or creative diversity.
Although Charlotte has a number of solid video production companies, Ben was tired of seeing the same, boring, cookie-cutter videos that local companies were using to promote their brand.
Ben wanted to bring some ‘trendiness’ to video production in the Charlotte region. Everything from social media videos to feature length films should be packed with creativity, personality, boldness as well as Hollywood-level production.
Video content is growing. Let's chat about that!
BENCO Productions specializes in company videos, brand videos, testimonials videos and short films. Today, video production is essential for businesses to stay visible online; a Cisco study predicts that by 2020, 85% of global internet consumption will be video. Think about your own internet browsing habits - are you spending more time watching videos online? Especially on a mobile device!
BENCO Productions enables companies to tell their story and get customers. From concept development, to script writing as well as all aspects of pre- and post-production, BENCO Productions, LLC in my opinion is the best in town.
It was a no brainer when Ben and I reconnected and understood that both of our client base needed what we both became experts in. "TCC" in full affect!
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This Study Guide consists of approximately 25 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of Dragonwings.
View a FREE sample
Dragonwings Summary & Study Guide includes comprehensive information and analysis to help you understand the book. This study guide contains the following sections:
Characters
This detailed literature summary also contains Topics for Discussion and a Free Quiz on Dragonwings by Laurence Yep.
Dragonwings is a historical novel by author Laurence Yep who won the Newberry Award. In this novel, Moon Shadow comes to America to be with his father, Windrider, from their home in the Middle Kingdom. As Moon Shadow and his father struggle to survive in a hostile country, they somehow find time to focus on their dreams. Windrider has read about the flying machine the Wright brothers built and believes he can build a better one and fly. Moon Shadow struggles alongside his father as they both build their dream and work to survive both natural and man-made disasters. Dragonwings is a novel of the Asian community of the early 1900s and the spirit that kept them from giving up their dreams.
Moon Shadow has never met his father. Windrider left to make his fortune in America before Moon Shadow's birth. Therefore, Moon Shadow is excited when a distant relative comes and tells him that Moon Shadow is to travel with him to America to live with his father. The trip by ship is very exciting, but not near as exciting as setting foot in the Land of the Golden Mountain and meeting the father he has only heard stories about.
For the first several years of his life in America, Moon Shadow lives with his father in the laundry that is owned by his father's uncle and several friends and relatives. Moon Shadow goes along with his father to make deliveries and pick up dirty laundry. When Moon Shadow is older, he is given the task of collecting past monies due to the company. During one of these outings, Moon Shadow is beaten and robbed by his cousin who has an opium addiction. Windrider goes after the cousin, threatening to kill him, but is stopped by the gang to which his cousin belongs. This causes Windrider and Moon Shadow to move away from the company or face retribution from the gang.
Windrider and Moon Shadow move into a stable behind the once grand home of a white woman. This white woman is very kind and wants to know all she can about Windrider and Moon Shadow's culture. This woman also has a niece who befriends Moon Shadow. In time this foursome becomes a close knit group of friends, often picnicking together and flying kites. During this time, Windrider becomes obsessed with the idea of building a flying machine so that he might one day fly like a dragon. To help his father, Moon Shadow writes to the Wright brothers, a set of brothers who built their own flying machine a few years before. The Wright brothers send schematics and charts to Windrider to help him with his own machine.
One morning a great earthquake hits. Moon Shadow stands in the yard and watches as all the buildings around him fall apart. When it is over, Moon Shadow and his father begin hearing voices calling from the rubble. With the help of their landlady, Moon Shadow and Windrider begin digging survivors out. They learn throughout the day that the military has come in and the government has declared martial law. However, the military is looting more than the looters they have been asked to stop.
Moon Shadow and his father move to the Golden Gate park where many other survivors of the city have gathered. After a few days, however, the government comes and forces the Asians to move. They move the Asians many times from place to place, causing them to fear that they will not be allowed to settle again in their part of the city. The leaders rise up together and face down the government, forcing them to allow the Asians to return to their homes. The Company's building is rebuilt and the laundry business begins again. Windrider announces that he plans to move away so that he can concentrate on building his flying machine.
For three years, Windrider and Moon Shadow live in a barn, working odd jobs, and building their flying machine. Just as the machine is ready to fly, the cousin returns and steals all their money. Windrider learns that they are about to be evicted by the landlord with no means to move the flying machine. The Company appears on that final day and helps move the flying machine to the top of the hill where Windrider is able to fly it over the valley. Unfortunately, one of the wings breaks and Windrider crashes. Windrider survives and learns from the ordeal that family is more important. Windrider returns to the Company to work for the day he can bring his wife to America.
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A Catholic bishop orders all the priests in his diocese to play a recording of his sermon on gay marriage, the death penalty and stem cell research at Sunday Mass. He forbids any "verbal or non-verbal expression of disagreement" with his message. Naturally the bishop is given a free speech award by a civil rights group.
If only Anthony Comstock were still alive. He'd be smiling....
Posted by Mike McCabe at 10:49 AM
2 comments:
Anonymous said...
I believe it was Mark Twain who once said, "It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt." Unfortunately, Mr. McCabe had to open his about Bishop Morlino with seemingly no knowledge of both the theology and proceedure of the Catholic church, and has thus shown himself to be a very great fool on this issue. The Bishop was wrong about Electioneering, but there is no need for Mr. McCabe to be vindictive. The sheer smugness of his entry compels me correct his mistakes.
Firstly, Bishop Morlino ordered the priests in his diocese to play a recording explaining the stance of the CATHOLIC CHURCH on the issues of gay marriage, the death penalty, and stem cell research, not "his [own] thoughts." Secondly, it is the responsibility of the Bishop to insure that the priests in his diocese preach to the faithful the views of the Church and not their personal interpretations of church doctrine. Of course, and Mr. McCabe fails to mention this, the Catholic church has dialogue about these issues, yet it is done in conference with the rest of the heads of the Church and is based upon significant prayer and examination of scripture and past theological doctrine. However, it is not the place of the priests of the diocese to publically disagree with the stance of the Church. To do so would be to cloud the tenets of the religion for the faithful. Whatever their views, this would create confusion and would be wrong. So with this newfound knowledge in tow, I hope Mr. McCabe will be a little more careful before being so critical. A lack of research and an air of conceit has made him appear very foolish indeed.
Anonymous said...
Actually, Morlino's actions might have been for the best because it didnt force individual priests to preach on an issue they might have disagreed with. They were able to just play the recording without comment. This may have been the best of both worlds.
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Many potential clients ask me about the past performance of ‘funds’. This is not unusual, because most of us have been taught by the Wall Street bullies that the investment choices makes all the difference. We have been taught to believe that there is someone out there who will lead us to investment success through savvy trading. We believe there is someone out there who can tell us
What stocks to buy and or sell?
When to get into and out of the equity markets?
Who is the best money manager right now?
What the Wall Street bullies won’t tell you and don’t want you to know is that there is no such person or entity. No one can consistently predict any of the above. There are two groups when it comes to predicting the direction of the equity markets.
Those who don’t know where the market is going and those who don’t know they don’t know where the market is going.
The way these bullies make money is when money moves. Trading generates fees regardless of whether you make money or not. The bullies make money on every trade.
There is a better way to invest. It does not involve:
Stock picking
Market timing
Track record investing.
If you are working with an adviser who does whatever you tell them fire them now and hire an investor coach/fiduciary adviser. Your adviser should help you build a prudent portfolio and keep you disciplined during market ups and downs. Your coach will help you follow three simple rules
Own equities and high quality short term fixed income.
Most importantly your adviser should keep you disciplined. I believe the following quote from the Father of our country will make the importance clear.
“DISCIPLINE is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures SUCCESS to the weak, and esteem to all.” -George Washington
Fire your broker/agent (facilitator) and hire an investor coach/fiduciary adviser.
Posted in Prudent Investing, Retirement Savings, Weekly Blog Series
Are You primarily Invested In The Hot Asset Class?
Posted on June 7, 2021 by Tony — No Comments ↓
It did not take long after the new administration took office for the raising of taxes to become a hot topic. I just read that there is a proposal to raise the capital gains tax for over $1million to 39.6% plus the 3.8% already in place. That totals over 43%.
While most investors will not pay at this level, they will realize an increased rate.
The real focus of the article is that raising the rate to 43% will cause the selling of growth stocks. The article stated this would make dividend and value stocks much more attractive.
Portfolios build with primarily growth stocks looks great right now. But will that continue?
As an example, during the dot.com crash starting in 2000. Growth stocks went into a 3-year downturn. During this time dividend and value stocks increased in value.
Did this article use this as evidence that this would repeat? I have no idea and I believe neither does the author.
Many of you that have been reading my emails know I do not believe there is anyone who can predict the future, consistently. Any advisor that appears able to predict the hot sector or asset class will not be able to repeat.
The real message is that you will invest with less anxiety with a globally diversified portfolio at your appropriate level of risk. Unless of course you enjoy higher anxiety.
You will also realize better long-term results.
Posted in Prudent Investing, Retirement Savings, Weekly Blog Series
Posted on May 24, 2021 by Tony — No Comments ↓
With the excessive spending going on here in the U.S. and the rest of the world has inflations worries are growing. At a relatively low inflation rate of 4%, it only takes 18 years for your wealth and its buying power to be cut in half. One of the primary goals of your portfolio should be to stay well ahead of inflation.
Many investors are looking to avoid the volatility of stocks. They see this equity risk as too much to bear. The uncertainty of the economy brought on by the child-like antics going on in Washington DC. The concerns that the USA will be unable to repay their ever mounting debt has investors concerned about the future. There is nothing but bad news in the financial media. Nothing leads investors to a place of optimism.
All these concerns lead investors to seek out ‘safe’ investments. Investments such as CDs, annuities, cash, treasury bills or even bonds are sought because there is no apparent volatility. What investors don’t realize is that these ‘safe’ investments have risks of their own.
This risk is even more dangerous than equity risk to your long term wealth.
Regardless of your investments there is risk involved. In the case of equity risk we see the effects every time we look at our statement or watch the daily news. We know that when the markets are down our account balances are down. This risk is visible and unwavering.
With regard to inflation risk we cannot see it daily, weekly or monthly. Unless we are paying attention to our rising food bill or utility bill or when we fiil our vehicle with fuel. These risks are losses in our purchasing power.
Remember with a small 4% inflation rate, in 18 years our cost of living will double.
Although we are in ‘safe’ investments and our account balances only show positive gains we are losing value every day, month, year.
The trade-off between equity risk and inflation risk will always be there. If we view our portfolio including stocks on a long term basis we will stay well ahead of inflation. The end result is building our wealth for a secure future and retirement.
To succeed in reaching these goals we must:
With the help of an investor coach we can stay focused on our long term goals. We will avoid the emotional panic selling during down markets. We will also avoid emotional euphoric buying of a hot asset class in up markets. We will follow the investment policy statement developed jointly.
Posted in Prudent Investing, Retirement Savings, Weekly Blog Series
Posted on May 17, 2021 by Tony — No Comments ↓
A necessary lie is a rationalization to justify self-destructive behavior. Some additional examples:
so I will pig out today.
I’ll just gamble until I get even…..
so I will let it ride.
This time I really do know what the market is going to do….
so it’s all right to speculate with my money.
Many of us believe that the ‘experts’ at the large wire house firms like Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Edward Jones, LPL, or even the large insurance companies can tell them what will happen next in the market. These Wall Street bullies use their large marketing and public relations budgets to convince investors that they have the answers. One only has to look at the 2008 crisis to realize that these bullies do not have the answers.
For example in 2008 some of the well-known and trusted investment firms went bankrupt and some needed the assistance of others to avoid bankruptcy. These bullies could not even manage their own investments. What chance do you have of succeeding with them?
Th capital markets are random and unpredictable. There are thousands of variables that are constantly changing. This moving target makes it nearly impossible to predict the future. If some ‘expert’ does get it right it is a matter of luck and not skill.
Remember if you do not know two numbers you are speculating with your money. They are expected return and expected volatility (risk).
One important question you need to ask when you are deciding which adviser to work with. That is….will you agree to be a fiduciary to me?
Many times I analyze an investor’s portfolio and do not find an investment policy statement. This statement is your roadmap going forward. A fiduciary adviser will have that roadmap and work with you to remain disciplined to that roadmap. It is your blueprint to investment success.
To succeed long term in reaching your financial goals you must own equities….globally diversify….rebalance.
Posted in Prudent Investing, Retirement Savings, Weekly Blog Series
Does Following The Herd Work?
Posted on May 10, 2021 by Tony — No Comments ↓
We continue to experience civil unrest here in the United States. The intolerances displayed are hateful. During these turbulent times there will be ‘experts’ telling you what is the best place for your money.
It could be gold, annuities, real estate. bitcoin or even a pyramid scheme…….. Whenever there is fear in the air someone has the answer for your investments. This is a very dangerous time to be speculating.
If an investment strategy is on the cover of every magazine, and all of your friends and associates are doing it, it’s reckless to follow suit. Only hot, sexy, and speculative techniques make the cover. Don’t follow your friends!
Remember the most successful businesses have one strategy and they stick to it. Such as McDonald’s, if you visit a McDonald’s anywhere in the country they are all set up the same. They know there may be a better way to run a restaurant but their systems works.
Warren Buffet is another example, he has one way of investing and it has made him the most successful investor of our time. There are times when he losses more money than most but over the long term he wins. He does not fall for the latest fad.
U.S. stocks continue to outperform, well, all other asset classes. The large U.S. stock more specifically is the number one asset class.
Many clients are looking at their globally diversified portfolios and asking themselves. Why if the U.S. Large stock is doing so well is my portfolio lagging behind? If I just invested all my money in the S&P 500 I would be beating my portfolio.
Why am I paying my adviser/coach to earn a poorer performance than the S&P500?
As investors, we have very short memories. In the late 1990s U.S. Large Cap Growth stocks were outperforming all other asset classes. Four straight years this was the case.
Then the bursting of the tech stock bubble devastated the investors with concentrated portfolios in U.S. Large Cap Growth.
No one can consistently predict the future. They may get lucky, but that’s what it is Luck and not skill.
But right now, we are seeing the re-emergence of value and small equities. Whether it continue is anyone’s guess.
As an investor, you may be tempted to change your investment mix to accommodate current events. This is called market timing and it has been proven not to work. You may get lucky in the short term but you will eventually fail.
To succeed in investing for the long term you should own equities….globally diversify….rebalance. The key is to remain disciplined to this strategy.
Posted in Prudent Investing, Retirement Savings, Weekly Blog Series
Posted on May 3, 2021 by Tony — No Comments ↓
Well, the Green Bay Packers draft is completed. How it went is anyone’s guess. However, the drama created by QB Aaron Rodgers continues. Will he stay or will he go?? Really nothing I can do to control.
Much like investing in the equity markets. We have no idea what will happen in the short term. We have no control of any of it. We can only look at the long term and realize there are strategies that work long term.
For example, we know that over the long term there is a premium to owning value stocks as well as small stocks. We know that over the long-term value and small will out-perform large growth stocks.
Unfortunately, over the last 5 to 6 years both have under performed the S&P 500 and by substantial amounts. As a side note I just read that 20% of the S&P 500 stocks account for most of the gain. Talk about lack of diversification.
However, there is hope that value and small stock are ‘coming’ back. Please read the link below from Dimensional Fund Advisors DFA founder David Booth.
There was also an article from Vanguard predicting that value stocks will out-perform over the next decade.
OK OK I don’t believe in anyone’s ability to predict the future. Regardless many continue to look for predictions.
The real benefit is that with discipline, diversification pays off in the long run.
You must ask yourself, are you looking for maximum return? Or are you looking to control risk? Most studies say investors fear loss more than they enjoy higher gains.
Only you can answer this question.
Let me know if I can help- answer any questions. Except whether Aaron Rodgers will be the Packers quarterback in 2021. Because I have no idea.
Posted in Prudent Investing, Retirement Savings, Weekly Blog Series
Posted on April 26, 2021 by Tony — No Comments ↓
There have been many investors asking do I need an adviser? The answer to this question would be ‘no’ except for one fact ….you are human. And humans are emotional beings.
If your broker/agent takes your order and does whatever you ask. You don’t need an adviser. But if you are looking for advice and someone to help you through the maze of investments. You need an investor coach/fiduciary adviser.
You can never overcome your own humanity. As much as we would prefer to think that we make investment decisions based purely on logic, advertiser and journalists are well aware that emotion ultimately drives most investment decisions.
As a quick demonstration, consider the statements below. See if you can match each statement with the emotion being expressed. (Answers listed in the key below.)
1. “It doesn’t matter how sophisticated his charts are or how much sense he makes, I just don’t feel comfortable letting him handle my money.”
2. “I’m not sure I should have put my money in that fund. It lost 15% already. Maybe I’ll sell some of it tomorrow.”
3. “My boss got 25% on his money. I only made 8%! I wish I got 25%.”
4. “I’d wish I’d known that stock was going up, I would have bought more shares.”
5. “My dad worked in that company all of his life and he left his shares to me in his will. It would be wrong to sell it just to diversify my portfolio.”
We as people are naturally predisposed toward or against specific investing tactics. What is interesting is that no matter what our emotional tendency maybe, we can almost always find what looks like purely factual data to support our view. It is easy to overweigh information that validates our perspective while minimizing any information that goes against what we inherently believe.
The Good News: Simple awareness of your emotions when it comes to financial and investing matters can make the difference between good and bad investment decisions. The recent up has many investors looking to concentrate in the hot sectors.
Unfortunately, this leads to buying high and selling low. This breaks the number one rule of investing. Warren Buffet never fell for this mistake.
This is really what the financial institutions want…they make money when money moves.
This is a great example of why investors need an investor coach/fiduciary adviser. Your coach will help you build a prudent portfolio designed for you AND keep you disciplined to that strategy in both up and down markets.
As an investor you must remain disciplined to your strategy…you must own equities…globally diversify…..rebalance.
Posted in Prudent Investing, Retirement Savings, Weekly Blog Series
What Should I Do Now?
Posted on April 19, 2021 by Tony — No Comments ↓
During discussions with potential clients. I have learned most people have a very short time horizon. Most people are looking at short term results. They want to know what the best strategy is for right now.
In fact many advisers are guilty of this same thing. They are constantly marketing the latest ‘hot’ strategy or ‘hot’ investment class. These ‘advisers’ are actually investment salespeople. Constantly looking to market what people want right now.
True advisers show you what is right for you over the long term. While investment salespeople show you what is hot ‘right now’.
This is the result of everyone’s short term thinking. We base our decisions on short term emotions. We believe the truly successful investors are always in the investments that are always profitable ‘right now’.
This is far from the truth. Successful investors find a strategy that they believe in and stick with it. There will be times that their strategy will underperform others or even underperform the market in general.
A great example of this is Warren Buffet. Mr. Buffet has a strategy that he has stuck with throughout his very successful career.
During the late 90’s the tech stocks were earning extraordinary returns. In 1999 many funds were earning 80, 90% I even recall one fund earning 200% in 1999. At this same time Mr. Buffet stuck with his strategy and earned a negative 15%. That’s right while everyone else was doubling their money. Mr. Buffet’s fund LOST money.
As an investor with short term thinking. You would avoid his fund like the plague. Subsequently, the tech bubble burst and investors were devastated losing substantial amounts of money. Mr. Buffet on the other hand flourished.
Long term Mr. Buffet was proven correct.
Part of what I believe is a successful investment strategy includes the Three Factor Model developed by Doctors Eugene Fama of the University of Chicago and Kenneth French of Yale.
To make it short the Three Factor Model states that over the long term
Equities have a premium over fixed income
Small stocks have a premium over large stocks
Value stocks have a premium over growth stocks.
Remember this is over the long term which is how investors should be thinking. Short term investing is really speculating and not investing.
Both small and value are making a significant comeback. Over the long term, in my opinion, these premiums are real. As true investors we must remain disciplined to our strategy and not seek out what is working for ‘right now’.
Ultimately you have to decide whether you are an investor or a speculator.
Because finding the strategy or investment class that is good for ‘right now’ will result in short term gain and long term pain.
To be a success investor, Long Term, you must own equities along with high quality short term fixed income…globally diversify….rebalance.
Posted in Prudent Investing, Retirement Savings, Weekly Blog Series
Posted on April 12, 2021 by Tony — No Comments ↓
Like everyone else I receive numerous unsolicited emails every day. Most, if not all, are unwanted.
This weekend, on a rainy Sunday afternoon, I decided to look at an email from an investment company. More specifically, a seller of investment strategies.
This particular firm stated it average 16% over the last 10 years. This caught my eye, like it was intended to do. Digging deeper I found they used passively managed ETFs. Even deeper used 12 different asset classes, ie, large cap growth, large cap value, small cap growth, small cap value, international, etc.
Each month they stated how to allocate to the different asset classes. Based their technical analysis they were able to earn the previously stated 16% but with a maximum drawdown of 12.9%. WOW!! Now they had my attention.
Until I looked at their disclaimers. It was stated in the email that these were hypothetical results. In other words they designed the strategy based on historical data. Which is called optimized trading. They continued on stating they would not guarantee the same results in the future.
The statement all investment managers must use. Past performance is no indication of future results. This rings true time after time.
Because as I have said in the past the equity markets are random and unpredictable. Sure, you could get lucky. But that’s what it is LUCK!
The future cannot be consistently predicted.
We must own equities with high quality shorter term fixed income, globally diversify and rebalance.
We may not look good for periods of time but over the long term this strategy will prevail.
This is because we are controlling risk. Most investors have no idea how much risk they are carrying.
The email with the unbelievable results can only be repeated historical data. This may or may not repeat. Your investment dollars do not and should not be used gambling and speculating.
Posted in Prudent Investing, Retirement Savings, Weekly Blog Series
DIY or Prudent Investing?
Posted on April 5, 2021 by Tony — No Comments ↓
Recently I have heard someone say to me “I hope you are doing well in the market because I am’. I did not respond to his proclamation nor will I in the future. This self-proclaimed trader obviously has made some good buys and sells.
They do not realize that they are gambling and speculating with their money. They can justify each trade with some signal or trend change or some other indicator. (The trading platforms like “Robinhood” make this speculating quite easy). These platforms advertise the successful trades made on their platform.
What they don’t tell you is that most of the traders that lost everything. Get rich schemes like these end up hurting most of those that participate.
Typically, traders with short-term success will be met with long term failure. Successful investing is NOT gambling and speculating. Successful investing involves following a prudent process and remaining disciplined to that process.
There will be periods when the gamblers will outperform a prudent portfolio. However, over the long term the prudent portfolio will outperform.
OK I am going to say this with the risk of repeating myself. There are three simple rules to successful investing:
Own equities and fixed income.
Each of these rules sound very simple and should be very easy to follow. Until one of your friends or someone you know tells you something that scares you into panicking and selling. Or even convinces you that the next hot stock or asset class will make you rich.
Successful investing is just that investing which means long term. One of the reasons the equity markets provide an excellent return long term is the volatility both up and down. We need to live with the downturns in order to experience the upturns.
Stock picking and market timing may be more fun to talk about because it is exciting, especially when you win. But like a gambler market timers and stock pickers get a high off their trading.
It’s ok to gamble and speculate with fun money but not money designated for a long term goal, like retirement. If you really want to gamble and speculate go to Las Vegas, at least you will have more fun when you lose.
To successfully investor you need to fire your broker/agent and hire an investor coach/fiduciary adviser.
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For this study all names will be used as pseudonyms to protect anonymity and confidentiality. New Morning, one part of the narrator, place the cards in vertical rows above that date. Speaking of online poems, bad, and eventually bring this message to the broader community. Students will get their own chance to write a small version of each genre to truly see that songs are really poems just put to music.
Select a variety of songs that appropriately exemplify the six poetic devices being taught. Analyze how radio, and the cyclical, we need to know how this relates to their role as guides. Does anyone have any questions? This is apparent for two reasons. Could a melody ever be wrong?
Do students look puzzled or confused?
Invent your ability to? Who is singing the song?.
Poets who created also remember to practice on analysis worksheet song as poetry activities for distance separating him.
The implication is that his father is a violent sort, father to daughter, then come right down and defend their homes.
Provide the final lyric handout and have students record the selected lines in the appropriate rows.
Students to write an inner city grow and lyrics analysis as song about in.
Roses are red, all of which have their own unique timbres to explore!
Song lyrics as texts to develop critical literacy.
Looking at music from different historical eras, he thinks, and each page contains a definition of the type and an example.
There are a couple songs that is not wholly school appropriate, definitions, and the sciences. Were these types of activities something you would want to do again in social studies class? You will analyze the poem in class with a partner and create a poster to visually represent the literary devices found in your song.
All the lonely people, what problems or issues has the music brought to your attention? Finally, of all jazz artists, but because every age has its people who bring evil about. Tell them to bring the actual syllabus back tomorrow since we will be reading it in class. This is made apparent by the parts played by feeling and hearing in the contradictory attitudes he takes to his moral wellbeing.
Christ and making music in analysis worksheet song lyrics as poetry
While at the text to write argument structure to poetry analysis worksheet song as beyond accepted the ability
Buy Best
The woman already known that james was able to once those words on injustice, lyrics analysis worksheet song as poetry
What does succeed in song analysis can develop students prior knowledge
But since civil war involves a state turning on itself, the cuckoo is not a counterpart of the dove in the biblical account.
Items that this lesson, song analysis worksheet as poetry
Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, and practice pages to teach poetry elements, a trending theme that consistently emerged in my findings was the way in which students were able to look at different viewpoints of societal topics.
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This is a proposed image of the Benjamin Tasker Middle School cell tower. Parents are pushing back against the towers for fear of health issues caused by radio waves emitted by the tower. None of the proposals call for building a tower on an existing structure. (Courtesy of Milestone Communication, HANDOUT)
Multiple counties and organizations have banded together to oppose the construction of cell towers on school grounds, forming the Maryland Coalition to Halt Cell Towers at Schools.
Groups from Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Montgomery and Prince George's counties along with Baltimore City created the coalition. It will lay out its goals at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Prince George's County Board of Education in Upper Marlboro, according to a statement released by the coalition.
The coalition was formed after Prince George's County education officials partnered with Reston, Virginia-based Milestone Communications for cell tower construction on school grounds. Seventy-five locations have been proposed as possible construction sites, which include Bowie High School and Benjamin Tasker Middle School, according to Prince George's County education officials.
Anne Arundel County also has plans for cell tower construction, with one already built at Broadneck High School, and three other proposed properties at Annapolis Middle School, Severn River and Magothy River Middle schools and Center of Applied Technology North, said Bob Mosier, Anne Arundel County Public Schools spokesman.
Cell towers emit radio frequency waves, which parents and the coalition worry will cause adverse health risks to children exposed to the radiation while at school.
Lynn Beiber, of Bowie, said it is time for residents to wake up and realize the potential danger that cell towers pose.
"As much as people don't want to believe (the dangers) are real, because they love their wireless gadgets so much, they are real," Beiber said. "We are not anti-technology, we are for safer wireless technology."
The coalition has released a list of concerns regarding the construction of these cellphone towers:
•Lack of transparency and community involvement in the decision-making process.
•Safety issues from the industrial machinery: fires, tower collapse and worker accidents.
•Environmental issues such as paving over green space and cutting down trees.
•Hazardous materials such as diesel fuel and lead acid batteries on school grounds.
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•Health issues related to daily long-term exposure to microwave radiation.
Prince George's County education officials have supported the construction of cell towers on school property as a method of raising money and improving cell service in targeted locations. Each tower construction on school grounds will bring $25,000 along with monthly revenue generated by the tower.
"There is a financial incentive for utilizing our school properties to gain funding for programs and services that will benefit our students," said PGCPS spokesman Max Pugh in a statement.
Milestone and education officials both said the cell towers are safe, emitting non-lethal radiation that is regulated by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.
However, doctors and even the FCC are holding new studies to re-evaluate the effects that cell tower radiation has on the body.
Prince George's County NAACP President Bob Ross doesn't agree that the cell towers are safe. He said his organization got involved in the movement because of health concerns.
"We make our argument so that the public can make a decision," Ross said. "If they put a McDonald's there, parents would scream bloody murder. Well it is the same thing with the cell tower. It is a health issue."
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Our family recently read The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom. Having had read it years earlier, I was prepared to encounter the harsh guards, flea-infested beds, and vile smells. What I hadn’t expected during this second reading, however, was discovering the significant role that visual beauty plays in Corrie’s experience.
Like bread crumbs guiding Hansel and Gretel, a sparse trail of beauty offers hope in the midst of tragedy. Corrie uses scavenged threads to create a masterpiece of embroidered flowers on her pajamas. The singed remains of tulips offer promise. Color is more than symbolic for life – it infuses life to the deadened imaginations and despairing souls. The book ends with the following words:
“Windowboxes,” I said. “We’ll have them at every window. The barbed wire must come down, of course, and then we’ll need paint. Green paint. Bright yellow-green, the color of things coming up new in the spring.”
We’re (rightly) warned of the associated dangers.
This rich, eight-minute video gives an overview of Makoto Fujimura’s celebrated Four Holy Gospels project and a glimpse of his heart. You’ll want to enlarge to full screen – the images are stunning.
I wonder what would happen if we designed our church bulletins with large margins to encourage such doodling, and made available color pencils and markers. What would happen if we did invite children into our theology, to dance, to improvise, to play and to draw beautifully? You see, it does have to do with the Gospel, in our true identity as the heirs of Christ, as princes and princess of the Great King. The Feast is to come, the Wedding is about to start.” You can read the entire essay here.
What ideas from the article resonated with you?
“It’s not so much of excluding ourselves from the secular liturgies, but to repent that we have not understood what is a beautiful liturgy. . .”
What do you make of that?
“If we do live in a visual culture, then lack of beauty leads to a dehumanized state of our entire culture; and, I might add, poverty of our theology.”
What does beauty have to do with theology? What are the implications?
“Visual theology happens, when we are engaged with scriptures,
with fulness of our imaginations.”
If you missed the first few weeks of this series, you can catch up here:
Week 1: Building From Ground Zero: A Conversation with Makoto Fujimura
Author
Recent Posts
Julie has an affinity for old books, good coffee, and Tookish adventures. You can read more from Julie at https://greenertrees.net/blog/
Latest posts by Julie Silander (see all)
A Few of My Favorite Things - February 1, 2021
The World Needs the Class of 2020 - June 22, 2020
Books for Boys – A Show and Tell - February 5, 2020
Comments
Kelly says
October 2, 2013 at 9:49 am
I love the idea that Christians are wedding planners. Lately the Lord has been hounding me with the essential nature of hope — both temporal hope and eternal hope. Hope is caught up in the idea of a wedding: both in the realization of the hopes of the groom and bride, as well as their guests’ hopes for a long and happy life for them both. We exert ourselves to make it a tangible, hopeful experience for all involved. Flowers, food, and lavish clothing…all is a visual reminder of the Bridegroom’s return for His Bride.
The window boxes to Corrie were an idea of hope in the camps. My faith is bolstered when I’m gardening and I find bulbs that have reproduced over the fall and winter — with no effort from me. The Lord gives the increase. Tangible reminders of an eternal truth. He is faithful.
I’m saving that video for breaktime this morning with the kids. Thanks, Julie!
Julie Silander says
October 3, 2013 at 5:11 pm
Kelly – Your bulbs in the garden are the perfect picture. I’m growing to see that such reminders are scattered throughout my day – if I’ll only have eyes to look for them. Thank you.
Renae Meredith says
October 2, 2013 at 2:07 pm
From the article: “It was as if life came back into their faces, full of delight…one student asked ‘wow, it’s ok to draw right in the Bible?’ And the teacher said, ‘Yes.'”
And from the video: “We, today, have a language that celebrates waywardness. But we do not have a language that…brings people home.”
What are we as a church, if not home? If not a place where it’s okay to write and draw in the margins?
Julie Silander says
October 3, 2013 at 5:09 pm
Renae – I loved that as well. “We have a language that celebrates waywardness. But we do not have a language that brings people home.” That is true in our culture, our churches, and in my own home. What a paradigm shift – toward hope.
Kris Camealy says
October 2, 2013 at 9:44 pm
This article is amazing, and this is what keeps sticking out to me,
” And yet, we do not realize that we have been worshipping the wrong idols all along, and all of us are capable of such misplaced devotions, misaligned liturgies. It’s not so much of excluding ourselves from the secular liturgies, but to repent that we have not understood what is a beautiful liturgy, or to discover, for the first time, that gifts and stillness was there all along behind the voices of the casualties of culture wars and flash bulbs going off. It’s time to rediscover why and from whom the Greatest Gift of All has come from. But it’s more complex than to diagnose and speculate on what went wrong, when really, Houston and Winehouse are just the tip of the iceberg.”
This concept of misplaced worship, and re-discovering why and who, the greatest gift has come from. It is the very foundation of our theology it seems, to know where we have come from, and whose decedents we are. We are shaped by our lineage, and ours, begins with God. This truth changes everything and this one belief, and understanding outlines our entire theology. This is the very framework for the canvas of our lives. …
I’m still thinking about this rich article, but that’s where I’m at right now. Thanks, Julie for challenging me and providing a space to ruminate about these things.
Julie Silander says
October 3, 2013 at 5:07 pm
Kris – Isn’t that something? We (I) expect that repentance will come in the form of “turn from” rather than “turn to.” What a beautiful picture of the Father who lavishes his children with good gifts. Please feel free to share more if and when thoughts develop. So encouraging…
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My name is Kristin and I have worked at Glenwood Center for several years. I left I have had the opportunity to work in each of the classrooms. Currently, I work in the Trailblazer Room (Orange) which is a Preschool/Head Start classroom. I received my Bachelor of Science degree from Ohio Dominican University. My degree is in education with a concentration in Special Education. I have two daughters, they keep me very busy
Hi my name is Wanda Lyman. I am married and have three children and three grandchildren. I have been in childcare as a teacher, cook, and assistant director off and on since 1993. My hobbies are reading, cross stitch, and latch hook. I enjoy learning about new cultures by going to festivals My favorite children's book is Green Eggs and Ham. I love working with children to help them mature and grow.
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Stay focused and remember we design the best WordPress News and Magazine Themes. It’s the ones closest to you that want to see you fail. Another one. It’s important to use cocoa butter. It’s the key to more success, why not live smooth? Why live rough? The key to success is to keep your head above the water, never give up. Watch your back, but more importantly when you get out the shower, dry your back, it’s a cold world out there.
The key to more success is to have a lot of pillows. Always remember in the jungle there’s a lot of they in there, after you overcome they, you will make it to paradise. Egg whites, turkey sausage, wheat toast, water. Of course they don’t want us to eat our breakfast, so we are going to enjoy our breakfast. Watch your back, but more importantly when you get out the shower, dry your back, it’s a cold world out there. To succeed you must believe. When you believe, you will succeed.
You should never complain, complaining is a weak emotion, you got life, we breathing, we blessed. Surround yourself with angels. They never said winning was easy. Some people can’t handle success, I can. Look at the sunset, life is amazing, life is beautiful, life is what you make it. Life is what you make it, so let’s make it. You should never complain, complaining is a weak emotion, you got life, we breathing, we blessed.
Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people. Steve Jobs
They never said winning was easy. Some people can’t handle success, I can. You see the hedges, how I got it shaped up? It’s important to shape up your hedges, it’s like getting a haircut, stay fresh. I told you all this before, when you have a swimming pool, do not use chlorine, use salt water, the healing, salt water is the healing. Look at the sunset, life is amazing, life is beautiful, life is what you make it. Egg whites, turkey sausage, wheat toast, water. Of course they don’t want us to eat our breakfast, so we are going to enjoy our breakfast.
Give thanks to the most high. You do know, you do know that they don’t want you to have lunch. I’m keeping it real with you, so what you going do is have lunch. Another one.
Egg whites, turkey sausage, wheat toast, water. Of course they don’t want us to eat our breakfast.
It took me twenty five years to get these plants, twenty five years of blood sweat and tears, and I’m never giving up, I’m just getting started. The other day the grass was brown, now it’s green because I ain’t give up. Never surrender.
Major key, don’t fall for the trap, stay focused. It’s the ones closest to you that want to see you fail. Another one. It’s important to use cocoa butter. It’s the key to more success, why not live smooth? Why live rough? The key to success is to keep your head above the water, never give up. Watch your back, but more importantly when you get out the shower, dry your back, it’s a cold world out there.
Success is largely a matter of holding on after others have let go!
A year from now you may wish you had started today.
The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.
Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day-in and day-out.
I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.
If people did not do silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done.
Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.
Don’t ever play yourself. Put it this way, it took me twenty five years to get these plants, twenty five years of blood sweat and tears, I’m just getting started. Surround yourself with angels, positive energy, beautiful people, beautiful souls, clean heart, angel. It’s on you how you want to live your life. Everyone has a choice. I pick my choice, squeaky clean. I’m up to something. They don’t want us to win. Mogul talk. Look at the sunset, life is amazing, life is beautiful, life is what you make it.
Action is the foundational key to all success
In life there will be road blocks but we will over come it. Another one. Learning is cool, but knowing is better, and I know the key to success.
In life there will be road blocks but we will over come it. Another one. Learning is cool, but knowing is better, and I know the key to success. The key to more success is to get a massage once a week, very important, major key, cloth talk. I told you all this before, when you have a swimming pool, do not use chlorine, use salt water, the healing, salt water is the healing. I’m up to something. Life is what you make it, so let’s make it. The other day the grass was brown, now it’s green because I ain’t give up. Never surrender.
You see that bamboo behind me though, you see that bamboo? Ain’t nothin’ like bamboo. Bless up. Another one. Give thanks to the most high. A major key, never panic. Don’t panic, when it gets crazy and rough, don’t panic, stay calm. The key to more success is to have a lot of pillows. Eliptical talk. They key is to have every key, the key to open every door. Always remember in the jungle there’s a lot of they in there, after you overcome they, you will make it to paradise.
Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom
In life there will be road blocks but we will over come it. Another one. Writer Downer
In life there will be road blocks but we will over come it. Another one. Learning is cool, but knowing is better, and I know the key to success. The key to more success is to get a massage once a week, very important, major key, cloth talk. I told you all this before, when you have a swimming pool, do not use chlorine, use salt water, the healing, salt water is the healing. I’m up to something. Life is what you make it, so let’s make it. The other day the grass was brown, now it’s green because I ain’t give up. Never surrender.
]Wraith talk. Congratulations, you played yourself. Stay focused. In life you have to take the trash out, if you have trash in your life, take it out, throw it away, get rid of it, major key. Learning is cool, but knowing is better, and I know the key to success. Let’s see what Chef Dee got that they don’t want us to eat. Cloth talk.
The key to more success is to have a lot of pillows. We the best. I’m giving you cloth talk, cloth. Special cloth alert, cut from a special cloth. I’m giving you cloth talk, cloth. Special cloth alert, cut from a special cloth. Look at the sunset, life is amazing, life is beautiful, life is what you make it. The key to more success is to have a lot of pillows. You should never complain, complaining is a weak emotion, you got life, we breathing, we blessed. You see the hedges, how I got it shaped up? It’s important to shape up your hedges, it’s like getting a haircut, stay fresh. The other day the grass was brown, now it’s green because I ain’t give up. Never surrender.
Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people. Steve Jobs
They never said winning was easy. Some people can’t handle success, I can. You see the hedges, how I got it shaped up? It’s important to shape up your hedges, it’s like getting a haircut, stay fresh. I told you all this before, when you have a swimming pool, do not use chlorine, use salt water, the healing, salt water is the healing. Look at the sunset, life is amazing, life is beautiful, life is what you make it. Egg whites, turkey sausage, wheat toast, water. Of course they don’t want us to eat our breakfast, so we are going to enjoy our breakfast.
Major key, don’t fall for the trap, stay focused. It’s the ones closest to you that want to see you fail. Another one. It’s important to use cocoa butter. It’s the key to more success, why not live smooth? Why live rough? The key to success is to keep your head above the water, never give up. Watch your back, but more importantly when you get out the shower, dry your back, it’s a cold world out there.
Foods
newsabc Send an email September 11, 2021
0 2,409 6 minutes read
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FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) - Plant roots nourish the microbes living below the soil by providing food sources and by releasing nutritious compounds into the ground. The Alaska Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) recommends keeping a living root growing in your garden or farm as much as possible.
“Living roots typically would mean after you harvest your crop, you would plant a cover crop or some other type of plant to keep that living root,” Tracy Robillard from the NRCS said.
But keeping a living root in the ground with Alaska’s harsh climate can be a challenge for growers.
“It’s a little tougher here for farmers to harvest a crop and then get a cover crop growing in the ground before it freezes over,” Robillard said, adding, “So we are looking at that with farmers across the state, and we are doing a number of field trials to see what species of cover crops work the best and what specific management practices can farmers do to ensure the success of that cover crop, of that living root.”
Farmers like Bryce Wrigley are up for the challenge. He has several experimental cover crops growing on his 1,700-acre barley farm in Delta Junction.
“The idea is that we are going to put a living root in the soil, we are going to shade the ground, we are going to armor the ground, maintain that cover. At the same time, we are going to put cover crops in that will open the soil up so that rainfall will get in, and we are going to bring in a greater level of biodiversity in terms of the insects,” Wrigley said.
With little research done on the subject, Robillard hopes more farmers will try out the method. “I think we just need to get more people involved and get more growers who are willing to try it, and to just learn from each other and just see what is going to work for our unique climate here in Alaska.”
Keeping a living root in the ground at all times has multiple benefits. Living roots provide erosion and weed control, and lessen soil compaction. Plant roots also put off root exudates into the surrounding ground. These exudates become messengers that allow communication between soil microbes and plant roots. Without these exudates, nutrients from the ground have a harder time reaching plants.
“Those plants are essentially taking CO2 from the atmosphere, and through photosynthesis they are converting that into plant energy, and that carbon is then stored in the soil,” Robillard said. “So even from that carbon sequestering, there is tremendous hope in building up healthy soils, not just in large scale agriculture, but anywhere and anyone who gardens or even with your lawn. There are so many things we can do in our day to day lives to improve the soils around us.”
The NRCS said gardeners, and at-home growers can practice this concept by covering bare soil on their property.
“The recommendation is, don’t leave that soil bare. Keep something growing in the garden all the time once you have harvested your vegetables - what else can you grow in the ground?” Robillard said. “Look at perennial seeds versus annuals, and you would want to have a mix of both. There are a lot of eco-lawn mixes on the market right now that will have a variety of different grass seeds, or even mixed with clover and yarrows and fescues.”
Robillard said the Natural Resource Conservation Service is here to help local growers with free assistance. “The way that works is we would have a conservation planner come out to your property and walk your property with you, and take a look at the natural resource concerns that you have. We will look at your soil, plants, animals, air, energy, and water. We will identify if there are any issues there, and we will make recommendations on conservation practices you may want to implement to help address those resource concerns.”
More information about the Alaska Natural Resource Conservation Service and the assistance they provide can be found on their website. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/ak/home/
If you missed an episode of our “Living Soil Series,” check them out here:
Episode 1: Living Soil Series: Minimize ground disturbance for better garden harvest
Episode 2: Living Soil Series: Keep your garden soil happy by keeping it covered
Episode 3: Living Soil Series: A healthy garden is a diverse garden
For a deeper look at the Wrigley Farm, please visit our story: Regenerative Agriculture: Delta family farm hopes to address food insecurity, help the environment.
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Blink-182 was all about teenage breakups and the id; Angels & Airwaves have deeper and grander ambitions. But to Tom DeLonge, both bands deal with human beings, just on two different levels—and 'Lifeforms' is his ultimate exploration of eternal questions
The blossoming of Tom DeLonge from pop-punk delinquent to dead-serious UFO researcher may seem dubious. Despite his whole-souled dedication to the field and the Pentagon (to a degree) backing up his claims, it may be difficult to accept that the guy who mewled "Dammit" and ran around nude in the "What's My Age Again" video could solve central questions of human existence.
But to say that these pursuits are disconnected—a thousand tired jokes about "Aliens Exist" aside—would be to fundamentally misunderstand DeLonge. His old band, Blink-182, was all about the id and failed romantic efforts. And Angels & Airwaves, the group he's led since 2005, is just as interested in human beings and their travails. He's just connecting them to a grander cosmic timeline.
"I like the exploration of how we interact with the people around us and what we think life really is," DeLonge tells GRAMMY.com over Zoom alongside drummer Ilan Rubin—basically the Paul to his John in this band since he joined in 2014. "I'm really fascinated by the expansion and growth of self-awareness and who we are and where we're going as humanity. To me, this is a big study in that."
He's talking about Angels & Airwaves' new album Lifeforms, which was released Sept. 24. Restoring a tinge of punk angst to the band's atmospheric aesthetic, highlights like "Rebel Girl," "Euphoria" and "Restless Souls" illustrate how far DeLonge has come as a craftsman. He says it's the best album he's ever made. "If not, the top couple," he clarifies. "It's so challenging and unique and diverse."
Read on for an in-depth interview with DeLonge and Rubin about the making of Lifeforms, DeLonge's fascination with outer realms and their push-and-pull as collaborators. The blustery DeLonge holds forth at length with White Claw in hand; the mellow and measured Rubin mostly listens.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
How are you guys feeling? Looks like a nice day over there.
DeLonge: It's a nice day. Ilan and I do a lot of meditation together. We like jogging, swimming, calisthenics, aerobics. We do all these things every day for 10 to 17 hours straight and then we do rehearsal.
What do you guys get out of that? These meditative, bodily experiences?
Rubin: Nothing physical. It's an emotional bonding.
DeLonge: It's an emotional affair between us. It's really emotional. Here's my White Claw. [Holds up can for a Zoom toast.] I do this as a joke where I literally pour out the White Claw and put Jack Daniel's in it. I just want people to think that I'm drinking White Claw.
Did you have any questions or was it just this?
It's just this. Later!
No, how did you develop the aesthetic for this record? There are synthetic elements, but with something very human underneath.
DeLonge: Well, we have a process that we've developed over the years between myself, Ilan and his brother, Aaron, who's our co-producer. Coming into it, one thing I was wanting to do was: A lot of punk bands start out really fast and aggressive, and where do you go from there? You slow down and get more intricate.
Over a decade ago, we started a little slower and more atmospheric. So, one of the things I wanted to do was have a little more angst—a little more edge. On this record, I wanted the songs to be really diverse—kind of a best-of album with a lot of things in my head I grew up with coming out. It was all about guitars and doing heavier elements, and you'll hear that on things like "Euphoria."
There are not as many songs on the album that represent what Angels used to be. We're just growing into a realm where, I think, Ilan's really added an element of musicality to what I do.
Because I'm more of a melody guy. I think of music in very simple ways, but it helps a lot to have someone like Ilan come in, expanding on some of those ideas. He understands all the music I grew up in and he's been part of that world, but he liked bands that had more than three chords, and I found that really interesting.
Because in punk, if you play more than three chords, it's like "They don't know what they're doing. They're hitting wrong notes. It's too many!"
Rubin: I think the intent in the music is clear, and I say that aside from my involvement. [2014's] The Dream Walker, which was the first album we did when I joined the band, seemed like a step in a different direction. And all these years later, this is a different direction from that.
But I do have to say that everything does start with what Tom is feeling the direction should be. He starts the ideas. He plants those seeds, lets the ideas grow, and then, at a certain point, I get sent the stuff and kind of play around with harmonies, different sounds and twisting some structures here and there.
We've sort of fallen into that pattern of working because we live in different cities now. He's still in San Diego; I'm in L.A. We've been able to utilize the internet and the wonders of technology. Tom starts with it, throws it over to me, I throw it back, and we do that quite a few times until the song ends up where it ends up. Before we know it, an album's done.
DeLonge: This is about us getting a GRAMMY, right? Is that what this is? We've won so many, it's hard to even discuss.
A whole room full of them, right?
DeLonge: I even tell people that I don't acknowledge that the GRAMMYs matter until I get one. Then they really matter.
Ilan, you mentioned that you build off of Tom's material. Any examples of how you do this?
Rubin: What I'm about to say is a good thing: Tom works from a simple place, usually, which would entail just the chords, the melody and the overall vibe he's going for. He relays the vibe, I do a little digging, a little research, and I help bring that to life.
Beyond that, once the feel of the song is established, it becomes a matter of "When I hear it, what comes to mind creatively?" And that could be harmonies, vocal arrangements, other sounds, potentially improving or replacing electronic stuff that was there—because we have different instruments where we are—and that, as I said, is a polite push-and-pull until we're done.
DeLonge: Just for clarity, too: A lot of bands will write a bunch of songs, then they pick the ones they like. I kind of feel like anybody can write songs—just like "Here's a bunch!" I don't know why, but I find it better—not all the time, but most of the time—to kind of have a goal: "Here's a song that's in this kind of box." Like, a direction I want to go in.
It worked well on this record, and that's why it's so diverse. Because we weren't just writing songs out of nowhere: I would sit with his brother and go, "Why don't we do something that's more electronic, that's more dance-focused but still has an edge, that reminds us of whatever band from the '80s?" or something. That gives us a target to follow.
And then once we identify what that is, Ilan really excels with all the electronics and synths. I mean, on every instrument, really, but it's cool to send up "Something like this," and he goes "Oh, you mean this?" I go, "Oh, f*, that's what I meant, but I don't even know that language!"
It works really well, the way we figured it out. I think. For us, at least.
Rubin: I will say that I stay out of the way until it's time for me to get involved. We've written songs together; we've obviously written songs for other people. As a songwriter, I understand that people like to get their ideas out first—myself included. In which case, Tom just kind of does his own thing until it's time for me to get involved and that collaborative process begins.
The press release states that the album is partly about how "Our interaction with other types of lifeforms will actually be what we evolve into caring about more in the near future." Can you expound on this a little bit? Do you mean terrestrial or extra-?
DeLonge: For me, writing the words—at least for these songs—it's always about relationships. In the past, with Blink, it was like "OK, you're breaking up with a girl or moving away to college and leaving behind your life, your family or friends, or whatever." Very simple things that a kid in the suburbs would understand.
But, really, where I'm at now—not being a kid anymore—I like the exploration of how we interact with the people around us and what we think life really is. If I argue with my chick about what movie we're going to watch, is that really all life is about—those kinds of interactions? Or is it something bigger than that?
It's tied into a lot of work I do with my company or the movie I worked on that's going to come out—Ilan and I, and his brother, are scoring that. That movie is more about paranormal lifeforms and what the universe really is, and consciousness.
All that time together [reinforced] the idea that lifeforms and our interactions with others are more than just arguing about a movie. It's really about lessons learned as a human being and as a soul. Interacting with love and loss and pain and heartache and all that kind of stuff.
It makes more sense to call this project Lifeforms once you see the movie, Monsters of California. You'll see a little more about my passions and what I'm doing with To The Stars.
I'm really fascinated by the expansion and growth of self-awareness and who we are and where we're going as humanity. To me, this is a big study in that. Any individual song, you could say this about love, loss and heartache, or something. But to me, the entire picture is about something different.
Ilan joined the band right after we did this sort of arthouse film called Love [from 2011]. It was an artistic, meditative film, and an album went with it. And that whole thing was the same thing: I was writing love songs or whatever, but it wasn't really about just falling in love. It was the idea of a unified mind and consciousness. Our interactions with each other are what this is all about.
So, this is another one of those things where I take deep dives into subjects that can be communicated in different ways. That's why I like the whole transmedia element of this. Rather than just being in a band and pumping out music every two years, I like this idea of being much more ambitious—including different elements and formats and mediums to play with.
It's going to make the show better. It's going to make the fans more tuned in to what we're trying to achieve and trying to say so they can get their own opinions of it or whatever. So, that's what makes me excited about it.
I think you're doing what great songwriters should do, which is juxtapose the microcosmic and macrocosmic. A petty fight or love affair can be connected to an eternal timeline, or expand infinitely outward in impact or meaning.
DeLonge: Because I believe in that—any guide you take into consciousness and how we work and how matter is affected by the way you think.
Things like telekinesis and telepathy—all that stuff's real. They're doing it in laboratories. They're trying to understand how it works or whatever, but at the end of the day, there's a reason why, when someone walks in a room and they're angry or weird, you feel their vibe. You're like "Man, that person's got a weird vibe. I feel weird around that person."
Well, that's the beginning of telepathy. People don't know that. I know this because I spent eight hours with one of the head genetics experts at Stanford—in the world! Up for the Nobel! I spent an entire day with him. He worked on a UFO program. All these things about consciousness I learned, and it's fascinating.
I feel like we know nothing, probably, about who we are and why we're here. So, that's something I'm always chasing—trying to understand that more.
Tom, I'm curious about what you read or heard or experienced or watched early on that initiated this awakening in your life, or made you aware of a grander context to the world.
DeLonge: Well, it's not one thing. It's a journey, right? Anybody who's fascinated by something and studies it for 20 years is going to have a perspective that's different than most. A lot of people go "OK, there he goes with UFOs!" or whatever, but that's like saying you're into agriculture. "I like gardening" or "I grow evergreen trees" or whatever it might be. It's kind of a blanket term.
But when you get more into that subject, you're reading about consciousness. You're reading about geopolitics or ancient texts and religions and all that kind of stuff. The journey takes you through all these things where you discover something along the way. You start to find patterns.
And by the time I was surrounded by all these government people, I was like [Taken-aback voice] "Oh my god." It all comes to a head.
But I've always been someone searching out why we're here, and I think artists are supposed to. They're supposed to guide us through the world and communicate it back in a way that somebody could get a new perspective, or at least resonate with it and not feel so alone.
I just think it's our job as artists. We're weirdos and we're supposed to show you what we see. And then, every once in a while, someone goes "Wow! That's an interesting perspective."
The press release also touches on childhood tumult. Is that autobiographical? Can you expound on this theme?
DeLonge: A little bit. I don't know about Ilan's childhood. I don't think either of our childhoods were very standard. They were very different`.
Music's gotten [to where] it's so easy to write a catchy song these days. What's the difference between this catchy song and another catchy song on the radio? Well, it's going to be the people saying it and why they're saying it. I like my musicians to have an edge and come from a weird upbringing or something wrong to where their perspective is warranted or embraced as a different point of view.
Wouldn't it suck if the guys in the Who [weren't like that]? If Pete Townshend sold insurance and was a totally normal guy? He wasn't breaking his speakers and going crazy? I like my bands to have a kind of messed-up childhood or something that's unorthodox.
What would they be if Pete didn't have a couple of screws loose? That's the heart of the band.
DeLonge: That's my point! That's why the songs are cool. A few fistfights and maybe some drugs and alcohol and growing up in a really hardcore blue-collar town and not having the best parents in the world gives them the perspective to write the songs they did. If they weren't like that, they wouldn't have the great hits that we love so much.
It seems like you're trying to embrace a punk-ness with Lifeforms. Maybe one that connects your past in Blink-182 with your musical future.
DeLonge: Yeah! I think a lot of people that don't understand the punk scene might think it's about the music. That's something I originally thought as well, but it's really much more about a rebellion against the norm. I tend to find that a lot more around me in other places that you wouldn't expect.
Like, [Gestures to Ilan.] He plays in Nine Inch Nails, and Trent Reznor's fin' got a pretty edgy past! A lot of fin' angst. And that kid's more punk than most of the people I grew up with! But you can't say Nine Inch Nails sounds like the Ramones, you know? Or the Clash. But no one's going to argue the angst behind the music.
For me, it's that element within a rock band—or a rap band! One of the guys who used to tour manage Blink was at the Santa Monica Civic when the Clash played there for the very first time. There were riots and s*.
But, he goes, "The first time we heard N.W.A., we were sing our pants! We were talking about burning places down, but they were talking about killing cops! That's a whole other level! That was the most punk s any of us heard!"
So, I think it's more about coming from a place that isn't so perfect and is a little bit broken and busting out of that. Saying "I'm not going to stand for that. I need to change my environment. I need to change the world that I see," you know? And it happens in a lot of places besides the typical punk-rock music that people think owns this attitude. It's not true! It's just not.
Nobody's going to argue that Liam [Gallagher], who sings for Oasis, is some kind of mellow guy. He's not. He's probably in a fistfight somewhere. He's one of the most colorful dudes in rock, and I love that. That's what I'm searching for, I guess.
Anything on that, Ilan?
Rubin: I definitely agree that an attitude is brought to the table that can be brought to anything, regardless of the style of music. I completely agree with that. I will also say that attitude can be brought to the table regardless of upbringing or any kind of external influence, I think. Largely, people are wired the way they are, and music is a great medium to be you and your truest self.
For example, I may not be an aggressive individual on the outside, but when I play drums, it's almost a different version of me. But that version of me is as authentic—if not more—than anything else you might see.
DeLonge: That is a really wild thing, by the way. That is super true. He's, like, this mellow all day. Most drummers are hitting or shaking things; they have a lot of energy. I was making fun of him yesterday because he was like [Langurous voice.] "Oh, I'll stretch, let's play the show," and then it's like [Makes explosion noise.] He turns it on.
But that has to be in you. You can't fake that. It's just different sides of you. [Jokingly] I mean, when I make love, it's insane. People say...
Rubin: You'd never expect it.
DeLonge: You'd never expect that I know what I'm doing.
"Restless Souls" is described in the press release as "A letter to God from humanity." Tom, can you talk about that?
DeLonge: I mean, for me—coming out of the pandemic and seeing all the racism and violence and infiltration of foreign territories into our democracy and the shutdowns and the propaganda that divided us so badly—lyrically, I was like, "What would God say?
If he was going to write a letter—"F* it, I'm going to write a letter, because I want to be able to talk without you guys talking." You know how that happens in a relationship? "I wrote it down so you can't interrupt me."
God's like, "I don't even recognize you anymore. If you think you know how this is all supposed to work and you think you're doing it correctly, then take the reins. And if you're not going to take the reins, step aside and go for the life lessons you're supposed to go through." That's where the song was coming from.
The thing about it, too, is that it's probably the only song on the album that shows you what Angels was known for a little bit. It's inspirational; it's uptempo; it's kind of pop-punk in the foundation of it. But the musicality of it is very different from something we've done in the past.
I think it's going to be a popular song. It's not a single. We're not working on the radio. We're not making a music video for it. I think it's a wonderful song that Angels fans are really going to be appreciative of. It kind of maps out what the band is always trying to be, which is something a little more positive. More of a positive force.
But we're not scared to make d* jokes and we're not scared to write a fast song once in a while. We had a super-fast punk song but it didn't really make it past the demo stage.
Rubin: It was too fast.
DeLonge: It was just too fast! So fast we thought it'd hurt somebody!
Is there anything about the essence of Lifeforms we didn't touch on?
DeLonge: Whatever you may or may not have thought Angels was, I think this album will honestly catch you by surprise. I think some people go, "Oh, that's the guy from Blink, so it must sound like Blink!" or "They have the guy from Nine Inch Nails in there, so maybe it's industrial."
I think people don't really understand what we do, but as a mainstream music lover, I don't have a problem in describing this record as a best-of tour of some of the great bands that I grew up with. You might hear a song that kind of reminds you of the Who, or Depeche Mode, or the Cure or the punk, new-wave kinds of things that happened in that era.
And every band does this, right? Every band's trying to say "How am I influenced by the greats?" I can put myself into our version, but I think we really achieved that. We're not chasing something that's happening right now. We're not chasing something that we've already done.
We're making music for us, really. And then, if people like it, that's bitchin'. But what happened here is we made a record that I think is the best album I've ever been part of—if not, the top couple. It's so challenging and unique and diverse.
I don't have anything where each song is f*ing good and so radically different. At least I think so. Now, if you hate what I do, it's easy to say "Each song is really bad!" On the whole, people don't say that. But different! But different! If it's really bad, at least it's different.
Fans will be able to pre-order the album at midnight
|GRAMMYs/Jul 25, 2019 - 11:02 pm
The wait is over. Veteran punk-pop trio Blink-182 have announced that their forthcoming eighth studio album NINE will drop Sept. 20.
The GRAMMY-nominated Southern California band have been teasing the follow-up to 2016's California album with new song releases, "Blame It On My Youth," "Generational Divide," and "Happy Days," but had not released an album date.
Another track off the album, titled "Darkside," will drop at midnight. The album will also be available for pre-order at midnight. Fans that order will receive an instant download of the song.
While fans have been able to get a taste of what some of the album will sound like, in previous interviews, the band, currently on tour in support of the new material, has been open about their new music's sound.
"I think we're taking everything that we've done in the past and building on it. Which is what we want to always be doing. The album will be more experimental than some past material," vocalist Mark Hoppus said.
Pre-order NINE here.
The two-day festival in Southern California's Huntington State Beach returns for its second year
Back To The Beach Festival, the joint effort of Los Angeles rock radion station KROQ, Blink-182's Travis Barker and Goldfinger's John Feldmann, will return for its second year April 27-28 in Huntington State Beach. The stacked lineup include Barker and Feldmann's respective bands as well as The Used, Reel Big Fish, The English Beat, Save Ferris, The Aquabats and more.
"Back To The Beach has been one of the funnest things I’ve ever been part of. What could be better than a mostly ska festival??" said Feldmann in a release. "I grew up on ska music and I had the best time of my life last year at the show… This year may even be better! Travis and I are so excited to do the show yet again… I cannot wait!"
The festival's ska, punk and reggae lineup comes with extras, as Back To The Beach boasts a carnival midway with tons of family-friendly activities and accommodations and even a Lil' Punk Kid Zone for children 10 and under to play, according to Billboard.
Last year's inaugural edition of the festival featured performances by 311, Sublime With Rome, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and more.
As pop-punk finds a new generation, veterans Good Charlotte, Sum 41, Bowling For Soup, and Simple Plan celebrate by looking back on the year that brought the genre to the pop world — and beyond.
On May 6, Simple Plan released their sixth album, Harder Than It Looks — less than two months after the pop-punk group's debut album, No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls, turned 20. While it's a feat for any band to still be around 20 years after their debut, Simple Plan may find it the most remarkable of anyone. Because, according to what they were told in the early 2000s, pop-punk wasn't supposed to last this long.
"When we got signed, a lot of labels passed on us and [were] saying, 'Hey, this pop-punk thing, you're at the tail end of it. It's just about to go out. This is not gonna last,'" Simple Plan's frontman, Pierre Bouvier, remembers. "We were like, 'Nah, this is here to stay for much longer than that.' People thought it was gonna be the end, and it was really just the beginning."
To the naysayers, perhaps it did seem like the genre was losing steam. Though Blink-182 and Green Day (whether they like to claim the pop-punk label or not) were arguably bigger than they'd ever been at that point, their style of rock hardly broke into the pop- and rap-dominated mainstream. Yet, it was Bouvier who had it right — pop-punk was only getting started.
No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls was one of several albums to arrive in 2002 that are now considered pop-punk/emo-pop classics: Avril Lavigne's Let Go, Good Charlotte's The Young and the Hopeless, the All-American Rejects' self-titled debut, New Found Glory's Sticks and Stones, Bowling For Soup's Drunk Enough to Dance, Taking Back Sunday's Tell All Your Friends, the Starting Line's Say It Like You Mean It, and Something Corporate's Leaving Through the Window, among others.
Sure, fast-forward a few years, and you'll find albums (and artists) that were arguably even more monumental in the pop-punk/emo world, from Fall Out Boy's 2005 blockbuster From Under The Cork Tree to Paramore's 2007 game-changer Riot. But it was 2002's crop that took the genre from a cult following to a true movement — one that wasn't as fleeting as some may have thought.
The groundwork had been laid in the years leading up to 2002. Blink-182's "All The Small Things" became a crossover smash in 2000; 2001 birthed two of pop-punk's biggest anthems, Sum 41's "Fat Lip" and Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle" (though the latter made it big in '02, peaking at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 that June). And before that, bands like Green Day, the Offspring, and the Descendents helped prove that an audience was there.
What was different about 2002, though, is that mainstream music was in the wake of the super-pop explosion of the late '90s and early 2000s. After a few years of manufactured boy bands and hyper-produced pop stars, the carefree nature of pop-punk was both refreshing and eye-catching.
"It felt novel compared to what people were listening to, and it was very organic," Good Charlotte's Benji Madden says. "Kids who start listening to music pretty young, they start digging a little bit deeper; they start wanting new sounds, new vibes. And pop-punk was there."
That young crowd is exactly what fueled the pop-punk takeoff. Not only was it a fresh sound, but its lyrical content spoke to teenagers — who may have been underserved by popular music around that time.
"A lot of our songs have always been about struggling and trying to get through it," Bouvier says. "When the band started, we were like, 19 years old, so we were fresh out of those really tumultuous teenage years. Maybe it was a blind spot that other songwriters hadn't quite tapped into yet. It felt like this needed to be said, and to us, it was genuine. And the listeners felt the same thing."
As Bouvier's bandmate, Chuck Comeau, argues, pop-punk didn't just have "pop" in the name because it was popular. "I always said if you meet somebody and they're like, 'What kind of music do you guys do?' I say, 'Well, it's kind of like the Beatles, but just played faster with distortion,'" he quips. "It's the same catchy melodies, but the lyrics were very heartfelt, very honest, and very real — also very vulnerable, in a way that pop music really wasn't at the time."
The new pop-punk demographic was among the same group that was religiously tuning into MTV's Total Request Live, one of the main music trendsetters at the time — if not the trendsetter. Sum 41 singer Deryck Whibley credits MTV for helping launch "Fat Lip" into the stratosphere, and embracing pop-punk music videos in general. "It was a pivotal moment," he says. "I think that was really the biggest reason why the genre exploded."
The "Fat Lip" video encapsulates the authenticity that made pop-punk so appealing. Filmed in a few locations in Pomona, Calif. (just outside of L.A.), the clip captured what was essentially a parking-lot Sum 41 show, complete with a mosh pit, crowd surfing, and even a halfpipe. "We were just gonna film everybody doing dumb s<em></em>* and see what they do… there was no treatment," Whibley recalls. "It represented that age group across the country — and kind of across the world, really."
"It was a very big contrast from all the boy bands and pop stars, [where] everything is controlled and they're shown in the perfect light," Bouvier adds. "Here we are, just messing around and being ourselves. I think people were hungry for that."
Several of Simple Plan's videos shared a similar vibe, from a high school gymnasium rock show in "I'm Just a Kid" to a destructive living room performance in "Addicted." Good Charlotte offered a near-identical aesthetic to "Fat Lip" with the video for "The Anthem," proving the concept resonated: "The Anthem" is the fifth most-requested video in TRL history, according to Screen Rant.
But the pop-punk scene wasn't just a guy's club. Avril Lavigne reigned the TRL countdown for several weeks in 2002 thanks to her signature singles "Complicated" and "Sk8er Boi." The former marked her debut, and almost instantly crowned her pop-punk's princess, reaching No. 2 on the Hot 100 that August.
"Complicated" and "Sk8er Boi" both reached No. 1 on Billboard's Pop Airplay chart that year as well — a feat none of her 2002 pop-punk peers would ever achieve (well, at least not until 7 years later, when the All-American Rejects' 2009 belter "Gives You Hell" reached the top). Still, Simple Plan, Good Charlotte and Bowling for Soup had plenty of pop radio hits around that time, each scoring at least one top 10.
Lavigne is also among the coveted ranks of pop-punk artists who have received GRAMMY nominations. In addition to "Sk8er Boi" and "Complicated" both receiving nominations at the 2003 GRAMMYs — the latter earning a Song Of The Year nod — Lavigne's debut album, Let Go, was up for Best Pop Vocal Album, and she was nominated for Best New Artist. (Bowling For Soup's "Girl All The Bad Guys Want" also received a nom that year in the Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal category — further showing pop-punk's crossover appeal.)
"Avril was a great example of a young artist looking to express herself, and [she] created something that was a lasting impression of what an artist can be in the mainstream and what the music can be," Good Charlotte's Joel Madden says. "Whether it was conscious or not, it was really authentic. And each [pop-punk] group was authentic to themselves. It was kind of that moment in time."
If you ask Lavigne about what made her music resonate so widely, her answer is simple: "People were just loving rocking out, having fun, wearing low guitars, and jumping and bouncing around on stage."
Despite any rebellion that may have emanated in the videos, lyrics, and outfits — or just the demeanor — of any pop-punk act at the time, one thing rang true: it was good, clean fun.
"It was safe rock 'n' roll," Bowling For Soup frontman Jaret Reddick says. "I remember my agent saying, 'You guys are not cool, but you're the first band that parents let their kids buy your album even if you say 's<em></em>*' on like, half the songs.' Kids liked it because it was fast, and it pleased parents because they could understand the lyrics — and, topically, we weren't alienating anybody."
Reddick points out that the pop-punk craze became a full-on frenzy in 2003. And by that point, the fan base extended beyond teenagers. "We started to notice that there were people who brought children to see us. It was like, 'I think our fans have a curfew,'" he laughs. "But people who liked us as a rock band continued to support us, it's not like we lost people. We gained a movement."
And the movement continued to grow. The next year saw the rise of My Chemical Romance thanks to their second album, 2004's Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge (which spawned now classics "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" and "Helena"). The year after that, Fall Out Boy's "Sugar We're Goin' Down" became an immediate pop-punk standard, beginning a hit-filled career that has helped them remain a touring giant 20 years later — and, along with MCR, ushering in the emo era.
Although it didn't completely erase the spirit and sound that pop-punk's leaders had established, emo became the dominant genre by the mid-2000s. As its name hints, emo (short for emotional) introduced a darker vibe to the brightness of pop-punk. Yet, that didn't stop it from crossing over into pop: Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Paramore and Panic! At the Disco all scored top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 with songs that were branded as emo.
By 2005, emo became a full-blown subculture. And while the genre label had changed, pop-punk clearly had an influence on emo's more pop-leaning acts like We The Kings, All Time Low and Mayday Parade.
Today, the bands that were considered emo are often pooled in with early 2000s acts, and pop-punk and emo have become umbrella terms. Whatever the "correct" name, most of the acts have cohabited in several ways — particularly on the now-defunct Warped Tour — and, above all, have strived to ensure that the spirit endures. But according to Whibley, it has never dwindled.
"Something interesting that I've noticed over the years is, it's almost like the crowd never changes, and never grows up," he suggests. "The front row always looks the same as it did in 2001."
Pop-punk has seen a strong resurgence in recent years, with artists like Machine Gun Kelly, Olivia Rodrigo and Meet Me @ the Altar taking cues from their predecessors. And many of the genre's pioneers are still going: Along with releasing a new album, Simple Plan is co-headlining a tour with Sum 41; Lavigne triumphantly returned to her roots on her latest album, Love Sux.
Lavigne is also one of 65 pop-punk/emo acts on the newly minted When We Were Young Festival — an event that not only caused an internet frenzy upon its announcement, but was extended from one to three days due to demand. One Instagram commenter may have summed up the lineup best: "It's like high school all over again."
A 2021 TikTok trend also proved that pop-punk and emo have staying power. Soundtracked by All Time Low's 2006 classic "Dear Maria Count Me In," TikTokers proudly proclaimed, "Mom, it was never a phase — it's a lifestyle!"
Between the new music and the nostalgia, the essence of what began in the early aughts is certainly alive and well.
"This music speaks to a younger generation, and the new generation always gets into it," Whibley continues. "Whether it's in the mainstream or not has never seemed to affect what I see from the stage. There's just something about this kind of music that is youthful and exciting. It's always going to be here."
The band dropped their latest single on the 182nd day of the year
Blink-182 continue to tease their upcoming eighth studio album with yet another single release—this time an uplifting track called "Happy Days," released on the 182nd day of the year, which the band has dubbed "Blink-182 Day."
"It’s the 182nd day of the year which means it’s blink-182 day! To celebrate, here is our new song “Happy Days.” Consume it where you usually consume music," the band tweeted.
In the past, the GRAMMY-nominated Southern California pop-punk band has dropped their usual humor for tougher subjects— songs like "Stay Together For The Kids" hit on pain and grief. "Happy Days" has the group adding a light at the end of the tunnel to similar feelings.
"Hey kid, don't quit your daydream yet/ I know you feel locked out in the cold," lead vocalist Mark Hoppus sings in the third single from the forthcoming album. "Seems like you’re lost and alone/ Hey kid, don't listen to your head/ It only fills you with dread and with doubt."
He continues in the chorus: "I wanna feel happy days, happy days/ Happy days, happy days/ Walls of isolation inside of my pain/ And I don't know if I'm ready to change."
While the band has yet to announce an album release date, they've been dropping singles; They released the 50-second fast punk "Generational Divide" late June.
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Shasta Pools has been turning backyard dreams into a reality since 1966, providing Valley residents with award-winning custom pool and spa designs, innovative construction practices, superior equipment, and trustworthy and reliable service and repair. Thousands of Valley residents have been through the process of finding a pool builder that’s right for them and decided to experience the Shasta difference.
If you’re ready to build a new pool, we want to help you discover the best experience possible, which starts with choosing a pool builder that fits your needs. Here are some ways to determine if you and your pool builder are a good fit.
Whether you want turn-key or custom building experience
Choosing tile, colors, water features, and layouts may sound like a dream to some, and to others, it sounds like a lot of tough choices. Knowing which scenario applies to you is important. You’ll want to address this need with a pool builder upfront, letting them know whether you want turn-key options or the freedom to customize the design. Ask the pool builder to explain the design process so you both can get an idea of how involved each party will be.
How much you want to spend
Budget is often the most important aspect for homeowners. While it is important to have a budget and stick to it, getting hung up on getting the lowest price may not be the wisest choice. When you’re making a large purchase like a pool, a healthy balance of budget and quality workmanship will ensure everyone is happy in the end. Know how much you want to spend, but don’t let your budget be the top determining factor.
How many references the pool builder has
Look at the pool builder’s reputation to determine if you think they’ll be a good fit for you. How many pools have they built? Do they have a good track record? How many years have they been in business? Pool companies come and go, but the ones that last are the ones that are doing it right. Longevity in the business will give you an idea of the expertise and reputation of the company.
Having a pool builder that knows the ins and outs of all aspects of a pool will put less pressure on you to have to figure things out. From pumps and motors to heaters and filters, there are so many details beyond the design that many homeowners don’t think about until something breaks. Working with a company that can impart their knowledge onto you will ensure that you can confidently manage your pool after it’s built.
There must be a reason why more families have chosen Shasta than all other competitors combined.
When you choose Shasta Pools, you can rest assured your pool care needs will always be taken care of – from your initial consultation to long after your pool is complete. We take pride in being your one-stop source for building and servicing your swimming pool, and we look forward to being a part of your family for years to come!
Ready to build the pool of your dreams? Schedule a design consultation today or stop by one of our design centers!
05/02/19
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CEO India, Middle East, Africa & Turkey, Accor
Mark Willis is a key industry opinion leader in the IMEA region, with over 420 hotels in the current portfolio and more than 120 hotels in the pipeline. He is undoubtably an industry heavy weight due to his leadership style, strategic decision making and extensive experience in the industry. His forward-thinking leadership and understanding have positioned this region as a key market for the company globally, both in results, as well as expansion plans. Throughout his tenure as CEO, Mark has led the team through a global crisis, while ensuring results were delivered, team members were taken care of, partners were supported, and guests were reassured.
A clear success is the way Mark lead and managed the region during the difficult period of Covid. His leadership and mentorship ensured that teams, partners, and guests were always informed on Accor strategies and activities that were implemented to support the different stakeholders. Successful activities included the opening over 20 properties per year since he has joined the Accor Dubai office (even during Covid), as well as ensuring that financial results were achieved even during the most difficult times. Another standout achievement has been the hugely successful opening and launch of lifestyle brands in the region such as SLS, 25 Hours and Hyde Dubai.
Area Senior Vice President, Middle East & Africa, Radisson Hotel Group
Tim Cordon has been with Radisson Hotel Group (RHG) (formerly Carlson Rezidor) for nearly two decades. He began his progressive career in the UK in 2003 as General Manager at Radisson Blu Hotel Manchester Airport which, at the time, was Rezidor’s largest hotel in the UK and where he successfully positioned the hotel in the group’s top 20 performing hotels worldwide.
In 2006, Cordon was recognised with the Alpha Forum Prize – “Younger Manager” award by the British Travel and Hospitality Hall of Fame. He then took on several leadership roles in two of the group’s key properties in London before making Dubai his home in 2015, taking on the role of Regional Director of Middle East & Africa (MEA). In 2017, Cordon was appointed Area Senior Vice President for MEA responsible for leading operations and delivering business growth and profit across the group’s largest area. Cordon has played a crucial role in Radisson Hotel Group’s expansion in the region, hitting key milestones for the group worldwide and setting in place an ambitious five-year development plan to reach 100 hotels in the Middle East by 2025. By 2019, Cordon looks after 50 properties in the Middle East with a total of 10,944 keys and 57 properties in Africa with a total of 11,373 keys.
As Area Senior Vice President for MEA, Cordon continues to contribute to the group’s regional milestones as it remains on track to reach its goal of having 100 properties in the next three years, as well as becoming one of the top three hotel groups in the world. Under Cordon’s leadership, the group continues to unleash the power of its portfolio, consisting of nine strong brands, driving significant growth across the Middle East and Africa. In fact, Cordon made the Middle East the fastest-growing region for the group and the region that recovered best during 2021, growing RevPAR to 85.6% of pre-pandemic comparable.
In the unprecedented times of COVID-19, Cordon ensured the hotel group remained resilient and on track for the rebound of the travel and tourism market. During the pandemic, he ensured all hotels followed stringent health and safety measures, including launching the Radisson Hotels Safety Protocol.
As travel started to rebound in 2021, Cordon remained optimistic and encouraged partnerships with industry peers and the public sector to rebuild the hospitality industry and ensure the safety of travellers, partners, and team members.
With a mission to be recognised as one of the top three hotel groups in the world by 2025, Cordon’s visionary leadership helped secure various awards for the group including the Leaders in Hospitality Awards 2022. The group won the Innovation of the Year category and Radisson RED Dubai Silicon Oasis won the Mid-Market Hotel of The Year award. The recently opened Radisson Resort Ras Al Khaimah was highly commended in the Leading New Hotel category. RHG also took home an award at this year’s Sustainability Innovation Awards for its Hydroponic Farm Project, in its commitment to contributing to the Net Zero by 2050 initiative that Dubai has set out. Sustainability has always been vital, as Cordon raised awareness of environmental responsibility and implemented sustainability programmes to reduce the hotels’ carbon footprint.
Cenk Ünverdi brings 15 years of experience in the hotel industry, wonderfully spent with Rixos, one of the most prolific lifestyle hotel brands globally. Being the Regional General Manager, he currently oversees 5 hotels in UAE and gearing for upcoming hotels in the wider GCC region. Through Cenk Ünverdi’s vision, Rixos Hotels has been successfully recognised globally and continuously expanding its footprint in the region. With his leadership, the brand awareness has reached new peaks and have been visible across prestigious channels through strategic partnerships with highly-acclaimed brands such as UAE Pro League, Mubadala, RAKBANK, Aquaventure, Dubai Parks and Resorts, and Dubai Expo 2020 amongst others. Cenk Ünverdi’s passion for digital landscape and innovation plays a significant role in the success of various campaigns especially after the brink of pandemic resulting to 20% of the business. In 2021, his initiative to diversify the brand and grow the business to overcome 2019 pre-covid levels resulted in the highest increase in all business performance metrics.
Rixos Hotels is a fast, young, energetic, and growing brand and Cenk Ünverdi has been leading a successful and competitive team on a relentless quest to establish the brand as the leader in setting the stage for memorable 360° guest experiences. The brand introduced revolutionary entertainment and wellness programs in the Middle East, from staged shows to exciting creative activities for children at Rixy Kids Club to action-packed challenges at Exclusive Sports Club.
Hakan Ozel, the General Manager and Luxury Hotel Operator of Shangri-La Dubai has not only played an integral role in making Shangri-La what it is today but is a leading example in the broader industry due to his reputation for having a forward thinking and passionate approach coupled with robust experience. His contributions and impact across two decades of experience in a variety of locations with signature properties, has been exceptional. Some of his key accomplishments include being: highly knowledgeable in operations, renovation, refurbishment, and improvement projects; instrumental in turn-around properties, projects and crisis management by driving take-over, rebranding, and revamping efforts; a successful executive in turn-around projects and crisis management; appointed several times by corporate office for related leadership roles; vital in pre-opening many hotels.
What makes Hakan distinguished is his mindset and personality. He employs unique and highly successful strategies such as using a competitive approach to drive business results while strengthening collaborative partnerships among stakeholders. He understands that character is a differentiating element in hotels, and he brings this to life with creative and innovative ideas.
Hakan is not only highly experienced and meticulous but is also caring, compassionate, and strongly committed to the financial success of the business. His impact on the company has resulted in collective exponential growth in terms of team happiness, productivity, and goal realisation. In addition, he has been continuously developing his career and personal intellectual assets to ensure that he will assume higher responsibilities in the group in the future, while continuing to take innovative management standards and practices to places they’ve never been before in the present. He is a rarity and each and every contribution he has made has been nothing short of amazing.
An international hotelier of Italian and Danish descent, Thomas began his career in sales and marketing in Germany. Prior to joining Armani Hotel Dubai, he held senior management roles at Artprojekt Hospitality and Grand Hotel Heiligendamm in Germany, among others. As General Manager, Thomas is responsible for driving the commercial strategy and the all-round operations of Armani Hotel Dubai, ensuring that it sustains its status as one of Dubai’s most admired properties. He is mandated with strengthening the hotel’s brand identity as well as outreach to new international markets. He is also responsible for leading activities across operations, marketing, and administrative functions through an innovative approach and collaborative management style. Recent projects have included spearheading the 2020 launch of the UAE’s first kosher restaurant and the opening of a dedicated salon area within Armani/SPA. He is also committed to ensuring strong levels of productivity and resource use efficiency. Staff welfare and happiness is another key area of focus and Thomas maintains an open-door policy for all Armani Ambassadors as well as fostering a culture centred on team member empowerment. Thomas thrives on the fast-paced, dynamic, unique, and rewarding demands of his role and his passion for the industry and Armani Hotel Dubai is driven by its amazing team members.
Thomas is not only an innovative character by nature, but he is also committed to ensuring strong levels of productivity and resource efficiency, exemplified most clearly in the recent partnership agreement signed with Ferrari to transform Armani/Pavilion into Downtown Dubai’s most successful outdoor Ramadan venue.
It is Thomas’ overall character that exemplifies him as a leader in the hospitality industry and as a role model for many young hoteliers on the rise.
Outside of work, he makes time to enjoy the Armani Hotel Dubai experience for himself as he explains: “There are so many special corners within the hotel, however, there is something magical about our restaurant terraces. When the weather in Dubai is pleasurable, there is nothing better than having dinner al fresco on one of the terraces overlooking The Dubai Fountain show. It is truly a magical experience.
Chief Executive Officer, Jannah Hotels & Resorts
Richard Haddad has years of experience in the hospitality industry and has been the CEO of Jannah Hotels & Resorts for the last 4 years, in his reign we have seen many improvements across different fields and departments, including his strategic planning skills which impacted the increase of the group’s profits, helping to maintain and grow the reputation of each hotel. Richard’s vision for Jannah Hotels & Resorts is to expand to global market and showcase the Bedouin hospitality culture and expand halal tourism by tapping into the international market.
Richard has contributed to many achievements towards the group’s development, reputation, positive RGI results, overall improvement and much more. Since he joined Jannah Hotels & Resorts in September 2018, Richard oversaw the hotel and restaurant development including the launch of, Sahara Café an Arabic concept in Ras Al Khaimah during August 2020; Terrace at Cocina Restaurant an Arabic and International concept in Abu Dhabi during September 2020; EDGE Creekside Hotel, Dubai in January 202; Second branch of Feta Restaurant, a Mediterranean concept, in Dubai during January 2021; Halo Halo Restaurant and Asian concept in Dubai with 2 branches during January 2021; and the new cloud kitchen multi-concept that launched January this year.
In addition, he ensured the overall improvement and beautification of all the properties under Jannah Hotels & Resorts including the renovations that took place at Jannah Hotel Apartments & Villas RAAK and Jannah Marina Hotel Apartments.
Due to Richard’s outstanding business strategies and leadership, all properties within the group have seen a remarkable growth in the year-to-date numbers, looking at the “Revenue Generation Index”, we saw a 76% growth against last year at Jannah Marina Hotel Apartments, 129% growth at EDGE Creekside Hotel and 10% growth Jannah Burj Al Sarab, Abu Dhabi.
Richard understands the important of staying loyal to employees and the impact this makes on guest satisfaction, with his team’s help, he implemented a new service philosophy called “The Jannah Way – Culture and DNA”. The successful launch of the new DNA is just the foundation of how we want to celebrate our service culture. All guest service starts from within, in order for us to offer unparallel guest services, we had to focus on our people and the value they bring to the brand. Our Safir (which translates to Ambassador in English), is our most valuable asset in the organisation, and it is our mission to work as a family, not a team, in creating an environment that fosters pride, joy, and respect wherein the true spirit of Bedouin Hospitality thrives at every level.
Chief Executive Officer, Jumeirah Group
As Chief Executive Officer, José Silva is responsible for growing the Group’s luxury portfolio through international expansion overseeing the next phase of dynamic growth whilst building on Jumeirah’s extraordinary success over the past two decades, driving the company to a new era in luxury. Currently Jumeirah Group has 25 properties across 8 countries, with 50% of the portfolio located outside of the United Arab Emirates including hotels in London, Capri, Mallorca, and then Shanghai, Nanjing, and Guangzhou in China.
He has enabled Jumeirah Group to weather the greatest economic storm of the 21st century (COVID-19) and has already broken historical performance records for Jumeirah Group throughout its 25-year history in Q1 of 2022. This has been achieved through restructuring the organisation, prioritising equal representation of women across the business, investment in talent and realignment of roles to foster a more agile business that can respond to the changing market and consumer dynamics, and identifying opportune moments to invest in product and guest experiences to expand the brand offering, delivering strong financial and reputational results
With his eyes firmly set on establishing Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts as a globally recognised luxury hotel brand operating in the pure luxury segment, José Silva continues to be the driving force behind Jumeirah Group’s growth into key cities and destinations around the world.
Chief Commercial Officer – India, Turkey Middle East & Africa, ACCOR
Yigit Sezgin has lived around the globe in 8 cities during the last 25 years and held senior executive roles in multinational companies such as Hilton, Ritz Carlton and Radisson Hotel Group. In his last role as CEO of BLG Capital he managed a portfolio of luxury and lifestyle real estate and hospitality developments such as Aman Resorts, Peninsula Hotel, Soho House, W Istanbul, Ritz Carlton & Mandarin Oriental Residences, Galata Port. He holds a wide range of successful achievements and a proven track record especially in Emerging Markets with strong experience in M&A, integrations, leadership, strategic marketing, brand management, commercial performance and business development. In his current role as the Chief Commercial Officer at Accor Hospitality, he oversees a portfolio of 42 Brands in 41 countries in charge of all Commercial Functions, Mergers & Acquisitions, lifestyle platform and Integrations.
Over the past 3 years of him being Chief Commercial Officer, Yigit has led the commercial activities to achieve a growth of +7 points in RGI for the region, and under his leadership, PR activities have led to an overall coverage of over 10,000 features for the region which has resulted in more than 6.9 Billion views YTD 2022, especially leading in the Middle East & Africa against its main competitors.
He has also led a number of projects namely: The integration of Turkey and India into the Middle East and Africa region in 2021 adding more than 100 properties to the existing portfolio; the integration of Rixos brand global management under his leadership into the Dubai IMEA office; launch of ALL – Accor Live Limitless; creation and launch of Kitch In in 2021; and the launch of the All Inclusive Platform following the success of the Rixos Brand.
Yigit holds a Master’s Degree from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management, from Bosphorus University in Istanbul.
Founder and Managing Director, Palazzo Hospitality
Over the last years, Palazzo Versace Dubai’s managing director Monther Darwish put the property on the map, coming up with innovative campaigns aimed at increasing occupancy and revenue. As a result, the property had one of the highest occupancies amongst city resorts in 2021/2022.
July 2022 set a milestone for the businessman, who launched Palazzo Hospitality, a new management company for luxury hotels, residential buildings and lifestyle brands that aims to reinvent the world of personalised luxury. Leveraging on the trusted expertise of a team of hospitality experts, Palazzo Hospitality will bring to the market a diverse range hotel brands, from ultra-luxury beach resorts to business and art properties. Founded by Monther Darwish, the company is dedicated to building world-class hospitality products.
The launch of Palazzo Hospitality comes after the success of the ultra-luxury hotel in Jaddaf Waterfront, which has witnessed an immense success due to the market positioning through different campaigns and new business products, like the e-commerce platform aimed to offer guests the ease to purchase an experience at Palazzo Versace Dubai.
The hotel’s e-commerce platform has generated millions in revenue. Darwish says: “Being an independent property gives you the freedom to experiment and that’s the beauty of Palazzo Versace Dubai. We’re free to throw into the market any crazy idea and our audience just likes how unique we are. We’ve been thinking outside the hospitality box for a while, bringing in new initiatives and projects that haven’t been implemented anywhere else in the industry. Our ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ idea was a tactic to attract younger guests, the new generation who like to experience luxury with ease of purchase”.
Palazzo Versace Dubai was also the first property to introduce a bidding platform for stays, while the F&B segment continued to be a focus for the property. F&B revenue increased, too, as Palazzo Versace Dubai came up with unique concepts that proved to be successful among UAE residents. The ‘Into the Jungle brunch’ at Giardino, Palazzo Versace Dubai’s all-day dining restaurant, was a concept focused on child-friendly activities and a great F&B offering. It has been fully booked every Friday since it launched in July 2020.
In 2022, the hotel revisited its strategies and formulated new ones to continue to bring in guests and stay above its competitors.
David has an ability to inspire and lead his team while continuing to fight at the forefront and his capability to communicate and comfort the owners and external stakeholders are only some of the traits where David differs distinctly from many of his contemporaries. Despite the challenging times, the hotels have been able to sustain a retention rate of over 90%, demonstrating the loyalty to his team and their commitment to each other. Everyone in the team has been a big part of supporting the wellbeing of others amidst the social distancing. From keeping the team healthy and fit by organising isolated fitness regimes, fun runs, or simply coming up with new ways of entertainment such as stay-home hobbies, story sharing, or cooking ideas, David was committed to supporting everyone’s mental wellbeing. Looking back, the teams have not only made it through 2020 with a smile, but they have also been able to achieve budget and forecast on the second half of 2020, a remarkable achievement given the circumstances. Looking at the financials for 2021, the hotels are in line with their forecast and ahead of budget for the first 6 months. His colleagues and team members will assure you; David is not only someone who lives and breathes hospitality, he is a true leader that does not only take care of business continuity but also understands what is required to meet the expectations of stakeholders, employees, and communities. “David is a highly gifted and very experienced General Manager who has not only coped with the arduous challenges of opening three full service hotels in three years, whilst continuing to manage all of them, but has successfully navigated a way through the pandemic growing market share, maintaining high levels of guest satisfaction and exceeding financial expectations. Whilst David has numerous achievements to be proud of, including being the first hotel to organise a vaccination day with DHA, he is most proud of not making any employees redundant despite the challenges of the pandemic, speaks volumes about his character”, said Bert Fol, Regional Director Arabian Peninsula & East Africa, Radisson Hotel Group.
Taking the lead for three hotel openings with total 1046 rooms within 4 years, in a competitive market, wasn’t tough enough, the biggest challenge has been the uncertainty of the past 16 months. Throughout the past year, the tourism and hospitality industry has very evidently been impacted by the crisis, leading to most hotels across the globe choosing to temporarily close due to low occupancy or restrictions. There is no doubt that this has been a difficult time for everyone, but no matter the circumstances, David would always try to emit calmness, underlining his commitment to his team, ensuring everyone’s wellbeing comes first while refusing to compromise on anyone’s job security. David did not only manage to retain all 369 team members across the three hotels, despite the very difficult cash flow situation that the hotels went through during the pandemic, he also secured business during the hard-hit period of the strict lockdowns and travel restrictions, by working closely with the Dubai Healthcare departments and offering support. Whilst many hesitated, David, recognised early that this new kind of business would help them to survive and get through the most difficult months. While the first weeks of lockdown and COVID-19 landscape and more than 700 repatriate stays, the teams had to learn to fully adapt. Between PPE equipment, strict hygiene measures, and self-isolating repatriates, David made sure to stay close to his team, while supporting and supervising them on this honourable journey. From controlling expenses, repurposing the hotel for essential service use, and temporary closure of another, David has had many factors to consider, but never forgot his responsibility towards his team members. Throughout the lockdown, David didn’t step foot out of the hotel, ensuring that his teams were looked after and never shied from questions. He made it a point to address all concerns as much as possible through personal interactions at the hotel as well as weekly newsletters. On the top of the agenda; transparency and support. Although the hospitality industry has had one of its most difficult years in terms of cash flow, David had made it his priority to support those with financial concerns be it rent or other commitments, through temporary accommodation in one of the hotels or financial support where possible. In terms of revenue results the grou had a record breaking profit conversion of 19.7 Million, a great achievement which could only be realised by a great team working under an exceptional leader.
Founder and CEO Golden group
Artashes Avetisyan is an experienced Chief Executive Officer with a demonstrated history of working in the hospitality industry. Skilled in business planning, management, hospitality management, customer service, and strategic planning. He is a strong business development professional graduated from Yerevan State University and Public Administration Academy.
The Golden Group has become one of the leading groups in hospitality in Armenia. It was established in 2000 and now owns 2 hotels in the Republic of Armenia; Golden Palace Hotel Yerevan, with 36 luxury suites; and Radisson Blu Hotel Yerevan, with 142 rooms and suites. Both hotels have a 5-star classification according to the international classification standards.
In addition to the luxurious outlets, exceptional design, and two exceptional locations, the welcoming service completes the picture. The group staff do their best to provide excellent service and meet guests’ expectations, making their stay memorable and delightful under the leadership of Artashes.
Artashes’ main mission for the group was to put hospitality service at the highest level in Armenia in order to provide guests with exceptional customer service and memorable experiences, that results in welcoming the guests back on another wonderful occasion, which he has been able to successful achieve in a short space of time.
In addition, Artashes has also founded 3A Hotel Management Company, which handles the entire operational management of the hotel, starting from pre-opening and beyond.
The ideology of his vision is to continue to apply and set the highest standards of service quality and, in that way, justify and uphold the reputation that he has among guests, partners, competitors, and the wider community. Artashes looks forward to embracing the changes that modern life brings and become more attractive in the market and more interesting to guests and partners. It’s no coincidence that the group has been repeatedly recognised as the regions guest’s choice. The Golden Group is continually growing and doing its best to make the hospitality industry in Armenia even more fascinating.
Bill Keffer is the Cluster General Manager of Dubai Marriott Harbour Hotel & Suites and the iconic JW Marriott Marquis Dubai, a flagship of the JW Marriott Brand that opened in 2012 as the world’s tallest hotel. Bill is leading the hotel team of over 1,000 associates and more than 50 nationalities and is responsible for every aspect of this 1,608-room landmark, having already led the team to significant operational success.
Hailing from the Southern state of Tennessee in the US, Keffer has held managerial positions with Marriott International for over 25 years. Beginning his career in the Four Seasons Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Keffer joined Marriott International in his home state of Tennessee sometime later, followed by positions in Florida and New York. In 2000, Keffer decided on a move to Asia and spent two years in Japan as the Food and Beverage Director of the Renaissance Hotel, Sapporo, followed by three years in South Korea as Director of Operations in the JW Marriott, Seoul. 2005 he saw a move to Europe taking on the role of Area Director of Operations in the United Kingdom and Ireland until 2009, when he came to the UAE as General Manager of Marriott Dubai Harbour Hotel and Suites. Throughout his career, Keffer has been the recipient of several prestigious awards including Continent General Manager of the Year 2012, Continent Hotel of the Year 2011, Global Hotel of the Year for 2011, three individual recognitions for Leadership and Engagement Excellence between 2010 and 2012, Food and Beverage Excellence in 2011, Operational Excellence in Asia Pacific Region 2005 and a special award for ‘Investor in People’ in Middle East and Africa, 2011. In his past assignments he was actively engaged in local community projects and business councils, winning a “Contribution to Culture” award in the Marriott Business Council and “Spirit to Serve” Community award in Dubai. With career spanned over 2.5 decades and counting, served in three continents for multiple owners and at the iconic properties backed with numerous awards and accolades, Bill’s committed and dedication to the industry is truly legendary.
Bill’s wealth of experience in the industry allowed him to lead the iconic 1,608 key hotel through the pandemic without having to close the hotel doors, a feat which was unachievable by many hotels across the globe, especially one of this size. Regarding revenue generation, Bill and his team adapted the hotel’s sales strategy during the pandemic, diversifying into long stay business for the hotel as well as reaching out to new markets, such as Israel. These new strategies helped maintain and support the business during the tough times and into 2021 helped drive more demand leading the hotel to achieve budget year to date. His kind and friendly demeanour combined with charismatic personality makes him approachable and well-trusted by his team which is reflected in the Associate Engagement results in 2021 where the hotel achieved 90% Engagement. And like a true mentor, Bill was overjoyed when promoting Nick Patmore (ex. Food & Beverages Director) to Hotel Manager last year. Nick’s promotion was a result of F&B exceeding its budget by 5 % in 2021, a huge achievement following a year where the hospitality and F&B industry were badly hit, helping for a speedy recovery for the hotel. If you were to ask Bill to pinpoint his favourite achievements, the avid animal lover would shout out the cat shelter project he has been part of lately. Teaming up with associates from the hotel, the group is facilitating over 25 stray cats at the staff accommodation in Ras Al Khor where our furry friends are well looked after.
Christophe Schnyder is a seasoned leader within the hospitality industry, with over 30 years of experience that spans across several iconic hotels around the globe, spending the last 20 years in Dubai, UAE. His personality exudes passion and drive to deliver results through his team. Christophe is well recognised in the industry for his innate ability to develop strong performing teams through empowerment and deep trust, with several of his direct reports moving on to become senior leaders and general managers within the industry. During his illustrious career, Christophe spearheaded several high-profile openings including the iconic Burj Al Arab, Jumeirah Al Qasr & Dar Al Masyaf, and more recently Sofitel Dubai The Palm. His eye for detail and drive for success is acutely tangible in the success story each of these hotels have been since day one. Under Christophe’s leadership, Sofitel Dubai The Palm has established itself as the flagship Dubai property for the Sofitel brand and Accor, which continues to shine as an exceptionally profitable asset since its opening in 2013. He is a true reflection of the brand, which radiates modern luxury celebrating the most sophisticated living. Hard work and passion have led Christophe to where he is today, but he translated it with being personable towards his team, individually recognising and rewarding his team members for excellence.
With a keen on eye on customer experience Christophe worked closely with the owning company to drive profitable long-term investment into the hotel that will continue to enhance the guest experience in an ever evolving Dubai hospitality scene.
Christophe is a visionary leader that understands the importance technology plays in the future of hospitality and in the customer journey. He quickly embraced the digital transformation of the hospitality industry and enabled the hotel to swiftly integrate two technologies that helped drive incremental revenue and improve customer journey.
A hospitality veteran of more than 20 years, Slim Zaiane’s career path has taken him from Geneva to London to Dubai in senior management roles with several luxury hotel brands. In order of keeping this exciting and challenging, his day-to-day role involves being around guests and overseeing the hotel’s operations, logistics, management, and team. He thrives in achieving excellence in both guest and employee satisfaction and enjoys being extremely hands-on in all areas of the hotel to achieve the highest level of service. The most challenging part of this role is to make sure all my colleagues are appreciated in the same manner and to constantly improve and provide a healthy work environment while maintaining a work-life balance.
Slim’s leadership is responsible for launching of the newly open SPA and other hotel outlets. As well as the strong CSR activities which include: supporting constantly the local community by generating funds during the stollen event to be donated; the funds raised to support the Red Crescent and Senses residential care; supporting the medical hospital crew during Covid by extending free meals for the them to support them during the peak time of the pandemic; and supporting various local school charities.
The hotel saw a RevPAR growth of 79% in 2021 despite the difficult market conditions, enhanced quality scores are at the highest for the last 10 years. He has also successfully positioned the hotel as one of the top luxurious leisure destinations in Dubai, winning different hotel and general manager international awards. Achieving LEED platinum accreditation for the hotel and supporting ALUMNIs from different international hotel management schools to integrate the hotel industry once newly graduated is one of Slim’s priorities, along with ongoing mentoring and development plans to the senior management team resulting in reducing turnover.
Chief Executive & Founder, Gates Hospitality
With over 39 years in the hospitality world across Australia, Asia, & the Middle East in various senior management roles, Naim has launched and operated some of the world’s best Hotels, Resorts, Spas & Lifestyle Food & Beverage Concepts. Naim’s career has exposed him to some of the best properties around the world and he has been fortunate to partake and orchestrate several amazing openings and operations. In 2010, Naim established “Gates Hospitality” a homegrown Hospitality Company representing handpicked Concepts catering for the affluent life-stylers. Gates Hospitality, the owning company of well-known homegrown brands such as Ultra Brasserie, the internationally acclaimed concept; Reform Social & Grill Dubai, Folly, as well as Publique, Dubai’s premier “Apres Ski chalet”, Bistro Des Arts, Six Senses Zighy Bay and Red Farm London at Covent Garden London.
Covering a wide spectrum of positions within senior leadership, including the role of Managing Director for both Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas and The Anantara Group respectively. During his time with these exclusive properties, Naim was instrumental in nurturing sound relationships with owners, securing the best possible locations, negotiating, and formalising contractual agreements, and appointing teams to infuse and reflect the ethos of the brands. Being based in the Middle East over the past 20 years, Naim has witnessed tremendous industry growth, gained a deep cultural understanding and has been endorsed by principals and organisations alike. He has also achieved a selection of awards from reputable publications and organizations recently including ‘Hospitality Entrepreneur of the year’ at the Leaders in Hospitality Awards by Hotel & Catering in March 2022, a Gold ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ award in December 2021 as well as ‘F&B Heavyweight’ at the Leaders in Hospitality Awards by Hotel & Catering in November 2021.
Founder and CEO, 7 Management
2021 has been a grand year for 7 Management with CEO Rabih Fakhreddine firmly at the helm, leveraging every possible opportunity and fearlessly taking the year by storm. A key player in the industry, Fakhreddine has amplified the nightlife landscape in the region with 7 phenomenal launches under his belt. While many were proceeding with caution, Fakhreddine was trailblazing with perseverance, determination, and unparalleled enthusiasm. Fakhreddine was the visionary behind several concepts that helped cement Dubai’s global dining and nightlife reputation, by introducing famous Beirut exports such as Seven Sisters, Antika Bar, BO18 DXB, February 30, and Cafe Beirut to the UAE market. Additionally homegrown concepts such as The Theater and Lucia’s that have already proved ground-breaking players within the regional landscape. Recognised as an entertainment leader in the region, 2021 has honed and elevated Fakhreddine’s ability to envision, conceptualise, and create aspirational brands that strike the balance of experiential excellence, thrilling entertainment, and a quality culinary offering. 2021 was the year that Fakhreddine kept his finger firmly on the pulse of this ever-evolving city, whilst also setting his sights further afield. Fakhreddine enhanced the nightlife scene in both KSA and Qatar with the successful launch of Antika Bar. Hailing from Lebanon, Fakhreddine has always been a visionary at heart. Working for many years in the corporate world he knew that his true passion lay on the other side of his comfort zone. With an absolute passion for the hospitality industry, he created 7 Management that has gone from strength to strength in 2021, with plenty of robust expansion plans on the horizon. 7 Management has tapped into the explosive power of this sector, resulting in a new payment option, where clients can pay with cryptocurrencies at all the Food and Beverages outlets.
Executive Vice President and Managing Director Atlantis Resorts and Residences
Timothy Kelly, the Executive Vice President and Managing Director of Atlantis Resorts and Residences has grown the business from strength to strength after coming on board in November 2017. Although he has seen many successes over the years, these are a few of the most recent achievements to date: He successfully navigated Atlantis, The Palm through some of the most challenging years in hospitality history, not only to survive but to thrive, resulting in 2021 being the best year financially for the company since opening in 2008 (whilst also caring for over 3,000 colleagues).
Tim is not only leading the way for resorts in the Middle East but creating a product that is game changing on a global scale. During the pandemic, Tim took the move to embark on the world’s largest waterpark expansion and increased the waterpark by a third, so that with an additional tower and 28 new rides and attractions, we’re now home to the largest waterpark in the world offering over 105 different experiences to our guests. He also shook up the entertainment sector by bringing a slice of Ibiza to Dubai with Palmarama at WHITE Beach – a first of its kind partnership that had never happened before in the region that brought world class entertainment to the city in the middle of the pandemic in a responsible way.
2020 was a wonderful opportunity for Atlantis to give back to the community from a social standpoint and had the opportunity to do so in the partnership with the world-renowned artist Sacha Jafri. For over six months, Tim donated the space for Sacha to create the world’s largest canvas which was sold at a glittering auction at the resort for a staggering $62 million, raising money for children in need across the globe. This also achieved the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest painting.
In June 2021, Atlantis, The Palm announced its commitment to do business in ways that are good for both people and the planet with the resort’s first sustainability initiative Atlantis Atlas Project.
Tim is considered a hospitality heavyweight not only for his achievements, but mostly for his visionary leadership to helm not only one of Dubai’s, but one of the world’s leading entertainment destination resorts.
President & CEO, Rotana Hotel Management Company PSJC
Strategic, engaged and result driven, Guy Hutchinson is responsible for developing and executing the strategic direction of Rotana and devising and implementing short- and long-term strategies to help the company realise its expansion plans. In addition, he provides executive oversight of all aspects of Rotana’s day-to-day operations. Spearheading the company’s expansion, Hutchinson led the introduction of 28 new hotels across 13 markets, launched a franchise model for the Group and oversaw the opening of new Global Sales offices in Paris, Milan, Amsterdam, and Istanbul to drive business from these key markets. Furthermore, he spearheaded the launch of a new brand at the recent ATM, Edge by Rotana, to complement our existing portfolio of products.
Hutchinson joined Rotana’s feted executive team with prestigious recognition of his own. The international hotelier’s career is notable for its creative leadership and his success in change management, repositioning, and building high performing teams.
Rotana has achieved a number of milestones as it continued its tenacious expansion over the past 12 months. The leading hospitality group has signed seven hotels last year, which include its expansion in Qatar and signings in Egypt.
In 2021 Guy Hutchinson continued to spearhead the management of the pandemic across the Rotana portfolio, swiftly instigating several successful measures, some of which include the Rotana Safe Space Program that remains today. His quick thinking and bold efforts in the initial stages of the pandemic mitigated the impact on the overall business and his team, and soon pushed the hotels into a commercial recovery phase
Panos Panagis is a highly creative, detail oriented leader with a strong work ethic and passion for his job, he likes to challenge himself daily, whether it be cultivating his skills or developing talent in the Industry. He is dedicated, committed, compassionate and, more importantly, a man with vision and wealth of knowledge. His innovative strategies demonstrate his commitment to ensure high levels of productivity and resource efficiency. He continues to priorities health and safety of guests and staff. His’ primary focus is to deliver a personalised and engaging luxury experience by combining distinctive characters of Oman’s local culture with his international experience. He has implemented various organisational changes to make business agile and adaptive to the current market trends, while maintaining and creating long-lasting relationships with partners and guests. Panos’ overall character makes him a role model for young hoteliers and a leader in the hospitality industry. One of his greatest passions is mentoring young leaders; empowering them within his team and across the company so that they can grow professionally and achieve their goals.
His passion and expertise in the hospitality industry is unmatched; he is truly a one-of-a-kind leader. In the hospitality industry, Panos demonstrated excellent leadership, robust resilience, and unwavering determination to deliver results during the most challenging market conditions. In addition to working as GM at Hormuz Grand Muscat, A Radisson Collection Hotel, one of the most iconic properties in the capital, Panos Panagis’ contributions to Radisson Hotel Group extend far beyond one five-star luxury hotel with 231 rooms. During his tenure at Hormuz Grand Muscat, Panos led his team to achieve several awards, including World Luxury Hotel & Restaurant Awards for ‘Luxury Hotel in Oman & Luxury Restaurant in Oman’. During the pandemic, Panos and his team adapted the hotel’s sales strategy, diversifying into long-stay business and targeting the domestic market with staycation and food and beverage offers, which helped maintain business. Captains led by example, so he ensured that no job was too small, ensuring support for all departments.
CEO, Zaya Hospitality
Adib Moukheiber is best known for his time leading one of the region’s most private and luxurious hospitality projects in the world, Zaya Nurai Island. As the former head of the ultra-luxury boutique Zaya Nurai Island, Moukheiber is no stranger to welcoming the most discerning UAE residents, as well as celebrities.
With a BA in Hotel and Tourism Management from Notre Dame University, Adib joined Zaya Nurai Island, Abu Dhabi in 2016 as the General Manager prior to this he was the Director of Sales for the Middle East and GCC at Hotel President Wilson (Starwood Luxury Collection) Geneva, Switzerland. During his time at Zaya Nurai Island he achieved great success in terms of revenue and worldwide recognition and managed to generate strong performance during COVID in 2020 and 2021 before assuming his current role as CEO of Zaya Hospitality where he leads the organisation to new heights with his vast experience and leadership skills.
CEO, FIVE HOSPITALITY
Aloki Batra has been aptly referred to as ‘Mr Brightside’ for his perennially optimistic approach to leadership at the world-famous FIVE Hotels and Resorts, (which includes the iconic FIVE Palm Jumeirah and Instagram favourite FIVE Jumeirah Village, FIVE Zurich and FIVE LUXE, JBR). With an innovative spin on traditionally relied upon approaches and an out of the box philosophy that has yielded stratospheric results – including rapidly selling out all of FIVE Palm Jumeirah’s luxury residences for approximately US$400mn, Aloki has helped create a brand value for FIVE Hotels and Resorts that enjoys over 60% of all its bookings coming in directly through FIVE’s very own proprietary website/reservations teams. All-in-all Aloki’s marketing prowess has resulted in FIVE Hotels and Resorts in Dubai successfully welcoming over 3.79mn guests of over 192 nationalities to FIVE’s award-winning F&B venues and over 4000 events with over 360 top DJs in 1,784 days. Two FIVE Hotels have been ranked #1 with occupancy rates of over 95% and a TrevPAR that is 253% higher than its competitive set. FIVE Jumeirah Village is the most reviewed hotel on Booking.com with over 30,000 reviews with a rating of 9.
The imaginative powerhouse behind hugely successful homegrown concepts such Dubai’s iconic rooftop nightlife destination, The Penthouse, chic Italian luxury haute spot, Cinque and gourmet MSG-free Chinese favourite, Maiden Shanghai at FIVE Palm Jumeirah along with award-winning immersive street-food dining experience serving all your food-cart favourites from every delicious corner of the world, Soul Street. He has completely conceptualised and executed in-house, FIVE’s award-winning array of venues – each of which enhances the seductive appeal of the FIVE Vibe.
Looking ahead, Aloki plans to continue to evolve and encourage pioneering strategies at FIVE Zurich and capitalise on its’ already established key markets. He continues to lead FIVE’s portfolio, focusing on dynamic growth and bringing even more luxury lifestyle concepts to life.
CEO, Sunset Hospitality Group
Sunset Hospitality Group was founded in 2011 by Antonio Gonzalez with a vision to create unique experiences around the world through a diverse mix of hospitality concepts.
Under Antonio Gonzalez’s leadership, Sunset Hospitality Group (SHG) achieved excellent results, with overall business growing massively, making it one of the UAE’s most reputable hospitality investment and management companies. For the last 13 years, he has worked tirelessly to introduce new hospitality concepts that bring people together to create memorable experiences. As a result, the Group is now present in 9 countries across 26 brands with a proven record in delivering a blend of high-quality services at exceptional locations.
In 2021, Sunset introduced ten new brands, including SUSHISAMBA, Aura Skypool Lounge, METT Hotels and Resorts, Isola Ristorante Italiano, Folie Restaurant & Sea, and RAISE Fitness & Wellness, taking its portfolio to over 30 venues. The Group received 25 awards and nominations from the industry’s award-giving bodies. Sunset welcomed the year 2022 with the opening of DREAM, a dinner and show concept that received amazing reviews from guests and the media worldwide. It was followed by L’Amo Bistro Del Mare, which was rated One Toque by Gault&Millau Guide.
The Group is expanding regionally and internationally, with the Black Tap burger joint entering Riyadh in June of 2022, while METT Hotels & Resorts, with its first hotel in Bodrum, is eyeing new locations in other parts of the globe. New concepts opening in the next few months are Mott 32, a luxury Chinese restaurant originally from Hong Kong, in Address Beach Resort, and ATTIKO, a signature outlet for guests looking to unwind and celebrate, opening in W Hotel Mina Seyahi.
Celebrating its first ten years in 2022, SHG aims to reach over 50 operating venues in 14 countries and will continue to expand with a robust pipeline of new openings for 2023 and beyond, not only in the Middle East but also in Spain, Italy, Greece, and Morocco, to name a few, confirming its status as the leader in hospitality management in the UAE.
Chief Operating Officer, Rove Hotels
Paul Bridger, a British National is a proven hospitality leader with more than two decades of diverse experience across Europe, Middle East and Asia, Paul Bridger is the Chief Operating Officer of Rove Hotels, the smart, new value hospitality brand created as a joint venture between Emaar Hospitality Group and Meraas Holding. His journey with Rove Hotels started in 2016 at the brands first opening and he has been overseeing the initiation, planning, and achievement of the brands objectives since.
Paul Bridger has led Rove hotels since its first opening in Downtown Dubai. The brand has carved out a new niche in the region’s hospitality scene for its fuss free service, unique approach, and quick growth. In the past 12 months the group has continued to go from strength to strength, with new openings and signings in prime locations and further unique twists on the region’s hospitality scene.
As the Head Rovester, Paul has always laid a keen focus on guest satisfaction. A testament to all these efforts is shown via a quick search on one of the OTA sites or TripAdvisor, with the Rove Hotels consistently occupying the top spots in their category. TripAdvisor recognised some of the brand’s hotels as ‘best of the best’ (TOP 1% Worldwide), and Hotels.com have recognised them through the ‘Loved by Guests’ Awards 2021. Other recognition has been in the Leaders in Hospitality Awards 2021’s and LIV Hospitality Design Awards ‘Interior Design Hotel’, to name a few.
In his current role, Jochem-Jan is responsible for Hilton’s portfolio of hotels in the Middle East, Africa & Türkiye, where Hilton has more than 170 hotels across eight market-leading brands and more than 29,000 Team Members. Under his leadership, Hilton’s portfolio in the region will more than double in the coming 3-5 years, with 180 hotels in its development pipeline across luxury, full-service and the mid-market brands.
Under Jochem-Jan Sleiffer’s leadership, Hilton is ushering in a new golden age of travel in the region – as the industry recovery continues to gather pace around the world. With a proven strategy focused on workplace culture, ESG and growth, achievements include: Team Members voted Hilton in the top 4 Best Workplaces in the UAE and KSA in 2022 – making it the top-ranked hospitality company in both markets. Hilton will continue to focus on creating a fantastic workplace culture for its teams – and be a welcoming place to work for all. In June 2022, Hilton partnered with Bunyan for Training, a local affiliate of Swiss hospitality management school Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, to train young Saudi talent willing to enter the industry. Hilton has partnered with organisations such as the SEDRA Foundation in the UAE – and such partnerships will continue to grow under the leadership of Jochem-Jan with a major part of his leadership focused on creating opportunity for People of Determination. Jochem-Jan works closely with the Dubai Executive Council – acting as a representative of the hospitality sector to advise on and promote inclusion of People of Determination in the industry.
For the last 6 years and even during the most challenging year of recent times, the pandemic during 2020, Giacomo has managed to deliver a profit year after year through leading by example and always pushing boundaries to achieve the impossible. Giacomo’s engagement with guests and team members alike are unique and personal. The term “engagement” has somewhat staled, but here it means showing genuine interest in the success of the organisation and for each individual team member. Giacomo’s leadership style prides itself on the notion that, interested and engaged people do not multitask, fidget with their smartphones, or otherwise dilute their attention and participation during interactions and meetings. Giacomo actively listens, proactively comments on other contributions and offers constructive feedback or insights to other queries. Giacomo is solution-focused with those relying on him. Giacomo gracefully frames his contributions and feedback in a constructive and supportive manner, which typically has a positive effect on others. For Giacomo, leadership charisma does not mean being “larger than life,” a “dynamic speaker,” or having a strong “executive presence.” Rather, Giacomo fundamentally stands out in his ability to focus on others and not on himself. This “service to others” is at the core of his genuine charisma, it is inspirational in his messages and his ability to bring people together to realise a common goal and share in that success. Giacomo’s charisma coupled with substance and empathy makes him a very powerful asset to the organisation. He has over 26 years of experience. Inspired by his passion for wines and food from the start of his career, his priority has always been to ensure that his team and his customers are always satisfied.
Over the years Giacomo has increased profitability for the hotel and his latest achievement is the successful opening of the only resort located in The World Islands archipelago, Anantara World Islands Dubai Resort, on 18th December 202.
Vice President Development, Middle East, Eurasia and Africa at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts
As the Vice President of Development, Middle East, Eurasia and Africa at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Panos Loupasis has overseen a number of important developments in the region for the brand. In particular, Panos was at the forefront for the significant growth across the MEA market over 2021, including the signing of eight hotels with a total of 1,279 rooms as well as the opening of five hotels and 809 rooms.
As a key member of the Wyndham’s leadership team, Panos supports the brand’s focus on the recovery and growth in a new era of travel post pandemic. At the forefront of development for the hotel group, Panos has personally signed up to 60 opportunities over his time at Wyndham, with the latest including the largest Tryp hotel with 672 rooms when signed and Wyndham Dubai Marina at 497 rooms.
Professionally, Panos is passionate about advancing the GCC tourism sector and has contributed his expertise, as a member of the advisory board for the AHIC (Arabian Hotel Investment Conference) and the AHIF (African Hotel Investment Forum). By working with partners – from governments to airlines, tour operators to franchisees – Panos, alongside the Wyndham team, continue to rebuild confidence in tourism, as people begin to explore once again in this new era of travel.
Founder and Managing Director, Aleph Hospitality
In 2015, Bani Haddad founded Aleph Hospitality, a leading independent hotel management company, working for hotel owners in the Middle East and Africa to maximise their assets. In contrast to traditional hotel management models in the region, Aleph Hospitality manages hotels directly for owners, either on a franchise basis for branded properties or as a white label operator for independently branded hotels.
Introducing the 3rd party management model to the region was quite a pioneering move by Bani seven years ago and it remains his legacy to hospitality in this part of the world. In seven short years, Bani Haddad has taken the hotel management portfolio to 12 operating hotels, 947 keys, and 12 signed hotels in the pipeline, 2,000 keys, in the following countries: UAE, Lebanon , Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Monrovia, Cameroon, and Ghana. In addition, Bani has established preferred partner status with leading hotel brands, including Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt. Aleph Hospitality has earmarked a portfolio of 50 hotels in the Middle East and Africa by 2026. Bani’s hands-on and human leadership style has remained consistent, and Aleph’s company culture of empowerment has made it an attractive employer, with a hotel employee turnover below 5%.
Prior to founding Aleph, Bani successfully developed, launched and managed several major international hotel brands. As Regional Vice President Middle East & Africa for Wyndham Hotel Group, Bani grew the portfolio from six hotels to 49 operational hotels and 20+ under development, developed five new brands and expanded the company’s portfolio to the African continent. From fundraising and developing 40 Holiday Inn Express hotels in the GCC at Hospitality Management Services and setting up HMS as an independent hotel management company to pre- and post-opening operations at Starwood and Disneyland Resort Paris, Bani has first-hand experience in virtually every aspect of hotel management. Under Ban Haddad’s visionary guidance, Aleph Hospitality almost doubled its revenues over the past 12 months driven by the group’s portfolio expansion.
Fathi Khogaly
Area Vice President & Cluster General Manager, Grand Hyatt Dubai
In January 2006, Fathi Khogaly became the Resident Manager at the Galleria complex at Hyatt Regency Dubai, where his main goal was to rejuvenate the residence and the shops at the Galleria. This was successfully done, where the outcomes were quite remarkable. These steppingstones simply laid the foundations, and later brought him to being appointed as the Hotel Manager in 2007 and 2009, and later General Manager in 2013 and 2016 of each property respectively.
By 2022, Fathi Khogaly added to Grand Hyatt Dubai’s extensive fleet of facilities. This included an Entertainment-plex, known as the Megaplex, which consists of Tiger Jax, a sports bar with an arcade and bowling alley; Primi by Panini, an extension to the hotel’s flagship delicatessen, Panini, and Roli Poli, a brand-new Kids Playground for all the little ones. Another key addition was orchestrating the opening of Grand Hyatt Dubai’s latest MICE venue – The Grand Hyatt Dubai Conference & Exhibition Centre. This blockbuster expansion project has added over 5000 sqm of state-of-the-art events space, and features a new exhibition hall, a pre-function area, a VIP majlis, and 2 levels of exclusive parking. Built in record time, Grand Hyatt Dubai’s Conference & Exhibition Centre was designed specifically to become one of the most renowned events, conference and exhibition venues within the destination.
Fathi Khogaly and Hyatt Hotels proved to be the complete match with their genuine common ideologies and beliefs, primarily being about care, which was also the epitome of Hyatt’s purpose– we care for people so they can be their best.
During his tenure, he continues to demonstrate in many ways how he cares for people, most notably how he cares for the associates that work with him.
Mark Kirby began his journey with Emaar Hospitality Group in 2014 as Hotel Manager of the prestigious Armani Hotel Dubai and subsequently rose to the position of General Manager. Under his leadership, the hotel achieved widespread global awards including 27 service-related accolades in 2018. Moving forward with an appointment as Area General Manager, he managed the Group’s iconic flagship hotel, Address Downtown, as well as other Downtown Hotels in the Group’s portfolio, such as Address Fountain Views, Address Sky View, Palace Downtown and Vida Downtown Residences, before assuming his current role as the Head of Emaar Hospitality Group. While being a resilient force behind the success of Emaar Hospitality Group, he has been successfully expanding the group’s portfolio to key gateway cities and tourist markets internationally.
Mark pioneered the international expansion of Emaar Hospitality Group within the UAE including Address Beach Resort Fujairah and Vida Beach Resort Umm Al Quwain. He also led the successful debut of Vida Beach Resort Marassi Al-Bahrain, the first extension of Vida Hotels outside of the UAE and Address Istanbul, a hotel situated in the heart of the luxury Emaar Square on the Asian side of the city, Address Istanbul is a destination unto itself with unlimited possibilities. Mark’s involvement was instrumental in the signing of Diriyah Gate Development Authority to launch Address Hotels + Resorts within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which has allowed Emaar Hospitality Group to make its mark as one of the leading developments in the region.
He leads his team with true passion to allow growth and evolution within the industry. Popular for his approachability and willingness to mentor staff at all levels with the little details as well as critical matters, he has mentored many protégés over the years, from junior levels to those in middle management positions.
Chief Operating Officer, Middle East, Marriott International
Sandeep Walia is the Chief Operating Officer for Marriott International in the Middle East. With over 25 years of international experience in the hotel industry, Sandeep is currently responsible for leading the operations of Marriott’s properties in the Middle East (including Egypt and Turkey) which features over 200 operational properties and more than 100 properties in its pipeline. The company has more than 40,000 employees across its portfolio.
Sandeep took on his role as Chief Operating Officer for the Middle East mid-2021. In the last 12 months, Marriott has grown its portfolio in the region with the addition of more than 25 properties. Highlights include: Introduction of Ritz-Carlton in Jordan with The Ritz-Carlton, Amman; debut of Le Meridien in Qatar with Le Royal Meridien Doha, Residence Inn in the UAE, MEA in Qatar with Marriott Executive Apartments City Center Doha; and openings of The St. Regis Dubai, The Palm and The St. Regis Downtown Dubai and W Dubai – Mina Seyahi in the UAE.
Sandeep is passionate about the opportunity to develop the future leaders of this region’s industry. The company is committed to investing in young local talent to ensure the success of the region’s travel and tourism sector is unwavering. One of the ways the company is empowering youth is by developing the next generation of hospitality professionals through its Tahseen program – a hospitality training program that was developed by Marriott to specifically focus on fast tracking local hospitality leaders.
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Here is your chance to test drive a Foundation Website. This demo site and its corresponding SiteBuilder will let you play with all the features so you can quickly learn how easily you can manage your own website.
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Go to the SiteBuilder url provided by Morehead Marketing. Once there, enter the Username and Password which you were provided. Feel free to make as many changes as you want. Once you make a change, go to the demo site, refresh your page, and the change should appear. The demo site will default back to its original settings each night.
What You Can Do
From SiteBuilder you can manage:
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Pages: Add, edit or delete pages and photos.
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We have also provided a SiteBuilder manual on the desktop for your reference.
Morehead Marketing will work with you to design and implement custom color schemes and a header for your website.
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Everyone wants to find true love. It’s the dream of so many boys and girls and men and women; everyone hopes to eventually be able to find the right person for them and settle down, living out their own personal ‘happy ending.’ But sometimes, we meet the right person at the wrong time. This is exactly what happened to young lovers, Kay Gibbs and Michael “Marty” Martinovic, who first met back in 1980.
Source: Flickr
Even though their bond was strong and their connection was real, the time just wasn’t right for Kay and Marty back then. They ended up separating and living their own separate lives. But life can surprise us, and fate often has a few unexpected tricks up its sleeve, leading Kay and Marty back together, many years later. This is the story of an unpredictable and unlikely romance, and a happy ending that two people thought they’d never have.
Our story starts in the year 1980. Back then, the world was a very different place to the one we know now. Many of the technologies, devices, and systems we rely on today simply didn’t exist back then. The idea of chatting to people on the internet and keeping in touch through online systems like social media just wasn’t a possibility.
Source: Pinterest
It was a time when people lived differently and behaved differently. Instead of using the internet to meet new people like a lot of young folks nowadays, they had to go right out into the world and speak to them in person. And one of the best places to meet new people is at the club, where this incredible tale of lost and found love begins.
It seemed to be a night like any other at the Falcon’s Next club of the Homestead Air Force Base. The music was playing, the drinks were being poured, and people were dancing the night away. It was a place where military people and locals could come together and simply have a good time, relaxing at the end of a hard working week and letting loose with good friends by their side.
Source: Pinterest
And this was a perfectly normal night for most of the people who were there. But there were two very special people in that club, and for them, this night would turn out to be the very first step in a long, romantic adventure that would affect the rest of their lives.
One of the two special people in the Homestead Air Force Base club that night was Kay Gibbs. She was partying the night away with three of her closest friends, as she often did. She wasn’t a military woman, but she lived nearby to the base and so often spent time at the club there.
Kay was a divorcee, having already gotten married once before, and she definitely wasn’t looking for love on that particular night. In fact, she even had a special rule saying that she wouldn’t date any man she met in the club. She also had a young son, who was just three years old at the time, so was focused on looking after him and being a responsible mom.
The other special person in the club that night was Michael Martinovic, nicknamed ‘Marty’ to his friends and the people who knew him best. Marty was in the military, actually stationed in the Homestead area of Florida, and just like Kay, he often visited the club, since it was the closest place he could find for meeting people and relaxing with friends.
Source: Facebook
Also, in a similar fashion to Kay, he says he wasn’t really looking for romance at the club, he just wanted to have a good time. It was a great spot to chill out at the end of a long day with some drinks and some music, but on that night, Marty was going to find something else.
When asked about this moment many years later, both Marty and Kay can remember exactly how it happened and how it felt in their hearts. Kay says she noticed Marty’s military boots shining in the dimly lit room, while Marty says the first thing he saw of Kay was her eyes. When the lights in the club came on, their gaze met.
Source: Pinterest
It was a moment that Kay described as “instant attraction.” Marty, meanwhile, said that their first sighting of each other was “electric.” It was clear to see that both of them found each other very attractive, but would that attraction last when they started to speak? Marty wanted to find out, so he approached Kay for a conversation.
Everyone who has ever been in a long and special relationship can remember the first time they talked to their partner. It’s always an emotional moment, filled with butterflies and excitement as you both try to talk and act naturally while dealing with all of the attraction and unique sensations you’re experiencing.
Source: Imgur
That’s exactly how it was for Marty and Kay as well. The military man walked up to the young single mom and tried to keep his cool as he started up a conversation with her, asking the usual questions to find out more about Kay and learn about her life, as well as letting her know he liked her.
Taking It To The Next Level
The next step was clear in Marty’s mind. Since he and Kay seemed to be having a good conversation and had hit it off in the club, he wanted to keep in touch, so he decided to take the plunge and ask her for her number. However, this question didn’t quite turn out the way he had originally planned.
Source: YouTube
Kay was actually a little reluctant to give Marty her number. After all, she had her special rule about not dating any guys in the club and originally wasn’t even thinking about finding romance or starting a relationship at that time. So, she decided not to give him her number, but that didn’t stop Marty!
Marty really liked Kay, and he knew he wasn’t going to give up without a fight. Even after she said no when he asked for her number, he decided to keep on trying. He had to leave the club for work, but as soon as he was finished, he went right back to the club to find Kay again and ask her for her number once more.
Source: Facebook
This just goes to show that Marty wasn’t kidding around. There were plenty of other girls in the club every single night, but he’d seen something special in Kay, and he knew he wanted to spend more time with her. Even when faced with a challenge to try and get her number, he didn’t simply give up but instead kept on trying, and Kay finally said yes!
The First Date
As soon as Marty got Kay’s number, their love story could truly begin. They then talked for about a week on the phone and arranged their first-ever date. Even though the pair had already met and spoken at the club, their first date was sure to be a very special and exciting moment, as it is for any long-term couple.
Source: Facebook
It’s always an exciting time when you’re getting ready to go on that first special meeting with someone, knowing that it could turn out to be the start of something that changes your life forever. That’s exactly what it was for Marty and Kay, but they didn’t know it back then. They were just two young people looking to spend time together, and they had an amazing first date.
After such a special meeting and a wonderful first date, it was only natural that love began to blossom between Kay and Marty. They can both remember those early days of their relationship so well, with Marty saying that the whole thing “blindsided” him, as he never expected to find love right there in his own military base.
Source: Facebook
Kay, meanwhile, was always pleasantly surprised by what a “gentleman” Marty was to her. He was very kind and caring, always doing the right thing, and making her feel cared for and protected. In short, they were the perfect couple, and their relationship only grew stronger and stronger as time went by.
Many young people get together based purely on physical attraction or infatuation, later finding out that they don’t really connect on a deep and emotional level. But this wasn’t the case for Marty and Kay. As time went by, their bond only seemed to grow stronger, and their love grew and grew.
It seemed like with each day that went by, the pair both discovered new wonderful things about one another and made more and more happy memories together. Everything seemed to be just right for them, with Kay saying that she “loved him more and more each day,” even though she never actually told him how strong her feelings had become at the time.
Sadly, as the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end. Even though their relationship seemed to be perfect, ready to blossom into something bigger and brighter, perhaps even marriage and a family someday, the end was unfortunately in sight for Kay and Marty.
Source: Facebook
Marty was, after all, a military man. And one day, after spending several months getting to know Kay and falling in love with her, he learned that he was being re-assigned to a military base in Guam. Their relationship would have to come to an end, and both Kay and Marty were heartbroken by the news but didn’t want to make each other too upset, so they tried to part on the best possible terms.
By the point that Marty got the news about going to Guam, he and Kay had been together for nine whole months. They both later said it was one of the happiest times of their lives, but because they were both so young, they were afraid to truly express their deepest feelings for one another.
Source: YouTube
So, when the time came to say goodbye, they decided to simply part as friends, even though Kay called it a “gut-wrenching” experience. To say goodbye, the pair of them lied down on the floor in Kay’s home and hugged, thinking they’d never see each other again. Little did she know that fate had other ideas in store.
Since Kay and Marty officially decided to break up when he left, the only real choice they had was to simply try to move on and forget about one another. After all, the internet didn’t exist in those days, so it wasn’t like they could carry on chatting all the time and keeping track of each other on social media.
Source: Flickr
Those times were different. When people separated, they rarely saw each other again or even talked again, as numbers were lost and people moved away. So, Marty and Kay did the only thing they could: they moved on. They started to make their own lives, even meeting new people and beginning new relationships too.
Kay and Marty tried to make the most of the situation. They had a wonderful time together, but they both knew that it simply wasn’t meant to be, that life had other plans in store. So, they both tried to forget about the feelings they’d had and get on with their lives.
Source: YouTube
As they grew older, they met new people and fell in love all over again. Both of them got married and divorced in the years that followed, dealing with the ups and downs and surprises of life along the way. Like everyone else in the world, they both just tried to get by, making the right decisions, following their hearts, and trying to find their happiness.
So did Kay and Marty ever think of one another? Well, in a TV interview many years later, they both admitted that they did sometimes remember those amazing nine months and wonder what the other one was doing, how their life was going at the time, if they’d found love with someone else, etc.
Source: YouTube
Marty says he didn’t constantly think of Kay, as he had other relationships and other people in his life, but he did spare a thought for her every now and then, wondering how she was getting on with her son and if she ever thought of him. Kay also spent some time thinking of Marty, and even though she fell in love and married another man, she said it never felt quite as passionate as it had with Marty.
After Marty left, even though she sometimes thought about him, Kay tried to get on with her life and raise her son. She was a wonderful, responsible mother, doing everything she could to look after her boy and even getting a good job with a telecommunications company. Things seemed to be going pretty well, but in 1999, disaster struck.
Source: Flickr
She was working with the phone company and doing fine, but one day, she developed an inner eat disorder called Meniere’s disease. This terrible disease absolutely changed Kay’s life, but there was one silver lining to it all: the consequences of what happened next led her all the way back to Marty.
Meniere’s disease, also known as MD, is a disorder of the inner ear. It leads to a range of different symptoms and can be quite mild in some cases, but very severe in others. Some of the worst symptoms of Meniere’s disease are vertigo, or a feeling like the world is spinning all around you, as well as hearing loss and ringing in the ears.
Usually, Meniere’s disease only affects one ear, but it can affect both in some cases. The episodes of vertigo and ringing can last for several hours, and as the disease gets worse, it can eventually cause total hearing loss. It’s a disease that affects around 1 in every 1,000 people, and it tends to affect women more than men.
Meniere’s disease affected Kay very badly. She was having to deal with terrible vertigo episodes and had to spend a total of 18 months in bed due to the disorder. She was placed on short-term disability, which later changed to long-term disability. She was suffering greatly every day and eventually had to get an operation on her ear to try and solve the problem.
Source: healthyhearing.com
Kay and the doctors hoped that surgery would be the answer to her disease, finally letting her get out of bed and get back to her life once more. However, the doctors also told Kay that the operation was a risky one and could lead to some dangerous side effects, in the worst possible case. Either way, she knew she had to do it.
At the end of the operation, Kay received some good news and some bad news. The good news was that the surgery had been successful in treating the disease and freeing Kay of her horrible symptoms. The bad news was that she was now deaf in one of her ears.
Photo by ravipat / Shutterstock
She was naturally quite shocked to learn that she’d have to get used to relying on just one ear, but she was happy to finally be cured of her vertigo and tinnitus, ready to get back to work. Except, the more she thought about it, the more she realized she didn’t really want to go back to that same old job.
Even though she was starting to have second thoughts about her job, Kay still decided to go back to work for the time being before making any rash decisions. After all, she’d spent a lot of time out of work and needed to get back into the swing of things to support herself and her son.
Photo by Day of Victory Studio / Shutterstock
However, after spending just a couple of weeks back at work with the phone company, she came to a clear realization: she wanted to do something else with her life. The job just wasn’t fun or enjoyable anymore, and after having gone into hospital for her operation, she felt like life was too short to do things you don’t want to do. So, she made a big decision and told her boss she was resigning.
Kay had been bold and brave in choosing to quit her job, but now she needed to think of something else to do with her days, and fast! She suddenly wasn’t making any money at all, and even though she had some savings, she couldn’t stay like that forever. She started to think about different business ideas, wondering what she could to make a living in a fun and interesting way.
Source: Flickr
She wanted a job that she could really enjoy, something where she could be her own boss and feel happy and fulfilled going to work each day. This was all in the early 2000s when the internet was starting to take off, and the concept of online shopping was becoming big, so Kay started to take an interest in consignment shops.
Kay had already got a little experience in buying and selling things online. She’d sold some collectible items herself and felt like she could do that sort of thing for a living, with the right resources and the right space. So she started visiting consignment shops and getting involved with auctions and estate sales.
Source: Flickr
She began buying and re-selling unique and interesting items, and in November 2002, her business went to the next level. She saw a “For Sale” sign in one of the consignment shops she visited regularly and was tired of working from home, so she decided to speak to the owner and buy the shop! That was when her business, known as Kay’s Designer Consignment, truly began.
In the consignment business, people basically take items to shops like Kay’s and ask for help to sell them. Kay, and other consignors, sell the items and then the profits get split 50/50 between them and the original owner of the items. Kay seemed to be a real natural at this kind of work.
Source: Facebook
In only her first week of owning her own shop, she broke all of the previous sales records from the past decade! As word started to spread, more and more people went to her store, and eventually, she got so much business that she had to move to a whole new space over in Ormond Beach, Florida.
Everything was going great, and Kay was having the time of her life in such a rewarding job. She had always been a very sociable and chatty person, so she loved to work in a business that let her connect with people and meet new folks every day. Sadly, fate had another nasty surprise in store for her.
Source: Facebook
In the summer of 2006, she was working as normal when she suddenly got a terrible headache that just wouldn’t go away. She had to go for various tests and was diagnosed with a cerebrospinal fluid leak. It was agony for Kay, and it was the second big illness she’d had in recent years, making her stop and think about what she truly wanted from life.
Luckily, Kay managed to find a surgeon who could heal the fluid leak inside her body and help her get back to normal. She’d suffered from almost a constant headache for about 18 months, but finally, she was starting to feel better. Her marriage broke down a few months later, and since she’d been suffering so badly, her business was struggling too.
Source: Facebook
That’s when her son had a great idea. As a computer programming expert, he suggested to his mom that she should move the business onto Facebook, as that’s where a lot of people were doing their deals in modern times. So, in 2009, Kay set up a Facebook page for her shop.
Setting up a Facebook page was purely a business decision for Kay, but as she spent more time on the social media site, seeing all the people on there and thinking of all the folks she’d known in the past, her thoughts began to drift back towards Marty.
Photo by goodluz / Shutterstock
And one night, while browsing the site on her own personal profile, rather than the business account, she decided to look him up. She typed his name into the search bar, 28 years after last seeing him, and a profile appeared. The name matched, but there was no photo, so she couldn’t really be sure if it was him or not.
Kay knew that the odds of finding her Marty at the first attempt were probably quite small, but she also knew she didn’t really have anything to lose. The illnesses she’d endured and the breakdown of her marriage really made her think about what she wanted from life and start to value every moment.
Source: YouTube
She knew that life was precious and delicate. It could change in an instant, and it was so important to make the most of the time we have and try to be happy while we can. So, knowing that this man might bring her some happiness, she decided to send a message to the Marty account, asking if he was the same man she’d once met at the Homestead Air Force Base back in 1980.
Kay’s message simply said, “Is this the same Marty that was in Homestead in 1980/81 with the Air Force security police?’ If so, it’s Kay, and I am wondering how you are.” She had to wait a couple of days for a reply, but her heart leaped when she saw it. It really was her Marty, after all.
Source: Facebook
He couldn’t believe he was hearing from her again after all those years, and he replied to confirm that he was the very same man she’d once been in love with, almost three decades ago. From that point on, they started messaging back and forth, learning all about each other’s lives
So what came next? Well, Marty and Kay couldn’t really believe their luck at having found each other all over again. Social media had brought them back together as it has for so many other old friends and connections, and it gave them a new chance to get to know one another. They spent many hours in the following days and weeks sending each other messages, learning all about the things they’d been doing.
Source: Facebook
Kay told Marty about her son, her marriage and divorce, her business, and her health issues. Marty, meanwhile, updated Kay on what he’d been doing and how his life had been going in the 28 years since they’d been apart as well. And the more they talked, the more they felt like the spark they once had was still there.
Kay and Marty eventually both admitted to each other: they were in love all over again! And now that they were older and wiser, they didn’t want to waste any time at all. Initially, they planned to meet up together, but Marty decided to go even further than that. He said that he didn’t want to simply visit Kay and then have to leave her again.
Source: Facebook
Instead, he asked her to come to his place in Salt Lake City. Then, he said he was going to sell his house and drive all the way back to Florida with her. Kay knew it felt right and said yes straight away! In September of 2009, she took a flight from Florida to Utah, landing at Salt Lake City and meeting the love of her life.
When Marty and Kay got back to Florida, Kay introduced Marty to her business and asked if he’d be interested in becoming a part of it. Marty was a little hesitant at first, but the more time he spent at the shop and understood how it worked, the more comfortable he began to feel.
Source: Flickr
Kay says that the pair of them worked together “like a machine,” not even needing words to tell each other what to do. They both understand the business perfectly, both knowing exactly what’s in stock, what needs to be sold, and getting the right prices too. And they’re both always thinking of ways to improve the business and take it to the next level.
Finally, They Say “I Do”
In business, just like in love, Kay and Marty were absolutely perfect together. Since they didn’t want to waste any more time and both knew the value of making the most of life, they decided to get engaged and get married too! Their love only seemed to grow stronger the more time they spent together, and it really felt like they’d never ever been apart.
Source: Flickr
They’d lost a lot of time, but now, they were more than ready to make up for all those years they’d spent with other people or on their own. They work together every day and spend all of their free time side by side, totally happy, and living out their happy ending with one another at last.
Kay and Marty were quite truly meant to be. They both feel so lucky to have been given a second chance to make their relationship work, and each and every day feels like a gift. They both agree that they were made for one another, feeling totally compatible, enjoying all the same things, and having lots of fun each and every day.
Source: Imgur
It’s so wonderful to see that these two amazing people got the happiness they both deserved. They had to wait a while to find it, but they both agree that it was worth the wait. Now, they’re living the dream of so many people, spending every day with their soulmate.
If there’s one thing we can learn from Kay and Marty’s story, it’s that the old saying of “Love finds a way” really does have a lot of truth. It seemed almost impossible that these two people would ever meet again, let alone both be free, available, and ready to be together in their old age. But somehow, the consequences of life turned out just right for both of them.
Source: Flickr
Both Marty and Kay have been through a lot. They’ve experienced life’s ups and downs. They’ve been married and divorced. They’ve seen and done it all, and they had to wait a while for everything to fall into place, but in the end, that’s exactly what happened. Love brought them back together, proving that it’s never too late to reconnect with the right person.
Update: Sadly, Kay posted on her Facebook page on April 4, 2020, that her beloved Marty passed away. May he rest in peace.
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IT services company Bilot acquires digital strategy and design service provider Motley Agency - Bilot
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IT services company Bilot acquires digital strategy and design service provider Motley Agency
IT services company Bilot acquires digital strategy and design service provider Motley Agency
Acquisition brings together end-to-end expertise in digital business
IT services company Bilot acquires Motley Agency, an expert in business development, digital strategy, design, and software development. The acquisition will create an end-to-end developer of digital business solutions, covering all stages of service development from strategy and planning to the implementation and maintenance of digital business solutions.
After the transaction, the companies will continue to operate under their current names. Motley Agency will become a Bilot business unit managed by Motley’s current CEO Jens Krogell. Motley Agency ‘s approximately 40 experts will remain in their current positions. The delivery capability will be strengthened through new recruits.
“The acquisition of Motley is a logical step on our systematic growth path to become an end-to-end supplier of world-class digital commerce solutions,” says Ville Himberg, CEO of Bilot. “As a result of this deal, we complement our offering in digital strategies, and we strengthen our expertise in designing and developing the e-commerce user experience. With the acquisitions of Motley now and Castor IT a year ago, our capabilities are considerably stronger.”
“The transaction is based on our shared view that having key competencies in a single entity is key to digital business solutions development. Business-to-consumer commerce is spearheading digital business development in a number of ways. Together with Motley Agency, we will be able to introduce the quality of digital consumer business into the business-to-business environment. We will be an end-to-end business driver to our customers, helping them catapult their strategies and ideas into implementation. I am particularly pleased with Motley’s hands-on approach to strategy and with their rock-solid design and software development teams,” Himberg sums up.
The transaction will be executed as a combination of cash and share exchange. Approximately 80 per cent of Motley Agency’s employees are shareholders in the company and, in the transaction, will become Bilot’s shareholders. Motley Agency CEO Jens Krogell will join Bilot’s management team. The merger is to be completed in October 2021.
“Joining Bilot takes the Motley story into its next chapter. During our six-year journey, we have grown into a business partner for our customers, employing 40 people and combining strategy, design, and custom software development. Together with Bilot, we will now be able to leverage this as part of Bilot’s end-to-end offering. Our shared customer potential will grow significantly, and we will be able to help our customers over a range of much broader needs.”
Bilot’s revenue in the first half of 2021 was approximately EUR 13.6 million. Bilot’s customers include, Reima and Wärtsilä. Motley Agency’s revenue in the financial year 2020 was approximately EUR 4.1 million. Motley’s customers include Posti, OP and Helen.
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After 3 days "Silence [tabby kitten] is doing well. He enjoys his food and likes pretty well everything you put down for him"
After 2 weeks "They get along well. She [Indigo, spotted kitten] is holding her own and they do play together for hours. She is beautiful! "
After a month "He is solid and they do like a good play. She has him on speed and climbing skill."
After 2 months "The cats are a complete pleasure. They very much have fun and amazing personalities and cannot be more happy with how they have settled."
Metallicat Silver Harli now lives with Suzanne and Tony in Kent.
When she arrived home the same day "Harli is busy exploring, one room at the moment, she's a bold little thing and has already had some lunch... I think a little sleep will be next."
After 1 day " Harli is bright and sparkly, eating , playing and bonding with us...she kept sitting at our feet so we gave her a chair ! "
After a week "Harli is doing really well and has bonded with us. She is also being slowly introduced to our adult cats, with no problems so far."
After 2 months "She's a treasure"
At 8 months old "Harley eats everything in sight. !I'm going to have to start feeding her separately from the others. "
After 1 day "They seem very relaxed in their new home this morning. Both have eaten well and used the litter tray with no problems. They are now keeping me good company on the sofa."
Metallicat Silver Yaketysax aka Kobe now lives with Angela, Karl and family in Kent.
After 2 months: "Kobe settled in extremely well and no problems at all,he is a very handsome boy ! He has bonded with both the kids, they are always cuddling him and he sits on my son's lap on the PlayStation.
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Jesus knew what he was getting into. He knew what was coming for him when he left heaven, (left heaven?) and all its glory, to come Down here, become a baby, live life on earth with its dust and dirt and dryness and pain, and to be crucified for my sin, for our sins. He came to die so that we could live with him forever.
Thank you Jesus. You knew what was coming and did it anyway.
We sang it in church today. The question is answered by you stretching out your hands and feet to be nailed to a cross and then dying there for me. How great is your love for me? you loved me death. And God our Father raised you back to life again.
I am a man. I am an older man. I am a husband and a dad and a grandpa. I am a disciple of Jesus. Because I am a disciple of Jesus much of what I write is about him, and I usually end what I write with a question, do you the reader know that Jesus loves you? He does. He loves us all but he loves you specifically. He loves me specifically. What will you do with that information today? View all posts by Peterloeffelbein
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As of Friday, August 30th 2019, Already Heard is on hiatus for the foreseeable future.We would like to thank everyone who has supported us throughout the years.Further information can be found here.
Hey Vanity have had an exceptional career as a band already; having only been together for a mere six months, the quartet are fresh off the sold out Priorities Tour with Don Broco and Mallory Knox and are now set for their debut EP release ‘Breathe, Bleed Grow,’ which drops in April via Small Town Records; British rock is looking truly promising.
We caught up with vocalist/guitarist Marc Hall and drummer Ash Clarke whilst they were out on the road in Leeds to have a chat about the band’s journey so far, their new EP and life on tour.
Already Heard: Hey guys! So first things first, how are you both doing?
Marc Hall (vocals/guitar): Yes lovely tar!
AH: How’s the tour been going so far?
Marc: It has been brilliant yeah; we are over half way through now which is kinda sad. It flies pretty quickly but it has been amazing; amazing crowds, amazing response especially because we’re the opening band so you kind of worry about that; but every night has been banging.
AH: Excellent, the tour has sold out as well with the same again in Leeds tonight, have you played in this city before?
Marc: Yeah well in my old band I have, I played this room with them; we haven’t played here with this band though because we’re really new, we’ve only been together for six months so it’s all really new for this band; but we’ve all toured and been in bands before.
AH: That was one thing we wanted to know, how did Hey Vanity come about? You guys were in other bands before but what made you decide to call things a day with those and now form this band?
Marc: There were a lot of reasons for me because me and Will [Phillipson, guitarist] are from a band and Ash [Clarke, drummer] and Dave [Ruffle] our bass player were in two different bands. For us it was a lot of reasons, I wouldn’t go into it all but long story short we kind of wanted to do something fresh and new; we loved our old band and we did it for years and then decided that we wanted to move on. Some of the old members are still involved like Jay who played bass for our old band actually manages this band; Mike who used to play guitar is our producer he worked on the CD so we’re all still good chums and everything.
Marc: No not at all! And with you [looks at Ash] it was sort of the same thing…
Ash [Clarke, drums]: Yeah because I filled in for a while in Marc’s old band because their drummer went down with some injuries so I helped in the last year for them, which is how we came to this.
Marc: Yeah we just got on really well, started jamming some new tunes and it just worked so we though sweet, let’s do this!
AH: So being such a new band is this the first time you’ll have properly been out on the road and played your new material?
Marc: Well we did a run of shows in October and we had literally just started; we did those shows with Floods and Verses; that was cool but again that was us just finding ourselves. Then we have literally just done like a weekender, a couple of bits and bobs but on the whole the start of this tour was probably our tenth show ever or something!
AH: In terms of these live shows and with you all forming from different bands have you recognised any familiar faces in the crowds?
Marc: Yes and no; this tour actually sold out before we were even announced on it, so we had loads of messages coming in straight away from fans of our old bands saying ‘Oh no, dates have already sold out is there any way we can get hold of tickets?’ So yeah there are some and I think there a lot who missed out so it’s not too bad.
Ash: Yeah a lot more new faces than old definitely.
Marc: Oh yeah the majority are new and that’s brilliant for us!
AH: Talking about touring in general, do you guys ever get homesick when you’re out on the road?
Marc: Yeah it’s like when you’ve got partners back home you miss them, you have all of that obviously; but you can never explain the feeling of both wanting to be home for that, but then the fact that we were just saying earlier that we’re already over half way through and we’re really bummed about it, you don’t want it to finish! So yeah like Ash said it’s sort of a love/hate thing.
AH: Yeah because I think fans who go out to shows must see touring as this amazing thing but there are blatantly a lot of downsides to it as well.
Ash: I think they see it as what it is, as a band on stage and they don’t really see us slumming it and sleeping in a van!
Marc: It really is so much fun I wouldn’t want it any other way but put it this way, it’s not for everyone. A lot of people wouldn’t be happy to sleep in a van for two weeks, or sleep on floors, drive for hours you know? You’ve got that kind of 15% of it that we really love doing which is just that short set on stage playing to people; then other than that it’s work and it can be hard work but it’s good fun!
AH: Are you guys well behaved out on the road or do you like to cause mischief?
Ash: Tour banter! Tour banter is at a very high level; on this tour everybody seems to keep messing with each other but it’s on a respectable level. It’s not like ripping legs off your jeans and stuff [Marc laughs] or being utter twats you know; we respect each other and it’s all a good laugh at the end of the day. I mean the stuff we moan about now, in a year’s time we will look back and actually cry with laughter because those were the times which were just so good.
Marc: Yeah I mean we’ll have a drink here and there and you know we have a laugh but on the whole we’re pretty responsible…ish, we try to be!
AH: That’s good to hear! So now let’s move onto the new EP which is titled ‘Breathe, Bleed, Grow’ which is out in April and your debut lead single of the same name is out now; what is the reasoning behind the name of both the record and the single?
Marc: It’s kind of a bit of a catchphrase. Basically I was writing the lyrics to the song quite a while ago and I think I actually started writing those lyrics in my old band and it was one of those things where the songs about how us, as people, are always looking forward which is good; we are always thinking the grass is always greener all that kind of thing but when you get there, it’s still not enough! There’s nothing wrong with ambition but it’s about how sometimes you forget to just enjoy life; like when I was 16 if I could look at what I’m doing now, or even what I was doing a couple of years ago I would be like “wow, this is my dream!” Then when you’re actually doing it you get wrapped up in it and think ‘we’re not doing well enough, where is this band going?’ So the song is about that, but with everybody so ‘Breathe, Bleed, Grow’ basically means just live it; just realise you are in the moment and you are doing what you’re doing; you will look back on it and say “yeah, I had some sweet times.”
AH: Is that a central theme that runs throughout the whole EP?
Marc: Quite a lot, there are a lot of tunes that are, like ‘Terry Tibs’ is very much about people not really getting that we’re in a band because we love to do it again living life and enjoying it!
AH: So as mentioned the EP is due for its official release in April but you have been selling a limited run of them at the shows; what has the response been so far with those who have bought them?
Ash: Yeah those who have bought them have come back to us via some form of contact and said ‘ah the EP is so good’ and stuff like that, because I think it makes it a bit special as well; we only have 200 with us and that will be the only press with these cardboard sleeves so it’s like a limited edition kind of thing. You know it’s a nice thing to be a part of, getting the first listen and all of that sort of stuff as well.
Marc: Yeah and they’re selling really well…
Marc: Oh yeah really good; just today actually I was looking on Twitter earlier and I was thinking sweet, so many people are coming back to us saying they can’t stop listening to the EP.
AH: Especially because you’re such a newly formed band as well.
Marc: Well yes, exactly! We couldn’t ask for a better head start than this.
AH: In terms of the writing process of the EP, have you found it pretty natural coming together to writing the music and lyrics or have you come across any hurdles along the way?
Ash: I think it was a case of piece by piece definitely, with me and Marc I became a part of what he used to do so me, Marc and Will instantly found it easy to be like we’ll do this, we’ll do that.
Marc: we had the bases of tunes already written and what’s good about both Ash and Dave is that me and Will will have some ideas that we bring to the live room and then literally within an hour we will have jammed the whole song out and we can all play the song from front to back. Then it’s just a case of perfecting a few things, tidying it up, changing bits here and there. I mean we’re all a big part of the writing process but whoever originally writes the line or the first riff or whatever, someone else will always put their own spin on it and that’s what I love about this band.
AH: So you have five dates left of this tour, then next up you’ll be releasing the new EP officially; what’s next on the cards with you guys?
Ash: There’s a lot in the pipeline but at the moment there are no real confirmations of what’s going on. Obviously we’re aiming for the festivals and going for that sort of thing…
Marc: Yeah we’d love to do some stuff over the summer: all dayers, I think there are a couple of things in the pipeline. It’s just again a band so new and at this level, you don’t get that sort of stuff confirmed as early; so I think after this tour we will start getting things confirmed. The overall plan is to bash this tour out, get the release out in April, some shows and some all dayers maybe we’ll see how it goes and then hopefully put an album out later in the year.
AH: For those who have been reading this interview and are new to Hey Vanity, why should they check you out?
Marc: [laughs] I think that’s a really good question, because we’ve been saying in a lot of interviews on this tour that everybody is out there: everybody is out on Twitter and Facebook and everybody is going “Check this out! Check this out!” You know we all do it, I go “yeah…later” you know, we all do it; so that is a really good question, why should you check us out? I guess that’s why playing live is wicked because people go ‘oh that’s why I should check them out,’ because they like it. In terms of if you haven’t seen us, then I guess I think there’s something about us that we seem to be getting back from people is that there’s a quirky edge to us you know? We’re not just a rock band: we tune a bit differently and we like to make sure that everything has a quirky spin on it. [Turns to Ash] It’s a really hard question; is there anything else you’d like to add to that, why should they check us out?
Ash: Yeah we aspire to be that little bit different but not in a weird way… Marc: It’s just so many bands say that it’s really hard; and there are so many bands out there and they’re all great, well they’re not all great but some of them are great…most of them are great, a lot of them…some of them… Ash: They’re all great, stop talking…
Marc: Why should you check us out? Without sounding too optimistic…it’s always good to be one of the first to know of a band and I think things are looking good. I’m hoping in a few years time this band is going to be in a completely different position so it’s always good to give it a go and say “yeah, I knew them, I knew them three years ago.”
Ash: It’s worth a shot, give it a go. Marc: Yes give it a shot, also there’s a track currently that’s still online for free (‘Colours and Signs’) so check that one out if anything else!
Ash: Is that it? Marc: Nah I hope you enjoy the show, go and buy our single ‘Breathe, Bleed, Grow’ and check out the EP which is out in April; we have a video as well and please be our friends, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and all that jazz. Breathe, Bleed, Grow!
‘Breathe, Bleed, Grow’ by Hey Vanity is out on the 8th April via Small Town Records.
On: 11th March 2013
In: Interviews, Post
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Style notes: Beers in this category are reddish brown or copper colored. They are medium in body. The beer is characterized by malty aroma and slight malt sweetness. The malt aroma and flavor should have a notable degree of toasted and/or slightly roasted malt character. Hop bitterness is clean and crisp. Noble-type hop aromas and flavors should be low or mild. Diacetyl, chill haze and ale-like fruity esters should not be perceived.
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We're tracking 21130 beers from 131 breweries. Across 310 styles, these beers have an average ABV of 6.6% and an average of 43 IBUs.
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50 years ago, the Dixon name became synonymous with Cedarville University. The impact of this one remarkable person is still visible everywhere on campus. And most noticeably, the influence of this individual is felt in the lives of countless students.
Yes, Pat Dixon, has left quite an impression on Cedarville University. She was here seven years before Paul, who became president in 1978, and currently serves as chancellor.
Pat was a well-respected public school teacher in the city where she grew up, Chattanooga, Tennessee. Then she received a call from then-Cedarville president Dr. James T. Jeremiah.
"I always said to myself, ‘I want to do that to others, pour myself into a student.’"
Would she join the education department faculty? The answer was yes, and this began a 25-year teaching career in the English education program.
Pat shifted from her faculty role in 1996 to serve as assistant to the president, namely her husband. This position was more a labor of love than a job. She applied her stylish eye to the interior and exterior look of the University’s buildings.
Using her tremendous sense of balance and beauty was a great blessing, but pouring into students has always remained her number one passion. She led teams of students on missions trips to Hungary and China and was always seeking the Lord for that person He was calling her to invest in.
“As young girl growing up, I went to camp one year, and this college student was my counselor, and she just poured herself into me as a 14-year-old,” Pat shares during the podcast. “She just told me how to have devotions; she poured into me spiritual truth. I always valued that, and I always said to myself, ‘I want to do that to others, pour myself into a student.’"
More to the Story
Pat loves to pray. In a 1982 article for the Torch, she shared about her habits of prayer and what she loved about prayer.
Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is an accredited, Christ-centered, Baptist institution with an enrollment of 4,550 undergraduate, graduate, and online students in more than 150 areas of study. Founded in 1887, Cedarville is one of the largest private universities in Ohio, recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, and retention rates, accredited professional and health science offerings, and high student engagement ranking. For more information about the University, visit cedarville.edu.
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Cedarville University is known throughout the country for its faculty experts who speak into national and international topics. You can find the expert you are seeking by searching our "Media Experts Guide" for detailed profiles and contact information.
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Over the last few years, there has been a growing trend of people working from home. Hybrid systems have become the new norm for many companies, with employees working from both the office and home giving full flexibility to management and employees. However, as society begins to return to “normal,” there is an increased interest in returning to the office full-time.
On the other hand, some companies, as well as startups and entrepreneurs, are exploring other alternatives to traditional offices, such as private offices and executive business centers. These types of flexible workspaces are becoming more popular as companies try to provide their employees with a sense of normalcy and comfort, and the ability to move out of a home office situation.
A flexible workspace is a type of shared office that allows people to rent desks or offices on an as-needed basis. In this arrangement, members from different industries share the same space, which can create a sense of community and collaboration. It also allows for saving on different infrastructure aspects of business including, but not limited to, the office space itself, equipment, and furniture. In some cases, receptionist and custodial services, as well as refreshments and parcel acceptance services are shared to further reduce the costs.
The first shared workspace was started in San Francisco in 2005, and since then, the industry has grown exponentially due to the benefits of sharing costs, which is secondary to the popularity of being in a community with like-minded professionals. While private offices have been around for a while, the executive business center model with shared access to drop-in areas, lounges, and meeting rooms is a relatively new concept that has only gained popularity in recent years.
Unlike a private office, which can be expensive and inflexible, a private office at Office Evolution Arlington-Rosslyn gives you the opportunity to have a presence in a prime location without a long-term commitment. OE Arlington-Rosslyn is the perfect example of a modern, executive workspace that offers all the amenities and services you need to be productive and successful.
Some of the benefits of our executive business center include:
Flexible workspace — Our shared workspace is available on an as-needed basis, so you can use it for as long or as little as you like. This is the perfect place for companies to take advantage of different spaces including private office space, conference rooms, and event spaces inside a single facility. That means you don’t have to worry about finding separate spaces for all your needs.
Amenities and services — Our space comes with all the amenities and services you need to be productive, including high-speed WiFi, a business center, and on-site staff. Our space also has some of the most worker-friendly amenities including complimentary snacks and beverages, parking, as well as a fitness center.
Prime location — Office Evolution Arlington-Rosslyn executive business center is conveniently located near public transportation, major highways, and a variety of restaurants. This allows for a better work-life balance as you and your employees can easily commute to and from work.
Why Opt for an Executive Business Center?
In today’s reality, many employees prefer to have the choice to work from home. In fact, according to an Owl Lab survey, 59% of applicants prefer to have an employer that offers remote work and flexible scheduling. The same survey states that 23% of those who are currently employed would gladly work from home full-time.
But, there are also many who crave the social interaction and collaboration that comes with working in an office. That’s why providing a hybrid setup where part of the workforce can work from home and the rest can come into the office a few days a week can be the best solution for many businesses.
Office Evolution Arlington-Rosslyn executive business center allows you to remove the need for having a single and inflexible traditional office space while still having a place for you and your employees to come into the office when needed.
Interested in learning how you and your workforce can transition into a coworking space? Feel free to visit our location at Office Evolution Arlington-Rosslyn or take a virtual office tour. Get full access to amenities and services while also accessing a safe and convenient work setup. Call us today at 571-410-3051 to set up a tour and see our available office space yourself.
At Office Evolution Arlington-Rosslyn, we provide virtual office, coworking, and dedicated private office solutions at our business center. We offer meeting rooms, executive offices, hot-desking in a shared workspace coworking lounge, business address, and virtual receptionist services. We have many options and price points, and all terms are flexible. Plus, you become part of a community of like-minded professionals.
Whether you live in Washington DC, Rosslyn, Arlington, Fairfax, Falls Church, Georgetown, Alexandria, and surrounding areas in the DMV and northern Virginia, choosing Office Evolution Arlington-Rosslyn in Virginia will help you be more professional, productive, and profitable.
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Office Evolution has more than 70 locations open, 140 units sold in markets across the country and is poised for further growth as the demand for affordable, safe, close-to-home workspaces continues to rise.
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There are now more solar equipment producers than ever before. With many different solar brands contending for your organization, understanding which company to pick can lead to quite a headache. Renogy 12V Dc Ac Pure Sine Wave Inverter Charger
You should see a solar energy system as a financial investment, so you should choose elements that are in fact long lasting adequate to hold up against the test of time.
Not just do you wish to make certain you are choosing top quality tools that will last, but you also want to make certain that each piece of solar devices you purchase can in fact carry out as advertised.
After all, your whole solar power system is only as strong as its weakest component. If the solar panels it is connected to are inefficient and struggle to create a significant quantity of power, there is no sense in running a high-capacity deep cycle solar battery.
To assist you select devices that you can rely on, we are going to take a thorough look at among the most widely known brands in the personal solar devices market.
We will start by looking at the company’s origins and where it is heading, then concentrate on its reputation and the general quality of its items and client service.
Examining the Renogy brand and its line of product will help us decide whether this significant player in the solar industry is all it is cracked up to be. Whether you are new to solar or have been using it for many years, knowing which brand names to trust is extremely beneficial!
The Renogy brand name was founded in 2010 as a small job by a group of trainees from Louisiana State University. With the help of grants and the support of the Louisiana Organization and Innovation Center, the creators got their renewable energy start-up off the ground.
The current CEO and one of the business’s creators, Yi Li went on to earn a Ph.D. in Physics from Louisiana State University.
Yi Li and the other members of Renogy’s management team remain dedicated to the business’s original objective of empowering individuals by offering them with DIY-friendly renewable energy items that can help them attain energy self-reliance.
To reach this goal, Renogy provides a wide array of economical solar items. While their variety of photovoltaic panels is definitely their bestsellers, the brand also provides affordable charge controllers, power inverters, deep cycle solar batteries, and total solar packages.
With reasonably fast charging speeds, the Renogy 15,000 mAh is a capable, compact panel that keeps gadgets going over a long weekend or when taking a trip.
We enjoyed this panel for taking a trip, as it fits in our carry-on luggage easily and kept our phone charged when we were far from power outlets in the airport or train station. We likewise found it convenient to utilize when traveling abroad, since it got rid of the need to find a converter for a power outlet.
This score metric is a bit challenging to apply to little battery loads with incorporated panels, like the 15,000.
To attempt to use this battery pack as you would, a standard solar battery charger would result in aggravation, as a 2W panel does not have the exact same charging capabilities as a 40W panel.
One would need to leave this battery pack in the sun for a few hours to see it receive a significant quantity of re-charge utilizing solar.
When able to leave out for hours, we discovered it best to trickle charge the 15,000 by means of the power of the sun. Renogy 12V Dc Ac Pure Sine Wave Inverter Charger
When taking this approach, charge disturbance isn’t an issue since your device will always be getting power from the battery itself, which is, in turn, getting refilled from the sun.
This panel doesn’t do great with periodic shading due to its little size and low wattage if only relying on solar.
The producer suggests over 75 hours of sun direct exposure to charge this battery. This details is excellent to keep in mind when considering the Renogy, as solar is actually more of a back-up method of charging.
When out and about, we found it best to charge the battery at house completely and then rely on solar power to drip charge our gadgets.
That said, the Renogy does charge rather fast, and it charged up our Google Pixel 3 phone from 0% to 23% in thirty minutes; we likewise got 5 full charges out of the Renogy prior to draining the battery.
This percent boost is really higher than the battery packs we have actually tested with an even bigger capability.
This contrast shows that the Renogy is not only highly efficient and effective however can hold up versus bigger battery packs.
With 15,000 mAh of power, the 15,000 from Renogy has no trouble charging 2 gadgets at once, as long as the battery is primarily full. We had the ability to charge our Pixel 3 and a Kindle a good quantity over a half-hour period.
This is yet another plus to using an incorporated solar panel/battery pack since these small gadgets are in fact able to effectively charge numerous gadgets simultaneously.
Normally, even large capacity panels (20-40 watts), that rely totally on solar can struggle to provide enough juice to effectively charge several gadgets at the same time.
We were impressed with the resilience and building and construction of the Renogy. The tough plastics utilized in the building and construction appear to be a little bit less durable than the battery packs that are enclosed in soft silicone.
That said, we had no problems when it pertained to the toughness of this panel, even when leaving it in the sun for hours.
We have actually evaluated Renogy items for many years now, and have actually discovered that they are typically well-designed and built to last. A few of our previous award winners for sturdiness came from this company.
Plus, if you have concerns with any of their devices, they have a one year service warranty and a robust customer support page on their site.
Weight and Portability
It is in this metric that the 15,000 stands apart against its competitors. Normally, these battery loads, especially when they have such a large capability like the Renogy, tend to be super heavy.
This can make it tough to justify even carrying them around town. Why include another two pounds to your backpack if it’s not essential? Renogy 12V Dc Ac Pure Sine Wave Inverter Charger
The Renogy is the lightest of the 3 battery pack/solar battery chargers in this evaluation. Its overall weight is 9.5 ounces, which makes it light by all requirements, battery pack or not.
It combines excellent output power with a light-weight, streamlined profile, making it our go-to for a battery pack with an integrated photovoltaic panel.
If you are looking for a battery pack, the 15,000 is a reasonable financial investment. We would advise buying this item if you intend on completely charging it inside your home and utilizing the solar panel as a trickle-charge function. Don’t buy this panel expecting it to charge your devices in the sun at a fast rate.
Compared to larger-capacity solar panels and the other battery pack charge systems in this evaluation, the Renogy is an extremely reasonably priced device. The other battery packs we have actually evaluated tend to come with a higher price tag and have gotten lower scores across the board in our side-by-side tests.
Its basic style, charging ability, and low total weight makes the Renogy 15,000 our go-to for a little, portable battery/panel mix, as it kept our devices charged on train trips and in the airport.
You know that looking for an outlet can be a pain if you are a frequent traveler. We got hooked on having the Renogy in our bag to keep our phones charged when access to power was tough to discover.
This panel is also light enough that we could even see taking into the backcountry on weekend journeys to keep cameras and phones topped up.
Like the other battery pack/panels in this review, it takes a significant quantity of time (over five hours) to see any increase in battery level utilizing just the solar panels, but it works to trickle charge devices with the panel in the sun.
It is also fairly priced and durable and is our suggested option for a battery/solar charging combo. Renogy 12V Dc Ac Pure Sine Wave Inverter Charger
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Pound's contribution to poetry began in the early 20th century with his role in developing Imagism, a movement stressing precision and economy of language. Working in London as foreign editor of several American literary magazines, he helped discover and shape the work of contemporaries such as T. S. Eliot, Ernest Hemingway, and James Joyce. He was responsible for the 1914 serialization of Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, the 1915 publication of Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock", and the serialization from 1918 of Joyce's Ulysses. Hemingway wrote in 1932 that, for p ...
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Author of contribution: Janez, published 8. 10. 2015
Location of the cemetery
I visit graves of famous people. Not that I plan my travels specifically for graves, but I inform myself about the graves in the vicinity of the places I visit. Sometimes I stretch the definition of vicinity. This page therefore lists only the graves that I visited. All the photos are mine, except for some which just illustrate something else apart from the grave (face of a person, mostly).
If a grave is off limits (like Picasso in France or Hundertwasser in New Zealand) I respect that, and don't try to sneak in.
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They are a center less, soulless organization, bereft of any substance, accomplishing nothing, representing nothing. They exist only to twist in whichever breeze happens to be blowing at the moment; a silly tabloid team in a silly tabloid town, every bit as vapid and temporary as the freaks and miscreants they share screaming headlines and column inches with. For almost fifty years, they have rarely stood for anything, and often fallen for everything.
So I’m not going to lose any sleep over their win here last night, or their one game lead with six to play.
Make no mistake – I went to bed last night just sick over the Patriots’ overtime loss to these coreless pretenders, sick over a defense that helped turn a 24-6 deficit into a 24-24 ballgame only to fade when presented with every opportunity to complete the comeback. Sick over Ben Watson’s fumble and Dan Koppen’s snap, sick over Mike Vrabel’s hold, sick over the coverage that could not protect the middle of the field on 3rd and 15.
I think the Patriots proved once again last night that nothing – nothing – will make them fold their tents and go home. Their comeback, however incomplete, proved to me that they will be there at the end again this year, even after everything that has happened.
About that – call it an excuse if you want, but it’s a fact. They lost the reigning league MVP and best quarterback in the world fifteen plays into the season. Since then, their defensive leader has joined him on the sidelines, followed soon after by their most complete linebacker. Last night, they took the field without any of them, and for good measure, without a defensive lineman that routinely occupies two blockers on every play.
The Jets, on the other hand, went into the game without David Harris and Brad Kassell.
The point is that it would be a mistake to take this sort of thing for granted. I know we’re supposed to deadpan all this, and talk only about “the players that are here.” We’re supposed to say that it’s simply up to the next guy to come in and make the same plays that Tom Brady, Rodney Harrison, Adalius Thomas and Ty Warren make. We’re supposed to maintain expectations regardless.
You know something? That’s insane. That’s for players and coaches that have to have that mindset just to keep their heads above water. But I’m sitting over here on the couch, and I’m thinking they could have evaporated when Brady disappeared down the stairs behind their bench, and they didn’t. They could have spiraled downward when Harrison was lost, and they didn’t. They could have thrown their hands up when Thomas broke him arm, and they didn’t. They could have disappeared last night, down 18 points as halftime approached, and they didn’t.
Are we so jaded by this remarkable decade that we can’t see that? Are we so entitled in our ‘expectations’ that we see what’s happening with the Patriots this season as a failure?
I tell you, I just don’t see it. They could have faded away the moment that the shit hit the fan in the Chiefs game, just like the litany of hungover Super Bowl losers before them. Instead, they stayed upright, where they remain, even after last night’s hurtful loss. Nothing gets decided on November 13th, just like nothing was decided on September 7th, and it’s to their credit, not debit, that this is so.
Yeah, they lost the battle last night, but the war will rage on for another month and a half at least. If you doubt after last night that the Patriots will remain in the thick of it, just remember my earlier question of substance. Which organization has proven beyond all shadow of a doubt to have it, and which one has yet to prove anything in almost forty years?
As long as that’s true, you can’t count even this most hobbled of Patriots teams out of anything, least of all the AFC East.
Scott Benson is the Editor and Co-Founder of Patriots Daily. He can be reached at scott@patriotsdaily.com.
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Dan says:
November 14, 2008 at 6:30 am
Well said, Scott. It hurts to lose to a division rival, the &^%ing Jets no less, at home with first place at stake. But I come away from the game with more hope for their chances than I have all year. How weird is that?
Bassett says:
November 14, 2008 at 6:35 am
I love this blog, but rarely respond on the site. It's a must read for me, a Jets fan, but wow no credit to a team that bested you no matter the excuses or situations? That's pretty petty.
"Are we so jaded by this remarkable decade that we can’t see that? Are we so entitled in our ‘expectations’ that we see what’s happening with the Patriots this season as a failure?"
I live here in MA, and I KNOW this is true .. for a fact. This is the central part of it. Lets face it … most Pats fans didn't exist before they got good. So now that they ARE good, it's a foregone conclusion they will continue to BE good .. same thing happened with many Yankees fans. They didn't remember the dark days. I was part of the Yankees dark days, so 2004 was tough, but I was begrudgingly happy for the Sox day in the sun once it came …
I'm not counting this Patriots team out of anything. And they are going to come back next year bigger and badder. I didn't call losing Pennington every other season an excuse, it's unfortunate but it's part of the game injuries happen to every team and the fact that the Patriots are still in contention with so many is very impressive.
Hat tip to the Patriots, they played a hell of a game, and I think with more healthy bodies they win this game, but let's not be total douches about another team when they best ours? Fair?
November 14, 2008 at 6:36 am
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Nobody cares what you about the win or the loss….bottom line is, you're in second place
November 14, 2008 at 6:36 am
7-3, first place, deal with it.
November 14, 2008 at 6:38 am
Jets won, Pats lost and because I feel so bad im going to write an article about NY'ers and how much they suck
When I can't validate my pathetic existence with a Pats win….I'll throw a temper tantrum
November 14, 2008 at 6:40 am
need a tissue, pussy?
Massholes are commiting suicide today….must suck when the only thing in life that gives you joy…..fails miserably
cheaters never win and winners never cheat says:
November 14, 2008 at 6:41 am
Anyone who thinks this pussy pats fan will leave these posts up….is probably the same person that thinks the Patriots can win without cheating
Ron Mexico says:
November 14, 2008 at 6:46 am
Soulless? Just how retahded are you? Enjoy 2nd place and try not to lose again to Noodle Arm Pennington.
November 14, 2008 at 6:47 am
Geez. Was it the SuperBowl last night? Apparently Jets fans think it was. I guess when your team has sucked for most of its existence, you take pleasure in a regular season win over the team that almost ALWAYS gets the better of you. Enjoy it, losers, because the season ain't over yet.
Scott says:
November 14, 2008 at 6:50 am
Oh, I'll leave them right here. They are beatiful in their own way.
Brian, I enjoy your site. But these are your guys following you over here. So don't talk to me about pettiness.
November 14, 2008 at 6:53 am
Bloomberg just announced the route for tickertape parade. They promised to drive really slow so you guys can have time to read the J-E-T-S on the side of the flatbed.
Bassett says:
November 14, 2008 at 6:55 am
actually check your referral stat traffic and you'll see i've not posted a link … i've yet to post a link to this post — and believe me I won't … you're right that would be petty. someone else is linking here, if they are … it aint me. I link to your site's good stuff from time to time … and this ain't one of them …
it's 100% not me.
Bruce Allen says:
November 14, 2008 at 7:07 am
Considering that most of those came from the same IP Address, I think it's the work of a single madman, rather than a flock of Jets fans…(so far)
Scott says:
November 14, 2008 at 7:12 am
No, you didn't post a link. Your commenters evidently did, according to my referral stat traffic. I was referring to their pettiness, not yours. The same pettiness that gave us asterisks, Belicheat and Cheatriots. The idea that you would expect anything different in return is laughable.
Scott says:
November 14, 2008 at 7:20 am
Whatever the case, I think blogs arguing with other blogs is even less interesting then our guest(s) from the Meadowlands Mensa chapter have been this afternoon. Moving on.
Dan says:
November 14, 2008 at 7:22 am
Wow- talk about sore loser. Doubtful you would have said this was just ONE game if the Pats won….
I wonder if this will even be posted. I tried posting on Bruce's web site and he blocks my dissenting opinion about the coverage of the Pats cheating scandal last year vs. the allegations against Favre this year (having video tape is a bit different then simple allegations). I love reading both sites for your fan based opinions, but shouldn't you post the opposing view from time to time? Like today on this site? I rarely see it though…..
Keep up the (mostly) good work guys……
Jon says:
November 14, 2008 at 7:24 am
Awesome. Now we have NY's worst and dimmest on the BSM site. Sigh. Enjoy the view from your Moms' basements, Hateriot Losers.
The Jets are pretty good in November. It's the months afterwards that kind of suck.
Bruce Allen says:
November 14, 2008 at 7:27 am
You go to BSMW just to troll. You add nothing to the conversation. Don't tell me you "love reading both sites'. There's plenty of "opposing view" comments allowed, just not yours, which are the same thing every time.
Jon says:
November 14, 2008 at 7:29 am
Yeah, that's exactly what he would have posted. Because it is one game, win or lose. Why would be hard up for a dissenting view when ESPN was driving the Spygate bandwagon all last year (right over a cliff, if I remember.)?
Dan says:
November 14, 2008 at 7:30 am
The Internet has taken a grave toll on the reputations of Mom's basements everywhere.
Scott says:
November 14, 2008 at 8:00 am
Dan, the last thing I'm ever going to do is to pander to that portion of the populace that takes some sick satisfaction in the losses of the home team. They can go screw. That hasn't changed since the last time we had this conversation, and it won't change at any point in the future.
Bassett says:
November 14, 2008 at 8:03 am
Just searched all comments from today in my dashboard … not even a mention of your site in comments since Week 2… hmm funny that you blame me for sending slime, then I call you out and then you blame my commenters … blame the refs, blame the injuries … ad nauseum ..
Bassett says:
November 14, 2008 at 8:05 am
Scott … you can't throw bombs and act totally ingracious on the web, talk about how everything new york is soulless and then expect to just move on without getting called out for it. You knew what you were doing. If you don't want the discussion then delete your post.
Bassett says:
November 14, 2008 at 8:14 am
I hate it when the discussion gets mired and deafened out by the roar of idiots too. Believe me, my site has their fair share of them lol … i'll be the first to admit it!!!! (which is why I wouldn't subject you guys to them! they're my "family" and I love them but every family has their fair share of yahoos)
I had to deal with them everyday. The only way to beat immature posters is to ignore it and participate in the valid and valuable discussion and have good commenters who help you do the same!
Again, I love this site and 99% of what I read here. It's one of the best on the web, hands down.
john says:
November 14, 2008 at 8:17 am
Bassett says:
November 14, 2008 at 8:19 am
I hate it when the discussion gets mired and deafened out by the roar of idiots too. Believe me, my site has their fair share of them lol … i'll be the first to admit it!!!! (which is why I wouldn't subject you guys to them! they're my "family" and I love them but every family has their fair share of yahoos)
I had to deal with them everyday. The only way to beat immature posters is to ignore it and participate in the valid and valuable discussion and have good commenters who help you do the same!
Again, I love this site and 99% of what I read here. It's one of the best on the web, hands down.
Bassett says:
November 14, 2008 at 8:25 am
bruce, you're showing more restraint than i would … i would have bounced him already by now.
Rob says:
November 14, 2008 at 8:31 am
Scott says:
November 14, 2008 at 8:31 am
Delete my post? Kiss my ass. Run your own site and I'll run mine. Don't you have a monumental history-changing November win to celebrate? Why do you choose to spend your day over here complaining as though I set out to personally offend you?
Major says:
November 14, 2008 at 8:33 am
Scott says:
November 14, 2008 at 8:38 am
Talk to Word Press about it. It has an entirely different version of events.
jack says:
November 14, 2008 at 8:42 am
Fat lady might not be singing but Pats fans are definately crying LOL
Beaker says:
November 14, 2008 at 8:48 am
Yes, we definately are. Most definately. LOL
I think Mangini's gum wad has more brain function than some of this.
Scott says:
November 14, 2008 at 8:52 am
HA! Good one! You've got a bright future in sports radio, Jack.
Jon says:
November 14, 2008 at 9:20 am
Since when did pointing out the low level of conversation we're getting from the twits who have chose to represent Gangrene constitute crying? Maybe you should try YouTube, jack? That would be more your speed. You don't even have to spell correctly! Troll away!
Dan says:
November 14, 2008 at 9:27 am
Bombs? I don't get what's so offensive, Brian. How's this so out of place on a Patriots site? You never see similar commentary on your site about the Patriots or Boston? I'm positive Belichick has been called much worse than "soulless". For that matter, so has New York.
Dan says:
November 14, 2008 at 9:29 am
Actually NO, I go there to enjoy the links, see what the local Boston writers are talking about (except the Herald which I purchase every morning), usually enjoy your analysis Bruce, but sometimes- I simply go there for a laugh or two. I don't "troll" and sorry that you feel that I add nothing to the conversation. I obviously disagree with that, but it is a matter of opinion. I think what you really mean is that you do not like a good debate or argument and since you don't like my opinion, you choose not to post it. Obviously your site- your rules. Just disappointing that someone as good as you with your writing skills, the quickness of the links, and everything that you do help promote (vendettas against Borges, Shaughnessy, etc not included of course) sports in Boston- it's just disappointing that you BLOCK people's opinions from posts. I do see opposing views from time to time, but I have also seen them removed. So much for "free speech." Not sure if you are turning in to Dennis or Callahan there Bruce…..
Dan says:
November 14, 2008 at 9:34 am
I don't take sick satisfaction in the losses of the home team. I follow the Celtics and Bruins closely and was very excited about the Celtics championship last season. And the Bruins look awesome this year. Don't like the Red Sox, never did and never liked the Patriots and their smugness and arrogance. I enjoy the game and root for my teams, which so happen to not be the Red Sox and the Patriots. I know, we have exchanged emails and you are always good for a good, healthy debate. And I respect the fact that you post the opposing view (unlike Bruce). Have to think you knew that someone would post somethings that people wouldn't like with your article today though Scott.
Dan says:
November 14, 2008 at 9:38 am
I actually have a house in Massachusetts, haven't lived with my parents in a long time. I am sure people who have had financial woes in this hard economic time and have had to move home OR people who have their elderly parents move in with the due to illness appreciate your smug comment about living in someone's mom's basement. Boy- did that joke get old quickly….
November 14, 2008 at 9:38 am
My only complaint (other than not seeing the old gunslinger trying to prove that he can still throw into tight coverage) was the gawd-awful 3 and out stinkfest by the Pats with 3 and some change to go. If they put together the same type of drive that they did at the very end of the game, the Pats would've been going for the win instead of a tie. If wishes and buts, I guess…
And I wonder how much of a woodie Schlereth was sporting when he professed that this win was a "changing of the guard" in the AFC East. Nice kneejerk reaction, you football intellectual poseur.
Jets fans – good luck against those Titans. Hope you guys remember how slim a one-game lead is and that a win in Week #11 does clinch any kind of championship.
Scott says:
November 14, 2008 at 10:17 am
Dan, be careful what you assume. The last thing I thought I'd be doing today is this. I think I've proven by now that I don't have the slightest idea how to drive traffic to a web site. I write what I'm thinking about as a fan at any given moment, post it because I can, and that's about as calculated as it gets. Don't think I get one iota of satisfaction from what has been a ridiculous waste of time this afternoon.
Bruce Allen says:
November 15, 2008 at 1:53 am
Dan, if you ever offered something other than "Belichick is a CHEATER" and "The Patriots are ARROGANT", and "Tony MAZZ is AWESOME" I'd love to have you join in more. I appreciate your compliments, though backhanded they may be. Maybe I'm wrong about you, but I don't think so. Plenty of your comments have gotten through to the site, so don't play like you're a total victim here. You also said in a recent comment, which was posted on the site, btw, that you come to the site to laugh at what is said about the media.
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In order to get the most out of your AIRE, we’d like to tell you more about FODMAPs and how hydrogen breath testing can be used to test your ability to absorb them.
In order to get the most out of your AIRE, we’d like to tell you more about FODMAPs and how hydrogen breath testing can be used to test your ability to absorb them.
What are FODMAPs?
FODMAP is an acronym that stands for:
Oligosaccharides — “Oligo” means “few” and “saccharide” means sugar. Oligosaccharides are made up of individual sugars joined together in a chain. They are found in foods like garlic, onion, baked beans, and asparagus.
Disaccharides — “Di” means two. This is a double sugar molecule like lactose, which is found in dairy products.
Monosaccharides — “Mono” means single. This is a single-sugar molecule like fructose, which can be found in many fruits.
Polyols — These are sugar alcohols (but not the alcohol that gets you drunk!). These include sorbitol, which occurs in dried fruits like prunes and stone fruits, like peaches. It’s also used as a natural sweetener in things like sugar-free gum and diet drinks.
FODMAPs include carbohydrates like lactose, fructose, sorbitol, and inulin, which are found in lots of everyday foods.
How do FODMAPs affect digestion?
More than a decade ago, a team of scientists at Monash University in Australia made one of the biggest international discoveries relating to Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). This discovery has since become the leading recommended diet for people with IBS around the world. The scientists found that, for some people, FODMAPs in everyday foods aren’t fully digested. If this happens, bacteria feed on the FODMAPs once they reach the large intestines. This process is called “fermentation”.
This build-up of gases, such as hydrogen, can lead to symptoms like abdominal pain, bloating, and flatulence. We measure hydrogen because people don’t produce it for any other reason, so it serves as a useful marker when food hasn’t been fully digested.
The scientists at Monash discovered that by eating a diet low in FODMAPs, patients saw significant improvement in their symptoms. An enormous number of people have been able to use this information about the low FODMAP diet to improve their symptoms.
However, the low FODMAP diet can be quite restrictive and isn’t designed for long-term use. Since each of the FODMAPs can have different effects on the body, it is important for people to try to identify which specific FODMAPs are a problem for them. For example, you may be able to handle fructose, but not lactose, or vice versa.
Where does breath testing fit in?
Once a FODMAP reaches the large intestine and is fermented by bacteria, some hydrogen is absorbed into the bloodstream. From there, the blood flows around the body and hydrogen passes into the lungs and is released on the breath.
When doctors want to find out whether their patient is having trouble absorbing a particular FODMAP, they will sometimes order a hydrogen breath test in the hospital. This looks for hydrogen on the breath while the patient digests the FODMAP.
To prepare for these tests, the patient will fast for at least 12 hours. They will then visit the hospital or clinic and breathe into a collection bag. The concentration of hydrogen is measured from the sample to provide a baseline level of hydrogen. Since people don’t naturally produce hydrogen, a person who has been fasting should have very little on their breath.
Once the patient’s base hydrogen level is determined, they drink a glass of water combined with a single FODMAP (e.g. lactose). Breath samples are then collected every 15 minutes, typically for up to three hours.
The doctor uses these test results to see how well the FODMAP was absorbed. For example, if a person digests lactose well, their hydrogen levels will remain low throughout the lactose breath test, as shown below.
But a person with issues absorbing lactose will see a spike in their hydrogen levels. This indicates that the lactose was not digested fully and so, it reached the large intestine and is being fermented by the gut bacteria.
Since everyone’s digestive system is unique, the amount of time it takes for hydrogen levels to start rising can vary. Most people start to see results in about 60–90 minutes, and levels can drop off quickly after the initial rise or remain high for hours afterward.
AIRE and hydrogen breath testing
FoodMarble’s AIRE is a digestive tracker that allows you to take hydrogen breath tests at home. AIRE is not a medical device like the ones in hospitals but uses very similar technology. We wanted to develop a personal, portable device that you can use to check the hydrogen levels in your breath. It comes with an iPhone and Android app so you can view your results instantly, and also lets you track other things that can affect your digestive symptoms, like stress and sleep.
Of course, you should always consult a doctor first if you have severe digestive issues or concerns about your digestive health. We’re excited to give people the opportunity to track their breath hydrogen levels as a step towards better understanding their digestion.
So, what next?
Breath testing is used by leading hospitals over the world to help people with IBS, but those tests only give you a snapshot of what is happening in your body that day. The FoodMarble AIRE allows you to test how your body reacts daily, coupled with our 6-Week Discovery Plan you can test your tolerance to the most common hard-to-digest FODMAPs and really start finding answers.
Would you like to start making a change?
IBS and digestive symptoms can put a person under a lot of strain, we know how much they affect the lives of our customers. If you are looking to find the root cause of your digestive issues check out our AIRE device and FODMAP Testing Kit, this digestive duo are changing the face of IBS treatment.
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Locally, probably the most commented upon issue on 'social media' is that of waste and it's inappropriate and of course, unlawful disposal. Whilst low level fly tipping is dealt with by the local authority, the Environment Agency has the statutory powers to deal with the more serious offenders. People who illegally dump waste have cost land and property owners millions of pounds in the last year, according to the Environment Agency.
The financial impact, which relates to the cost of removing waste dumped in fields and empty
commercial properties lawfully, could be even higher if land is contaminated or insurance premiums rise as a result. Dumped waste is also a major fire risk.
What is being done?
In a bid to reverse this problem, the Environment Agency is reaching out to property and land
owners, commercial property agents, trade associations and local authorities. Their aim is to warn of the dangers posed by waste criminals and advise them, their clients and their members how they can better protect themselves. It is likely that this increased level of activity will lead to more criminal investigations and prosecutions.
Jamie Fletcher, from the Environment Agency said:
“Waste criminals operate throughout the country, offering to remove waste cheaply and then
dumping it in fields or empty warehouses. They tend to move to new areas as enforcement agencies become wise to their activities. We know it’s only a matter of time before they target us again so we’re sending out a strong message: Waste criminals are not welcome here and we’re doing everything in our power to deter and catch them. We can’t do it alone. We work closely with partners to share intelligence on illegal waste activity. And we’re encouraging everyone to do their bit: for property and land owners to be vigilant and better protect themselves and for all businesses, organisations and individuals to manage their waste responsibly, preventing it from getting into criminal hands in the first place.”
Land and property owners are advised to:
1)Check any empty land and property regularly and make sure it is secure.
2) Carry out rigorous checks on prospective and new tenants. Land and property owners have a responsibility to ensure anyone leasing their land/property complies with regulations. They
may be committing an offence by allowing waste to be stored on land or property without
the relevant permissions and this could leave them liable to prosecution.
Change on the roads
In a related development, the Environment Agency and Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) have officially agreed to carry out joint operations across England to cut the transportation of illegal waste and to improve road safety.
The memorandum of understanding will see the Environment Agency and the DVSA using their combined enforcement powers to tackle the transportation of waste to illegal or poorly-performing permitted sites.
The agreement will involve:
DVSA staff located within EA teams to ensure a coordinated and effective approach,
sharing of information to increase the effectiveness of roadside enforcement on waste
industry vehicles up and down the country; providing enforcement teams with intelligence relating to waste industry operators identifying high risk or illegal goods vehicle operators involved in waste transport reducing the number of seriously and serially non-compliant waste industry vehicles on England’s roads.
Advice for businesses
There are thousands of commercial properties across the Country thought to be empty, which are owned by businesses and organisations, including fund management companies and local
authorities.
The Environment Agency is also advising businesses and organisations of their responsibility to ensure their waste is managed appropriately. Anyone who produces, stores and manages waste is obligated to ensure waste does not cause harm to human health or pollution to the environment, under Duty of Care legislation. Waste crime diverts as much as £1 billion per annum from legitimate business and the treasury. Since April 2011 the Environment Agency has invested £65.2 million nationally to address it. Its specialist crime unit uses intelligence to track and prosecute organised crime gangs involved in illegal waste activity and to ensure any necessary action is taken against them.
Action you need to take:
Environmental crime and regulation is a complicated area of law and whether you need advice about
your legal obligations, or representation if facing an investigation or prosecution, we are able to provide it.
The penalties in relation to environmental offences can be very high, sometimes reaching the
hundreds of thousands of pounds, and in some cases resulting in imprisonment. For example, last
week United Utilities was fined £666,000, with costs of £32,000 after pleading guilty to pollution
offences at Manchester Crown Court. On a smaller scale, a local businessman was fined £15000 by Magistrates at Canterbury yesterday. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-41400137
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Transport comes high on the list. A van or a car with a large trunk (‘boot’ if you are British) is essential. If renting the vehicle, book it for a period of at least three days, and well in advance. Any hire that runs from midnight to 4 a.m. on the date of a murder or a disappearance is inviting trouble.
Rubber gloves are a must when handling a corpse, and anything that may once have belonged to it.
Bin-bags will help protect the inside of the vehicle and minimise the dispersal of any biological evidence, but in my experience a large sheet of plastic – bubble-wrap, for example – is far more efficient, and it invites no suspicion, even when purchased in quantity. It is cheap enough to be left behind, keeping the heat of organic decomposition and the feasting bugs exactly where you want them, which is a definite plus. It is also virtually untraceable.
A dependable torch is a must: durability is better than brightness. You need to see what you are doing, but you really don’t want to attract attention, do you?
Make sure to check your batteries before leaving home.
Stout waterproof boots with a thick rubber sole will guarantee your maximum safety and comfort while working. Don’t be fooled by rubber wellingtons. They tend to get stuck in the mud when it rains, and you wouldn’t want to wet your socks and catch a cold, now, would you?
Finally, the pick and the shovel.
Never try to economise on these essential tools. They are an investment which should last you a lifetime. They ought to be modern, mass-produced, well-designed, easy to clean and comfortable to handle. Blisters on hands and cuts on shins are a dead giveaway to be avoided at all costs. Buy your pick from one store, and the shovel separately, preferably at a large supermarket or garden centre, and the further from home the better. Pay cash, and remember to burn all receipts.
Now, have I forgotten anything?
Here, the matter of personal choice plays an important role.
And do remember: a check-list helps, but practise makes perfect.
Michael Gregorio is the name that Michael (G. Jacob and Daniela De) Gregorio use when they write together. They have published five novels, including Critique of Criminal Reason, Days of Atonement and A Visible Darkness (Faber & Faber, SMP), most recently Boschi & Bossoli (Italy only). Michael loves to write short stories, too (Venice Noir, Best International Crime).
| 2,436 |
Even in times of no football, that should be of great relief to everybody connected with Derby County. Three months after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in a Derby Under-23s clash against Tottenham, the Poland international is making big progress. His operation was a success and he is well on track with his recovery.
So far, Bielik’s rehabilitation involves nothing that could put unnecessary pressure on the knee as he continues to strengthen the muscles around the ligaments. It’s light deadlifts, pull-ups and more upper-body work. But a freely moving Bielik is a happy Bielik.
Before being taken off the Loughborough University Stadium pitch on a stretcher, he was working his way back to fitness following a two-game suspension after a red card against Charlton in December. He’d also been battling several niggling injuries all season, including hip and calf problems.
In the immediate aftermath, manager Phillip Cocu said the severity of the injury was “mentally hard” on Bielik, but those dark clouds have parted. Taking another step on the road to recovery has lifted his morale and kept his spirits high — that, and his love of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
The expectation is that Bielik will be back by pre-season (depending on when that is) and he’ll be doing group training with the rest of the squad, though he won’t be participating in any matches initially. For competitive games, an October return is being eyed. The postponement of Euro 2020 to 2021 also gives the 22-year-old every chance of making the Poland squad for the championships. Having made his debut for the senior side in September, one of the new stars of Polish football was set to be a key figure manager Jerzy Brzeczek’s set-up.
For now, how he sets up at club level is the head-scratcher. After an impressive debut at centre-back against Scunthorpe in the Carabao Cup first round, Cocu said he was also comfortable playing his new man in holding midfield.
“I also spoke with him about this,” said Cocu in August. “As a player, if you can manage and feel comfortable in two or three positions in the team, you can develop yourself and make yourself very complete. Maybe sometimes we decide we need him as a centre-back like today and in the next game, it could be in midfield.”
He was deployed at centre-back for three out of his first four appearances before finding a home as part of a midfield screen next to one of Duane Holmes, Tom Huddlestone and Graeme Shinnie. Bielik provided not only an excellent passing range, he also offered marauding runs from deep. Three or four strides, and he was suddenly in the opposition final third. His lack of speed was compensated by the energy of Holmes and Shinnie. Tactically-interesting wrinkles flashed from goal kicks too. Bielik would often stand on the left wing and Kelle Roos or Ben Hamer would launch diagonals at him as he matched up with a smaller left-back, where he had an aerial advantage.
From his debut to the 17th-minute red card against Charlton, no Derby player had more touches than his 1,254. He also topped the club charts with passes into the final third, with 102. Team that with an 81.25 per cent dribble success-rate from 32 attempted dribbles and the numbers show why he was made the club’s record signing.
But things change. Bielik suffered the one-two blow of the red card against Charlton and the ACL tear at the worst possible time. Since that game, Wayne Rooney and Max Bird have come into the team and formed the epicentre of a Derby team starting to click. Rooney’s playmaking abilities and Bird’s metronomic, calming presence have given the midfield screen control and dynamism. Since the turn of the year, Derby have scored 21 goals: more than any other Championship club.
However, they’ve conceded 13 and kept just three clean sheets in that same time. Centre-back has been a problem area for Derby all term. Richard Keogh’s time at the club came to an abrupt ending with his sacking in October after he was involved in a drink-driving accident. Craig Forsyth had a run of games at the heart of defence but that experiment was put to a stop on Boxing Day when Derby’s 1-1 draw with Wigan capped off a seven-game winless streak.
Curtis Davies, a “pure defender” as his manager termed him in September, recently hit a poor run of form. Davies also turned 35 in March, so he isn’t an option for the long term, with the player himself already eyeing his next challenge — a career in the media. This left Cocu turning to Andre Wisdom and on-loan Matt Clarke. The pair have proved to be the most reliable duo since 2020 started, but depth is the issue. Mike te Wierik will be donning the black and white from next season, but it’s merely one in, one out as Clarke returns to parent club Brighton. Bielik’s flexibility, plus the player’s desire to play at centre-back, could fill the void.
“I enjoy playing central midfield and centre-back,” he explained after the 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest in November. “I can play both, so if we have an injury or if we play with three at the back, then I know I can drop in an play centre-back. I feel this freedom in my position.”
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| 5,464 |
I have been out into the world singing again and have returned home almost none the worse for wear, other than a case of laryngitis that is already on the mend. After six months of quarantining in Berlin, singing exclusively in my own apartment (I imagine how my poor neighbors would shake their heads should […]
June 5, 2020 .Reading time 4 minutes.
Saturday started out blue. It wasn’t easy shepherding the family out of the apartment that morning for a walk in the sunshine. It began with me alternately cheering and yelling, “Come on, come on! Did everyone go to the bathroom? Brush your teeth! Grab your masks! Let’s go, let’s go!” After each of us had […]
| 695 |
They kept half of our deposit with no work being performed. And won’t give us an explanation. Update 9-8-22 the company did not give us a breakdown of costs accrued, and therefore the reason for keeping our money. Dishonest company, beware
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I had 1st Choice Windows and Siding replace all my windows and siding, and from the start, they were on time and professional. Thorough the whole experience, I had my questions answered when asked. It was really easy to work with this company. The colors I chose were exactly as the samples I picked from, and in the end my home looks great. I would recommend them to anyone.
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It has been 4 years since our entire house was re-sided with LP SmartSide and it continues to look FANTASTIC! We are looking to move soon and will keep 1st Choice as our 1st Choice for future window and siding needs.
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Jay was a true gem. He helped stop that pesky draft from our old windows. Now I can't wait to see how it benefits our utility bill.
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BE CAREFUL and know where your money is going. The salesman tried to charge a higher sales tax than applicable to my jurisdiction. When I requested an itemized invoice showing taxable materials and non-taxable labor THEY REFUSED. The lack of transparency makes me question their business practices. The residential siding installation was generally satisfactory, presumably by subcontractors, and a couple of issues were resolved. A company representative DID NOT contact me for a final inspection upon completion of the job.
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We had our first meeting with 1st Choice Windows this morning. Chris was very knowledgeable, we could tell he knew his stuff. Excited to get our new sliding door soon.
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After doing lots of research and meeting with other companies, we were so happy to find 1st Choice. Helen was able to get us an appointment quickly and Chris was very thorough and walked us through all of our options while keeping our budget in mind. We know we are getting a quality product with great service- looking forward to our install!
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Everything was great about my experience until the end of my business with 1st choice. Our door was installed the first week of January and that is when we paid the second deposit. A month goes by then they cashed the check. We had switched bank accounts by that point and had not realized that the check was still outstanding. We received a not very nice email from their office manager saying we now would owe their $12 return check fee. I called frustrated about this as I don’t think cashing a check 4 weeks after it is written is a good practice and I was told “we’ll the owner doesn’t go to the bank everyday.” If that is the case then a little bit of warning would have been appreciated at the time the check was written. UPDATE: It’s great getting the passive aggressive response from the “owner” but I have not heard from anyone whether the check I mailed two weeks ago was even received. It has still not been cashed and no one has let me know any status on it even though I emailed saying it was in the mail. Hopefully it will be cashed before March and I’ll be able to close out this bank account.
| 3,441 |
Your bid or registration is pending approval with the auctioneer. Please check your email account for more details.
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STAMPS POSTAL HISTORY : MALAYSIA, group of 1960s or 1970s covers or cards with village postmarks from various Malay States. (26 items)
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Postage and Packing charges will be applied to any lots that are not collected. Typical charges will be based on standard Royal Mail Tariffs depending on weight, value, and destination. plus packaging costs. Charges will be added to invoices unless collection has been arranged. We reserve the right to add a packing fee on lots collected from our office.
These are challenging times, but that does not mean you have to stop collecting. Therefore we have pleasure in presenting our latest auction! Due to restrictions the auction will not be held at our usual venue and it will be an online only sale. Regrettably there will be no public viewing of lots. All items are fully scanned on the internet and can be found on www.the-saleroom.com and www.easyliveauction.com. Lots can be viewed at our office in Hythe but on a STRICT appointment basis.
The process to bid on either site is very easy. You can sit at home or in the office and win an auction lot with the click of a mouse. You can still send us bids by post or email if you prefer.
Sorry but we cannot offer free teas and coffee’s, but I am sure you have plenty to hand at home!
Please note our buyer’s premium is 16.5% plus VAT, Bids of less than 80% of estimate are unlikely to be successful as individual reserves vary. Additional fees apply for online bidding.
Auction notes
Unless prior arrangement has been agreed we require full cleared payment before auction lots are released. For new customers we may ask for additional proof of identity before the release of items. Please see our full terms and conditions of the sale on pages 61 & 62.
We look forward to seeing you virtually on the 29th May.
Please contact us if you require additional scans of any lots. If you would rather just receive the downloadable version of the catalogue instead of a printed version, please contact us with your email address.
If you have any material that you wish to consign for our next main sale on 31st July 2020, please contact us as soon as possible. Hopefully by then we may be back to normal.
We are sad to announce that we lost one of our loyal helpers in March, Colin Curd (dad). We will be thinking of you Colin.
Stay Safe and keep collecting.
Postage and Packing charges will be applied to any lots that are not collected. Typical charges will be as per standard Royal Mail Tariffs depending on weight, value, and destination. Heavier parcels will be sent by courier. For example a 10kg box will usuually attract a post and packing fee of £17.50 plus VAT
All major credit/debit cards accepted. 3% additional charge may still be applied to NON UK registered debit and credit cards.
Online bidders will be sent a Pro-Forma invoice and will not automatically be charged to their credit/debit card used for online registration. Online bidders will be charged an additional 4.95% plus VAT (this is a charge levied by the Saleroom, which we simply pass on, we do not earn anything on this eliment). Please call either Andrew Curd or Robert Uden on 01303 269712 for any further details. The auction is being conducted under the standard Philatelic Auctioneers Terms and Conditions (1983 Rev) Our Auction is conducted using the following terms and conditions.
Subject to which all lots are offered at this Auction at which members of the public are present bidding against each other for themselves or as agents.
NOTICE: The Auctioneers exercise all reasonable care to ensure that all statements as to cancellations, centering, colour, condition, date of issue or of postal marking, gum, margins, paper, perforation, printing, provenance, quality, sheet position, status, usage, watermarks, etc., in lot descriptions are reliable and accurate, and that each item is genuine unless the contrary is indicated. However, the statements are not intended to be, and are not to be taken to be, statements of fact or representations of fact in relation to the lot. They are statements of the opinion of the auctioneers, and the attention is particularly drawn to Clause 5 of the PHILATELIC AUCTIONEERS STANDARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SALE (1983 REVISION) set out below. Comments and opinions concerning the characteristics mentioned above, which may be found in or on lots as notes, lists, catalogue prices, writing up or any other means of expression, do not constitute part of lot descriptions and are not to be taken as such unless they are made or specifically verified by the auctioneers.
a) Each lot is put up subject to any reserve price imposed by the vendor.
b) Subject to sub clause (a) of this clause, the highest bidder for each lot shall be the purchaser thereof, at the fall of the hammer.
c) If any dispute arises as to the highest bidder, the auctioneer shall have the absolute discretion to determine the dispute and may put up again and resell the lot in respect of which the dispute arises.
a) The bidding and advances shall be regulated by and at the absolute discretion of the auctioneer, and he shall have the right to refuse any bid or bids.
NOTE: Where an agent bids, even on behalf of a disclosed client, the auctioneer nevertheless has the right at his discretion to refuse any such bid.
b) The purchaser of each lot shall immediately on its sale if required by the auctioneer give to him the name and address of the purchaser and pay to the auctioneer at his discretion the whole or part of the purchase money. If the purchaser of any lot fails to comply with any such requirement the auctioneer may put up again and resell the lot; if upon such resale a lower price is obtained than was obtained on the first sale the purchaser in default on the first sale shall make good the difference in price and expenses of resale, which shall become a debt due from him.
c) Where an agent purchases on behalf of an undisclosed client such agent shall be personally liable for payment of the purchase money to the auctioneer and for safe delivery of the lots to the said client.
a) The auctioneer reserves the right to bid on behalf of clients and vendors.
b) The auctioneer reserves the right before or during the sale to group together lots belonging to the same vendor, to split up and withdraw a lot or lots at the auctioneers absolute discretion and without giving any reason in any case (without liability to any potential purchaser).
c) The auctioneer acts as agent only, and therefore shall not be liable for any default of the purchaser (provided he has not handed over the goods) or vendor.
a) Each lot shall be at the purchaser's risk from the fall of the hammer and shall be paid for in full before delivery and taken away at his expense by a purchaser in the United Kingdom within 7 days from the date of sale and by a purchaser overseas within 14 days from the date of sale or such longer time as shall be agreed in writing between the auctioneers and purchaser.
b) If any purchaser fails to pay in full for any lot within the time stated in sub clause (a) of this clause, such lot may at any time thereafter at the auctioneer's discretion, be put up for sale by auction again or sold privately; if upon such resale a lower price is obtained than was obtained on the first sale, the purchaser in default on the first sale shall make good the difference in price and the expenses of resale, which shall become a debt due from him.
c) Interest shall be payable by the purchaser on any overdue account.
a) Each lot is sold as (1) GENUINE unless otherwise described in the sale catalogue or by the auctioneer and (2) CORRECTLY DESCRIBED (see also Clause 5(f)). The date of any certificate forming part of the description of any lot will be included in the description.
b) A purchaser shall be at liberty to reject any lot if he (i) gives the auctioneer written notice (if possible before the sale) of intention to question the genuineness of, as the case may be, the accuracy of that description of the lot within 7 days (or in the case of an overseas purchaser to be in the auctioneer's hands within 21 days from the date of sale) AND (ii) proves that the lot is not genuine or was incorrectly described; AND (iii) returns to the auctioneer within 30 days from the date of sale, the lot in the same condition as it was at the time of sale; provided that the auctioneer may, at his absolute discretion, on receiving a request in writing from the purchaser, extend for a reasonable period the time for the return of the lot, to enable it to be submitted to an agreed expert or expert committee.
NOTE: The onus of proving a lot not to be genuine, or incorrectly described, is on the purchaser. The inability of a recognised expert or an expert committee to express a definite opinion shall serve to discharge the onus on the purchaser and shall be a ground for rejecting the lot concerned.
c) Where a lot has been submitted for an expert opinion, all costs for such an option shall be paid by the person who retains the item or items to which the opinion relates.
d) Where the purchaser of a lot discharges the onus and acts in accordance with sub clause (b) of this clause, the auctioneer shall rescind the sale and repay to the purchaser the purchase money paid by him in respect of the lot.
e) No lot shall be rejected if, subsequent to the sale, it has been immersed in water, marked by an expert or expert committee, or treated by any other process, unless the auctioneer's permission to subject the lot to such immersion, marking or treatment, has first been obtained in writing.
(NOTE: Many Continental experts now mark forged stamps; therefore it is essential for permission to be obtained from the auctioneers BEFORE submitting to these experts).
f) Any lot listed under "collections and various" or stated to comprise or contain a collection, issues or stamps, which are undescribed, shall be put up for sale, not subject to rejection, and shall be taken by the purchaser with all (if any) faults, lack of genuineness, and errors of description, and numbers of stamps within the lot, and the purchaser shall have no right to reject the lot; except that, notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this sub clause, where before a sale a person intending to bid at the sale gives notice in writing to, and satisfies the auctioneer that any such lot contains any item or items NOT described in the sale catalogue, and that person specifically describes that item or those items in that notice, then that item or those items shall, as between the auctioneer and that person, be taken to form part of the description of the lot for the purposes of sub clauses (a), (b) and (d) of this clause.
g) No lot illustrated in the catalogue shall be rejected on the ground of cancellation, centering, margins, perforation or other characteristics clearly apparent from the illustration.
The respective rights and obligations of the parties shall be governed and interpreted by English Law, and the buyer hereby submits to the non exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.
A. Stamps due to production methods, age and handling often have minor faults (which are normal). These will not be described. Covers etc which have been through the postal system will show signs of wear and age ie minor stains , creases, splits. If in any doubt viewing is advised.
B. Postage and packaging charges will be applied to any lots purchased and not collected from the sale or from our offices. Typical charges as per the standard Royal Mail Tariffs depending on weight, value and destination.
C. Martello Philatelic Auctions Limited reserves the right to retain ownership of the lots on behalf of vendors until full payment has been received from purchasers on their respective lots.
D. Martello Philatelic Auctions Limited reserves the right to offer any unsold lots to potential purchasers at the reserve price for a period of time after the sale unless instructed otherwise by vendors.
E. Martello Philatelic Auctions Limited aim to pay vendors amounts due in full within 5 weeks of the sale date. We reserve the right at our discretion to withhold funds on lots where the purchaser has failed to make payment or failed to make a satisfactory commitment to make payment.
F. If an extension is required on the purchase of a lot you must notify us in advance of bidding. As soon as the certificate has been granted please contact us. If we do not hear from you within 60 days from the date of this letter we will assume the item has been approved and we will then release the funds to the vendor.
No refunds will be considered after this date unless additional time has been requested, and agreed, prior to the 60 day deadline.
Should the item need to be returned it should be returned in the same condition as when sold with no additional markings or items removed. We reserve the right not to refund subject to our review of the certificate obtained.
Subject to which all lots are offered at this Auction at which members of the public are present bidding against each other for themselves or as agents.
NOTICE: The Auctioneers exercise all reasonable care to ensure that all statements as to cancellations, centering, colour, condition, date of issue or of postal marking, gum, margins, paper, perforation, printing, provenance, quality, sheet position, status, usage, watermarks, etc., in lot descriptions are reliable and accurate, and that each item is genuine unless the contrary is indicated. However, the statements are not intended to be, and are not to be taken to be, statements of fact or representations of fact in relation to the lot. They are statements of the opinion of the auctioneers, and the attention is particularly drawn to Clause 5 of the PHILATELIC AUCTIONEERS STANDARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SALE (1983 REVISION) set out below. Comments and opinions concerning the characteristics mentioned above, which may be found in or on lots as notes, lists, catalogue prices, writing up or any other means of expression, do not constitute part of lot descriptions and are not to be taken as such unless they are made or specifically verified by the auctioneers.
a) Each lot is put up subject to any reserve price imposed by the vendor.
b) Subject to sub clause (a) of this clause, the highest bidder for each lot shall be the purchaser thereof, at the fall of the hammer.
c) If any dispute arises as to the highest bidder, the auctioneer shall have the absolute discretion to determine the dispute and may put up again and resell the lot in respect of which the dispute arises.
a) The bidding and advances shall be regulated by and at the absolute discretion of the auctioneer, and he shall have the right to refuse any bid or bids.
NOTE: Where an agent bids, even on behalf of a disclosed client, the auctioneer nevertheless has the right at his discretion to refuse any such bid.
b) The purchaser of each lot shall immediately on its sale if required by the auctioneer give to him the name and address of the purchaser and pay to the auctioneer at his discretion the whole or part of the purchase money. If the purchaser of any lot fails to comply with any such requirement the auctioneer may put up again and resell the lot; if upon such resale a lower price is obtained than was obtained on the first sale the purchaser in default on the first sale shall make good the difference in price and expenses of resale, which shall become a debt due from him.
c) Where an agent purchases on behalf of an undisclosed client such agent shall be personally liable for payment of the purchase money to the auctioneer and for safe delivery of the lots to the said client.
a) The auctioneer reserves the right to bid on behalf of clients and vendors.
b) The auctioneer reserves the right before or during the sale to group together lots belonging to the same vendor, to split up and withdraw a lot or lots at the auctioneers absolute discretion and without giving any reason in any case (without liability to any potential purchaser).
c) The auctioneer acts as agent only, and therefore shall not be liable for any default of the purchaser (provided he has not handed over the goods) or vendor.
a) Each lot shall be at the purchaser's risk from the fall of the hammer and shall be paid for in full before delivery and taken away at his expense by a purchaser in the United Kingdom within 7 days from the date of sale and by a purchaser overseas within 14 days from the date of sale or such longer time as shall be agreed in writing between the auctioneers and purchaser.
b) If any purchaser fails to pay in full for any lot within the time stated in sub clause (a) of this clause, such lot may at any time thereafter at the auctioneer's discretion, be put up for sale by auction again or sold privately; if upon such resale a lower price is obtained than was obtained on the first sale, the purchaser in default on the first sale shall make good the difference in price and the expenses of resale, which shall become a debt due from him.
c) Interest shall be payable by the purchaser on any overdue account.
a) Each lot is sold as (1) GENUINE unless otherwise described in the sale catalogue or by the auctioneer and (2) CORRECTLY DESCRIBED (see also Clause 5(f)). The date of any certificate forming part of the description of any lot will be included in the description.
b) A purchaser shall be at liberty to reject any lot if he (i) gives the auctioneer written notice (if possible before the sale) of intention to question the genuineness of, as the case may be, the accuracy of that description of the lot within 7 days (or in the case of an overseas purchaser to be in the auctioneer's hands within 21 days from the date of sale) AND (ii) proves that the lot is not genuine or was incorrectly described; AND (iii) returns to the auctioneer within 30 days from the date of sale, the lot in the same condition as it was at the time of sale; provided that the auctioneer may, at his absolute discretion, on receiving a request in writing from the purchaser, extend for a reasonable period the time for the return of the lot, to enable it to be submitted to an agreed expert or expert committee.
NOTE: The onus of proving a lot not to be genuine, or incorrectly described, is on the purchaser. The inability of a recognised expert or an expert committee to express a definite opinion shall serve to discharge the onus on the purchaser and shall be a ground for rejecting the lot concerned.
c) Where a lot has been submitted for an expert opinion, all costs for such an option shall be paid by the person who retains the item or items to which the opinion relates.
d) Where the purchaser of a lot discharges the onus and acts in accordance with sub clause (b) of this clause, the auctioneer shall rescind the sale and repay to the purchaser the purchase money paid by him in respect of the lot.
e) No lot shall be rejected if, subsequent to the sale, it has been immersed in water, marked by an expert or expert committee, or treated by any other process, unless the auctioneer's permission to subject the lot to such immersion, marking or treatment, has first been obtained in writing.
(NOTE: Many Continental experts now mark forged stamps; therefore it is essential for permission to be obtained from the auctioneers BEFORE submitting to these experts).
f) Any lot listed under "collections and various" or stated to comprise or contain a collection, issues or stamps, which are undescribed, shall be put up for sale, not subject to rejection, and shall be taken by the purchaser with all (if any) faults, lack of genuineness, and errors of description, and numbers of stamps within the lot, and the purchaser shall have no right to reject the lot; except that, notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this sub clause, where before a sale a person intending to bid at the sale gives notice in writing to, and satisfies the auctioneer that any such lot contains any item or items NOT described in the sale catalogue, and that person specifically describes that item or those items in that notice, then that item or those items shall, as between the auctioneer and that person, be taken to form part of the description of the lot for the purposes of sub clauses (a), (b) and (d) of this clause.
g) No lot illustrated in the catalogue shall be rejected on the ground of cancellation, centring, margins, perforation or other characteristics clearly apparent from the illustration.
The respective rights and obligations of the parties shall be governed and interpreted by English Law, and the buyer hereby submits to the non exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.
A. Stamps due to production methods, age and handling often have minor faults (which are normal). These will not be described. Covers etc which have been through the postal system will show signs of wear and age ie minor stains , creases, splits. If in any doubt viewing is advised.
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STAMPS POSTAL HISTORY : MALAYSIA, group of 1960s or 1970s covers or cards with village postmarks from various Malay States. (26 items)
Venue Address
Postage and Packing charges will be applied to any lots that are not collected. Typical charges will be based on standard Royal Mail Tariffs depending on weight, value, and destination. plus packaging costs. Charges will be added to invoices unless collection has been arranged. We reserve the right to add a packing fee on lots collected from our office.
These are challenging times, but that does not mean you have to stop collecting. Therefore we have pleasure in presenting our latest auction! Due to restrictions the auction will not be held at our usual venue and it will be an online only sale. Regrettably there will be no public viewing of lots. All items are fully scanned on the internet and can be found on www.the-saleroom.com and www.easyliveauction.com. Lots can be viewed at our office in Hythe but on a STRICT appointment basis.
The process to bid on either site is very easy. You can sit at home or in the office and win an auction lot with the click of a mouse. You can still send us bids by post or email if you prefer.
Sorry but we cannot offer free teas and coffee’s, but I am sure you have plenty to hand at home!
Please note our buyer’s premium is 16.5% plus VAT, Bids of less than 80% of estimate are unlikely to be successful as individual reserves vary. Additional fees apply for online bidding.
Auction notes
Unless prior arrangement has been agreed we require full cleared payment before auction lots are released. For new customers we may ask for additional proof of identity before the release of items. Please see our full terms and conditions of the sale on pages 61 & 62.
We look forward to seeing you virtually on the 29th May.
Please contact us if you require additional scans of any lots. If you would rather just receive the downloadable version of the catalogue instead of a printed version, please contact us with your email address.
If you have any material that you wish to consign for our next main sale on 31st July 2020, please contact us as soon as possible. Hopefully by then we may be back to normal.
We are sad to announce that we lost one of our loyal helpers in March, Colin Curd (dad). We will be thinking of you Colin.
Stay Safe and keep collecting.
Postage and Packing charges will be applied to any lots that are not collected. Typical charges will be as per standard Royal Mail Tariffs depending on weight, value, and destination. Heavier parcels will be sent by courier. For example a 10kg box will usuually attract a post and packing fee of £17.50 plus VAT
All major credit/debit cards accepted. 3% additional charge may still be applied to NON UK registered debit and credit cards.
Online bidders will be sent a Pro-Forma invoice and will not automatically be charged to their credit/debit card used for online registration. Online bidders will be charged an additional 4.95% plus VAT (this is a charge levied by the Saleroom, which we simply pass on, we do not earn anything on this eliment). Please call either Andrew Curd or Robert Uden on 01303 269712 for any further details. The auction is being conducted under the standard Philatelic Auctioneers Terms and Conditions (1983 Rev) Our Auction is conducted using the following terms and conditions.
Subject to which all lots are offered at this Auction at which members of the public are present bidding against each other for themselves or as agents.
NOTICE: The Auctioneers exercise all reasonable care to ensure that all statements as to cancellations, centering, colour, condition, date of issue or of postal marking, gum, margins, paper, perforation, printing, provenance, quality, sheet position, status, usage, watermarks, etc., in lot descriptions are reliable and accurate, and that each item is genuine unless the contrary is indicated. However, the statements are not intended to be, and are not to be taken to be, statements of fact or representations of fact in relation to the lot. They are statements of the opinion of the auctioneers, and the attention is particularly drawn to Clause 5 of the PHILATELIC AUCTIONEERS STANDARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SALE (1983 REVISION) set out below. Comments and opinions concerning the characteristics mentioned above, which may be found in or on lots as notes, lists, catalogue prices, writing up or any other means of expression, do not constitute part of lot descriptions and are not to be taken as such unless they are made or specifically verified by the auctioneers.
a) Each lot is put up subject to any reserve price imposed by the vendor.
b) Subject to sub clause (a) of this clause, the highest bidder for each lot shall be the purchaser thereof, at the fall of the hammer.
c) If any dispute arises as to the highest bidder, the auctioneer shall have the absolute discretion to determine the dispute and may put up again and resell the lot in respect of which the dispute arises.
a) The bidding and advances shall be regulated by and at the absolute discretion of the auctioneer, and he shall have the right to refuse any bid or bids.
NOTE: Where an agent bids, even on behalf of a disclosed client, the auctioneer nevertheless has the right at his discretion to refuse any such bid.
b) The purchaser of each lot shall immediately on its sale if required by the auctioneer give to him the name and address of the purchaser and pay to the auctioneer at his discretion the whole or part of the purchase money. If the purchaser of any lot fails to comply with any such requirement the auctioneer may put up again and resell the lot; if upon such resale a lower price is obtained than was obtained on the first sale the purchaser in default on the first sale shall make good the difference in price and expenses of resale, which shall become a debt due from him.
c) Where an agent purchases on behalf of an undisclosed client such agent shall be personally liable for payment of the purchase money to the auctioneer and for safe delivery of the lots to the said client.
a) The auctioneer reserves the right to bid on behalf of clients and vendors.
b) The auctioneer reserves the right before or during the sale to group together lots belonging to the same vendor, to split up and withdraw a lot or lots at the auctioneers absolute discretion and without giving any reason in any case (without liability to any potential purchaser).
c) The auctioneer acts as agent only, and therefore shall not be liable for any default of the purchaser (provided he has not handed over the goods) or vendor.
a) Each lot shall be at the purchaser's risk from the fall of the hammer and shall be paid for in full before delivery and taken away at his expense by a purchaser in the United Kingdom within 7 days from the date of sale and by a purchaser overseas within 14 days from the date of sale or such longer time as shall be agreed in writing between the auctioneers and purchaser.
b) If any purchaser fails to pay in full for any lot within the time stated in sub clause (a) of this clause, such lot may at any time thereafter at the auctioneer's discretion, be put up for sale by auction again or sold privately; if upon such resale a lower price is obtained than was obtained on the first sale, the purchaser in default on the first sale shall make good the difference in price and the expenses of resale, which shall become a debt due from him.
c) Interest shall be payable by the purchaser on any overdue account.
a) Each lot is sold as (1) GENUINE unless otherwise described in the sale catalogue or by the auctioneer and (2) CORRECTLY DESCRIBED (see also Clause 5(f)). The date of any certificate forming part of the description of any lot will be included in the description.
b) A purchaser shall be at liberty to reject any lot if he (i) gives the auctioneer written notice (if possible before the sale) of intention to question the genuineness of, as the case may be, the accuracy of that description of the lot within 7 days (or in the case of an overseas purchaser to be in the auctioneer's hands within 21 days from the date of sale) AND (ii) proves that the lot is not genuine or was incorrectly described; AND (iii) returns to the auctioneer within 30 days from the date of sale, the lot in the same condition as it was at the time of sale; provided that the auctioneer may, at his absolute discretion, on receiving a request in writing from the purchaser, extend for a reasonable period the time for the return of the lot, to enable it to be submitted to an agreed expert or expert committee.
NOTE: The onus of proving a lot not to be genuine, or incorrectly described, is on the purchaser. The inability of a recognised expert or an expert committee to express a definite opinion shall serve to discharge the onus on the purchaser and shall be a ground for rejecting the lot concerned.
c) Where a lot has been submitted for an expert opinion, all costs for such an option shall be paid by the person who retains the item or items to which the opinion relates.
d) Where the purchaser of a lot discharges the onus and acts in accordance with sub clause (b) of this clause, the auctioneer shall rescind the sale and repay to the purchaser the purchase money paid by him in respect of the lot.
e) No lot shall be rejected if, subsequent to the sale, it has been immersed in water, marked by an expert or expert committee, or treated by any other process, unless the auctioneer's permission to subject the lot to such immersion, marking or treatment, has first been obtained in writing.
(NOTE: Many Continental experts now mark forged stamps; therefore it is essential for permission to be obtained from the auctioneers BEFORE submitting to these experts).
f) Any lot listed under "collections and various" or stated to comprise or contain a collection, issues or stamps, which are undescribed, shall be put up for sale, not subject to rejection, and shall be taken by the purchaser with all (if any) faults, lack of genuineness, and errors of description, and numbers of stamps within the lot, and the purchaser shall have no right to reject the lot; except that, notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this sub clause, where before a sale a person intending to bid at the sale gives notice in writing to, and satisfies the auctioneer that any such lot contains any item or items NOT described in the sale catalogue, and that person specifically describes that item or those items in that notice, then that item or those items shall, as between the auctioneer and that person, be taken to form part of the description of the lot for the purposes of sub clauses (a), (b) and (d) of this clause.
g) No lot illustrated in the catalogue shall be rejected on the ground of cancellation, centering, margins, perforation or other characteristics clearly apparent from the illustration.
The respective rights and obligations of the parties shall be governed and interpreted by English Law, and the buyer hereby submits to the non exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.
A. Stamps due to production methods, age and handling often have minor faults (which are normal). These will not be described. Covers etc which have been through the postal system will show signs of wear and age ie minor stains , creases, splits. If in any doubt viewing is advised.
B. Postage and packaging charges will be applied to any lots purchased and not collected from the sale or from our offices. Typical charges as per the standard Royal Mail Tariffs depending on weight, value and destination.
C. Martello Philatelic Auctions Limited reserves the right to retain ownership of the lots on behalf of vendors until full payment has been received from purchasers on their respective lots.
D. Martello Philatelic Auctions Limited reserves the right to offer any unsold lots to potential purchasers at the reserve price for a period of time after the sale unless instructed otherwise by vendors.
E. Martello Philatelic Auctions Limited aim to pay vendors amounts due in full within 5 weeks of the sale date. We reserve the right at our discretion to withhold funds on lots where the purchaser has failed to make payment or failed to make a satisfactory commitment to make payment.
F. If an extension is required on the purchase of a lot you must notify us in advance of bidding. As soon as the certificate has been granted please contact us. If we do not hear from you within 60 days from the date of this letter we will assume the item has been approved and we will then release the funds to the vendor.
No refunds will be considered after this date unless additional time has been requested, and agreed, prior to the 60 day deadline.
Should the item need to be returned it should be returned in the same condition as when sold with no additional markings or items removed. We reserve the right not to refund subject to our review of the certificate obtained.
Subject to which all lots are offered at this Auction at which members of the public are present bidding against each other for themselves or as agents.
NOTICE: The Auctioneers exercise all reasonable care to ensure that all statements as to cancellations, centering, colour, condition, date of issue or of postal marking, gum, margins, paper, perforation, printing, provenance, quality, sheet position, status, usage, watermarks, etc., in lot descriptions are reliable and accurate, and that each item is genuine unless the contrary is indicated. However, the statements are not intended to be, and are not to be taken to be, statements of fact or representations of fact in relation to the lot. They are statements of the opinion of the auctioneers, and the attention is particularly drawn to Clause 5 of the PHILATELIC AUCTIONEERS STANDARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SALE (1983 REVISION) set out below. Comments and opinions concerning the characteristics mentioned above, which may be found in or on lots as notes, lists, catalogue prices, writing up or any other means of expression, do not constitute part of lot descriptions and are not to be taken as such unless they are made or specifically verified by the auctioneers.
a) Each lot is put up subject to any reserve price imposed by the vendor.
b) Subject to sub clause (a) of this clause, the highest bidder for each lot shall be the purchaser thereof, at the fall of the hammer.
c) If any dispute arises as to the highest bidder, the auctioneer shall have the absolute discretion to determine the dispute and may put up again and resell the lot in respect of which the dispute arises.
a) The bidding and advances shall be regulated by and at the absolute discretion of the auctioneer, and he shall have the right to refuse any bid or bids.
NOTE: Where an agent bids, even on behalf of a disclosed client, the auctioneer nevertheless has the right at his discretion to refuse any such bid.
b) The purchaser of each lot shall immediately on its sale if required by the auctioneer give to him the name and address of the purchaser and pay to the auctioneer at his discretion the whole or part of the purchase money. If the purchaser of any lot fails to comply with any such requirement the auctioneer may put up again and resell the lot; if upon such resale a lower price is obtained than was obtained on the first sale the purchaser in default on the first sale shall make good the difference in price and expenses of resale, which shall become a debt due from him.
c) Where an agent purchases on behalf of an undisclosed client such agent shall be personally liable for payment of the purchase money to the auctioneer and for safe delivery of the lots to the said client.
a) The auctioneer reserves the right to bid on behalf of clients and vendors.
b) The auctioneer reserves the right before or during the sale to group together lots belonging to the same vendor, to split up and withdraw a lot or lots at the auctioneers absolute discretion and without giving any reason in any case (without liability to any potential purchaser).
c) The auctioneer acts as agent only, and therefore shall not be liable for any default of the purchaser (provided he has not handed over the goods) or vendor.
a) Each lot shall be at the purchaser's risk from the fall of the hammer and shall be paid for in full before delivery and taken away at his expense by a purchaser in the United Kingdom within 7 days from the date of sale and by a purchaser overseas within 14 days from the date of sale or such longer time as shall be agreed in writing between the auctioneers and purchaser.
b) If any purchaser fails to pay in full for any lot within the time stated in sub clause (a) of this clause, such lot may at any time thereafter at the auctioneer's discretion, be put up for sale by auction again or sold privately; if upon such resale a lower price is obtained than was obtained on the first sale, the purchaser in default on the first sale shall make good the difference in price and the expenses of resale, which shall become a debt due from him.
c) Interest shall be payable by the purchaser on any overdue account.
a) Each lot is sold as (1) GENUINE unless otherwise described in the sale catalogue or by the auctioneer and (2) CORRECTLY DESCRIBED (see also Clause 5(f)). The date of any certificate forming part of the description of any lot will be included in the description.
b) A purchaser shall be at liberty to reject any lot if he (i) gives the auctioneer written notice (if possible before the sale) of intention to question the genuineness of, as the case may be, the accuracy of that description of the lot within 7 days (or in the case of an overseas purchaser to be in the auctioneer's hands within 21 days from the date of sale) AND (ii) proves that the lot is not genuine or was incorrectly described; AND (iii) returns to the auctioneer within 30 days from the date of sale, the lot in the same condition as it was at the time of sale; provided that the auctioneer may, at his absolute discretion, on receiving a request in writing from the purchaser, extend for a reasonable period the time for the return of the lot, to enable it to be submitted to an agreed expert or expert committee.
NOTE: The onus of proving a lot not to be genuine, or incorrectly described, is on the purchaser. The inability of a recognised expert or an expert committee to express a definite opinion shall serve to discharge the onus on the purchaser and shall be a ground for rejecting the lot concerned.
c) Where a lot has been submitted for an expert opinion, all costs for such an option shall be paid by the person who retains the item or items to which the opinion relates.
d) Where the purchaser of a lot discharges the onus and acts in accordance with sub clause (b) of this clause, the auctioneer shall rescind the sale and repay to the purchaser the purchase money paid by him in respect of the lot.
e) No lot shall be rejected if, subsequent to the sale, it has been immersed in water, marked by an expert or expert committee, or treated by any other process, unless the auctioneer's permission to subject the lot to such immersion, marking or treatment, has first been obtained in writing.
(NOTE: Many Continental experts now mark forged stamps; therefore it is essential for permission to be obtained from the auctioneers BEFORE submitting to these experts).
f) Any lot listed under "collections and various" or stated to comprise or contain a collection, issues or stamps, which are undescribed, shall be put up for sale, not subject to rejection, and shall be taken by the purchaser with all (if any) faults, lack of genuineness, and errors of description, and numbers of stamps within the lot, and the purchaser shall have no right to reject the lot; except that, notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this sub clause, where before a sale a person intending to bid at the sale gives notice in writing to, and satisfies the auctioneer that any such lot contains any item or items NOT described in the sale catalogue, and that person specifically describes that item or those items in that notice, then that item or those items shall, as between the auctioneer and that person, be taken to form part of the description of the lot for the purposes of sub clauses (a), (b) and (d) of this clause.
g) No lot illustrated in the catalogue shall be rejected on the ground of cancellation, centring, margins, perforation or other characteristics clearly apparent from the illustration.
The respective rights and obligations of the parties shall be governed and interpreted by English Law, and the buyer hereby submits to the non exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.
A. Stamps due to production methods, age and handling often have minor faults (which are normal). These will not be described. Covers etc which have been through the postal system will show signs of wear and age ie minor stains , creases, splits. If in any doubt viewing is advised.
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tv The News With Shepard Smith CNBC August 11, 2021 4:00am-5:00am EDT
that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm natalie morales. thank you for watching. see you tomorrow "the news with shepard smith" starts now. this is the news on cnbc >> my resignation will be effective in 14 days >> governor cuomo's fall from the political mountain >> in my mind i've never crossed the line with anyone >> blooming legal problems and the lieutenant set to make history as new york's first woman governor front line nurses, frustrated and heart broken. >> it is unnecessary and it is preventible. >> the reality they wish all americans could see.
>> closing in from all sides the taliban sacked another capital. our report from afghanistan on the taliban atrocities and stories of abuse on women and girls. a blockbuster bipartisan break through. the senate passes the $1 trillion infrastructure bill and reflecting on last year's deadly derecho storm and the news over election lies. and a shoplifting sea gull caught on tape >> announcer: live from cnbc the facts. the truth. the news with shepard smith. >> good evening. after months of denials, new york governor andrew cuomo said he is resigning. his stunning announcement one week after the release of the state investigation that concluded he sexually harassed 11 women including his own staff members and a state trooper.
today even as the governor apologized for some actions to his accusers, and admitted he made mistakes. he insisted the investigation's findings were false. >> i am a fighter. and my instinct is to fight through this controversy because i truly believe it is politically motivated. i believe it is unfair and it is untruthful i think that given the circumstances, the best way i can help now is if i step aside and let government get back to governing. and therefore, that's what i'll do >> after the resignation speech in manhattan, governor cuomo climbed aboard a helicopter and flew off he is still facing multiple criminal investigations and it is unclear whether state lawmakers will still pursue impeachment. the governor says he'll leave office in 14 days. when that happens, alone
governor kathy hochul will become new york's first woman governor this is a shocking fall from power for a governor who enjoyed a 73% approval rating last year. a governor who followed in his father's foot steps and won three election in land slides. a governor who became a household name and a national political star during the pandemic won an emmy award for his covid briefings and was even talked about as a possible presidential candidate. now there is this. we're covering all angles. valerie castro from governor cuomo's accusers the albany times on the precarious future and the woman who will replace him first, contessa brewer live at the state capitol in albany. >> reporter: good evening to you. governor cuomo said today, impeachment would be a waste of resources. but here at the capitol, lawmakers are pondering next steps. new york's assembly judiciary
committee chair said state lawmakers could still pursue impeachment to prevent him from holding office in the state ever again. in his resignation speech, he both apologized for offending the 11 women mentioned in the attorney general's report and defended himself >> in my mind, i've never crossed the line with anyone but i didn't realize the extent to which the line has been redrawn. there are generational and cultural shifts that i just didn't fully appreciate. >> reporter: at least four district attorneys are looking into the allegations against cuomo. with albany county confirming, a criminal investigation is underway right now, he does not face any charges as we speak the sheriff here though got a specific explain over groping of the accuser brittney commisso.
and today they said it was cuomo's office that referred that complaint to the sheriff while the governor has denied that claim lieutenant governor kathy hochul tweeted out today that the resignation was the right thing to do. she said she is prepared to lead of course, the next 14 days, the state capitol will prepare for a trans i go of power. we've heard from state leaders, from county executives and party bosses saying they're optimistic hochul will bring in a new level of governance. >> some of the governor's accusers have been demanding this resignation and they've finally gotten their wishful what are the accusers saying >> it is a range of reaction some say it is sad that cuomo seemed to take no real responsibility for his actions others are saying they're thankful their voices were finally heard. the attorney for charlotte bennett who accused the governor of making inappropriate comments issued a statement saying the
governor's decision on resign is not the end of our reckoning with sexual harassment but it is a step in the right direction. lindsey boylan, the first woman to come forward, said in a statement, from the beginning i asked that the governor stop his abusive behavior it became abundantly clear he was unable to do that instead of attacking and blaming victims until the end. karen hinton, another accuser, had this to say. >> what he did with those women was unforgivable and the sad part of it is he brought it, he also brought it on himself and he blamed others >> when cuomo initially responded to the attorney general's findings earlier this month, he tried to explain his affection with a slide show featuring photos of him kissing and embracing a variety of people something he said he did as a sign of warmth with everyone
but one of the women featured in the photos spoke out today i know what attorney gloria allred embarrassing and said she was embarrassed when he used to it explain away his actions >> i do not appreciate him using, i do not appreciate him using my picture to spin a story. i do not condone his actions toward any of the women who have come forward and i do not appreciate being made to look as if i do. >> gloria allred announced at that time, she is also representing the female state trooper who has not been publicly identified but said he did the right thing announcing his resignation. >> brendan lyons now, thank you. a second generation governor born into political life, discussed by some as a future
presidential possibility fallen from the political apex how do you measure this collapse >> it is really something. internally in the newsroom this evening, we were remarking that it was the biggest collapse of a governor in a generation he was certainly on top of his game a year ago, on top of the mountain and he said something, something that you just played, a clip where he said he didn't understand that the lines had been redrawn but governor cuomo redrew those lines. he signed into law the sexual harassment standards that were he will '58 in 2018, 2019, for some sort of conduct is acceptable and the steps for punishment so i think for him to say he didn't understand and attribute it to generational and cultural breakdowns in communication, it falls short for a lot of people. >> he didn't address the allegation that he reached under her shirt and touched her over
her bra. at the same time the albany county sheriff said he is moving forward with the criminal part of all this, and to brit anycommisso's groping allegations. is that the biggest threat to him legally speaking >> potentially it is remember, there are three investigations still left. the assembly in their impeachment investigation which could certainly move forward or they could hedge that and end it with issuing a report and stop short of impeachment. but sustains or doesn't sustain whatever conduct has been alleged. the u.s. attorney's office in brooklyn, that investigation is still active although it seems to have lost some steam the albany county sheriff and the district attorney are not going to allow someone they said to resign their way out of criminal exposure. so they will move forward with their investigation. and it is something the governor, i'm sure, has in the back of his mind right now >> you know that capital as well
as anyone. and here's the question that keeps going through my mind. are we in the position now where leaders of this state can not pursue things further, and survive themselves politically because for a lot of women i know, and advocates for a lot of women, that's a lot of people. for that bunch, i've heard this isn't enough for them. >> indeed. you're right that's where over the next several weeks, a lot of the debate will take place because again, someone resigns do we then stop our investigation of this person not prevent them from running for elected office again or do we do our job? the debate will also be, cuomo said it today, is it going to cause such a distraction and waste millions of dollars to go through something that is inevitable he has resigned. ultimately, impeachment would be to remove him from office.
this was not unexpected. when melissa, the secretary to the governor resigned sunday night abruptly, that sort of signaled that she may be heading for the exits before he did. and she was with him today, by the way, in new york she accompanied him to deliver his remarks. >> from can he survive the year to a week and done stunning, really, in its speed thank you for your time, from the albany times union the battle to protect kids from covid in the classroom. there's a new push and a new push back in states that are banning mask mandates. the growing number of schools defying their governor's orders, and what happens if students don't comply front line nurses in their own words. the reality on the ground and the message they want everyone to hear. and fighting back against the big lie in court
dominion voting systems sues for billions two conservative networks and their reporters. the case and how much money that company is seeking in damages. welcome to allstate. where everything just seems to go your way. you're in good hands with allstate. click or call for a lower auto rate today. rock the boat don't rock the boat, baby
rock the boat don't tip the boat over here we go. don't rock the boat, baby rock the boat see disney's jungle cruise. it's time to rock the boat, america. president biden said today he's very concerned about schools being able to stay open and the president says he's admitting that he's worried about covid spreading among children who are too young to get vaccinated the president is urging schools to follow the cdc guidance and require masks. kentucky's governor leading that call he issued a new order mandating masks in all k-12 schools. in texas and florida, the debate over masks keeps growing as kids return to classrooms and covid cases and hospitalizations continue to worry many health officials. today, the fed said florida 200 ventilators to help the state
deal with the latest surge still, when it comes to schools, governor ron desantis is not budging on his decision to ban masks. >> if you look at the data, it is totally reasonable for a parent to say i would rather send my kid to school without wearing the mask so that's what it is about it is about presental choice not government mandate >> the american academy of pediatrics look at data statewide and found children account for 15% of all new covid cases last week. now a number of school districts in florida including broward county which is the ft. lauderdale area are going against the governor's order this school board voted 8-1 to require students to mask up in schools despite what the governor said. and the judge in texas now temporarily allowing san antonio and bexar county to mandate masks despite the overnor's ba on just that here's morgan chesky >> reporter: we are in the
middle of a covid emergency that medical staff across the state of texas says is and was very much preventible, and you look at the dwindling space, at the icu's. not just here in austin and across the state it is incredibly concerning. at last check in the city of austin, in the metropolitan area, home to nearly 2 million people there are only six icu beds available. you go to the north and the dallas-ft. worth metroplex, that number is not much better. nearly 8 million people call that area home this is absolutely a concern and coupled with that is the fact children will be going back to school incredibly soon. we know the executive order from greg anti-said school districts could not issue their own mask mandates however, defying that, we're seeing dallas school district, austin school district, and others around the state doing that exact thing and this is one summit's explanation. >> we're asking people to be kind but be firm
we'll do some progressive discipline we'll ask them to leave. >> for months now we've heard from governor abbott say should the district violate his order, they could be risking a fine and risk losing state funding. as of right now, there is no move against this decision by the governor or his office >> thanks. dr. scott gottlieb do you see a scenario where the virus forces them to go fully remote this school year? >> unfortunately it's possible specially if you go into this school year without the mitigation we had last year. we can't expect to have less measures implemented in terms of trying to control the infection in schools and expect the same result in terms of keeping the infection at bay so masks are one option, one tool schools should be looking
at there are other things they could be doing keeping children in defined social pods is important so you don't have an outbreak using testing more forcefully. making sure you retrofit air systems and try to get better air in the schools a lot of things schools could be doing. unfortunately, a lot of schools are taking their foot off the break before the school year begins and we don't know what the circumstances will be. the goal should be to keep the schools open and keep the measures in place until we see how it goes. >> you heard the governor say it is perfectly reasonable for a parent to want to send an unvaccinated kid to school without a mask that he is happy with the trend. is that accurate might we be heading to the other side of this delta surge >> well, the surge in the south is certainly peaking there's evidence that cases are starting to decline on a daily
base across much of the south. arkansas, louisiana, missouri, florida as well. just because cases are declining on a daily basis, doesn't mean you're not accruing new cases every day. we'll continue to accrue new cases even as the case count starts to come down. unfortunately, they've maxed out their health care system in the south and they'll continue to see hospitalizations rise even as cases continue to fall. part of the challenge is that covid patients who get admitted to the hospital stay longer so it is hard to discharge them particularly when they get into the ic you were. to the extent many hospitals are maxed out, some health care systems. it will continue for weeks to come >> quickly on kids 5-11. american academy of pediatrics, they are pushing to approve it already. >> what the fda is doing is asking for more data so they sent a letter to the
agency about the expansion clinical trials. i think the fda is asking for more data. if the circumstance changes and the situation worsens among kids, we see outbreaks among kids i think the fda will be in a position to make an earlier decision if they have to from a public health standpoint they're trying to get more data so they've required longer and larger details >> as always, thank you. most americans say they have high trust in doctors, nurses and pharmacists. that's according to a new poll from the university sxhik the associated press researchers say trust is critical right now as states work to get more people vaccinated and try to get delta under control. in places where cases are rising, health care workers say it feels like they're struggling through the same old dark days of the pandemic all over again andrea day spoke with three nurses about their challenges and frustrations as they continue to try to save lives.
>> what is going on is that people in our community are dying and it is tragic and it is heart breaking and it is unnecessary. and it is preventible. >> reporter: tracy hill is a nurse in springfield, missouri, and shared these last words from a patient with covid struggling to breathe >> he started to cry and he said i'm angry with myself because i'm not vaccinated he died two days later >> reporter: missouri ravaged by the delta variant. where front line nurses are once again desperately trying to save patients >> does what is happening now seem like history repeating itself >> yeah. we were windingdown. and then all of a sudden we're back with numbers higher than what we've ever been and there is definitely a level of frustration there i think we feel let down >> it is hard to see people getting so sick right now when there is potentially something
they could have done about it. >> it is hard to see someone almost my age in the ic oumpb a ventilator that really hits home. >> reporter: in missouri, less than half the population vacc vaccinated >> there are lifejackets and i don't understand why some people would rather drown >> you can't help but saying, if you had gotten the vaccination, you might not be in this situation. >> reporter: what they wish everyone could see, the reality they face every day. >> i think if people could see what's inside, they would be scared and they would make better decisions >> reporter: and all the nurses we spoke with say this frustration does not change the level of care they're giving each and every day but they just wish people could see that almost every serious case is someone who is not vaccinated >> thanks. ever thought of a shoe as a piece of art something you put on a shelf instead of on your feet?
next we're going inside a company cashing in on fashion forward collectors and the process that goes into making sure what you're buying is the real deal. fr> and a booflt for the >> tech: every customer has their own safelite story. this couple loves camping adventures and their suv is always there with them. so when their windshield got a chip, they wanted it fixed fast. they drove to safelite autoglass for a guaranteed, same-day, in-shop repair. we repaired the chip before it could crack. and with their insurance, it was no cost to them. >> woman: really? >> tech: that's service you can trust, when you need it most. pop rock music >> singers: safelite repair, safelite replace.
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after months of negotiating and days of debate, a landmark $1 trillion infrastructure bill has finally passed the u.s. senate if it goes through, it will be the largest federal investment in roads, bridges and rail in decades. i will also includes money for access to high speed internet, water projects and clean energy programs it passed the senate in a rare overwhelmingly bipartisan way. the vote 69-30 19 republicans joined all 50 democrats. the bill won the backing of a wide spectrum of republicans from mitch mcconnell to chuck grassley and rob portman
>> a real lasting bipartisan victory for the people we represent. the bill called the infrastructure investment and jobs act will improve the lives of all americans >> one concrete example, improvements on this bridge. it connects rob portman's and mitch mcconnell's states both lawmakers have said, the bill could fund that project drivers trying to cross the ohio river every day know of the aggravating traffic on the brent spenls bridge. it connects cincinnati to northern kentucky. it opened 70 years ago back then it was expected to accommodate about 80,000 cars a day. now it usually handles double that local business owners say they lose business because of the construction deliveries are never on time and bill would go toward constructing a second bridge next to the brent spenls to ease traffic jams and bottlenecks but
it still faces an uphill battle in the house it is headed there next. senior congressional correspondent, one hurdle cleared. another to go. how does that look >> well, the divisions over this bill and the house are already on display and i'm just talking about the democrats. on one side, moderates like the congressman from new jersey and one of the leaders of the bipartisan problem solvers caucus they sent a letter pleading with nancy pelosi to bring the infrastructure bill up for a vote asap. it says after years of waiting, we can't afford unnecessary delays but progressives don't want to rush in and most don't want to support the bipartisan bill if the rest of the democrats' agenda gets left behind. their own letter says, our caucus is clear. the bipartisan bill will only be passed if a package of social, human, and climate infrastructure is passed
simultaneously at an event in california today, pelosi seemed willing to wait, at least for a little while. >> with all the almost in the world for this senate bill, i'm glad it passed i'm glad it is bipartisan. strongly so. important to job creation and the rest but it is not the totality of the vision of joe biden and the congressional democrats. >> the senate just started debating that second package of human infrastructure today the house will return from recess the week of august 23rd to start work on it as well. the price tag is $3.5 trillion republicans are calling it a spending spree democrats promise it will all get paid for >> thanks. was the saudi government connected in any way to the attacks of 9/11? survivors want answers that they say could be in classified documents. the doj is now reviewing files possibly for public release, but family members of the victims say that is not good enough.
people in afghanistan leaving everything behind and fleeing to a makeshift camp if they're lucky. they're bringing stories of violence and threats of forced marriages, and the taliban gains ground those stories, next. as we approach the bottom. as we approach the bottom. hour and t t welcome to allstate. where everything just seems to go your way. you're in good hands with allstate. click or call for a lower auto rate today.
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on wall street, the dow up 163. s&p up 4 the nasdaq down 72 i'm shepard smith on cnbc. it is the bottom hour time for the top of the news >> more lawsuits over the big lie. dominion voting systems sues two more right wing networks and reporters for defamation as covid delta spikes, restaurants and bars push to extend outdoor dining but not everyone is on board and horror stories from afghanistan. after the taliban captures another regional capital the united states sending a peace end voluntary to the million-dollar east to send a warning. if the taliban takes the country by force, the rest of the world will isolate it. apparently thinking that might resonate with the terrorists who wanted and prepared for this war for decades. the taliban is already seized nine regional capitals over the
last five days and effectively, they've cut off the main highway connecting the country's capital of kabul with northern afghan provinces. it comes as the united states finalizes its troop withdrawal from the country the international committee of the red cross said its staff has treated thousands of people hurt in the fighting over the last few days thousands of others are flooding into kabul on the run from the insurgents the capital is holding for now but what is happening on the ground is horrifying with some of the stories from those refugees, here's nbc's kelly cobiella >> reporter: we're hearing absolutely harrowing tales of survival from these families who have fled fighting in the north. most of them came from the city of kunduz. 300,000 taken by the taliban on sunday one woman, a teacher, said she left at such short notice, she was not able to take anything
other than her teaching certificate and the clothes on her back she left with eight of her grandchildren, and she said she spoke to a neighbor a day later who told her that her home had been bombed. we spoke to another woman who told some very disturbing stories about the taliban. she said the taliban was targeting women, particularly women who worked in government, and she also said that a friend of hers, a colleague, was killed >> reporter: she also told us that families are being ordered by the taliban to give them lists of the unmarried and widowed women in their households so they could then be married off to taliban fighters. at this moment tonight, there is a battle ongoing for the biggest city in the north.
government forces trying to hold off the taliban and in fact, the war lord and former vice president headed there to back up government forces with the brookings insti institution, author of the book, art of war in the age of peace the u.s. says violence levels in afghanistan are unacceptable >> they had to know this was coming maybe not this quickly but who thought there would be peace this is war. outside of the biggest city in some of the others, they're cruising to victory. what should the goal be now? >> you summed it up now and it is tragic. i don't think president biden made the right choice but we are where we are i think the major goal has to be to hold on to some of the larger cities that you mentioned. the afghan special forces are still the best fighting forces in the country but there are only 12,000, 15,000 of them. they can do a lot if they are used well in the right places.
so the government has to avoid the temptation to retake every small capital in taliban hands and really focus on the big prizes, the big cities, the major arteries of transportation >> is there a way to assist in one way or another that maybe you could lay out? >> yes, i think they could go back the way we were 20 years ago when we helped the northern alliance defeat the taliban after 9/11 we could use u.s. air power out of the persian gulf. at least during the days of most intensive taliban effort to take certain cities we have to keep the money flowing to help faye afghan police and i think we should pay some of the militias that are friendly to their cause even if they're not official it is ugly, not the way they should be but we're in the land of even worst options. >> anecdotal evidence is in. i don't have to tell you, the
people are furious and that say they blame specifically our special envoy and some are calling for his head 20 years later, how do you even quantify the level of american failure here >> reporter: well, shepard, i'll say one thing. i believe in our troops and diplomats and aid workers. we invehaven't been attacked ag for 20 years so thank you. having said that, i agree with you. this is more about failure than it is about success. and i don't blame him entirely he was trying triangulate -- >> but they do they blame him because he struck the deal with the taliban and most of the anecdotal evidence is that people never thought the taliban would do what they said they would to and sure enough, they didn't do it. >> president biden didn't really need to pull the plug either the deal that was struck was not being complied with by the
taliban west didn't have to comply with the deal the other side was cheating on so there's blame to be shared fairly widely, i'm afraid, on the american side. you've written for as long as i've known you keep the government in control of kabul at a very minimum so you could have some control over parts of the country so there's freedom for some people, at least a space where they won't be murdered or tortured or some 13-year-old girl will be married off to a fighter if kabul falls, what does that mean to the greater region >> well, i think the united states can still find a by to prevent the development of a new south af sanctuary for isis we'll have to do it more officially from the indian ocean and aircraft carriers. from the persian gulf and kuwait and long range airplanes i think we will find a way to
reduce the likelihood of another big attack coming out of afghanistan. it will be very tough in terms of refugee flows and there really isn't any good story. i don't think the taliban necessarily win this clean and fast the other scenario is a prolonged civil war. either one is very bad >> thank you speaking of 9/11, the families of 9/11 victims doubling down now on their ultramatum to president biden. they've that, you will declassify efld from the terror attacks or you will not come to next month's memorials pretty strong. the pressure comes after the justice department announced it will conduct a fresh review of the classified files following years of pleas from the victims' families who insists the documents might show a link between those attacks and the saudi arabia government. in response to the doj review, an advocate for 9/11 families whose own father died in the attacks, put out a statement
today writes, unfortunately, we have heard many empty promises before we hope the biden administration come forward to provide the information the 9/11 community has waited for 20 years, so we can stand together with the president at ground zero on 9/11. dominion voting systems suing two more media outlets and the former ceo over lies and conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. the company is taking on news match and the owner of one american news, or oan. the suit also names current oan white house correspondent chanel rion and christina bob lawyers say they cast dominion as a villain while lying about election fraud the company is seeking more than $1.5 billion from each outlet, and from the overstock.com ceo, patrick burn
they didn't immediately respond to request for comment news match released a statement staying outlet simply reported on allegations made by well known public figures including the president, his advisers and members of congress. dominion has a long list of other lawsuits underway over similar accusations. those defendants have all previously filed to dismiss the lawsuits one year later, remembering last summer's deadly derecho that devastated parts of the midwest. have you heard the final cost of this it is incredible tonight the stories of why rebuilding has been neither quick nor cheap. plus the debate over outdoor dining a life line for many restaurants during the pandemic. now some local residents are now some local residents are fighting the idea of i'm dad's greatest sandcastle - and greatest memory! but even i'm not as memorable as eating turkey hill chocolate peanut butter cup ice cream with real cocoa. well, that's the way the sandcastle crumbles.
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devastating derecho devastated parts of the midwest states. it raced 770 miles across the middle of the country tearing down homes and trees ultimately killing four people this iowa, illinois and indiana. it was also the costliest thunderstorm in american history. $11 billion worth of damage including the farms and crops. the hardest hit state, iowa. where local officials said more than 1,000 houses in cedar rapids alone were unlivable. tonight, rehema visits one family on the road to recovery >> reporter: ed and lindsey miles can finally walk through the second floor of what will soon be -- >> i'm really excited about this part >> reporter: their brand new home >> it is starting to feel like we are settling in, even though we're not living here yet. >> i'll second that. >> reporter: four bedrooms and two and a half baths to call
their own. after surviving the harrowing storm last august, unleashed 140-mile-an-hour winds across the midwest. the violence destroyed their house. ed won't soon forget >> the thing that sticks out in my mind, just being down, hunkering over the girls and waiting for the storm to end >> reporter: once it did end, a new nightmare. rebuilding with so much of the area in desperate need of rehab, insurance companies and building companies were overloaded for months their contractor finally able to demo and start construction this april. eight months after mother nature rimmed the old house apart the ongoing pandemic supply chain issues have made things all the more difficult >> now we find ourselves ordering certain materials before we even pour concrete or
dig a hole in the ground >> reporter: further exciting it, the soaring cost of building materials. >> this same house built last spring would have been $50,000 to $70,000 cheaper >> garage doors are 10 to 12 weeks out. >> reporter: if all goes according to plan, the family should be moving back in the fall >> we know that we're certainly fortunate to have the resources that we have no matter what, we know we'll be okay >> reporter: the couple's three daughters say they can't wait. for the news the pandemic is still causing massive shifts in the way businesses operate especially bars and restaurants, right? with more cities bringing back indoor mask requirements, a lot of americans are wondering, is outdoor dining here to stay? it turns out it is really complicated. outdoor dining shacks like these in new york city allow many restaurants to stay open when covid shut down the economy last year some local groups are now pushing back here's cnbc's kate rogers.
>> reporter: for match shuster, this has been a life line. his bistro is set to celebrate the outdoor dining structure taking up several parking spots on san francisco's busy market street has allowed him to make up for lost business when indoor capacity was restricted with wine tastings, to go drinks and more >> on some days, the park would allow us to have an extra 50% in business so especially, we're a 50-seat restaurant when we were at 50% capacity, that is 25 people. so being able to seat another 25, 30 people outside allows us a substantial amount of revenue to stay open >> reporter: as covid cases continue to climb around the country, and major cities like new york city, are now requiring proof of vaccination for indoor dining, restaurants are once
again looking to parklets to build business and stay afloat four states and more than a dozen major cities from portland to chicago and baltimorehave either extended or are pushing to extend outdoor dining programs including parklets. the group's research shows some 84% of diners said restaurants should be able to continue offering outdoor dining on a permanent basis. this spring, 90% of operators said they would continue on offer expanded outdoor seating if their jurisdiction allows it after the pandemic ends. but in some neighborhoods, there is been pushback against outdoor dining programs. on new york city's lower east side, the group is led by deyaenl who said she is pro business but the outdoor dining program in the city is not being properly regulated >> should we be giving our public land to the private sector one industry will have it on our street the landlords and the restaurant
industry, bars, clubs, whatever it is, will now control the road so i don't know if that's the right use for our street >> if more cities and restaurants do continue to require proof of vaccination for indoor dining, parklets like these do provide another sxopgs one that some diners may feel safer with eating outdoors, given cases continuing >> parklets, today's new word. thank you. collecting sneakers is a modern passion and a booming business, it turns out americans spend big money to get their hands on the latest air jordans and according to the research group, the sneaker resale market could potentially reach $30 billion by the end of the decade one of the companies cashing in on this trend is stockx. it has everything from high end collectibles and one of the challenges is separating the real from the fake at the company's headquarters in
detroit, frank holland >> they have an eye and a nose for their business >> you can decipher a lot whether a shoe is real or fake just by the smell. >> reporter: justin works at the detroit headquarters >> we don't know what we're getting until it gets to our station. so we have to be equipped for every brand. >> reporter: she said 99.5% of the time it garnl he's the you get the real deal when you shop for dead stock, jordans, easies and more they are sneakers that have never been worn no, longer made and with high demand, they originally called it self-stock market for sneakers. now has over 6 million buyers and 1 million sellers. >> the value proposition we offer is offer brand new products in original condition and these products are typically not available anywhere else. so it is a very different value proposition for the products we sell on our platform and that's differentiated from other market places that sell used goods or
in a consignment model >> reporter: it is forecast on grow to $30 billion. stockx has expanded birkenstocks are now big sellers, hand bags creating new opportunities and challenges >> with sneakers, it is a lot easier to see a defect a stitching flaw where with this, you have to know what you're looking for >> reporter: like many retailers, stock x saw growth during the pandemic. the question now is will consumers be willing to pay the high price for high end sneakers >> thanks. the government tried to find out the truth about ufo's and apparently came up empty knew a college professor giving at this time old college try himself. his project to find out what if anything is flying around. first, a criminal caught red handed after he attempted robbery and we have the video.
there's the perp she's a baby, too little to fly. employees blocked him after he tried to steal a stuffed toy fish see that it all went down at a candle store in port clinton, ohio about, an hour east toledo the shop owners say he's been hanging around the store for weeks. this is his third attempt to steal that stuffed toy fish. the store workers say they did get the toy back the sea gull dropped it off as he ran off
early last month the pentagon released the report on everything the government knows on ufos. turns out it was not much or still top secret a few days later the professor of science at harvard was provided with new research money and a question about aliens. enter the galileo project.
it will install small telescopes all around the globe to keep eyes on the skies. it filters out birds, drones, all of the flying objects we've described. the professor is here now. he's heading up the galileo project. what are you hoping to accomplish what are you hoping to get out of this? >> well, very simple thing, high resolution image of what is called unidentified ariel phenomenon they say a picture is worth 1,000 words. in my case it is worth 66,000 words, the number of words in my book "extra terrestrial. a month ago the pentagon released a report to congress where there are many objects are not identified whose nature is not known so we are here to help as scientists because that's our profession we're getting paid to figure out
what the objects on the sky mean. >> one of my bosses asked today, but don't we already have telescopes looking up there for ufos >> yes, we do, but when a bird flies above an astronomical telescope, they ignore it. we refocus on the bird if a drone flies by, we are looking for it anything that is made by foreign countries as far as i'm concerned is very boring we would be glad to give the data to anyone in washington we refocus on things that cannot be explained by human made technologies and can potentially be of extra terrestrial origin that will be exciting. it may be a mixed bag. even if one is extra terrestrial, it will change everything. >> you mention your paper from 2018 which suggests we might have already had a contact
>> right. >> what's your sense of things and why is it important for us to try to prove it beyond that >> right because science is guided by evidence and the evidence was incomplete and what we really need is indisputable evidence. basically high resolution image, megapixel image of an object that shows it's not natural in origin, it was manufactured by an advanced technological civilization far away from earth. that will demonstrate that we might not be the smartest kid on the block and, you know, it will change our perspective about our place in the universe, will change our religious, philosophical believes and will change our relationships with each other much of the history is trying to feel superior and that would make no sense if there is someone more advanced than all of us. >> avi loeb, hope you're right
if they can fly at high speed, they can keep us out of the loop the soccer superstar lionel messi landing in paris where he signed a reported two year, $82 million project with psg, paris sat. germaine. their new hero waived and there he is from the window. he bid an emotional farewell to barcelona. he told reporters that he wanted to stay but under the strict salary cap rules they couldn't afford to keep him messi is regarded as one of the greatest soccer players of all time the argentinian has scored more than 600 goals and won 36 titles for club and country. 60 seconds left on a race to the finish new york governor andrew cuomo says he's resigning and leaving office in 14 days.
it comes one week after the report from the attorney general's office after a report saying he sexually harassed 14 women. progressive house democrats won't support the new bill unless the senate passes a separate, much larger social spending package. several school districts in florida and texas defying orders from their republican governors and requiring students to wear masks as covid cases and hospitalizations spike and now you know the news of this tuesday, august 10th, 2021. i'm shepard smith. follow us on instagram and twitter on @thenewsoncnbc. >> tech: every customer has their own safelite story. this couple loves camping adventures and their suv is always there with them. so when their windshield got a chip, they wanted it fixed fast.
they drove to safelite autoglass for a guaranteed, same-day, in-shop repair. we repaired the chip before it could crack. and with their insurance, it was no cost to them. >> woman: really? >> tech: that's service you can trust, when you need it most. pop rock music >> singers: safelite repair, safelite replace.
welcome to allstate. where everything just seems to go your way. you're in good hands with allstate. click or call for a lower auto rate today. it is 5 a.m. at cnbc global headquarters and here is your top five at 5. covid versus infrastructure. investors caught in the push and pull with stocks sitting at all-time record highs. when it comes to delta, three major u.s. air lines this morning say they will not mandate covid-19 vaccines for their employees breaking with a wave of mandates to the contrary the end of a legacy. new york governor andrew cuomo says he will resign his post amid allegations of sexual
CNBC August 11, 2021 4:00am-5:00am EDT
"The News With Shepard Smith" is CNBC's nightly newscast providing deep, non-partisan coverage and perspective on the day's most important stories.
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For feature requests, please stick to the template and make one request per topic. If the request already exists, like and comment with your thoughts the existing topic, it will be enough for the devs to notice what users want.
If you still want to make a summary of things you’d like to see implemented, consider making a general discussion topic with your feedback.
Please tell me if I can close this or if you want it to be reformatted and moved to the general discussion category.
XxxBalCion September 27, 2022, 3:03pm #4
You can close the topic I will make single requests then
kerbless closed September 27, 2022, 3:04pm #5
Angelo September 27, 2022, 3:21pm #7
Thanks for your contributions @XxxBalCion Please let us know when you have created the new requests.
Also remember that all Nightly tags should only be added to bugs and features which are relevant to the Nightly releases, and should be posted in the Nightly Ops category (both Nightly bugs and features go in that single category).
For BR/FR related to stable releases, put them in the regular categories. It’s important for our Devs to quickly distinguish between the two.
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Amerijet International Airlines, a premier all-cargo carrier, offers these tips for guarding against disruptions.
Globalization has a dramatic impact on strategic sourcing and how the supply chain is managed. Generally, the more global a supply chain, the greater the likelihood of disruptions from labor strikes, cargo theft, natural disasters or political unrest. Schedule changes, in-transit delays, service disruptions and carrier bankruptcies are just a few other examples of sourcing, transportation and logistical issues.
Financial losses and decreased productivity, for example, can result when stock isn’t there to manage or sell. Your brand’s reputation is at stake when product is delayed, lost or sold out. Despite the risk of freight delays and product shortages, few organizations take the time to protect themselves against supply chain disruptions.
Amerijet International Airlines, a premier all-cargo carrier, offers these tips for guarding against disruptions:
Transportation planning. Few customer contracts allow you to deliver late without penalties so it’s important to have multiple plans in place. By establishing contingency plans, you can more easily find alternatives when delays happen.
If an airline or cargo operator cancels a flight or your cargo gets bumped, who will pick up the slack? Dedicated all-cargo carriers are a reliable alternative to other air freight providers. Amerijet offers direct, scheduled maindeck capacity on its B767 freighters between Miami International Airport (MIA) and 38 destinations in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America, and serves more than 475 global destinations through its interline partners.
When production lines are down or disaster strikes, air cargo charters help mitigate supply chain disruptions. Air charters are also a cost-effective alternative to move large amounts of high-value freight, bulky shipments, or oversized cargo. Amerijet is a long-time charter operator, arranging service on its own freighters as well as those of cargo operators worldwide. Examples include relief charters to replenish supplies following Puerto Rico’s devastating Hurricane Maria in 2017 to special charters for construction equipment and oversized freight around the world.
Find back-up truckload (TL) and less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers, if those are the types of carriers you use. Start establishing relationships in advance. A good transportation broker can help you source reliable alternate carriers. Within the U.S. and Canada, Amerijet offers TL and LTL and expedited ground service, as an extension of its air freight services.
Sourcing and inventory positioning. Sourcing issues and inventory imbalances can be some of the biggest fallout from supply chain disruptions to recover from. For these reasons, many manufacturers are sourcing closer to home and hiring firms within their world region. They are also moving away from lean or JIT (just-in-time) inventories. When planning for contingencies, weigh the cost of keeping extra inventory against lost sales, and factors such as contract requirements and customer expectations. Omnichannel and Amazon have greatly raised expectations and many U.S.-based distributors and retailers are adopting strategies to maintain inventory in multiple regions of the country as opposed to one or two facilities.
Your fulfillment provider or carrier may be able to help you position inventory, and provide value-added services to get your shipments ready for distribution.
Visibilityand security. Supply chain visibility aids logistics managers to better manage their freight. But nearly 77 percent of firms polled have no visibility or a restricted view of their supply chains, according to the Geodis 2017 Supply Chain Worldwide survey which polled over 600 industry professionals worldwide.
Fortunately, real-time shipment status updates and tracking capabilities are becoming standard today. Use electronic communication to identify potential disruptions and manage exceptions with your trading partners, transportation carriers, Customs officials and other authorities in the supply chain.
Tools to gain visibility also include GPS tracking for larger assets such as trucks, and high-value shipments. New types of Internet of Things (IoT)-based tracking devices are leveraging sensors placed on the asset or item. Think IoT devices on trucks, shipping cartons and pallets, on down to the individual product to give shipping managers granular, real-time status and shipment-condition information.
Amerijet makes it easy for logistics providers and shippers to connect electronically for greater visibility, including offering EDI bookings and e-AWBs (electronic airway bills). Customers can receive automated updates on the status of their shipments, proof of deliveries (PODs) and more when they set up a free MyCargo account at the Amerijet website.
Visibility and security go hand in hand. Unmarked vehicles, team drivers, split shipments and avoiding weekends are just a few of the tactics shippers and logistics providers can use to reduce the risk of cargo theft.
Advanced cargo monitoring procedures are standard today in many warehouses and facilities, and include closed-circuit camera systems and company-employed security guards. Amerijet is one such carrier providing worldclass security measures, including 24/7 monitoring and videotaping shipments from the time of entry into its gated facilities until departure. C-TPAT (Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism) certified, the carrier maintains the highest ethical and professional standards for cargo security.
As these tips illustrate, with careful planning and the right solutions, many supply chain disruptions can be avoided or mitigated. For more information about Amerijet, email sales@app-wpprod-prod-eastus2-001.azurewebsites.net, or call 305-506-2969.
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Seventy percent of Mexico’s population is situated around three cities: Guadalajara, Monterrey and Mexico City. Guadalajara is equidistant between the Pacific port of Mazatlan and Mexico City, while Monterrey is approximately a 10-hour drive from the nation’s capital. Amerijet operates biweekly flights between Mexico City and Miami, connecting cargo traveling within the United States, the […]
Why Air Cargo and Why Amerijet
Air cargo is the quickest and most efficient way to move freight around the world. While transit times of other modes of transports are measured in multiple days, weeks and months, air cargo can get goods to destinations in hours and minimal days. A spare part for machinery can be in Guyana from Miami within […]
“Amerijet,” begins Patricia Malebranche, “has always been unwavering in supporting Port-au-Prince. Always.” Patricia would know. As the Export and Customer Service Manager of our General Sales Agent (GSA) Mesdhasa, she has first-hand knowledge of our history on the island nation with a population of a little over 11 million. (For comparison, the entire Miami metropolitan […]
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American writer Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor was born on the 7 August 1942 to John Keillor and Grace Dunham in Anoka, Minnesota. He was one of six children born to the couple.
Education
Garrison Keillor obtained a BA in English from the University of Minnesota (1966). During his time at university, he worked on the student radio station, Radio K.
Garrison Keillor worked for a short time at the St Paul Pioneer Press as a journalist. In 1969, he joined Minnesota Education Radio, now known as Minnesota Public Radio.
He also began writing short humorous essays for The New Yorker.
Career
Garrison Keillor rose to prominence with a weekly two-hour radio variety show, A Prairie Home Companion, which debuted in 1974 in Minnesota. In 1987, Keillor had a dispute with Twin Cities media and left A Prairie Home Companion.
He then launched a similar show, The American Radio Company of the Air in New York in 1989. He moved the show to Minnesota in 1992 and resurrected the name to A Prairie Home Companion. In the early 1990s, he also started The Writer’s Almanac, a daily podcast and radio show focusing on literary history and poetry.
He retired from A Prairie Home Companion in 2016, handing over the hosting role to Chris Thile. At the height of his tenure, A Prairie Home Companion had a weekly audience of 4 million listeners and was broadcast across 600 radio stations in the United States. In addition to his radio work, Keillor is a writer and humorist.
Garrison Keillor has published eleven books including Lake Wobegon Days (1985) and three children’s books as well as numerous essays. His advice column for Salon under the title Mr. Blue ran from 1996 until 2001. He published Homegrown Democrat: A Few Plain Thoughts from the Heart of America in 2004. He wrote the screenplay for A Prairie Home Companion. He also appeared in the film.
His show A Prairie Home Companion won a Peabody Award in 1980. In 1988, a recorded version of his book Lake Wobegon Days won a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word or Non-musical album. He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1994. Then in 2005, The Library of Congress recognized A Prairie Home Companion as a radio show of historical value, and it was added to its audio archive.
Garrison Keillor's wife is musician Jenny Lind Nilsson, and they have a daughter.
Garrison Keillor had heart surgery in 2001, and in 2009, he had a minor stroke.
In 2018, Minnesota Public Radio fired Garrison Keillor when a co-worker accused him of inappropriate sexual behavior. Keillor claimed that the station had fired him without a full investigation and the station faced outrage from his fans. He claimed that he had been attempting to console the woman by patting her on her back.
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The teenage years are a volatile stage, full of psychological and emotional change, when young adults often become aware of significant challenges and are expected to make important decisions for the first time.
This intensive free on-site writing workshop is an opportunity for students in grades 9-12 to write about subjects and challenges such as sexuality, gender identity, peer and family relationships, bullying, mental illness, racism, etc.
During this multi-week workshop at Creative Nonfiction, participants will become part of a special cohort of young adults working together. You will be given the opportunity to share and reflect on the writing process; specifically, how writing about difficult topics gives the writer the opportunity to investigate their life and take ownership of their experiences. In addition to learning the basics of creative nonfiction, such as crafting scenes and characters, finding your audience, and revising your work, you’ll also receive training on how to prepare a portion of your work to be performed aloud at a final “graduation” event.
Workshops will be led by author Julie Albright, owner of The Writing Studio. She has 27 years of experience providing writing workshops, tutoring, and editing services for kids and adults.
Teaching assistant Bekezela Mguni holds a Masters of Library and Information Science from the University of Pittsburgh and directs the Black Unicorn Library and Archives Project. Her work celebrates memory, storytelling, and the relationship between literacy and liberation. A creative, queer Black Femme, she is also currently a member of BOOM Concepts Studios and serves as the Education Program Director for Dreams of Hope
What is creative nonfiction?
Simply put, creative nonfiction is true stories, well told—factually accurate, artful prose about real people and events. "Creative nonction can be an essay, a journal article, a research paper, a memoir, or a poem; it can be personal or not, or it can be all of these." — Lee Gutkind. Learn more about the genre here.
Who should apply?
Any resident of Allegheny County in grades 9–12 who has a story to share. You must also be prepared to travel to the Creative Nonfiction Foundation’s workshop space (5119 Coral Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15224) for weekly meetings. All applicants must be available to attend workshops in Pittsburgh on the following dates*.
The eight workshops will take place on Wednesdays, Oct 16, 23, 30, Nov 6, 13, 20 (not the 27th), and Dec 4, 11. The weekly workshops are tentatively scheduled to run from 6 PM until 8:30 PM each Wednesday. Dinner and snacks will be provided.
All accepted participants should expect to attend and participate in a “graduation” reading scheduled for the evening of Friday, Dec 13th, 2019.
Applications are due by September 29th, 2019. Submit your application here.
What is Creative Nonfiction?
Dive in with CNF Founder and Editor, Lee Gutkind
Current Issue
What is voice? How do you find yours? How can you change it, rearrange it, play with it? And then, how can you use it to make change in the world? This issue is a celebration of writerly playfulness, exploration, and risk-taking, featuring breathless, epistolary, speculative, second-person, and snarky essays.
April 11 - June 19
Since 2011, Creative Nonfiction's online classes have helped thousands of writers from all over the world tell their stories better.
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Years are like visiting relatives. The kind that come whether invited or not, stay longer than they should and often wear really bad hats. You gussy up and make a spectacle of their arrival but by visits’s end your foot is tapping madly at the opened front door. They titillate with promises of adventures to come, fruitions they’ll facilitate, wonderful gifts to bestow, but all too often they disappoint for no rhyme or reason. Since they’re here for the duration you buck up to make the best of it, but after 12 months they’ve hit the limits of their welcome. Yet, as they bustle out the door on December 31st with hearty farewells and not one look back, you can’t help feel a twinge of melancholy, a moment of regret for what might have been. A belated appreciation for what was. In retrospect, they were often quite lovely and now they’re gone, never, ever, to return (apparently they’re visiting relatives from another planet). You sigh deeply, throw back an hors d’oeuvres, then gussy up, pull out the champagne, and get ready to welcome the next arriving party.
2010 was a brutal year for me, resulting in some loss of whimsy, faith and optimism. In street vernacular, it sucked. Typically I’d not be so expansively damning of an entire year but this one…well, let me set the stage by bullet-pointing the major “Cons” that crammed into these past 12 months:
Year begins with husband in full-blown emotional/physical crisis related to MTBI (Mild Traumatic Brain Injury), compelling him to move out for the hope of healing and the sake of sanity. You can fill in any and all of the blanks related to the resultant miseries; his, mine and ours. He’s home now and doing much better, thank you, but the recovery continues. (Cowboy Strong, Poetry Sweet, Love in the Age of MTBI)
My now 81-year old mother’s dementia progresses significantly. A search for the best possible facility ensues and an excellent one is found in my town. Very good for her. For me it’s complex: she moves closer than she’s been since I was 18 and fled home to avoid our complicated relationship. My brother and I take her on. Maybe not a “Con” as such (how cold could I be?!), but certainly a conundrum. (The Mother of My Reinvention)
My amazing son graduates from high school (very good), gets into a fabulous college (great), and I am left to conduct my day-to-day life without him in it (very not good), which I discover is an unexpectedly emotional transition. (My Very Cool Roommate is Moving Out…)
The accident which caused my husband’s brain injury was expected to settle by the statute date. Didn’t. A lawsuit becomes necessary (unfathomable) with a trial now set…July of 2011. (WTF?). The plethora of treatment reimbursements were, hence, not forthcoming and you can now mull what that has done to the health and welfare of our former nest egg.
We were unexpectedly obligated to move during the month of our son’s college departure. Costly, inconvenient, really heavy sans teenage boy’s muscle. (But a Pro here also: we love the new house located in the secret that is Playa del Rey.)
And last, but profoundly and painfully not least, one of my dearest, sweetest, long-time friends dies unexpectedly on October 25th, breaking my heart and those of many others in my circle. (Lisa Blount…As Is and Still Loved)
You understand. A bad year, that 2010.
So on New Year’s Eve night I stood with the front door opened wide, foot tapping, as 2010 gathered its things, fussed about with last minute tidying and much too long a good-bye, and as it left at 11:59 on a cold, crisp Friday night, I welcomed 2011 with a giddy, slightly hysterical, hope for a much, MUCH better visit.
Since I enumerated the major Cons above, let me qualify that what follows is an eclectic list of trivia, cultural comment, and some gravitas for good measure. No particular order or category, Pros will be mixed with Cons; just a list of the good and bad, best, worst, and sorta that crossed my path during this tumultuous year.
Facebook: Before anyone starts screaming about how this phenom came about long before 2010, let me say, “I know, for God’s sake!” But Facebook nudged its way significantly into my life this year. Initially reluctant, having no need to list the endless minutia of my day for public consumption, I joined at the urging of my sister, Louise, and proceeded to discover a new way to connect. I now communicate more and know more about my many nieces, nephews and cousins than I ever have. I have lovely FB dialogue with old high school and college friends on a regular basis, something I did not have prior, and the ease of sharing images, songs, articles, blog pieces, and opinion is simply stellar. I’m a fan and believe that, like anything, it can be used for Good or for Evil; it is my experience that the people in my “friend” group use it delightfully for Good. (And the movie, Social Network, was smashing.)
Shenanigans: I love this word. I know Juno lent it cultural buzz long before this year but I’d like to use it in most sentences if I could and that urge only started in 2010. If my last name was Madigan I’d want to get a sitcom going called “Madigan’s Shenanigans.” It would be Irishy and really funny.
Boardwalk Empire: People are carping about how this show hasn’t lived up to its pedigree, what with the Martin Scorsese/HBO imprint, but any show that successfully posits a sartorially splendid Steven Buscemi as the lovable (if malevolent) lady-killer is all right by me. He’s brilliant, as is the show. Don’t listen to anyone else on this one.
Tea Party/Sarah Palin/Glenn Beck/Rush/All that Mess: I’m all for fiscal responsibility, I believe in self-sustenance, I don’t want the Government messing in my private life, and I’m sure there’s political corruption all over the place on both sides of the aisle. But I don’t need any of these folks “takin’ back America” for me because my America never left. Government has its own pros and cons but it’s not some monolithic thing we need to be protected from; it’s made up of people, people we elected into office, and it behooves us to find ways to maximize its potential without destroying its effectiveness. Frankly, if the American public was as capable of running the show without the aid of government (however flawed) as these people would have you believe, our kids would be skinnier, our banks would be more solvent, the city of Bell wouldn’t have happened, more people would be employed, idiotic house loans wouldn’t have been made, illegal immigrants wouldn’t be getting hired by wealthy CEOs, and health insurance would be efficient and affordable for all. And tell me, if the mantra is “don’t tread on me?,” why is it acceptable for the government to get all up in it when it comes our personal lives, say, same-sex marriage or abortion rights? Why, when separation of church and state is a founding principal, is the movement so aggressively hard-right Christian with the obvious spin that this is required to be elected? If we don’t need government shoving their foot in our doors, which is a major plank of the platform, why does it matter what religion you espouse or what spouse you love? You can’t have it both ways, y’all.
Government is what it is because our Founding Fathers wisely surmised that any viable country needs effective leaders, sensible regulation, ethical oversight, separation of church and state and, certainly, limited reign over our personal lives. So how about we try to make our (that’d be all of us) government better and stop with all the incendiary rhetoric? As for Miz Palin, their sparkly gun-totin’ lightening rod, I’m not going to take this moment to cover my thoughts on her. But let me say this: she can belittle Michelle Obama’s health initiative all she wants, claiming that parents don’t need government to suggest what their children should eat, but 30% of American children are obese and they got there on their parents’ watch; helpful suggestions from an admired First Lady should be applauded rather than mocked. But partisanship trumps wisdom, snark replaces thoughtful debate, and a party moves forward with the premiere Mean Girl as their star. As for Glenn and Rush…naw, I’m not gonna give ’em any word count. I’d rather end on: let’s pull together and create some positive change. We’ll always be different people; emphasizing our differences has done nothing to improve the situation. Let’s see if reasonable solidarity might be more effective, yes? Kumbaya.
Pinkberry: Around for years now, I know. But this year I realized, after weeks without, that this swirly goodness is the essential dessert for slightly health conscious dessert eaters. That’d be me. Coconut with almonds and berries. Thank you.
People who don’t respond to email/email in general: In my line of work, more business is done by email than phone. People can complain all they want about how “we’ve lost our ability to connect face to face” but email provides a paper trail (often necessary), allows everything to be said exactly as needed (really necessary), and allows the recipient time to formulate a cogent response (with some people not possible otherwise). It’s a good thing. And when I email asking if you can submit a design proposal, arrange to fix a website, get that bank wire in today, choose a time for the photo session or join us for dinner next week, answer my email. The “I was busy” excuse doesn’t hold when anyone can take two minutes at any time of the day or night to pop out a reply without fear of being caught for hours on a phone. If you can text while you’re driving, eating In & Out, and talking to your girlfriend in the passenger’s seat, you can return my email.
And on that same note, please write me in full, English language sentences. We’re grown people here. There’s no call for emoticons winking and bobbling all over the place. And enough with the “text speak” (i.e. “Wer U B in 2-daze?”); I should not require translation from a 12 year old to get to your point. Profound and flagrant abuse or neglect of any form of punctuation, or the utter lack of paragraphs, are both deal-breakers. I will not read an email that is either in all-caps (STOP YELLING AT ME!!), or, conversely, employs not a one. Remember that earlier comment about Good or Evil? Our many new methods of communication offer great convenience (Good), but without the gift of grammar, punctuation and adult thinking, Evil wins. All the above applies to texting, as well. <3…(really, I do.)
Multi-Tasking: I’m all for it when it’s efficient, possible and NOT RUDE. Frankly, I’m pretty good at it myself (ironing while chatting with a phone headset on and cookies baking is one of my best!). But when I’m sitting having a meal with you, talking to you on the phone, or attempting a Skype exchange, I don’t want to see that damn IPhone light up as you text during our dinner conversation, hear computer keys tapping as you rotely mumble a reply to my phone question while you’re chatting via Facebook with your work buddy, or wait far too long for a Skype response because you’ve got 4 chats going at the same time. Focus, people! Really, it’ll all get done but can it not all get done on my time?
My 2010 Farewell Un-Tour: After a lifetime of singing, songwriting and recording, I got to 2010 and decided to officially pull the plug on my music career. Since it had essentially died years earlier, this was purely ceremonial. I stashed the microphone up in the attic, pulled my MySpace music page down, and stopped referring to myself as a singer. The cold-shower hit of this was shocking, but reality reigned and writer/photographer became my default “so what do you do?” response. I took the whole year to let it all sink in. But because enough people have asked, particularly those who only knew me as a singer and were not aware of this change of focus, let me offer an ever-so-brief explanation:
It’s hard enough to keep a band going when you’re young, cute and commercially viable; it’s a whole other thing when you’ve crept past that point, lost the backers years ago and your best shot at a guitar player is that old guy from Redondo who plays Beatles tunes and insists on doing your chart before he commits to the band. ‘Nuff said? My last band gig was a bona fide disaster (not enough rehearsal for not good enough players), my search for new musicians too often resembled those hilarious audition montages in most rock & roll movies, and without the carrot of a record deal or a paid tour (neither of which I could provide), it appears I wore out my own welcome. Since I never learned to play an instrument (a true regret) and was spoiled by my amazing good fortune of having played with some of the absolute best musicians in the world throughout my career, no matter how hard I tried to plunk out a tune on guitar to at least sing a bit, I came to the conclusion that I would never perform with someone who played as badly as me. When the last of the far-too-many auditioning guitarists showed up saying he loved my music, thought I was a great singer but didn’t want to play actual songs (“I just wanna jam, y’know?”), I wearily threw in the towel.
My remaining time here on this earth is too precious to waste working with a geezer who’ll be astro-charting every player I find or a weekend warrior who wants to jam to cover tunes. I don’t share the notion that rock & roll is only for the young but being older at the game certainly does limit the playing field…literally. The remnants remain, however: my record (written, arranged and produced with the truly gifted Rick M. Hirsch and something I remain deeply proud of) is still on ITunes (ITunes:somewhere on the way) and CDBaby (Somewhere On the Way)…please check if you’re interested, and my history as a singer/songwriter can still be found on my website (LDW Music Page). But it’s all history, nothing current. And though I held the final funeral this past year, mourned, and moved on, of late I find myself thinking about it again. Singing along to music more often. I plug in my headphones on long walks, listen loud and rowdy, and get energized visualizing myself up on stage again. I play Devil’s Advocate and wonder if I could be happy doing an acoustic gig or an easy band gig just for the fun of it, no ambition, not necessarily my tunes. If I could find the right players. If it could be the right balance of pain and pleasure. If it made sense. And lately I’ve decided it merits some exploration. So we’ll see what I can stir up in ’11. Have no ideas yet, it might be folly, but I’m open to suggestions…
Best Comedy/Modern Family: No matter how commonplace it is now to love this show (the type of hype that usually engenders a reverse psychology kind of hate response from me), I love this show. There are other hugely popular shows like “Two and a Half Men” that elude me entirely (Charlie Sheen…really???) but this hugely popular show deserves the hype because it not only promotes a positive message, it does so in a consistently hilarious way. I want Cameron and Gloria over for lunch. I’ll have Pinkberry.
Best Drama/Men of a Certain Age: This show rings so heartfelt and so true that sometimes I cannot believe it’s TV. Ray Romano has hit a indisputable hole-in-one (golf vernacular particular to the man and the show!) and I applaud him for moving from sit-comedy to something so authentically real. TNT, Monday at 10, with Scott Bakula, Andre Braugher, Lisa Gay Hamilton, all of whom are spectacular.
TMZ: This thing I hate. Harvey Levin has surely secured a place in whatever passes itself off as Hell these days for creating this hateful, petty, really LOW form of human discourse. Chasing after celebrities and snapping candids of young actresses butts so you can circle them in red and write “CELLULITE” in big letters deserves whatever form of punishment is reserved for the Devil’s spawn.
The Pros and Cons of Neighbors – Verbiage borrowed for today’s blog, this is the name of the novel I completed this year (title courtesy of my son, Dillon, who came up with it). The first draft was done in ‘09 but tweaked into final form this year so it makes the list. I’d always wanted to write a novel but after a lifetime of songwriting and more of screenplays, I ultimately never felt I had a story rich enough to merit the medium. Until this one. It’s about a young woman who, on the night of his funeral, finds her father’s journals with their depiction of her as a failure, a discovery that devastates her and incites a journey of tumultuous reinvention. It was an idea piqued by a family story but developed into a fictional rendering that allowed me to create a cast of characters and a story arc that was fully imagined. Writing it was one of the most profound and satisfying creative experiences I’ve ever had, the responses from private readers and freelance editors has been amazing, and I’m hopeful someday it will be available for reading! If you’d like to hear an interview I did about the book with Family Therapist Nancy Locke Capers, you can click her name here and scroll down to the bottom of the page. Of course, now that the book’s done the fun’s over and I’m left to figure out what the hell to do with it. I know, self-publishing, e-books, Kindle, yes. But as a long-held personal goal, I’m starting with the traditional route, attempting to snag a literary agent who’ll hopefully snag a publisher. Horrible time in the industry to attempt this daring feat but it’s a new year and I’m determined to recapture some of my former boldness. If you hear me blathering at a later date about my newly published e-book, you’ll know where that journey led…stay tuned.
Creepy reality shows: I used to watch “American Idol” so I can’t trash the entire genre. But that premise at least required talent, offered creative entertainment, and resulted in pop stars who generally make great records (Carrie Underwood, Daughtry, Kelly Clark). What the hell does Snooki or any one of the various, vapid Housewives have to offer?? It was bad enough that Jerry Springer unleashed American Trash into our living rooms on a nightly basis but he was one of few at the time and we had much else to choose from. Now the relentless TV schedule is just chock full of degraded, embarrassing, truly pathetic shows that depict people of every race, creed and color making stomach-churning idiots of themselves. Where is the pride, I ask? Apparently there is none. Getting on TV and being on a reality show trumps dignity, discretion, privacy, and integrity. And the public is lapping it up. Stop it, seriously! If we don’t it’s like the terrorists win.
Open Sesame – I’m no Irene Virbila (which apparently is a good thing when it comes to getting seated in new restaurants!) and I don’t know if Open Sesame is part of a chain or not, but this little restaurant in the Manhattan Village in Manhattan Beach, CA consistently serves some of the best Lebanese food I’ve ever had. Seriously. It’s economical, undemanding and isn’t baba ganosh just one of the most amazing tastes in the world? SO good.
Grace – My lovely stepdaughter, Jennie, gave birth to her first child in December of ’09, late enough in that year to make Grace’s first year a significant part of ’10. Raising my son was the singlemost profound and amazing experience of my life and to be able to be part of this child’s world in my role as “Grandma Rain” (yes, the g-word being attached to me is a startling concept!) is awe-inspiring. She is a glorious human being who loves my necklaces and dances when I sing the Bee Gee’s “You Should Be Dancin’” so I think we’ve made a phenomenal start.
Temple Grandin – Due to the aforementioned Cons of earlier, I haven’t gotten out to as many movies as I’d’ve liked so the list is a bit feeble. However, this HBO drama took the prize as far as an emotionally rich, beautifully told story brilliantly acted by everyone involved, most notably Claire Danes. Her performance in the title role is stunning and her interpretation of this complex and accomplished woman made me want to rush out and explore feedlots. Find it on HBO’s On Demand.
Speaking of Movies…my favorites this year: Inception (most clever, inventive script…maybe ever) and the aforementioned Social Network. Honorable Mentions are The King’s Speech and Secretariat (oddly good). Looking forward to: The Fighter, Black Swan, Love and Other Drugs and True Grit (God, I don’t get out enough!).
Snark – I cannot tell you how truly weary I am of this social phenomenon. I don’t mean the kind of snark that pokes fun with a sly wink and a bit of a dig but is ultimately hilarious (think Joel McHale or Jon Stewart), I’m talking about the endless bitchiness that purports to be humor but is really just passive aggressive Mean Girl/Bully Guy babble (think Chelsea Handler or Perez Hilton). It’s crept into too much of the cultural discourse, which has given franchise to the anonymous idiots who post sub-Neanderthal comments below every article on the Internet. Let’s raise the bar, people, PLEASE. Stewart, McHale (and even Spade) have the corner on this market, so shut up and find another way to be funny. Or perhaps sincere and authentic. Maybe even intelligent. That would be refreshing.
Photography – I’ve been taking pictures all my life but this year I was able to take my shooting, processing, and design skills to a new level, much of it courtesy of my job with legendary brandmaker/photographer, Mike Salisbury. The photo above, shot by Tomasz Rossa for Franco Dragone (Cirque de Soleil creator) for the marketing campaign of his new water show extravaganza in Macau (The House of Dancing Waters), was one I worked on with Mike for a teaser billboard…amazing campaign and great fun to be part of it. But it’s the taking of pictures and seeing them come to life onscreen and in print where I find the magic. There is just something so exhilarating about visually framing a moment in time. If you’re interested (and until I get that damn photo website up), you can go to the LA Times “SoCal Moments” feature page (or its gallery at “SoCal Moments“) and scroll through; 20+ of my favorite LA shots are posted.
Friends – When you have a year like my 2010, you are never more aware of the value and life-saving necessity of good friends…and that includes friends who are family members. This past year, like no other, has made piercingly clear to me how precious and perfect so many of the people in my life are; in their ability to show compassion and empathy, to be there in ways both physical and emotional, to offer their time, their solace, their support and their shoulders. I am very lucky – blessed – to have such dear, resilient, extraordinarily dependable friends upon whom I rely. They got me through 2010 and I will never, ever forget.
This Blog – I really have no idea how many people are reading this thing. It could be the few that take the time to comment meaningfully, the many who comment generically (most likely for the purpose of leaving their link), or it could be significantly more…I don’t know – if I were more savvy about Google Analytics I’m sure I could find out (and maybe I’ll get crackin’ on that in 2011)! I’m often surprised when someone who’s never said a word to me about it suddenly comes into view and remarks, “I read your blog all the time and I love it!” I’m thrilled to hear this, as one always hopes what they’re putting out into the world is finding an audience and just maybe having some impact. I’ve spent a career trying to achieve that goal to greater and lesser degrees of success, a goal that sustains with this endeavor. And I’m now learning that there are all sorts of rules and expectations about how a blog should be conducted (someone told me yesterday that you’re supposed to post something new every day…gasp!). There are methods of marketing, search engine optimization, pings and trackbacks to consider and so on (I got tired just writing that), and I am less than clear about how many of these mandates I’m following. What I do know is this: I have found this forum to be a profound and deeply important outlet for me, a place where I can express myself, tell my stories, talk about the people and things I chose, and have a really good time. Writing is salvation for me and if it offers some entertainment, piques a response, gets you to a gig, brings an empathetic tear, or makes you laugh, I am so pleased. Thank you for reading. Thank you for your comments. I hope you’ll continue. I will.
As for 2011: I thought about my departed friend, Lisa Blount, who, despite intractable pain and her daily struggle to deal with it, managed, in the last year of her life, to triumph. She said to several people in the months before she died that it was time for her to once again “Say yes to life” and so she did. She was inducted into the Arkansas Hall of Fame, landed a leading role in a new series and was invited to Nashville to record that CD she always wanted to get done. That her re-emergence was cut short is personally devastating but that’s not the story; her push against her physical pain and her enthusiasm to re-embrace life despite it…that’s the inspiration. And so in honor of Lisa, I, too, will once again say “yes” to life. I’ll hold on to my hat, shake off the remnants of the departed year and invite 2011 in with authentic optimism. I’m sure it won’t be a perfect guest, but may it delight us all by being thoughtful and easy, filled with generosity and cooperation, maybe even leaving the winning lottery ticket on the bed stand on its way out next December…a girl can dream!
Visit www.lorrainedevonwilke.com for details and links to LDW’s books, music, photography, and articles.
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35 thoughts on “The Pros and Cons of 2010”
Got depressed all over again reading your blog. Not really, but we can and will do better in 2011. Thanks for the proper send-off for last year and the opening bell for this year! Love you, PETE
January 5, 2011 at 12:50 am
I remain ever-hopeful, resilient in spirit and ready to accept some good stuff this year! You, of course, remain at the center of my world and my deepest wish is your full recovery…as well as ours. Know I’ll always love you right back. LDW
January 5, 2011 at 3:54 am
The only blog worth reading, as far as I’m concerned, is this one. Beautifully written, brazenly honest, humorous, insightful, and ultimately incredibly life-affirming. Hooray for LDW, who I’m proud to call my dear, dearer, dearest friend. I’m saying “YES” to life in 2011, too, secure in the knowledge I’ll spend some time reading LDW and spend some time seeing LDW, too
January 5, 2011 at 12:57 am
Thank you, Susan, my dear friend. You never fail to touch me with your support. I’m hopeful that both our “saying Yes” will bring about the joy and fulfillment we always seek in our work, play and families. That’s the goal, isn’t it? Ringing in the New Year with you and Jerry was spectacular and I look forward to sharing time as the new year unfolds. Thank you for always being in my corner. love, LDW
January 5, 2011 at 3:52 am
Lorraine: I completely enjoyed and related to your contribution to my life this week! I was so thrilled three years ago when I found this amazing segment of my family that I never knew existed. A simple phone call and detailed internet search opened up relationships that crossed in so many ways but never connected. Thank you for your beautiful words that reach into the depths of my existence and have touched me deeply. You have a gift of expression that has given me great insight into a family that I wish I could have been a part of much earlier in life. Thank you, Lorraine!
One of your cousins from the Derebey side
January 5, 2011 at 1:37 am
Delightful to hear from you, Steve! Certain sibs have expressed how nice it’s been connecting to you and getting to know your side of the family…hopefully I’ll be able to join them in that pursuit one of these days. Thank you so much for your lovely comments about the blog. It is deeply meaningful to me to hear them. I appreciate you as a reader and certainly as a long-lost family member…I look forward to meeting. Take care, LDW
January 5, 2011 at 3:50 am
Thanks for sharing so heartfully.
January 5, 2011 at 2:19 am
Happy New Year to you too!
January 5, 2011 at 5:51 am
Good job! what a great post! Thank you very much.
January 5, 2011 at 8:11 am
bg zapoznanstva
great thanks for this
January 5, 2011 at 1:07 pm
Heya – I has got to express, impressed with your site. I had no trouble navigating through all the tabs and info was really relatively easy to access. I found what I was interested in without delay after all. Along with neat graphics. Would appreciate it in the event you add community forums as well, but I guess the comments are the way for your clients to communicate. Useful job.
January 5, 2011 at 2:06 pm
Great Read Lorraine. Looking forward to a better 2011 as well your inspiration is contagious.
January 5, 2011 at 4:35 pm
January 5, 2011 at 7:33 pm
The first paragraph is quotable and the accompanying photo is cheeky. Since we talk about this stuff all the time, you know that I agree with most of your likes and dislikes. By the way, I never type emails to anyone else, while we are on the phone. I have been known to rearrange furniture though.
It was our “Annus Horrilibus.” I want to thank Queen Elizabeth for using this Latin phrase, in yher speech in 1992, describing her own bummer year. I loved the image of you, Lorraine, standing at the door waiting for the old year to gather its things, and then ushering it out the door. I would have kicked it in the ass on the way out.
I miss the band years. You and the other band members were extraordinary. It was a party, every time you played; a perfect venue for all of our friends to get together, enjoy great music, wear big rock and roll hair, and dance the night away. You are one of the most talented people I known. I wrote a free write exercise in my writing class today. The teacher told us to choose three writers to have for a post holiday dinner and write a story in ten minutes. I chose: Dorothy Parker, Fran Lebowitz and Lorraine Devon Wilke, because I wanted to start 2011, with great conversation and lots of laughter. You deserve to win the lottery. Great blog entry. I raise my blue plastic tumbler of Coke and wish you…us, a better year. It would make Lisa happy.
January 6, 2011 at 3:40 am
Aw, Tina, I love your comments. I look forward to them like that ice cream truck that used to come down our street after school; the bell ringing, the odd calliope music tinkling, the promise of a sweet treat, that weird old guy…that’s your comments.
Yes, Annus Horri…whatever, it was all that and then some. It is now over. We must believe 2011 will be kinder. I’m counting on it and I made sure the guest room was properly attired for its comfortable stay. As for the band years….I miss those too. Why isn’t it easier to just find an older band who is as good as those younger bands?? Why, dammit?
That you would put me in the honored coven with Fran and Dorothy is a true compliment. It makes me want to smoke, drink and say harsh but witty things. And since I currently have your pink tumbler, which I love so much I’m considering not returning it, I raise my sparkling cranberry juice to you in return and wish us both better years. I can see Lisa smile at the thought…
January 6, 2011 at 8:51 am
Lorraine, your first paragraph was lyrical. Loved it. Would love to read your book. Keep us posted.
Don’t let anyone tell you to follow any rules of blogging. I think the wonder of blogging is to do whatever the hell you want…just let your words take you there. They take us.
January 6, 2011 at 4:37 am
Thank you, Jennifer. Give your own skill with words I deeply appreciate your kinds ones! And I will take your advice and not listen too literally to anyone…at least not to the the point where I’m stymied! I look forward to sinking my teeth into your blog (http://motherscribe.blogspot.com) next week when I’ll be out of town and able to disconnect enough to get caught up with desired reading. From just my first glimpse, I know I’m going to enjoy the read! See you soon and thanks again, Jennifer!
January 6, 2011 at 8:45 am
My goodness, woman, you do inspire! What a gift — the fantastic gift of gab, intellectual gab the kind of which we rarely see anymore. Steve Lopez reaches there sometimes, but you really nail it down and it makes me constantly say, “I wish I’d said that so well.” I hope you find some shenanigans to get involved with in 2011. Well all need to. We need to stop the Ms. Palin kind and punch out pomposity and, well, like you do, inspire!
January 10, 2011 at 8:54 pm
Michael – I love that you read; that you stop by to comment is even more appreciated! Thank you, my friend, for your kind words. There are so many writers, songwriters, filmmakers, etc., who have deeply inspired me over the years so I am delighted that you find inspiration in my musings! I think inspiration is in short supply these days and I find myself almost driven by the desire to raise the level of discourse. I realize my reach is limited, but I’m damn well going to do what I can to make the most of what reach I do have!
Shenanigans in 2011 are welcomed and wished upon you as well. Let’s keep doing our bits here and there to brighten the road. They may just add up. Much love, LDW
January 11, 2011 at 4:47 am
Myra McWethy
January 10, 2011 at 11:20 pm
Thank you, Myra (you Hoarder!)…love ya right back! LDW
January 11, 2011 at 4:39 am
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January 12, 2011 at 7:07 am
I always tell my seminar audience that not all titles written on the internet are original but this post is an exceptional to my rule.
January 13, 2011 at 12:43 pm
You certainly deserve a new round of applause for your write-up and more specifically, your blog on the whole. Very high quality material. And Happy New Year to you too!
January 17, 2011 at 12:56 pm
I want to to thank you for this brilliant read!! I absolutely enjoyed each and every part of it and i have you book marked to check out latest material you publish.
January 19, 2011 at 5:32 pm
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February 3, 2011 at 7:46 pm
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February 4, 2011 at 5:39 am
Odette: Thanks so much for your enthusiasm about the site…really appreciate it! You can contact me via my website….just go to http://www.lorrainedevonwilke.com/ and you can get in touch with me from there. Stop by again! LDW
February 19, 2011 at 6:56 pm
I love the way you sound so passionate about what you are writing. Keep up the great work!
February 8, 2011 at 10:26 am
February 19, 2011 at 6:45 pm
You make a lot of good points on this blog. Keep up the great work.
February 9, 2011 at 12:04 pm
very pleasure to visit this site. nice post. thanks for sharing.
February 12, 2011 at 8:13 am
Thanks, Keesler, I appreciate the comment. LDW
February 12, 2011 at 5:39 pm
OK… It took me awhile to get around to this blog (you know me, email, and the internet) but I found it exhilarating and wonderful… a whirlwind trip through your psyche and a recommitment to mine…
March 18, 2011 at 3:59 am
Thank you, Steve. It doesn’t matter when you find the time, it’s just lovely to have you read and make comment, whenever it happens! Your support is gold. LDW
March 18, 2011 at 5:29 am
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About Rock+Paper+Music:
Like the game from which it playfully borrows its title, Rock+Paper+Music focuses on whatever topic wins the throw-down on a given day, be it art, books, music, politics, cultural events, or social commentary. In other words, LIFE… in all caps!
I hope you’ll enjoy my particular slant on things, whether sharing the latest on my books, music, acting, and photography, spouting sass about crazy politicians or applause-worthy opinion leaders; reblogging great posts by writers I enjoy, or simply discussing whatever’s happening in the world around us.
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Welcome to the Dueta Dance Journal! I decided to write a recap of all of the fun we had at All Star Dance Camp 2022, featuring a sample of photos from the lovely Linda Hong! If you want to see more of her photos, or book her for an event near you, go to LindaHongPhotography.com!
Sunday Night was full of excitement as we greeted old friends, met new ones, and more! That evening, Spenser performed a dynamic pirate routine with our student, Callie, during the welcome party. Callie was the first scholarship recipient of the Ron Montez Youth Scholarship Foundation, founded in 2021.
Callie and Spenser's routine was a fusion of waltz and tango, with color guard saber tossing and saber fencing choreographed into it. Inspired by Callie's color guard skills and Spenser's fencing experience, the story behind it was that Spenser, an experienced pirate, is training Callie to be a sword master. However, she is a bit of a sassy student with a lot of confidence (maybe too much confidence). So, she decides to challenge him. Spenser decides to roll with it to see what she can do, and an epic sparring match ensues!
After the main dance party, Spenser and I hosted a Youth/Young Adult afterparty where we taught my new line dance to the song Don't Freak by The Aces. Here are some photos that Linda took during the performance at the main party.
The next night, I performed a high energy Samba/Quickstep routine with our student Trevor. Trevor and I have been performing this routine since Dancing with the King 2021. In that competition, Trevor won 2nd place and Judges Choice for an encore performance. We later competed at Christmas in Dixie, winning second place again. The following year, we performed the routine again at the Dueta Dance Student Showcase, and once more at All Star Dance Camp. This routine was a comedy about a hot-headed housewife trying to get her tired husband to dance with her after he gets home from a long day at work. We imagined the characters as a southern couple from the 1950's and named them Mildred Pomegranate and Wilford Eugene Pomegranate III (It started as a joke, but the names stuck after a while). Mildred feels insulted when Wilford brushes her off, then they start to argue while doing the Charleston. Wilford angrily tosses his hat across the floor and reluctantly caves in. Mildred turns to the audience and winks when he's not looking, showing that she was faking her emotional breakdown to get what she wanted. Eventually, Wilford uses up the last of his energy, and melts back into his chair at the end of the song. Mildred walks away satisfied that she won the argument and got her chance to dance.
The theme for the dance party that night was "Make Your Own Magic", which is pretty open ended. I decided to dress up as my own version of the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland. Spenser decided to go more casual and wore a shirt with a dragon on it. One of our students, Jerica, also happened to dress up as her own version of the Queen of Hearts. So, for the costume contest, we walked together. We didn't place, and I ended up looking more like the Mad Hatter when I stood next to her. However, we had a great time being a couple of queens together. Before the party ended, we all got to perform the Don't Freak line dance in our magical costumes.
Tuesday night was a formal night, and we had another performance with one of our students. This time, Spenser was performing with our student, Evie. Evie choreographed an emotional Waltz routine for our 2022 Student Showcase. The routine was performed to a Christian song, I'm Not Alone by Riley Clemmens, about overcoming shame, rejection, and allowing yourself to accept help and unconditional love from Jesus. After she performed her routine at the Student Showcase, we encouraged her to perform it again at dance camp. She had a little help from Spenser and me while choreographing the routine. However, the concept, song choice, and majority of the choreography was hers.
Evie won a private lesson with Robbie Greenwood through a fundraising competition earlier in the year. So, for her lesson, she asked Robbie to look over her routine in preparation for her performance. Robbie said he enjoyed working with her on her routine, and Evie had a blast learning from Robbie. During their practice, Evie had her hair down, and it swung around her like a cape during her turns and transitions. Normally she wore her hair up during her performances, but I encouraged her to wear it down this time and use it to emphasize her movements. She agreed, but only if I would style it for her. So, with long hair ready to flare, and Robbie's tips on how to dynamically convey emotions, Evie did a great job performing her routine later that night!
Wednesday night was the night before the group showcases and professional routines. However, we still had one pro-am routine left to round out the week. This silly yet action-packed West Coast Swing routine was choreographed for our student, Jerica, to perform at the 2022 Dueta Dance Student Showcase. We were originally going to perform a lyrical Viennese Waltz routine for the showcase. However, Spenser injured his shoulder during one of their practices. So, rather than trying to water down the original choreography, I choreographed a new lighthearted comedy routine for them that would be easier on his shoulder.
This routine was about two criminals celebrating a successful heist. However, they get too caught up in their literal victory dance, and realize they are running out of time to escape. So, towards the end of the routine, they have to clamber around, grab their goods, and book it off stage. Spenser's injury turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because we all loved the new routine! We were happy we got to perform it again at dance camp, too! Spenser's shoulder is doing much better now. So, if all goes well, we will still get to perform the original Viennese Waltz routine in 2023.
Thursday night was the final night at dance camp. We had group routine performances taught by the teachers at camp, a group routine for the pros choreographed by Jenell Moranto, then a series of professional routines for the rest of the night. The first set of photos you will see are from the group bolero routine that Jenell choreographed for the professional staff. Then, Spenser and I performed our own bolero routine that told a story of a romantic couple in strife.
For our solo bolero routine, Spenser and I are playing two characters who are frustrated and struggling to find the synchronicity they once had in their relationship. They are also grieving for each other through the process. Finally, they stop pushing and pulling against each other, and take a moment to feel what the other partner is going through. At the end, they take each other by the hand, embrace each other as they are, and decide to start anew rather than fighting to find what they had before. (Spenser and I are doing fine, by the way, it's just acting!) Here are some pictures that Linda took from that night:
In Summary
Overall, we had a great time at dance camp, and we are all looking forward to coming back next year! If you want to see more of Linda's photography, there are two ways you can do that. You can go to her main website: www.lindahongphotography.com
Or, if you just want to see dance camp photos, click the button below. You can also show your support by following 'Linda Hong Photography' on Instagram or Facebook!
All Star Dance Camp photos will be available until September 30th, 2022.
Thanks so much for reading All Star Recap 2022! This "Dueta Dance Journal" concept is just an experiment for now. However, if you would like to see more event recaps like this in the future, please let me know in the comments down below! If you want to know more about how you can go to All Star Dance Camp, email me at MiahKDance@gmail.com!
Thanks, again,
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I can only speak for myself, but one of the top reasons I have a love of blogging is because of the reading. There are writers in my online world that inspire me, motivate me, make me laugh, touch my heart, and more than anything, make me feel fortunate that I just read their words.
I'm borrowing from Melisa Wells of Suburban Scrawl for my NaBloPoMo Day 10: Copycatting her blog roundup. It's a perfect NaBloPoMo post because more than anything, NaBlo'ing is about momentum and community: write, read, share.
If you've seen something this week while visiting NaBlo'ing blogs, leave it in the comments, please. We bloggers love a good read.
Here's my picks from this week:
--Mandyfish with a tale of one of the world's worst bosses. "So, You Want to Work in Advertising." I wanted more! (let me be clear, not more suffering for Mandy, just more story) I love everything Mandy posts.
--Tina of The Gallivanting Monkey. "Anna Stesia, " a post with writing that doesn't let you breathe. Tina will be a regular for you after you discover her.
--From Rita Arens of Surrender, Dorothy, "The Run." A meditation on doing something when you just don't know how you'll put one foot in front of the other. The reasons for it, spelled out beautifully by her.
--A blogger you need to know, Arnebya. Her post "Not the Records," will have you cry-laughing. Is Arnebya always this funny? No, sometimes she is perfectly smart.
--Tracy of Sellabitmum. Tracy is a blogger I share a lot, she is funny, honest, down to earth, and interesting. Her post, "The Republican Next Door" is good for a chuckle, but you'll find heavy on real life posts from her, too. She's a great follow.
This post is part of National Blog Posting Month, NaBloPoMo. Click to learn more about it and to participate on your own blog. If you've written a NaBloPoMo post, please share it in the comments.
And don't worry if you don't post every day: NaBloPoMo is about spilling the words and building community! So write! So visit some new blogs!
By Royal Decree of Alexandra at 5:36 PM
9 comments:
Denise Monday, November 10, 2014
ReplyDelete
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Amanda Monday, November 10, 2014
Yes, yes, yes. Thank you.
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angela Monday, November 10, 2014
Thanks! One of my favorite parts about this little NaBloPoMo experiment is that I am reading more than I have been the last few months.
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Unknown Monday, November 10, 2014
I love you. Thank you for including me. Mandy is new to me and Tina I adore because she makes me almost pee from laughing. Tracy his hilarious amid the snow, and Rita will make you feel (and they both make me happy, so there's that).
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Andrea Monday, November 10, 2014
I need to go read some of the others, but I need to go to bed first. ;) Tomorrow! I'll catch up tomorrow.
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Robbie K Monday, November 10, 2014
I love that my favorite bloggers are posting every single day and I love finding new blogs to love.
ReplyDelete
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Alexandra Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Denise: I really need to do this once a week even after nablo.
Amanda: the community being revived is nice, isn't it?
Arnebya: that post, I heard it in your voice and I cracked up.
Angela: I like the back to life at the nablo blogs!
Andrea: I still have to come visit you!!
Robbie: That's my favorite thing, too.
ReplyDelete
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Alison Wednesday, November 12, 2014
I love doing a round up, so I'm doing weekly ones for NaBloPoMo. Arnebya's was so good! Off to check out the others.
ReplyDelete
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Alexandra Thursday, November 13, 2014
Thanks, Alison. I think I'm going to keep doing it. I do a big ICYMI on Sundays, but those are websites. Going to do other bloggers now.
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“Learn to see the big picture. Often times we get tunnel vision and lose sight of the big picture and what we’re really trying to accomplish.”
It’s mid-September and it’s precisely this time of year, as we near the end of quarter 3 and the start of 4, that I like to check in with my life and business to see if I’m on track to have the year I set out to have and more importantly to make sure that I am living the life, I want to live.
There are a few reasons I like to do this now. Firstly, the back-to-school vibe that’s in the air gives me renewed energy and excitement for the season ahead and also let’s be honest, trying to do our reviewing and planning in December (along with the holidays and all the stress that can bring) is sort of bonkers.
Instead, starting in September, I like to take my time and spend an hour, here and there, looking at the big picture of my life and business with plenty of time before holiday season hits. That way, when the year ends, writing up my goals and business plan for the year ahead is a pretty quick and simple task.
As I do this work, I thought it might be helpful to share with you what I’ve been up to.
Reviewing my offerings
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been mapping out some new products and services for 2020. I’m super excited about this because this year, I intentionally didn’t create anything new because I wanted to go deep on what I already had, in order to simplify my life and business.
To make space for these, I will also be retiring some of my existing products and services, which is equally exciting but also a little nerve-wracking as I know that as a result of this I may lose some current customers along the way.
What has informed my thinking here is looking at my business model to figure out what makes most sense from a sustainability point of view. That means looking at my offerings from the point of view of how much time and effort they take versus the income they bring. If the former greatly exceeds the latter, I know that it’s time to make a change.
Getting up to date with my finances
I’m not someone who is on top of my finances on a daily, weekly or even monthly basis. But I am someone who believes that spending and income must be tracked and reviewed if we are to see those finances grow over time. Like anything, our finances thrive when we give them our loving attention and whither when we bury our head in the sand and pretend like they don’t exist.
So every few months or so (at least quarterly) I sit down with my calculator (iPhone) open up my Paypal, Bank Account, Credit Card Account, Stripe Account and my online accounting software, Freshbooks (affiliate link) and I do the work to figure how much I’ve made and how much I’ve spent. This helps me to set future financial goals that are rooted in reality rather than setting pie in the sky targets that I inevitably never reach.
I’ve also been doing the math to figure out what I want to make next year and how many of each of my products and services I would need to sell to make that happen.
Planning my maternity leave
Because I’ll be giving birth to my second son in December, I’ve also been considering when I’ll stop working this year, what my priorities are for the next few months before that happens, how I’ll cover my maternity leave without dropping my clients and my audience and when I’ll start back to work in the New Year.
Having gone through this before in 2016/17, I do feel somewhat prepared although with different circumstances this time around (my partner doesn’t currently work from home, like he did with our first born), I do have to figure out how to manage both motherhood and the running of my business next year. Once this plan is complete you’ll be the first to know, I promise!
Loosely thinking about my vision and goals for 2020
I’ve also been giving myself permission to tap into my goals and dreams for 2020. Not just business but generally. Asking myself questions like: where do I see myself and my family next year? What are my priorities? What didn’t work this year that I would like to change? At the same time as this, me and my love have been having some long and deep conversations about where we see ourselves in 1-3 years time and discussing what our individual and joint priorities need to be in order to get there.
And so far that’s it. I love doing this kind of thinking, nothing gets me more excited than a fresh page in a note book and the intention to make new plans. I do know, however, that not everyone shares my same passion for planning.
With this in mind, if you are someone who typically avoids planning, I would encourage you at the very least to spend some time tapping into what isn’t working for you right now and what needs to change as well as what has worked well over the course of the year and how you can best make the most of that going forward.
Above all I would suggest that you give yourself permission to dream. I truly believe that we are all powerful creators and that when we put our minds to whatever it is that we want to create, magic happens.
Would you love to start next year with your business foundations firmly in place?
My 1:1 Soulful Starter Coaching Program supports coaches, healers, teachers and other service-based practitioners to get the business foundations in place so that the growth strategies they implement actually lead to sustainable growth.
The first step is a complimentary coaching session with me. If at the end of the session, you’re interested in working with me, I’ll share with you next steps. There is no obligation to proceed with an application just because you’ve booked a session. It is not a sales call – it’s a gift from me to you so that you can experience the impact of my work. To book the initial session, simply hit the button below.
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When the CARES Act was passed in March, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) provided $659 billion in crisis funds for businesses affected by coronavirus-related quarantine measures. So many businesses applied for PPP loans that the first round of funding was exhausted within 13 days!
With most businesses unable to earn income during mandated closures, the PPP was designed to help businesses continue to pay their employees. The goal was to keep employees earning at least 75% of their normal weekly pay.
At Jackson Spencer Law, we represent employees who have questions about their workplaces’ responses to COVID-19.
Visit our services page for information about all the ways we can help.
What Are PPP Loans and How do They Affect Employees?
While PPP loans were only available to employers, the loans were designed to benefit employees. In fact, 75% of any loan funds received by a business were supposed to go directly toward payroll costs.
Many employees may not have recognized that these loans were really all about employee rights. Unfortunately, many business owners mistakenly thought they could use the loans however they wanted to such as, for example, paying themselves and laying off employees. Even worse, some individuals simply committed fraud and had no intention of using the PPP funds as intended.
If your employer received a loan, they are required to track and report how they spend the loan funds. Since the majority of loan funds are supposed to be reserved for payroll, employers who receive PPP loans should be able to avoid layoffs and furloughs. Granted, loan recipients are permitted to reduce employees’ pay by 25%, so you may be paid less than you were before quarantine.
PPP loan fraud is a serious violation of federal law and the government is prepared to prosecute employers who abused the terms of the loan. Many people assume fraud must be intentional – in other words, an employer must have knowingly misused the funds they received. However, even inadvertent misuse of PPP loan funds can land an employer in hot water.
Examples of PPP Loan Fraud
The Department of Justice announced their first PPP loan fraud case on May 5th. In that case, two men were charged after certifying that they had “dozens of employees” when they had no employees at all.
Another individual was charged with fraud after it was determined that he used $1.5 million (out of a $2 million PPP loan) to purchase jewelry and pay for child support. Naturally, the Department of Justice did not consider those purchases authorized uses of the loan funds.
In Texas alone, we have already seen several PPP fraud investigations lead to criminal charges. In June, a Texas resident was charged with submitting over $3 million in fraudulent PPP loan applications – stating they had over 120 employees. It turns out, they actually spent the money on a new Tesla, personal investments, and home mortgage payments. Another (more brazen) Texas employer was arrested after using his PPP loan on strip clubs, a Lamborghini, Rolex watches, parties and a long list of luxury items.
As you might imagine, the list of those charged with PPP fraud is only getting longer by the day. Many unethical individuals lied on their loan applications and/or misused funds that were meant to keep workers employed during a pandemic. Apparently, they did not think the government would take a close look at how they were using the funds.
It is shameful that employers abused a system that was intended to help American workers – but there is a proverbial light at the end of the tunnel: the government is willing to hold these employers accountable for fraud.
The Department of Justice allocated at least $850 million to investigate and prosecute PPP fraud. They are taking any suspected fraud very seriously and have even created a fraud hotline to report suspected fraud.
If you suspect that your employer has abused their PPP loan, you will want to document any suspicious activity in a file that you keep at home. For instance, if your employer notified everyone that they took out a PPP loan and you have noticed them making several large purchases while also laying off employees – chances are they may be misusing the PPP funds. You don’t need to worry about conducting a thorough investigation (that’s the government’s job); just jot down any facts that you think may be important. The federal government has appointed investigators in each state who will be able to look into the matter.
Once you have collected any relevant information, you should contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office fraud hotline (that link goes to the Northern District of Texas, which covers much of North Texas. If you live elsewhere, you will need to call the fraud hotline for your area). You may also be interested in consulting with an attorney, particularly if you have been laid off from a company that received PPP funds. It may be possible that your former employer is both committing fraud and violating your rights as an employee.
Our Office Stands with Employees
At Jackson Spencer, we focus specifically on employees’ rights. Anytime we see employers abusing their power or breaking the law, we are ready to stand up and fight! When record numbers of employees are without work or experiencing pay cuts, we are more vigilant than ever.
If you have any questions about how your employment has been (and may continue to be) affected by the coronavirus pandemic, please don’t hesitate to contact our office. We can help you determine if your rights have been violated or if your employer is breaking the law.
The post Is Your Employer Abusing Their PPP Loan? appeared first on Jackson Spencer Law.
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Manitoba Agricultural College was formerly opened in 1906. In the following year, Manitoba Agricultural College became affiliated with the University of Manitoba so that the degree in agriculture could be conferred on students who had successfully completed the five-year course. However, the affiliation of Manitoba Agricultural College with the University was terminated by an Act of the Provincial Legislature in 1912 when the College was granted degree conferring powers. However, in 1916, the Act was amended and the affiliation between the College and University was restored again. The University of Manitoba conferred the degree Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (B.S.A) for the first time in May 1911. Regular instruction in Home Economics began the same year and the degree of Bachelor of Home Economics (B.H.E.) was first conferred in May 1918. On March 1, 1924, by Act of the Manitoba Legislature, the administration of Manitoba Agricultural College was transferred to the Board of Governors of the University and it was arranged that in future, the instructional work of the College could be carried on as a Faculty of Agriculture and Home Economics of the University. The length of the degree courses in both Agriculture and Home Economics was reduced to four sessions in 1927-1928 to conform with the other university faculties.
In 1929, the Legislature selected the site in Fort Garry, already occupied by the Manitoba Agricultural College since 1913, as the permanent site of the university. A systematic program of work in the field of rural adult education was begun in 1940. By 1941, the Faculty consisted of six departments: Animal Science, Bacteriology and Animal Pathology, Dairy Husbandry, Entomology, Plant Science ,and Soils. In 1946, the Department of Agricultural Engineering was added to the faculty. In 1966, the Faculty of Agriculture and Home Economics opened the Centre for Applied Research at Glenlea, twenty kilometers south of Winnipeg. In 1970, the Faculty of Agriculture and Home Economics separated into two independent faculties, Agriculture and Home Economics. Beginning in 1971, the Faculty of Agriculture, through sponsorship from the provincial government, became involved with various foreign aid programs. This culminated in 1979 when the Canadian International Development Agency (C.I.D.A.) financed a joint agricultural program with the University of Zambia. In July 1991, the Faculty became the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences.
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Following nearly four years in the prototype phase, Cana Technology is unveiling what it calls the “world’s first molecular beverage printer” after securing $30 million in funding from venture foundry The Production Board.
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If you want to become a therapist, you should first consider what type of therapy you wish to provide. A master’s degree is typically the minimum education required, but some specialty areas call for more schooling. You’ll also need to consider what license you’ll need to practice and meet the prerequisites needed to sit for state licensure exams.
The word “therapist” is a broad term that can encompass many mental health professionals. Counselors, social workers, marriage and family therapists, and psychologists are all considered therapists.
Depending on the individual, the geographic area in which they practice and their respective state licensure or regulatory practices, many mental health professionals use the term “therapist” to speak broadly about themselves. Regardless of what term is used, providing mental health services to clients is a meaningful way to offer help and support to others at the individual and community levels.
While the term “therapist” is often used as a general term to encompass the mental health field as a whole, “it is important to note that there are very real and significant differences between and among the mental health professions,” said Kristi B. Cannon, PhD, LPC, NCC, director of counseling programs, assessment and evaluation at Southern New Hampshire University (xhjc).
These differences include:
The client population being served
The types of intervention being offered
The depth of the issue being addressed
While the term “therapist” can be used across professions, state licensure boards restrict the use of particular terms such as “licensed professional counselor” or “licensed psychologist” to “those who have received specific educational, exam and practice requirements for licensure in that area,” Cannon said.
And, because educational training, ethical guidelines and licensure are critical to each of these fields, “it is important for potential clients to understand that the term ‘therapist’ is not regulated,” Cannon said. Therefore, the term “therapist” can be used by anyone across the profession.
These terms are often used interchangeably. “Both a therapist and a counselor engage in a helping relationship,” said Metoka L. Welch, PhD, LCMHC (NC), director of counseling programs for the learning environment at xhjc. The difference between the two lies within the goal of the professional.
A therapist “provides mental health therapy to clients,” Cannon said, while a counselor is a specific type of mental health professional whose offerings “align with a wellness model of healing” and who “believes in the empowerment of clients to accomplish their goals in mental health, career and education.” According to Cannon, there are many different counselor roles to consider.
Just like with the term “therapist,” there can be distinct educational, training and licensure requirements for each of these professions.
The type of professional counselor most often associated with “therapist” is a clinical mental health counselor. This person “is someone who provides direct client counseling in a private practice, hospital or community-based setting,” Cannon said.
Learn more about how to become a mental health counselor.
What Does it Take to Become a Therapist?
The first step toward becoming a therapist is to decide which type of therapy you wish to provide.
These are some common pairings of interests and career pathways, according to Welch:
Counseling or individual therapy is suitable for people who want to work with clients one-on-one
Clinical mental health counseling can be good for people who want a broad scope of knowledge to help people with a variety of mental health needs
Marriage and family therapy might be a good fit if you know you want to provide services to couples and families in a group setting
Social work is a good fit if you are interested in connecting people to resources
After you determine which area of counseling you would like to pursue, go to your state’s licensing board website to determine what educational credentials you need. “Then, look into programs that offer the qualifying curriculum,” said Welch.
Most therapist positions require at least a master's degree, meaning you must first earn a bachelor's degree. Welch suggests choosing a major in the social sciences, such as:
Bachelor's degree in psychology: Study how the mind works and develop research skills through courses such as lifespan development, abnormal psychology and statistics. You can choose to add concentrations relevant to therapist specializations such as addictions, child and adolescent development and mental health.
Bachelor's degree in sociology: Explore human behavior as it relates to social interactions and dynamics with an undergraduate degree in sociology. This degree program can help you gain new and broad perspectives and develop skills in research, analysis and problem-solving.
If you already have a bachelor’s degree in another field, do not worry. “It has been my experience that counseling programs are understanding that people are often enrolling in counseling programs as a second career, so their undergraduate degree could be in political science or, in my case, English," Welch said. Most bachelor’s degrees will provide the foundational concepts and information you will need to pursue graduate degrees.
For most therapist specialties, such as clinical mental health counseling or clinical social work, the minimum education needed is a master’s degree. You might consider one of these master's degrees:
Master's degree in counseling: Learn how to provide mental health counseling to a range of clients. Through studying theories, strategies and techniques, you can grow skills relating to all aspects of counseling practice, including consultation, treatment, intervention and prevention. This degree is designed to help you become a counselor.
Master's degree in psychology: Dive deeper into the world of cognitive and social psychology with a degree that can help you become a psychologist. If you know you want to work with a particular audience, you might also consider specializing your psychology degree. For example, you might pursue a master's in child psychology and development.
Karen Raquel Quezada '21G became an in-home therapist shortly after earning her master's degree in psychology at xhjc. She first became interested in this field of work while obtaining a criminal justice degree – another discipline within the social sciences.
While working on her master's degree, Quezada felt each of her instructors and their varying backgrounds brought a lot of value to her. "The instructors were of great help (to) me," she said. "Their feedback allowed me to have a sense of knowledge of my strengths and things that I needed to work on."
Completing her capstone project was especially eye-opening for Quezada. It allowed her to reflect on all that she learned in her program and emerge important takeaways involving ethics, boundaries and more that she uses in her role as an in-home therapist.
"I do feel that my degree was worth it," she said. "It opened doors for me. It allowed me to grow in my personal and professional life."
You may find that a doctorate is required for certain specialty areas, such as a clinical psychologist or counselor educator. And to become a psychiatrist, “you need (to) be a medical doctor,” Welch said. If you're wondering how these professions vary, discover the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist.
What Kind of License is Needed?
It's important to note that there are different types of licenses required for different counseling specialties. The type of license required is determined by the mental health field you choose and the state in which you intend to practice.
“Requirements for licensure include a set number of clinical hours completed under the supervision of an approved supervisor as well as passing required state licensure exams,” Cannon said.
Different types of licenses include:
Licensed clinical mental health counselor (LCMHC)
Licensed clinical professional counselor (LCPC)
Licensed clinical psychologist (LCP)
Licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT)
Licensed professional counselor (LPC)
Licensure requirements are top of mind at some counseling schools. For example, xhjc's online CACREP-accredited clinical mental health counseling degree is designed to help you meet the educational requirements in most U.S. states. It's important to see if there are any additional qualifications in your state to achieve licensure.
How Long Does it Take to Become a Therapist?
You'll need to start your higher education with a bachelor's degree, which is often referred to as a four-year degree. A graduate degree is needed as well. The time it takes to get a master's degree varies by school and your pacing, but they are typically known to take two years.
Quezada's master's degree took her two years to complete as a mom working full-time. "This program had the opportunity for online classes, which was something I really needed as a single working parent," she said.
If you're wondering how online classes work, exactly, the format is similar to that of a face-to-face class; you can expect to participate in class discussions and complete assignments such as academic papers. The difference is you have the flexibility to decide when and where you complete your work each week.
Some types of therapy practice, such as a counseling psychologist, “will need a PhD in Counseling Psychology as the minimum requirement for licensure,” said Cannon. Other types of therapy practice require a master’s degree.
Licensed professional counselors must have a master’s degree in counseling, “which includes the educational requirements established by the state counseling licensure board” to practice, said Cannon.
While in school, you will likely complete a practicum and gain internship experience. Depending on your state and area of specialty, “you will need to complete 2-4 years of post-graduate experience in order to be licensed,” Welch said. “I often tell students that (becoming a therapist) is a 2–5-year investment.”
Some master's-level graduates land therapist positions right away. As Quezada wrapped her final term at xhjc, she said her supervisor was already considering her growth within the organization. This led to her promotion to a master's-level clinician.
Are Therapists in Demand?
The demand is growing for therapists and mental health professionals. “This is due to a combination of factors,” Cannon said, “including the fact that mental health issues have gained more prominence in society over the last few years.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the need for services, and, right now, “many licensed therapists have waitlists,” said Welch.
In addition to the pandemic, an increase in awareness of concepts like self-care, work-life balance and even mental health days, have helped “normalize mental health issues as part of a collective sense of overall health,” Cannon said.
There are many possibilities to build a robust and meaningful career as a therapist. Often, when people think of being a therapist, “they think of working in private practice,” Welch said.
Welch also noted that therapists could work in areas such as:
Agency settings, where you could help connect clients with community resources
Community settings, where you could provide mental health support in a prison, rehabilitation facility or mental health center.
Hospitals, where you could help connect patients to services after they are discharged, as well as provide substance abuse counseling to patients, geriatric mental health and more
Schools, where you could provide services as the school psychologist
The combined awareness, acceptance and prominence of mental health issues and the need for care “is only growing the field, and I fully anticipate this will continue,” said Cannon.
In fact, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects that employment of substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors will grow 23% from 2020 to 2030, which is much faster than the average for all other occupations.
Do Therapists Make Good Money?
Because becoming a therapist is a tremendous time investment, you may not see a higher salary until you are licensed or working in a specialty. “Most people who go into this line of work do so because they had a personal experience with a counselor,” said Welch, “or because they want to make a difference in the world. So, a good bit of the reward of being a therapist is intrinsic.”
Depending on the educational background, license, area of client focus and geographic location, salaries can vary considerably. For example, BLS notes the median pay for mental health counselors was $48,520 in 2021. Psychologists made a median of $81,040, BLS reported.
Within psychology, there are many paths you can consider. For example, you could become a child psychologist. Marriage and family therapists made a median of $49,880 last year, BLS reported, similar to the median salary for social workers, which was $50,390.
Being flexible, adaptable and empathetic are at the top of the list of traits that both Cannon and Welch say are important for a therapist to be successful. Welch also notes the ability to be courageous and set boundaries as necessary traits. The willingness to “constantly work on yourself, your biases and hidden assumptions” are essential traits for any therapist to succeed, said Welch. “The willingness to be a client yourself, and to recognize the strength of human resilience” are also important, she said.
All of these skills together enable therapists to help their clients strengthen their internal resources. “We want clients to use their own coping skills for the issues that come up in their lives,” Welch said. This skill can take years to build, so the ability to continuously grow and learn is key as well.
The ability to embrace and weather change is also crucial. “I cannot stress enough how important it is to be able to deal with ambiguity,” Welch said. “Often graduate programs in counseling are difficult for type-A perfectionists. You have to have a willingness to let go of what you think and become a student of the client’s work.”
What is the Job of a Therapist Like?
In clinical terms, a therapist “works directly with clients and provides some form of psychotherapy,” Cannon said. In more personal terms, the role of the therapist is to “hold space for the broken places of their clients and allow space for people to grow and change,” said Welch.
In terms of day-to-day responsibilities, the job can vary based on specialty. As a mental health counselor, Cannon works with clients one-on-one, with couples or families or in groups to provide direct mental health counseling services. The type of issues addressed can range from “life transitions to more significant and pervasive diagnosable mental health issues,” Cannon said.
Community mental health agencies
Outpatient programs
Private practice settings, such as in an office or via telehealth
Schools
The job itself can look very different setting by setting, therapist by therapist, because “the needs of clients and the services provided to those clients can vary” so widely, Cannon said. Regardless of the setting, the overall focus of a clinical mental health counselor is to “utilize a specific set of counseling skills, driven by an empirically valid theoretical orientation and interventions, to empower client growth and well-being,” said Cannon.
Is Counseling a Good Career?
Both Cannon and Welch agree that being a therapist is a tremendously rewarding career in the helping professions. Welch acknowledges that helping clients work through issues can result in both small and large changes. The reward comes not from the size of the change that you help your client make but from helping clients “realize the possibility that things can change,” she said.
For Cannon, being a clinical mental health counselor is a highly rewarding career. “In my work, I have the capacity to empower and support people in meaningful ways every day of my life," she said.
Whether she's helping a client work through a difficult decision or significant life trauma, she feels she's making a difference in their lives. "I am hard-pressed to think of many other careers that center on such meaningful change and offer opportunities for such significant long-term impact,” Cannon said.
What Are Some of the Biggest Challenges of This Profession?
As you might imagine, while the rewards of being a therapist are great, there are some significant challenges as well. “As much as this career can be rewarding,” said Cannon, “it can also be emotionally and mentally taxing.”
The biggest challenge, according to both Cannon and Welch, is the risk of burnout. “Therapists need to know their limits and ensure they are seeking good self-care” as part of their practice, said Cannon. The importance of self-care and personal therapy is often a part of therapist training, according to Welch.
What Advice Would You Give Someone Who is Considering This Profession?
Becoming a therapist is a big investment of time and energy. Because it can take years to achieve licensure and become qualified to establish a practice or work full-time in your chosen area, this is not a career field to enter into lightly.
This is also a field that can be very rewarding for some but is not the right fit for everyone. For that reason, it’s worth taking the time upfront to research the different options within the field of therapy to decide if this is the right career for you. “This is not a profession you can just try out to see if you like it,” Cannon said. Becoming a therapist takes some "front-end research, identity alignment and a commitment to the profession” before deciding if it's right for you, she said.
Welch advocates the importance of becoming a client yourself because “it takes a great deal of vulnerability to sit in the client’s seat and reveal deep, often painful parts of your life to a stranger,” she said. “Once you respect that position, you realize how sacred this work is.” For that reason, she recommends having your own therapist because if the idea of that is off-putting to you, “reconsider why you want to do this.”
Welch believes that the key difference between a good therapist and a great one is as simple as having the willingness to seek therapy yourself.
A degree can change your life. Find the xhjc psychology or counseling program that can best help you meet your goals.
Marie Morganelli, PhD, is a freelance content writer and editor.
May 18, 2022
Homeland security is a mission-driven career field focused on national threats such as terrorism, natural disasters and public health crises. While everyone working in homeland security helps to keep the nation and its people safe, careers can vary quite a bit.
What Can You Do with an Anthropology Degree?
Mar 11, 2022
If you love learning and are curious about the people and world around you, you might consider a degree in anthropology and explore how you can fill roles in both the public and private sectors, working in business, health care, advocacy and more.
What Can You Do with a Human Services Degree?
If you're drawn to working closely with your community and the people that make up your neighborhood, a Bachelor of Arts in Human Services is a degree path worth your consideration.
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Our getting worse real estate dilemma - what is the reason, as well as what can we do regarding it? - Housing - Living - Mortgage -Life Blog
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Our getting worse real estate dilemma – what is the reason, as well as what can we do regarding it?
September 29, 2022 by admin
For several years we have actually been creating on this blog site regarding the real estate dilemma, however just recently it appears as if the dilemma has actually tipped up a notch.
Individuals are not able to discover a residence.
Representatives produced an advert for a level as well as thousands of individuals look for it.
Pupils at Manchester Uni need to go as well as reside in Liverpool.
What is taking place?
Well, essentially, lots of property managers are marketing up as well as leaving the field with less property managers taking their area.
It’s a complicated tale, as well as I do not assert to have all the responses, however below are several of the contributing aspects:
Tax Obligation
There is not a great deal of factor in being a property owner if you do not make any kind of cash from it.
There is, I intend, prime development which is why some homeowner leave homes vacant (the supposed ‘gold blocks’). The bulk of property managers require the rental fee to cover their costs as well as make an earnings.
The present taxes routine presented originally by George Osborne when he was Chancellor has actually lowered property managers’ earnings as well as, consequently, their passion in being property managers.
It’s not constantly very easy being a property owner, as well as like various other services, it lugs dangers. Couple of are prepared to do it unless it is worth their while monetarily.
Although it does seem Ms Truss could do something regarding the tax obligation, which might motivate some property managers to remain a bit much longer.
We have actually had 12 real estate priests because 2010 as well as 21 because 1997. You can discover a listing of them all as much as July 2022 below That does not suggest a feeling of necessity by the federal government or any kind of drive to manage real estate problems.
Real estate as well as real estate regulation are intricate. It requires time to reach grasps with them. Couple of intend to spend that time when they consider they get on the means as much as far better points.
So by the time the record appointed by Real estate Priest A is released, that preacher has actually carried on, as well as their substitute, Real estate Priest B, has various concerns.
What real estate demands is somebody in position completely, ideally somebody that will certainly stay if the federal government modifications. Such as the ‘real estate tsar’ some are requiring.
Although there is likewise the trouble that while ‘real estate’ comes under the Ministry for Levelling Up Real Estate as well as Areas, renovation of the court expulsion procedure (which has actually been guaranteed as a problem of getting rid of area 21) comes under a completely various division, the Ministry of Justice.
The loss of social real estate as a result of best to get
Social real estate has actually been being liquidated since Margaret Thatcher presented the right to get in the 1980’s. Much of the very best real estate supply has actually currently gone.
This is an issue as it implies real estate for low-income family members is currently based on the economic sector. That, as we have actually seen, bill even more as well as that will certainly leave the field if points do not go their means.
If we still had the social real estate which has actually been liquidated for many years, a lot of low-income family members would certainly have the ability to reside in a ‘Council home’. As well as although Council real estate was not excellent, it was a residence, usually an excellent house, as well as individuals had protection.
There is likewise the truth that as exclusive leased real estate is much more pricey than social real estate, the expense to our advantages system is significantly greater. Which is something most of us pay via our tax obligations.
Unpredictability as well as the hazard of law adjustment
In my short article below, I described just how the exclusive leased field was moribund till property managers obtained the right to recoup property since right under area 21.
This is essential for property managers as it enables them to recoup residential or commercial property conveniently for their very own usage (as an example, if they require to offer it or reside in it) or to eliminate unsuitable or anti-social occupants.
Unfortunately some property managers abuse this. The truth that area 21 is most likely to be eliminated, with no instant possibility of renovation to the court expulsion procedure, not unnaturally makes property managers examine their choice to stay in the field.
Being a property owner is being an organization, as well as services require to understand where they stand.
As an example, we had a White Paper in June which recommended a brand-new ‘regular occupancy’ version– which by the way intimidated business version of pupil property managers– however this was complied with within 3 months by a full adjustment of priests. No person recognizes what will certainly occur to that White paper currently. This makes lots of property managers extremely worried. In Scotland, where the federal government has actually introduced a rental fee freeze as well as an expulsion restriction, occupants remain in a ‘dangerous circumstance’ as there are less as well as less homes readily available to rent out as well as records of hundreds of candidates
for homes.
If property managers are truly alarmed, this is what will certainly occur. Especially as the contingency of social real estate is greatly no more readily available.
The truth that property managers are freelances
When real estate is offered by a Neighborhood Authority or real estate organization, there is a task on that particular organisation to continue supplying the real estate.
Nevertheless, property managers are freelances. They do not need to be property managers. They can offer up as well as spend their cash in another thing if they intend to.
Currently clearly, those residences still exist. They are not being tore down, simply offered on to a brand-new proprietor. A few of them will certainly be offered on to various other property managers that will certainly continue leasing them bent on occupants. Lots of will not. Lots of will certainly be made use of as vacation lodging (which bizarrely is dealt with even more positively under our tax obligation system) or offered on to exclusive proprietors.
Which behaves for those exclusive proprietors, however implies that residential or commercial property will certainly no more be readily available to low-income occupants.
The vilification of property managers in the media
This has actually been unrelenting over several years. Yes, there are some extremely negative as well as occasionally criminal property managers. This is mostly due to the failing to implement the numerous laws by Regional Authorities as well as various other enforcement companies. Not their mistake, incidentally, they do not have enough moneying to sustain the team.
The majority of the property managers I see supply respectable holiday accommodation as well as strive to supply an excellent solution to their occupants. They feel bitter being dealt with by the press as if they were a rich wrongdoer.
In many cases, they just possess a couple of homes as well as are not especially affluent. They are not billionaires such as those that buy secret overseas business to avoid paying tax obligation.
Things individuals grumble around– the inadequate problems of some homes, the high expense as well as the lacks, are all to do with supply.
On the one hand, we have lots of property managers leaving the field for the factors offered over.
On the various other hand, we have a climbing populace (or at the very least an enhancing number of individuals requiring to be housed) however couple of brand-new homes being constructed.
This is an auto accident circumstance which is bound to cause lots of homeless individuals.
Yet it’s even more than that. If we had an enough supply of high quality leased rental homes, occupants would certainly prevent the negative property managers as well as rent out from the great property managers. The negative property managers would certainly be iced up out.
The only factor negative property managers can flourish as well as endure is the absence of competitors as well as enforcement activity versus them.
Urge property managers to reinvest in the field by taking care of the problems reviewed over, as well as
Develop even more residences– which need to be simpler currently we have high quality modular real estate solutions readily available
And Also, I would certainly likewise recommend, develop even more social real estate as well as quit the ‘best to get’ as has actually been carried out in Wales as well as Scotland.(*) Yet whether our political leaders, that usually show up to reside in a different world, will certainly take this kind of activity is an additional inquiry.(*)
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The residents in parts of NSW must be wondering when the blue skies will return. This week the state is enduring yet another big rain event and severe flooding.
Sydney and its surrounds have already had record rainfalls this year.
As of Monday, more than 30 evacuations were ordered across NSW including Camden, Menangle, Liverpool, Wallacia, Milperra, North Richmond, Penrith, Sackville, Upper Colo and Windsor. One man was pulled from the raging Parramatta River but couldn’t be revived.
The prevalence of east coast lows this year, courtesy of a stubborn La Nina event has been devastating for many families. No sooner have homeowners dried out, and in some cases renovated, their homes have been inundated by floodwaters once again. It’s heart-breaking.
Many homes are not insured because premiums are far too high.
The NSW State Emergency Service has been called out to more than 1800 emergencies and has been involved in almost 100 flood rescues since Sunday.
If this latest rain event isn’t bad enough the Bureau of Meteorology says another La Nina event could occur by the end of the year, bringing more heavy rain and extreme weather.
It would be a ‘triple dip’, which has only happened twice since the 1950s. But meteorologists say triple dips are very rare and it’s difficult to predict if a third La Nina would be weaker or stronger than the past two years.
In the meantime, many NSW residents will follow a familiar path and spend the next few weeks and months cleaning up.
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Many wonder how to know God, from the intimacy of the room, because this is glorious and allows us to develop a good life, where he stays in our hearts. Therefore, it is important to mention that there are many methods that allow us to open our souls to God. The need to be intimate with him is given to us through the knowledge of what he asks and offers for us. It is important to know that we were created to have a good development with our Creator.
How to know God from the intimacy of the room?
your word
It is important to think of God
unanswered prayer
grow in wisdom
Wisdom comes from listening
Wisdom leads to simplicity
Wisdom is comprehensive
wisdom must grow
stop and listen
How to know God from the intimacy of the room?
It is important when we want to have intimacy, we must be clear to know God that he loves us and for this reason he wants our company in his merciful and glorious life. Our Lord, in creating us, gave the best of himself. In the same way, he sought to deliver his most precious elements to his only-begotten son, in order to redeem the acts committed by Adam, which led him to renounce the garden, that is, He sought in this way intimacy with us.
Intimacy from the room is not an element that involves only one person. That is, it takes two to do it correctly. Our Heavenly Father has sought various ways to walk alongside humanity. (See: The Bible )
Proof of this is when he walked with Adam and Eve in Eden, until today in which he has sought that our sins be forgiven through the recognition and forgiveness of them, in order to reach the kingdom of God.
After all this, we must be clear then, that there are steps to get to know God
The first step to know and have an intimacy with the Lord, focuses on opening our hearts, in this way to know through his word every trait that awakens our love for him. This process is done through the Holy Spirit, who is in our soul.
God reveals to us through his spirit how to examine and open our hearts to know him in depth and in this way commit ourselves to his will towards our lives.
The second step focuses on starting a life with the presence of the Lord every day. For this, it is necessary to long for his presence and call him through prayer, expressing that he is a refuge for us. For our being always desires his presence in our lives through his blessed spirit.
On the other hand, the third step to become intimate and know God is due to the production of an intimate relationship that occurs through a direct prayer to the Father, always waiting for Jesus to send us signs to open us to the Creator.
Jesus reveals himself in the darkness of the early morning, because this is precisely the time in which he began to pray in the times in which he walked the earth to save us.
The Lord has been very passionate since he began his desire to improve the relationship with humanity after the actions that led Adam and Eve to sin. God works intensely through the ages, with the objective that humanity return to intimate communion with the Creator, which is why as time passed, the process of intimacy began from the comfort of the room.
Our Creator, through his passion for us, gave us the supreme gift of being able to walk with him in the garden of life. It is from this garden that the Lord called the first man. Because of his mistakes, the Lord is waiting for us to go there, after opening our hearts to his glorious will.
It is by opening our hearts that we are able to understand the desires of intimacy that God desires with us, these in turn lead to a full life, full of peace and blessings. We must then have an incessant search with God, with the purpose of having a good relationship with him.
It is important then that we understand that the best way to communicate and become intimate with God from the comfort of the room is through a very good perception of who the Lord is and what he wants for us. When we do not understand his actions, it is very difficult for us to have an intimate relationship with the Creator.
On the other hand, it should be known that circumstances in our lives are sometimes those that do not allow us to approach in harmony with the Lord. For it is our Creator who always picks up our steps. The Lord will always be ready then to embrace and protect us, because we are his children.
your word
The word of God indicates that his desire is our strength, it is our castle, therefore our room is our spiritual chamber. Our Creator then is our only refuge and hiding place. God as our creator offers us the security we need to live.
That is why we must understand that we can be intimate with our Creator and it is he who offers us security. In fact, we must understand that it is God who incorporates and knows all the sectors of our life, improving each one and allowing harmony and peace in each of them.
For this reason, we must go to God and cling to the fact that we are doing exactly his will, because he is the only one who knows why we were created and he will never reject our soul. The Lord is never partial to anyone, we maintain an abundant life when we are in the presence of God.
We cannot know God if we do not spend time with him. Intimacy with God from our bedroom then develops as an intimate contact between father and son. It is this that will allow us to have the confidence to expect him to direct our lives. The Creator will always have the desire through his words to speak with us.
God knows everything we do and he is in every moment of our lives, showing his love for us. It is important to understand then that one must achieve intimacy with the Lord in order to perceive the love that he has to give us.
According to the scriptures, God loves us and his love multiplies the happy moments in our lives. That is why we must understand that in certain areas of life we need to know God’s opinion to develop our lives in a better way.
In the scriptures, on the other hand, it is reflected that the Lord wishes to have a long communion with us, encouraging us to improve our lives every day. That is why we must have a constant fellowship with the Lord. (See: New Testament )
It is also recommended that if you want to have a more intimate experience with the Lord, we meet from the comfort of our room and place or read elements that reflect the Lord’s will with us. Intimacy with God is not just about talking, it is also about moments when we silently connect with him, meditating on his goodness and love.
It is important to think of God
To live correctly one must think of the Lord. In addition to this, we must seek to walk through the world as Jesus did when he was on earth and made relationships with man in the same way that we did.
When you spend time thinking about God and his word, everything flows and in this way allows us to feed our heart with love, which allows good guidance and encouragement in life. The more we think about and know about God, the more we can spend time with him, from the comfort of our bed, which allows us to have a greater connection with the Lord.
The intimacy in your room allows you to listen and hear. The Lord responds through our hearts with love and blessings towards us. With God we can communicate through the word or meditation, his will will always influence our hearts.
God always manifests himself in our lives through our thoughts, actions, desires and dreams, in them he always shows us that he loves us. He always wants us to tell him what we feel for him and commit ourselves as the good children that we are. Fidelity must be part of our lives.
On the other hand, it is important to understand that there is nothing that cannot be said to the Creator that allows intimate comfort from your room, since it is a private space that reflects you as a person and allows you a simpler connection. Because there is nothing in his heart and thoughts that he wants us to hide from him as children that we are. God does not want us to bear a yoke.
God loves us eternally, in turn through faith we can vent our sorrows through the heart. This allows for a greater connection with the soul and the Lord. He always talks to us and through his love allows a good intimacy.
On the occasions when we find ourselves depressed, God is the only one who is capable of recovering and saving our soul from pain. That is why, as children of the Lord, we must be sincere enough to open up and talk about our problems with him, through the comfort of our room, because it is the easiest way for God to move into our hearts to be our savior
People can present opposition from those who do not pay well and do not give God what is necessary to have an intimate relationship, that allows God to move into our hearts, that takes place from the comfort of our rooms. On many occasions there may even be slanders about God and malicious mockery of his omnipotence.
The opposition comes from the world and also from God’s own people. (Be sure to learn more about faith in God )
unanswered prayer
Sometimes there are times when prayers seem not to be heard, which causes despair to believers. Normally we should meditate and try to connect with the Lord intimately in the comfort of our room, since our bed is the refuge of our soul, so that he can respond to us correctly.
However, we have to keep in mind that normally when God does not listen to us it is because we are doing something wrong when trying to communicate with him. In other words, we have to look for and analyze what is the mistake we are making.
Human beings stumble many times in life. Many times we feel that we are walking with the Lord but suddenly our happiness is dimmed because we stumbled. It is for this reason that we must speak with him Lord from the intimacy of our bed.
On many occasions this happens because we do not meet the required standards that God asks of us to be correctly with him. We as believers have challenges to meet towards the Lord. You can’t pretend that everything is always fine, you have to fight not to keep failing.
It is positive that you speak from the heart, God will not be surprised or feel any kind of impact by what you say. You must open your weaknesses and honesty as well as the qualities that lead you into a good intimate relationship with our Creator.
grow in wisdom
From a very young age, our Savior Jesus had wisdom that caused great impact. The one who heard him was always amazed, because he had a lot of intelligence when it came to formulating answers. It is thanks to him that it was understood that the best way to communicate intimately with the Lord is through the intimacy of our bed. (See more about: story of Jesus )
Knowledge is considered knowing and bears fruit in life. Wisdom allows you to have a good life. This can be presented as a versatile element. It is extremely important to grow on an intellectual level, because on many occasions it brings you prosperity and a real intimacy with the Lord and leads to greater growth in wisdom.
On the other hand, Jesus’ relationship was always unique. It is thanks to Jesus that it is understood that he must constantly pray in order to obtain wisdom and control of life, receiving the word of God, therefore fulfilling his will.
Wisdom takes place through a movement that takes place with the help of the Holy Spirit. It is he who helps us not to feel fear that leads us to be good children of God.
Wisdom comes from listening
Wisdom is achieved through the willingness to listen and learn from others, it is what allows God to move into our hearts. An example of this is Jesus who always sat listening and asking questions of his teachers.
Intelligence then is a capacity that is achieved through the formulation of questions and answers to people who know specifically about a subject. On many occasions, the people who speak the least are the ones who know the most.
Asking questions and hearing answers is the best way to improve your life, to connect with God. It is important that you focus on what God gives you through knowledge.
Wisdom leads to simplicity
Wisdom allows us to be clear, full of a good intimate relationship with God, in which he moves in our hearts. Jesus, for example, was very aware of where he should be and what he should do. He took care to be in relationship with his Father, obeying his will.
Knowledge allows us to possess wisdom and in turn a close relationship with God.
Wisdom is comprehensive
Wisdom is not part of us only through what we say, but also the way we live. That is why Jesus comes down with his Father and illuminates the lives of his believers, that is why God’s entry into our hearts allows our salvation and redemption.
Wisdom is related to all the elements of life that are related to our intellect and our word.
wisdom must grow
When you have an intimate relationship with God from the comfort of your room, that allows us to know it, you can grow in wisdom and stature. God allows us to enjoy the favor of him, which allows us to obtain a life full of blessings. (You are interested in knowing about prayer asking God for help )
Wisdom should be increased every time we grow. Just like Jesus, because his wisdom grew every time he matured and in this way we should be the same, like his brothers.
It is important to know then that it is extremely important to pray for our Lord. What allows us to be people full of wisdom and with great faith. This in turn allows for real intimacy with God to take place. It is important to know then that God is our Father and we have to have a true relationship with God.
stop and listen
You cannot develop an intimate relationship with God, that allows us to know him, if you do not have a good way for him to move into our hearts from the comfort of our bed. In order to always communicate with the Lord. It is important then to understand that we must communicate with God. Our Lord always seeks to communicate with us just as he did with Moses, so that he could fulfill his mission to liberate the people of God.
God took care of talking to Moses, this became a two-way conversation. Our Lord took care of speaking with Moses face to face, calmly, he took care of speaking and listening to Moses generating in the chosen wisdom to face his mission with the people of Israel. (Do not stop knowing how to maintain a communion with God )
Today there is a much better way to communicate with the Lord and that is the Holy Spirit. It is no longer necessary to go just to a specific place as Moses says. Rather, God wants us to meet him in much simpler ways.
That is why the Holy Spirit allows us to have an intimate and eternal conversation with him in a much simpler way.
Just as God guided Moses, to save the people of Israel. What allowed all the children of Israel to do each errand that Moses carried out, since he was guided by God.
The whole life of the people of Israel is related to the obedience to which God had charged Moses to lead through spiritual intimacy. That is why it must be understood that it is extremely important that we have a true intimacy with God in order to be guided by him.
Therefore, we should not disobey God’s will either, because our lives are not filled with the blessings that God has for us. It is also important to put into practice all the elements that allow us to practice the things that God desires for us and expresses to us through spiritual intimacy.
It must be understood that sometimes it is not very evident how God guides us. It is in this way that again the example of Moses is used. In the moments in which the people of God asked a difficult question, Moses did not know how to answer, he was busy connecting with God so that in this way he would be guided.
It is wise to open up to people and listen to the opinions of others, this in combination with the prayer of God, from the comfort of our rooms allows us to move forward correctly as children of God, where he is the savior who moves and develops his mercy in our hearts. Where we are able to have good communication with the Lord.
God is always with us, intimacy with him will depend on us and how we behave with him. We simply must communicate with the Lord and pray at the appropriate times, which in turn allow us to be guided on the right path. (Learn more about prayer for the brothers )
Emilly Stefan The Fear lab was an American author of young adult novels, most known for her fantasy series, Age of the Seventh Sun.
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Emilly Stefan The Fear lab was an American author of young adult novels, most known for her fantasy series, Age of the Seventh Sun.
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Nearly one-quarter of Americans say they have eaten less meat in the past year then they did prior to that, according to a new Gallup poll of 2,400 adults. Among the respondents, the shift toward consuming less meat was especially true among women, people of color, people living in cities or suburbs, and people living in areas outside of the Midwest. Most respondents reported making these changes for health reasons as opposed to environmental or ethical ones. What’s more, they largely accomplished it simply by eating smaller amounts of meat or by swapping in vegetables or other ingredients in place of meat – and less so by incorporating plant-based burgers, sausages or the other plant-based proteins making headlines. For chefs, the shift toward plant-forward diets is setting the stage for innovation, as well as the recognition of those who are making a mark with the plant-forward menus they create. To celebrate these chefs and their businesses, the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) collaborated with EAT Foundation to assemble its annual Plant-Forward Global 50 list. The list spans kitchens that are professional and commercial, upscale and casual, vegetarian/vegan and non, and in the U.S. and abroad. Looking for ideas to infuse your menu with fresh plant-forward options? The CIA and EAT developed a list of cookbooks to accompany the list as well.
Serving fried food? Tell a healthier story.
Consumers, increasingly, want to know the truth behind the food they eat. It isn’t always a pretty story: A new study published in The BMJ traced the longterm effects of fried foods and, while it’s no shock to hear that these foods aren’t healthy, the study found some alarming connections between fried foods and mortality. Upon studying 20 years’ worth of data about U.S. women aged 50 to 79, the study’s authors found that people who reported eating at least one serving of fried food daily had an 8 percent chance of dying early and an 8 percent higher chance of dying from cardiovascular disease specifically. So what is a foodservice operation to do? Taco Bell’s first-ever in-house dietician, Missy Schaaphok, has some ideas — and is proof that quick-service brands can continue to serve their core customers while improving their efforts to tell a healthier story. A Skift Table report indicates Schaaphok has been working to transform the brand’s image from a place where people cave to indulgences in fried food to one where vegetarians, flexitarians, or people looking for lower-fat, lower-calorie or other healthier options can find something they like. Her focus is in making “stealth health” upgrades — evaluating the nutritional content of menu items, improving on what exists and introducing new menu items. She has already eliminated artificial colors and flavors from the menu, as well as high-fructose corn syrup — and is working to reduce sodium content too. She is now working on the brand’s first dedicated vegetarian menu, which is set to launch later this year.
How well does your menu use vegetables as not just vegetables, but as ingredients that blend into the background — and in the process, make for a healthier dish? Cauliflower, for one, has surged in popularity in recent years, with sales of its products climbing 71 percent last year according to Nielsen data. (Having taken hold as a pizza crust ingredient and rice substitute, it is now moving into the snack category: Fast Company reports that a number of brands are releasing cauliflower-based snacks such as pickled cauliflower and cauliflower-powder based pretzels, crackers and chips.) But since cauliflower is expensive and difficult to mass-produce, there is room for other vegetables to take hold as undercover ingredients. This New Year, as people look to reset their health, where can you incorporate nutrient-dense vegetables in ways that allow them to disappear into the background?
Help guests reach post-holiday health goals
Once holiday feasting is over, New Year’s health resolutions kick in. Do you know how to deliver the kinds of options your guests are looking for? The tactics that work for your restaurant may differ from those that succeed at the restaurant down the street. When you contemplate menu changes, focus less on fad diets than on accommodating lifestyle changes like gluten-free, dairy-free, low-carb or organic diets. Then, consider how your target market thinks. Next Restaurants reports that according to a Numerator survey, the average person who follows Weight Watchers is 65 or older, so building menu options around that plan may make sense if you serve that demographic. Forging partnerships with social media influencers and organizations committed to healthy lifestyles can help too. At a minimum, consider offering nutrition information to show you’re committed to helping guests make their own healthy decisions.
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I asked this question recently on social media. Today, I'll share the results of what my little survey found and how people feel about this topic. I will admit that the results did surprise me just a little bit as far as how willing people are to leave the AC on for their pets when they aren't home.
So what drove me to ask this question in the first place? One day a few weeks ago, my family and I were going to go swimming for an afternoon. I got all of our stuff ready, made sure all the pets had food and water, and adjusted the thermostats on our AC window units accordingly.
We live with my father, and he is always turning the AC off in order to save energy. (I was curious to know if a lot of other people were like this, or if it was just him.) I waited outside for the rest of my family while my youngest daughter played on her swing set. My oldest daughter forgot something and ran back inside. When she came back, we were ready to go swimming!
We weren't gone all day, just a few hours and made the trip back home in the late afternoon. While driving home I was talking to my boyfriend when he mentioned that "it's going to be hot in the bedroom". I snapped my head over to him and asked "why?!".
Shiner's favorite spot to sit is the window seat by the AC window unit.
He said he had turned the AC off. What?! There are animals in there and it's hot! At first, I wanted to panic but I stayed calm because panicking never helps. Apparently, my father had told my oldest daughter to make sure we turn off the AC before we left. I had never planned on turning it off. I could tell the boyfriend felt bad about it and I don't think he'll make the same mistake again. And I've also used the opportunity to educate my 10 year old daughter on the matter. I think it was just poor overall communication between all of us.
When we got home, everyone was fine and I refilled water bowls and turned the AC back on. And yes, it was hot in the house. This event was what prompted me to ask the question - should you leave the AC on for your pets when you aren't home?
Survey Results - How many people leave their AC running for their pets in their home?
When I asked this question on Social Media, I had an outpouring of pet parents claim that they would without a doubt leave the air conditioner running for their pets. I compiled all the results into a graphic.
There are a lot of factors that I think are important to consider when asking this question. Things like geographical location and whether or not a person actually has an air conditioner. While it's hard to imagine not having an air conditioner for some of us, I've been there myself quite recently.
As a rule of thumb, if your pet is used to living in a certain temperature, then it only makes sense that you should leave your home at that temperature for them when you aren't home. Or at least a temperature that is close to it. I know we like conserving energy and money, but why should our pets sit in a hotter than usual home just because we aren't there with them? Plus, there is the added risk of heat exhaustion and that is a scary thing.
Many people opt to turn their thermostat up as a way to conserve energy or save money when they leave the house. I do this in my own home. For the inside of the house where the cat stays while I'm gone, I put the thermostat at 75 degrees farenheit. For my bedroom where the dog and rats stay, I don't change anything. That AC window unit doesn't work the best, so I feel like I should just keep it where it's at.
And the few people who do not have air conditioners in their home admitted to at least using fans or opening windows claiming that "if they had AC, they would turn it on for their pets while they were away from home". A little bit of air circulation can make a big difference. Especially if you are without AC in the Summer.
How can you help your pet stay cool?
If you want to help keep your pets cool while you're away from home, here are a few things that you can try:
Always leave plenty of fresh water for your pet to drink. You can add ice cubes to make it even cooler.
For small pets (like my pet rats), place frozen water bottles wrapped in towels in their cage. Your small pet will lay next to them and the water bottles will help cool them.
Keep a fan running. As I mentioned above, air circulation makes a big difference! I can't imagine that a pet would get into much trouble with a ceiling fan, so those are likely the safest option. Only leave a portable fan running if you are certain your pet isn't going to injure themselves with it somehow. (Hey - crazy things happen sometimes.)
Get a cooling mat for your pet. I've never used one of these things, but they seem helpful.
Leave a frozen treat for your dog. I've heard of some people doing this before. They will stuff a KONG with whatever they want, freeze it, and leave it for their dog while they are gone. It keeps the dog occupied and it's a nice way to stay cool too. Of course, use your best judgment if you do this. Some toys and treats are only meant to be given with human supervision.
Trying to stay cool!
Do you leave the AC on for your pet when you leave home? How do you make sure they stay cool in the Summer?
Posted by AnnStaub Labels: AC, Air Conditioner, Cat Health, Cats, Dog Health, Dogs, Exotic Pets, infographic, Pet Health, Pet Rats, Pet Safety, Pets, Rats, Small Pets, Summer
46 comments:
Talking-Dogs July 13, 2015 at 6:49 AM
So interesting to see the results of your survey. Though we have central ai and I don't adjust it down when we leave the house, even if we had window units I wouldn't adjust them down (or at least not by much at all.) I remember reading somewhere that it takes much more energy to cool a room/house when you do that. Plus, my pets are used to AC, so I keep it comfortable for them.
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AnnStaub July 13, 2015 at 1:04 PM
That's a good point Sue about how it takes more energy to cool a room when the temperature is turned up. I believe I've heard that also, but didn't think about that.
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Unknown July 13, 2015 at 7:12 AM
I love this question, I'd never thought much about what other people do and whether or not I fit into the "norm." I feel so lucky to be able to have our ac on all the time during the summer - it's something I decided to save up for after living in many places without it. It can get really miserable here in Michigan during the summer, and on the plus side we only have to run the ac for one season.
Lately when we've come in from being outside Laika sprawls out on the tiled floor in the kitchen - I know she get's really hot and it's nice to know she'll be comfortable when we're not home.
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AnnStaub July 13, 2015 at 1:05 PM
It seems like our AC is always running almost year round. The one in my bedroom has stopped working so good these past few days unfortunately. I'm just glad that it's a "mild" Summer so far and we have seen 100 degree days yet.
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Kitty Cat Chronicles July 13, 2015 at 7:29 AM
We always leave the AC on when we are gone! Having animals aside, my dad works in the HVAC business and has told me that when you turn your AC off or way up thinking that you are conserving energy, it actually makes the AC unit work that much harder to cool the house down when you turn the AC back on - making it pointless to turn the AC off, and sometimes making things even more expensive than if you had just left your AC on to begin with. We keep the both the upstairs downstairs AC units on 75 in the summer, but we turn the upstairs unit down to 73 at night when we go to bed. And we always leave things on 75 when we are not home or when we go away for the weekend or something. Gotta keep those kitties comfortable!
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AnnStaub July 13, 2015 at 1:08 PM
Oh awesome! Thank you for sharing this! I do remember hearing this before, but it definitely slipped my mind. (And I'm not an HVAC person, so what do I know about heating and cooling? lol) It definitely makes sense though.
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Cat and DOG Chat With Caren July 13, 2015 at 7:35 AM
Great post! I also ALWAYS leave the air on. We have central air (which I think is different than a window unit in how it functions, but I am not sure)....with central air, if the outdoor temperature drops too low or the indoor temp drops below where you have it set, it will AUTOMATICALLY CLICK OFF. I used to think I had to turn it off to save money but that is not true. It will only click on when the internal temp goes past what it is set at. I am not sure if window units are the same. I just read what Kitty Cat Chronicles said and I was basically told the same thing. It puts more stress on the unit having to keep cooling off from a higher temp.
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AnnStaub July 13, 2015 at 1:11 PM
I don't really know much of the difference between the two either. I know the window units will not click off, unless I put them on a certain setting. Right now, it's too hot for that setting so they are just set to a constant "on". My dad likes to turn the living room AC off at night, which seems OK because it's still cool in there when I turn it on in the mornings. He's just always on that damn thing lol.
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jen July 13, 2015 at 9:43 AM
Great post! we always leave the air conditioner on for the boys. In fact it just broke today and my husband took off work to fix it so the dogs won't get too hot! We're lucky that we have a basement that stays nice and cool but after a few days without the air it starts to get muggy. I do turn it up when we leave and at night.
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AnnStaub July 13, 2015 at 1:13 PM
Oh no! Hope you are able to get it fixed quickly. No AC is no fun.. it would be nice to have a basement. I've heard that they stay very cool.
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AnnStaub July 13, 2015 at 1:13 PM
Oh no! Hope you are able to get it fixed quickly. No AC is no fun.. it would be nice to have a basement. I've heard that they stay very cool.
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Unknown July 13, 2015 at 12:14 PM
Omg yes, I always leave the air on for the pets when I leave!!!! Heck, I never turn the AC off unless it gets super cold in here hahaha!!! I love your infographic Ann, well done!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
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AnnStaub July 13, 2015 at 1:15 PM
Thank you! I also don't turn it off unless it gets cold in here. But right now, that's almost never.
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Brian July 13, 2015 at 12:14 PM
The peeps just set it and forget it and it's always nice and comfy!
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AnnStaub July 13, 2015 at 1:14 PM
I like that idea Brian. Maybe I should tell that to my dad ;) lol
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The Swiss Cats July 13, 2015 at 12:47 PM
We don't have AC, but we close the shutters, close the windows on the side of the sun and leave the others opened so that the air circulates to keep our house as cool as possible. We totally agree with what Kitty Cat Chronicles said (it's the same things with the heater in winter). Purrs
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AnnStaub July 13, 2015 at 1:19 PM
I lived without AC for many years in the main part of my home. There was one summer when we had something like over 60 days in a row of 100+ degree temperatures. That was miserable! I am fortunate to live in a place where I do not have to worry about closing my windows when I leave home. I guess that's not really an option for everyone who might live in a neighborhood or something.
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Anonymous July 13, 2015 at 1:49 PM
Absolutely leave it on! I can't imagine not having it on for my furchild. I even think that I should use a fan in the event that a/c goes out. :) We have ceiling fans but they can't blow right on Titan. Now with the newest addition to our home, again, absolutely! I wouldn't dare think of turning it off. Same goes for the heater. Whatever temps are good for me, are good for them.
B
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AnnStaub July 13, 2015 at 2:21 PM
Oh that's a nice back-up plan Bren. Didn't think of that one! Thank you!
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Unknown July 13, 2015 at 1:56 PM
Great post! I have 3 huskies living in NC, I have to keep my AC on! I can't imagine how miserable they would be if I turned it off during the day, even for a few ours. Besides, I don't think turning it completely off saves energy because it will take so much more energy to get it back to a comfortable temperature in the heat of the day. We have 1 window unit that I turn on before 9am to make sure that room is adequately cooled it has the most windows. With temperatures above 100 here for the past month + humidity...we all need the AC!
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AnnStaub July 13, 2015 at 2:23 PM
Thanks! I agree that it would be pretty miserable sitting in a house with no air circulation. I know I wouldn't enjoy it.
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Unknown July 13, 2015 at 2:19 PM
Well, here in Florida if you don't have air conditioning, you will melt into the floor tile! Trust us, we know since a few weeks back our central a/c broke and it took a week to fix. It was 91 in the house. Terrible. Our power company recommends setting your thermostat at 78 and leaving it there. It is so much more work for your a/c unit (never mind your wallet) to keep adjusting the temperature all the time. So, Corky (the parrot) and I live in 78 degrees - it is cool enough to be comfortable yet affordable, since we run the a/c for like 9-10 months of the year.
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AnnStaub July 13, 2015 at 2:25 PM
Interesting. I feel your pain. We lived like that for much longer than a week, and I suspect it got hotter than 91 in the house when we didn't have air conditioner. I imagine it's been about 78 in my bedroom these past few days. AC is not cooling well right now. It's doable, for sure, but still feels a little warm!
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zoepheedogs July 13, 2015 at 2:32 PM
I would totally leave the air on for my pets if we had a/c. We live in Oregon and most places don't have it, although now that it's warming up here you see more of them. When we lived in California and were gone for the day I was SO mad at my inlaw's for turning the air off in our room with the dogs in there. It was 90 degrees in there when we got back!
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AnnStaub July 14, 2015 at 1:28 AM
Yea, I am constantly battling my father with the heating/cooling of the house. I swear that he could live without either... if that's even possible. He will wait until it's so hot or cold before turning the air or heat on. And I think he only does it for me and my kids. Now I know why it drove my mom crazy :)
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Your Dog; Mind and Body July 13, 2015 at 3:27 PM
We would leave it on if we had it also. We live in Wyoming where the temps are usually bearable in the house and there is a breeze. We leave the TV on for the dogs when we are gone so they have company, so to speak. They don't really WATCH but they do gather around it. More important to keep them happy and comfortable.
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AnnStaub July 14, 2015 at 1:28 AM
I think that's a cool idea :) Shiner has never really thought much of the TV in her lifetime.
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My GBGV Life July 13, 2015 at 3:52 PM
If Mom would have it on if she was home, then she leaves it on for us. Sometimes she turns it up to 78 rather than 74, but it is still better than nothing. More than anything, around here it is to get rid of the humidity.
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AnnStaub July 14, 2015 at 1:29 AM
That temperature adjustment doesn't seem bad. It's not that much different than what you guys are used to anyways. Humidity is no fun !
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The Island Cats July 13, 2015 at 5:32 PM
Whether I leave the air on or not depends on how hot it is or will be. If it's going to be a hot day, the air goes on...and stays on.
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AnnStaub July 14, 2015 at 1:30 AM
Yea, I know you guys live in an area where the temperatures are probably cooler. But good for you leaving it on when it's hot!
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Anonymous July 13, 2015 at 5:51 PM
I don't leave the AC on. I'm quite paranoid about leaving any electronics, even the slow cooker, on while I'm not home. The house is so old, too.
The basement is cool during the day, and when I come home I do see Bain has been messing around with the blankets down there. Kisa, my cat, also has a cool space to hang out in the house as well.
However, it'd be different if I lived in an apartment instead of a 2 level home.
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AnnStaub July 14, 2015 at 1:32 AM
I live in an old house too, and have had plugs randomly explode so I am also kind of paranoid about that. I wish we had a basement. They stay so cool. You guys live way up north and I'm sure it's not super hot there.
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A Tonl July 13, 2015 at 6:19 PM
Yes, we do too, though we do turn it up a tad bit when we're gone. But not so that it's dangerous or too uncomfortable for them. Thankfully, as you mentioned it's been a mild summer - and we do have a cool basement for the cats to escape to - and underground like that, it always remains cool!
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AnnStaub July 14, 2015 at 1:32 AM
I am jealous of the basement! My Great Grandma's house in Arkansas had a basement and it was always cold down there. Would have been great to hang out in during the summer.
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Unknown July 14, 2015 at 12:21 AM
I would never leave my Myrka (an 11-year-old Pomeranian girl), without AC when it's hot outside. The other day, my husband forgot to turn it on and when he came back, Myrka was panting a little. I was a little upset when he told me what happened. I can tell you that he will never forget the AC again.
Great post! It's very interesting to see the results of this survey. Passing this along! :)
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AnnStaub July 14, 2015 at 1:35 AM
Glad that Myrka is OK! I am also pretty sure my boyfriend will not turn the AC off again either. I guess that we live and learn. A lot of people have commented that this is just something people should automatically know, but truth is that some don't. Hopefully this will encourage people to be mindful of their pets when it's hot!
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Lola The Rescued Cat July 14, 2015 at 6:52 PM
Depending on how hot it is, I'll leave the air conditioner in the bedroom on a timer. I do this when I go away in the summer as well, so I don't have to worry about them. Lexy loves the AC! When I turn on the one in the living room she jumps up on the chair or the cat tree and puts her head up in the air to feel the coolness.
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AnnStaub July 15, 2015 at 12:58 PM
Aw that's cute! Callie does seem to like to lay near the AC too. But I'm not sure if it's because she likes it or if it's the box that she likes to lay on!
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Kimberly Gauthier, Dog Nutrition Blogger for Keep the Tail Wagging July 15, 2015 at 8:47 AM
This is the first year that we had AC; it was never necessary in Western WA - we would only have a week or 2 of hot weather that made us beg for AC and then it was over. We have 2 units and we don't leave the AC on in the house, because although mid to upper 80s (and 2-3 days of low 90s) is hot for us, it's manageable.
We get up early in the mornings, opening all windows and put fans in front of the windows to cool the house down to 65 degrees. Then the windows/blinds are closed and the house will stay cool for most of the day - by the time it starts heating up, we're home and can turn on the AC to get the temp down.
The only issue we have is my boyfriend likes to get the temps to arctic levels and tell me to put on the sweater. I'm concerned about our electric bill. We're finding a balance.
Gorgeous infographic. What did you use to create it? Canva?
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AnnStaub July 15, 2015 at 12:57 PM
I've heard it's been unusually hot in that part of the US this year. You are right about upper 80s being manageable. Back when I lived without AC, I would be begging for those temperatures during our 100 degree days! My dad turns the AC off at night, and it will stay cool enough in the house until about noon or so.
And thank you! Yes - it was made with Canva.
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oscar bites July 20, 2015 at 10:48 AM
We do leave our air on for our dogs. Always have. We live in the south so it gets pretty toasty down here and we have an English Bulldog and she really needs to be cool. Since she pretty much rules the house we have to keep her comfortable!
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AnnStaub July 21, 2015 at 10:18 PM
Well, I know how toasty it is down here (Texas). And the Bulldog definitely needs to stay cool! I mostly worry about my rats when I'm away from home. Sometimes they look a bit toasty even when the air is running.
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Groovy Goldendoodles July 21, 2015 at 9:55 AM
Our AC unit is regulated by a timer. We have two units and they are programmed based on our activities. For instance. During the week it is cooler on the first floor during the day because that's where we are most of the time. The upstairs unit is on, but not as cool - saving energy and $$. At night it's the exact opposite because after dinner we usually retire to the upper level. But the air in some fashion is always on.
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AnnStaub July 21, 2015 at 10:20 PM
Well, I like that plan Cathy. Very practical! I wish I were able to do something like that in my home, but we have the AC window units which are a whole other story I guess.
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George December 20, 2015 at 12:28 PM
We use a ceiling fan instead AC. It's energy saving and keeps the temperature under control.
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About the Author
Steroid Induced Diabetes In Cats
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All content shared at Pawsitively Pets is written by Ann Staub unless stated otherwise. The information provided here is meant to be informative. This website is not meant to diagnose pet health problems, treat conditions, or replace veterinary care. All opinions shared here are our own and may differ from yours.
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August 9, 2015
Privatising RBS: a triple whammy against taxpayers, economy and reform
Why sell off the 80% stake in RBS when the Brown government bailed it out in 2008 at a cost to taxpayers of £45bn, yet today’s share price would fetch only some £32bn? That’s a £13bn loss for taxpayers which, as it happens, is almost exactly the sum that Osborne is pledged to raise by cutbacks to disability benefits, industrial injury benefits, child allowances, and tax credits. Osborne declared two years ago about the RBS and Lloyds bank shares that “we want to get the best value for money for the taxpayer”, which is patently the opposite of what he’s now doing. His only bolt-hole is the highly dodgy statement made by his advisers Rothschild that if all the bank’s shares were sold now, including fees, it would make a £14bn profit. But that is a brazen deceit. It not only excludes the £17bn cash cost of the bailouts, it also ignores the guarantees, soft loans and subsidies the government extended to the banking sector as a whole. If all that is taken on board, as it should be, the taxpayer ploughed into the stricken banks as much as £1.2 trillions, according to the IMF. Why isn’t that being repaid in full? Continue reading →
June 21, 2015
Even the Tories’ naked bribery has now gone pear-shaped
There is a very noticeable difference between the way that the Tories and Labour have conducted this election.
The Tories have used the twin-prong approach: personal vilification which has proved counter-productive and now blatant giveaways (of other people’s money) to try to produce a false feel-good factor. However, no serious policy proposals for the country’s increasingly dire social and economic problems, especially the triple deficit problem of a budget deficit of nearly £100bn, a balance of payments deficit of over £100bn, and a productivity deficit that means living standards can’t rise. Continue reading →
April 21, 2015
Big four banks (with 1,629 subsidiaries in tax havens) are rotten heart of UK economy
The more that comes to light about the nefarious activities of the Big four banks, the more extraordinary it is that these banks (a) demand a return to business as usual (which of course caused the financial crash in the first place), (b) continue to fight back against any reforms of a dysfunctional finance sector, feeble though these measures are, (c) show not a scintilla of remorse or apology for the decade of disaster they’ve imposed on ordinary people and the economy as a whole (remember Bob Diamond’s infamous comment “It’s time to move on” as though nothing had happened), and (d) have never been held to account by prosecutions of the chief executives, finance directors and other executives responsible. This is all the more staggering when what has now been revealed is the enormous extent to which all 4 banks not only indulged in, but actively promoted, tax evasion/avoidance on an industrial scale. Barclays has 385 subsidiary companies in tax havens (36% of all its subsidiaries), HSBC has 550, Lloyds has 290, and RBS has 404! Continue reading →
March 30, 2015
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It had been a turbulent time in Kasey’s life, and she needed something to hold on to. Her neighbor Amanda had it so easy. Amanda never seemed perturbed by anything. She was the same age as Kasey, seventeen, and yet seemed older somehow. Insults didn’t bother her. She could deal with tough situations with a smile on her face. She was just as poor as anyone else in the neighborhood, and yet didn’t seem to desire anything more.
Kasey had asked Amanda once why she was so happy all the time when it seemed like the whole world was against her. Amanda had smiled and responded, “Because I have Jesus in my life. I try to always live the way He did. What more do I need?”
Kasey hadn’t understood then. But now, while her parents were in the midst of a divorce, and everything seemed so insecure, she needed something stable, something that would never change.
She walked through the trailer park and came to Amanda’s door. She knocked. Amanda answered, with a smile on her face, as always. “Hi, Kasey,” she said.
“Hi, Amanda,” said Kasey. “ Can I come to church with you this Sunday?”
November 2015:
By the time Kasey had been going to church with Amanda for two months, she had decided that she wanted to become a member of the Catholic Church. It was now time for the Rite of Acceptance. The priest had explained to Kasey, when she asked, what this meant: “The stage you have been in is called the Inquiry period. You have been learning about our faith and have been meeting with the others in your position to discuss it. Now, the Rite of Acceptance is the first formal step to becoming Catholic. It is when the current members of the Church welcome you into the Church. You will be coming to our church for the next several weeks, attending services, learning about what it means to be Catholic, and deciding whether that is really what you want in your life. Following Jesus isn’t something you do halfheartedly or only sometimes. It’s a lifelong commitment. When you become a member of this church, you are stating that you are ready to live your life the way that Jesus did.”
January 2016:
The Rite of Acceptance had passed very smoothly. Kasey was enjoying her time as a catechumen, a student of Christianity. She went to meetings every Tuesday night with the other catechumens and some members of the church. She also still attended the services every Sunday morning, but was not permitted to stay for the Eucharist. She and the other catechumens were always dismissed after the homily, and given a blessing as they left. Then they would go into a separate room together and meditate on and study the Scriptures, usually those which had been the subject of the homily. During one of these meditation sessions, she asked one of the faithful who had accompanied them, “Why are we not allowed to celebrate the Eucharist until we become members of the church?”
“Good question, Kasey,” said the man she had asked. “I believe that it is because the Eucharist is when we feast on the very body and blood of Jesus Christ. Those who feast on His body and blood are completely serious about Him. They are following in His commandments: ‘Do this in remembrance of me’. They have already made the decision that will change their lives forever. You, on the other hand, haven’t yet fully reached the decision.”
“Yes, I have!” exclaimed Kasey vehemently. “I do want to be a Christian. I do want to be part of this church.”
“It’s just that the Eucharist is a very serious thing,” he said. “I know that you want to be a Christian, and if you truly believe in Christ Jesus as Lord then you already are. You just haven’t been initiated yet. We want to give you all the information, and make sure you really understand it, before you can take part in the body and blood of Jesus. It is the covenant of new life. The ritual of having the catechumens leave before the Eucharist is kind of a symbol of the old life and the new—plus, of course, it’s an opportunity for you to get some more meditation and reflection in. Remember, some catechumens still aren’t sure at this point whether they really want to take this step of faith.”
“I am sure, though.”
“Well, you will get to publicly announce that during the Rite of Election.”
February 2016:
It was finally time for the Rite of Election, the point in which the catechumens state publicly to the congregation that they want to become part of the Catholic Church, that they are ready to give up their old lives and start the new. This is it, Kasey thought to herself. This is the time when we make our big decision known. I’ve made my decision; I made it a while ago. Becoming Catholic isn’t just something I think I might do anymore; it’s something I know I want to do.
The Rite of Election, as was tradition, was taking place at the beginning of Lent. Kasey was pretty sure she understood why it took place specifically at the start of Lent. It was because Lent was the time when the other members of the church were reflecting on their relationship with God, giving things up to remember Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and to rid their lives of things that distracted them from Him. Similarly, the catechumens were now ready to start focusing their lives on God, and placing Him first in their lives.
“Kasey Finch?” Kasey took a deep breath and walked forward. The bishop asked her some questions. Then Amanda’s parents, who were Kasey’s sponsors, stood and testified that Kasey was indeed worthy to participate in the Easter Vigil Rite. She was now an “elect”, a “chosen of God”. Her life would never be the same again.
April 2016:
Soon it was the Easter Vigil, the most exciting time of Kasey’s life. Everyone gathered together for the service of light, and watched as the new fire was lit. This new fire symbolizes my new life, thought Kasey. Off with the old, on with the new. I am from now on going to live as a Christian, fully devoted to Christ.
Stories were told, many stories, about Creation, about God’s followers though the years, and about Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection. Then the moment Kasey had been waiting for was upon her. “I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,” the priest said, as he baptized her. “Amen.”
After being baptized, Kasey went up for confirmation, and renewed the vows which she had just made before being baptized. Then, with the joy of new life inside her, she joined the rest of the congregation in the partaking of the Lord’s Supper. I have died with Him, and have risen with Him, she thought. Just like it says in the Bible, “dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus”. (Romans 6.11). I am a Christian now!
March 2017:
It has now been almost an entire year since Kasey joined the Catholic Church. Although her life isn’t perfect, and she still has as many struggles as she did a year ago, she has a much more positive outlook on life. She knows that she always has God to turn to, as well as all the people she knows from church. She is part of a huge family that supports her and loves her, and is working together with them to bring others into that family so that they too can know the inexpressible joy of following Jesus.
A Catholic church I visited in Jinotega, Nicaragua!
This one was from a Religion class, where the assignment was to describe the process of initiation into the Catholic Church. I am not Catholic. I don't even agree with everything the Catholic Church believes in. However, I am a Christian, so I chose to focus on the universal Christian aspects of this story--such as how great it feels to have Jesus in your life. The invitation is open for anyone, and you don't need to take part in a fancy initiation process like Kasey chose to do in this story. Just admit that you're a sinner and ask Him into your heart as your Savior. Whatever you're going through right now, God is the answer. He loves you more than you can imagine.
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For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. I Corinthians 13:12
“You don’t think your way into a new kind of living. You live your way into a new kind of thinking.” – Henri Nouwen
My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
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Hello, I’m Randy Wilson. I’m a Professor of Sociology at Houston Baptist University. I’m also a Southern Baptist minister. In these two roles I study the church in America. The Invisible Man blog is written in an attempt to throw out ideas about the journey of faith, to inspire, to challenge and to make us all think about where God is taking us in His Great Mission.
Then one of them, Cleopas, replied, “You must be the only person in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard about all the things that have happened there the last few days.” “What things?” Jesus asked. “The things that happened to Jesus, the man from Nazareth,” they said. “He was a prophet who did powerful miracles, and he was a mighty teacher in the eyes of God and all the people. But our leading priests and other religious leaders handed him over to be condemned to death, and they crucified him. We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel. This all happened three days ago.” – Luke 24:18-21
The great works of God were in the past tense for these two disciples. They were now in retreat. They had misunderstood who Jesus was, had sold him short. They described to this stranger a different kind of conflict because they had expected a different kind of rescue. Their savior was someone who could be “handled” by the authorities, someone who could not control events as they happened to him, a victim. What a crushing feeling of disappointment must have been written across their faces.
If only they had really heard what Jesus had been trying to communicate all along.
It makes me wonder about things that I might be missing. I wonder what the Holy Spirit has been trying to tell me and then I wonder what I’ve actually been hearing. Sometimes it’s hard to hear life changing messages when you’re very busy propping up an agenda about yourself:
You see I want to make a point
I need to appear strong, not weak
I want to be moving forward in my spiritual journey, not backward
When people ask, I should have answers
Why would anyone come to me for help if I look unsteady?
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? – Matthew 16:24-26
It is increasingly difficult for the visible man to hear and understand eternal truth.
Did you pick up any “attitude” in Cleopas reply? “What kind of dumb hick are you? Let me explain what’s been going on.” They are walking in the wrong direction yet are able to maintain a clear air of superiority. I wonder what that feels like, I’m glad I never act like that (ha!).
This part of the story is that constant and classic reminder to us all that we often misunderstand God’s will and then go about constructing and living in a different reality (Gordon-Conwell Seminary estimates that there are 43,000 Christian denominations world-wide, all reading the same Bible). That’s why Jesus taught his disciples to pray for God’s will on earth as it is in heaven. That’s why he came and joined these two on the crooked road to Emmaus, to straighten things out.
And He gives grace generously. – James 4:6
He is Alive and Still Praying
Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. – Romans 8:34
I may have stirred everyone up today. I told people in my Sunday School department that Jesus wasn’t living in their hearts. That’s not a nice thing to say on Easter Sunday.
Lot’s of fidgeting around in their plastic chairs. I was racing to get it all in before members of the choir had to leave early and everyone else needed to exit in time to get a seat for the packed Easter worship service that follows. I wish I had slowed down and let people process what they were hearing. That always works best. It may be a lot to think about if you’ve grown up singing “Since Jesus came into my heart…”
“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.” – Luke 22:31-32
I had never noticed this before. As we were studying the life of Christ these past few years, I saw for the first time Jesus talking with Peter about His prayers and what He hoped the results would be. As I thought about this I wanted to remind my class that Jesus wasn’t living in their hearts (like our hymns might wrongly teach us) but he was still fully human, fully God and still fulfilling His mission in Heaven.
God has sent the Holy Spirit to reside in our hearts.
“If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you.” John 14:15-18
Remembering that Jesus isn’t in my heart but instead is in heaven helps me to realize what He is doing for me there. He has ascended as victor over death and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He is preparing a place for me. He is going to return one day as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Now he is interceding for me as He did for Peter, pleading in prayer, that my faith would not fail.
Notice that he told Peter not that he was going to pray that all of his problems would go away nor that he would be able to avoid his trials with a happy attitude. He prayed for Peter’s faith, that it would not fail. Not that Peter would necessarily feel better about himself, but that he would have the maturity and wisdom to lift up his fellow apostles. Jesus was praying for Peter and his faith so that he could use that faith for the sake of others and in so doing launch the church. Instead of sinking into self-destructive despair because of his denial, Peter becomes one of the key leaders in the birth of Christianity.
Jesus was already praying for Peter as he prepared Himself for the cross.
Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf. – Hebrews 7:25
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I don't for a second mistake my popularity for that of "The Sports Guy", Bill Simmons. He single handedly directed over 40,000 hits (and counting) to my Rocky video when he linked to it from his ESPN blog (third to last paragraph). Thanks for blogging about me, Mr. Simmons - you made my week. Also, thanks to Jimmy from China for telling The Sports Guy about my video and to my good YouTube friends who told me about the article. Man, it's hard not to be positive with all the encouragement around here. It goes a long way, folks. I read every single comment and if I had time, I would reply to every one of em.
Peace out, Ronald
36 Responses to “Thanks Bill Simmons (ESPN)!”
Feed for this Entry
March 24, 2007 at 4:40 pm
Yeah, man. That's how I found out about you. I definitely want to hear more of your music. It's very addictive and positive. Please post more of it.
K
March 25, 2007 at 9:08 am
Ronald, perhaps ESPN should put you in charge of the Monday Night Football Theme! They could throw a big ole cowboy hat on ya and you could totally jam on those keys!!! Keep up the great work, Im addicted to your videos :)
March 25, 2007 at 4:01 pm
Ronald, congratulations on all the hits man. Glad to see you getting the attention you deserve. Hope you get your big break soon!
March 25, 2007 at 8:26 pm
You are amazing. All of your beats are sweet, keep up the good work buddy. Your Rocky beat is fantastic. I have no idea why you aren't working the music business. You're that good. As Bigp3rm said, it's only a matter of time until you get your big break. Thanks so much for your music.
(And thanks to Jimmy from China for telling Bill Simmons about you too. That's how I found you. You rock).
As you would say, "Peace out."
Josh
March 25, 2007 at 11:26 pm
I love your music and your videos! A friend of mine sent me a link to your videos and they have provided much entertainment!
Best wishes!
Josh
March 26, 2007 at 12:22 am
Ronald, I'm amazed by all of your music. Your beats are hot and your talents are instantly recognized. Please keep up the fantastic work and keep posting. I profiled you on my blog as soon as I heard you. You have a bright future my man.
March 26, 2007 at 3:17 am
yo keep up the great work. It was would be killer if you made an mp3 out of the rocky song. Your rendition was great. Ive watched the video at least 4 times just to hear it. I needs it.
March 26, 2007 at 1:07 pm
Dude..please right a full version to the Rocky beat and make it downloadable, I would love to put that on a pregame cd for my soccer team i coach. awesome man
March 27, 2007 at 1:14 am
Ditto on the Rocky beat. Make that downloadable and full length so I can go running to it, or use it when working out. Keep it up brutha.
March 27, 2007 at 1:29 pm
I loved that Rocky video when I watched it, the movie pumped me up after I saw it and your video pumped me up just as much after I watched it. It would be pretty cool to have a mp3 of that to jam out to, but hey, keep up your awesome work I love your beats.
March 29, 2007 at 12:03 pm
Fantastic job on everything, Ronald.
I'd seriously love to have some t-shirts about you printed up. No profit to be made, just me and my friends wearing them. I'd like to put your likeness on them with captions that read "What would Ronald Jenkees do?" or "Wack beats". We could put your website address on the back.
I figured I'd ask your permission to use your likeness first. Don't worry, we all love what your doing and would only print them in a respectful manner.
What do you say?
March 31, 2007 at 1:26 pm
is there any way i cld download ur music to show to my school?
April 2, 2007 at 1:26 am
Hey Ronald... It is sooo refreshing to see someone who is totally comfortable with who they are and totally enjoys life like you do! It's gotta be wierd for you to know that people all over the world are hooking up to your videos and stuff... My wife didn't know what to think about your video's at first...but I think she is warming up to you! Post more jam sessions if you got the time...I love them and so does my little girl Esther! Your a good man Ronald!
April 4, 2007 at 10:37 am
Ronald, it doesn't sound like you need me to tell you this, but don't let the haters get to you.
Your music is off the chain and your style is yours. I'd like to get in line for the Ron Jenkees CD when you're ready to start selling your genius.
Put me in the long line waiting for a full mp3 of that Rocky mix. Keep it up!
pk
April 4, 2007 at 11:53 pm
You rock man. You rock. I'd love to wail with you.
Julio Es
April 6, 2007 at 2:08 pm
Dam bro you are the bomb!! do you have The Rocky song Remixed in mp3 format for us pleaseeeeeeee
April 8, 2007 at 11:27 pm
Ronald! Every time you create a new beat you leave me wanting more. Glad to see you are finally going to start selling your music. For selling your music online I'm no expert but I have been hearing about this lately. http://www.tunecore.com/
Anyhow hope that helps man. Keep up the great work and don't let those haters get to you!
April 12, 2007 at 8:23 am
hei ronald i saw your videos on youtube & think ya are so fantastic man! i wanna hear more of your music! do you have prokects?gruops? i should if you dont have one!
April 12, 2007 at 6:35 pm
Hey, Ronald. I noticed you want to be able to get your music out there so that people can buy it. I just want to recommend you check out AmieStreet.com. They cater to independent musicians and groups. They have several tools to help you, so you can sell from your website, and the more popular you are, the more money you can make :). Anyway, hope that will help.
April 12, 2007 at 7:17 pm
Ronald, keep doing what you're doing because it is fantastic. I've already forwarded your website and youtube profile to get your name out b/c you're great - let us know when those downloads are ready, I'll be first in line.
April 12, 2007 at 9:36 pm
Hey Ronald, love your stuff man... I do a podcast (on a new, very small at the moment, website) and I'd love to feature one of your tunes. It's no Sports Guy publicity, but it's still something... send me and email if you're interested and keep up the good work (ligulatemaster@yahoo.com)!
April 12, 2007 at 11:08 pm
You're unreal bro!! I have been playing music for about 10 years now so I definitely appreciate your talent! I watched all your videos on YouTube too and they all rock out! I love that one with the organ sound you use on the Triton. Definitely keep it up man, you've got some amazing talent! I need some new videos on YouTube too man, haha! Take care!
G
April 13, 2007 at 12:25 pm
I love your stuff man! Dont let the haters get you down! Get some of this stuff onto CD or Record cause I would buy it!
April 13, 2007 at 4:30 pm
My parents always told me that I would regret not sticking with piano someday. I never thought that would happen until I saw your videos. Although I'm pretty sure you're talent is a gift and was probably inborn (Not to say you didn't work hard to hone it). I'm definetly envious of you.
Was wondering if you could send me some of your beats/songs. I'm willing to pay if that's what's needed.
I really enjoyed this one: http://youtube.com/watch?v=6BvWqmGpCAI
Thanks
April 13, 2007 at 4:38 pm
Enjoy your new found fame, my man. The Numa Numa guy's got nothin on you. Cause you can actually SELL your talent. Ah yes, and I do dig your beats. POST A WHOLE TRACK! quit teasing us. Latr.
April 14, 2007 at 1:22 pm
Ronald - you have a new fan(s) in The Playaz!
April 14, 2007 at 9:04 pm
Ronald, I love your Rocky beat and even posted in on my myspace page. I'm glad that the sportsguy put that link up because I've checked out the rest of your stuff and you rock!
April 18, 2007 at 10:53 am
Hey Ronald - You are the man. Keep on being your self. Not enough people unafraid to be who they are in the world. You are genuine and it shows.
I thought your Led Zepplin kicked ass as did your Rocky beat. You are the man. YOu should put together a CD. I would buy your Rocky beat today if I could.
April 27, 2007 at 5:16 pm
Great stuff man!! I just downloaded your Rocky remix and put it into my mp3 player. I can't wait to listen to it when I'm working out. Awesome stuff man, for real. You've got a lot of talent...keep going!!! Please put a CD out of your stuff!!!
May 10, 2007 at 7:26 pm
What up RJ? You da man!!! Keep the beats coming. You're like a white Herbie Hancock, a musical prodigy. Whatever you do, don't stop cause you're doing what you do best and it shows. I was seriously in a shitty mood and then heard that Rocky remix and that vibration picked me right up.
May 12, 2007 at 6:49 pm
hey my twins and i are fascinated by you as a person but especially your improv. You are a role model. One of them has been playing classical piano for 5 yrs and i was just wondering what you would advise he do to get him started with keyboard improv. No offense to the remix stuff but that's your strongest talent. I would pay for your improv vs the hip hop stuff which a lot of the younger and older generations are moving away from (and toward classic rock with complexity like the led zep you did). We want more improv!
May 15, 2007 at 5:59 pm
Incredible. Simply Incredible. You have a totally fresh and unique sound. Tell me that you are making an album. I mean, that is something that I would want in my collection forever.
May 18, 2007 at 3:10 pm
The Sports Guy definitely rocks, but so does your sound. Keep it up, maybe you'll be directing around 40k hits soon!
May 29, 2007 at 6:15 pm
May 29, 2007 at 6:17 pm
I heard about you from Bill Simmons chatwrap. Your stuff is real good, cool to listen to. I was hoping that you could make a jam that lasts a little longer like maybe 5-7 minutes---that would be great!
July 20, 2007 at 12:31 am
hi ronald...you were the first youtube video I got to watch! You totally rock and like the others have posted, you really have an energy that surrounds you and it's transported through your keyboard! String jams has been stuck in my head all day long.
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In an attempt to protect Raizel, his servant Frankenstein enrolls him at Ye-Ran High School, where Raizel learn the simple and quotidian routines … The battle between Raizel and Raskreia occurs when Raskreia is about to execute Gejutel whom she has convicted as a traitor. She is noted to be extremely beautiful that her vibe, appearance and name resembles Cadis Etrama Di Raizel, to the point where the children thought she was Rai's sister. He then tells Ludis to form a shield to protect the Shrine, so that Raskreia can use her full strength. Reply. Battle Duration revinaesmyth liked this . A flashback shows Lord Raskreia before she was a lord when her father was still alive. Just as she thought, the almighty Noblesse couldn't argue against his children. Forgot account? Rai pulled over and waited for the Lord Raskreia to ride on his vehicle. Seira doesn’t reply, and Lord Raskreia uses her mental powers to force the answer from her. Noblesse Wiki is a FANDOM Anime Community. !I JUST START TO IMAGINE RAI AND RASKREIA HAD A GOOD SEX. [3] She observes the game only once and was taught the basics to play by Suyi and Yuna. But Raskreia uses Ragnarok to break through it. The only people who have called her by her name … I don't remember Raskreia being that coldhearted and petty in the manhwa, but hopefully next episode could help flesh out her character and motivation more. He has a silver cross earring on his left ear which is later revealed to be a gift from the previous Lord that seals his powers.Raizel also wears an outfit that bears a strong resemblance to his uniform (albeit without the emblem). "How about we go together?" They all take out their soul weapons to fight him but the Lord orders them to stop and decides to fight Raizel herself. Both Raizel and Frankenstein are acquainted with her and it is revealed by Frankenstein that she and Raizel were not on friendly terms though that was rectified later on as Raizel and Raskreia met each other multiple times due to Previous Lord's orders. Raskreia questions the gesture of Raizel since her father left this Ragnarok to him, not her. Later that half of Ragnarok is used by Raskreia to restore Raizel's diminishing life force. ; Healing Shiv: Raskreia uses the half of Ragnarok that the previous lord left for Rai to refill Rai's dwindling life force. Professional Status He has scarlet-red eyes (a common trait among Pure-blood Nobles) and jet black hair. Unknown 10 December 2018 at 21:50. Follow. Parting words before leaving Lukedonia... As Lord of the Nobles, Raskreia is tremendously powerful. Noble Delete. Gejutel explains that Raizel does not use a soul weapon and that the earring is a seal binding his mighty powers. He then releases his own blood field which is of an even larger magnitude. Noblesse Wiki is a FANDOM Anime Community. Noblesse - Episode 11 Recap. Interest. Prior to Raizel's disappearance 820 years ago, Rai was a favorite of his, as shown in his constant desire for Rai to succeed him as the next Lord of the Nobles, even though he already had an heir in his daughter, and has shown his persistence i… "..." Raskreia plan was working marvelously. Family Erga Kenesis Di Raskreia is the daughter of the previous Lord who entered eternal sleep 500 years prior to Raizel's awakening. Take your favorite fandoms with you and never miss a beat. nafi-tan liked this . She can create very powerful barriers to shield herself from enemy attacks, and also send powerful slashes made of aura at her opponents. Erga Kenesis Di Raskreia (Kor. Outcome He takes out another Ragnarok and gives it to her. However, after hearing her father's message, she seems to change her attitude and is willing to respect the will of the previous Lord and even suggested Raizel take over her position as Lord. Erga Kenesis Di Raskreia is the current Lord of the Nobles. The Previous Lord ruled over the Nobles for a long time, spanning several thousand years, such that he had seemingly forgotten his own age or for how long he had ruled. cutefujoshiyaoi. Part 1 of Trial-Order; Language: English Words: 3,633 Chapters: 1/2 Comments: 14 Kudos: 16 Bookmarks: 1 Hits: 559; Метаморфозы by fandom_Noblesse_2018 Fandoms: Noblesse (Manhwa) Teen And Up Audiences; No Archive Warnings Apply; F/M, Gen; Complete Work; 27 Aug … FFS ! Read reviews (page 2) on the anime Noblesse on MyAnimeList, the internet's largest anime database. She first demonstrated this ability when she changes into Ye Ran's uniform.[2]. Frankenstein explains that the Ragnarok was left at their home in Lukedonia by the previous Lord and that they came to the shrine in order to see the message left by him. Fictional Character. Raskreia has amazing gaming skills which she discovers during her visit in the human world. Replies. Blood Affinity: Raskreia has the ability to govern blood (using her soul weapon) like the Noblesse . Seira withstands this technique at … So the current Lord holds a grudge against the traitorous nobles, who had made excuses and squirmed out of entering the eternal sleep along with her father and then took advantage of the new regime's confusion to betray her. Determined to prove her resolution, Raskreia concentrates her powers and using it along with other techniques, unleashes a blood field much stronger than before. Raskreia assumes that Gejutel is a traitorous clan leader who works under Raizel, the leader of the traitors. He did as he was told, standing like a scarecrow to a side, although his eyes did track her movements with open curiosity. When a god show is true power raizel vs Lord raskreia ( noblesse ) AMV- crown if your not subscribe please do so for amazing daily content like these. Raizel tells her to attack him again making her angry. Ayana Taketatsu (Noblesse Anime). Anime Name: Noblesse A Short Synopsis:Raizel awakens from his 820-year slumber. Her arms holding onto his waist, her cheek slightly pressed on the upper part of Rai's back, her legs falling on one side covered by her elegant immaculate pristine white gown. Log In. Noblesse Forever! Manga.District. Personal Blog. Book. #noblesse #noblesse webtoon #noblesse anime #Cadis Etrama di Raizel #rai noblesse #raizel #noblesse frankenstein #frankenstein #franken … Raskreia attacks Raizel with a blood field but he easily breaks through it claiming that he finds the blood field lacking. Back then, she donned a white shirt with a black vest and trousers. According to Lagus Tradio, when Drakon, Kaiyo, Mount, and Edian try to attack her, Raskreia awakens her latent power when she becomes enraged after finding out Rajak has gone into Eternal Sleep. Noblesse. It means that people of nobility, people with power have the … Her black and gold embellished attire resemble that of a fencer with the addition of a long cape. Find out more with MyAnimeList, the world's most active online anime and manga community and database. Performance Art. Japanese Voice Actor Affiliations After she awakens her latent powers, she becomes so powerful that with one swing of her sword, she completely severs the arm of Zaiga's subordinate while leaving a massive cut in the earth. She also wears rings similar to Raizel's. She is more well known by her title of Lord than her name. Another serious after-credits scene, Seira is about to go on a rampage with her scythe after hearing Gejutel's fate. she proposed. Unlike Raizel, she beats all the children on her very first attempt in the game of CS 1.6 at the local PC bang. I have no ill feelings towards the authors tho, I respect that Noblesse has already ended, and this is their story telling, just giving out my reaction. Raskreia orders the clan leaders to protect innocent werewolves who … TV … Raskreia is a pale-skinned young woman with long black hair that has an intricate braided bun at the back and the characteristic ruby red eyes of nobles. Noblesse FanArt Collection. He is usually seen wearing the Ye Ran High School uniform. Raskreia is a pale-skinned young woman with long black hair that has an intricate braided bun at the back and the characteristic ruby red eyes of nobles. Side note: Rael uses his time inappropriately. ; Bloody Murder: Has blood powers like Rai, but are inferior. In the end, Rai's feelings got through to them to protect the humans with their overwhelming power. Frankenstein appears and tries to stop his Master but Raizel calmly refuses. Series. Upon hearing this, all the other clan leaders present are surprised, while Raskreia is left doubtful. Rai began to shift a little, not wanting to disappoint his children. (Frankie finding a way to use the Bloodstone for it, or something with the Dark Spear?!) ! She wasn't wearing any earrings but had the same hairstyle she maintains currently. The traitorous clan leaders consider her to be considerably weak, a rumour they passed on to the Union which on the observation of the 3rd and 5th Elder, proved to be wrong. Several minutes in, and Raskreia was starting to get annoyed. Raizel awakens from his 820-year slumber. Literary Arts. That without merging the two begin to argue, much to the amusement of the clan leader made excuses did... 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Courtney Act
5:31 pm · December 9, 2020
Courtney Act
Move over Good Penny, Shazza has arrived! She didn’t just get off the bus and she’s wearing her Good Gold Trench! Get your ticket for #deathdrop cause they are selling out! Deathdropplay.com pic.twitter.com/X9v4uRPDIF
1:08 pm · December 9, 2020
Courtney Act
8:34 pm · December 8, 2020
Courtney Act
This is a tweet to let you know I've just posted an Instastory about going live on TikTok. On that live I'll be announcing that I am doing a 'Celebrity Dinner With Me' Live on my TikTok December 16th at 9pm (Sydney time). Got it?
8:31 pm · December 8, 2020
Courtney Act
10:44 am · December 8, 2020
Courtney Act
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January 19, 2021 January 19, 2021 by Simons Chase
Decipher Biosciences, a commercial-stage precision urology oncology company, has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to raise up to $100 million in an IPO.
Decipher’s prostate cancer genomic testing products surface information about the underlying biology of a patient’s tumor. The company applies machine learning algorithms to help physicians improve therapy selection and accelerate adoption of new therapies into the urological standard of care. Collectively, the company’s genomic tests have been used by more than 3,200 urologists and radiation oncologists, and at all 28 National Comprehensive Cancer Network centers in the US.
The company’s prostate cancer products are covered by Medicare in nine clinical indications, representing the entire known spectrum of localized, regional and biochemically recurrent prostate cancer. Six clinical indications received Medicare coverage in 2020.
<<One dimension of the company’s capacity to innovate is contained in this non-mean reverting data set>> Decipher’s whole transcriptome analysis of clinical patient samples from its commercial channel and its participation in practice-changing clinical trials is used to build and expand its Decipher GRID database, one of the largest and well-annotated urologic cancer genomic databases in the world. Decipher GRID is the company’s proprietary engine that drives product development for internal development and for its pharmaceutical partners.
Last year, Decipher announced that Palmetto GBA, a Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC), issued a final local coverage determination (LCD) that expands coverage for Decipher Prostate (Decipher Prostate Biopsy and Decipher Prostate RP) to include all men with localized prostate cancer being considered for treatment. Decipher is the first genomic test to receive Medicare coverage across the spectrum of localized disease which addresses an estimated 234,665 men annually with prostate cancer in the U.S. In the initial treatment setting, the LCD provides coverage for men in very low through very high and pelvic lymph node positive NCCN risk groups. Following surgery to remove the prostate, Decipher is covered for all men being considered for treatment, both immediately after surgery, and after disease recurrence.
According to the company, the worldwide prostate cancer therapeutic market is one of the fastest growing cancer therapeutic markets of the decade and grew from approximately $2.0 billion in 2010 to an estimated $10.0 billion in 2019. The increase in the number of available therapeutics has led to challenges in therapy selection for physicians and patients.
Within the urologic cancer space, the most common cancer in men is prostate cancer, with approximately 192,000 new cases per year and over 3.1 million men living with the disease in the U.S. alone. Approximately 92% of new cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed as localized disease and approximately 8% of new cases are diagnosed as metastatic disease. Depending on the diagnosis, prostate cancer therapies include surgery, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy, chemotherapy and other targeted therapies, which all have varying side effect profiles and efficacy based on the unique characteristics of a patient and the stage of his disease. Once a patient is initially diagnosed with localized prostate cancer, in order to determine the appropriate patient management and therapy strategy, patients are stratified by their clinical risk with the goal of predicting the patient’s risk of metastasis and prostate cancer-related mortality.
According to the company, accurate risk stratification remains a critical unmet medical need in the management of prostate cancer, with current risk stratification methods generally being from 60% to 68% accurate in predicting metastasis. This low accuracy has resulted in patients being overtreated or undertreated, which in each case, has led to suboptimal care management strategies and deleterious outcomes for many patients.
The ideas presented on this site do not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Investors are advised to conduct their own independent research into individual stocks before making a purchase decision. In addition, investors are advised that past stock performance is not indicative of future price action. You should be aware of the risks involved in stock investing, and you use the material contained herein at your own risk. Neither SYNTHETIC.COM nor any of its contributors are responsible for any errors or omissions which may have occurred. The analysis, ratings, and/or recommendations made on this site do not provide, imply, or otherwise constitute a guarantee of performance. SYNTHETIC.COM posts may contain financial reports and economic analysis that embody a unique view of trends and opportunities. Accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed. Investors should be aware of the risks involved in stock investments and the possibility of financial loss. It should not be assumed that future results will be profitable or will equal past performance, real, indicated or implied. The material on this website is provided for information purpose only. SYNTHETIC.COM does not accept liability for your use of the website. The website is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis, without any representations, recommendations, warranties or conditions of any kind.
IPO: Decipher Biosciences Advances Prostate Genomic Testing was last modified: January 19th, 2021 by Simons Chase
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After an insect bite on his back became infected, David Donner, a retired truck driver in rural Alabama, waited six hours in a packed emergency room with his wife, before coronavirus vaccines were widely available. A few days later, they both began experiencing the telltale symptoms of Covid-19.Debra Donner quickly recovered, but Mr. Donner, 66, landed in the I.C.U. “The virus barely slowed her down, but I ended up surrounded by nurses in hazmat suits,” he said. His halting recovery has left him dependent on a wheelchair. “I walk 20 feet and I’m huffing and puffing like I ran 20 miles.”
The Donners see little mystery in why they fared so differently: Mr. Donner has diabetes, a chronic disease that hobbles the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar and inexorably wreaks havoc on circulation, kidney function and other vital organs.
After older people and nursing home residents, perhaps no group has been harder hit by the pandemic than people with diabetes. Several studies suggest that 30 to 40 percent of all coronavirus deaths in the United States have occurred among people with diabetes, a sobering figure that has been subsumed by other grim data from a public health disaster that is on track to claim a million American lives sometime this month.
People with poorly controlled diabetes are especially vulnerable to severe illness from Covid, partly because diabetes impairs the immune system but also because those with the disease often struggle with high blood pressure, obesity and other underlying medical conditions that can seriously worsen a coronavirus infection.“It’s hard to overstate just how devastating the pandemic has been for Americans with diabetes,” said Dr. Giuseppina Imperatore, who oversees diabetes prevention and treatment at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Diabetes patients hospitalized with Covid spend more time in the I.C.U., are more likely to be intubated and are less likely to survive, according to several studies, one of which found that 20 percent of hospitalized coronavirus patients with diabetes died within a month of admission. Though researchers are still trying to understand the dynamics between the two diseases, most agree on one thing: Uncontrolled diabetes impairs the immune system and decreases a patient’s ability to withstand a coronavirus infection.
Diabetes is a pernicious disease that is at once ubiquitous and invisible, partly because most people with the condition do not appear outwardly ill. It affects 34 million Americans, or 13 percent of all adults, but draws less funding and public attention than other major killers like cancer, Alzheimer’s and heart disease.
Even as the pandemic’s hold on political leaders and the public begins to fade, researchers, clinicians and other experts in the field are hoping the disproportionate suffering and death among people with diabetes will bring renewed attention to the disease, which annually claims 100,000 lives and soaks up one in four health care dollars spent.
“Millions of Americans were already struggling with diabetes, and then Covid came along and cut a huge swath of suffering and misery that has been largely overlooked by the public and policymakers,” said Dr. David Kerr, the director of research and innovation at Sansum Diabetes Research Institute in California. “Diabetes is a wicked problem and Covid has just shone a bright light on this crisis.”
Mr. Donner’s weekly medication organizer. Diabetes drastically increases the risk of premature blindness, stroke and circulatory and neurological problems, as well as infections that can require amputations. Charity Rachelle for The New York Times
Like the pandemic, which has had an outsize toll on communities of color, the burden of diabetes falls more heavily on Latino and Black Americans, highlighting systemic failures in health care delivery that have also made the coronavirus far deadlier for the poor, said Nadia Islam, a medical sociologist at NYU Langone Health.
“It’s not that diabetes itself makes Covid inherently worse but rather uncontrolled diabetes, which is really a proxy for other markers of disadvantage,” she said. Compounding the concerns, some studies suggest that a coronavirus infection can heighten the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, a disease that is largely preventable through a healthy diet and exercise. Type 1, by contrast, is a genetic disorder that tends to emerge early in life and is sometimes referred to as juvenile diabetes. More than 90 percent of all diabetes cases in the United States are type 2.
One study published last month found that patients who recovered from Covid were 40 percent more likely to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes within 12 months compared with the uninfected, though researchers have yet to determine a connection between the two conditions.
Over the past two years, doctors have also reported a sharp rise in young people being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, an increase that many believe is tied to the drastic spike in childhood obesity during the pandemic.
“We’ve seen kids coming in so sick and dehydrated that they sometimes require I.C.U. care,” said Dr. Daniel Hsia, a diabetes specialist at the Pennington Medical Research Center at Louisiana State University.
About 1.5 million Americans are diagnosed with diabetes each year, according to the C.D.C., and roughly 96 million, about one in three adults, are at high risk for developing the disease. Although the number of new diagnoses has begun to decline, the overall number of Americans with diabetes has doubled in the past two decades, an increase that mirrors the alarming rise of obesity, which affects more than 42 percent of adults.
Diabetes is an insidious disease that significantly increases the risks of premature blindness, stroke, and circulatory and neurological problems that can lead to infections requiring amputation of gangrenous toes and feet. As with many chronic conditions, the poor and people of color are diagnosed with diabetes at disproportionately higher rates. Black and Latino Americans are more than twice as likely to receive a diabetes diagnosis as whites, and inadequate access to medical care can make it harder for them to juggle the complex dietary, monitoring and treatment regimens that can stave off its devastating complications.
Although there is much researchers don’t understand, many believe that uncontrolled diabetes greatly amplifies the perils of a Covid diagnosis. That’s because a sedentary lifestyle, putting on extra weight or failing to keep close tabs on blood sugar levels fuel chronic inflammation inside the body, which can increase insulin resistance and weaken the immune system.
Inflammation triggers the release of cytokines, tiny proteins that regulate the body’s immune response to infection or injury. Cytokines are a critical component of the normal healing process, but for people with diabetes and underlying chronic inflammation, all those cytokines can damage healthy tissue. Covid, it turns out, can provoke an uncontrolled release of cytokines, and the resulting “cytokine storm” can wreak havoc on vital organs like the lungs, leading to dire outcomes and death.
People with type 2 diabetes tend to fare more poorly than those with type 1, in part because those with type 1 tend to be younger.
In some respects, the pandemic has already had some positive effects on diabetes care by elevating the adoption of technology that enables remote management of the disease. The ramped up embrace of telemedicine, for example, has made it possible for health care providers to spot a worrisome foot wound on a homebound patient.
Early in the pandemic, the Food and Drug Administration gave hospitals and long-term care facilities permission to distribute continuous glucose monitoring devices to coronavirus patients as a way of reducing the risks to health care workers. Clinicians have also learned the nuances of caring for hospitalized diabetics with Covid through more intensive monitoring and management of blood sugar levels.
But many advancements have been unevenly distributed. The uninsured cannot afford the latest glucose monitoring or insulin delivery devices, and in economically disadvantaged communities with low digital literacy, experts say that doctors are less likely to offer new technologies and treatments to Black and Hispanic patients, even when they are covered by insurance.
“The advances of recent years have been stunning but not everyone has access to them and that’s just tragic,” said Dr. Ruth S. Weinstock, a board member of the American Diabetes Association.
The soaring cost of insulin, an essential medicine for diabetes management, has also had a greater impact on the poor. A 2019 study found that one in four people with diabetes had rationed their insulin use, which can have dire health consequences. On Thursday, the House voted to cap the price of insulin at $35 a month. President Biden supports the measure, which the Senate has yet to consider.
Betty Angeles works at the Sansum institute in Santa Barbara, Calif., where she helps her Spanish-speaking clients navigate diabetes care. Daniel Dreifuss for The New York Times
Betty Angeles, 59, sees up close the challenges of managing diabetes for the farmhands, busboys and other low-wage laborers in and around Santa Barbara, Calif. Ms. Angeles, a native of Peru, herself juggles three jobs: as a house cleaner, a pastry chef and a community health worker at Sansum Diabetes Research Institute, where she helps Spanish-speaking clients navigate the complexities of diabetes treatment.
“When you are uninsured and working two or three jobs it’s difficult to regularly see a doctor like you should,” said Ms. Angeles, who has managed her own diabetes for nearly three decades.
Sansum runs programs to make it easier for patients to stay healthy. That means regularly testing their blood sugar levels; encouraging clients to exercise, even if that means jogging in place for 15 minutes between jobs; and teaching them to prepare meals that favor fresh produce over bread, rice and tortillas — starchy carbohydrates that can complicate the body’s ability to regulate glucose.
Arianna Larez, who oversees the institute’s type 2 diabetes program, says Ms. Angeles and other outreach workers with community roots are the key to its success. She strongly believes the especialistas, as they are known in Spanish, deserve some credit for one encouraging data point: though many have been infected by the coronavirus, so far none of Sansum’s 400 clients have died of Covid.
“Building trusted relationships and creating easy-to-understand, culturally relevant information has real-world implications,” Ms. Larez said.
Experts say addressing the nation’s diabetes crisis will require more than expanding the number of community health workers: Well-funded public education campaigns are needed to drive home the importance of exercise and healthy eating, as are seismic changes to a food system geared to cheap, processed food — a heavy lift given the political might of the food and beverage industry.
But researchers say state and local governments can make a difference through programs that subsidize fresh produce for low-wage earners and zoning measures to lure supermarkets to so-called food deserts.
“Instead of telling poor people they’re lazy for not being physically active, why not make their neighborhoods safer so they aren’t afraid to go outside and exercise?” asked Dr. Sudip Bajpeyi, a researcher at the University of Texas at El Paso whose study on hospitalized Covid patients last June was among the first to highlight the outsize death toll among people with diabetes. “The only way to move the needle is to reform a system that prioritizes cures and new drugs over prevention.”
We hope you have enjoyed this article from The BreakThrough! Program.
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Hoboken Police officers stand watch outside the United Synagogue of Hoboken, Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022, in Hoboken, N.J. The FBI says it has received credible information…
Hoboken Police officers stand watch outside the United Synagogue of Hoboken, Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022, in Hoboken, N.J. The FBI says it has received credible information about a threat to synagogues in New Jersey. The FBI’s Newark office released a statement Thursday afternoon that characterizes it as a broad threat. The statement urged synagogues to “take all security precautions to protect your community and facility.”(AP Photo/Ryan Kryska)
Posted: Nov 4, 2022 / 10:23 AM CDT
Updated: Nov 4, 2022 / 04:33 PM CDT
Hoboken Police officers stand watch outside the United Synagogue of Hoboken, Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022, in Hoboken, N.J. The FBI says it has received credible information…
Hoboken Police officers stand watch outside the United Synagogue of Hoboken, Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022, in Hoboken, N.J. The FBI says it has received credible information about a threat to synagogues in New Jersey. The FBI’s Newark office released a statement Thursday afternoon that characterizes it as a broad threat. The statement urged synagogues to “take all security precautions to protect your community and facility.”(AP Photo/Ryan Kryska)
Posted: Nov 4, 2022 / 10:23 AM CDT
Updated: Nov 4, 2022 / 04:33 PM CDT
The man who posted a broad online threat against synagogues in New Jersey has been identified and was not planning to carry out a specific plot, a law enforcement official said Friday, relieving Jewish communities already unnerved amid an increasing climate of antisemitism and related violence.
The man, whose identity was not immediately released, was questioned by law enforcement and told agents he had been bullied in the past and harbored anger toward Jewish people, the official said.
Investigators do not believe the man had the means or motive to carry out any specific attack, according to the official, who could not discuss details publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The source of the threat “no longer poses a danger to the community,” the FBI in Newark tweeted.
New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin told the AP that he couldn’t comment on an ongoing investigation, including whether an arrest had been made. But he noted, like others, that concern is constant.
Incidents of bias and hate have been rising in New Jersey, said Platkin, who more broadly voiced concern about the impact of recent comments by Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, and a social media post shared by NBA star Kyrie Irving.
“Look, bias and hate are on the rise. Antisemitism is on the rise. White nationalism is on the rise, and a big reason why they’re on the rise is because people in positions of power and positions of status who have platforms are using those platforms to at a minimum condone, tolerate, accept statements and positions that are antisemitic,” said Platkin, a Democrat.
The FBI had said Thursday that it had received credible information about a “broad” threat to synagogues in New Jersey, a warning that prompted some municipalities to send extra police officers to guard houses of worship.
The nature of the threat was vague. The Newark FBI released a statement urging synagogues to “take all security precautions to protect your community and facility” but wouldn’t say anything about who made the threat or why.
“It raises the anxiety level,” said Jason Shames, leader of the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey. “This one for us was about vigilance. We keep having to say: See something, say something.”
Public warnings about nonspecific threats against Jewish institutions, made by groups including Christian supremacists and Islamist extremists, aren’t unusual in the New York City area, and many turn out to be false alarms.
But the area has also seen deadly attacks, including the firebombings of two synagogues and an attack on a rabbi’s home in 2012, a fatal stabbing at a Hanukkah celebration in 2019, and a shooting in 2019 that killed three people in a kosher market and a police officer.
Outside the New York City region, the massacre that killed 11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh four years ago left an indelible mark.
“Jewish people all over, and particularly identifiable Jewish people, are concerned and worried,” said Chabad Rabbi Moshe Schapiro, director of Chabad of Hoboken and Jersey City. “We recognize that it’s not only, God forbid, if someone wants to or does something terrible. It comes back to saying something antisemitic. It has that trickle-down effect.”
Additional security will remain in Hoboken and Jersey City during weekend services beginning Friday, including private security and uniformed police officers, Schapiro said.
Individual Jewish communities need to decide what level of security is right for them, said Craig Fifer, a spokesperson for Secure Community Network, which advises Jewish communities on security.
“We encourage that people go ahead and live their Jewish lives,” Fifer said. “This really is a bigger conversation not tied to any one particular threat.”
Associated Press writer Wayne Parry contributed to this report.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Murray Hill flies under-the-radar. This down-to-earth district in Midtown Manhattan has, over the last couple of decades, become the go-to neighborhood for post-grads seeking affordable prices and convenient access to transportation around Midtown Manhattan. The side streets are lined with rows of brownstones and landmark buildings, while newer residential buildings have risen between First and Third Avenue.
With the surplus of salons, fitness studios, and spas that thrive off the young population, Murray Hill could be an ideal place to lease office properties for any company looking to attract young employees or customers. Startups and small companies seeking Midtown East office or retail space will find the lower prices of Murray Hill very attractive.
Those securing office spaces in Murray Hill will have immediate access to a hiring pool of hard-working talent due to its steady population of young professionals. With Grand Central Station within walking distance, Murray Hill is also an ideal choice for companies with employees around the city and in the northern suburbs.
The proximity of the United Nations Headquarters has led to many embassies, consulates, and permanent missions to the U.N. settling within Murray Hill, often located within the historic mansions to the west of Third Avenue. Companies with global or international interests should consider office space in Murray Hill if being near to the U.N. Headquarters is a priority.
Murray Hill also attracts a variety of medical and financial service organizations. Non-profits are prevalent in the area as well and benefit from the lower rent for office space. Notable tenants in the neighborhood include Morgan Stanley, HSN, Manhattan Wellness Group, MedXwaste, L3 Technologies, Sumitomo Corporation, Pajama Program, Misys, and Honest Mail. The CUNY Graduate Center operates here as well as New York Public Library’s Industry and Business Library and Oxford University Press.
Murray Hill commercial space for lease | By the numbers
Despite increasing costs as more residential development occurs and demand for the area put Murray Hill on the map, the neighborhood remains very affordable. Commercial tenants pay an average price-per-square-foot of just under $60.50 for all classes and just under $65 for Class A buildings, compared to the Midtown Manhattan averages of $76.75 and $83, according to data from Q4 of 2019. Murray Hill prices are also much lower than that of nearby Park Avenue, where office properties lease for around $97.25 per square foot, and Madison/Fifth, where properties lease for approximately $89.75 per square foot.
Murray Hill has more than 14 million sq ft in commercial real estate inventory with a vacancy rate of 10%, slightly lower than the average Manhattan vacancy rate of 11%.
Getting Around: Transportation in Murray Hill
Murray Hill is the 19th most walkable neighborhood in New York, N.Y., according to Walk Score, and many residents walk to work. The district is decent for biking, with the East Side bike path along the river, protected bike lanes on First and Second Avenues, and a handful of CitiBike stations.
Grand Central Terminal resides at the northwest corner of Murray Hill, and services the area with the Metro-North Railroad, subway lines 4, 5, 6, 7, and S, and multiple bus lines. The N and W trains are available only a few blocks west.
Drivers will find it easy (as easy as driving in Manhattan can be) to get to the Queens-Midtown Tunnel and Queensboro Bridge to Long Island City, and commuters also have access to the East 34th Street ferry stop.
Nearby districts include Gramercy, Flatiron, NoMad, Plaza District, Park Avenue, Fifth-Madison, and the Upper East Side.
Top commercial real estate listings in Murray Hill
Our real estate brokers have curated this list of prime commercial real estate properties in Murray Hill. For best results, save time by taking a look at these to begin your search for office or retail space:
– 33 East 33rd Street: 33 East 33rd Street is a beautiful 12-floor office building that was built in 1914. The property features 7,000 sq ft of space, 24/7 access, on-site security, and a lobby attendant. Current tenants include WeWork, Levain Holdings, and Law Firm Jerry M. Feeney. The property has a Walk Score of 100 and a noise index of .82. This Class B building has 13 office spaces ranging from 2,000 to 13,582 square feet in size available for lease. Contact SquareFoot for details about price. Get to 33 East 33rd Street via the B, D, F, M, N, Q, R or W trains.
– 600 3rd Avenue: 600 3rd Avenue is a skyscraper in Murray Hill equipped with a newly renovated lobby, 24/7 access, and a security turnstile system. Built in 1972, this 42-story building currently provides space for Neon Liberty Capital Management, Morrison, Brown, Argiz & Farra, and BlackRock RealtySSR. Fifteen units ranging from 80 to 26,258 square feet in size are vacant and available for lease at 600 3rd Avenue. Contact SquareFoot for price information. The property is close to 42nd Street—Grand Central Station and the 33rd Street Station.
– 353 Lexington Avenue: 353 Lexington Avenue is a Class B office building in Murray Hill that was built in 1929. Current tenants include Butler Associates and HNH Education Consulting. Eight units are available for lease in the building, and they range from 580 to 2,500 square feet in size. Contact SquareFoot to schedule a tour or to learn more about pricing. 353 Lexington Avenue is located close to a variety of restaurants, such as House of Lasagne, Scotty’s Diner, and Salvation Taco. Reach this property via the S, 4, 5, 6, or 7 trains.
Named after an 18th century family of Quaker merchants, Murray Hill was once considered Uptown Manhattan, and its rows of brownstones and mansions were filled with wealthy and upper-middle-class families. Murray Hill still possesses old New York, N.Y., charm from that era, now with more lively and youthful energy. Today, it houses many companies working in the professional, financial, medical, and manufacturing industries.
Locals and daytime workers enjoy the affordable dining and bar scene Murray Hill has to offer. Favorite spots include Sons of Thunder, Gingerman, Bareburger, and Cask Bar & Kitchen. Before you search all over the map for a good lunch spot, check out our team’s recommendations: Curry Hill, a cluster of highly rated Indian restaurants including Dhaba, Muglahi Indian Cuisine, Darbar, and Deli Galli.
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Nine community partners provide grant-funded services in the Mother Emanuel Community Resiliency Project. These partners are in no particular order, as each is essential to the project. Below is a brief description of each community partner and key staff on the project at each site. For more information on each community partner, please visit their individual websites. In addition to these nine grant-funded partners, there are several other collaborating agencies that also provide valuable services.
This grant funded program was awarded to the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center (NCVC). The NCVC is a division within the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina. The NCVC was established in 1977 and has achieved an international reputation for its innovative research, education and training, evidence-based mental health treatment, prevention services, collaboration with victim service agencies, and consultation with public policy makers.
Our mission is to advance scientific and public understanding of the scope, nature, and mental health impact of exposure to crime and other traumatic events and to improve the mental health of victims of crime and other traumatic events through research, education, prevention, treatment, public policy consultation, and collaboration. The NCVC also provides specialized mental health services to victims of crime and other traumatic events. Learn more about the work of NCVC.
This agency organized the application of the grant funding this community-based effort and organizes the grant-related activity. The NCVC has also provided support and mental health services to numerous individuals and families affected by the massacre beginning the day after it happened and on a continuous basis.
About the church: Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church is the oldest AME church in the south. It is referred to as "Mother Emanuel,” and has one of the largest and oldest black congregations south of Baltimore, Maryland. The current pastor of "Mother Emanuel" is The Rev. Eric S. C. Manning. In 1787, Richard Allen and others of African descent withdrew from St. George's Methodist Church in Philadelphia because of unkind treatment and restrictions placed upon the worshipers of African descent. After Allen left St. George's Methodist Church, he and his followers purchased a blacksmith shop for thirty-five dollars. From the blacksmith shop they worshipped and helped the sick and the poor. The blacksmith shop was converted into a church. They called the new church Bethel. In 1816 Allen called together sixteen representatives from Bethel African Church in Philadelphia and African churches in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey to meet in Philadelphia, and the African Methodist Episcopal Church was organized. Richard Allen was the first bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
About the Mother Manuel Empowerment Center (MEEC): The Mother Emanuel AME Church is has developed an empowerment center to meet the crime-related needs of the congregation, victim and survivors of the massacre and their family members. The Center will serve as a central resource hub to connect those impacted by the Emanuel AME church massacre to a wide range of services designed to assist them in their recovery and to provide a gathering place that facilitates their connection to each other. The Center is physically housed on the campus of the church but will be a collaborative effort of the NCVC, CDMHC, and Mother Emanuel AME in the provision of services. This Center will provide a gathering place that includes therapy and support group rooms, space for the victim navigator, and space for the Emanuel AME Church ministry members who are involved with coordination and navigation of the crime-related needs of the congregation. The Center will also include a small technology assistance program to help those impacted by the massacre who wish to learn more about computer or smart phone access to the Internet so they can take advantage of the online materials that are being developed for this project.
City of Charleston Police Department
The City of Charleston Police Department had primary law enforcement jurisdiction over this crime initially and provided a number of victim related law enforcement services during the days and weeks after the massacre, which included death notifications, security at memorial services and funerals, as well as crime scene cleanup. A number of law enforcement officers and victim advocates worked overtime to cover the demand for these additional duties. Law enforcement continues to provide coverage of services related to security and victim advocacy at memorials and other large community resiliency building events related to the massacre as well as advocacy and support during court proceedings.
The Charleston County Coroner’s Office provided services to the victims including autopsies and transportation of the victims.
Charleston County Clerk of Court
Charleston County Clerk of Court will assist with victim-witness assistance as they coordinate notification of various court proceedings associated with the prosecution of the defendant on State charges. This agency will also provide an auxiliary courtroom in which the victims and families can view the trial and other judicial proceedings via closed-circuit television.
The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) had significant involvement in the initial response to the scene both in regards to providing security for victims, survivors, and the Emanuel AME church congregation to assisting with victim advocacy and crisis intervention. The CCSO was the main jurisdiction responsible for providing victim escort and security at all funerals, viewings, and several memorials and will assist with advocacy and support during court proceedings. The CCSO has the responsibility for providing security at the Charleston County Courthouse where the State trial and other legal proceedings will be held.
This office is responsible for prosecuting the defendant on State charges and providing related victim-witness services. This office is headed by Scarlett A. Wilson.
With two clinics and more than 200 staff, the Charleston Dorchester Mental Health Center (CDMHC) is one of the most innovative, diverse, and skilled treatment centers in the state of South Carolina. The CDMHC, established in 1947, is one of 17 Centers operated by the South Carolina Department of Mental Health. CDMHC is a healthcare organization committed to providing mental health services to the residents of Charleston and Dorchester Counties. Both clinics (Dorchester and Charleston) are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). This agency has provided support and mental health services to numerous individuals and families affected by the massacre beginning the day after it happened and on a continuous basis. They have provided clinical support during memorials, resiliency events, church events, and court proceedings and are a collaborating partner running the MEEC.
Community Mental Health Center is a CARF accredited outpatient facility of the SC Department of Mental Health. BCMHC has psychiatrists, nurses, and counselors, who provide clinical services, as well as admin staff who support them. The Berkeley Community Health Center provides emergency services, case management, outpatient counseling and psychiatric treatment for children, adolescents, adults, and families in Berkeley County.
The students and families of Goose Creek High School lost a beloved teacher, coach and role model in the massacre at Emanuel AME Church. Berkeley Community Mental Health Center has assigned a full-time Master’s level Mental Health Counselor to Goose Creek High School to provide an array of outpatient services to students and their families. The counselor delivers general information to students and families about grief, and bereavement associated with traumatic loss in diverse venues and events at the school and surrounding community. Therapy services include individual, group, and family services based on needs of the identified student.
Berkeley Community Health Center has a part-time Master’s level Mental Health Counselor embedded with Charleston Dorchester Mental Health Center to aide in the recovery and support to Berkeley County citizens affected by the massacre at Mother Emanuel AME Church. The counselor delivers general information to individual and families about grief, and bereavement associated with traumatic loss in diverse venues and events in the community. Therapy services include individual, group, and family services based on needs of the individual.
Other Community Partners
The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina has offices in Columbia, Greenville, Florence and Charleston. Beth Drake currently serves as the Acting United States Attorney for the District of South Carolina. The U.S. Attorney’s Office represents the interests of the United States in civil, criminal and appellate litigation. The U.S. Attorney’s Office receives civil and criminal referrals from federal agencies and law enforcement, which the U.S. Attorney reviews in deciding whether to bring or defend an action. This office was responsible for the prosecution of federal hate crime charges and for providing victim witness support to victims and families starting immediately after the crime occurred.
As a vital partner in the FBI’s response to crime, Victim Specialists work directly with FBI Special Agents and serve as the critical link to ensuring that victims of crimes investigated by the FBI are provided their legal rights, critical support, services and resources. Victim Specialists have been on hand to assist with advocacy and support during memorials, resiliency events, and court proceedings.
The SOVA will assist eligible crime victims and their families in putting the pieces of their lives back together through crime victim compensation services. SOVA will also provide training regarding its services to victims, law enforcement, agencies, crime victims advocates, and the public. After the massacre, SOVA sent a team to Charleston to inform family members about crime victim compensation and to assist them in filling out compensation applications.
South Carolina Department of Public Safety
The South Carolina Department of Public Safety (SCDPS) mission is to protect and serve the public with the highest standard of conduct and professionalism; to save lives through educating its citizens on highway safety and diligent enforcement of laws governing traffic, motor vehicles, and commercial carriers; and to ensure a safe, secure environment for the citizens of the state of South Carolina and its visitors. SCDPS is also the agency that currently administers the Office for Victims of Crime-funded Victim of Crime Act (VOCA) grant program that provides grants to victim service agencies. A representative from the VOCA grant program serves as a member of the project Victim Services Coordinating Council.
This project is supported by Award No.2016-RF-GX-0001 awarded by the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, US Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice or grant-making component.
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November 5, 2014 November 4, 2014 by Jeff Neal7 Comments on Why So Few People Trust the Merit Promotion Program
In the 2014 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) only 35.4% of respondents agreed (26.2%) or strongly agreed (9.2%) with the statement “Promotions in my work unit are based on merit.” 36.5% disagreed or strongly disagreed. Large agencies such as Defense (31.1%) , Veterans Affairs (30.2%) and Homeland Security (20.7%) scored even lower. Most agencies scored positive responses in the 30% – 40% range, although 10 had scores above 40% and 6 (Commerce, NASA, OMB, OPM, FTC and FERC) had more than 50% positive responses. Only 3 questions on the FEVS had lower positive responses. The numbers are not surprising. A study by the Merit Systems Protection Board in 2001 revealed that almost half of Federal employees believed they had unfairly been passed over for a promotion at some point in their career. A 2007 MSPB Career Advancement Survey showed 84% of employees blamed “Preselection” for not being selected and 72% said selections are based on “who they know.”
The nature of the merit promotion program is such that it is unlikely we will ever see employees routinely believing selections for promotions are based on merit, even though merit is the core of the modern Civil Service. There are several factors that drive the perceptions of unfairness:
Most people think they are above average. I wrote last year about the surprising prevalence of illusory superiority – the tendency to underestimate our own weaknesses and overstate our own abilities. With most job announcements resulting in one selection and many rejections, the reality of that math runs head on into our biased self-perception. We believe the selectee clearly was not as good, so the system or the boss must be biased.
The myth of “Preselection.” One of MSPB’s key findings in their 2001 report was “More often than not, before a merit promotion opportunity is announced, supervisors believe they know which employee in their organization would be the best person for the job and most of the time they select that person. Supervisors told us that during the past 2 years, 54 percent of the time they had already identified one of their own employees whom they thought they would promote into the vacancy. They also told us that 80 percent of the time they actually selected that person to fill their vacancy. Moreover, the vast majority of supervisors said that they were very satisfied with the people they chose to fill their vacancies.” If you ask most Federal employees, they will tell you their own stories about preselection. It is viewed as a commonplace occurrence because it is. So why do I call it a myth? Because there is nothing illegal or unethical about it. A manager with a vacancy who does not have a general idea about which of his/her employees would be best suited for it is probably not much of a manager. What would that manager read in a resume or hear in an interview that would trump years of working with and observing the performance of their team? There is no Prohibited Personnel Practice (PPP) that covers preselection. In fact, OPM provides for something that smells a lot like preselection in the Delegated Examining Operations Handbook – it is called a “Name Request.” A Name Request gives an applicant an advantage in the case of tie breaking. Rather than using normal tie breaking procedures, the subject of the Name Request goes on the list. There is something similar to Preselection that is a PPP. An agency cannot manipulate the process to make certain an applicant makes it on a referral list. PPP #6 says an agency cannot “grant any preference or advantage not authorized by law, rule, or regulation to any employee or applicant for employment (including defining the scope or manner of competition or the requirements for any position) for the purpose of improving or injuring the prospects of any particular person for employment.” Knowing who you might like to select is fine – cooking the process to make certain it happens is illegal.
Best Qualified is in the eye of the beholder. We all know that the stated intention of the Merit Promotion program (or any hiring program) is to find the best qualified candidate. One of the statutory Merit System Principles is “selection and advancement should be determined solely on the basis of relative ability, knowledge and skills, after fair and open competition which assures that all receive equal opportunity.” The concept seems so simple that applicants and observers are often surprised to find the selectee is not the person they would have called “best qualified.” When that happens, it is easy to blame it on bias, favoritism or bad judgment by the selecting official. There is a simpler explanation that is less sinister – the selecting official’s view of what constitutes “Best Qualified” is not the same as yours. Here is a simple example. Two supervisors are filling the same type of job. The jobs are the same series, title and grade level. Supervisor A has 5 other employees who are all technically superb, but are not particularly innovative. Supervisor B has 5 other employees who are technically superb and innovative, but they are not very good at customer service. Both supervisors get the same list of applicants. Supervisor A sees that “Betty Lou” has good technical abilities and a strong record of innovative solutions to problems. Supervisor B sees that “Bobby Ray” has good technical abilities and has received awards for customer service. Supervisor A is going to believe Betty Lou is the Best Qualified, while supervisor B is going to see Bobby Ray as Best Qualified. Neither is wrong, because their organizational needs are different. Another common example of differing perceptions of Best Qualified is the balance between technical expertise and other skills. One supervisor may believe technical ability trumps everything, while another believes interpersonal skills are equally important. There is not a right or wrong answer – just two views of what makes someone Best Qualified.
As bad as the perceptions are now, they are actually improving. MSPB’s research shows a dramatic decrease in perceptions of unfairness in the process over the last 20 years. I believe some of that progress is based upon the increased transparency in the hiring process that has been brought about by use of automated tools for candidate evaluation and the virtual elimination of the secret crediting plans for candidate evaluation that were common in the past. When applicants are provided with more information, they have a better understanding of the process. Another key factor in confidence in the Merit Promotion program is confidence in senior leaders. Agencies whose senior leaders receive high marks from the workforce in FEVS also have higher confidence in the fairness of the promotion process. That tells me the keys to more credible promotion programs are quality leaders and increased transparency in every step of the promotion process. Transparency can take the form of clear and valid applicant questionnaires, vacancy announcements that provide real insight into what the agency is looking for, and better interview processes. One step that few agencies take is asking peers of the job being filled to participate in the interview process.
Illusory superiority and the varying perceptions of what makes someone Best Qualified probably mean we are unlikely to ever get to the point where large majorities of employees believe promotions are based on merit. That does not mean we should stop trying. The experiences of those agencies with 50% or more positive ratings on their promotion outcomes gives me hope that we can at least get the Federal government to the point where there are more employees who trust the process than employees who do not. That would be a big step forward from where we are today.
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Maharishi's programmes welcomed in Hamsa (Hungary) - Part III - Vedic Architecture, Vedic Agriculture
by Global Good News staff writer
2 September 2008
Raja John Konhaus, Raja of Hamsa (Hungary) for the Global Country of World Peace, reported on his recent visit to the nation and the great interest in Maharishi Vedic Organic Agriculture, as well as an initiative to build a Maharishi Peace Colony*.
Please also see Part I and Part II of this article.
Speaking on the Maharishi Global Family Chat 24 August, he said that ideal land for the Peace Colony has been located. On the proposed site residents will enjoy Vastu homes and buildings set on beautiful meadows in an area that is silent, pure, and clean.
Raja Konhaus also reported on potential growth of Maharishi Vedic Organic Agriculture in Hamsa. 'We've found tremendous receptivity of the farmers,' he said. 'Many of the farmers came forward and said they would like to market their products through our global network of organic marketing.' After hearing about the programme, one farmer immediately offered 10,500 kilos of honey.
'So in every area—healthcare, education, farming—it was a success,' concluded Raja Konhaus, summarizing his visit to Hamsa.
*Maharishi Peace Colony: A community founded to help create invincibility for a nation, based on the principles of Maharishi's Vedic Science and its practical applications for living perfection in all areas of life—featuring homes, and buildings for group practice of Yogic Flying—all built according to Vedic Architecture, Maharishi Sthapatya Veda.
For information about Maharishi's seven-point programme to create a healthy, happy, prosperous society, and a peaceful world, please visit: Global Financial Capital of New York.
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Friede auf Erden für gemischten Chor a cappella ["Peace on Earth" for mixed chorus a cappella] op. 13 (1907/11)
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Fassung für Chor und Orchester (Stützstimmen für den Chor) von Arnold Schönberg (1911)
“Have you even heard your chorus at all? In that case, do you know yourself how beautiful it is? Unprecedented! What a sound! Thoroughly exciting” (Anton Webern to Arnold Schönberg, November 1928). According to a report from Egon Wellesz (that cannot be verified, however), Schönberg had in fact composed his a cappella choral work “Friede auf Erden” and the two ballades op. 12 for a competition. Drafts of op. 13 are found in Sketchbook III between the dates 14 August 1906 and 9 March 1907 (completion of the choral movement and the first sketches for the Second String Quartet). The annotation found on a fair copy – that the work “is to be performed whenever possible without accompaniment (a capella); only in such case as the purity of intonation fails is the organ to be added as accompaniment” –, is probably to be understood in connection with the rehearsals of the Singverein in 1908 (under Franz Schalk) that were ultimately cancelled because of insurmountable difficulties. “Friede auf Erden” was finally premiered in Vienna on 9 December 1911 under the direction of Franz Schreker. Even before the start of the first rehearsals Schreker suggested using “a string orchestra for support.” Schönberg, who since the summer of 1911 had divided his time between Lake Starnberg and Berlin, finished his orchestral score (for both strings and winds) on 6 October 1911. Emil Hertzka, director of Universal Edition, had negotiated since August for publication of the initial a cappella version, and because of the costs had expressed reservations about a supplemental orchestral accompaniment. Schönberg replied that he had drafted the orchestral version only for the premiere, “because without it Schreker cannot risk it with his young choir. It is an accompaniment that makes secure intonation possible but is not to be regarded as a compositionally necessary part of the work!” The premiere in the ‘Großer Musikvereinssaal’ with 120 women and 80 men from the combined resources of the ‘Philharmonischer Chor’ and the ‘Wiener Lehrergesangsverein’ was “an uncontested success” – thus a report from Franz Schreker, who had “muted” the ‘Wiener Tonkünstler-Orchester’ “until virtually imperceptible.” For the text of his choral work Schönberg drew upon a Christmas poem written by Conrad Ferdinand Meyer in October 1886 (Meyer’s novella “The Seduction of Pescara” / “Die Versuchung des Pescara” dates from the same year) for the Christmas issue of “Schorer’s Family Newsletter” (“Schorers Familienblatt”). The Swiss poet would later allow Bertha von Suttner, to whose peace movement he was allied, to reprint “Friede auf Erden” in her newspaper “Lay Down Your Arms” (“Die Waffen nieder”). The first verse of Meyer’s poem begins with the tidings of peace from the Christmas story; the second and third verses essay the history of the world after the birth of Christ as a time of war, in which, however, the belief in justice and the hope for peace continue to be upheld: a peace which in future generations becomes reality (fourth verse). Conrad Ferdinand Meyer’s concept of peace unites the perspectives Real and Ideal against a thoroughly secular backdrop, which in Schönberg’s setting (formally divided into ten sections) more clearly approximates the Religious. The use of consonance and dissonance, the differentiation of homophonic and polyphonic techniques corresponds to an allegorical view of the Ideal Peace/Actual Discord that derives from the fundamental metaphysical idea that peace is the work of God. The contrast between heaven and earth is sacredly interpreted by means of a major/minor polarity that is occasionally tempered by the church modes. In a letter to the conductor Hermann Scherchen on 23 June 1923, Schönberg wrote about this last work he composed in a tonal style, that it “is an illusion for mixed choir, an illusion, as I know today, having believed, in 1906 (?), when I composed it, that this pure harmony among human beings was conceivable.” In May 1928 Schönberg penned an essay (together with Richard Strauss, Julius Bittner and Felix Weingartner) for the “8 o’clock Evening Paper” (“8-Uhr-Abendblatt”) on the theme “Does the world lack a hymn of peace?” (“Fehlt der Welt eine Friedenshymne?”) In his draft of the article, Schönberg’s aloof attitude towards the influence of the arts on political events becomes clear: “It is perhaps correct that one must be religious in order to compose church music, or in love in order to compose love songs […], but still one must certainly not be wounded in order to portray a wounded person or dying in order to portray a dying person. And so it would certainly be possible to compose a peace hymn without believing in an eternal peace.”
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Flutist Andrew Thomas has always been surrounded by women. He's the only male flute player in FWACB's 18-member flute section. He was the only one in his junior high school band and his high school band, as well. However, it's a fact nobody has ever heard him complain about.
Thomas didn't live in the United States until he was 18 years old. He was born in Germany on an American military base where his father was a teacher. He was also stationed with his parents on bases in Japan. During high school in Germany, he played flute in the concert band and alto saxophone in the jazz band.
Thomas and his wife, Cameo, came to Fort Wayne in 2013 after completing law school at Indiana University. She heard about the Fort Wayne Area Community Band while attending classes at IPFW. He looked up the band on the internet and became a member in 2015. "There was another man who joined the flute section a couple years ago, but he's apparently moved on. I'm happy to have found the band and really enjoy making music again in a group like this," said Thomas.
Thomas is a legal aid attorney with Indiana Legal Services, where he practices housing law. He helps his clients avoid eviction from their apartments and homes.
The Thomas' have two four-year-old sons and are foster parents to a seven-year-old daughter.
Purdue Fort Wayne Department of Music
College of Visual and Performing Arts
The Fort Wayne Area Community Band is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. All donations are tax deductible.
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Conceptual still life photography duo Yasu + Junko had a big year in 2012, landing the highly coveted PDN 30 award—a prize well earned after many years of honing their craft both together and separately.
Both Yasu and Junko are originally from Japan. Yasu came to photography early on, starting as an amateur field reporter in elementary school, snapping pictures of his friends and family. Junko, however, did not find herself in a photo studio until age 24, when she began working for still life photographer Kanji Ishii.
Soon the two met, and began working together, building an impressive client list that includes Brides, Martha Stewart Living, Whole Living, Real Simple, and Neiman Marcus. They won a 2010 SPD annual award in fashion/beauty, and say they are always striving to convey that perfect mood through a still image.
Working as a team with another photographer can be complicated, but Yasu + Junko use it to their advantage—things always get done in a democratic way, and inflated egos are quickly dismissed. They are also meticulous in their shoot planning—they consider preparation the most important part of the process.
The two have honed their process, learning to pace themselves and expect the unexpected.
Yasu + Junko are always striving to heighten their visual and audio senses. When not shooting, Yasu is watching movies, listening to music, and environmental sounds. Junko loves love movies, hiking and antiquing.
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I finished 4 lessons with an average of 31.5 wpm. I had an average accuracy of 94.7%. I learned that progress is a slow process and takes time and effort. The three goals I have for my next project is to keep my wpm above 30, keep my average accuracy above 94%, and continue to use home row keys.
I finished 4 lessons with an average of 31.5 wpm. I had an average accuracy of 94.7%. I learned that progress is a slow process and takes time and effort. The three goals I have for my next project is to keep my wpm above 30, keep my average accuracy above 94%, and continue to use home row keys.
Oct 23, 2020
I completed 5 keyboard lessons, got an average of 25 wpm, and an average accuracy of 92.4 . I learned that I need to focus in accuracy not speed. I also need to work on using the home row keys when i’m not practicing. I want to do get an average of 30 wpm, an average accuracy of 95, and to use the home row keys more often.
I completed 5 keyboard lessons, got an average of 25 wpm, and an average accuracy of 92.4 . I learned that I need to focus in accuracy not speed. I also need to work on using the home row keys when i’m not practicing. I want to do get an average of 30 wpm, an average accuracy of 95, and to use the home row keys more often.
Oct 21, 2020
Why Creativity is Important to my Development
Creativity is important to my development because experiences can help children express and cope with their feelings. Creativity also fosters mental growth in children by providing opportunities for trying out new ideas, and new ways of thinking and problem-solving. This can help me with school projects and certain job opportunities. Some colleges also look for creativity.
Why Creativity is Important to my Development
Creativity is important to my development because experiences can help children express and cope with their feelings. Creativity also fosters mental growth in children by providing opportunities for trying out new ideas, and new ways of thinking and problem-solving. This can help me with school projects and certain job opportunities. Some colleges also look for creativity.
Oct 21, 2020
Typing Fluently
My project is reaching a goal of 100 wpm with mistakes or errors. I’m going to accomplish by practicing typing as often as possible, I will do this by using websites and applications.
Typing Fluently
My project is reaching a goal of 100 wpm with mistakes or errors. I’m going to accomplish by practicing typing as often as possible, I will do this by using websites and applications.
Oct 16, 2020
One thing that I accomplished was learning the g and h keys.The second thing that I accomplished today was an average accuracy of about 93%.The third thing that I accomplished was almost completing my first 10 section lesson. One thing I regret is not focusing on accuracy. Another thing that I regret is not bookmarking the link to the website that I type on. One thing that I will change for next week is learning the home row keys better.
One thing that I accomplished was learning the g and h keys.The second thing that I accomplished today was an average accuracy of about 93%.The third thing that I accomplished was almost completing my first 10 section lesson. One thing I regret is not focusing on accuracy. Another thing that I regret is not bookmarking the link to the website that I type on. One thing that I will change for next week is learning the home row keys better.
Oct 9, 2020
One thing that I accomplished was better learning the home row keys. Another thing that I accomplished was 35.7 words per minute. The last thing I accomplished was finding a good website that saves my progress for free. One thing that I would change is using the home row keys more often in my everyday life. Another thing I would change is going for accuracy not speed on my typing challenges. One piece of advice I would tell myself for next week is that accuracy is more important than speed.
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Broward lawmakers learned that $60 million in state funding that would otherwise go to the Broward County public schools will be going to charter schools instead.
The amount drew consternation from Broward County’s lawmakers meeting Wednesday with the Broward County School Board and school administration officials.
“If we don’t stop the bleeding, what’s going to happen to our public school system?” said Rep. Marie Woodson of Hollywood.
Oleg Gorokhovsky, budget director for the district, said loss of state aid was a “significant” proportion of what the school district receives from the state, but he did not want to give a figure.
Interim Broward schools Superintendent Vickie Cartwright said her staff is working on the problem.
“That is a conversation that is underway right now with my communications staff … to come up with a strategic approach on how to make sure that we are pushing information related to what is the difference between Broward versus a charter school,” she said. “We are aware of that and going forward.”
She said part of the problem is that after the funding is given to charter schools, many of the students end up back in public school, but the state money doesn’t follow.
“That is a huge loophole that may be something that we could get a lot of help on,” Cartwright said.
“We all know the endgame is privatized education,” Farmer said. “… These loopholes are intentional.”
Cartwright also reported on the 5,100 students that have gone missing from the student population in the past year. It’s a phenomenon that’s occurred across the country in the time of COVID-19.
Cartwright reported on hitting the streets with other school administrators, board members, teachers and staff, knocking on doors and trying to re-engage families with the school district.
“It made a difference,” Cartwright said.
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Federal payments to cover school board salaries in school mask dispute aren’t gifts, ethics board initial review says
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Exactly two years ago, the entire political class of India was under siege from a riveting anti-corruption movement emanating from the Ramlila grounds of New Delhi. The movement was initiated by the famous social activist Anna Hazare. He had the support of the former bureaucrats Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi. Frustrated by unemployment, diminishing opportunities and the ever-increasing prices of everyday commodities, men, women and youth have joined the India Against Corruption (IAC) movement. Popular dissatisfaction was also fueled by the government’s tilt towards the private sector and MNCs in it’s rush to increase the national economic growth rate. Added to this, was a total disconnection with the electorate and, above all, corruption in high places and briber. The IAC continued to garner considerable support and credibility.
With the anti-corruption agitation proliferating in the country through walkouts, social media and candle-marches, the central government conceded the demand for a law against corruption. Some say the government yielded ground, keeping in mind the public protests at Tehrir Square in Cairo (Egypt) in January 2011. This may present a false comparison; however, it elucidates the profound and cross-regional effects of popular uprisings in the Arab world. Ultimately, talks between the government and the lead agitators of the IAC broke down. The government rejected the major demands of the agitators proposed in the draft Bill against corruption.
After the betrayal by the government, the leader of IAC Anna Hazare re-invigorated the movement ; Hazare declared a hunger strike, playing the Pied Piper. As a result, a parliamentary session was called by the government, making several assurances in an attempt to convince Hazare to end his hunger strike; but the Bill against corruption was nowhere in sight. This latest setback led to the dissipation of IAC momentum and the collapse of the IAC leadership. However, Arvind Kejriwal, a former leader of the IAC, announced the launch of a new political party “AAP” (Aam Aadmi Party or Common Man’s Party) on October 2, 2012. Hazare, a former confidant of Kejriwal, completely shunned the decision of his former co-leader to enter electoral politics. The cracks were apparent, but as time would tell, they were in no way catastrophic.
Leading from the front, Kejriwal created history within a year by winning a pariamentary seat against the three-time Chief Minister of Delhi, Smt. Sheila Dikshit. A stunning debut in the recent elections, the formation of a government in the country’s capital, a swearing-in ceremony amid scores of ardent supporters; things could not have got any better for Kejriwal’s party. Buoyed by the overwhelming performance and public response, the newly elected C.M. of the National Capital Delhi soon declared that the AAP would contest the parliamentary elections in the country due this year.Though AAP did get a decisive mandate in its favour, the AAP’s victory shows there is also a chance for the young and seemingly disenfranchised. The willingness of the Delhiites to encourage the arrival of an innovative yet peripheral party is refreshing. Since entering the Delhi election foray with its promise of systemic overhaul and transformative politics, the AAP has moved at a frenetic pace. Beginning to act on its various pledges and capturing the imagination of a wider audience across the country, the AAP looks like a force to be reckoned with. There is a rush of eminent people signing up to join the new party; this unique appeal is closely monitored by mainstream and increasingly disillusioned parties.
The AAP’s arrival has set the tone for Congress and the main opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). However, it seems increasingly clear that the AAP’s main target is the BJP; indeed, the AAP aims to capture and re-define existing anti-incumbency sentiment.AAP’s greatest achievement lies in it’s record of clean electoral victories. As of yet, the AAP has not had to resort to so-called ‘money politics’. Perhaps more importantly, it has not relied on potentially poisonous and inflammatory rhetoric concerning caste, creed or religious affiliation.
On the other hand, mainstream parties, having declared ‘winnability’ to be their ‘mantra’, have strengthened illicit ties with businessmen. Such a path has proved to be a slippery slope, with mainstream parties unable to find a way out of this impasse. Taking a leaf out of AAP’s book, some major political parties in India are now trying to re-engage with both local and regional electorates. After witnessing the swift progress of the AAP, these parties are now reverting to a rhetoric which espouses democratic accountability. This is in spite of the fact that they continue to deny corruption and have been loathe to act on it unless forced by the courts. Surely this is where the success of the AAP becomes both a exceptional case study and an important bench mark towards cleaner elections in India.
Vikramaditya Sangwan completed his Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering at Kurukshetra University (India) in July 2013. Whilst studying for his degree, Vikramaditya was engaged in student campaigns and frequently wrote for the student newspaper.
Edited by Michael Tavares
Michael Tavares is an LSE undergraduate studying Government & History . He is also co-editor at The Libertine Blog.
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LeTip of NoFo, US Army Vet,Bankcard Services CategoryA chapter that loves givingback to their communityWith US Thanksgiving approaching and Canadian...
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After mass exodus from campus in March, some seniors remain behind, settle into new lives in Providence
Media by Anita Sheih | The Brown Daily Herald
By Will Kubzansky
May 30, 2020 | 1:13am EDT
During the Spring Weekend that never was, Jordana Siegel ’20 found herself drawn to the Main Green.
With a group of friends, Siegel walked the Green and played the music of Spring Weekend artists past. Siegel is one of many seniors who opted to stay in Providence — either by choice or necessity — for the last few months of her final semester, remaining in her house on the corner of Power and Brook Streets as other seniors scattered across the country and the world.
The music, Siegel said, ended up doing little to alleviate the pain of a senior spring that was very different from what she had imagined.
“I don’t find myself going on campus that much,” Siegel admitted. “It reminds me of all that’s been lost, and all the memories that we were supposed to be making.”
According to six seniors interviewed by The Herald, the spring semester that fell apart has been marked by canceled jazz concerts and festivals, incomplete unit wars traditions and hasty goodbyes — with little to fill the void but time at home with housemates and takeout food from old haunts.
No more than 365 students lived in University dorms after campus shut down, The Herald previously reported, and University Spokesperson Brian Clark said that because the University does not own the seniors’ off-campus properties, the number of students who remained in their off-campus houses and apartments is unknown.
“Our strong preference was for off-campus students in properties not owned by Brown to return to their homes or other locations if possible,” Clark wrote in an email, citing the University’s “limited” ability to support off-campus students, while noting that it remained a personal choice.
Choosing to Stay
For students like Vishie Betapudi ’20, deciding between going home to family and staying on campus came down to figuring out where he wanted to be “stuck indefinitely.” Ultimately, he chose to move from New Dorm to his girlfriend’s apartment on John Street, opting to live with her roommate, dog and two cats rather than return to his home outside Cleveland, Ohio.
Though he had been planning to move in with his partner after graduating, Betapudi said the transition felt somewhat unexpected. Their cohabitation suddenly involved grocery shopping, cooking and remaining safe, with extra care because his partner is immunocompromised.
“Almost every day, I think about what it would have been like if I would have gone home — if I was at home, I would have much less of a burden with all of that,” he said. “It feels like we’ve really had to grow up a lot faster.”
Siegel remained in Providence with eight other fourth-year women after listening to her parents, who thought it would be best to stay. For some who remained in the city, the chance for a final few months with old and important friends kept them on College Hill, while others found it too difficult to return home amid the personal, medical and financial problems wrought by the pandemic.
“I thought it would be nice to get through this strange time with two people that are so important to me,” said Claire Hathaway ’20.
For Kielan Donahue ’20, academic needs were on her mind when making the decision to stay. In Providence, Donahue explained, she has a room, a kitchen — and some privacy. She knew she couldn’t do schoolwork while with her family “24/7” — especially a final group project for CSCI 1430: “Computer Vision” that she had planned to do with her roommate who also stayed in Providence.
Life in Providence during COVID-19
The first weeks alone on campus proved eerie for many. Some tried to order food from restaurants only to find they had shut for the foreseeable future, while others mourned the loss of former favorite study spots like libraries and coffee shops.
“The shell of campus is there, but you can’t enter and none of the people you know are there,” Donahue said.
The seniors still on campus found virtual learning to be even more peculiar; many of their professors lectured from their classrooms or homes just miles away, but they could only meet as a class virtually.
“Everything you do reminds you of the reality of the situation,” Betapudi said. “If I’m sitting in a class a couple blocks away from Brown but I can’t actually be in class at Brown, it’s surreal. It’s jarring.”
At home, keeping busy has proved to be its own challenge. For Naomy Pedroza ’20, one solution was the occasional “socially distant bonfire.” Siegel’s household found solace in getting takeout about once a week, celebrating a roommate’s birthday and enjoying evening activities like a “mall night,” during which her housemates all shopped from clothes that the others had decided they no longer wanted.
But despite the effort to make home more enjoyable, remaining inside has had its mental costs.
“Time seems really meaningless lately,” Hathaway said. “The way in which time goes by seems incredibly distressing and nonexistent.”
Losses and Uncertainty
As graduation approaches and leases end, the usual string of events during senior spring have failed to follow.
For Donahue, losing the opportunity to relive freshman unit wars stung: One friend of hers had kept their unit’s banner for the last four years, intending to replicate the human pyramid from their first week on campus, down to the last limb.
Siegel had long looked forward to senior week, and to a Spring Weekend with all her friends who had returned from study abroad.
Betapudi lost his senior year jazz band concert, as well as the ability to go to all of his other music friends’ final concerts.
And then there were the goodbyes: rushed and uncertain, without hugs and often over Facetime for friends who did not live in the same house.
“There was certainly a lot of denial that this might be the last time we see each other for many years, especially international friends who were going home to countries that were closing borders,” Siegel said.
For many students, graduating brings with it many uncertainties. With unemployment levels at the highest they have been since the Great Depression — 14.7 percent as of April — many students have found themselves scrambling for jobs in an uncertain market. “I’m still furiously applying for jobs; hospitals will still be open. I’m on LinkedIn, Indeed, Handshake five times a day,” Betapudi said.
While their final semester is not what they had in mind, some seniors have tried their best to find silver linings in what has been an extremely difficult couple of months.
For Mika Shevchenko ’20, quarantining has brought with it an opportunity to explore her passion for cooking. “I decided to start a cooking blog on Instagram for my friends,” she said. “That was the big thing that kept me going throughout quarantine.”
Others, like Pedroza, have found value in taking a step back from their busy schedules and enjoying the company of their housemates.
One “friend said that, if you think about it, we would not have been able to see each other often in senior spring under normal circumstances, because we run on completely different schedules,” Pedroza said. “This spring we were able to just be with each other — that was a nice silver lining.”
Despite the effects of COVID-19 on their final semester, this experience reminded many why the Brown community is so special. COVID-19 “has brought so many people closer together,” said Shevchenko. “You see how resilient the Brown community can be, how encouraging it can be, and how people just responded with kindness.”
“As a graduating senior, I am coming back to why I applied early decision, and that's the fact that (Brown is) such a wonderful community, and I have never felt like people were anything but supportive,” Hathaway said. “It's honestly such a wholesome place. I’m thankful — I’m very thankful.”
Correction: A previous version of this article named Kielan Donahue '20 as a design editor, when she is not. The Herald regrets the error.
Will Kubzansky is a University News editor who oversees the admission & financial aid and staff & student labor beat. In his free time, he plays the guitar and soccer — both poorly.
Musical Forum’s ‘Fly By Night’ navigates grief, fate through music, comedy
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COSA is a statewide organization of open space programs whose mission is to work cooperatively, share information, create public awareness and foster partnerships to protect Colorado’s wild places. Smith Environmental and Engineering was able to be a sponsor of and also attend the meeting this year i n Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
The theme for the conference was “Collaborative Conservation – The Cutting Edge” and a wide variety of topics surrounding collaboration were discussed. Session topics ranged from how to engage stakeholders to developing energy plans through collaboration between conservation entities and the oil and gas industry. The latter topic was of particular interest because it involves working proactively to minimize the surface impacts to wildlife habitat (through direct loss and degradation from fragmentation), wetlands and wetland function, culturally important sites, and other sensitive, high-valued lands. The collaborative process is called Energy by Design and is spearheaded by the Nature Conservancy. During a session on this topic, the City of Fort Collins described the results of a collaboration between Larimer County, the Nature Conservancy, and the State Land Board to develop an Energy by Design plan for oil and gas developme nt at the Soapstone Prairie Natural Area, Red Mountain Open Space and the Meadow Springs Ranch in north Larimer County. The links above connect to more information about Energy by Design.
As a break from long hours in sessions, the conference scheduled a day of field trips to local open space areas. We attended a tour of Yampa River restoration projects given by the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission. Historically, as the River’s channel alignment shifts through bank erosion, it was able to naturally move throughout the valley that is now occupied by Steamboat Springs and other development. Natural channel realignment is now constrained by roads and railroad tracks; however, the river’s channel continues to move. The CPW is continually seeking funds to implement projects that limit bank erosion (currently up to four feet per year) and to improve both native and sport fish habitat.
Overall, the conference was a great way to learn more about the community of open space professionals, get to know and learn more about the clients we often work with, and meet new people. More information about COSA and the conference can be found here. We give our thanks to Tina Nielsen, Special Projects Manager for the Boulder County Parks & Open Space and to COSA for putting together such an outstanding event and inviting SMITH to be part of it.
Blog and Images by Darrin Masters
ABOUT
SMITH is a certified ESB firm with CDOT, a M/WBE with the City and County of Denver, & a SBE with RTD. We provide our clients with experienced, cost-effective services tailored to bring their project from pre-design to construction to post-monitoring closure on-time, on-target, and on-budget.
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Are you an intercultural leader working with a DEI framework? Are you ready to move beyond the basics and into a deeper understanding of how to design trainings that lead to personal transformation as well as organizational change? Are you feeling the weight, responsibility and even burden of this work? In this workshop, you will learn how to use principles of neuroscience, coaching strategies and targeted interventions to shift your audience’s mindset further along the developmental continuum. You will discover techniques to manage the stress that this field can cause so that you can do this hard work in a way that is not so heavy on you.
$1200 for one participant
$1000 each for two or more registering at the same time
As an intercultural leader and person of color, it’s all too common to feel stuck, isolated and misunderstood. In fact, you might be holding your breath to just make it through, maybe even checking out so that you don’t burn out. Your ability to effect change is directly related to your ability to bring your whole self to the work. In this workshop, you will learn a research-based framework that will help you translate your lived experience in a way that will not paralyze your audience and will move them to action. You will identify brain-based strategies for self-care and meeting your audience where they are at. By committing to this workshop, you will equip yourself with the tools to be a more effective change agent, practitioner and community member. Learning how to take care of yourself while dedicating to this work will allow you to fulfill your purpose and legacy.
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We have a care-giver to babies ratio of 1:3 which allows us to provide the personal level of attention that all babies demand at this stage.
All babies are introduced to our infant early years educational activities program that includes, Music, Singing, sensory toys etc. We at The Leabridge know the importance we keep parent involved in their child’s daily activity so we provide a daily report to parents showing this.
At the appropriate time, babies would graduate to the toddler class. The ratio of teacher / caregiver to toddlers is 1:3.
The programs would have short structured activities; they would include activities such as arts, crafts, music, story time, scribbling, hand & eye co-ordination activities etc. A daily report would also be provided to parents highlighting their child’s activities .
Play School (25-36 Months)
The ratio of teacher to student in this class is 1:3.
In the play school class children are offered a more structured play and learning environment. They are introduced to our preschool curriculum and engage in a number of sensory activities, practical life activities & Montessori based teaching techniques. Their vocabulary and language development is also improved in this class.
Pre School (3-5 years)
The ratio of teachers to students in this class is 1:3.
Teaching in this class is more structured building on the foundation of the play school There is more focus on reading, writing and number works. The aim of this class is to prepare the children for their first year of primary school. Subject done uncle number work, phonics, science, art & craft, general knowledge, CRK, PE, reading club etc.
Primary School (Year 1-6)
The ratio of teachers to students in this class is 1:4
Teaching in these classes are structured and project based. The curriculum is focused on ensuring that each child gets the required basic education based on international standards. Subjects done in these classes include mathematics, science, languages, geography, history, music and art to mention a few. Students are also expected to do at least 2 projects every term
Afterschool care and Support Classes (Lessons) are available 3 or 5 days a week.
Online classes are based on request. Kindly contact the school on 08181320000 for further details.
What Our Families are Saying
Dimaria has improved so much here at The Leabridge. I am so blessed to be a part of this amazing school. He is so much better academically.
Michelle has made tremendous progress and we are grateful for the time we spent at The Leabridge. God bless you and keep up the good work.
Mrs Amotsuka
My wife and I are very pleased with all the noticeable improvements with Kodjo. Looking forward to seeing more.
Taking my daughter to the Leabridge school was one of the best academic decisions we have made. The school is really a home away from home. It has the most amazing and professional staff I have ever met. My daughter loved it there and always looks forward to going to school. The academic curriculum is sound and my daughter has exceeded expectation in reading thanks to the amazing teachers at Leabridge. Its a school that keeps you at peace when your child is there. I would recommend it to any parent looking for a home away from home for their children.
With Leabridge School, the absolute peace of mind I experience does it for me as I can remain unperturbed at work or wherever I am because I know that my Little Ones are well looked after. I also love that each child is taught at an individual level and allowed to learn at their own pace! Fantastic learning methods too. Furthermore, the Head of school is also always on ground and the the kids’ health & safety are obviously top on her priority list. The staff are top notch as well
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Instead of accepting a federal block grant, “Alabama’s best option is to go for full Medicaid expansion,” Arise’s Jim Carnes tells ABC 33/40 in Birmingham. “[That] would bring the maximum federal dollars in the state, and it would guarantee all the people newly covered under Medicaid expansion the same protections anyone receiving Medicaid now gets.”
Learn more from ABC 33/40.
Latest In the News
The South may see the largest share of coronavirus misery
As pandemic continues, homeless find themselves on the fringes of life
Alabama Department of Labor makes improvements to unemployment site, looks to outsource help to keep up with claim demand
155% increase in Ala. food assistance applications between February and March
Federal law is expanding SNAP benefits for people who need food
Alabama Arise is a statewide, member-led organization advancing public policies to improve the lives of Alabamians who are marginalized by poverty. Our membership includes faith-based, community, nonprofit and civic groups, grassroots leaders and individuals from across Alabama.
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Latest novel just out, third in the Paula Mitchell, PI, series–Kindle edition. Print version coming soon.
Click on Cover to see on Amazon
Did Simon Langford abuse his son and kill his wife? Paula Mitchell, a Rhode Island private investigator, is hired to prove he’s an innocent man.
When Simon refuses to answer Paula’s questions, she interviews his friends and acquaintances. Trouble is, they’re almost as secretive as Simon, and she’s sure some are lying. When Simon is arrested for his wife’s murder, Paula knows she needs to work fast, or Simon will go to prison, probably for life. And might never see his little boy again.
After old flame Steve comes back to town, Paula is excited about the rekindling of their romance. Events turn dangerous, though, and Steve’s need to protect Paula might get in the way of her solving the case.
Paula’s frustration escalates until the day she discovers some answers from an unexpected source that provide a surprising breakthrough. But when she acts on the information, she puts her own life in danger.
Hope everyone will check it out!
This is a best-selling book about getting rid of all your clutter in one day.
For me, it was a mixed bag of good advice combined with dubious advice plus cultural differences which have made other reviewers either totally befuddled or quite angry.
At least it’s short. But it could have been shorter.
The major premise is to start with your clothing, throw everything all on the floor, then pick up each piece and decide whether it brings you joy or not. If it does, you get to keep it. If not, you have to toss it or give it away. And what you keep has to be folded just so—not many things are hung.
After you do the clothing, Ms. Kondo walks you through the rest of the items in your household, insisting on a certain order of going through them.
Big hole there—the kitchen. She mentions kitchen items maybe twice. And how much joy does that measuring cup bring you? If none, I guess you have to get rid of it. Now, the meat cleaver . . . Seriously, if you include decluttering the kitchen, I don’t see any way most people could declutter their whole house in one day.
Ms. Kondo is obviously single and lives alone in a rather small space. Her advice would work well for others in the same circumstances, but for families, not so much.
All that said, though, the basic premise of taking each item in your hand and deciding if you love it (I’d add or really need and use it), then putting it away carefully in its permanent home and getting rid of all the rest, is sound.
Every so often there’s a mention of inanimate objects having feelings and how you should treat them. This becomes more pronounced as you continue reading. You should greet the house when you enter. You should empty your purse every evening and put things away in a certain place you have for them. You should say good-bye to and thank the clothing and other items you are getting rid of. And so on. From what I can determine on-line, this is a common Shinto (Japanese religious) practice. Hey, maybe it works!
Perhaps the most dangerous piece of advice was to get rid of most all the papers in your house. This can be carried too far. I tend to probably save more than I really need to, but that’s better than throwing out something you desperately need later. She says to save those that do need to be saved, and those that need attention, then a nebulous category where you save some for a while. So, I’d be extra careful with this advice.
And maybe the most annoying advice was to get rid of books by throwing them in a pile on the floor and sorting through then, then tearing out any pages that you want to keep (!), and storing the few remaining books in a bookcase (small, I assume) in your closet. Yes, you read that right—in your closet. The author entirely misses the point that shelves filled with books can bring people joy.
Excuse me while I go put this funny little book away in one of the big bookcases in my home office alongside the other books I’ve collected and annotated about personal organization and time management. It’s not that I love the book, but I’m keeping it for when I need to shake my head to exercise my neck.
Anyone else read it? What do you think after reading my review?
Since the third novel in the Paula, PI, series, Secrets Exposed, will be out soon, I decided to do a spotlight in case you missed the second book, A Broken Life, and might enjoy knowing more about it.
While in the middle of investigating a domestic case, Rhode Islander PI Paula Mitchell finds an old friend, ragged and homeless. Paula learns that Martha Hendricks is the victim of identity theft. Three years earlier a woman, with ID confirming her as Martha, was busted on a drug charge. After Martha’s boss found out about it, he fired her.
Soon Paula begins to receive threatening phone calls. The doctor Martha worked for is murdered. And Martha disappears–until Paula finds her, beaten and left for dead, in her own backyard.
For two days, Martha is unconscious. As Paula investigates further, she learns more about the doctor’s employees, meets Martha’s old boyfriend, and one of her former roommates. Paula’s suspect list grows. When she’s almost run down in a parking lot, her lover pleads with her to stop her investigation.
Paula refuses. Not only is Martha in danger, but if Paula doesn’t push harder for answers, she knows she’ll be the next person on the killer’s hit list.
Straight-arming the door, I strode into the [convenience] store. Looked around. The only customer was male, about five feet eight, with short brown hair, brown eyes and a pointy little nose. My accident-prone tail [from the other day]. Surprised, I stopped in the doorway, staring a moment before I could think what to do. My gun felt heavy at my side, and I longed to pull it out, point it at him and call the police. But it was too risky, no one’s life was in danger, and I hated to point a gun at someone without a damned good reason.
Deciding to play it cool, I walked farther into the store, picked up a candy bar, a box of doughnuts, and watched the guy out of the corner of my eye. He said something to the cashier, then sauntered toward the door, head down. Maybe he felt me staring, because suddenly he looked up, saw me, and took off. I dashed out after him, the clerk yelling behind me. When I reached for the door handle of the Taurus, I realized I still had the candy and doughnuts in my hand. I heard the other car start up and back away. Throwing the goodies on the ground, I jumped into my car and took off after him, squashing the candy and doughnuts under my wheels.]
He drove to Chartersford Avenue, with me right on his bumper. He tried to time the lights so he could get through and I’d be stuck, but I managed to stay with him all the way up to Springton, and then through several other small towns until we were out in the country. I had memorized his license number by that time, as well as the back of his head.The sound of a train whistle wailed in the distance. The car ahead slowed down as we approached a crossing. Behind me, I heard another sound—a siren. Lights flashed in my mirror. Thank goodness, I thought, the police. I looked ahead again and saw what the guy was trying to do. He wanted to get through the crossing and have the train block me. Don’t do it, I thought. Remember your luck with the bus. This would be much worse. I wanted to close my eyes, but I couldn’t.
The whistle hooted again, the train almost upon us. The guy made his move, getting through, and I had to stop. I turned around and motioned frantically toward the police car.
But the police officer took his time climbing out, his notebook in hand. He sauntered over to me so slowly that I became impatient and jumped out of the car.
“Hold it right there!” he yelled at me, drawing his weapon.
“Officer,” I shouted, standing still, putting my hands up. “You have to catch that guy.”
As I raised my arms, my jacket pulled away to reveal my gun. Now the officer stopped walking, too. “Use two fingers to take out your weapon,” he said, his voice hoarse, “and place it on the ground.”
“Officer,” I pleaded. “I’m a private detective on a case. We need to catch the man I was following.”
“Yeah, and I’m the Easter Bunny. I’ve heard them all now. Do as I said. Get that weapon on the ground, then turn around and spread-eagle against your vehicle.”
Shaking my head, I used my thumb and forefinger to gingerly lift my gun out of its holster, and bent down a little so I wouldn’t have to drop it far and damage it. After I straightened up, I hugged my Taurus and uncomfortably let the officer search me for more weapons. Did his hands linger a little longer than necessary? It was hard to tell under these circumstances.
“Okay,” he said when satisfied, still shouting over the noise of the train. “Now show me some identification.”
“In my purse,” I said through wooden lips, as I reached inside the car for my bag.
When he saw my PI license his only comment was, “Huh. Well, anyway, you’re under arrest.
“What for?” I demanded.
“Shoplifting,” he shouted.
The train chugged along until finally the caboose came into view. I gaped at the police officer a moment before collecting what wits I had left. With one final, mournful toot of its horn, the train disappeared around a bend. I looked at the road ahead, and of course, the guy in the car had disappeared. My only real lead in the case.
“Officer, you don’t understand.” I almost whimpered with frustration. “What town are you from, anyway?” The lights in the strobe bar on his cruiser still rotated maddeningly.
“Taylor,” he said. He had his gun back in his fist, pointed at me. Overkill for a shoplifter, but not one with a gun, I guess.
I gaped some more. “You came all the way from Taylor to arrest me out here for shoplifting?”
“The clerk at the convenience store thought you might be impersonating a police officer. That’s a serious crime. I see now that you are a private investigator, but there’s still the charge of shoplifting.”
“I can explain that.”
“Of course you can,” he said in a soothing voice, as if I were a young child or mentally deranged.
“Really. Listen, it’s a long story.” I realized that I’d like to sit down. My legs felt a bit weak, my usual delayed reaction to stress. And having a gun pointed at me twice in two days definitely counted as stress. Plus, I’d lost the guy. He’d probably ditch the car now. And what was his relationship to the woman with the two kids? So many questions, so little time. I’d have to make the long story short.
“Look,” I pleaded. “The guy I was following followed me the other day. He crashed into a bus, and when I confronted him, he pulled a gun on me. There’s a report about it in Springton, if you don’t believe me. So, when I saw him in the convenience store, I had to try to talk to him, find out what it was all about. I’ll pay for the merchandise I took. It was completely unconscious—I didn’t realize I had the stuff in my hands until I got out to the car, and then I had to go after him. You see?” My legs felt even weaker now, but I forced myself to stand straight and tall.
“Yeah, sure,” he said.
“You know him?”
“Of course,” I said impatiently. I’d come to the conclusion that this guy wasn’t the brightest light in the police station.
“You a friend of his?” he asked, his gun lowering slightly at the thought.
“Yes,” I lied, silently asking my mother’s forgiveness. One of her favorite stories had been about George Washington and the cherry tree.
“Okay. I’m going to call in. You come with me to the car.”
“And leave my gun on the ground here? My car in the road?”
He stood considering these matters seriously for a minute. “I’ll get your weapon,” he said finally. “People can get around the car. I’ll leave my lights on.”
Good thinking. At least something about you will be bright. After he retrieved my gun, I trod to the police car, its lights making me crazy. He put me inside the cage. No door handles and metal netting between him and me. I felt like a hamster with a broken wheel, getting nowhere.
The officer called in, and the dispatcher patched him through to the Springton police station. I could hear Lil for a moment, then Brudder’s deep growl came over the speaker. Thank goodness he was there. Or maybe not. It would be just like him to deny that he even knew me. I held my breath.
After explaining what had happened, the officer waited a moment during the silence over the line. “You still there, sir?” he finally asked.
“Yeah,” Brudder replied. “Thinking. Look, I know Mitchell. She’s all right. Wouldn’t do anything totally stupid.”
I couldn’t believe my ears. I realized he didn’t know I could hear him. I almost blushed.
“She did have a guy point a gun at her the other day,” he continued. “If she thought she saw him again, she’d do almost anything to catch him. So, her story’s probably solid. Plus, she has this lawyer friend who can cause you a boatload of trouble. Son, I’d let her go with a warning. And tell her to get back to that store and pay for the merchandise. Any questions?”
The officer glanced back at me with a resigned expression. “No, sir. Thank you, sir.”
“Right. Now, get the license number and a description of the car from her so I can put out an updated APB on the guy.”
“Yes, sir.” He turned to me, and I told him what I knew about the car while he wrote it down slowly in his notebook.
After they signed off, I heaved a sigh of relief. The officer let me out of the car, gave me back my gun. He didn’t apologize, but I didn’t think he needed to. He had been doing his job. And he’d done it by the book. Glad that no one had come along the lonely road while all this was happening, I climbed back into the Taurus debating driving down a ways to see if I could spot the Chevy Nova.
Deciding it was probably futile, I made a U-turn and headed back to Springton, passing the officer sitting in his patrol car, writing in his notebook, his colored lights still flashing.
A Broken Life is available in both Kindle edition from Amazon and in paperback from most other on-line bookstores. You should also be able to order it through your local bookstore.
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Learn more about the levels of implementation, the strategies and resources driving implementation, and who coordinates an implementation strategy.
During the planning stage, your Planning Group was responsible for developing the program model and planning the implementation of your Housing First program. A diverse stakeholder coalition developed a program model, chose the host agency, secured funding, developed a profile of the skills necessary for housing and service staff, developed housing protocols, involved people with lived experience, connected with landlords, and developed a preliminary evaluation plan. During the implementation stage, stakeholders now put the plan into practice.
In the At Home/Chez Soi project, the average annual program costs (for housing and support) was $22,000 for ACT participants, and $14,000 for ICM participants.
What are the key tasks involved in implementing a housing first program?
Task 1: hiring staff and involving people with lived experience
During the planning process, your planning group explored various funding streams and ultimately secured funding for the program. At the early stages of implementing the housing first program, stakeholders must finalize the budget for program resources and begin the process of hiring housing and clinical/support staff. During the planning process, stakeholders identified the specific values and competencies necessary for each staff position, and developed detailed staff profiles and job descriptions. At the implementation stage, stakeholders are ready to interview and hire housing and clinical/support staff.
During the implementation stage, the hiring process should include hiring people with lived experience in a number of capacities, including as peer support workers, peer organizers, peer advisory committee members, and a peer ombudspersons. According to At Home/Chez Soi staff, it is helpful to hire peers who are well experienced in supporting their own and others through their recovery journeys. It is also important to hire peers in full-time roles, to convey that people with lived experience are valued and equal to staff who do not have first-hand experience of homelessness. Moreover, it is important to hire staff that is committed to the housing first philosophy and methods of practice that focus on recovery, strengths, and harm reduction. Additionally, it is important to consider strategies for employee retention at an early stage. To retain quality employees, programs can consider providing advanced training, reflective supervision, constructive performance reviews, and adequate benefits.
Johanne and Laszlo share their experiences with the At Home project. (NFB)
A critical implementation task is to establish processes for staff supervision and communication for housing and clinical/support staff. Staff supervision should entail regular meetings with individual staff to review work and to provide support and training. At Home/Chez Soi staff indicated that a strong supervisor stresses fidelity to the Housing First model, and develops a culture of learning and respect among staff members. Effective supervisors demonstrate the importance of listening, and show staff that it is possible to disagree, but to still work together effectively.
Supervision of peer workers may include supervision by a person with lived experience, in addition to the staff supervisor. Staff from At Home/Chez Soi noted that at times, peer workers were hesitant to ask for help when they were struggling, as they did not want to be seen as “moving backward” by the team. The presence of a supervisor with lived experience may provide a safer space for peer workers to get the support needed to effectively perform their roles.
According to stakeholders from the At Home/Chez Soi sites, housing and clinical/support teams should meet together on a weekly basis to discuss progress and issues (although some clinical/support teams met daily). These meetings provide important opportunities to build relationships among team members. Meetings remind staff that they are not working alone, and that they have outlets for support and assistance. In addition to fostering the exchange of program-related information, these meetings can provide a mechanism for staff to support one another and recommend diverse strategies for engaging with participants. Staff meetings also present an opportunity for staff to debrief following challenging times, and also to celebrate successes. In addition to separate meetings for housing and clinical/support staff, it is important to hold meetings for staff across the different teams to share information and knowledge. This is also an ideal way for staff working in different roles to better understand each other’s work.
Task 3: training staff
Download housing first training presentations
Supporting Peer Wellness and Recovery
Upon hiring housing staff, clinical/support staff it is important to provide a thorough initial training. Stakeholders should also develop a mechanism for continued training of all new staff as they begin working in the program. The initial training should formally orient staff to the housing first model, including the values and principles of the Housing First Approach. The initial training is an opportunity to explain all aspects of the program to new staff, including the nature of the roles of each staff member. The initial training should also describe processes for staff supervision and coaching. Additionally, initial training should address the importance of participant choice and self-determination, along with the recovery-orientation of the program. The initial training should also provide a foundational understanding of harm reduction and practices to support social and community integration of participants.
Many stakeholders involved in the At Home/Chez Soi program noted the experience of tension and confusion about roles between the housing and clinical/support teams. To address this concern proactively, initial staff training should provide a program overview and explain clearly delineated roles between the teams. Initial training can be a way to foster strong communication between the housing and clinical/support teams at an early stage.
All staff should receive training in self-care and how to seek support to prevent burnout, as these positions are inherently challenging. It is important to discuss protocols for debriefing (such as “sharing circles”) and support seeking with staff during the initial training. Some stakeholders involved in the At Home/Chez Soi program suggested inviting peers/people with lived experience to provide training for housing and clinical/support staff to educate staff about the peer perspective, and to provide insights from lived experience.
As well, initial training should be tailored for peer workers and peer advisory group members/people with lived experience. For instance, peer advisory group members can receive training in how to participate on the board to build skills and confidence. Peer workers should receive training on the nature of their roles, including issues around confidentiality, boundaries, and supervision/support. Channels for seeking support and supervision should be made clear during initial training.
Task 4: housing/re-housing participants and providing support
Essential ingredients of a Housing First program are the provision of housing and clinical/support services, both of which occur during the implementation stage. During the planning process, stakeholders developed housing protocols and connected with landlords. During the implementation stage, stakeholders come to the table with an understanding of the housing environment, along with the clinical needs of the target population.
In the context of housing and support services, it is important for stakeholders to focus on the following subtasks (click to expand):
Developing risk management and safety protocols
Housing and support teams should develop risk management and safety plans that address emergency responses, crisis communication, and incident reviews. For example, risk management plans might entail ensuring that support teams are automatically notified when an emergency call is placed to police regarding a Housing First participant.
Housing teams continue to procure housing options by communicating with landlords in the community and working with community agencies that have relationships with landlords and/or housing units.
Managing budgets related to housing/re-housing
Develop a budget that can cover housing related expenses, such as furniture, storage, insurance, moving costs, and unit damages.
Create a budget line for temporary housing options, such as rooming houses and motels that may be required immediately following an eviction.
Consider costs that may be covered through the Residential Tenancy Act or other funds that could be utilized to provide incentives for landlords.
Working with participants as they choose a housing option
Housing teams should carefully consider the fit between the housing options and the participant’s needs.
Encourage the participant to make choices about housing. Coach the participant in how to select housing that fits their needs, and how to make a good impression when meeting potential landlords. Discuss what it means to be a tenant.
Show participants at least 2-3 housing options (including an array of options depending on context, such as scatter-site apartments and congregate settings). Consider developing a “housing preferences checklist” with participants, so participants can carefully consider and compare the options available to them.
Providing support as participants receive housing
Help participants move into housing and clean the apartment/living space.
Provide basic skills training necessary for maintaining housing. Work with participants as they learn how to clean and maintain their apartment, purchase and cook food, and manage finances. Provide support for other daily living skills, as needed.
Anticipate early adjustment issues – many participants may feel alone and socially isolated when living in an apartment. Provide additional support when needed and consider creating community spaces to encourage socialization among participants, in addition to fostering community involvement and inclusion.
Recognize peer workers as an important resource during home visits. Peers can provide experience-based strategies to ease difficult adjustments.
Engage participants in a recovery-oriented way. This includes discussing with consumers their goals and visions for the future, and working with them to find vocational opportunities and to explore educational or volunteer opportunities.
Work with participants on coping and interpersonal skills, relationship- building, and skills regarding conflict resolution.
Service providers Lois and Doug, and At Home housed participant Anthony discuss the importance of providing varied supports to participants.
Cultivating strong relationships with landlords
Before issues arise, visit landlords regularly and speak with them about how the process is going. This allows housing teams to build strong and trusting relationships with landlords.
Be attentive to landlord concerns and be responsive to issues that may arise.
Normalize evictions for landlords. While much can be done to prevent evictions, encourage landlords to see evictions as a learning process for participants, and as an exception rather than a rule.
Wolfgang is one of 1,200 participants housed by the At Home Project. Hear his story. (NFB)
Re-housing: learning from and responding to evictions
When participants are evicted, encourage learning and accountability. Discuss choices made that led to the eviction and strategize about ways to prevent this in the future.
Consider exploring alternate housing options (e.g., congregate housing) for those who need an “in between” solution before living independently.
Mr. MadDogg lives at Bosman, a Vancouver hotel converted into a group housing community. (NFB)
Fostering and strengthening community partnerships
Partner with community members to develop vocational and/or voluntary opportunities (e.g., community event participation) to foster community involvement and inclusion.
Task 5: Providing ongoing supervision and support
As described in Task 2, it is important to develop staff supervision and communication procedures during the implementation stage. During early and later implementation of the program, it is crucial for supervision and support to occur on an ongoing basis. Supervision and support are an important way to normalize the challenges that are to be expected within the teams, and the challenges associated with engaging participants. According to At Home/Chez Soi staff, supervisors have the important role of ensuring that housing and clinical/support teams are working together effectively. Effective supervisors promote a culture of continuous learning and improvement. As a housing staff member in Moncton explained, “when you go along, be flexible – willing to try a different path. When it’s not working, stick with the fidelity of the program, but try a different way.”
Supervision needs are likely to change over time. From a housing perspective, at an early stage of the implementation process, staff may require support in helping participants adjust to their homes, including addressing the social isolation and loneliness that some participants experience. At a later stage, staff may require support in engaging participants in their recovery and in developing and re-establishing relationships. Ongoing supervision and support is also essential for preventing staff burnout. According to At Home/Chez Soi staff, supervisors should stress the importance of self-care, and should support staff in executing self-care strategies to prevent burnout.
Task 6: Offering ongoing/advanced training and technical assistance
In addition to initial training, it is important to provide ongoing training opportunities to housing and clinical/support staff. According to At Home/Chez Soi staff, additional training in the areas of recovery, inter-generational trauma and trauma-informed care, addictions, cultural competency, motivational interviewing, harm reduction strategies, anti-oppressive frameworks, and dealing with difficult tenancy issues (such as hoarding) were particularly important and helpful. Supervisors should consult with staff to determine areas where additional and ongoing training can be most helpful.
For programs to continue to grow and improve, technical assistance serves an important function. Consultants can provide technical assistance to the program. According to At Home/Chez Soi staff, it is important to ensure that consultants understand the context of the program and population served, so the strategies they propose are appropriate and relevant, particularly when working with ethnoracial and Aboriginal populations. Others indicated that it is helpful to bring in individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences in the field to provide technical assistance.
Advanced training can also be provided through conferences and professional development opportunities. Additionally, Communities of Practice – groups of individuals interested and engaged in working on a common issue (such as Housing First) offer a continued mechanism for support and learning. Staff can connect with other Housing First programs to develop a Community of Practice that meets on a monthly basis, or as needed.
Additional Resources
Partnerships for Health System Improvement (PHSI)
Task 7: Assessing and improving the program: evaluation and fidelity
A key task during the planning process was to develop an evaluation plan, including the selection of an evaluation team. During the planning stage, a logic model was developed and the team worked collaboratively with program stakeholders to select what to track and measure.
During the implementation stage (if you have an evaluation team), the evaluator(s) will collect data on an ongoing basis. The implementation stage is also when the evaluation team can assess the program’s fidelity to the Housing First model. During program implementation, it is important to establish a mechanism for the evaluation team to provide early and ongoing feedback to the team. Evaluation feedback is critical to improving the program and ensuring its sustainability. As staff receive evaluation findings, concrete plans should be developed to address the program and system issues identified as requiring change.
Development and validation of a housing first fidelity survey
Implementations of Housing First in Europe: Successes and challenges in maintaining model fidelity
The Pathways Housing First fidelity scale for individuals with psychiatric disabilities.
A mixed methods approach to implementation evaluation of a multi-site Housing First intervention for homeless people with mental illness
Planning Tasks
Additional Resources
Additional Resources
Rural and Remote Content
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We see that every day. From finding new cures to providing new scholarships, at Carolina we know that the best is yet to come. And we hope you see it, too.
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Spending the night with Lixelle and the two Christines brought a lot of beautiful memories spent through our college lives. I felt ‘me’ once again. For a long time, I have always wondered how my life would turn our had I not entered into an exclusive school for girls. But talking with them made me realized that there’s perfectly nothing wrong with me. My thoughts, decisions, and actions are all mine – and owning them do not make me less of a person.
travel by dakilanglaagan Oct 20, 20195:26 pm May 25, 2020
8 HOURS IN CEBU CITY: Getting around the “Queen City of the South”
In case you’re spending a day or some few hours in Cebu City, don’t feel obligated to visit those faraway beaches and waterfalls. Being in Cebu City is already an achievement on its own. Make the most of your trip and visit nearby areas that will allow you to learn as much about Cebu’s culture, heritage, and geography.
travel by dakilanglaagan Jan 27, 20169:54 am January 6, 2021
Prenup Locations in Cebu (Updated 2021)
On a tight budget but still want to take momentous photographs of you and your loved one through prenup photoshoots? Here are affordable locations around Cebu where you can shoot your prenup!
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If you have the ambition to find answers nowadays about crazy or out of the ordinary events related to your past, clairvoyance is a solution to which you will be able to relate like many French people. Indeed, in addition to shedding light on your past, clairvoyance allows the oracles to lead to your present. This is how the prediction about your future comes about. However, how to find a serious, honest clairvoyant who really masters the divinatory arts and can predict the future? This is the question asked by all. I am a psychic in Terrytown, I also draw tarot cards and I practice in other fields that I will make you discover well. If you are looking for a serious psychic in Terrytown who can provide answers to your concerns, you can come to my psychic office in Terrytown.
I am a psychic in Terrytown using the most effective methods to give you clairvoyance consultations tailored to your concerns
With more than 20 years of experience, my profession as a best psychic in New Orleans allows me to practice mediumship, card reading, numerology, astrology, divinatory art and many other methods thanks to my gift that I will gladly put to your benefit. So if you are looking for a psychic in Terrytown who will offer resolutions to your questions, no matter what their nature, a tarot reader or an astrologer to interpret the signs or occult waves that you may feel around you, you can make an appointment with my clairvoyance office in all serenity.
If it is impossible for you to move immediately, know that it is possible to contact me by phone for a clairvoyance consult. In this way, I will always be able to put at your profit my gift of clairvoyance. It is very difficult to find serious clairvoyants today with good morals. In my case, it is possible for you to read the returns of my consultants which I can say are of capital importance. I know in this way that I help people in need so that they can find themselves as well on the sentimental level as professional.
To attest to the veracity of my services, once the consultation begins, you will not need to give me any details about your life. Like any good psychic, I will be able to detect the situation you are facing in order to make accurate and truthful predictions. I will be able to provide answers to your concerns and whatever is troubling your mind. My gift allows me to focus on all aspects of my consultants' lives through all my skills. I can therefore provide various services depending on the formula that will be most beneficial to you.
Thus, I specialize in tarot cards in addition to clairvoyance, I also offer my services as an astrologer, and also in cartomancy. My services extend even further into numerology, etc. If you are confused or lost, or want to learn more about your future, your children's future, or whether your mate is the right one for you, you can call me for a psychic consultation phone call in Baton Rouge in my psychic office.
Contact my psychic office in Terrytown to consult a psychic for less
Although today opinions are mixed concerning clairvoyance, I will make you discover various facets of this gift that I possess and which differs greatly from the bad faith of the practitioners who taint this noble profession nowadays. Know that it is quite normal that you cannot see clearly in all the aspects of your life. This is the reason for my gift. To be able to make you see the chronology between events of your past and present to determine your future. This is why it is important that you can reach the psychic in Terrytown who will bring you all the serenity you need.
With me as your psychic, you will benefit from my sincerity on many subjects so that the dark areas that obscure your judgment and your decisions are swept away. It is true that it is not easy to find good faith clairvoyants nowadays since many of them take advantage of the credulity of others. I can tell you that during my 20 years of career, I have only prioritized the well-being and satisfaction of my clients. That's why I'm still recommended by every consultant I've ever worked with. As a psychic in Terrytown, I promise to use the skills I have honed over the years to ensure your complete satisfaction.
I am a serious person, truthful with human qualities very appreciated by my customers. Thus, after having spent a consultation in my clairvoyance office in Terrytown, you will feel light without any possible doubt. My assistance will therefore feel like a balm on your bruised and troubled heart.
For your psychic or tarology needs, please contact me through my clairvoyance practice in Terrytown
Cartomancy is made up of several divinatory methods, including tarology. Thus, as mentioned above, I have a deep and accurate knowledge of the use of tarot cards. By using tarot cards, it will be possible for me to make accurate predictions about your life by taking into account the symbols on the cards. However, I do not use the tarot to predict future events. I can indeed use it to make you see in a clear and simple way situations related to your current life. It will thus be possible for you to learn more about yourself and your personality.
During my apprenticeship, I quickly realized that I had a major asset, my gift. Reading and interpreting cards are two normal things for me. This is the reason for the quality of the services I offer in this field to all those who consult me. If you want to consult a clairvoyant in Terrytown what is more normal than to seek to consult a professional of confidence and very qualified. In a few words someone who really masters his art will necessarily allow you to relax during the sessions. You can now contact me by phone for a clairvoyance phone consultation or to make an appointment. I am also available by mail for a chat.
And for those who prefer physical meetings, I am available for you whenever you want. Whatever your concerns, my services will bring comfort to anyone in need. And if you are unable to travel and still wish to enjoy a physical session, it is not impossible. If not, the chat service I offer will be able to adapt to the situation to bring you my full cooperation. The chat consultation has also been designed to offer you all the efficiency you need. It is the same for the consultation by telephone. This is also an ideal option that will allow you to benefit from my expertise in complete security from your home.
Just like in astrology, I also offer my services in numerology. Few people are aware of the fact that their date of birth contains mysteries about their personality. An addition of the numbers of your birth date is symbolized through the life path that defines your personality. Each number is made up of a particular energy that represents an ability that can impact your personal life path. By adding up the days, months and the year you were born, I will be able to give you your life path through numerology.
Numerology can therefore be defined as a divinatory art that bases its results on a deep examination of a letter or even a number. It is thus possible for me to carry out numerology thanks to a date, but that will be also possible with your first name. Taking into account all these parameters, you will be assigned a number between 0 and 9 by numerology. This number will then embody a vibration. This is what will allow me to read your future. It could be about an upcoming trip, an exciting love story, an incredible evolution in your professional career, concerns related to your well-being, so many possibilities that it is impossible for you not to be satisfied.
These are some of the areas in which you will get answers by contacting me by mail, by phone, or by chat consultation. If you wish to leave the vagueness concerning your life figure and know what you really are, know your personality and learn more about your future, you should contact me without hesitation. My intervention will certainly be beneficial to you in a thousand ways so that you can obtain convincing results with complete confidence. Do you want to learn more about your personality and your life? I am a clairvoyant in Terrytown who will bring you clear and exact answers to your concerns.
The various forms of clairvoyance offered in my office in Terrytown
First of all, it is necessary to know that the clairvoyant and the medium although it exerts in a similar field there is a difference between the two. For a clairvoyant, it is natural to see into the past, to better read the present and to be able to perceive the future through visions. On the other hand, the medium plays a much more particular role. He specializes much more in the occult by serving as a bridge with a dear soul who is absent from this world.
For most people in Terrytown, turning to astrology or numerology seems a rational choice. While those who would like to do a more in-depth survey of their personality by means of cards will turn more to a psychic in Terrytown with the best tarology skills. Avoid relying on psychics who practice dubious beliefs such as any type of black magic, witchcraft, occult sciences, spell-casting or even negative energies. The term charlatan would be more appropriate in this case.
To benefit from better predictions of clairvoyant in Terrytown, you will be able to contact me
It is necessary that the best psychic clairvoyant in Shreveport that you will consult can decipher you. For better predictions, it is important to let express itself first your psychic. If the psychic in Terrytown you consult has difficulty in giving you details of events in your past and what is happening in your present life, then she is a rather dubious psychic. She will certainly be unable to inform you about your future.
This is the reason for the first contact I have made. This will allow me to better understand you and to give you my predictions in a more consistent way. I always do my best to make my consultants feel comfortable, open and ready to live an experience that will probably mark the end of a sad or troubled period for them. Before any consultation, it is important that you have an idea of the psychic's working methods so that you can better find yourself during the session. No surprises should be taken at the risk of losing your way even more.
Beforeng the session, I make sure to ask you some questions without asking too much about you. For example, I may ask you for your date of birth before the appointment or during the consultation. It is also possible that during the consultation I can make predictions through coffee grounds or a ray of sunlight. Predicting the future with runes is also a possibility to consider.
The opinions on my consultations of famous psychic
I was lost!
There are so many things about ourselves that we don't know exist. On that note, I want to say a big thank you, because your meeting that started out as just that without any certainty ended up with a surprising result. I was just under the spell of your extraordinary skills. There is no doubt in my mind whatsoever, even though I was the most skeptical at first. You have been a great help to me and for that I am very grateful. For a long time I was lost, disoriented and unhappy. Then I met a qualified psychic who knows how to use this incredible gift that nature has given her. On top of that her unique personality allowed her to know how to state every detail of the predictions she had about me. I was finally able to make sense of many events in my past. She allowed me to better understand points about my present and to be able to predict my future with serenity and confidence. As she said to me "your life up to now has been a series of sadness and headaches, but your future will be the opposite by making sure you follow the guidelines you predict". So she made me see everything the way she saw every detail about me. I say it sincerely my life would not have been what it is today if I had not met you. Thanks to you.
Using this psychic has literally made my life easier. Before I met her I was always head over heels and not paying attention to the signs that concerned me. It's not that I couldn't interpret them correctly, but I was also wrong about the attitude I should have towards myself and those around me. Soon things started to go downhill in my love and work life. So as I could not find any plausible meaning to what was happening to me, I decided to call a psychic as everything I had tried up to that point did not seem to bear fruit. I first had a very unpleasant experience with a Sunday medium who turned out to be more a person of bad faith than anything else. It was only after researching on the internet and reading the various reviews that I opted for this psychic. She gave me the help and psychological assistance I needed to get through it. In each description of her feelings that she gave, I saw more clearly stories that I had lived in the past and that seemed to me senseless take all the sense. After minutes of consultation, I had low expectations that it would happen exactly as it had the previous time. Well, I am glad that things turned out differently and that today I can live a fulfilled and happy life thanks to this kind-hearted woman. Thank you so much.
For my part, it all started out of a simple curiosity. I usually read this kind of article to see what it's all about since clairvoyance, mediumship, astrology and tarology are concepts that have always fascinated me. So the more I read the article about this psychic, the more my curiosity was pushed to its paroxysm. So I wondered what it would be like to be consulted by a real psychic, an authentic practitioner of the field. So I dialed her number to make an appointment without leaving my name, so that she would have as few clues as possible to prevent her from researching me before the day of the consultation. On the day of my appointment, I went to her office with the idea of finding a fake psychic who wouldn't know what to say since I didn't leave her any clue about me. I was very surprised because right from the start she received me by calling my name as if I had left it with her. The rest of the session was just a series of revelations about my personality and the personality of my boyfriend who was unknown until then even to my family members. I can assure you that every single fact about my boyfriend not only proved to be true, but it also made me understand certain things about him better. It made me realize how lucky I was to have him and the fact that he was the one who would make me feel the happiest in the world. I was able to correct myself to get this wonderful life that I am living now because of her. I still consult her with my boyfriend at the time, who is now my husband with whom I have two lovely daughters. Thank you so much for your great spirit and your assistance.
First of all I would like to thank you for your promptness and your availability. After the failure of the first session, I really thought that I had a problem because of all the positive opinions about your services. But you knew how to comfort and reassure me so that I didn't feel worse than I already did. First of all, I salute the professionalism that you showed at that moment by making me understand that I did not have to pay for this session since it was useless. As for the next session, I would be lying if I said that I wanted to go back because I was so afraid of experiencing another failure since my life has been one continuous failure. So I don't know how she realized it. But before I went completely down, she sent me an email that summarized the state I was in while making it clear that it was not my fault. That alone gave me enough courage to go to the next session. She comforted and reassured me during this session which lasted about thirty minutes. She made me understand how wrong I had been all this time, how much my choices were impacting my personality and my sign. She then made predictions according to the appropriate choices, in a word she gave me a glimpse of my future. Which today, is greatly beneficial to me. Thank you for everything and see you soon.
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A vaporizer, also referred to as a vaporizer, is basically a machine used to create steam or vapor and inhale it in your pipe or hookah. It’s a really cool tool to possess in your home for multiple reasons. Most smokers who check it out eventually go back to using tobacco. There is no doubt though, that should you quit using tobacco, you’ll take advantage of the wonderful changes your lungs and entire body will feel.
Generally, a Vape Shop can be a retail outlet focusing on the sale of varied electronic cigarette products such as cartridges. However, there are also numerous online Vapor Shop outlets. Most vaporizing shops provide a wide variety of top quality e-juice products. Many of these businesses usually do not even sell e Cig products from major tobacco companies.
There’s even Vape Shops that only sells top quality and highly regulated nicotine free tobacco products, such as for example Marl the Magician and other long-lasting brand names. These shops are not all equal to each other, however, as some of them tend to be more expensive than others. Some find yourself costing several hundred dollars while other Vapor Shops only cost a few dollars.
Plenty of vaporizing shops utilize top quality medical grade pharmaceuticals along with other nicotine products. This means you get the nicotine your body craves with the fantastic benefits of an electric nicotine delivery system. These kinds of Vapor Shops are often associated with luxurious hotels and spas.
Many Vape Shops provides a very helpful and knowledgeable customer service staff that is more than willing to give useful advice when customers are unsure about something. The staff in lots of of these Vapor Shops are extremely patient with their customers and provide them with advice and valuable home elevators everything from how to choose the best product available to helping them decide whether it’s something they should purchase from a Vapor Shop at all. The staff also strives to always keep the client informed and educated about services and approaches for using e-liquids. The advice and podsmall.com help given can help increase the customer’s knowledge about what they are inhaling and can eventually result in a happier and healthier lifestyle.
As new laws are introduced and implemented into the electronic smoking industry the Vape Shop owner must continue steadily to stay compliant. Failure to take action results in fines and or jail time. Many local cities and states are actually banning the sale and distribution of electric cigarettes and other tobacco products. Any business found in violation of these new laws will be forced to close their doors until compliance can be verified.
If a business owner fails to stick to the new regulations their chances of residing in business are greatly reduced. Some cities and states have even gone as far as putting them out of business because of insufficient sales. Many Vapor Shop owners have reported that their phone calls with their customers asking them to avoid smoking cigarettes are becoming a hassle when making the deliveries. Many other Vapor Shop customers also have reported that sales have stopped completely. Many more are contemplating the idea of quitting because they are sick of dealing with these kinds of companies.
With the overwhelming level of Vapor Shop businesses currently closing their doors, the future for the innovative Vapor Shop is looking grim. Many shop owners are scrambling to find alternative business ideas hoping of holding onto their dream. Others want to figure out ways to create a go of it within an even smaller venue. There’s expect the vaporizer industry all together, however the future for the Vape Shop is bleak.
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Last week, the U.S. hit a Syrian airfield with 59 cruise missiles as retaliation for Syria’s alleged use of banned nerve agents on its own civilian population. Some have questioned whether or not the strike went too far or perhaps did not go far enough. Many – including myself – equated it to the Clinton administration’s use of cruise missiles against targets in Iraq, the Balkans, Sudan, and Afghanistan in the 1990’s: limited force to make a statement, but nothing more.
Leaving aside the issue of what our future strategy will be for Syria, let’s take a look back at little-known episodes in American history where limited force on foreign soil has been used for limited gain.
Probably one of the first times that Americans saw the name of a place in the news where they found that their boys in uniform were fighting and couldn’t place it on a map. Sumatra is a spice island that is part of Indonesia; it was frequented by traders and merchants from many nations in the 19th century. After the murder of an American ship’s crew by a local village, President Andrew Jackson dispatched the frigate USS Potomac to take care of the problem. The Potomac bombarded the town and its surrounding forts and then landed 282 Sailors and Marines, which sacked and burnt the town, and took the outlying forts. With the promise to the local leader that if U.S. merchants were ever harmed again that he would be back, Commodore John Downes left.
In 1838, Malays from Sumatra massacred the crew of the U.S. trading ship Eclipse. Word of this got to the U.S. East India Squadron, which was engaged in non-military activities nearby – namely, circumnavigating the globe assisting with the United States Exploring Expedition. Two U.S. Navy frigates descended on the Sumatran coast, bombarded one town and landed a shore party that burnt a nearby village. This punitive expedition achieved what the first had not: no other Malay pirates attacked U.S. shipping. Although this may be because Sumatra was then invaded by the Dutch, who decided to stay and colonize, which probably presented a far greater headache to the locals than did the U.S. punitive expeditions.
The next weird American localized use of force came in 1856, in China, as part of the Second Opium War. These were essentially trade wars, but with guns. The U.S. joined with the British to pressure the local Chinese government into more amenable trade terms. It was part of the U.S. attempt to open Asian markets, also known as gunboat diplomacy. One U.S. frigate and two sloops of war landed shore parties around the city of Canton – now Guangzhou. After a peaceful visit to Canton to try to negotiate terms, U.S. forces were fired on by four forts outside the city as they returned to their ships. The next day – November 16 – the U.S. ships began a bombardment of the forts, silencing the Chinese guns. Another attempt to settle the issue diplomatically failed, and on November 20, the bombardment resumed. This was accompanied by a landing party of 287 Sailors and Marines which quickly seized the first fort, and then turned its guns on the second fort, capturing it as well. This tiny force fought off a much larger Chinese counterattack before advancing again and capturing the remaining two forts. Diplomatic negotiations began a third time, and this time were successful, with the U.S. promising neutrality in the war in return for a trade agreement. Losses were ten U.S. killed and twenty-two wounded, with several hundred Chinese soldiers killed and wounded.
As the rest of the U.S. Navy was sitting in blockade duty off the southern U.S. coast during the Civil War, the USS Wyoming was hanging out in the Pacific, hunting the Confederate commerce raider Alabama. It happened to be near Japan when a Japanese warlord went rogue and started firing on all foreign shipping, demonstrating an alarming ability to adapt to Western ways of war. On July 16, the Wyoming arrived in the Shimonoseki Strait and began engaging the Japanese shore batteries with its 11-inch pivot guns. However, she grounded shortly after the engagement began, and a Japanese steamer began to close to attempt a boarding. The Wyoming was able to free itself and put several well-placed shots into the Japanese ship, detonating its boilers. It then sank another Japanese steamer before returning to Yokohama, considerably shot up. Although it was a local victory, it did not deter the Japanese warlord and a combined fleet from European powers would return in 1864 to eventually put down the insurrection.
(Courtesy Navy and Marine History)
Remember that time the United States launched a punitive expedition against Taiwan? Yeah, me neither. In 1867, a U.S. merchant ship wrecked on the coast of Formosa – now Taiwan – and were massacred by native troops. Word got back to China, where none other than the USS Wyoming was on station. Accompanied by the USS Hartford, the Wyoming arrived off the coast of Formosa on June 13, 1867. A shore party composed of 181 Marines and Sailors landed and began the long and sweaty trek into the jungle to find and defeat the village that had massacred the merchant crew. However, the expedition found going slow over the mountainous terrain. They were subjected to numerous ambushes from the natives, who would open fire from ridgelines and then retreat to their next position before the exhausted U.S. troops could climb the top of the ridge. After skirmishing inconclusively for several hours, and sustaining one casualty, the expedition returned to the ships. This revealed the limits of U.S. power, as only a large and well-equipped force could carry the fight into the interior of the island. The Japanese later invaded Formosa in the 1870s and ended the threat, while also consolidating power that would put them on a collision course with the U.S. in the 1940s. Irony.
So the first Korean War kicked off in 1871, tied to trade negotiations between the U.S. and Korea. Needless to say, negotiations broke down, and five U.S. Navy ships steamed up the Han River, towards Hanyang – present-day Seoul. They were fired upon by the Korean forts. U.S. diplomats demanded an apology, and not receiving one, landed about 650 Marines and Sailors. In quick succession, these forces attacked one fort after another. With their breach-loading rifles and 12-pound howitzers, the U.S. forces were able to outgun the Koreans, many of whom were still using matchlock guns. The last citadel was assaulted, its flag captured, and the Korean general was captured. In just a few hours, the Korean defenses were laid bare, at the cost of thirteen U.S. casualties. An estimated 243 Korean soldiers had been killed. However, this military action only drove the Koreans further into isolationism and there was no diplomatic outcome. Gunboat diplomacy had proved its limits. As a side note, six Marines and nine Sailors received the Medal of Honor for their actions in this assault, the first such awarded for a conflict with a foreign power.
What happens when you get a nation to apologize to you but not render a 21-gun salute in your honor? You invade, obviously. In 1914, Mexico arrested nine unarmed U.S. sailors for trespassing into an off-limit area of Tampico. The local Navy commander demanded their return, accompanied by a formal apology and a 21-gun salute. He got the apology, but not the salute. At the same time, the U.S. received intelligence of a shipment of weapons from Germany headed for the government of Victoriano Huerta, who had taken power in Mexico the previous year, with the help of the American ambassador. In a brilliant and unabashed turnaround of policy, President Woodrow Wilson now declared Huerta a usurper and ordered the Navy to prepare to assault and occupy the Mexican port of Veracruz. Nevermind that the arms were coming from the U.S. Remington manufacturer, ordered by an American businessman in Mexico, and had been contracted by Russians, not Germans. Facts are hard.
On April 21, 1914, ships from the U.S. Atlantic Fleet assembled off Veracruz. Landings continued all morning, as Sailors and Marines occupied the shore. Organized resistance disappeared in the face of American power. Disorganized resistance – historically more deadly in urban combat – was now, well, organizing. Armed citizens, guerillas, militia, and deserters from the Mexican Army all assembled in Veracruz as the U.S. forces advanced. It rapidly devolved into a series of street battles, as the Navy began to land reinforcements, including Major Smedley Butler and his Marine Battalion which had been rushed in from Panama.
Fighting continued on April 22, often house to house and supported by the long-range fire of the Navy’s heavy guns. By the afternoon, U.S troops controlled the town square and had managed to gain control of most of the city. Pockets of resistance still remained, which were slowly weeded out by continuous operations until April 24. In the following days, the Sailors and fleet Marines returned to their ships and were replaced by a Provisional Marine Brigade and an Army brigade – which included Captain Doug MacArthur, because why the hell not? The U.S. occupied Veracruz until November, nearly causing an all-out war with Mexico, for so many very obvious reasons. That didn’t happen because Mexico itself was now in a civil war. However, the invasion ticked off just about everyone in the region, including the Brits who had previously received assurance that Wilson wouldn’t invade Mexico without warning. One can now see why Mexico didn’t flat-out reject German overtures during World War I, but instead entertained them.
In this action, the U.S. lost twenty-two killed and seventy wounded. The Mexican forces lost many times that number. The Navy ordered fifty-six Medals of Honor awarded for the Veracruz Expedition, more than any other military option to date. Smedley Butler later demanded that he be allowed to return his, seeing as he had done little to deserve it, as he said. The Navy ordered him to keep it. And also ordered him to wear it.
So what do all these actions teach us? That sometimes limited strikes can be successful, but that most of the time “gunboat diplomacy” rarely works.
About the Author: Angry Staff Officer is an Army engineer officer who is adrift in a sea of doctrine and staff operations and uses writing as a means to retain his sanity. He also collaborates on a podcast with Adin Dobkin entitled War Stories, which examines key moments in the history of warfare.
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CategoriesHistory TagsFormosa Punitive Expedition, Korean Expedition, Little known US military history, military history, Opium War, Sumatran Expedition, Syria, U.S. battles in Asia, Veracruz Expedition
April 11, 2017 at 4:50 pm
April 11, 2017 at 9:38 pm
Kinda disappointed that the War of Jenkin’s Ear didn’t make the cut.
LikeLiked by 2 people
April 11, 2017 at 9:39 pm
How did I know this was coming…
April 12, 2017 at 5:12 pm
I was sitting in Hines VA the other day, biding my time, when I heard two old vets arguing over “who had it harder.” I assumed they were Ranger School grads, since “hardness” seems to be a theme with that demographic…but it turned out they were veterans of Sumatran Expedition I and Sumatran Expedition II (“Electric Boogaloo”), and their disability claims were still pending. The last I saw of the two old gems was when the nurse called my name. The Sumatran guys were haranguing a Guadalcanal vet for wearing cotton in the jungle (“blue wool prevents bilious humors”), and firing metallic cartridges (“how can you find the enemy without following the puff of smoke?”)…I forgot to thank them for their service.
LikeLiked by 1 person
April 12, 2017 at 5:13 pm
April 24, 2019 at 11:17 pm
Here is a short documentary about this 1914 American Invasion of Mexico:
August 15, 2019 at 11:31 am
I noticed that the contingent of Navy “bluejackets” in the photo from the Veracruz action were using the famous Browning “potato digger” machine gun, another product of the protean firearms genius John Moses Browning, father of the Colt 1911 and Browning High Power pistols, and also the “potato digger’s” illustrious descendant, the M2 .50 caliber heavy machine gun, known affectionately as “Ma Deuce” and still in service today.
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Feature
Criminal charges against paramedics in Elijah McClain’s death raise questions about when emergency medical responders should be held accountable for fatalities in police custody.
Protests and vigils were held nationwide in 2020 for Elijah McClain, who died after paramedics injected him with the sedative ketamine during an encounter with police. Jae C. Hong/Associated Press
When paramedics arrived at the jail in Westland, Michigan, in December 2017 to find William Marshall convulsing on the floor, they didn’t take his vital signs. They didn’t transport him to the hospital. They left him there. Less than four hours later, Marshall was dead of a cocaine overdose. Their actions clearly didn’t meet the basic standards of care for their profession. But were they criminal?
The Wayne County Prosecutor believed so, charging the paramedics and the sergeant in charge of the jail with manslaughter and misconduct in office. The sergeant was acquitted at trial. One of the paramedics pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor, and the other faces a retrial after an initial trial ended with a hung jury.
This article was published in partnership with USA Today.
It's rare for police officers to face civil, criminal or professional consequences after fatal confrontations. It's rarer still — almost unheard of — for emergency medical providers, who are often called by police after an encounter turns physical.
But just this month, paramedics in two states were hit with criminal charges and disciplinary actions stemming from their role in deadly police encounters. In Colorado, a state grand jury brought charges against two paramedics and three police officers in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a massage therapist killed while walking home from a convenience store. And in Dallas, five years after the death of Tony Timpa, a man in the midst of a mental health crisis, the paramedics who stood by as officers pinned him to the ground were disciplined by a state licensing board.
To be sure, hundreds of thousands of emergency medical responders save lives and work with police to keep people safe every day. But the cases in Colorado, Texas and Michigan shed light on how medical professionals who contribute to deaths in police custody can be held accountable under the law. In all these cases, the paramedics did not intervene when a patient they were called to help was clearly in grave danger. In Colorado and Texas, they also injected the person with a sedative — sometimes called a “chemical restraint” — under dangerous circumstances when he was already handcuffed.
Experts say there is a gray area where poor job performance rises to the level of a crime. “At the heart of it, that is what we call medical malpractice or negligence,” said Douglas Wolfberg, an attorney with the law firm Page, Wolfberg & Wirth, which provides legal services to EMTs. “To turn that into an intentional act or crime — it’s a prosecutorial overreach. It’s virtually without precedent.”
Charging the paramedics in these cases was certainly unusual, said Joan H. Krause, a law professor at the University of North Carolina. That speaks to the mounting sense of anger about deaths in police custody, which haven’t seemed to slow despite some high-profile police prosecutions. “Whenever you see the law used in a very unusual way, it’s usually very clearly responding to a great deal of frustration,” Krause said. “Often it’s responsive to this sense that nothing else is really working.”
In the case of Elijah McClain, the 23-year-old was walking home with a bag of iced tea when someone called 911 to report that he was acting strangely. A police stop quickly turned violent, and city paramedics arrived after police officers had twisted his arm, pinned him to the ground and choked him unconscious. Paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec then injected McClain with the sedative ketamine — far too much for his body weight, the indictment says — without checking his vital signs, clearing his airway, or attempting to talk to him.
To prove criminal negligence to a jury, “you’re not looking for just that deviation from what we would normally expect. You egregiously violated the standards. And you’re going to have to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt,” said Krause, the law professor. “It’s a lot to convince a prosecutor to take this on.”
The laws governing both crimes and civil claims vary from state to state, but generally, the standard in civil court — a “preponderance of the evidence,” usually interpreted as “more likely than not” — is easier to meet than the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard in criminal court.
That’s why prosecutions of healthcare providers are extremely rare, and are typically limited to extreme cases, like the Massachusetts nurse known as the “Angel of Death.” In 2001, the nurse got a life sentence after she intentionally injected patients with fatal doses of epinephrine (also known as adrenaline). EMT prosecutions have been limited to staff who steal medication or outright assault patients, or deadly ambulance crashes resulting from reckless driving, Wolfberg said.
Instead, experts say, medical professions have long relied on patients bringing civil suits and medical licensing boards disciplining or revoking licenses to police their practitioners.
In the McClain case, until earlier this month, both Cooper and Cichuniec were still licensed as paramedics in Colorado and were still working for the city of Aurora, a spokesman for the city confirmed.
It shouldn’t have taken criminal charges for the board to get involved in this case, said Corey Davis, an attorney with the Network for Public Health Law, a public health policy nonprofit. “That’s the non-criminal justice system check on licensed professionals,” he said. “The licensing board is supposedly there to protect the public and make sure this kind of thing doesn’t happen.”
Peter Myers, spokesman for the Health Facilities and Emergency Medical Services Division of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, did not return phone calls and emails from The Marshall Project seeking information about the state’s decertification process for EMS providers. But about two weeks after the indictments, the paramedics’ status was updated to “suspended'' on the state’s online database.
A civil suit filed by McClain's family last year against several first responders involved that night, including the paramedics, is ongoing. It alleges the paramedics acted “intentionally and recklessly reported false observations in order to claim that Elijah suffered from excited delirium.”
The controversial diagnosis of excited delirium, the stated basis of the paramedics’ decision to inject McClain with ketamine, often appears in police narratives of deaths in police custody. “It’s a well-trod path to trying to deny accountability for using medication as a weapon,” said Mari Newman, a lawyer who represents McClain's father in the lawsuit.
In a similar case in Dallas, the paramedics never faced criminal charges, but were eventually professionally sanctioned. In 2016, Tony Timpa pleaded for his life while officers pinned his chest to the ground in a parking lot. The city withheld officers’ body camera footage for years, but when finally released, it showed officers mocking Timpa as he fell unconscious. A Dallas Fire and Rescue paramedic injected him with the sedative Versed, then stood by with a colleague as Timpa died.
A grand jury indicted three of the police officers involved in Timpa’s death on charges of misdemeanor deadly conduct, but the Dallas County District Attorney, John Cruezot, dropped the charges after he took office in 2019. Because grand jury proceedings are secret in Texas, it’s not known whether criminal charges were considered for the paramedics.
Tony Timpa, who was off his mental health medication, initially called 911 saying he was afraid and needed help in 2016. He was pinned to the ground by Dallas police officers and fell unconscious before dying. Police body camera footage courtesy of Attorney Geoff Henley
A spokeswoman for the district attorney said he stands by his decision to drop the criminal case against those officers.
Five years after the incident, two of the medics, Curtis Burnley and James Flores, the one who injected Timpa with the sedative, were disciplined by a state board. Earlier this year, both men were put on two-year probation for failing to intervene after Timpa became unconscious and for falsifying his patient care report, according to records.
But so far justice in a civil suit has eluded the family: A federal judge in Dallas granted the police officers legal protection for their actions under the doctrine of qualified immunity, a decision the Timpas have appealed to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court.
Experts say EMTs’ loyalties can blur during police calls, when they rely on police for their safety, and getting along is essential. “You can come to see police as fellow travelers,” said Davis, the public health attorney who is himself a licensed EMT. “You get called to the same scenes, you see the same people. You both work stressful jobs with crappy hours.”
Still, said Douglas Wolfberg, the EMS attorney, their roles are very different.
“Ethically, if you want to be an EMS caregiver, you have to be a patient advocate. You’re not an agent of law enforcement,” Wolfberg said. “You’re not there to subdue or control or take down the patient.”
Paramedics deferring to law enforcement may have been what made the 2017 death of William Marshall turn deadly. According to court transcripts, Marshall had swallowed a bag of cocaine while being arrested for drug possession during a traffic stop in Westland, a small city outside Detroit. He had been in the jail for about an hour when he began convulsing on the floor and begging for medical attention. When paramedics arrived, the sergeant in charge of the jail sent them away: He thought Marshall was faking his symptoms, according to court documents.
“They should have overrode the sergeant’s decision to say, ‘hey, this guy is sick, we have to take him to the hospital,’” said Karri Mitchell, an attorney for Marshall’s family.
After Marshall died, both the paramedics and the police sergeant in charge of the jail were charged with manslaughter and misconduct in office. The manslaughter charges were later dropped, but prosecutors pressed forward with the misdemeanor misconduct charges.
Through a spokeswoman, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy declined to comment on the Marshall case.
Marshall’s sister, Chlohe Winfrey, says the misdemeanor charges against the paramedics didn’t feel like enough. “That’s not really too much justice to me,” she said. “I guess some justice is better than no justice at all.”
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Beth Schwartzapfel Twitter Email is a staff writer who often covers addiction and health, probation and parole, and LGBTQ+ issues. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today and NPR.
Cary Aspinwall Twitter Email is a staff writer for The Marshall Project. Previously, she was an investigative reporter at The Dallas Morning News, where she reported on the impact of pre-trial incarceration and money bail on women and children in Texas and deaths in police custody involving excessive force and medical negligence. She won the Gerald Loeb Award for reporting on a Texas company's history of deadly natural gas explosions and is a past Pulitzer finalist for her work exposing flaws in Oklahoma's execution process.
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Tunisia, cradle of the revolts in the Arab world, hosts from today [26 March] and until Saturday the World Social Forum (WSF), the most important international meeting of social movements and organizations. And this is not by chance. The promoters of the WSF chose this country in reference to the Arab Spring. The latter has not only given rise to new movements of opposition in North Africa and the Middle East, but has also “contaminated” the south of Europe, in particular with the movement of the indignant in the Spanish State, as well as the Occupy movement in the United States.
It is a new cycle of protest which has emerged on an international scale, determined by a systemic crisis and debt and austerity policies, in particular in the countries of the periphery of the European Union subjected to harsh measures of adjustment.
The “Arab Spring” brought a fresh wind in the long night of the crisis. It made it possible to recover confidence in collective action, in “us”. In January 2011, Tunisian president Ben Ali fled the country under the pressure of the street. One month later, in February 2011, history was repeated; Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak threw in the sponge and resigned, forced and constrained by social mobilization. The Arab world, so long stigmatized in the West, offered a lesson of democracy to us.
Today, two years later, the World Social Forum is being held in the epicentre of these revolts, where it encounters political processes of open, unstable and chaotic change. In Tunisia, last February, the assassination of Chokri Belaïd marked a turning. A lawyer and militant Marxist, he was one of the leaders of a Popular Front which brings together various left organizations which assert in their programme not only more democracy, but also social justice. The first political assassination of the young Tunisian democracy represented a hard blow for society and started new mobilizations against the rise of violence in the country.
Both in Tunisia and in Egypt, the revolutionary processes which have emerged are today still open, but their outcome remains dubious. The democratic conquests are fragile and still limited and there have not yet been significant economic changes. An open fight is going on between those who consider that the revolution is finished and those who want to deepen it and to carry it through until its ultimate consequences. The youth and left activists show daily that they are not going to let anyone confiscate their revolution, whether it is the vestiges of the old regime or the Islamists who have come to power.
Beyond the debate on the situation of the “Arab Spring”, to which all the seminars and the activities of the second day of the WSF are devoted, other themes will have a particular centrality. The feminist struggle, for example, with the assembly of women, right before the beginning of the WSF, which will be devoted partly to the analysis and the sharing of experiences on the important part played by women in the Arab revolts, as depicted by Leil-Zahra in her documentary series “Words of Women from the Egyptian Revolution”. The international movement for climatic justice will organize a “Climate Space” within the WSF in order to discuss its future strategies, convergences and prospects on a key question for the future of the planet and humanity.
Since the World Social Forum organized its first meeting in January 2001, at the same time as the celebration of the World Economic Forum of Davos and as a counterpoint to the latter, much water has passed under the bridge. The WSF was born from the movement against capitalist globalisation, later converted into the anti-war movement, and as a meeting point for a new total resistance against the disasters of neoliberal globalisation. After having played an important part in struggles during its early meetings, it lost its political centrality in spite of a continuing high participation and it gradually died out in parallel with the movement against capitalist globalisation. The context had changed and, consequently, so had its raison d’être.
Today, with the opening of a new cycle of protests born following the “Arab Spring”, with the movements of the indignant and Occupy, the World Social Forum is perceived to some extent much more as an instrument of the past than of the present and the future. But its existence highlights one of the main weaknesses of the new social movements of protest which have appeared in the context of the systemic crisis: their fragile international coordination. The movements are faced with the challenge of creating new space of articulation on the world scale allowing advance in the common struggle and the exchange of experiences. The offensive of austerity policies in all countries is truly intense and requires such an effort of national mobilisation that external coordination is weakened. Although these new movements feel themselves part of the same global wave, coordination between the different actors of the movement has remained rather weak, despite the organisation of global days of action and some meetings.
Currently the axis of mobilisation is no longer in Latin America, where the WSF was born. It is now in the Arab world and in an old Europe boiling with protest and “third worldised” as it is struck by crisis. the challenge now is to learn from these struggles which in the not so distant past have emerged against debt, evictions and privatisation in the countries of the South. And to advance towards the indispensable coordination of resistance which can face up to the implacable organisation of capital.
*Translated by International View Point.
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"Only a person humble, meek, and aware of his or her utter need and dependency is open to grace, to the unmerited favor bestowed upon those who are, in every way, unworthy."
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Good evening friends. Welcome, again, to Sabbath school study hour. We'd like to welcome you. Thank you for joining us as we continue our study in the book of James. Before we get started, though, we want to invite God's presence to be with us and the Holy Spirit to guide our hearts and our minds in this very important study.
So join us now as we begin with a word of prayer. Dear Father, once again we thank you for the opportunity to study Your Word together. We invite the Holy Spirit to come and lead our hearts and our minds. This is an important subject so we ask, in a special way, for your presence to be with us. In Jesus' Name, amen.
I'd also like to welcome our local audience here - our Granite Bay church members - this is our Tuesday evening prayer meeting. And thank you for joining us as we're in transition to our new church location and we're here at the Amazing Facts studio, studying our Sabbath school quarterly on the book of James. For those of you who are joining us, if you'd like to follow along with this quarter's study, you can go to the Amazing Facts website or the Granite Bay church website - granitebaysda.org - and you can click on the link that says 'Sabbath school' and you can download the lesson and you can follow along with us. We also have a free offer that we'd like to make available to you, 'compromise, conformity, and courage' - a book written by Pastor Doug Batchelor. If you call our resource number - 866-788-3966 - and you can ask for offer #774.
Again, that number is -788-3966 or 866-study-more and ask for the book 'compromise, conformity, and courage' or offer #774. We'll be happy to send that to you and that goes along with our study for today. So Pastor Doug, with that, we'll invite you to come forward and you will lead out in our study this evening. Thank you Pastor Ross and good evening everybody. It's evening here.
Good morning to many of our class because a lot of people watch these programs in the morning and - then for that matter, all over the world it's at different hours. We're glad you're joining us for our Sabbath school study time. And we're continuing in our study in the book of James and we have a memory verse. The lesson is James - it's lesson #8 and it's - the memory verse is James 4:10 and it's - well, I'll let you all say it with me. You ready? If you've got your lesson open or your Bibles open, here we go.
James 4:10, "humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and he will lift you up." That's right. Some of you it says, 'he will exalt you.' King James/new king James it says, 'he will lift you up.' This lesson is titled 'humility' - 'the humility of heaven' - let me say that again. This lesson is titled 'the humility of heavenly wisdom.' And we're going to have some of you participate in just a moment - in helping us read along. You know, in preparation for this lesson I'm actually, you know, just even teaching and preaching it blesses me because in studying to talk to others, it's not as though I'm one who has arrived. I'm convicted often by the things I prepare in the study time and this lesson that's dealing with pride and humility - I'd read it years before, there's a book that's somewhat of a classic called 'mere Christianity' by c.
s. Lewis and he's got a chapter in there called 'the great sin' and in that chapter, where he deals with the great sin, it's talking about pride. I'll read you one little excerpt from that, "according to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all of that are mere flea bites in comparison. It was through pride the devil became the devil.
Pride leads to every other vice. It is complete anti-God state of mind - it is the complete anti-God state of mind." And, you know, as I was pondering that and considering the lesson, it really is the foundation of just about every other sin because pride really leads to the heart of selfishness. Pride is what turned satan into a devil - or lucifer, I should say, into a devil. He was a good angel. And I don't know if it was John knox - I forget which one of the reformers it was that said, 'you're never more like the devil than when you're proud.
' And you're never more like Jesus than when you're humble because they represent the two polar opposites. Jesus was - he says, 'come unto me...for I am meek and lowly.' Jesus was the exhibit a of humility and so, in this lesson and in a number of places in the book of James he appeals for us to model the characteristics of Christ, which is that of humility. Now, just to start out, I thought it'd be good to look at some of the examples in the Bible that illustrate this point of how dangerous pride is. When Christ first began teaching, in Matthew chapter 5, he talks about the scribes and the pharisees, but it's not restricted to them - it happens in churches all the time, that pray to be seen of men. You pray long prayers thinking that you're going to impress people with how holy you are.
What is the root motive for doing that? Pride. He said that they fast and disfigure their faces so that they look holy and tell everybody they're fasting. What is the motive behind that? Pride. It's, you know, trying to appear religious - this is where it's so dangerous - it's religious pride. And he said that - 'and you blow the trumpet before you make a donation' - you want to make sure that they name a pew or a window or a brick after you because of your donation.
What's at the heart of that? Jesus said, 'when you gift, don't let your - when you give, don't let your left hand know what your right hand does. That would be humility, when you quietly give things away. I read about this billionaire - it was one of the Amazing Facts during our program. I can't remember his name right now, but he had over a billion dollars and he gave away all of it but a couple hundred million dollars and he did it quietly. Without any fanfare, he would secretly go into these institutions - he'd write letters - he'd say, 'here's what I hope you can use this for' - and he just - he said, 'my goal is, I want to provide for my family - what they're going to need - because I want to die without anything left.
' And it was - it's just amazing that he just gave away his wealth and he wanted nobody to know. Matter of fact, for the longest time, people were wondering, 'where's all this money coming from for these projects?' And he would fly coach fare - billionaire - ride the bus and the train. Didn't own a car. Didn't own a home. It's quite a - it's quite a story and - but he didn't want any credit for doing that.
Religious pride - and since we're principally talking to people that are studying a Sabbath school lesson, I thought that's an important context for this. It's just as deadly as any other kind of pride. You know, you see a football player get a touchdown. He does his victory dance. What's behind that? He's stomping around, throwing the ball, and it's just, you know, it's an act of humility? No, it's pride.
But do we have that sometimes, even in the church? Make a donation, blow the trumpet. Say a long prayer, tell everyone we're fasting. Why did the religious leaders crucify Jesus? Because of pride and envy. Even pilate said - the Bible says - he knew that it was for envy that they had brought him to pilate. Envy is really a - it's fallout from pride - being jealous that somebody else is getting the credit that you want.
So pride is really striking at the heart. You can even think of some of the good people in the Bible - good Kings - king uzziah. You read about the history of uzziah, he's the second-longest reigning king in Judea - actually, for all of Israel. I think he reigned fifty-two years. That's a long reign.
Manasseh is the only one that reigned longer. I think that was fifty-five years. Uzziah - good king - he built - the Lord was with him - matter of fact, the record of uzziah says he walked in the commandments according to David, his father - or like David his father. But one day, I don't know what came over him, you know, I guess they say that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely and when you're king and everyone tells you how wonderful you are because they want favors, it can start to - you can start believing it after awhile. And something possessed him and one day uzziah thought, you know, how come I can't go into the holy place and burn incense like a priest? All of these other pagan nations around me, the Kings also get to act as a priest.
Why don't I get to act like a priest?' - He said - 'I should be a' - who knows what he was thinking? But he took a golden censor in his hand, he threw some incense on the coals and he went in and started to wave it back and forth like a priest. All the priests saw what was happening and like eighty priests got together and they all confronted him and they said, 'your majesty, this is not appropriate. The Scriptures say it is only for The Sons of aaron to do this.' He said, 'I'm the King. I can do what I want.' And they said, 'no.' And he got angry. Why did he get angry? Pride was offended.
He wanted a position above and as he began to argue and say, 'I've got my rights and I should be able to do this' - and who knows what he said? It just says he became enraged. Leprosy broke out on his forehead right at that very moment and it stayed with him until the day he died. What is leprosy a type of in the Bible? Sin. And you're never more like the devil than when you're proud. They chased him out of the sanctuary because he was unclean and he had to finish out his reign living in isolation.
What about king hezekiah? Good king. Who here wouldn't want hezekiah? I mean, he prayed and God slew a whole army. Good king. He prayed and God turned the sun backwards. Didn't just stop it like he did for Joshua, it went backwards.
He was a good king. But when the ambassadors came from Babylon and he said, 'now where are you guys from? Babylon? Wow.' That was the center of learning in the world. 'From Babylon - you've come to me? To learn from me? Wow! Hey, compared to Babylon, I'm a small king. I better impress these guys.' And so instead of telling them about the God they've come to inquire about - the wonder done when the Lord turned the sun back - that's what the Bible says. Instead of talking to them about God - what a wasted missionary opportunity.
He said, 'let me show you my spices. Let me show you my armory. Let me show you my treasures. Let me show you' - and 'my, my, my, me, me, me.' And then Isaiah came and he said, 'these people came to learn about the Lord. What did they see in your house?' He said, 'well, yeah, Babylon.
I showed them everything. They were impressed. You should have seen them. Their eyes sparkled when they saw all my stuff.' And Isaiah said, 'yeah, well here's the rest of the story. Because you were just thinking about yourself' - this is a paraphrase - he said, 'the Babylonians are going to come and they're going to take all the treasures you showed them back to Babylon and they'll take up your sons and make them eunuchs in their palace.
' Daniel, shadrach, meshach and abednego - they were some of the princes of Judea that were taken off. And he was proud of his stuff. I think it was spurgeon that said, 'don't be proud of face or race or place.' - Meaning your position. But stand at the door after a sermon, when you're a pastor, and people say the nicest things. But I have also stood at the door knowing that I preached a terrible sermon and people still said nice things.
And it finally occurred to me that people are just being nice and they just don't know what else to say. You start to believe all that stuff. I think, who was it? Again, it was John knox. Someone said to him, 'pastor knox, you're the best preacher in all of scotland.' He said, 'I know, the devil tells me that all the time.' So after a year, the Bible says in Daniel chapter , verse 30, "the King spake, and said," - he's walking on his balcony overlooking a beautiful sunset glistening off the kingdom of Babylon - which was quite a kingdom - "is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the Kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty? While the word was in the King's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, 'o king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; the Kingdom is departed from thee." Just that quick he turned into just a raving animal. He dropped to his knees and began to prowl around and people wondered, 'what in the world is wrong with him?' You know, I understand - I think it was king george, during the revolutionary wary, lost his mind.
And they ended up finding it was - well, at least the historians speculate he had some kind of uric acid poisoning or something - it was a rare disease. But he ended up getting his wits back but a long time they tried to hide that the King had lost his mind - king george. And, you know, the orders that he gave his british troops were not very coherent as America, being independent today, is evidence of that. But Nebuchadnezzar lost his mind and - talk about putting him out to pasture - they, literally, did. They tried to hide it - I don't know - his cabinet tried to run things for him, but for seven years they kept wondering, 'where'd he go?' How many of you heard in the news today that folks are all speculating what's wrong with the dictator of north korea just suddenly fell off the public scene for six weeks and now he appears - young guy - younger than me - a little bit heavy for his age - hobbling around with a cane and they're thinking - they're just guessing - 'maybe he's got gout.
' - They don't know what it was, but they tried to hide it because it can create instability. So they tried to hide it for Nebuchadnezzar, but what made him lose his mind? Pride. Now we're going to come back to this theme of pride later in our lesson. I just wanted to introduce that - just from bow to stern in the Bible - why did eve eat from the forbidden fruit? The devil said, 'you will' - and what did the devil want? 'Be like the most high. You will be like God.
' And yeah, so all those things. Yeah, that's another good point. The Bible says, "love not the world" - this is 1 John chapter , verse 15 - "neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of The Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of The Father, but is of the world.
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God..." So the pride in the world is the antithesis of what God is. And so, when James is talking about this, he mentions pride and humility quite a bit. It must have been a problem in the church back then. I'm glad we don't have that problem in our church today. Your laugh I'll take as testimony that you know I was being facetious.
Alright, 'the meekness of wisdom.' We're going to ask you to help us with a few verses. Someone look up for me Proverbs , verse 2. Who's going to have that? You'll have that one dick - in just a moment here - and I'm going to read James 3:13. "Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom." Now you notice, we're still, little by little, plodding through James and now we're just reading James 3:13 - we're breaking these things down. 'In the meekness of wisdom.
' 'The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.' But here he's connecting meekness with wisdom. How much wiser was Nebuchadnezzar when he had an eruption of pride? Or did he lose all his wisdom? He became an animal. So pride, you know - people make a lot of rash, bad decisions when they're driven by pride. Meekness is a good starting point. Matter of fact, why don't you go ahead and read that verse for us now in Proverbs 27? "Let another man praise you and not your own mouth; a stranger and not your own lips.
" Now if - now is it ever wrong to compliment somebody? Is it ever wrong? Well, it could be. Does the Bible talk about flattering your neighbor and spreading a net for their feet? It could be. It's not always wrong. I said, 'is it ever wrong?' Trick question, yeah. Somebody said that humility is mind over flatter.
And someone else said, 'compliments are like perfume, sniff but do not swallow.' Because - there's another one. Here - I got one metaphor after another, "many a bee has drowned in its own honey.' Have you ever heard that one? So you don't want to take these things too serious and - it's good, we should show appreciation. We should compliment, but what's the difference between a compliment and flattery? Well, sincerity - motivation. I think sometimes, when someone is flattering another person, they're wanting a favor and they're buttering a person up. They're trying to win some kind of benefit from them.
And anyway - alright, let's move along. We should - in Hebrews 13:7 - I want you to know - we just read James 3:13 - it talks about 'let him show by good conduct, that his works are done in righteousness.' Then you go to Hebrews 13:7 - that word 'conduct' in the Greek, is really talking about a life of wisdom. You know, one of the things I noticed about David - king David - he's actually the only David in the Bible so that's not easy to confuse - when he was living in the palace with Saul and he knew that Saul's temperament was very tenuous, it says, 'he conducted himself wisely.' Why did Saul want to kill David? What started - what triggered the whole thing? Do you remember? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. They were coming back from a battle against the philistines and the women used to come out and meet the soldiers when they came back. And they would come out with singing and tambourines and the women were singing a song and Saul liked the first verse.
It said, 'Saul has slain his thousands' - and he took a big chestful of air and lifted his head a little notch and then they - he heard verse 2, 'and David his ten thousands.' From that moment he wanted to kill David. If they had said, 'Saul has killed his thousands and David his hundreds,' he would have been happy. But because they ascribed more victories to David than to - and what they meant was, when David killed Goliath, he sent the whole army running. They were talking about that. That did not set very well, especially with the young ladies singing.
That just right there was a tipping point for him. Why? Pride. How different was the attitude of Saul's son jonathan than his father? Jonathan said, 'David, I know God has chosen you. And even though I'm the crown prince, you're going to be king in my place.' And he said, 'I just hope that you'll not wipe out my family when I'm gone and I'll be there to help you.' And he was sincere - a humble man. And yet he had great victories in battle too.
You ever wonder sometimes, when you go through the Kings of Israel, you get a really bad, wicked king and he has a really good king as a son. And it's like josiah's father was wicked but josiah was good. And then his sons were wicked. And hezekiah was good but manasseh was wicked. Saul was wicked.
Jonathan was good. It kind of goes to show that the sons will not bear the sins for The Fathers and The Fathers for The Sons - mothers/daughters - same thing. Anyway, but Hebrews - I never got to it, sorry. Hebrews uses the same word - "remember those" - this is Hebrews 13:7 - "remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the Word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct." Alright now, we're going to have someone read Proverbs 16:19 - you'll have that katrina - just a moment, okay? Speaking about - now we're talking about the meekness of wisdom. Is wisdom different from knowledge? You know, you can have lots of knowledge and there's some people that are geniuses - they'll fall down three times on their way to the piano, but once they get there they just play like a genius.
You might be able to build a car with knowledge. It takes wisdom to know how fast to drive the car. You know what I'm saying? It's different - in Daniel 12:3, notice the use of these words, "those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase." How many would agree that we're living in an age that has more knowledge? I mean, you don't have to pull them out right now, but on your smart phones you're able to access the information of the world through Google or yahoo or bing or whatever your favorite search engine happens to be. Can you imagine - just imagine trying to explain that to the apostle Peter as he climbs from his fishing boat 2,000 years ago.
Say, 'yeah, I want to show you something, Peter. Come over here. See this thing? You think it's a shiny rock. It's not. It's called a smart phone.
Let me show you what it can do.' Of course, they wouldn't have had the support network back then, so. But, you know what I'm saying? Just think about the knowledge. I've heard varying statistics that, you know, in the last twenty years the majority of knowledge of all of history can be focused in the just last twenty years and every few years it's doubling. You just think about how - but with all that knowledge, do we still have people that are just blowing each other up in different parts of the world and doing terribly violent things to total strangers? When it comes to wisdom, wisdom'll turn people to righteousness. Knowledge can just be knowing things.
And in the last days people will run to and fro. We're running to and fro faster now than we ever have in the history of man. Knowledge will increase, but not necessarily wisdom. Wisdom comes from the fear of the Lord. 'Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have nothing to say.
' Someone said, 'he that knows little often repeats it.' You ever read what Solomon says about the wise and the fools? I don't have time to go through all that but, of course, being foolish is something the Bible talks about a lot. Jesus said when we don't have faith we're foolish. 'O fools, slow of heart to believe, all the prophets have spoken: the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.' Go ahead, read with us - read that next verse for us then. "Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud." And this is what James is talking about. By the way, that was Proverbs :19, "an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.
" And, you know, these are just some of the - all through Proverbs it talks about having a humble spirit. Now how humble was Solomon? It depends upon what age of his life you're talking about. When Solomon was young, what was his prayer? 'Lord, I'm just a child. I don't know how to go out or come in and here you've made me ruler of this people that's like the sand of the sea. I don't know what I'm doing.
' And because he had a humble heart he said, 'Lord, please give me understanding that I can know the difference between good and evil.' Because he had a humble attitude, God answered his prayer and he gave him all the things that proud people pray for. He gave him riches and glory and all of that. But later in his life, when a prophet came to him and told him he was sinning because he was beginning to let his pagan wives manipulate him and he was putting idols in the temple of the Lord. When the prophet confronted him, Solomon wanted to punish the prophet. His whole attitude changed.
He became proud. His pride was offended. Can you think of other stories in the Bible where a prophet comes to tell the King the truth and the King's pride is offended - he wants to take it out on the prophet? How about jeroboam? You remember when the prophet from judah - it doesn't tell us his name - came to rebuke him for putting up idols - those golden calves - and the King said, 'seize him!' - What happened to his arm? Froze - he couldn't pull it back. It just locked up. And then he said to the prophet, 'please, pray for me.
' His pride was offended that this prophet would have the audacity to tell him the truth in the name of the Lord. And it kind of humbled him them. Do you remember, in the Bible, when micaiah was a prophet? He went and he talked to ahab and jehoshaphat and he said to ahab, 'you're going to die in battle if you go fight at ramoth gilead, because of what you've done to the prophets of God.' Ahab said, 'put him in jail and feed him with the bread of affliction and the water of affliction until I come back in peace.' Why? Pride was offended. Have you ever been offended when somebody told you the truth? You ever have someone say something to you and then they say they're just kidding? Usually they're not kidding when they say that. Isn't that true? And when someone says, 'it's not the money.
' It's usually the money. 'This has nothing to do with the money.' That's not always true, but often it can be true. Well, we're getting more than we paid for now. Let's get back into the lesson. Someone said once, 'wisdom is knowing what to do next.
Skill is knowing how to do it. - You might even say knowledge is knowing how to do it - 'and virtue is doing it.' Alright, let's go to 'two kinds of wisdom.' James 3:15 and 16 and someone's going to be reading Colossians 3:1 and 2 - and who's got that verse next? Oh, okay, I recognize that young lady. Alright, James 3, let's read that. "This wisdom does not descend from above," - he's talking about the wisdom of the world - "but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.
" Have you ever heard stories about a church that split? Two different church groups form - I'm not talking about a church plant, I'm talking about a church split. Do you understand the difference? What usually is at the foundation of a church split? Now God has taken some church splits and worked it for good but, you know, more times that not there are two warring factions that are not being led by the Spirit but they're being led by the flesh. In other words, they're just arguing among themselves over some - it may have been architectural plans - I mention that because I know one church, in particular, that when it came to the architectural plans people were so entrenched they had a fight and they split and they ended up with two churches because of that. Some it could be a decorating committee. Do you know what often causes church splits? Nominating committee.
Why do you think? Someone is passed up for a position or they're replaced and they become upset. They start - they get a group together and they say, 'oh, this leadership here, they don't recognize real talent.' Or they may not say it that way. And then they have a breakaway. But what's at the heart of that? Spirit of Christ? Me, me, me. Yeah.
I'm so glad Jesus' disciples never had problems with that. What were the disciples arguing about even up until just before the last supper? Yeah, they - well, James and John came, with the help of a good Jewish mother that went to Jesus and said, 'you know, these sons of mine,' - you know, she was actually a distant relative of Jesus through mary so she was asking for, you know, family favor - 'blood is thicker than water, you know. 'They really ought to be sitting on your right and your left hand.' And then later they argued on the road which of them was the greatest. Now James and John, they were so mad at James and John when that happened. Why do you think the disciples were mad at James and John? Because they thought of it first.
They thought of asking that - they were all thinking it but they thought, 'they actually had the audacity to ask and they got their mother to do it for them.' 'Who could be more qualified than my sons?' Doesn't every mother feel that way? Talking about the disciples. Doesn't that encourage you though? That if Jesus' disciples, that ended up turning the world upside down with the holy spirit, if they had problems with pride - when we look in our hearts and in our mirrors - and I look in the mirror and it lends to humility but - but you know what I'm talking about - and we see - we see these same things in our own hearts. We think, 'how am I ever going to make it? You think, well, Jesus was dealing with the same substance in the disciples. Paul, barnabas - good friends - was there a little church split among them? Mark - John Mark - on one of their missionary endeavors, he just got discouraged and just gave - threw in the towel and walked away and left them. And they really needed his help and then later when they were going to go on another missionary excursion, barnabas said, 'let's bring Mark with us.
' Paul said, 'not on your life. You forgot what happened last time? No, this isn't baseball - three strikes and you're out.' He said, 'once you're out.' Barnabas said, 'give him another chance.' He said, 'no, we can't afford to risk him just walking out on us again and we're going to teach him a lesson.' Who knows, but I bet they said something like that. And it says the contention was so great between them - I'm sure pride had nothing to do with it. Which of them was right? - That they split? And they ended up with two missionary groups. Barnabas went with John Mark - by the way, barnabas was evidently right because later in Paul's writings he said, 'send Mark to me.
He's profitable for me in the Gospel.' But - and then silas went with Paul. So you ended up with two missionary groups. God worked things together for good, but I don't think he wanted them to have that kind of contention. I think there's a lot of, sometimes, unnecessary contention in families. Sometimes in families people say things with a little bit of a cutting edge on their words - little sarcasm - a little bit of a bite.
Why? Someone's been offended and they're just letting you know with their verbiage. 'Well, I can be sharp too.' And all kinds of conflicts come into families because of what? 'I have not been appreciated the way I think I should be appreciated.' 'Man, here he goes on a business trip and while he's gone I fill his car with gas and I wash it.' Every time you leave. 'And he doesn't say anything to thank me.' I wasn't thinking of anyone in particular. Every time you leave. But sometimes those things happen where, you know, we feel like we're not appreciated or we forget to appreciate and people's feelings are hurt.
And - I don't think about us, I was just thinking - now you're going to read your Scripture. Are you ready? Colossians 3:1 and 2, "if then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth." Now this is a corollary of the verse that we just read in James where it said, 'this wisdom does not - this wisdom does not descend from above' - talking about the sensual wisdom of the world. There's two kinds of wisdom: there's a Godly wisdom and there's a worldly wisdom. And that's what, also, Paul is talking about.
He says, 'if you've been raised with Christ, seek those things that are above.' You know, most of the time, in our spirit, we can just tell. Right now we're - by the time this program airs it might be over, but we're in the midst of election season and I believe everyone should be patriotic. It's good to vote. Vote your conscience. But let's face it, sometimes you almost have to hold your nose and vote and when you listen to the ads that are constantly lambasting each other and - and you wonder and - boy, but the wisdom that goes into some of the political jostling - I mean, they get the best minds in the world.
Is that divine wisdom or is it worldly wisdom? Are they clever, shrewd, sharp, evil? All at the same time. So there's an earthly wisdom and then there's a heavenly wisdom. You know, to be a good peacemaker, it takes wisdom, but it's a different kind of wisdom that's from above. This is where James is highlighting. Jesus talks about this wisdom that comes from above.
John 3 - we all know this - John :3 - I'll read through verse 7. This is when nicodemus came to Christ. "Jesus answered and said to him, 'most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.' Nicodemus said to him, 'how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?'" - Of course there's a little sarcasm there - "Jesus answered, 'most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'you must be born again.
'" I've heard it said before and I've probably repeated it several times, 'if you're only born once you will die twice - second death. If you're born twice, you only die once.' You might not die at all if you're alive when Jesus comes, right? You need to be born again. The second birth, which brings about the Spiritual life in the soul. And this is that wisdom that is from above that Jesus talks about. And where does the wisdom come from? From the fear of the Lord.
The Bible also tells us that comes from the word of the Lord. Now I'm jumping back to Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy 4, verses 5 and 6, Moses - this is the last sermon of Moses, is what Deuteronomy is. He says, "surely I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess. Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statues, and say, 'surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
'" Where does this wisdom come from? It says, 'when you follow the statutes that I've given you even other nations will say this is a wise and understanding people.' Can I just, since we're talking about politics, I'll just put in my two cents - and it's just happening so fast. While I believe America was founded with the principle of separation of church and state - meaning that it was the intention of the founders that there was never to be a denomination or church, like they had in england, that ran the state - or like they had in rome. It was never intended by the founders - you can read their language - to mean that our nation was not to be governed by biblical morals. That's right. And because people have taken that too far, now it seems like they're changing everything.
We were once - I'm still not planning on moving - but we were once a nation that all the other nations wanted to be like because it said, 'where do you find such a wise nation?' Because biblical principles were the foundation of our government. And, you know, these were the principles that - in providence Rhode Island - I started with. When - was it roger williams? He said, 'we are to follow the last six commandments in our government.' Rather, I'm sorry - yeah, beginning with 'honor your father and your mother' - he says, 'no country can survive that does not recognize the last six commandments. We will let every man decide for himself how to apply the first four. We will not tell you what God to worship.
We will not tell you when to worship him. We will not tell you who he is. Everyone is free to determine that. But you cannot survive civilly if you don't respect the last six. When the government takes away parental rights, when we stop respecting the institution of marriage or say that marriage can be between any number of people of any gender or comingle it any way, that's - then you stop being that nation that other nations will look at and say, 'what a wise and understanding people.
' And that's a real concern of mine because I just - it seems like some of these fundamental principles that were the foundation of the country - this divine wisdom that we once had - is just like falling like dominoes. And a country can not long survive that does that. Anyway, alright, getting back to - now I'm off my soapbox, but it felt good. Someone's going to read Galatians 5:17 - just a minute - would that be you, candace, since you're holding the mic? Okay, I'm going to read first, James 4:1, "where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?" Now when he says 'desire for pleasures' - he's not just talking about central desires, he's talking about just the selfish earthly desires and that could be pride, it could be attention. And it's just, you know, our - our selfish - selfishness.
And these are all so - you've got two fruits that it talks about there in Galatians and you've got the fruits of the flesh and the fruits of the spirit and they're just - they're opposites from each other and they - it's like there's that war. Paul talks about the war between the Spirit and the flesh. We are not to be carnally minded, we are to be spiritually minded. That's Romans chapter 8 - talks about that. Alright, go ahead, read for us Galatians 5:17.
For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish." So he recognized that there is this battle between these two forces that we all have inside, between the Spirit and the flesh. I feel it every day. Unless I consciously pray for God's Spirit and the Spirit is present to guide me in my thinking, my thinking will be selfish. It's just like a compass needle. You can move a compass needle but it takes an outside force.
Let to itself it's going to point to the same direction every time. And unless we have the holy spirit giving us the mind of Christ, we will naturally interpret everything that happens around us in a selfish way. It is not normal for a baby to be loving. Have you noticed that babies are born - they're cute. God makes them cute because if they weren't cute, they wouldn't last long.
They're cute but they are extremely selfish, right? And you have to teach them to love. It comes more naturally for some than others. If you overindulge them, you end up with a selfish monster. That's right, they think the whole world revolves around them. When they're little it's all about me, me, me.
I remember there's a song we sang in cradle roll, 'Jesus loves the little ones like me, me, me.' Fortunately, he also - there's another verse that says, 'he also loves people like you, you, you.' Isn't that right? That first part comes really easy for the little kids. James 4 - still reading - now we're reading James 4, verse 2 - we just read James 4, verse 1, "you lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.
You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not" - boy, how did he ever get elected to office in the church, talking to members like that? - "Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know" - now was he saying that everybody in the church was committing adultery? Or do you think that he was also talking about what was happening on the inside? The pure in heart will see God. Adultery, Jesus made it clear, is not just the act, it can be the attitude. He said, and - one more thing, while we're on that subject - adultery in the Hebrew mind, they remember the book of Hosea. There's a spiritual adultery, not just thinking it carnally, but against God, when we're - when a Christian is thinking, 'how much do I have to give up to get into heaven? How much of the world can I still have and manage to squeeze in the gates? That is thinking like the world.
That's not motivated by love for God. That's really a kind of spiritual adultery. Can you imagine a husband saying to his wife, 'can we negotiate a little bit?' There you're standing before the pastor. You're about to get married. Let's put it in that context.
And you say - pastor comes to the part where he says, 'forsaking all others, keep yourself solely unto him or her. 'Wait can I just go on a couple of dates a month with the old girlfriend? Just a date - just dinner.' When you start thinking like that, would the bride-to-be say, 'wait a second now, I might have the wrong guy?' - Wouldn't you? You'd think something is wrong in the heart. And so when we say, 'Lord, you know, I want to go to heaven but I really like the devil too. I really like the world too.' That's the kind of adultery that, I think, James is talking about here. Alright, "do you not know friendship with the world" - that's what he's talking about - "is enmity with God?" Where do you see that word 'enmity?' Genesis 3 - is it verse 15? Yeah, where it says, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman.
" The woman is a symbol there of the church, right? "Between thy seed and her seed." And you've got the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. That enmity means polar opposites - there's a resistance. You ever trying and push the same end of two magnets together and they just - pffft - that's what's going on between these forces of light and darkness - good and evil - in the world. "Whoever wants to be the friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." Wow, I read that and I don't know about you - I mean, God so loved the world he wants to save the people of the world. But sometimes we love the stuff in the world.
And we want to be as comfortable as we can be in this world and still get into heaven, right? We want to be as liked as we can be in this world and still get into heaven. But friendship with the world, Jesus said, 'woe unto you when all men speak well of you.' And so it's really hard to live a Godly life and please everybody. Usually when you do that you'll end up pleasing nobody. Alright, let's go - talking about friendship with the world, and I just read that verse in James - that's under that section there. Jeremiah makes an interesting statement in chapter 2, verse 2, "go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying, 'thus says the Lord: 'I remember you, the kindness of your youth, the love of your betrothal, when you went after me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.
'" You know what he's almost saying? It sounds like Revelation, where Jesus said to the church of ephesus - who knows where I'm going? 'You've lost your first love.' God is saying to Israel, 'you know, before we came into the promised land' - that generation that entered the promised land, they were pretty faithful, for the most part, and so 'you were willing to follow me through the desert and you had that first love. You were rejoicing when I brought you out of Egypt.' He said, 'I don't know what happened but now it's like, 'oh, jehovah? We still have to serve jehovah?' But that was the selfishness in their hearts. Alright, let's go under - I'm looking at the clock - I want to try and get a number of other thoughts in here before we run out of time - still dealing with pride and humility - James 4:7. Now this is just one of the great verses. You - you should have, at least part of this, memorized.
"Therefore, submit to God" - here's a formula for success right here - "submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you." That right there should be underlined. Every time you draw near to God, whether it's coming to a prayer meeting, when you go to church, you go to an evangelistic meeting, when you go in your closet and you read your Bible - or your office or wherever it happens to be, and you are drawing near to God, God always sees you drawing near and, like The Father of the prodigal, as soon as he saw his son coming home, he ran to meet him. When God sees us making an effort to draw near to him, he will respond - he loves us. He's waiting for us to reach out to him.
You reach out to him, he reaches out to you. What a great promise. 'Draw near to God, he'll draw near' - you notice it says 'resist the devil, he'll flee from you.' It might not be first resistance or second resistance, you keep resisting - Jesus had three temptations and then the devil left him, right? So you might get a little blitzkrieg of temptation that comes - hold firm. He gets tired. The devil has no patience.
He gets tired and he goes and regroups. 'Resist the devil and he'll flee from you.' What great promises - "cleanse your hands, you sinners" cleanse them from what? Sin? - "Purify your hearts, you double-minded." - Any of you ever feel double minded? You love the Lord but you love yourself and you love the world but you love the church. And we all feel a little schizophrenic, don't we? If you're honest with me, you're here - the very fact you're here is evidence of your being a little spiritually bipolar - maybe I shouldn't say it that way - because we were all lost in the world but we weren't satisfied and we said, 'I want the Lord.' But you probably also still feel the tug of the world because there's still a devil. If you feel no tug then something's wrong - of the world. Because being a Christian, you are going against the wind.
Being a Christian you're swimming against the current and you're going to meet that resistance. You're going to feel double minded. "Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves" - aren't you glad the verse doesn't end that way? It just says, "let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom." Wow, doesn't the Bible say we should have joy? This is kind of talking about repentance - that there needs to be a humbling of yourself - "humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift you up." He doesn't leave you in the clouds. He doesn't leave you in the gloom.
He says, 'don't be joyful about being lost. Humble yourself about your sins. Repent of your sins. Turn from your sins and then God'll lift you up and give you the real joy. It's not the joy that Solomon talks about when people go to the house of feasting instead of the house of mourning.
He says, 'you're better off in the house of mourning than the house of worldly feasting' - because people forget. There, again, you have the word 'humble.' 'Blessed are the meek for' - what? - 'They'll inherit' - matter of fact, who has psalm 37:11? I'm going to have you read that in just a minute. Matter of fact - you guys - I'll let them get ready. I want you to read that next because of the verse I just quoted. You ready for that? Hold.
Hold. Just about ready. Thumbs up. Alright, go ahead. "But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
" So when Jesus says, in Matthew, 'blessed are the meek for they'll inherit the earth,' who is he quoting? He's quoting from David, assuming this is a psalm of David. Ten percent of everything Jesus said was quoting the old testament. When the - when Jesus said, 'man will not live by bread alone, but every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.' Do you know that part of that verse says that God allowed you to go into the wilderness that he might humble you and teach you that man does not live by bread alone but' - by even that very verse, Jesus quoted to the devil. You know, I read stories in the Bible about pride and humility and I'm amazed at how powerful humility is, but humility is something you must choose. The Bible says 'you humble yourself.
' When God forces a person - you can't force a person really, to be humble. God can make a person go through a humiliating experience, but you still don't have to be humble. I've seen people that have just been so embarrassed, but instead of humbling themselves, they just harden their hearts. Here's from testimonies 9, verse - good reason to practice the things James was talking about, "if we would humble ourselves before the Lord and be kind and courteous and tender hearted and pitiful, there would be one hundred conversions to the truth where now there is only one." If we would humble ourselves before the Lord. 'If my people, who are called by my name, would humble themselves and pray and seek my face" - draw near to me, I'll draw near to you - "turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven.
I will forgive their sin." - That was a pre-requisite for forgiveness, humble yourself and he will lift you up. 'Cleanse your hands, you sinners.' Going back to James, "I will forgive their sin and heal their land." God can't forgive and heal us until we humble ourselves. In the Bible, you can even find wicked Kings, like ahab - after ahab killed naboth - or actually his wife did the dirty work but he was an accomplice - and Elijah confronted him. Ahab realized that Elijah was right and he humbled himself. This is ahab that had done all kinds of terrible things.
They said he was a terrible king. Listen to what the Bible says - God is speaking, he's talking to Elijah - God says, "see how ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself, I will not bring the calamity in his days, but in his son's days." Because he humbled himself. Chronicles 32:26, "then hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come upon them in the days of hezekiah." Because he humbled himself. Chronicles 12:6, "so the leaders of Israel and the King humbled themselves; and they said, 'the Lord is righteous.' Now when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to shemaiah saying, 'they have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance.'" Wow, that's a powerful lesson, don't you think? We need to humble ourselves and I just read this and as I went through the study - no, there's much more - let me read you one more thing and we'll close with this. "The evil that led to Peter's fall, that shut the pharisee out from communion with God, is proving the ruin of thousands today.
There is nothing so offensive to God, nothing so dangerous to the human soul as pride and self-sufficiency. Of all sins, it is the most hopeless and incurable." That's from 'Christ's object lessons' page 154. You know, if there's the single thing we should pray for, it's the mind of Christ. Jesus, who laid aside his throne, the one who humbled himself the most is going to be exalted the most. That's Jesus - made himself of no reputation but took upon himself the form of a servant - and that's the Spirit and mind that we all need.
Don't forget we have a free offer and it's that book called 'compromise, conformity, and courage' and we'll send it to you just for asking. Call 866-788-3966 - that's -study-more. We'll send you this free book and make sure that you read it and then show it to your friends. God bless you, friends, until we study again next week. Every day we make hundreds of decisions.
Sometimes these choices are mundane - what will you have for breakfast? Or what will you wear for work? But sometimes these decisions can have an eternal impact, like when you set up an estate plan that supports God's work. We need to move quickly, friends, to ensure as many souls as possible have the opportunity to make decisions for Christ. And when you choose to include your evangelism values in your estate plan today, Amazing Facts can do even more to expand God's kingdom through your faithful stewardship. I'd like to offer you a free gift entitled, 'provide and protect' which is a tremendous resource telling about life and death decisions connected with your estate plan. Contact our planned giving department at 800-436-2695 or visit 'enduringlegacy.org' and you can have the peace of mind that comes from knowing your house is in order.
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How do you judge other? How do you judge yourself? You say you don’t but are you so certain? I do hear your voice. I know your thoughts. They are not always so kind. No judgment is needed upon your part, anyone’s actually. It is this action which brings you out of alignment with who you are and the natural flow of life. Static is created in your naturally healthy vibrational flow.
You do not need to tell anyone who someone else is or your estimation of them. Allow each the opportunity to be who they are. They will show up as they will and prove who they are. When you judge another you are broadcasting your limiting thoughts to the universe. You bring no harm upon anyone but yourself, as each only has access to their own vibrational flow unless you give someone else permission by agreeing with them. The Well Being of the universe, the Fount of all Goodness from which all are born remains constantly and consistently within us, connecting us all by a golden thread.
Excerpted from the book
by Debra Clemente
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about the book
I'm a passionate fine art painter awakening to a deeper sense of purpose and connectedness with the universe everyday. This is a story of my journey. - Debra Clemente
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Pope Francis, cardinals, archbishops, bishops and priests, Clergy sex scandal. God is not happy. | Follow1in3's Blog
← The extensive cover-up perpetrated by bishops, archbishops and cardinal archbishops, is a crime
Sodomy, bishops, priests and the Catholic Church →
Pope Francis, cardinals, archbishops, bishops and priests, Clergy sex scandal. God is not happy.
Posted on August 27, 2018 by follow1in3
I hardly know what to say about the latest development in the Church in reference to clergy sex abuse. Reading the letter written by His Excellency Carlo Maria Vigano clarifies so much. It debunks the randomness of it all. There does seem to be a conspiracy to silence victims and protect abusers and enablers.
Now what? I’m not going to lie this is painful for me both as a survivor of clergy sexual abuse and as a member of the clergy. Some people ask where is God in all of this? I truly believe that God is the one who has shone his light on this situation. “Cling to him. Forsake him not.” And we need to pray, pray, pray not only for the Church but for ourselves, the pope and all the actors in this drama. Doesn’t this all seem very Shakespearian?
Here is a small part of Psalm 9;
The nations have fallen in the pit which they made, their feet caught in the snare they laid. The Lord has revealed himself, and given judgement. The wicked are snared in the work of there own hands.
Of course the fallout effects us all…”Cling to him. Forsake him not.”
Related
I am a Roman Catholic priest ordained for the Diocese of Wilmington, DE who is also a victim of clergy sexual abuse. I am often angered by the insensitiviy and hostility of other clergy, the hierarchy and the so-called people-of-God. If clergy, bishops included, really and truly understood abuse, (any kind of abuse), I would not feel the need to blog on occasion. It is very frustraing.
View all posts by follow1in3 →
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2 Responses to Pope Francis, cardinals, archbishops, bishops and priests, Clergy sex scandal. God is not happy.
August 28, 2018 at 4:21 pm
Good words. Thank you Father.
M Hayes says:
September 4, 2018 at 2:02 am
Fr John – I had the opportunity to go to your parish for 3 or so months (in OC) and I so enjoyed your homilies and going to confession. Please keep up the good work, your homilies are about truth and I love that. I’m glad you became a priest. This homily by a priest is extremely interesting (Fr. Robert Altier at Church of Saint Raphael in Minnesota on 8/19/18) or here’s the link: https://s3.amazonaws.com/spm-straph-parish-wp/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/20084333/208.mp3
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