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"My life in Afghanistan is more normal than people assume"
What took you to Afghanistan?
Ronja von Wurmb-Seibel: There wasn't one specific reason, but many. I was working at the German newspaper "Die Zeit" and was covering the Bundeswehr (German Army), the reform and interviewing veterans who talked about their traumatic experiences. Then the Bundeswehr began the withdrawal of its troops and I wanted to go to Afghanistan and find out what it felt like for German soldiers to leave the country after such a long stay.
My first trip was to the camp in Fayzabad for two weeks. It was during this trip that I decided I had to come back because I felt that there were a lot of stories were not reaching the German news. Because at that point, in 2013, there was only the DPA (Deutsche Presse Agentur) in Afghanistan, none of the German newspapers or television stations had correspondents stationed in Kabul.
What is it like to live as a woman in Kabul?
Von Wurmb-Seibel: My life is more normal than people assume. As a foreign woman, I am almost like a gender-neutral person in Afghanistan because somehow the social rules for Afghan women don't really apply to me. These are not written rules, but my impression as an outsider is that it is easier for me to work as a woman. Because people know that I am a foreigner and they don't expect me to cope with the culture and the expectations that women shouldn't work or shouldn't leave the house alone or shouldn't talk to men. I felt like people didn't expect me to follow these rules – maybe to a certain extent, but not as much as they expect it of many Afghan women.
What is your assessment of the condition of women's rights in Afghanistan?
Von Wurmb-Seibel: Women's rights are an important issue in the country, but what is even more important is to talk about the possibility of applying these rights. On paper, women in Afghanistan have some important rights, such as the right to vote, the right to work. But the implementation of these rights in real life is very different.
I believe that it doesn't really help to work on women's rights from top to bottom. Instead, I think what helps more is to see where one can actually help the women and make them stronger. One of the issues where some organisations have achieved considerable success in recent years is the health sector. However, urgent efforts need to be made to help protect women who are victims of domestic violence. There are programmes that help both men and women to cope with the trauma of war and that may help the condition of women in the long run.
What does an average woman in Kabul want?
Von Wurmb-Seibel: Most of the women that I met were young women between the ages of 20 and 25, and the most important issue for them is freedom. They want to work or at least to have the choice to decide if they want to work, they want to meet their boyfriends without having to hide from their parents, they basically want to make decisions about their lives. It's not something that just the women want; both Afghan men and women of the young generation want the freedom of choice. They want to end the war, they want to have security, and they want to start a so-called normal life. That does not mean that they want to follow the Western model, I almost never talked about the scarf for example, I didn't feel that this is a very big problem for women in Kabul, at least the women I met.
You say you almost never brought up the subject of the headscarf, why?
Von Wurmb-Seibel: I never tried to bring up my topics, I wanted to listen to what they had to say and what they thought was important to discuss. During my entire stay of over a year, I had one conversation with an 18-year-old woman and she told me that rejecting the scarf was a difficult decision for her, but she did it because she wanted to change her culture. She insisted that it was important that Afghan women take the lead in rejecting the scarf because otherwise society would think that it was Western concept.
How do the men feel about the situation of women in Afghanistan?
Von Wurmb-Seibel: The young Afghan men I talked to want more freedom for themselves and for women. They want to meet their girlfriends without having to hide, they want their future wife to be able to work, but then again, they have to fight or discuss the matter within their own family and with their relatives because some of them are more traditional. The men of course have more freedom when it comes to what they want to do – people expect them to work – but when it comes to discussing how they live and, for example, which person they want to marry, they have a similar problem to young women in Kabul. It is not their own decision, it is very often the decision of the family, and I felt that the young men found this very difficult to accept.
A lot of young men have come forward in support of Farkhunda, the young woman who was beaten to death by a mob in Kabul in mid March. Is this a sign of change?
Von Wurmb-Seibel: The younger generation wants social rights. They don't want incidents like the one involving Farkhunda, and I had the impression that the young generation feels a very strong responsibility for its society. They really want to change and fight for things – not with weapons, but with art, with discussions, or with journalism or photography.
I asked one person why he was dedicating his life to change and he said that he had asked his father "why didn't you stop the war and why couldn't you change anything?" and his father had no answer. So he told me that in years to come, when his children ask him "what did you do to change our society?" he wants to have an answer for them and wants to say that he at least tried his best.
What is the general view about the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan?
Von Wurmb-Seibel: My impression is that you have a whole range of views on this topic. People are divided, and there isn't one view that dominates. You have this section of people who believe that things will take a turn for the worse, that the Taliban will gain power and the country will end up in a civil war again. Others are hopeful and look at it as a fresh start for the country.
Interview conducted by Roma Rajpal Weiss
© Qantara.de 2015


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subset: commoncrawl


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Most Popular in the Last...
Google Crisis Response
Google Crisis Response seeks to make critical information more accessible around natural disasters and humanitarian crises. Google's contributions can include: updated satellite imagery of the disaster area, charitable donations to organizations on-the-ground, outreach through Google web properties, and engineering tools, such as Google Person Finder and Landing Pages, designed to organize and coordinate critical response resources and information.
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Graduate & Education
The Institute was one of the earliest institutions to be approved by the Academic Degree office of the State Council to train Ph.D. and Master's degree students and it was one of the earliest postgraduate training bases for the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Doctoral and Master's degrees awarded cover the three A-class disciplines of geology, geophysics, geological resources and geological engineering, and the B-class discipline of marine geology. In order to improving training of professional personnel and according to the state's stipulations to set up specialized subjects, the B-class disciplines of mineralogy, petrology, ore deposit, geochemistry, stratigraphy and paleontology, structural geology, quaternary geology and geobiology are set up under the A-class discipline of geology and the B-class disciplines of solid Earth geophysics, space physics, geodynamics and the Earth and space observation disciplines are set up under the A-class discipline of geophysics. To promote interdisciplinary collaborations the Institute has created an integrated system combining specializations in geology, geophysics, geological resources and geological engineering, and marine geology. The Institute emphasizes the cultivation and enhancement of the research capacity of multi-discipline collaborative scientific research and creative thinking based on a broad range of skills.
The Institute has a highly qualified supervisor team. At present, the institute has 126 Doctoral supervisors and 103 Master's supervisors, which includes 14 members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1 member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, 33 National Outstanding Youth Fund winners, 7 nominees of the "Thousand Talents Plan", 18 nominees of the "Hundred Talents Plan" of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 7 Chief Scientists of the National Key Basic Research and Development Program (973), and 5 Innovative Research Groups of the National Natural Science Foundation. The Institute has a first-class scientific research environment in which students can fulfill scientific research, which includes 1 State Key Laboratory, 1 National Field Research Station, and 6 CAS Key Laboratories.
The institute recruits about 80 Master's and 100 Doctoral postgraduates every year. At present, the institute has 592 postgraduates, which includes 396 doctoral postgraduates and 196 master postgraduates. Since 2000, 1277 graduates have received their academic degrees from the Institute: 993 Doctoral degrees and 284 Master's degrees. Four postgraduates were awarded the national excellent doctoral thesis prize, 8 postgraduates were awarded the CAS excellent doctoral thesis prize, and 1 postgraduate was awarded the Lisiguang excellent doctor prize.
- Tethys Research Center
- Division of the Earth's Deep Structure and Process
- Division of Lithosphere Evolution
- Division of Oil and Gas Resource
- Division of Solid Mineral Resources
- Division of Engineering Geology and Water Resources
- Division of Cenozoic Geology and Environment
- Division of Geomagnetism and Space Physics
SIMSSecondary Ion Mass Spectrometer Laboratory
MC-ICPMSMultiple-collector ICPMS Laboratory
EM & TEMElectron Microprobe and Transmission Electron Microscope Laboratory
SISolid Isotope Laboratory
StIStable Isotope Laboratory
RMPARock-Mineral Preparation and Analysis
AAH40Ar/39Ar & (U-Th)/He Laboratory
EMLElectron Microscopy Laboratory
USCLUranium Series Chronology Laboratory
SASeismic Array Laboratory
SEELaboratory of Space Environment Exploration Laboratory
PGPaleomagnetism and Geochronology Laboratory
BioMNSFrance-China Bio-mineralization and Nano-structure Laboratory


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Shortly after her marriage to Kevin, Britney made an announcement on her website that she was taking another break from her career - this time to start a family. It would be in this same manner, seven months her announcment that she would loose yet another bomb shell in revealing that she and Kevin were expecting their first child (Sean Preston Federline was born on September 14, 2005 in Santa Monica, California and was delivered by a scheduled caesarean section). Alhtough she did keep a low career profile she managed in 2005 her first greatest hits album starting from 'Baby One More Time' and running through to 'Toxic' and other hits from the zone as well as new material like 'My Preerogative'. In November 2005, she made a remix album of all her previous hits and included a remix of two new songs, 'Someday (I Will Understand) and 'And Then We Kiss'; both only released in Asia. Despite the fact that 'And Then We Kiss' was never released in the US it charted at #15 on Billboard's Hot Dance Airplay.
Britney was really serious when she said she wanted to start a family, only months after giving birth to Sean, rumors started to surface that she was pregnant again. Although she at first denied these alligation stating it was too soon for her to be having another child, in May of 2006, on the David Letterman show she announced she was indeed expecting their second child. These were some very troubling times for Britney as her marriage had started to loose its spark. Britney fought back and announced to the tabloids that, although the rumour of her pregnancy was true - her marriage break down was not.
The Music Shelf is not responsible for content or images on
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May 5, 2015
Elaine is a Life Coach in private practice, specializing in career coaching, in Carmel, Indiana and the author of four inspirational books. She is also a Certified Life Cycle Celebrant and provides individuals and families in the greater Indianapolis area with personalized and unique ceremonies that mark life's important transitions. When not facilitating programs, coaching, or writing books, she blogs at http://blog.elainevoci.com/ Visit her website: www.elainevoci.com
Twitter: @elainevoci
End of Life Care Certificate
Training and mentoring doulas, companions, guides and midwives since 2005


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Community-Based Organization Funding Request
General Information: The Ventura County Community Foundation (VCCF) is working with our local community-based organizations (CBOs) to develop strategic and innovative plans to increase vaccine outreach and awareness for Ventura County.
VCCF will partner directly with local CBOs, businesses, local governments and individuals as grantees to conduct vaccine education, awareness and outreach activities. If you are interested in participating in the COVID-19 vaccine campaign, please fill out the form below.
Be sure to identify your specific area of outreach, population served, budget, list of activities and timeline.
Please note, all nonprofit organizations must be registered and in compliance with the Attorney General of California, if applicable.
Please click here to verify your status.


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by Pastor Bradley E. Schmeling, Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Read Pastor Bradley's full message.
Summary: Gloria Dei celebrated Holy Communion on Maundy Thursday and Easter Sunday in its online worship services. We will continue to include Holy Communion on the last Sunday of the month while we continue online worship. This time of pandemic is an extraordinary situation that calls for the strengthening of our faith, not just for the sake of us as individuals or for our family but so that we can be strengthened to serve our neighbor who is suffering and in need. We gather. We hear the Word. We share the meal. And we are sent back out to be the church in a time of pandemic, our own service a sacrament for the world. While virtual community may not hold all the nuance, depth and power that an assembly of the faithful does on Sunday morning, it most certainly is the way that the body of Christ is being truly present to one another in this moment. For most of us, it is a genuine, faithful, Spirit-filled assembly. As always at Gloria Dei, we will celebrate the fullness of the rite: Word proclaimed, and sacrament administered within a Great Thanksgiving that blesses bread and wine as well as one another as recipients of God's unconditional grace. We have some instructions below that will help you prepare so that we can with reverence and with great care celebrate Christ's love in bread, wine, and the whole assembly. We encourage our community to gather in one of the live events so that we truly make an assembly across distance around the table, with open hands and eager hearts.


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To Thomas Jefferson from the Board of War, with Reply, 16–17 March 1780
From the Board of War, with Reply
War Office Wmsburg Mar. 16th. 1780.
Captain Minnis of General Mulenburgh's family, who belongs to the 1st. Virginia Continental Regiment, being destitute of active employment, owing to the deficiency of the Virginia Line, has been called on to resume his command in his Regiment, and his company therein being extremely thin, he requests to be honored with the charge of a proportion of the recruits raised under the act concerning Officers Soldiers sailors and marines. We are inclined, with your Excellency's approbation, to indulge Captain Minnis (who is an enterprizing deserving Officer) in his request. There are about thirty of the Levies above mentioned at the Barracks in the Vicinity of this Town. The Captain Sollicits the appropriation of half that number to his company which he purposes immediately to march on to join General Woodfords Brigade. Should you approve of this measure we will give the necessary directions thereon. We have the honor to remain with respect &c.
Jas. Innes
Williamsburg Mar. 17. 1780
I approve of the sending forward to join the Virginia forces under General Woodford all soldiers within the commonwealth enlisted under the act concerning Officers Soldiers Sailors and marines, and not already incorporated into the Virginia Line. But not being sufficiently informed of the State of the Several Regiments and companies in our Line, and supposing it possible that some of them may have greater need of supplies of men than Captain Minnis's company, I think it better that the appropriation should be made by General Woodford. I think it would be well that Captain Minnis take charge of as many of these levies as can be immediately put into motion, and march them to the Southward, which will probably place his application for them on a favorable ground with General Woodford.
Th: Jefferson
Tr in Board of War Letter Book (MiU-C). Another Tr, lacking TJ's reply, in War Office Letter Book (Vi).


text: Sloan Carter is a young girl who has recently been blinded. Her father leaves for the weekend and her two best friends, returning home from school, keep her company. A protege of her father's, passing through town, also spends the night. The peaceful weekend is interrupted by a shadowy threat and the safe country getaway turns into a fight for survival.


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Waiting for user's reply
Please check and stop Studio.exe / transfer.exe when installing new setup
Theo Derks - NL (distributor) 7 years ago in Applications / Studio (Server editor) • updated by Oksana (expert) 7 years ago • 1
Please check Studio.exe and/or Transfer.exe is running, (and stop these files) when SETUP is done.
Today i installed Studio 188.8.131.5218 and got these errors:
Please fix, because this is not professional to installers.
Customer support service by UserEcho


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Intern Video Production
Being a video producer is no easy task, and that task isn't any easier when you are an intern producing your first video outside of the Norwich University walls. Skillman Video Group is known for its high quality videos and attention to detail. As an intern, I can only hope to produce a video that is up to SVG's standards. I have written about all video production and video marketing concepts, but implementing all those stages and qualities was slightly intimidating. No, I don't have 11 years of experience like our SVG CEO and creative director Christina Skillman but with her guidance and video critiques I was able to produce a video for the company and learn more about the video process.
Before filming, Christina Skillman and I came up with a topic that would promote SVG and help potential clients be better prepared for video marketing meetings. One thing Christina mentioned really stuck out to me, which was client's not knowing their message. Though SVG is there to help promote a business and tell a story, we can't do our job if we are trying to hit a moving target. The concept of a moving target was the perfect angle for the video, so our video's message would be planning a corporate video.
When filming day approached, I had a list of pertinent questions to ask Christina. Besides hauling in the heavy video equipment, the only problem we had throughout the day was balancing the installed LED lights and the natural lighting. I also decided to film b-roll on a separate video camera from the Sony HXR we used for the interview. However, I found that using two separate camera would make the color correcting process that much more difficult in post-production.
Post-Production Editing
Although I have always loved editing and feel that I am particularly well acquainted with editing programs, the editing process for this particular video appeared to more of a learning curve for me. While at Norwich University I was used to editing on Avid Media Composer. I was able to download Adobe Premiere Pro for to edit, and teaching myself the new program took time and help from SVG's Marketing Coordinator, Jack Wall. Nonetheless, my 5-year-old Apple computer didn't like the high-speed program and ultimately put up a huge fuss whenever I went to edit. The entire computer slowed down due to the amount of data it processed, which made reviewing the video that much more difficult. Though teaching myself a new program and dealing with a low-speed computer can be frustrating, I was happy to learn something outside my comfort zone.
Putting together a video is like writing an essay. Doing so requires drafts and critiques. Working with Christina and Jack helped me to become more equipped with video production experience, and I am grateful to have had their knowledge at hand throughout this process. Looking at the final draft with Christina was nerve-wracking for she holds her business to high expectations. I was happy to get positive feed back, but even more learn about the mistakes I made, such as being aware of the little things like her shirt being scrunched up which would call for a retake in the real world of video production. Some people lose confidence over critiques and mistakes, but when it comes to video production there is always room to improve. Besides, if Christina and Jack hadn't given me any helpful critiques I would have just assumed the video was so bad there was no fixing it.
Being able to produce my own video for SVG was intimidating and at times frustrating when editing in post-production, but this internship is set-up to improve and develop experience in this field.
Skillman Video Group LLC is a Boston video production company. Call us anytime at 1-800-784-0140.
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Tesla Q1 2018 Earnings Call Wednesday: How to Watch Live and What to Know
Elon Musk is set to give a quarterly update.
Tesla is going through one of the biggest challenges in its history. On Wednesday, the company will release its first quarter 2018 earnings results, followed by a conference call with analysts to provide more details on the company's trajectory. Questions are likely to focus on Model 3 production, but there may also be questions about full autonomy development as well as the Model Y sports utility vehicle.
Listeners will want more details about Tesla's product lines and future plans, but some surprises could crop up during the call. Musk has already confirmed that Galileo Russell, a writer at SeekingAlpha and CEO of Hyper Change TV, will join the usual roster of sell-side analysts to get the chance to ask one crowdsourced question relevant to retail investors. Over 150 shareholders representing $18 million in shares asked Musk to take Russell's question.
Rob Maurer, the producer of the Tesla Daily podcast and one of the shareholders involved in the campaign, tells Inverse why this is a big moment for the group:
It's exciting to see Tesla and Elon respond to a crowdsourced effort by retail investors to get a representative on the call. Many times, analysts on the calls are asking short-term questions related to formulating their 12-month price targets. A different perspective with questions that are more relevant to retail investors, many of which have investment time horizons of a decade or more, can only be beneficial. It's a great example of a forward-thinking company responding to its stakeholders, as well as an interesting demonstration of what new media, social platforms, and crowdsourcing can accomplish.
Another surprise that could crop up is a question around Musk's couch, after a campaign raised money from 592 people to buy him a better place to sleep.
Here's what else to watch out for and how to listen:
What to Look for
One of the big questions will be whether Tesla needs to return to the markets to raise capital this year. This is largely dependent on whether the company has pulled through "production hell" for the Tesla Model 3, after producing around 202 Model 3s per week in the last quarter despite expecting to reach 2,000 per week by December. This is important because around 400,000 people have placed $1,000 reservations, and Tesla needs to produce cars to convert those into full orders starting at $35,000. Goldman Sachs claimed that a rate of 1,400 per week was likely for this quarter, which would mean Tesla running out of cash. A leaked e-mail from Musk suggests the company has reached a rate of 2,000 per week with the potential to reach 6,000 in June.
Beyond the Model 3, investors will want to know more about Tesla Autopilot. The semi-autonomous driving system was meant to meet the previous Mobileye system's functionality just months after its October 2016 launch. That didn't happen, and Tesla agreed on Tuesday to reimburse users between $20 and $280 for the delays. Tesla currently sells a $3,000 add-on to enable full self-driving capabilities on these cars in a matter of months, but the company's handling of the previous rollout may leave investors questioning whether Tesla can meet this deadline.
Another question is whether Musk will remain in his position as both chairman and CEO. Shareholder Jing Zhao submitted a proposal that was published last week, which would place an independent director in the role of chairman if the plan is approved at the company's next annual shareholders' meeting on June 5. The board is advising a vote against the proposal, stating it "would not serve the best interests of the Company or its stockholders."
Investors will also want to know about Tesla's future projects, and there are a lot of them:
- Tesla Model Y sports utility vehicle, an entry-level version of the Model X.
- Tesla Semi electric truck, unveiled in November and set for launch next year. Rival Nikola Motors is suing Tesla for $2 billion over its design.
- A second-generation Tesla Roadster, unveiled at the Semi launch with a 2020 release date.
- A series of "megachargers" placed every 400 miles in the United States to charge the Semi truck in a matter of minutes.
- A performance-focused version of the Tesla Model 3.
- Three more "Gigafactories" to produce all these products.
No pressure.
How to Listen
Listening to the call is easy. It's set to start at the following times:
- 2:30 p.m. Pacific time
- 5:30 p.m. Eastern time
- 10:30 p.m. British Summer time
- 11:30 p.m. Central European time
- 5:30 a.m. China Standard time (Thursday)
- 7:30 a.m. Australian Eastern time (Thursday)
You can follow the instructions below to get connected:
- Go to the Tesla investor relations event page, linked here. You should see a listing for the first quarter 2018 results, followed by a link to the webcast.
- Follow the webcast link. At this point, you will see the option at the bottom of your window to test your setup. The site will display a checklist for compatible browsers, screen size, relevant plugins and connection speed. It's best to complete this test with no other applications using the internet connection.
- When you're done testing, return to the first screen. Enter your first name, last name, and e-mail address. The company field is optional.
- Click submit, and you'll be taken to the conference call.
And that's all there is to it! The call normally starts with a brief catchup on events, followed by a question-and-answer session. It's during this second part where Musk and the team will likely reveal the most interesting tidbits.


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Ars Technica has a piece about Sweden's Pirate Party pushing for copyright reform. Counterintuitively, this may weaken alternative licensing schemes ("copyleft") such as the GPL. The GPL relies on strong copyright law to enforce its stipulation that derivative works also carry the GPL ("share-alike"), which keeps open source projects from going proprietary.
The Pirate Party's plan, which proposes five-year copyright terms, would make it unnecessary for companies to conform with copyleft licensing requirements only five years after the code is published. This effectively guts copyleft as a vehicle for encouraging broader code disclosure and makes copyleft licenses such as the GPL behave more like permissive licenses.
If, after five years, you can do whatever you want with copyrighted/copylefted code, then you're not bound by the GPL. Not only would free software be fueling proprietary projects without any code in return, but developers of proprietary code would be less likely to help develop the free version and more likely to just wait out the five years and simply take the code. As Richard Stallman notes:
Once the Swedish Pirate Party had announced its platform, free software developers noticed this effect and began proposing a special rule for free software: to make copyright last longer for free software, so that it can continue to be copylefted. This explicit exception for free software would counterbalance the effective exception for proprietary software. Even ten years ought to be enough, I think. However, the proposal met with resistance from the Pirate Party's leaders, who objected to the idea of a longer copyright for a special case.
I understand libertarian inclinations, but this is a case where a stricter law actually leads to more freedom. Pirate party supporters, please give Stallman's argument some serious thought.


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(Editor's note: Colin Flaherty has done more reporting than any other journalist on what appears to be a nationwide trend of skyrocketing black-on-white crime, violence and abuse. WND features these reports to counterbalance the virtual blackout by the rest of the media due to their concerns that reporting such incidents would be inflammatory or even racist. WND considers it racist not to report racial abuse solely because of the skin color of the perpetrators or victims. Videos linked or embedded may contain foul language and violence.)
Ten years ago, the media in Louisville, Ky., could have gotten away with reporting this weekend's events this way: A group of 10 "roving teens got into a fight with two girls … then it happened a few more times over two hours."
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But now, less than 24 hours after a mob of 30 black people roamed through the city's downtown Saturday, beating, laughing, destroying property, sending three seriously hurt people to the hospital and walking away laughing, outraged citizens in Louisville are asking two questions: Why is black mob violence such a problem? And when is local media going to start telling the truth about it?
Samantha Craven saw one of the attacks: "I seriously just witnessed a man get beat (almost) to death on Broadway right by 4th street live," she wrote at the WAVE-TV News site. "He was jumped by AT LEAST 30 kids!! There was blood everywhere. ... This is the craziest s--- I've ever seen in my life! I'm shaking. ... I wanna cry."
TRENDING: 'Caught in the crossfire': Border-town residents flee as cartels burn homes, battle in streets
Later, via email, Craven described the attackers as black and added, "As we drove away, we noticed the group still walking laughing and carrying on a few blocks down."
WHAS-TV News described one of the assaults as a "fight." But it was hardly that.
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"It was a group of black teens," said Craig Roberts of Louisville. "Wonder why they won't mention that."
Black mobs routinely terrorize cities across the country, but the media and government are silent. Read the detailed account of rampant racial crime in "White Girl Bleed A Lot: The Return of Racial Violence to America and How the Media Ignore It."
The first beat-down happened at the popular Big Four Bridge, a converted railroad trestle that is now a bike and pedestrian attraction at the recently redeveloped Louisville Waterfront Park area.
Amy Reid described what happened to her father, mother and children.
"These incidents actually started around 7 p.m. when these vicious little hoodlums attacked my 61-year-old father on the Big Four Bridge, in front of my mother and two small children, while they screamed for help and he pleaded for them to stop," Reid posted in the comments section of the Louisville Courier-Journal. "Bystanders just stood and watched it happen, no one would help. Louisville Metro Police arrived and would not let them file a report and would not help them get off the bridge to their car safely! My girls are still traumatized and cannot understand why someone would want to hurt their grandpa."
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Reid's family had to walk past their laughing attackers to return to their car.
Some of the violence took place in and around the parking lot of the Courier-Journal. The black mob vandalized several cars there. It is not clear if anyone was working at the Courier-Journal then, because the newspaper added few details of the violence to its initial reports.
Or if the editors knew, they did not say.
Former Louisville Police Detective Dale Rhodes has a hunch which it is. He took to Facebook to put the racial violence in perspective after the paper removed his initial comments. Black-on-white crime is a fact of life in Louisville, he says. As is its denial.
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"Over a period of about five weeks (I think in the summer of 1990) there were at least 20 incidents where white people were assaulted by a gang of blacks numbering anywhere from 5 to 15," Rhodes wrote. "Many of the victims were severely beaten, some left for dead and others left with life-long, career-ending injuries. All the incidents involved black-on-white crime, every single one. Yet we were ordered, if asked, to tell reporters and the media there was no evidence to indicate these crimes were racially motivated. I personally witnessed commanding officers being far less than truthful with the media regarding these incidents."
Even a cursory check of Google reveals the black mob violence and black-on-white crime in Louisville never really stopped since then.
"The incidents to which I refer are just the tip of the iceberg," said the former police officer.
Writing in the Louisville Examiner in 2011, Thomas McAdam exposed Louisville's dirty little secret: "Sadly, this idyllic urban oasis is fast devolving into a target-rich environment for roving bands of thugs. … The dirty little secret that City Hall wants to hide from the public is the fact that Waterfront Park is not a very safe place for families, particularly after dark."
McAdam went on to describe an incident where 200 black people beat a disabled person at a bus stop after a minor league baseball game. The man went to the hospital with a fractured skull.
"But just how dangerous is it down at Waterfront Park?" McAdam asks. We may never know because "city officials hide the dangers from the public."
Today, however, there are too many victims, too many witnesses, too many videos and too many people who want answers for that to continue forever.
Even so, some in Louisville are determined to ignore the racial violence.
"Black mob violence trend," snarked James Kemp at the Courier-Journal. "Fox News much?"
Others chirped in with accusations of racism for those who noticed the black-on-white crime.
But more and more people in Louisville are less and less willing to accept how newspapers, TV stations, police officials and liberal activists refuse to confront the reality of black mob violence and black-on-white crime.
"Notice our police chief will address this Monday – after the really important stuff like the NCAA tournament is over for the week," said one Louisville resident and WND reader. "Make sure you read the comments with each article. Interesting, I think, how Louisville residents have a more realistic stance on what is happening."
And that cannot come too soon for some.
"It's happening," said Morris Willis. "And if you deny it, ignore it or try to hide it, the end result will be violent retaliation by those who feel victimized or fear being victims."
Black mobs routinely terrorize cities across the country, but the media and government are silent. Read the detailed account of rampant racial crime in "White Girl Bleed A Lot: The Return of Racial Violence to America and How the Media Ignore It."
See a trailer for "White Girl Bleed a Lot":


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The first priority of the GVWSS was the provision of second stage housing for women and their children leaving abusive relationships. We ultimately achieved this goal in 1995 when Margaret Laurence House opened, providing 6 units of safe, affordable housing along with support and advocacy services.
We have been responsible for the Women's Supportive Housing Program and Sandy Merriman House. To find out more see our history or previous programs.


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Life & Executive Coaching: How We Work Together
Coaching is a process that takes place in a conversational relationship between you and your coach and during the work you do between sessions. You will set the agenda (that is, you choose what you want to work on) and the coach manages the process. Coaching begins with your identifying what it is you want from the coaching process. Sometimes you may not even be quite sure; you just know you want things to change. Or you may come wanting one change and realize as we progress that in fact isn't really what the issue is. An important purpose of the initial coaching sessions is to help you gain clarity and focus on what you really want.
A common map for coaching involves increasing clarity around the issue you want to work on, conversations to deepen your awareness and insight around the issue(s), exploration and identification of your intentions, expanding your choices by generating options and possibilities, choosing, committing, defining the outcome and the actions you will take and ongoing accountability checks.
I will work with you to help you become clear on what you want to change or make happen in your life, then assist you to set goals, develop an action plan, and to begin to put that plan in place and start creating what you want. It is important that we communicate honestly. I will listen, question, challenge, and provide clear feedback in a firm and compassionate manner. A foundational component of effective coaching is powerful evocative questioning. Coaching builds on client's strengths, and helps clients anticipate and plan for how to proceed when they encounter barriers or get stuck.
Some things you can expect from me as your coach are:


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This is a set of instructions for how to speak with the Devil.
Which, as those of you with any sort of brains at all might note, is a patently moronic proposition on the face of it; one likely to culminate in any number of thoroughly unpleasant fates. Honestly, it would probably be smarter to publish your credit card number on Facebook, or take up a career in crocodile-wrestling.
But then, that isn't going to stop you, is it? Not if you're sincerely interested, at least. Technically, if you do everything just right, there's a fair chance you'll walk away scot-free; and that seems to be reason enough for some people to decide that it's a good idea. Especially if you're the fate-tempting, thrill-seeking, scare-junkie type. Or the desperate type.
Which brings me to a point of clarification I ought to make. This is NOT a manual for making any kind of Faustian bargain – you know, the whole sell-your-soul type of deal. Although if you happened to bring it up in conversation, he certainly wouldn't be one to refuse. Following through with such a foolhardy bargain, however, would necessitate removing some the protections which you will put in place for your conversation, and I don't think I need to spell out for you why that would be a BAD idea. If you're really mathematically impaired enough to want to trade something that will last an infinite number of years for something that might last about 90 (tops), there are plenty of other rituals out there for you to follow. This one, if performed correctly, should only allow the two of you to talk.
This, perhaps, begs the question of WHY exactly you would want to speak with the Devil in the first place. (Maybe some of you just like the idea of making small talk with extremely dangerous occult entities, but for the sake of the human race I hope most of you aren't quite that stupid.) Short answer is – he KNOWS things. Things that some of you may have a deep, vested interest in finding out. I mean, he's not omniscient or anything – much as he might like to pretend otherwise, he's not God – but he's definitely got a supernatural advantage over the kind of knowledge any human would be able to obtain. For example, he probably wouldn't be able to predict when the next World War will happen, or tell you the cure for cancer… but he could very well be able to predict the winning numbers of tomorrow's $500 million Powerball drawing, or tell you what deadly, undiagnosed condition might be afflicting one of your loved ones.
Of course, the Prince of Darkness doesn't just go around giving out winning lottery numbers to anybody who asks. And trusting any sort of information obtained from a being commonly described as "the father of all lies" is liable to land you in a worse situation than you were in when you started. However, if you're really dead set on finding something out, and you've exhausted all other options, there IS a way to try to get accurate information out of the guy.
You see, like so many of the more urbane villains in popular culture, the Devil has a bit of a penchant for games and gambling. Of course, the reason he likes them so much is that he almost always wins. Unless you happen to be a fiddler named Johnny or are being represented by Daniel Webster, you're probably going to get your ass handed to you. But, if you're determined enough to want to face the risks and the long odds, there's a certain game the two of you could play to try to win the information you need.
First things first, though. We'll start off with a description of the summoning process, then get into the rules of the game, some tips for how to play, and finally, of course, the inevitable litany of arcane shit that might go horribly wrong.
In order to contact your conversational partner, you'll need to go to a church at midnight. It doesn't matter what kind of church – large or small, old or new, liberal or conservative – just as long as you're sure it will be empty. The last thing you want is for some preacher to walk in on you while you're in the middle of this (for the sake of the preacher's well-being, as much as your own). The process will probably work best if you try it on a new moon, or a full moon, or Friday the 13th, or Halloween… the actual day is less important that the psychological effect it has on you (as long as you don't try it on Christmas Eve or something stupid like that, you should be fine).
The time IS important, though. You don't have to start or end your ritual at exactly 12:00:00am Greenwich Atomic time or anything, but as a general rule of thumb you ought to show up a bit before midnight and have everything set up by no later than ten or fifteen after. Show up a LOT before midnight if you don't know how you're going to get in. Shockingly enough, most Houses of God do tend to lock their doors at night, at least if no one's there to watch over them (and remember, we want EMPTY, got it?)
There are, of course, certain things you need to bring, and certain things you can't bring. For this ritual, you will NEED:
• A full can of salt – you won't need to use all of it, but it's always better to have more than you need than to have less.
• Seven candles, red or white being preferable.
• Something to light the candles with. You would be shocked how often people forget this. Occult ritual or not, they aren't going to magically light themselves!
• A length of red string, rope, yarn, or thread.
• A full-length floor or wall mirror. Ideally, you'll want to find one of these already present in the church (they're a bit unwieldy to be lugging around with you during a break-in). However, if there really aren't any there, you'll have to bring your own.
You might also find it useful to bring some markers, pencils, paper, a flashlight, and any sort of tools that might be necessary to secure your entrance into the church.
You will NOT be permitted to bring in any electronic or timekeeping devices. THIS INCLUDES all cell phones, smartphones, tablets, E-Readers, mp3 players, PDAs, calculators, wristwatches, pocket watches, kitchen timers, hourglasses, etc, etc, etc. (Seriously, it's worse than the SAT.) If you're one of those people that has your smartphone practically wired into your brain, don't worry – you can bring those things with you to the church as long as you leave them OUTSIDE the room in which you will be doing the ritual. If you brought a flashlight (helpful for finding your way around without attracting unwanted attention), leave that outside too.
Also, don't bring in any sort of religious paraphernalia to protect you, especially if it pertains to the Abrahamic religions. (And yes, if those goth-y black cross earrings you're wearing are hanging right-side up, they count.) If you have any kind of holy symbols like that with you, the Devil will simply refuse to show up.
Don't worry, you're not going in totally unprotected. In fact, most of the supplies with you are not for any sort of Devil-summoning ritual, but for your own protection – old superstitions and folk magic remedies to guard oneself from evil. From what I know of it, the effect's mostly based on the power of belief, so there are probably numerous other objects, artifacts, and procedures that would work just as well. If you'd like to risk being left helpless at the mercy of the Devil in order to test that theory, feel free to experiment! However, for anyone without a psychotic death wish, I'd recommend sticking to the ritual as follows:
Once you're sure you have all the right supplies with you, make your way into the church and find someplace to set up. It can be anywhere from the main sanctuary where services are held, to a Sunday school classroom, to a walk-in supply closet – as long as you have a sufficient amount of open floor space and are certain not to be disturbed. Set up your mirror first – this is where the Devil will appear when you summon him. As such, you mustn't complete the summoning until you've laid down certain wards around it.
First, surround the mirror with an unbroken circle of salt. If the mirror is hanging on a wall or door, lay down a semicircle around it instead, making sure that the salt touches the wall at both ends. Then, wrap your red string around the mirror several times. The color red, especially red string, is symbolic of protection in the folklore of many cultures and religions. This is also why red candles are a good idea.
Speaking of the candles, set them up around the outside of your circle (or semicircle) of salt, spaced at relatively even intervals. No, you do not have to get out measuring tape and make it exactly perfect, but do at least try to make it look as though it was set up by someone old enough to be trusted with matches. Light the candles in a clockwise fashion, being careful not to disturb the salt – if you break the circle, you'll have to start all over again. Once all of the candles are lit and burning strongly, your protective wards are complete. You are now ready to proceed to the actual summoning.
To do so, you first must get the Devil's attention and demonstrate your resolve by performing some sort of sacrilegious act in the holy space. Turning a crucifix or cross upside-down is fairly conventional, but it's not the only option. For example, I know of a kid who once fulfilled this requirement by scribbling obnoxious graffiti all over a painting of Jesus hanging in his Sunday school classroom.
(The nice thing about turning a cross upside-down is that once you've finished your encounter – assuming you've survived it in one piece – you can just flip it right-side-up again and no one's the wiser… sidestepping the relatively minor but still irritating risk of having your Sunday school turn into a reenactment of the Spanish Inquisition for the next month and a half.)
After you've finished doing whatever offensive thing you decide on, shut all doors to the room and turn off all of the lights, so that the space is lit only by the candles. Face the mirror and stare deeply into it, concentrating on your desired outcome. There are no incantations, no arcane strings of Latin you have to recite. Just look into the mirror and wish as hard as you can for the Devil to appear there. After a few moments of this, when you feel ready, close your eyes and count to ten. Then open them.
If all has gone correctly, you will no longer see your own reflection. You will be looking at the Devil… or at least, looking at the way the Devil has chosen to appear to you. Chances are, he won't look like your conventional red, horned demon with goat legs and a pitchfork, nor any other sort of terrible apparition. No point in scaring you off now… better to lure you in, make you feel safe. To that end, he generally takes on the appearance of a fairly average, nondescript human being. If anything, he's prone to vanity and will lean towards the more attractive end of the spectrum.
The only really frightening part of him will be his eyes. No matter how hard he tries, he can't hide the sinister gleam smoldering deep within them, the malevolent amusement and hunger, like the eyes of a spider contemplating a fly struggling in its web. They're supremely confident, those eyes… confident, and without pity. Don't look into them too deeply, or you'll begin to feel helpless and paralyzed with dread, losing your hope and your will to fight.
Since you'll probably be just standing there staring at him in shock for a few moments (having on some level expected for the ritual to fail), he'll initiate the conversation by asking you what it is you desire from him. If you can gather your wits enough to string together a coherent sentence, you should respond with something like: "I wish to challenge you in a game of question-and-response."
Even if you don't get the words exactly right, he'll know what you mean, and he'll accept your request with a wide, predatory grin of anticipation. He's been playing this game for a long time, you see, and he's very good at it. Most humans, on the other hand, are very bad at it. This gives him a chance to, at the very least, thoroughly mess with your mind, and at most… well, we'll save that for the "litany of shit that could go wrong." You'll have to play it very smart to avoid justifying his expectations.
The general rules to the game are very simple, with a few caveats that can make things more complicated. He'll begin by asking you a question (he always initiates the game). It can be anything from a piece of obscure trivia, to a riddle, to an extremely personal inquiry. Don't worry, you won't be immediately plunged into Hell if you get the wrong answer or anything like that. As a matter of fact, he won't even tell you whether you got the answer right or wrong.
After you've answered his question, you get to ask him one in return. Now, here's where the consequences of your response come in. If you answered his last question correctly, he will respond to your question as honestly and accurately as he is able. However, if you answered it incorrectly, he is free to lie to you as he sees fit. Perhaps if you've asked him something you're better off not knowing, he'll tell you the truth about it anyway. More likely, he'll feed you the most insidious, damaging lie he can come up with. Either way, after he's responded, he'll ask you another question, and the process will repeat over and over again until you decide to call it quits.
Now, you may be sitting there thinking that it sounds fairly easy to get the information you need… all you have to do is wait for a question you can answer correctly, and then take that opportunity to ask him what you really want to know, ignoring everything else he's said. Well, it's not that simple. The Devil will never give you an easy question, one that you can be completely sure of the answer to.
He may instead give you questions that you have some vague knowledge of, that you think MAYBE you know the answer to but aren't really confident… thus forcing you to endlessly second-guess yourself, obsessing over whether or not you can trust the information that he gave you next. Perhaps you'll think that what he said was a lie, WISH it was a lie, but be eternally consumed by doubt, unable to fully convince yourself that you were wrong. Or perhaps you'll have to make a huge choice based on the information that he gave you, and be tormented by fear and indecisiveness as you realize that your fate (and perhaps that of others, as well) rests entirely upon whether or not you were able to correctly recall some arcane piece of trivia that you don't even remember now.
(You'll never remember the exact questions the Devil asked you, by the way; that would make it too easy for you to go back and check on your responses).
Or maybe, instead of testing your knowledge, he'll ask you something personal, something you even lie to yourself about. You'll answer back to him, thinking you've gotten the question correct ("No, I don't resent my sister"… "Yes, I would turn the money in to the police!") – but he'll know better. He'll know better than you do that you're lying, and he'll lie to you in return. And you'll believe him. You'll believe him until you are no longer able to deceive yourself, and by then it might be too late…
Or maybe… maybe he won't even give you a chance to get an accurate response at all. Maybe he'll just ask you endless strings of completely impossible questions, making you more and more frustrated and disheartened as you realize you'll never be able to force him to tell you the truth. Questions like:
"What was the exact height of Mount Everest in centimeters in the year 1666?"
Or "What is the air-speed-velocity of an un-laden swallow?"
(Although, knowing his sense of humor, if he ever asked the latter he might consider "African or European?" a correct response.)
There ARE a couple of ways to short-circuit this particular strategy, however – additional rules and courses of action that make the game more interesting and prevent you from being stonewalled completely. Although in all honesty, he probably wants for you to try one of those options anyway.
The first option is to ask him a riddle instead of a question. If you somehow manage to stump him and he answers the riddle wrong or gives up, he'll be obligated to give you a truthful response to your next question. If he answers the riddle correctly – once again, don't worry, he won't pounce on you like a sphinx or drag you into Hell. What WILL happen is that he will get a "pass," allowing him to lie in response to one question he would otherwise be obligated to answer truthfully.
Honestly, if he gets a pass, you might as well just give up and quit the game right there. It's nearly impossible to determine when he's telling you the truth under the best of conditions. Adding another layer of complexity by constantly trying to figure out when and if he's used his pass… it's about enough to make any normal person's brain explode. There's no way. Just forget it.
The second option is for you to take a "dare" from him. If you accept it and vow to follow through, then once again he'll have to answer your next question truthfully. If you choose instead to reject it, he'll get another "pass."
Now before you freak out and reject that whole idea completely, you should know that he won't ask you to do anything overly dramatic or unspeakably evil, like blow up a hospital or murder somebody. As a rule of thumb, most dares won't involve direct loss of life or any major felonies. However, they certainly won't be easy. Inflicting severe pain on yourself, doing something that terrifies the shit out of you… cutting off a treasured relationship, publicly humiliating yourself or someone you love… all of these things and more, things you might not even be able to imagine, are completely on the table.
If you're willing to go that far, to put yourself in that kind of position… you'll get your answer. However, if he manages to come up with the one thing you know you simply can't or won't do… well, then once again you might as well just quit.
One last thing – DON'T think you can just tell him you're going to do something and then not do it. If you accept a dare and then don't follow through with it… well, let's just say there will be consequences. Just suck it up and keep your promise, no matter WHAT it was. Trust me, you're better off that way.
Finally, when you've either gotten the information you wanted or given up on it completely, you may end the ritual by simply thanking the Devil for accepting your request, bowing politely at the waist, and bidding him farewell. The surface of the mirror will seem to swim and flicker for a moment, and then you will be looking at your own reflection again. Only when you are absolutely certain that you're looking into your own two eyes again may you turn away from the mirror, flick the lights back on, and begin dismantling your protections.
Now – and this is important – even if you haven't gotten the information that you wanted, you MUST end the ritual in this manner before 66 minutes have elapsed. Well, I suppose that technically you have 66 minutes and 6 seconds (subtle, right?), but if you're seriously going to try to cut it that close without any kind of timekeeping device, you're probably screwed anyway. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is that you keep to this time limit. I'll save the reason behind that for the end, but don't skip ahead… I've still got a few important tips on how to play:
1. Be very careful what sort of personal information you give out. Try not to talk about yourself, especially your emotions and problems, any more than absolutely necessary. This guy knows human psychology like the back of his hand, and he WILL get inside of your head. It's like talking to Hannibal Lecter. Give him enough to work with and, even if you don't believe a single word he says, he will still find ways to fuck with your mind like nobody's business. If anything he asks makes you even remotely uncomfortable, do not hesitate to lie through your teeth. There will be plenty of other questions.
2. On a similar note, try to keep the game on track and moving briskly. Unstructured interactions of any kind are to be avoided. Chances are that at some point he will try to draw you off on a tangent – discussing something that fascinates you, analyzing a response you've given him, or finding some other excuse to speak at length without moving the game forward. This is not only a waste of valuable time but also another excellent opportunity to mess with your mind.
3. If you choose to give him a riddle, use one you've made up yourself. If your riddle has ever been written down anywhere at all, from the pages of "The Hobbit" to some long-lost tome of ancient magic, he will already know the answer. That said, it still has to be a LEGITIMATE riddle, with an answer that makes logical sense from some angle. You can't just ask something like "What's green, has ten legs, and hops?" then claim for some inexplicable reason that the answer was "marshmallows." Nor can you ask him a straight question like "What have I got in my pocket?" (he probably knows that, anyway). There are no hard-and-fast rules to determine whether a riddle makes sense or not, but you're a reasonable human being. Your ancestors ate from the Tree of Knowledge. Please, for the love of crap, use common sense.
4. If you choose to take a dare, there is a slight chance that the Devil will ask you to do something seemingly easy… deliver a letter, for instance, or scribble a ten-digit number in a public restroom stall. If he does ask you for something like this, and you have even a shred of common decency in you, do NOT accept. Chances are that he's using you to further some sinister plot, one liable to ruin a lot of lives and harm a lot of people. Who knows, maybe you're the type of person who really doesn't mind throwing an unknown number of total strangers under a bus to find out what you want to know… but at least be aware that that IS what you're doing.
5. Last, but not least, be very aware of the time. It might be helpful to do some practicing beforehand and get a feel for how long an hour is without a watch. The Devil will probably put off discussing the things you're most keen to find out for as long as he can; and as you near the 66 minute deadline, he'll start trying harder and harder to distract you, captivate you, and otherwise keep you playing until it's too late. He'll string you along, feed you little glimmers of false hope, keep you thinking: "Just a few more minutes… I'm almost there!" Don't fall for it. Don't go over the time limit. No matter what.
Now, you might be thinking that this game really doesn't sound all that dangerous so far… threats of psychological damage rarely seem to carry the same weight as threats of physical damage, even though their costs are often just as great. Hate to burst your bubble, but the game is FAR from safe. There are plenty of ways for you to seriously screw yourself over both physically and mentally (not to mention spiritually). And it is with these that I will conclude, in the vain hope that they may make some sort of impression…
First, while you are speaking with the Devil, do NOT let him out of your sight. Keep staring into the mirror no matter what happens. He will undoubtedly try various tricks to make you look away… You will hear noises behind you, feel eyes on the back of your neck, see shadowy phantoms writhing in the depths of the mirror. A cold breath will blow upon you from behind, smelling like the crypt. A deep silence will settle, only to be interrupted by a loud SMACK directly behind your head, giving you about the worst jump-scare you've ever had. Hell, the Devil may even abandon a measure of his own dignified façade and give a sudden jump of feigned shock, shouting loudly and pointing behind you with a very convincing look of terror on his face. Whatever he might test you with, you must not look away from him. If you look away, if you lose sight of him completely – even for one second – you will look back at the mirror to find him gone.
Well, not gone. Out of the mirror. In the room.
With you.
Exactly how much of your body the police will find the next morning, and what state it's in, will depend entirely on the sort of mood he's in.
The same thing goes if you break any of the protections you laid down before beginning the ritual. Interrupting the circle of salt, letting the red string unwind, knocking over a candle or letting one go out… any of these things will free him from the mirror, and then – well, you're all a bunch of creative horror junkies. I'm sure you can fill in the blanks.
On a different topic, you may reach a point in the game (probably after a long series of maddeningly impossible questions) where the Devil asks you the deceptively simple question "What is your full name?" You MUST NOT give it to him. Names can be things of great power. Although the Devil will, of course, already know your name, telling it to him yourself is akin to inviting a vampire into your home. Your name is deeply synonymous with your own, inner self; thus, giving him your name is powerfully symbolic of giving him your self. If you are foolish enough to make this mistake, all of your protections will be for naught, and he will seize upon your unwitting offer with malicious glee, stealing away your soul and dragging it back with him into Hell.
At least this way the police will find a complete, identifiable body. As a matter of fact, your vacant shell will be totally unblemished, seemingly having dropped dead of sheer terror.
Last, but certainly not least, there's the matter of what happens if you go over the time limit. This is arguably the worst thing you can do. You won't think so at first… the Devil will give you no indication that you have in fact exceeded the time limit and you will conclude the ritual as if nothing had gone wrong. Perhaps, as the Devil's image in the mirror trembles and gives way, you'll see a particularly nasty, triumphant smirk flash across his face, but this will be easily dismissed as your imagination. You'll turn the lights back on, gather your belongings, and go to leave the room. But, when you open the door, you will see… nothing.
That's right, nothing. Just a flat, white void extending infinitely in all directions. Only the room which was reflected in the mirror will now exist.
Incidentally, if you turn back around to face the mirror again, you may catch a last glimpse of your own reflection. Perhaps it will even turn and favor you with a smirk and a cheeky wave before sweeping out the door into the perfectly normal church hallway outside.
As you may have already figured out, you yourself are no longer in the church. Your soul is now trapped in the mirror, and the Devil has taken the liberty of possessing your body, now that you are no longer using it.
Pound on the glass and scream all you like, you'll never get out on your own, and no exorcist can help you. But don't worry, it's not like you're in Hell, right? At least, not necessarily…
What you have to understand, see, is that a human soul stripped bare of its flesh is a deeply volatile and vulnerable thing, especially when trapped in the land of the living. You are now an entity of purely mental properties, and as such, the barriers between what is real to you and what is imaginary have been completely dissolved. As you fill that reflected room with your anger, your sorrow, your fear at being trapped, these emotions will begin to coalesce, given form by your mind. If you're not particularly imaginative, these creatures may not be too terrible, may not be able to inflict too much horror and pain. With time, you may even be able to teach yourself to get rid of them.
If, however, yours is a mind haunted by monsters…a mind that is vibrantly creative and imaginative and more than usually twisted… well, there's no telling what horrors might come clawing their way out of the maelstrom, tasting sweet release from the confines of your subconscious, hungering for your terror and suffering. They will refuse to be banished, dragging you kicking and screaming into an endless positive feedback loop of pain and fear.
Needless to say, if you're a regular patron of websites like this one, you're probably pretty well fucked.
There's only one way to find release from the mirror and the world that you've created therein. They say that if you call to the Devil once more and ask him to free you from the mirror, he'll be willing to take you out.
For the usual fee, of course.
Who knows, maybe if your imagination is twisted and powerful enough to create a personal Hell that leaves you begging for the real thing, those talents might be put to good use. There are over seven billion people in the world, after all; even the Devil himself can't be messing with all of their minds at once. Talented help is always appreciated.
Of course, the corollary to your being trapped inside the mirror is that the Devil now gets to do whatever he wants in your body until sunrise. At around that time, your body will mercifully drop dead from the strain of the possession; autopsy will probably identify the cause as some kind of coronary event. Don't get too relieved, though, he's perfectly capable of stirring up plenty of trouble in those few hours.
For instance, he may decide to do something big and dramatic, like purchase a large meat cleaver and go on a murder spree, starting with the names in your address book and working his way out to complete strangers if he has time. Or perhaps he'll focus on only one person, someone who trusts you completely, using your persona to get him or her alone and vulnerable, and then… well, no need to describe it here. Once again, I'm sure you can think of a few things.
Starting to see why I called this the worst outcome yet?
Of course, there's also a chance he won't lay a finger on any of your loved ones, instead deciding to do something a little more subtle… more insidious. Like drop off a few nondescript, unmarked packages on certain doorsteps in the dangerous part of town. Or locate a particular dusty, age-yellowed text in the storeroom of your local library and intentionally misfile it in the Young Adult Literature section. Or whisper seven very choice words into the ear of the distracted-looking young redhead waiting for the 3am subway train.
Or maybe he'll decide that, in this age of waning superstition, not enough people are getting interested in his games, and the knowledge of them is in danger of being lost. Maybe he'll decide he needs to get the word out a bit more, do a bit of networking, attract some new suckers… ahem, "challengers." Maybe he'll take a quick peek at your browser history, see where the impressionable, curious minds are hanging out these days. Maybe he'll even write a quick tutorial, in modern parlance rather than some inscrutable, obsolete demonological text… post it on the Internet and see how many bites he gets…
Haha, maybe I really shouldn't have gone there. But if you've made it this far without shying, a little twist at the end isn't going to put you off, is it, dear Reader? I'm sure there are plenty of intrepid adventurers among you with burning questions you'd like answered. And you're all a smart bunch. You know the pitfalls, you know the conventions, you live and breathe this sort of thing, do you not? There's no way YOU'D fall into any of the obvious traps, right? You're not some Dick or Jane off the street, after all; you'd be bringing a whole new level of competition. You would…
Oh, excuse me just a moment, I think I hear someone calling for me…
What? You want out that badly ALREADY? Must be one Hell of an imagination you've got on you.


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MUA Kiss proof Lip Stain Kissalicious
Hello Girls,
How are you all today I am here with a awesome product from MUA and it's a lip stain, no its not a tinted balm, lip stain or lip gloss it's just like a sketch pen for lips. So read further to find that i was satisfied with this product or not.
Price:– INR 735.(But i got it for some discount).
Product Description:- At last colour that stays with MUA's Kiss proof lip stain, the answer to the problem of 'bleeding' lipstick and lipstick that disappears all day long.
Kiss proof has a hydrating and waterproof formula which does not dry out your lips and is enriched with moisturising panthenol. Kiss proof is a felt tipped pen for easy application to create a perfect line and Kiss Proof.
Lip Stain comes in three natural tones that can be used alone or mixed to create a unique shade for your favourite colour. You can also use the stain as a base for your usual MUA lipstick or alone for a sheer lip enhancing colour or with Intense Kiss lip gloss.
Packaging:- The packaging of the product is like that of a sketch pen, it comes with a felt pen applicator. The outer body is of thin plastic material. And the shade is exactly the same colour of outer pen. So it's become easy to identify the shade. The pen is obviously travel friendly. The marker pens like tip makes it easy to apply on lips. The trick of applying it and get a solid colour is to press the felt tip against lips and the more colour comes out.
My experience with MUA Kiss proof Lip Stain- Kissalicious
When i saw it in internet i had no idea what is it, i thought it's like those Lakme tint ones, but when i got it i was amazed using it, a lip stain is a product it was totally new for me. I didn't know how to describe the colour to you all because on lips it comes out as just a dark pink or you can say the natural pinky colour of lips. But for a colour demonstration i used it in a paper and the colour was a cool toned dark pink. The colour doesn't comes out on the lips so brightly, but that's totally fine for me. But yes, when I apply, it doesn't seems like I had applied anything extra on my lips, it seems like my natural lip colour, which would every skin tone. I would not say the product is that super pigmented, but the pigmentation is good but gives a sheer coverage. My lips are slightly pigmented but in 3-4 strokes it manages to cover my lips. More pigmented lips would need some extra swipes. The formula and texture is aqua based. As i told you it's like sketch pen for lips but i think the water based formula makes it stay on lips for more time. Although it has the aqua formulation after applying sometime on lips it starts feeling creamy on lips. That is another best part of it. It doesn't let my lips feel dry, well i cannot guarantee the same moisturisation it would provide to, too much dry lip beauties. But the moisturisation is for half an hour or so. So prep your lips by exfoliating them and topping the stain with a lip balm can help overcoming the drying problem. After applying when it dries on lips, it becomes totally smudge-proof and transfer-proof too. It doesn't transfers to anything. But i would say it's not completely waterproof, it mildly fades when it comes in contact with water. I tried it on the hand swatch also. But i noticed it many times on my lips that it fades after i take water or any liquid.
The staying is good. It stays put for 2-3 and that too without taking anything liquid.
- Attractive packaging, easy to identify shade.
- Colour is nice & natural, will suit every skin tone.
- Doesn't feel heavy on lips, as the formula is aqua based.
- Staying power is good
- It's totally smudge-proof & transfer proof
- Has a very nice fruity smell.
- The pigmentation is satisfactory, but a product which is a "lip stain" we could not expect more pigmentation & opaque coverage like lipsticks.
- It's not completely waterproof, after drinking anything, touchups will be needed.
- This product is drying after an hour on lips, specially dry lip beauties may not find this product good, but topping it with lip balm will work.
Recommendation:- Dry lip beauties should not buy this, but if you want want to try it surely go for it. I will definitely look forward to try the other shades.
IMBB Rating:- 3.5/5 (I wish i would had been a bit more moisturising).
MUA Power Pout Lip Tint in Irreplaceable
MUA Intense Colour Lipliner in Pink Me Up
MUA Lipstick – Shade 13
MUA Lipstick in shade 15 – Juicy
MUA Lipstick – Shade 1
MUA Lipstick – Shade 3
L'oreal Color Riche Accords Intense Lipsticks – Swatches & Photos
Colorbar Color Intense Eyeliner Green Tea
Clinique Chubby Stick Intense Moisturizing Lip Color Balm – Mightiest Maraschino


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Former Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Paul LaPolice will join the CFL on TSN panel leading up to the 100th Grey Cup playoffs.
The network announced Tuesday that LaPolice will make his on-air debut this Sunday during the CFL Eastern and Western semifinals at 11 a.m. CT.
LaPolice was fired by the Bombers in late August and replaced by interim (now head coach) Tim Burke.
LaPolice will work alongside host Dave Randorf and analysts Chris Schultz, Matt Dunigan, Jock Climie, and Milt Stegall for the remainder of the CFL season.
"The fact that anything can happen in the playoffs is what makes the next few weeks in the CFL so interesting — and fans will definitely be in for some thrilling games and a few surprises," LaPolice said in a statement.


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Before they walked the red carpet in advance of the ESPYS July 13, a dozen of the nation's top high school athletes gathered for their own award ceremony. A highly-decorated volleyball player from Xavier College Preparatory was among four Catholic school nominees.
Two of them took home the top titles: Male Athlete of the Year and Female Athlete of the Year July 12 by Gatorade. Coincidentally, Sydney McLauglin, who earned the female title, will showcase her success in track and field during the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janiero. McLaughlin is a rising senior at Union Catholic High School in New Jersey.
Jayson Tatum, who just graduated from Chaminade College Preparatory School in St. Louis, is a star basketball player. Gatorade named him the Boys Basketball Player of the Year for Missouri three times among other accolades. Last year, he played for the gold medal USA Basketball Men's U19 World Championship Team in Greece. Tatum is ranked as the nation's second senior recruit in the ESPN 100.
Tatum and McLaughlin beat out 10 other athletes who Gatorade previously named the nation's top male and female athlete in their respective sport: girls volleyball, football, cross country, basketball, soccer, softball/baseball and track and field.
That list included Khalia Lanier, who finished her final volleyball season at Xavier College Preparatory this school year. She led the Gators to the state final with a 34-8 season — with 496 kills, 324 digs and 28 service aces while posting a kill percentage of .438 — and led the nation's FIVB Girls' U18 World Championship team to the finals in Peru last year, among other honors. Lanier was named the Best Female Athlete of the Year earlier this summer through the inaugural azcentral.com Arizona Sports Awards.
The #GatoradePOY goes to…Khalia Lanier! We are so proud of you! XCP Nation, share to show your support. pic.twitter.com/f7xoZhdAdk
— XCP Gators (@XCPGators1) July 12, 2016
The finalist list for the nation's top high school athlete also included Kyle Muller, a baseball player who just graduated from Jesuit College Preparatory School in Dallas. Like Lanier, Muller also earned an additional summer accolade.
April Ross, who earned the same title as Lanier for the 1999-2000 school year, was among several professional athletes who attended the awards ceremony. Gatorade's Player of the program recognizes a winner in each state and the District of Columbia for achievement in their respective sanctioned sport plus in the classroom and in the community.


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Notable SWE Members
These are SWE Boston members who have not only made significant contributions to SWE as a Society, they have also made significant contributions to society as a whole. They can be pioneers in their engineering field, activitists for STEM or women's rights, noteworthy of external articles, or otherwise remarkable on their own merit.
In order by last name, please click on their names to learn more:
In order by last name, please click on their names to learn more:
- Irene Chan - chemical engineer, mentored students on their paths to college, established scholarships at Brighton High School and MIT, set up an endowment to continue these scholarships
- Mildred Dresselhaus - electrical engineer, 1st woman Institute Professor and Professor Emerita of Physics and Electrical Engineering at MIT, Award Winning, known as the "Queen of Carbon Science", SWE speaker
- Isabelle French - radio engineer, 1st woman graduate of Tri-State College, SWE president
- Linda Graf - chemical engineer, published author of "To Caroline—Love, Auntie: A Novel"
- Bambi Hazel - software engineer of 1st electronic computer: SWE Boston "Hidden Figure"
- Mary Pottle - mechanical engineer, activist, and teacher: Founder of SWE Boston
- Natalie Taub - civil engineer, ran her own construction company in the 1950's
- Nancy Timmerman - acoustics engineer: 1st woman President of INCE


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Binh Lieu Border Loop | Motorbike Guide
Extraordinary roads & mountain scenery in a seldom-explored region bordering China…
Trans-Northern Belt Road: QL279
Traversing the breadth of the nation from east to west at its widest & most mountainous point, QL279 is an historic 937km route…
Tigit Motorbike Rentals
The Muong Long Loop | Nghe An Motorbike Guide
A spectacular circuit of the nation's biggest province, the Muong Long Loop is a motorbike route to rival any other in Vietnam for scenery & adventure…
Tuyen Quang Magic '8' Loop | Motorbike Guide
A figure-of-eight loop on back-roads through quintessential northern landscapes not far from Hanoi…
Riding the Great North: 9 Motorbike Routes
Northern Vietnam offers some of the best motorbiking opportunities anywhere in the world. In the north, the mountains are higher, the passes are loftier, and the scenery is more majestic than anywhere else in the country….
The Northeast by Motorbike: 5 Routes & Loops
A bucolic corner of Vietnam, the Northeast is a garden of rice fields, forests, lakes & rivers ambling through limestone corridors. This guide focuses on 5 motorbike loops on meandering back-roads & freshly-sealed highways through three provinces: Cao Bang, Lang Son & Bac Kan…
The Extreme Northwest Loop: Motorbike Guide
Straddling the Chinese & Lao borders, the extreme northwest of Vietnam is one of the least travelled & most remote regions of the entire country. Mountain roads carve a circuitous course between Lao Cai, Sapa, and Dien Bien Phu, running perilously close to the infamous Golden Triangle….
High Roads: Ha Giang→Ba Be Lake→Cao Bang | 3 Routes
The roads between the northern provinces of Ha Giang & Cao Bang travel through some of the most spectacular & remote regions of Vietnam. Here are three highly scenic (but not always easy) motorbike routes linking Ha Giang, Ba Be Lake & Cao Bang….
Sapa-Y Ty Scenic Motorbike Loop
Sapa's dramatic mountainous landscape continues north of town, via Y Ty Village, all the way to the Chinese border. Several small roads penetrate deep into steep, terraced valleys & climb high above ferocious rivers creating a scenic loop….
VIDEO: The Northeast Motorbike Loop
One of my favourite corners of Vietnam, this is my film of riding the Northeast Loop by motorbike…
Borders & Back-Roads: Sapa to Ha Giang by Motorbike
Connecting two of the most mountainous provinces in Vietnam, this motorbike route straddles the Chinese border, passing through some of the remotest parts of the country…
Ha Giang Extreme North Motorbike Loop
Ha Giang, Vietnam's northern-most province, is home to a mythical landscape of conical limestone peaks & craterous valleys. Over the years, it has gained an almost legendary status among travellers. This motorbike loop is perhaps the most thrilling road trip in the country…
The Harvest Route: Mù Cang Chải
Every year, between September & October, the terraced rice fields of Mù Cang Chải, a rural district in northern Vietnam, put on a luminous show of picturesque harvest colours. I spectacular road runs through this region: I call it 'The Harvest Route'….
Sapa-Sin Ho Scenic Motorbike Loop
Sapa and Sin Ho are two towns high up on the slopes of the Tonkinese Alps. They are connected by lofty mountain passes, offering grand scenery on a scale not seen anywhere else in Vietnam. This is an ideal scenic loop by motorbike…
The Limestone Loop: Motorbike Guide
Thanh Hoa is a province of limestone pinnacles, rivers & rice paddies. Quiet roads meander through steep valleys cloaked in bamboo forests, & mountain passes twist skyward toward remote Lao border crossings. This motorbike loop is easily accessible from Hanoi, but travels through remote & beautiful landscapes….


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Nov. 30, 2015 12:15 pm
ASM International N.V. (Euronext Amsterdam: ASM) today reports commencement and details of share buyback program.
ALMERE, Netherlands, Nov. 30, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On October 28, 2015 ASM International N.V. ("ASMI") announced a €100 million share buyback to be executed within the 2015-2016 timeframe. As part of this program, ASMI will purchase shares which it intends to cancel upon repurchase. In addition ASMI will purchase, as part of this program, shares to cover employee stock and stock option plans.
The buyback will be realized through a program executed by intermediaries through on-exchange purchases or through off-exchange trades and will end on completion of the program, but ultimately on November 20, 2016.
On May 21, 2015 the General Meeting of Shareholders authorized ASMI to repurchase common shares for a period of 18 months up to a maximum of 10% of the issued capital at a price at least equal to the shares' nominal value and at most equal to 110% of the share's average closing price according to the listing on the NYSE Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange during the five trading days preceding the purchase date. The buyback program will be executed in accordance with the conditions of this mandate given by the General Meeting of Shareholders.
The maximum number of shares to be repurchased on any given day will not exceed 25% of the average daily trading volume on the regulated market on which purchases are made, calculated over the last 20 trading days before the date of repurchase. The program does not include the repurchase of ASMI's New York Registry Share program.
The repurchase program is part of ASMI's commitment to use excess cash for the benefit of its shareholders.
ASMI will update the markets on the progress of the buyback program on a weekly basis. This information can be found on the ASMI website (www.asm.com).
About ASM International
ASM International N.V., headquartered in Almere, the Netherlands, its subsidiaries and participations design and manufacture equipment and materials used to produce semiconductor devices. ASM International, its subsidiaries and participations provide production solutions for wafer processing (Front-end segment) as well as for assembly & packaging and surface mount technology (Back-end segment) through facilities in the United States, Europe, Japan and Asia. ASM International's common stock trades on the Euronext Amsterdam Stock Exchange (symbol ASM) and in the U.S. on the OTCQX® Best Market (symbol ASMIY). For more information, visit ASMI's website at www.asm.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: All matters discussed in this press release, except for any historical data, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These include, but are not limited to, economic conditions and trends in the semiconductor industry generally and the timing of the industry cycles specifically, currency fluctuations, corporate transactions, financing and liquidity matters, the success of restructurings, the timing of significant orders, market acceptance of new products, competitive factors, litigation involving intellectual property, shareholder and other issues, commercial and economic disruption due to natural disasters, terrorist activity, armed conflict or political instability, epidemics and other risks indicated in the Company's reports and financial statements. The Company assumes no obligation nor intends to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect future developments or circumstances.
Investor contact:
Victor Bareño
E: email@example.com
Media contact:
Ian Bickerton
Press Release Details of Share Buyback Program http://hugin.info/132090/R/1970241/720271.pdf


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Welcome to J.S. Salt & Sons Builders Of Excellence in Leek, Staffordshire
Wayne and Gary Salt welcome you to our new website, the place where we have a showcase of our current and past work, also a little bit of information about our company and the way we work. We are general builders based in Leek, Staffordshire, catering for a wide range of building services, throughout Leek, Stoke, Staffordshire, Macclesfield and beyond. Feel free to ask any quotes and more information by using our email form Here or by phoning us on 01538 383738 and 01538 384022 or on Mobile 07721 650130 and we will be glad to help with any work, project you might have.


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Saturday, June 10, 2017
Dancing Fairies Floral Card
Just a quick post of my latest make:
I used Lemoncraft Daydream collection paper for the base.
Two dancing fairies are Poppystamps River Faerie die.
Hand made flowers are Memory Box Fancy Blossoms die and the flower center is created with tacky glue and yellow prills.
I added two shabby bows to finish my card...
I would like to enter this card into following challenges:
Berry71Bleu June Challenge with this mood board:
CMC#93 Buttons and or Bows (I went with bows )
Let's Craft and Create challenge #126 "Girls, Girls, Girls"
I hope you enjoyed this post...
Have a fabulous day and thanks for stopping by...
UPDATE: 06/30/2017 My card is one of Top 3 at Card Mania Challenge Buttons and Bows :)
13 comments:
My goodness .. this is gorgeous Samra!! The paper used is a beautiful background for those delightful fairies and, along with your stunning flowers, those two crinkled bows are the perfect frame. Love, love, love this .. absolutely stunning make!! Have a wonderful day! hugs xxReplyDelete
Oh, for Heaven's sake, Samra! This is my new favorite! I love that background paper, so perfect for these lovely fairy dancers! And I love how you've made their wings so the dancers look like they are facing one another. Absolutely the prettiest flowers I've ever seen with those prills centers--I looked at those at a store a couple weeks ago, and they were out of my budget for the day-rats! Gorgeous inspiration, my friend! Have a wonderful Sunday! Hugs!ReplyDelete
Gorgeous card Samra-fabulous B.paper,beautiful die-cut ballet dancers and gorgeous shabby bows and flowersReplyDelete
Carol x
This is beautimus! Those wings on the darling fairies are stupendous and so fun. Gorgeous design and gorgeous flowers and papers used! Awesome sauce! Hugz to you muffin!ReplyDelete
Oh my word, this is amazing, Samra!! It's so magical and dreamy!! I love the dancers and the dimensional wings!! The flowers look so gorgeous!! The shabby bows are perfect touches!! I love, love this, my friend!! It's one of my all-time favs of yours!! Have a great day!! Big hugs :)ReplyDelete
A Mermaid's Crafts
Samra, your card is just amazing!!! The dancers are so elegant and the followers are spectacular! Wonderful design!ReplyDelete
Sherrie K
Hi your card is stunning, thank you for taking part in our challenge here at Berry71Bleu xReplyDelete
Your card is so beautiful. I love the white on the blue background - it is so clean and lovely.ReplyDelete
Oh wow Samra, what a beautiful scene you have created! The wood effect background is the perfect setting for the beautiful fairies. So very clever to reverse the fairy die to make the two dance together and your flowers, as always, are gorgeous - those prills really bring them to life.... a gorgeous card! Hugs, Anne xxReplyDelete
Absolutely gorgeous card. I like the ribbon embellishment. Thanks for joining us at 'Lets Craft and Create'. Jonnece DTReplyDelete
Uber gorgeous Samra!! Love how you reversed those pretty faeries - with wings forward and back! The flowers are beautifully fresh too and add even more energy to your fabulous work. Stunning! Nicola xReplyDelete
Such a gorgeous card! Thanks for joining us at Berry71Bleu June challenge!ReplyDelete
So very pretty! Love the 2 tone! ;-) Thanks so much for playing along with us at Berry71Bleu this month! ;-)ReplyDelete


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In the past year, I decided to green my wardrobe and try to minimize my impact on the planet as much as I could.
There was no shortage of books and how-to guides on the topic. In every one of them, though, whether it was sustainable living guides or DYI books on making one's own beauty and cleaning products, there seemed to be an underlying theme that we can somehow shop our way to a better environment.
Few that I found would come right out and say it, but the planet and most of us would be better off if we simply consumed less-whether it be food, clothing, fuel, or electricity.
Using less or, heaven forbid, having to sacrifice seems to go against our Western philosophy that more is more and somehow, those of us who live in the West deserve more than those living in developing countries. I see that when I hear someone with four or more children saying (without irony) that over population is a problem in the Third World.
When I try to point out that the average carbon footprint of a child in the US is approximately 100 times more than that of a child in most developing countries, I am met with a curt nod and a comment about how something must be done about Third World over population now.
I also am reminded of a friend of mine who shared a story about a 17,000 square foot home (no, that is not a typo) that his father's construction company built for a recently divorced woman and her three dogs.
My friend who was one of the construction workers on the project revealed that the woman asked repeatedly for the home to be as "green as possible." The response she got: it couldn't be. My friend's father tried (unsuccessfully) to explain that the carbon footprint just to heat and cool a house that size was going to be huge no matter how many energy efficient heating and cooling units she had or how much "green" insulation was used.
If she wanted to be green, then she needed to go dramatically smaller—there was no getting around it. Still, she could not be talked out the size of the home.
She is not alone.
The idea that somehow we can have our cake and eat it, too, is not just wrong, but distinctly American.
We are a nation of more is more. Our homes are big, we are big, even our SUVs are bigger than the ones sold in other parts of the world. Growing up, my idea of "making it" was to one day live in a 20+ room house like the ones I saw on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. (This was pre-MTV's Cribs.) The program and its counterparts never once stopped to point out just how much materials and resources go into making these homes much less how much it costs both in terms of money and resources to maintain it.
It's been pretty well-documented that as humans, the more space we have the more compelled we are to fill it with stuff. This is especially true of houses.
My real breakthrough when it came to understand how much I did not need came when I lived in student housing in London. There simply was not enough room for a lot of stuff. Also, I knew I would be returning home in a year's time, and I did not have the money to ship a lot of stuff back to the States.
I also learned to become unattached to stuff, because I knew I would be giving away a lot of things I acquired once it was time to leave. As it turns out, my most treasured things from that time are memories and photos. Coming back to live in America suburbia was a bit of culture shock.
Still, even after that experience I was not immune. Every year or two, I have a major cull and am amazed how much stuff I throw away—I justify it by saying most of the things I obtain are second hand, but I still have a lot of stuff that I do not need.
Likewise, one of the traps that would-be greenies fall into is thinking that by buying a lot of "green" stuff they are somehow helping the planet more.
Lest anyone think I am thumbing my nose at green products, I am not.
In most cases, if you are choosing between two products, the fair trade/organic/ethical product is probably going to have less of an impact than its conventional counterpart. However, the idea that, say, buying three bottles of organic body lotion with fair-traded shea butter when you don't need it isn't going to lead to a healthier planet. Every product, no matter how small takes energy to create and add to that the environmental costs of packaging, shipping, etc. it would be far better off for the planet not to buy it.
If you truly want to support the people who make that product, then donating to a non-profit that works with people in that area would probably be a far better option.
As others have pointed out, green living has become increasingly associated with a luxury few can afford.
That's sad, and it's even sadder to think of the people who really believe they are embracing responsible green living when all they are actually doing is contributing to the problem of overconsumption. Least anyone think I am advocating living the life of a monk, I am not, as I enjoy nice things as much at the next girl but honestly, how many "nice things" does one actually need when so much of the stuff we buy is ultimately destined for the landfill?
Even in the case of those things that do not end up in the landfill do you honestly need more in the first place? It's something to at least think about the next time we are lulled into believing that we can shop our way into saving the world.
Like elephant green on Facebook.
Ed: Bryonie Wise
{Photo: via Pinterest}