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Well hello there, it's been a minute or two since I put fingers to keys and wrote a blogpost! Life, lack of creativity and well the lack of people tuning into them all contributed to it in all honesty. But sure no harm in letting my creative juices out every so often, I like writing 🙂 I picked up the new Essence Lash Princess Mascara, the waterproof version, pretty much upon its release. I always use waterproof mascara and people had such good things to say about the other formulas. And it was less than a fiver! I got mine in Penneys.
From the get go, the Essence Lash Princess Mascara (waterproof), was for me. I don't use waterproof mascara, because I think I can dunk my head in water and be ok, although some formulas are reasonably good for that. I use it to hold a curl in my straight, boring lashes.
This mascara is quite a thick consistency and it has a bristle spoolie, which usually my lashes don't like as much. In this instance they do though.
You get volume from the first application of this mascara. A lot of product goes on to your lashes. I don't find that it weighs mine down in anyway, but it can clump. That is something to be wary of.
It provides volume and length really quickly and holds a curl, so it ticks all the lash boxes for me.
It can flake a little after a few hours of wear, but I don't find that it transfers too much. I don't use it on my bottom lashes, I find the wand to cumbersome for that. I stick to my trusted Mac Extended Play for that.
The Essence Lash Princess Mascara waterproof is a damn good mascara though. It gives maximum impact with very little effort. I curl my lashes and apply a couple of coats and I'm done. I don't feel the need to layer too much more for a long, (well as long as my lashes can go) lashed look 🙂
Have you tried it yet? Are you a fan of the original? Let me know.


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So you like TNW? Then join our upcoming online event, TNW2020, you don't want to miss it.
ASMR is the third most popular search term on youtube worldwide. But in case you haven't heard of it, it stands for autonomous sensory meridian response.
Interest in ASMR has exploded over the past ten years since the term was coined. What started as a short whispering video on YouTube in 2009 has since gone viral. So-called "ASMRtists" gather millions of views on their videos which can elicit this trance-like state of euphoric relaxation.
Unfortunately, research hasn't quite matched public enthusiasm, with only a handful of journal articles on the topic. So in order to understand more about this complex phenomenon, our team has launched a research network to connect people, ideas, and resources, as the future of ASMR research takes place.
But here's what we already know.
Common triggers
ASMR isn't something that everyone experiences but, for those that do, we now know there are consistencies in what they report. First, we know that ASMR typically emerges in childhood (common early examples are feeling tingles during lice checks at school, or when playing the guessing game of "what letter am I tracing on your back?"). Interestingly, when people find out ASMR is a "thing" they often report either that they thought everyone had the same experience or that it was unique to them.
Second, although people have their own particular tastes, there are remarkable consistencies in ASMR triggers. Common triggers include soft touch, whispering, soft-speaking, close personal attention, delicate hand movements and crisp sounds.
Situations that induce ASMR often involve a combination of these triggers – such as getting a haircut, or watching someone complete a mundane task like folding laundry. It's no surprise, then, that the most popular ASMR videos simulate this layering of triggers.
Brain tingles
There have been three brain imaging studies on ASMR. One looked at the areas activated when the reported tingles are happening in real-time. The study looked at ten participants who experienced ASMR and had them watch ASMR videos in an fMRI machine.
The study showed that periods of ASMR tingling were associated with increased activation in brain regions involved in emotion, empathy, and affiliative behaviors. These results are preliminary and based on a small sample size, but the authors liken ASMR to caring and grooming behaviors – suggesting that ASMR activates neurological pathways involved in socioemotional bonding. This idea is somewhat supported by research showing that ASMR can make those experiencing it feel more connected to other people.
Two other brain imaging studies have taken a different approach by examining differences in resting-state brain activity (when people are simply lying in a scanner) with people who do and don't have ASMR. They found that people with ASMR have less distinct and more blended neural networks, suggesting that ASMR could happen because of a reduced ability to suppress emotional responses that we derive from our senses.
That might sound like a bad thing, but it doesn't have to be. We all integrate information from our external world (sights, sounds, smells) to give rise to emotional experiences. But the way in which we do that can differ between people.
Being less able to inhibit connections between our inner and outer worlds can mean more intense positive emotional experiences such as getting goosebumps from our favorite music or experiencing complex emotions, like awe, in response to art.
In fact, we know that people who experience ASMR are also more likely to experience other complex multi-sensory experiences like music induced chills and synaesthesia. Unfortunately, people with ASMR are also more likely to experience misophonia, (literally meaning "hatred of sound"), which isn't pleasant.
More empathetic
As well as neural differences, researchers have tried to understand ways that people with ASMR differ from those that don't experience it. Overall, research suggests that people who experience ASMR have a greater tendency to have more immersive or absorbing experiences.
People with ASMR score higher on the personality trait of "openness to experience," which reflects imagination, intellectual curiosity and appreciation of art and beauty.
People with ASMR are also more empathetic, at least on two measures of empathy looking at compassion and concern for others, and the ability to immerse oneself in imagination and fiction.
Therapy tool
A quick glance at the comments on ASMR videos is enough to convince you that ASMR is really helping people: improving mood, relieving insomnia, and even counteracting loneliness.
We now have preliminary scientific evidence to support these anecdotal claims. People with ASMR show significant reductions in their heart rates when watching ASMR videos. These stress reductions were comparable to those experienced during mindfulness and music therapy. But whether or not ASMR can and should be used as an effective form of therapy is still unknown.
This is an exciting time for ASMR research because there's still so much we don't yet know. Future studies may want to look at whether everyone has the potential to experience ASMR, if it could be a new form of therapy. Hopefully, research might also someday be able to answer why only some people experience this unique phenomenon.
This article is republished from The Conversation by Giulia Poerio, Associate lecturer, University of Essex under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Source: ASMR has been around for 10 crinkly years — here's what we know about it now

subset: commoncrawl


text: DashDrive UV128 The sleek design features a sliding USB connector, which smoothly extends from the drive at the push of a thumb. The capless mechanical design eliminates the hassle of lost drive caps. The USB connector can be made ready for use with just one hand, for greater convenience when speed is a must. The USB 3.0 interface implements dual-channel transmission mode to deliver read speeds as high as 90MB/sec, and write speeds up to 40MB/sec, while retaining full backward compliance with USB 2.0 ports. The USB connector is concealed in the compact body, fully protected without the need for a drive cap. A simple thumb swipe forward makes it ready to use, and the reverse motion stows the connector for storage or travel. The matte texture body is scratchproof and dirt-repellent. The UV128 comes in an elegant shape and in two stylish color schemes. The simple curves of this series make fashion more comfortable than ever. Capacity 8GB/16GB/32GB/64GB Color Black/Blue & Black/Yellow Dimensions (L x W x H) 69 x 21 x 9mm Weight 11g (0.4oz) Interface USB 3.0, backward compatible with USB 2.0


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Create insane edits, FX and fills with with Eurydice CM, a crazy semimodular multieffect plugin built for Computer Music by the mad scientists over at Inear Display.They're responsible for Eurydice CM's bigger brother Eurydice, as well as other creative effects such as Gorgon and BowEcho.
Need a drum edit? Eurydice CM's buffer section can stutter, pitch and reverse your audio. Got a sound that's too tame? Run it through the gritty bitcrusher and DJ-style delay (not found in the full Eurydice CM). Patch these modules together using three LFOs, three mixers and a powerful multiplier for truly mental results.
Features and uses:
- Buffer section to stutter, loop, pitch and reverse audio - great for edits and fills
- Multimode resonant filter - smoothly morph between four filter types
- Crusher section with bit depth, rate reduction and dry/wet mix for retro fuzz
- Crazy DJ-style repitching delay for creative tape-style repeating
- Three LFOs - use to modulate other parameters or as 'dirty' oscillators
- Three Mixer sections to flexibly combine several of the plugin's signals
- Multiplier stage for ring modulation-style effects
- Semimodular design (including dedicated Patch panel) - route anything into everything!
- Versatile assortment of wacky and wild presets
- 32-/64-bit PC VST
- 32-/64-bit Mac AU/VST
How to get Eurydice CM:
Get any issue of Computer Music magazine from CM198 onwards and you can download Eurydice CM right away.
For more info on CM Plugins, read our FAQ, and find out about our Vault download system.
If you like Eurydice CM, check out Inear Display's full range of super plugins here!


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Engage in shared decision-making.
Shared governance gives opportunities to faculty, staff, students and administrators to participate, appropriate to their special knowledge and expertise, in decisions affecting the institution. All constituencies are encouraged to be active participants in their representative UBalt council or senate.
Student Government Association
The Student Government Association represents all students at the University of Baltimore. It provides an opportunity for all students to actively contribute to the academic and social climate of the campus. The association encourages students to participate in the governance of the campus community; one avenue for this participation is through the election of student leaders. The association meets weekly to discuss and address issues of campus concern. Unless otherwise noted,everyone is encouraged to attend, to voice opinions, or to listen and observe. The association's Executive Cabinet serve as the primary Student Government Association liaisons with the faculty, staff and administration.
Faculty Senate
University faculty is organized at two levels: (1) University-wide and (2) within the colleges. Generally this dichotomy has a functional basis. The college organizations are concerned with academic matters and are responsible for the initiation and maintenance of the academic programs. The University-wide organization deliberates matters of administration and faculty welfare concerns.
Staff Senate
The Staff Senate provides a role in shared governance to Regular Exempt, Regular Non-Exempt not represented by the union and Contractual II (Exempt and Non-Exempt) staff at the University of Baltimore. All staff members in these categories are eligible to participate, and the body elects its own senators, who in turn elect an executive board. The senate advises the president and Executive Committee on staff matters; recommends and reviews University policies as they affect staff; keeps staff informed; and provides a forum for discussion and recommendations on matters of interest to staff.
Governance Steering Council
The Governance Steering Council coordinates the activities of the two senates and of the Student Government Association and serves as a conduit of information between the three governance bodies and the University administration. It provides counsel to the University president on establishment of strategic priorities for the University.
Adjunct Faculty and Graduate Assistants
The University of Baltimore is committed to engaging adjunct faculty members and graduate assistants in campus dialogue to inform decisions affecting the institution.
- USM Meet and Confer Guidelines for Adjunct Faculty and Graduate Assistants
- USM Meet and Confer Fact Sheet for Adjunct Faculty and Graduate Assistants
For additional information, please contact:
Adjunct Faculty Organizing Committee Chair: Jeffrey Weaver
Graduate Assistant Organizing Committee Chair: TBA


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Sculpt tone with pinpoint accuracy, control dynamic range transparently and achieve maximum loudness, density and presence without sacrificing transient detail. Then deliver your music, with full confidence that it conforms to industry accredited true peak levels and that encoded distribution versions wont be rejected.
The Mastering Bundle is a hand picked selection of the Sonnox Plug-Ins focused on getting the very most from your 2-bus and the files you subsequently deliver to your clients.


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"…There are no cats in America!…"
Mike and Casey manage to escape dog heaven and set out for the Great Valley. Their traveling companions? Ask an Atheist's Rebecca Friedman and Joe Preti of the View from the Gutters comic book podcast. This month we're talking about America animator, Don Bluth.
From his apprenticeship at the Walt Disney company, to striking out on his own with critical darling in the Secret of NIMH, to conquering the box office alongside Steven Spielberg with An American Tail and the Land Before Time.
We dig into Bluth's trademark darker tone, his craftsmanship and attention to detail, his move into the world of video games, and how for a brief period of time…he managed to beat Disney at their own game.
"End Credits" from the Land Before Time by James Horner
Previously titled: "There Will Be No Second Disney"
Podcast: Play in new window | Download


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What's gone wrong with democracy
Democracy was the most successful political idea of the 20th century. Why has it run into trouble, and what can be done to revive it?
THE protesters who have overturned the politics of Ukraine have many aspirations for their country. Their placards called for closer relations with the European Union (EU), an end to Russian intervention in Ukraine's politics and the establishment of a clean government to replace the kleptocracy of President Viktor Yanukovych. But their fundamental demand is one that has motivated people over many decades to take a stand against corrupt, abusive and autocratic governments. They want a rules-based democracy.
It is easy to understand why. Democracies are on average richer than non-democracies, are less likely to go to war and have a better record of fighting corruption. More fundamentally, democracy lets people speak their minds and shape their own and their children's futures. That so many people in so many different parts of the world are prepared to risk so much for this idea is testimony to its enduring appeal.
Yet these days the exhilaration generated by events like those in Kiev is mixed with anxiety, for a troubling pattern has repeated itself in capital after capital. The people mass in the main square. Regime-sanctioned thugs try to fight back but lose their nerve in the face of popular intransigence and global news coverage. The world applauds the collapse of the regime and offers to help build a democracy. But turfing out an autocrat turns out to be much easier than setting up a viable democratic government. The new regime stumbles, the economy flounders and the country finds itself in a state at least as bad as it was before. This is what happened in much of the Arab spring, and also in Ukraine's Orange revolution a decade ago. In 2004 Mr Yanukovych was ousted from office by vast street protests, only to be re-elected to the presidency (with the help of huge amounts of Russian money) in 2010, after the opposition politicians who replaced him turned out to be just as hopeless.
Between 1980 and 2000 democracy experienced a few setbacks, but since 2000 there have been many
Democracy is going through a difficult time. Where autocrats have been driven out of office, their opponents have mostly failed to create viable democratic regimes. Even in established democracies, flaws in the system have become worryingly visible and disillusion with politics is rife. Yet just a few years ago democracy looked as though it would dominate the world.
In the second half of the 20th century, democracies had taken root in the most difficult circumstances possible—in Germany, which had been traumatised by Nazism, in India, which had the world's largest population of poor people, and, in the 1990s, in South Africa, which had been disfigured by apartheid. Decolonialisation created a host of new democracies in Africa and Asia, and autocratic regimes gave way to democracy in Greece (1974), Spain (1975), Argentina (1983), Brazil (1985) and Chile (1989). The collapse of the Soviet Union created many fledgling democracies in central Europe. By 2000 Freedom House, an American think-tank, classified 120 countries, or 63% of the world total, as democracies.
Representatives of more than 100 countries gathered at the World Forum on Democracy in Warsaw that year to proclaim that "the will of the people" was "the basis of the authority of government". A report issued by America's State Department declared that having seen off "failed experiments" with authoritarian and totalitarian forms of government, "it seems that now, at long last, democracy is triumphant."
Such hubris was surely understandable after such a run of successes. But stand farther back and the triumph of democracy looks rather less inevitable. After the fall of Athens, where it was first developed, the political model had lain dormant until the Enlightenment more than 2,000 years later. In the 18th century only the American revolution produced a sustainable democracy. During the 19th century monarchists fought a prolonged rearguard action against democratic forces. In the first half of the 20th century nascent democracies collapsed in Germany, Spain and Italy. By 1941 there were only 11 democracies left, and Franklin Roosevelt worried that it might not be possible to shield "the great flame of democracy from the blackout of barbarism".
A high-water mark?Freedom score, by country
The progress seen in the late 20th century has stalled in the 21st. Even though around 40% of the world's population, more people than ever before, live in countries that will hold free and fair elections this year, democracy's global advance has come to a halt, and may even have gone into reverse. Freedom House reckons that 2013 was the eighth consecutive year in which global freedom declined, and that its forward march peaked around the beginning of the century. Between 1980 and 2000 the cause of democracy experienced only a few setbacks, but since 2000 there have been many. And democracy's problems run deeper than mere numbers suggest. Many nominal democracies have slid towards autocracy, maintaining the outward appearance of democracy through elections, but without the rights and institutions that are equally important aspects of a functioning democratic system.
Faith in democracy flares up in moments of triumph, such as the overthrow of unpopular regimes in Cairo or Kiev, only to sputter out once again. Outside the West, democracy often advances only to collapse. And within the West, democracy has too often become associated with debt and dysfunction at home and overreach abroad. Democracy has always had its critics, but now old doubts are being treated with renewed respect as the weaknesses of democracy in its Western strongholds, and the fragility of its influence elsewhere, have become increasingly apparent. Why has democracy lost its forward momentum?
The return of history
THE two main reasons are the financial crisis of 2007-08 and the rise of China. The damage the crisis did was psychological as well as financial. It revealed fundamental weaknesses in the West's political systems, undermining the self-confidence that had been one of their great assets. Governments had steadily extended entitlements over decades, allowing dangerous levels of debt to develop, and politicians came to believe that they had abolished boom-bust cycles and tamed risk. Many people became disillusioned with the workings of their political systems—particularly when governments bailed out bankers with taxpayers' money and then stood by impotently as financiers continued to pay themselves huge bonuses. The crisis turned the Washington consensus into a term of reproach across the emerging world.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Communist Party has broken the democratic world's monopoly on economic progress. Larry Summers, of Harvard University, observes that when America was growing fastest, it doubled living standards roughly every 30 years. China has been doubling living standards roughly every decade for the past 30 years. The Chinese elite argue that their model—tight control by the Communist Party, coupled with a relentless effort to recruit talented people into its upper ranks—is more efficient than democracy and less susceptible to gridlock. The political leadership changes every decade or so, and there is a constant supply of fresh talent as party cadres are promoted based on their ability to hit targets.
China says its model is more efficient than democracy and less susceptible to gridlock
China's critics rightly condemn the government for controlling public opinion in all sorts of ways, from imprisoning dissidents to censoring internet discussions. Yet the regime's obsession with control paradoxically means it pays close attention to public opinion. At the same time China's leaders have been able to tackle some of the big problems of state-building that can take decades to deal with in a democracy. In just two years China has extended pension coverage to an extra 240m rural dwellers, for example—far more than the total number of people covered by America's public-pension system.
Many Chinese are prepared to put up with their system if it delivers growth. The 2013 Pew Survey of Global Attitudes showed that 85% of Chinese were "very satisfied" with their country's direction, compared with 31% of Americans. Some Chinese intellectuals have become positively boastful. Zhang Weiwei of Fudan University argues that democracy is destroying the West, and particularly America, because it institutionalises gridlock, trivialises decision-making and throws up second-rate presidents like George Bush junior. Yu Keping of Beijing University argues that democracy makes simple things "overly complicated and frivolous" and allows "certain sweet-talking politicians to mislead the people". Wang Jisi, also of Beijing University, has observed that "many developing countries that have introduced Western values and political systems are experiencing disorder and chaos" and that China offers an alternative model. Countries from Africa (Rwanda) to the Middle East (Dubai) to South-East Asia (Vietnam) are taking this advice seriously.
China's advance is all the more potent in the context of a series of disappointments for democrats since 2000. The first great setback was in Russia. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 the democratisation of the old Soviet Union seemed inevitable. In the 1990s Russia took a few drunken steps in that direction under Boris Yeltsin. But at the end of 1999 he resigned and handed power to Vladimir Putin, a former KGB operative who has since been both prime minister and president twice. This postmodern tsar has destroyed the substance of democracy in Russia, muzzling the press and imprisoning his opponents, while preserving the show—everyone can vote, so long as Mr Putin wins. Autocratic leaders in Venezuela, Ukraine, Argentina and elsewhere have followed suit, perpetuating a perverted simulacrum of democracy rather than doing away with it altogether, and thus discrediting it further.
The next big setback was the Iraq war. When Saddam Hussein's fabled weapons of mass destruction failed to materialise after the American-led invasion of 2003, Mr Bush switched instead to justifying the war as a fight for freedom and democracy. "The concerted effort of free nations to promote democracy is a prelude to our enemies' defeat," he argued in his second inaugural address. This was more than mere opportunism: Mr Bush sincerely believed that the Middle East would remain a breeding ground for terrorism so long as it was dominated by dictators. But it did the democratic cause great harm. Left-wingers regarded it as proof that democracy was just a figleaf for American imperialism. Foreign-policy realists took Iraq's growing chaos as proof that American-led promotion of democratisation was a recipe for instability. And disillusioned neoconservatives such as Francis Fukuyama, an American political scientist, saw it as proof that democracy cannot put down roots in stony ground.
Democracy's ups and downs
A third serious setback was Egypt. The collapse of Hosni Mubarak's regime in 2011, amid giant protests, raised hopes that democracy would spread in the Middle East. But the euphoria soon turned to despair. Egypt's ensuing elections were won not by liberal activists (who were hopelessly divided into a myriad of Pythonesque parties) but by Muhammad Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood. Mr Morsi treated democracy as a winner-takes-all system, packing the state with Brothers, granting himself almost unlimited powers and creating an upper house with a permanent Islamic majority. In July 2013 the army stepped in, arresting Egypt's first democratically elected president, imprisoning leading members of the Brotherhood and killing hundreds of demonstrators. Along with war in Syria and anarchy in Libya, this has dashed the hope that the Arab spring would lead to a flowering of democracy across the Middle East.
Meanwhile some recent recruits to the democratic camp have lost their lustre. Since the introduction of democracy in 1994 South Africa has been ruled by the same party, the African National Congress, which has become progressively more self-serving. Turkey, which once seemed to combine moderate Islam with prosperity and democracy, is descending into corruption and autocracy. In Bangladesh, Thailand and Cambodia, opposition parties have boycotted recent elections or refused to accept their results.
All this has demonstrated that building the institutions needed to sustain democracy is very slow work indeed, and has dispelled the once-popular notion that democracy will blossom rapidly and spontaneously once the seed is planted. Although democracy may be a "universal aspiration", as Mr Bush and Tony Blair insisted, it is a culturally rooted practice. Western countries almost all extended the right to vote long after the establishment of sophisticated political systems, with powerful civil services and entrenched constitutional rights, in societies that cherished the notions of individual rights and independent judiciaries.
"Nothing is more wonderful than the art of being free, but nothing is harder to learn how to use than freedom."
Yet in recent years the very institutions that are meant to provide models for new democracies have come to seem outdated and dysfunctional in established ones. The United States has become a byword for gridlock, so obsessed with partisan point-scoring that it has come to the verge of defaulting on its debts twice in the past two years. Its democracy is also corrupted by gerrymandering, the practice of drawing constituency boundaries to entrench the power of incumbents. This encourages extremism, because politicians have to appeal only to the party faithful, and in effect disenfranchises large numbers of voters. And money talks louder than ever in American politics. Thousands of lobbyists (more than 20 for every member of Congress) add to the length and complexity of legislation, the better to smuggle in special privileges. All this creates the impression that American democracy is for sale and that the rich have more power than the poor, even as lobbyists and donors insist that political expenditure is an exercise in free speech. The result is that America's image—and by extension that of democracy itself—has taken a terrible battering.
Nor is the EU a paragon of democracy. The decision to introduce the euro in 1999 was taken largely by technocrats; only two countries, Denmark and Sweden, held referendums on the matter (both said no). Efforts to win popular approval for the Lisbon Treaty, which consolidated power in Brussels, were abandoned when people started voting the wrong way. During the darkest days of the euro crisis the euro-elite forced Italy and Greece to replace democratically elected leaders with technocrats. The European Parliament, an unsuccessful attempt to fix Europe's democratic deficit, is both ignored and despised. The EU has become a breeding ground for populist parties, such as Geert Wilders's Party for Freedom in the Netherlands and Marine Le Pen's National Front in France, which claim to defend ordinary people against an arrogant and incompetent elite. Greece's Golden Dawn is testing how far democracies can tolerate Nazi-style parties. A project designed to tame the beast of European populism is instead poking it back into life.
The democratic distemper
EVEN in its heartland, democracy is clearly suffering from serious structural problems, rather than a few isolated ailments. Since the dawn of the modern democratic era in the late 19th century, democracy has expressed itself through nation-states and national parliaments. People elect representatives who pull the levers of national power for a fixed period. But this arrangement is now under assault from both above and below.
From above, globalisation has changed national politics profoundly. National politicians have surrendered ever more power, for example over trade and financial flows, to global markets and supranational bodies, and may thus find that they are unable to keep promises they have made to voters. International organisations such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organisation and the European Union have extended their influence. There is a compelling logic to much of this: how can a single country deal with problems like climate change or tax evasion? National politicians have also responded to globalisation by limiting their discretion and handing power to unelected technocrats in some areas. The number of countries with independent central banks, for example, has increased from about 20 in 1980 to more than 160 today.
From below come equally powerful challenges: from would-be breakaway nations, such as the Catalans and the Scots, from Indian states, from American city mayors. All are trying to reclaim power from national governments. There are also a host of what Moisés Naim, of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, calls "micro-powers", such as NGOs and lobbyists, which are disrupting traditional politics and making life harder for democratic and autocratic leaders alike. The internet makes it easier to organise and agitate; in a world where people can participate in reality-TV votes every week, or support a petition with the click of a mouse, the machinery and institutions of parliamentary democracy, where elections happen only every few years, look increasingly anachronistic. Douglas Carswell, a British member of parliament, likens traditional politics to HMV, a chain of British record shops that went bust, in a world where people are used to calling up whatever music they want whenever they want via Spotify, a popular digital music-streaming service.
The biggest challenge to democracy, however, comes neither from above nor below but from within—from the voters themselves. Plato's great worry about democracy, that citizens would "live from day to day, indulging the pleasure of the moment", has proved prescient. Democratic governments got into the habit of running big structural deficits as a matter of course, borrowing to give voters what they wanted in the short term, while neglecting long-term investment. France and Italy have not balanced their budgets for more than 30 years. The financial crisis starkly exposed the unsustainability of such debt-financed democracy.
With the post-crisis stimulus winding down, politicians must now confront the difficult trade-offs they avoided during years of steady growth and easy credit. But persuading voters to adapt to a new age of austerity will not prove popular at the ballot box. Slow growth and tight budgets will provoke conflict as interest groups compete for limited resources. To make matters worse, this competition is taking place as Western populations are ageing. Older people have always been better at getting their voices heard than younger ones, voting in greater numbers and organising pressure groups like America's mighty AARP. They will increasingly have absolute numbers on their side. Many democracies now face a fight between past and future, between inherited entitlements and future investment.
Adjusting to hard times will be made even more difficult by a growing cynicism towards politics. Party membership is declining across the developed world: only 1% of Britons are now members of political parties compared with 20% in 1950. Voter turnout is falling, too: a study of 49 democracies found that it had declined by 10 percentage points between 1980-84 and 2007-13. A survey of seven European countries in 2012 found that more than half of voters "had no trust in government" whatsoever. A YouGov opinion poll of British voters in the same year found that 62% of those polled agreed that "politicians tell lies all the time".
Meanwhile the border between poking fun and launching protest campaigns is fast eroding. In 2010 Iceland's Best Party, promising to be openly corrupt, won enough votes to co-run Reykjavik's city council. And in 2013 a quarter of Italians voted for a party founded by Beppe Grillo, a comedian. All this popular cynicism about politics might be healthy if people demanded little from their governments, but they continue to want a great deal. The result can be a toxic and unstable mixture: dependency on government on the one hand, and disdain for it on the other. The dependency forces government to overexpand and overburden itself, while the disdain robs it of its legitimacy. Democratic dysfunction goes hand in hand with democratic distemper.
Democracy's problems in its heartland help explain its setbacks elsewhere. Democracy did well in the 20th century in part because of American hegemony: other countries naturally wanted to emulate the world's leading power. But as China's influence has grown, America and Europe have lost their appeal as role models and their appetite for spreading democracy. The Obama administration now seems paralysed by the fear that democracy will produce rogue regimes or empower jihadists. And why should developing countries regard democracy as the ideal form of government when the American government cannot even pass a budget, let alone plan for the future? Why should autocrats listen to lectures on democracy from Europe, when the euro-elite sacks elected leaders who get in the way of fiscal orthodoxy?
The financial crisis has starkly exposed the unsustainability of debt-financed democracy
At the same time, democracies in the emerging world have encountered the same problems as those in the rich world. They too have overindulged in short-term spending rather than long-term investment. Brazil allows public-sector workers to retire at 53 but has done little to create a modern airport system. India pays off vast numbers of client groups but invests too little in infrastructure. Political systems have been captured by interest groups and undermined by anti-democratic habits. Patrick French, a British historian, notes that every member of India's lower house under the age of 30 is a member of a political dynasty. Even within the capitalist elite, support for democracy is fraying: Indian business moguls constantly complain that India's chaotic democracy produces rotten infrastructure while China's authoritarian system produces highways, gleaming airports and high-speed trains.
Democracy has been on the back foot before. In the 1920s and 1930s communism and fascism looked like the coming things: when Spain temporarily restored its parliamentary government in 1931, Benito Mussolini likened it to returning to oil lamps in the age of electricity. In the mid-1970s Willy Brandt, a former German chancellor, pronounced that "western Europe has only 20 or 30 more years of democracy left in it; after that it will slide, engineless and rudderless, under the surrounding sea of dictatorship". Things are not that bad these days, but China poses a far more credible threat than communism ever did to the idea that democracy is inherently superior and will eventually prevail.
Yet China's stunning advances conceal deeper problems. The elite is becoming a self-perpetuating and self-serving clique. The 50 richest members of the China's National People's Congress are collectively worth $94.7 billion—60 times as much as the 50 richest members of America's Congress. China's growth rate has slowed from 10% to below 8% and is expected to fall further—an enormous challenge for a regime whose legitimacy depends on its ability to deliver consistent growth.
At the same time, as Alexis de Tocqueville pointed out in the 19th century, democracies always look weaker than they really are: they are all confusion on the surface but have lots of hidden strengths. Being able to install alternative leaders offering alternative policies makes democracies better than autocracies at finding creative solutions to problems and rising to existential challenges, though they often take a while to zigzag to the right policies. But to succeed, both fledgling and established democracies must ensure they are built on firm foundations.
Getting democracy right
THE most striking thing about the founders of modern democracy such as James Madison and John Stuart Mill is how hard-headed they were. They regarded democracy as a powerful but imperfect mechanism: something that needed to be designed carefully, in order to harness human creativity but also to check human perversity, and then kept in good working order, constantly oiled, adjusted and worked upon.
The need for hard-headedness is particularly pressing when establishing a nascent democracy. One reason why so many democratic experiments have failed recently is that they put too much emphasis on elections and too little on the other essential features of democracy. The power of the state needs to be checked, for instance, and individual rights such as freedom of speech and freedom to organise must be guaranteed. The most successful new democracies have all worked in large part because they avoided the temptation of majoritarianism—the notion that winning an election entitles the majority to do whatever it pleases. India has survived as a democracy since 1947 (apart from a couple of years of emergency rule) and Brazil since the mid-1980s for much the same reason: both put limits on the power of the government and provided guarantees for individual rights.
Robust constitutions not only promote long-term stability, reducing the likelhood that disgruntled minorities will take against the regime. They also bolster the struggle against corruption, the bane of developing countries. Conversely, the first sign that a fledgling democracy is heading for the rocks often comes when elected rulers try to erode constraints on their power—often in the name of majority rule. Mr Morsi tried to pack Egypt's upper house with supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood. Mr Yanukovych reduced the power of Ukraine's parliament. Mr Putin has ridden roughshod over Russia's independent institutions in the name of the people. Several African leaders are engaging in crude majoritarianism—removing term limits on the presidency or expanding penalties against homosexual behaviour, as Uganda's president Yoweri Museveni did on February 24th.
Foreign leaders should be more willing to speak out when rulers engage in such illiberal behaviour, even if a majority supports it. But the people who most need to learn this lesson are the architects of new democracies: they must recognise that robust checks and balances are just as vital to the establishment of a healthy democracy as the right to vote. Paradoxically even potential dictators have a lot to learn from events in Egypt and Ukraine: Mr Morsi would not be spending his life shuttling between prison and a glass box in an Egyptian court, and Mr Yanukovych would not be fleeing for his life, if they had not enraged their compatriots by accumulating so much power.
Even those lucky enough to live in mature democracies need to pay close attention to the architecture of their political systems. The combination of globalisation and the digital revolution has made some of democracy's most cherished institutions look outdated. Established democracies need to update their own political systems both to address the problems they face at home, and to revitalise democracy's image abroad. Some countries have already embarked upon this process. America's Senate has made it harder for senators to filibuster appointments. A few states have introduced open primaries and handed redistricting to independent boundary commissions. Other obvious changes would improve matters. Reform of party financing, so that the names of all donors are made public, might reduce the influence of special interests. The European Parliament could require its MPs to present receipts with their expenses. Italy's parliament has far too many members who are paid too much, and two equally powerful chambers, which makes it difficult to get anything done.
But reformers need to be much more ambitious. The best way to constrain the power of special interests is to limit the number of goodies that the state can hand out. And the best way to address popular disillusion towards politicians is to reduce the number of promises they can make. The key to a healthier democracy, in short, is a narrower state—an idea that dates back to the American revolution. "In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men", Madison argued, "the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself." The notion of limited government was also integral to the relaunch of democracy after the second world war. The United Nations Charter (1945) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) established rights and norms that countries could not breach, even if majorities wanted to do so.
The most successful new democracies managed to avoid the temptation of majoritarianism
These checks and balances were motivated by fear of tyranny. But today, particularly in the West, the big dangers to democracy are harder to spot. One is the growing size of the state. The relentless expansion of government is reducing liberty and handing ever more power to special interests. The other comes from government's habit of making promises that it cannot fulfil, either by creating entitlements it cannot pay for or by waging wars that it cannot win, such as that on drugs. Both voters and governments must be persuaded of the merits of accepting restraints on the state's natural tendency to overreach. Giving control of monetary policy to independent central banks tamed the rampant inflation of the 1980s, for example. It is time to apply the same principle of limited government to a broader range of policies. Mature democracies, just like nascent ones, require appropriate checks and balances on the power of elected government.
Governments can exercise self-restraint in several different ways. They can put on a golden straitjacket by adopting tight fiscal rules—as the Swedes have done by pledging to balance their budget over the economic cycle. They can introduce "sunset clauses" that force politicians to renew laws every ten years, say. They can ask non-partisan commissions to propose long-term reforms. The Swedes rescued their pension system from collapse when an independent commission suggested pragmatic reforms including greater use of private pensions, and linking the retirement age to life-expectancy. Chile has been particularly successful at managing the combination of the volatility of the copper market and populist pressure to spend the surplus in good times. It has introduced strict rules to ensure that it runs a surplus over the economic cycle, and appointed a commission of experts to determine how to cope with economic volatility.
Isn't this a recipe for weakening democracy by handing more power to the great and the good? Not necessarily. Self-denying rules can strengthen democracy by preventing people from voting for spending policies that produce bankruptcy and social breakdown and by protecting minorities from persecution. But technocracy can certainly be taken too far. Power must be delegated sparingly, in a few big areas such as monetary policy and entitlement reform, and the process must be open and transparent.
And delegation upwards towards grandees and technocrats must be balanced by delegation downwards, handing some decisions to ordinary people. The trick is to harness the twin forces of globalism and localism, rather than trying to ignore or resist them. With the right balance of these two approaches, the same forces that threaten established democracies from above, through globalisation, and below, through the rise of micro-powers, can reinforce rather than undermine democracy.
Tocqueville argued that local democracy frequently represented democracy at its best: "Town-meetings are to liberty what primary schools are to science; they bring it within the people's reach, they teach men how to use and enjoy it." City mayors regularly get twice the approval ratings of national politicians. Modern technology can implement a modern version of Tocqueville's town-hall meetings to promote civic involvement and innovation. An online hyperdemocracy where everything is put to an endless series of public votes would play to the hand of special-interest groups. But technocracy and direct democracy can keep each other in check: independent budget commissions can assess the cost and feasibility of local ballot initiatives, for example.
"You must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself."
Several places are making progress towards getting this mixture right. The most encouraging example is California. Its system of direct democracy allowed its citizens to vote for contradictory policies, such as higher spending and lower taxes, while closed primaries and gerrymandered districts institutionalised extremism. But over the past five years California has introduced a series of reforms, thanks in part to the efforts of Nicolas Berggruen, a philanthropist and investor. The state has introduced a "Think Long" committee to counteract the short-term tendencies of ballot initiatives. It has introduced open primaries and handed power to redraw boundaries to an independent commission. And it has succeeded in balancing its budget—an achievement which Darrell Steinberg, the leader of the California Senate, described as "almost surreal".
Similarly, the Finnish government has set up a non-partisan commission to produce proposals for the future of its pension system. At the same time it is trying to harness e-democracy: parliament is obliged to consider any citizens' initiative that gains 50,000 signatures. But many more such experiments are needed—combining technocracy with direct democracy, and upward and downward delegation—if democracy is to zigzag its way back to health.
John Adams, America's second president, once pronounced that "democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide." He was clearly wrong. Democracy was the great victor of the ideological clashes of the 20th century. But if democracy is to remain as successful in the 21st century as it was in the 20th, it must be both assiduously nurtured when it is young—and carefully maintained when it is mature.


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One day, while at work in the coal–mine, I happened to overhear two miners talking about a great school for coloured people somewhere in Virginia. This was the first time that I had ever heard anything about any kind of school or college that was more pretentious than the little coloured school in our town.
In the darkness of the mine I noiselessly crept as close as I could to the two men who were talking. I heard one tell the other that not only was the school established for the members of any race, but the opportunities that it provided by which poor but worthy students could work out all or a part of the cost of a board, and at the same time be taught some trade or industry.
As they went on describing the school, it seemed to me that it must be the greatest place on earth, and not even Heaven presented more attractions for me at that time than did the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Virginia, about which these men were talking. I resolved at once to go to that school, although I had no idea where it was, or how many miles away, or how I was going to reach it; I remembered only that I was on fire constantly with one ambition, and that was to go to Hampton. This thought was with me day and night.
After hearing of the Hampton Institute, I continued to work for a few months longer in the coal–mine. While at work there, I heard of a vacant position in the household of General Lewis Ruffner, the owner of the salt–furnace and coal–mine. Mrs. Viola Ruffner, the wife of General Ruffner, was a "Yankee" woman from Vermont. Mrs. Ruffner had a reputation all through the vicinity for being very strict with her servants, and especially with the boys who tried to serve her. Few of them remained with her more than two or three weeks. They all left with the same excuse: she was too strict. I decided, however, that I would rather try Mrs. Ruffner's house than remain in the coal–mine, and so my mother applied to her for the vacant position. I was hired at a salary of $5 per month.
I had heard so much about Mrs. Ruffner's severity that I was almost afraid to see her, and trembled when I went into her presence. I had not lived with her many weeks, however, before I began to understand her. I soon began to learn that, first of all, she wanted everything kept clean about her, that she wanted things done promptly and systematically, and that at the bottom of everything she wanted absolute honesty and frankness. Nothing must be sloven or slipshod; every door, every fence, must be kept in repair.
I cannot now recall how long I lived with Mrs. Ruffner before going to Hampton, but I think it must have been a year and a half. At any rate, I here repeat what I have said more than once before, that the lessons that I learned in the home of Mrs. Ruffner were as valuable to me as any education I have ever gotten anywhere else. Even to this day I never see bits of paper scattered around a house or in the street that I do not want to pick them up at once. I never see a filthy yard that I do not want to clean it, a paling off of a fence that I do not want to put it on, an unpainted or unwhitewashed house that I do not want to paint or whitewash it, or a button off one's clothes, or a grease–spot on them or on a floor, that I do not want to call attention to it.
From fearing Mrs. Ruffner I soon learned to look upon her as one of my best friends. When she found that she could trust me she did so implicitly. During the one or two winters that I was with her she gave me an opportunity to go to school for an hour in the day during a portion of the winter months, but most of my studying was done at night, sometimes alone, sometimes under some one whom I could hire to teach me. Mrs. Ruffner always encouraged and sympathized with me in all my efforts to get an education. It was while living with her that I began to get together my first library. I secured a dry–goods box, knocked out one side of it, put some shelves in it, and began putting into it every kind of book that I could get my hands upon, and called it my "library."
Notwithstanding my success at Mrs. Ruffner's I did not give up the idea of going to the Hampton Institute. In the fall of 1872 I determined to make an effort to get there, although, as I have stated, I had no definite idea of the direction in which Hampton was, or of what it would cost to go there. I do not think that any one thoroughly sympathized with me in my ambition to go to Hampton unless it was my mother, and she was troubled with a grave fear that I was starting out on a "wild–goose chase." At any rate, I got only a half–hearted consent from her that I might start. The small amount of money that I had earned had been consumed by my stepfather and the remainder of the family, with the exception of a very few dollars, and so I had very little with which to buy clothes and pay my travelling expenses. My brother John helped me all that he could, but of course that was not a great deal, for his work was in the coal–mine, where he did not earn much, and most of what he did earn went in the direction of paying the household expenses.
Perhaps the thing that touched and pleased me most in connection with my starting for Hampton was the interest that many of the older coloured people took in the matter. They had spent the best days of their lives in slavery, and hardly expected to live to see the time when they would see a member of their race leave home to attend a boarding–school. Some of these older people would give me a nickel, others a quarter, or a handkerchief.
Finally the great day came, and I started for Hampton. I had only a small, cheap satchel that contained a few articles of clothing I could get. My mother at the time was rather weak and broken in health. I hardly expected to see her again, and thus our parting was all the more sad. She, however, was very brave through it all. At that time there were no through trains connecting that part of West Virginia with eastern Virginia. Trains ran only a portion of the way, and the remainder of the distance was travelled by stage–coaches.
The distance from Malden to Hampton is about five hundred miles. I had not been away from home many hours before it began to grow painfully evident that I did not have enough money to pay my fare to Hampton. One experience I shall long remember. I had been travelling over the mountains most of the afternoon in an old–fashion stage–coach, when, late in the evening, the coach stopped for the night at a common, unpainted house called a hotel. All the other passengers except myself were whites. In my ignorance I supposed that the little hotel existed for the purpose of accommodating the passengers who travelled on the stage–coach. The difference that the colour of one's skin would make I had not thought anything about. After all the other passengers had been shown rooms and were getting ready for supper, I shyly presented myself before the man at the desk. It is true I had practically no money in my pocket with which to pay for bed or food, but I had hoped in some way to beg my way into the good graces of the landlord, for at that season in the mountains of Virginia the weather was cold, and I wanted to get indoors for the night. Without asking as to whether I had any money, the man at the desk firmly refused to even consider the matter of providing me with food or lodging. This was my first experience in finding out what the colour of my skin meant. In some way I managed to keep warm by walking about, and so got through the night. My whole soul was so bent upon reaching Hampton that I did not have time to cherish any bitterness toward the hotel–keeper.
By walking, begging rides both in wagons and in the cars, in some way, after a number of days, I reached the city of Richmond, Virginia, about eighty–two miles from Hampton. When I reached there, tired, hungry, and dirty, it was late in the night. I had never been in a large city, and this rather added to my misery. When I reached Richmond, I was completely out of money. I had not a single acquaintance in the place, and, being unused to city ways, I did not know where to go. I applied at several places for lodging, but they all wanted money, and that was what I did not have. Knowing nothing else better to do, I walked the streets. In doing this I passed by many food–stands where fried chicken and half–moon apple pies were piled high and made to present a most tempting appearance. At that time it seemed to me that I would have promised all that I expected to possess in the future to have gotten hold of one of those chicken legs or one of those pies. But I could not get either of these, nor anything else to eat.
I must have walked the streets till after midnight. At last I became so exhausted that I could walk no longer. I was tired, I was hungry, I was everything but discouraged. Just about the time when I reached extreme physical exhaustion, I came upon a portion of a street where the board sidewalk was considerably elevated. I waited for a few minutes, till I was sure that no passers–by could see me, and then crept under the sidewalk and lay for the night upon the ground, with my satchel of clothing for a pillow. Nearly all night I could hear the tramp of feet over my head. The next morning I found myself somewhat refreshed, but I was extremely hungry, because it had been a long time since I had had sufficient food. As soon as it became light enough for me to see my surroundings I noticed that I was near a large ship, and that this ship seemed to be unloading a cargo of pig iron. I went at once to the vessel and asked the captain to permit me to help unload the vessel in order to get money for food. The captain, a white man, who seemed to be kind–hearted, consented. I worked long enough to earn money for my breakfast, and it seems to me, as I remember it now, to have been about the best breakfast that I have ever eaten.
My work pleased the captain so well that he told me if I desired I could continue working for a small amount per day. This I was very glad to do. I continued working on this vessel for a number of days. After buying food with the small wages I received there was not much left to add on the amount I must get to pay my way to Hampton. In order to economize in every way possible, so as to be sure to reach Hampton in a reasonable time, I continued to sleep under the same sidewalk that gave me shelter the first night I was in Richmond. Many years after that the coloured citizens of Richmond very kindly tendered me a reception at which there must have been two thousand people present. This reception was held not far from the spot where I slept the first night I spent in the city, and I must confess that my mind was more upon the sidewalk that first gave me shelter than upon the recognition, agreeable and cordial as it was.
When I had saved what I considered enough money with which to reach Hampton, I thanked the captain of the vessel for his kindness, and started again. Without any unusual occurrence I reached Hampton, with a surplus of exactly fifty cents with which to begin my education. To me it had been a long, eventful journey; but the first sight of the large, three–story, brick school building seemed to have rewarded me for all that I had undergone in order to reach the place. If the people who gave the money to provide that building could appreciate the influence the sight of it had upon me, as well as upon thousands of other youths, they would feel all the more encouraged to make such gifts. It seemed to me to be the largest and most beautiful building I had ever seen. The sight of it seemed to give me new life. I felt that a new kind of existence had now begun—that life would now have a new meaning. I felt that I had reached the promised land, and I resolved to let no obstacle prevent me from putting forth the highest effort to fit myself to accomplish the most good in the world.
As soon as possible after reaching the grounds of the Hampton Institute, I presented myself before the head teacher for an assignment to a class. Having been so long without proper food, a bath, and a change of clothing, I did not, of course, make a very favourable impression upon her, and I could see at once that there were doubts in her mind about the wisdom of admitting me as a student. I felt that I could hardly blame her if she got the idea that I was a worthless loafer or tramp. For some time she did not refuse to admit me, neither did she decide in my favour, and I continued to linger about her, and to impress her in all the ways I could with my worthiness. In the meantime I saw her admitting other students, and that added greatly to my discomfort, for I felt, deep down in my heart, that I could do as well as they, if I could only get a chance to show what was in me.
After some hours had passed, the head teacher said to me: "The adjoining recitation–room needs sweeping. Take the broom and sweep it."
It occurred to me at once that here was my chance. Never did I receive an order with more delight. I knew that I could sweep, for Mrs. Ruffner had thoroughly taught me how to do that when I lived with her.
I swept the recitation–room three times. Then I got a dusting–cloth and dusted it four times. All the woodwork around the walls, every bench, table, and desk, I went over four times with my dusting–cloth. Besides, every piece of furniture had been moved and every closet and corner in the room had been thoroughly cleaned. I had the feeling that in a large measure my future depended upon the impression I made upon the teacher in the cleaning of that room. When I was through, I reported to the head teacher. She was a "Yankee" woman who knew just where to look for dirt. She went into the room and inspected the floor and closets; then she took her handkerchief and rubbed it on the woodwork about the walls, and over the table and benches. When she was unable to find one bit of dirt on the floor, or a particle of dust on any of the furniture, she quietly remarked, "I guess you will do to enter this institution."
I was one of the happiest souls on Earth. The sweeping of that room was my college examination, and never did any youth pass an examination for entrance into Harvard or Yale that gave him more genuine satisfaction. I have passed several examinations since then, but I have always felt that this was the best one I ever passed.
I have spoken of my own experience in entering the Hampton Institute. Perhaps few, if any, had anything like the same experience that I had, but about the same period there were hundreds who found their way to Hampton and other institutions after experiencing something of the same difficulties that I went through. The young men and women were determined to secure an education at any cost.
The sweeping of the recitation–room in the manner that I did it seems to have paved the way for me to get through Hampton. Miss Mary F. Mackie, the head teacher, offered me a position as janitor. This, of course, I gladly accepted, because it was a place where I could work out nearly all the cost of my board. The work was hard and taxing but I stuck to it. I had a large number of rooms to care for, and had to work late into the night, while at the same time I had to rise by four o'clock in the morning, in order to build the fires and have a little time in which to prepare my lessons. In all my career at Hampton, and ever since I have been out in the world, Miss Mary F. Mackie, the head teacher to whom I have referred, proved one of my strongest and most helpful friends. Her advice and encouragement were always helpful in strengthening to me in the darkest hour.
I have spoken of the impression that was made upon me by the buildings and general appearance of the Hampton Institute, but I have not spoken of that which made the greatest and most lasting impression on me, and that was a great man—the noblest, rarest human being that it has ever been my privilege to meet. I refer to the late General Samuel C. Armstrong.
It has been my fortune to meet personally many of what are called great characters, both in Europe and America, but I do not hesitate to say that I never met any man who, in my estimation, was the equal of General Armstrong. Fresh from the degrading influences of the slave plantation and the coal–mines, it was a rare privilege for me to be permitted to come into direct contact with such a character as General Armstrong. I shall always remember that the first time I went into his presence he made the impression upon me of being a perfect man: I was made to feel that there was something about him that was superhuman. It was my privilege to know the General personally from the time I entered Hampton till he died, and the more I saw of him the greater he grew in my estimation. One might have removed from Hampton all the buildings, class–rooms, teachers, and industries, and given the men and women there the opportunity of coming into daily contact with General Armstrong, and that alone would have been a liberal education. The older I grow, the more I am convinced that there is no education which one can get from books and costly apparatus that is equal to that which can be gotten from contact with great men and women. Instead of studying books so constantly, how I wish that our schools and colleges might learn to study men and things!
General Armstrong spent two of the last six months of his life in my home at Tuskegee. At that time he was paralyzed to the extent that he had lost control of his body and voice in a very large degree. Notwithstanding his affliction, he worked almost constantly night and day for the cause to which he had given his life. I never saw a man who so completely lost sight of himself. I do not believe he ever had a selfish thought. He was just as happy in trying to assist some other institution in the South as he was when working for Hampton. Although he fought the Southern white man in the Civil War, I never heard him utter a bitter word against him afterward. On the other hand, he was constantly seeking to find ways by which he could be of service to the Southern whites.
It would be difficult to describe the hold that he had upon the students at Hampton, or the faith they had in him. In fact, he was worshipped by his students. It never occurred to me that General Armstrong could fail in anything that he undertook. There is almost no request that he could have made that would not have been complied with. When he was a guest at my home in Alabama, and was so badly paralyzed that he had to be wheeled about in an invalid's chair, I recall that one of the General's former students had occasion to push his chair up a long, steep hill that taxed his strength to the utmost. When the top of the hill was reached, the former pupil, with a glow of happiness on his face, exclaimed, "I am so glad that I have been permitted to do something that was real hard for the General before he dies!" While I was a student at Hampton, the dormitories became so crowded that it was impossible to find room for all who wanted to be admitted. In order to help remedy the difficulty, the General conceived the plan of putting up tents to be used as rooms. As soon as it became known that General Armstrong would be pleased if some of the older students would live in the tents during the winter, nearly every student in school volunteered to go.
I was one of the volunteers. The winter that we spent in those tents was an intensely cold one, and we suffered severely—how much I am sure General Armstrong never knew, because we made no complaints. It was enough for us to know that we were pleasing General Armstrong, and that we were making it possible for an additional number of students to secure an education. More than once, during a cold night, when a stiff gale would be blowing, our tend was lifted bodily, and we would find ourselves in the open air. The General would usually pay a visit to the tents early in the morning, and his earnest, cheerful, encouraging voice would dispel any feeling of despondency.
I have spoken of my admiration for General Armstrong, and yet he was but a type of that Christlike body of men and women who went into the Negro schools at the close of the war by the hundreds to assist in lifting up my race. The history of the world fails to show a higher, purer, and more unselfish class of men and women than those who found their way into those Negro schools.
Life at Hampton was a constant revelation to me; was constantly taking me into a new world. The matter of having meals at regular hours, of eating on a tablecloth, using a napkin, the use of the bath–tub and of the tooth–brush, as well as the use of sheets upon the bed, were all new to me.
I sometimes feel that almost the most valuable lesson I got at the Hampton Institute was in the use and value of the bath. I learned there for the first time some of its value, not only in keeping the body healthy, but in inspiring self–respect and promoting virtue. In all my travels in the South and elsewhere since leaving Hampton I have always in some way sought my daily bath. To get it sometimes when I have been the guest of my own people in a single–roomed cabin has not always been easy to do, except by slipping away to some stream in the woods. I have always tried to teach my people that some provision for bathing should be a part of every house.
For some time, while a student at Hampton, I possessed but a single pair of socks, but when I had worn these till they became soiled, I would wash them at night and hang them by the fire to dry, so that I might wear them again the next morning.
The charge for my board at Hampton was ten dollars per month. I was expected to pay a part of this in cash and to work out the remainder. To meet this cash payment, as I have stated, I had just fifty cents when I reached the institution. Aside from a very few dollars that my brother John was able to send me once in a while, I had no money with which to pay my board. I was determined from the first to make my work as janitor so valuable that my services would be indispensable. This I succeeded in doing to such an extent that I was soon informed that I would be allowed the full cost of my board in return for my work. The cost of tuition was seventy dollars a year. This, of course, was wholly beyond my ability to provide. If I had been compelled to pay the seventy dollars for tuition, in addition to providing for my board, I would have been compelled to leave the Hampton school. General Armstrong, however, very kindly got Mr. S. Griffitts Morgan, of New Bedford, Mass., to defray the cost of my tuition during the whole time that I was at Hampton. After I finished the course at Hampton and had entered upon my lifework at Tuskegee, I had the pleasure of visiting Mr. Morgan several times.
After having been for a while at Hampton, I found myself in difficulty because I did not have books and clothing. Usually, however, I got around the trouble about books by borrowing from those who were more fortunate than myself. As to clothes, when I reached Hampton I had practically nothing. Everything that I possessed was in a small hand satchel. My anxiety about clothing was increased because of the fact that General Armstrong made a personal inspection of the young men in ranks, to see that their clothes were clean. Shoes had to be polished, there must be no buttons off the clothing, and no grease–spots. To wear one suit of clothes continually, while at work and in the schoolroom, and at the same time keep it clean, was rather a hard problem for me to solve. In some way I managed to get on till the teachers learned that I was in earnest and meant to succeed, and then some of them were kind enough to see that I was partly supplied with second–hand clothing that had been sent in barrels from the North. These barrels proved a blessing to hundreds of poor but deserving students. Without them I question whether I should ever have gotten through Hampton.
When I first went to Hampton I do not recall that I had ever slept in a bed that had two sheets on it. In those days there were not many buildings there, and room was very precious. There were seven other boys in the same room with me; most of them, however, students who had been there for some time. The sheets were quite a puzzle to me. The first night I slept under both of them, and the second night I slept on top of them; but by watching the other boys I learned my lesson in this, and have been trying to follow it ever since and to teach it to others.
I was among the youngest of the students who were in Hampton at the time. Most of the students were men and women—some as old as forty years of age. As I now recall the scene of my first year, I do not believe that one often has the opportunity of coming into contact with three or four hundred men and women who were so tremendously in earnest as these men and women were. Every hour was occupied in study or work. Nearly all had had enough actual contact with the world to teach them the need of education. Many of the older ones were, of course, too old to master the text–books very thoroughly, and it was often sad to watch their struggles; but they made up in earnest much of what they lacked in books. Many of them were as poor as I was, and, besides having to wrestle with their books, they had to struggle with a poverty which prevented their having the necessities of life. Many of them had aged parents who were dependent upon them, and some of them were men who had wives whose support in some way they had to provide for.
The great and prevailing idea that seemed to take possession of every one was to prepare himself to lift up the people at his home. No one seemed to think of himself. And the officers and teachers, what a rare set of human beings they were! They worked for the students night and day, in seasons and out of season. They seemed happy only when they were helping the students in some manner. Whenever it is written—and I hope it will be—the part that the Yankee teachers played in the education of the Negroes immediately after the war will make one of the most thrilling parts of the history off this country. The time is not far distant when the whole South will appreciate this service in a way that it has not yet been able to do.


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Using JQuery Validation in Rails Remote Form
In a recent project, I was trying to use JQuery Validation in an earlier version of Rails 3 remote form (jquery-ujs). They didn't work out well in IE.
After experimenting with the latest jquery-ujs and making an embarrassing mistake, it turns out that the issue is resolved in the latest version.
(Mistake: You may notice I removed a previous post about this topic, where I mistakenly concluded the latest jquery-ujs is not working with JQuery Validation. Thanks to JangoSteve for pointing it out. The post was misleading, so I believe it's best to remove it to avoid confusion. :-)
Get the latest jquery-ujs
There are 2 reasons to use the latest jquery-ujs:
- it has a patch that fixes the issue (see issue #118).
- it exposes an internal function that we may need --
(see more details)
Working example
The example is tested with:
- JQuery 1.6.1
- JQuery Vaidation 1.8.1
- Latest Rails UJS (commit: dad6982dc592686677e6)
Try run the example page on IE7/8: /quirks/jquery-validate-ujs-conflict/jquery-ujs-latest.html
When using submitHandler
in JQuery Validation
If you are using JQuery Validation's submitHandler(form)
function, you need to call $.rails.handleRemote( $(form) )
function manually, so that it submits the form via XHR.
submitHandler: function(form) {
// .. do something before submit ..
$.rails.handleRemote( $(form) ); // submit via xhr
// don't use, it submits the form directly


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As you would have noticed this year, Insurance Costs are increasing for all businesses as Insurers are applying general rate increases in an attempt to offset overall underwriting losses caused mainly by:
- Significant increases in the volume and cost of Liability Claims (see below)
- Similar increases in motor accident claims frequency and costs
- Severe weather events and lack of attention to property risk management
Increase in number and cost of Liability Claims
Several factors have led to rate increases and a reduction in insurer capacity:
- Between 2012 and 2014, the average cost of claims in Motor Insurance rose by 8%, for Employers Liability it rose by 27% and for public liability it rose by 8%.
- As for the frequency of claims, the Injuries Board has reported a 36% increase in the claims submitted since 2008
- The cost of claims in Ireland is too high e.g. the average cost of whiplash in Ireland is €15,000 (while the average cost in the UK is €5,000, or €3,000 in Spain/Italy)
- Circuit Court Jurisdiction increased from €38,000 to €60,000 and 21 new Circuit Court judges appointed, leading to the average award in the Circuit Court increasing by 21.2% in 2015, following a 13.5% increase in 2014.
- When the Setanta Insurer collapsed, the remaining insurers are now being asked to price a product to factor in the cost of a competitor failing. Would this happen in any other sector? (for example, Dunnes Stores would not be expected to bail out Tesco if such a default occurred). Quinn and Enterprise Insurances failures are also adding to your insurance premiums.
- In summation, the average personal injury awards in the High Court & Circuit Court continue to increase – see table below (from Insurance Ireland);
For businesses, it is paramount to note that the excessive levels of award in Ireland are increasing the incentives to commit insurance fraud. So what can you do? At a recent PWC/Willis Tower Watson event in Cork, effective Claims Management was advised as a vital component i.e.
Robust claims reporting and investigation
Invest in CCTV and data recording (including photos and witness statements)
Early detailed investigation enables informed decision making to (a) settle/defend, (b) engage with Injuries Board, (c) pay expenses/earnings etc.
Review procedures regularly and learn from experience
Finally, take note of our advice to reduce Insurance Costs or contact us with your queries.


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Canadian Rockies
Welcome to the Canadian Rockies and all its beautiful destinations such as Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper, and Waterton. These mountains are part of the North American Rocky Mountains and eastern part of the Canadian Cordillera, which spans all the way to the Pacific Coast. The Canadian Rockies are vast and filled with inspiring scenery, wildlife, and a multitude of recreational activities for all ages. Choose from any of our rail journeys and experience this remarkable destination by exploring the spectacular natural treasures first-hand.


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Chick-fil-A Catering is the best way to bring your event to the next level without having to cook!
Leave the cooking to us. The options are endless.
We cater for: Corporate Events to High School Concession Stands, Sales Reps to Birthday Parties & Special Events, and Professional Sports Teams to Collegiate Athletics via Aiport & Bus Charters.
Order online or contact us directly for more info on our delicious & nutritious options for any occasion!
Visit our Catering tab for more information.
It has been our pleasure to serve our community through delicious food, quick service and a friendly environment.
We enjoy getting to know our guests and fulfilling any opportunity to give back to this community that has so graciously supported us.
Through family centered events like Family Nights and Mommy & Me Mornings or through fundraising opportunities, we do our best to provide a friendly and interactive environment for families to spend time together.
Visit our Community tab for info on Events, Donation Requests & more!
Meet our Owner & Operator
Welcome! Thank you for stopping by to visit our website. My team and I are committed to providing you with fantastic food and superior service. We provide first-class catering, meaningful careers and enjoy giving back to our community. We hope to see you soon for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
We look forward to serving you soon!
Restaurant Location
Join our Mailing List
Want to be the first to know? Contests, events, promos & more!
Mon-Sat 6:30AM - 10PM
Closed on Sunday


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The dark side of 'Black Friday'
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, December 3, 2013
"Black Friday" was a metaphor beyond the merchants' bottom line.
Headlines on last Friday's Drudge Report reflect a culture that is being trampled by the greed and me-only attitude of a growing number of us:
n "Mall mayhem …
n Brawls … Man stabbed over parking spot…
n Shopper kicked out of Walmart for filming fight …
n Man shot walking home with big screen…
n Shoppers trampled in race for $49 Tablet…
n Salvation Army kettles stolen…
n Woman pulls stun gun in argument over Walmart shopping cart."
Once such stories seemed isolated, even bizarre. In the era of flash mobs and a growing entitlement mentality fueled by politicians and "income inequality" alarmists, these far too frequent instances now seem to be symptomatic of a decaying culture.
Like those with symptoms of illness who refuse to see a doctor, ignoring this pestilence that is destroying our foundations ensures it will get worse. These incidents are the result of a nation that has ceased to impose — yes, impose — the old values that served previous generations well.
The dark night is rising and it isn't a Batman movie. The latest expression of what I mean is what used to be called assault and battery, but now is labeled the "knockout game" in which mostly young men see if they can randomly knock another person unconscious with a single punch.
People and nations must be ruled by something, or there is anarchy. Either it is God, or secular laws that control our lower nature. Today, we are out of control as we pursue happiness through prosperity in the false hope money and things will satisfy. The problem with prosperity is that one is never satisfied. As the ancient writer said, "Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income." (Ecclesiastes 5:10) Who today is satisfied with their income and circumstances?
In my neighborhood there are old houses built during World War II, and at that time they sold for well under $20,000. One of these houses is currently on sale for more than $1 million. Far larger and more expensive homes stand on lots where smaller and cheaper homes once stood. These new homes are called "tear-down houses." How many regard these larger houses as steppingstones to an even-bigger next house? What is the purpose, other than ego fulfillment?
If things satisfied, wouldn't Americans be the most satisfied people on Earth? We have more stuff than any generation before ours. The overflow we deposit in rented public storage units. The stock market is up substantially, but we want it to go higher with no bursting bubble this time. Then what? What will we do with more? Will tomorrow's more satisfy when today's more hasn't?
Previous generations had less and yet seemed to have more of what matters: more character; more virtue; more contentment, all of it reinforced by parents, clergy and, for the most part, culture. In our day, materialism has become a false god we worship in the vain hope it will bring peace. In our conspicuous consumption we are self-immolating and the fuel is materialism.
Writer Jess C. Scott has said, "If money's the god people worship, I'd rather go worship the devil instead."
Given the behavior of so many on "Black Friday" and other examples of cultural decay and national decline, many of us seem to be doing just that. Israel's King David warned, "The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men." (Psalm 12:8).
Can't say we haven't been warned.
E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com.


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When setting your garden apart from others that may exist in the neighborhood or just doing something different than you have done previously, a good place to start is by breaking up the garden with new color and foliage.
Wanted! People Who Would Like to Get Paid for Growing
Small Plants at Home Click here.
Where flower arrangements can bring a touch of contrast in a garden one way to compliment the look of a nice flower arrangement is to compliment it with a small tree.
One of the most colorful and unique trees you can add to your garden is the Acer Palmatum dissectum tamukeyana, or weeping Japanese maple. The following article will briefly explain some information on this plant and how to care for it.
The weeping Japanese maple is categorized as a medium sized tree or large shrub which generally reaches a height of about 8 ft with at maximum a 12 ft spread.
The leaves are shaped in a lace pattern and are colored in a purple hue during the summer months turning red towards autumn.
Because of this colorization and massive change in color throughout the seasons this tree is perfect for accenting your garden and adding color to your flower arrangements.
Get Paid for Making Baby Plants!
When caring for a weeping Japanese maple one of the top concerns for owners has to do with the climate the tree is in. This species of tree does not do well in temperatures which reach less than negative 20 degrees Fahrenheit.
At this temperature the tree will very quickly die off. Instead the weeping Japanese maple thrives in warmer temperatures. During colder snaps and when exposed to frost and cold winds, it is always a good idea to wrap this species of tree in order to preserve its health and leaves.
Be sure that it is planted in such an area where it will not be exposed to excessive amounts of cold. As well the tree should be planted in indirect sunlight as it can dry out quite quickly if placed in direct sunlight, indirect sunlight is especially important as the tree is settling and in the early stages of growth.
One of the most interesting characteristics of the tree are its long lasting leaves. Although the colors will change with the season, the weeping Japanese maple is one of the first trees to bud and bloom in the spring, as well it will be one of the last trees to lose its leaves during the colder months of winter.
With such a long lasting life of the leaves it is sure to provide color for your garden long after many of the plants die off and before annual plants have a chance to bloom.
The weeping Japanese maple is a lovely addition to any garden, providing it with lots of color, while remaining small and manageable as to not completely take over the garden itself is a huge advantage to getting one of these trees.
With the correct placement and in the right type of climate this tree is sure to thrive and provide your garden with a look which is very unique.


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Been making these little things for a while now, to amuse myself in between other work. Hadn't planned to show any but… what the hell, maybe they'll make you giggle.
Perhaps I'll try and release some more of them, to make it up to you that I stole Saturday updates to work on my own stuff, heh.


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Sugar-Frosted Fruit is simply fresh fruit that's coated with egg white and then coated with sugar. The fruits are crystallized and look beautiful mounded in a glass bowl or on a pedestal. They can be eaten or used as a centerpiece decoration at your Christmas gathering.
Sugar-Frosted Fruit
Special equipment: Small artist's paintbrush
Preparation time: 15 minutes total
Yield: 10 servings
2 pounds assorted fruit, such as small apples, kumquats, grapes, small lemons, small limes, clementines, or small pears
3 large egg whites, lightly beaten, placed in a large bowl
2 cups super-fine sugar, placed in a large bowl
Place a cooling rack over a sheet pan and set aside.
Wash and thoroughly dry all of the fruit.
Using the paintbrush, cover each piece of fruit thoroughly but lightly with egg white. Then, holding the fruit over the bowl of sugar, sprinkle sugar over all the surface. Place the fruit on a rack to dry.
Arrange the fruit in a bowl or on a pedestal. Eat or display the same day.
Buying super-fine sugar is better than making it yourself. When you spin granulated sugar in a food processor, it does do the job of reducing the size of the sugar grain, but it also takes away some of the sparkly nature of the sugar. The grains become a bit powdery as well. When you're shopping for super-fine sugar, it may be labeled bar sugar; the smaller grains dissolve easily in drinks, making it popular with bartenders.
Per serving: Calories 203 (From fat 0); Total fat 0g (Saturated 0g); Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 18mg; Carbohydrates 52g (Dietary Fiber 3g); Protein 2g.


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U.S. Information Agency
The U.S. Information Agency (USIA) was established in August 1953 and operated under that name until April 1978, when its functions were consolidated with those of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the Department of State. Following a brief period during the Carter administration when it was called the International Communications Agency (USICA), the agency's name was restored to USIA in August 1982. The agency was known as United States Information Service (USIS) overseas but could not use that abbreviation to avoid confusion with the United States Immigration Service.
Current Form
The former USIA currently exists as the Bureau of International Information Programs (IIP).
Former Mission
USIA's mission was to understand, inform and influence foreign publics in promotion of the national interest, and to broaden the dialogue between Americans and U.S. institutions and their counterparts abroad.
The Foreign Affairs and Restructuring Act abolished the U.S. Information Agency effective October 1, 1999.
- Increased understanding and acceptance of U.S. policies and U.S. society by foreign audiences.
- Broadened dialogue between Americans and U.S. institutions and their counterparts overseas.
- Increased U.S. Government knowledge and understanding of foreign attitudes and their implications for U.S. foreign policy.
Related project
Marvin Stone, former deputy director of the USIA (and former editor of U.S. News & World Report) created the International Media Fund in 1990, as a means of getting US journalists involved in media restructuring in "emerging democracies." [1] [2]
Revival prospects (2004)
- "After a tough political battle, the US government is going to restructure its intelligence-gathering capabilities. What should come next is a tough battle to reorganize its information-disseminating capabilities to the rest of the world. The present system is dysfunctional at the very time when the US is engaged in a war with international terrorism for the hearts and minds of undecided millions.
- For years, telling America's story abroad was the mission of the US Information Agency (USIA). It was at its zenith during the cold war, when the US and the Soviet Union confronted each other. As the Soviets poured out disinformation and clamped censorship upon its satellites, the US used a wide range of media instruments, including powerful shortwave radio transmitters, to rebut Soviet propaganda and convey factual information behind the Iron Curtain and throughout the world.
- As the cold war wound down, funding evaporated and by 1999, the USIA was dismantled; its slender remnants shuffled off to the State Department. Now, USIA needs to be reconstituted or replicated. Osama bin Laden and other Al Qaeda leaders broadcast their distorted messages of hostility toward the US over Al Jazeera and other media outlets throughout the Arab world. "Insurgents" in Iraq - the murderers who are campaigning against freedom - are masters of both the suicide bomb and the Internet."
- — John Hughes, Needed: USIA's people-to-people message, CS Monitor, December 15, 2004.
Related SourceWatch articles
- Bureau of International Information Programs
- Office of Global Communications
- Office of Strategic Communication
- Office of Strategic Influence
- Public Diplomacy
External links
- William P. Kiel, "Can Humpty Dumpty Be Saved?" AmericanDiplomacy.org, November 13, 2003.