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Living the Wheel: Seasonal Musings of the Pagan Year
Thoughts and musings of the wheel of the Pagan Year.
In the Heart of Summer, Harvest's Eve
Summer is an amazing time of year. There is within it a sense of freedom, almost illicit at times. What other time of year are you free, encouraged, even, to lay back and let time pass you by as you bathe in the sun's light, glut yourself on shamefully sweet and juicy watermelon, and luxuriate in the feeling of warm grass beneath your bare feet?
And yet amid all the sensuous joys summer brings us to, there is the underlying knowledge that this joy, this richness is only temporary. How do we know this? Is it the ever-growing piles of jewel-toned fruits and vegetables that appear on farmers' tables at outdoor markets? Is it the fresh breath of cool air you breathe when you first wake that only later becomes the delicious heat that beckons you to lake and seaside? Or could it be the scent of grass and grain slowly toasting in the summer's heat, making you think of autumn fires and warm bread? Even in the midst of summer's reign we know autumn looms. It seems so unlikely, and yet July 31, come sundown, begins the first of the harvest festivals.
Lughnasad (or Lammas, Luanys, Gwl Awst, or Goel Est) is traditionally known as the grain harvest, yet within we can also celebrate the first fruits: sparkling berries, luscious tomatoes, sweet squash, daylily buds, baby potatoes, and even early corn in some places. As the fruits of our Earth are harvested so too do I look back on what I have sown earlier in the year.
What plans, sown at Ostara, are coming to fruition this season? Will your needs and wants be fed with this harvest, or will you need to work for another season, and find your dreams fulfilled at Mabon? Or will your gestation be longer, coming at the year's turning at Samhain? Regardless how long your growing season takes, don't give up on your dreams. The ones we are truly meant to realize often take the longest (as I remind myself every time I work on the novel that has now taken upwards of seven years to complete), but when they come to completion, we are that much more appreciative of what we have been given, of what we have accomplished. Tend to your dreams: water them with care, and pull up the weeds of self-doubt that sprout. This is the time of plenty. Allow yourself to be satiated. Give thanks to the Corn Mother, Tailtiu and Demeter, for through Their grace we have been given plenty. Nisaba, Habdonia, Astarte and Sif, all goddesses of grain and plenty, smile on us this season. Llugh, the Sun God who gives the Mother light to grow crops, continues to shine His light, warming fields of crops and of inspiration.
Lughnasad hovers on the horizon. This is the time of year my kitchen is given a thorough cleaning: the refrigerator is emptied and scrubbed, the (very tiny!) pantry emptied, organized and consecrated to the Sumerian Nisaba, the goddess of grain, storage and writing; the shelves over the stove and counter are cleared and dusted. The oven is cleaned, the stovetop polished, and a fresh candle placed behind the burners in honor of Hestia. For, as much as Lughnasad is a celebration of the Grain Goddesses, we would do well to remember the quiet Goddess of the Hearth. She asks nothing of Her children, She sets no challenges for us, only gives freely: warmth, light, the means to feed and be fed. The further I follow the Kitchen Witch path, the more central to my life Hestia becomes. It's not enough to prepare loves of bread to honor the Grain Goddesses and Llugh; without Hestia's flame, there would be no bread, no potato and leek pizza on whole wheat crust, no zucchini and tomato tart. No brownies.
I leave you with the knowledge that as inevitable as the season's turning is, we still have time to live the joy that is summer. Summer does not end at Lughnasad; it mellows, sweetens, ripens into Mabon, where the days are sweet with honey and apple sighs, sips of pear nectar and smoky marshmallows, charred over crackling bonfires. No, summer doesn't leave us at Lughnasad, it promises us Mabon.
Brightest blessings to you and all your dear ones this festival season.
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SCSD professional development
Solon Community School District (SCSD) staff members regularly engage in their own learning during 1 p.m. early dismissals. Staff development time is an opportunity for individuals and teams to focus on areas in which our data indicates we could do a better job helping students learn essential concepts and skills. In order to monitor our own progress, a website was created at the beginning of the 2010 to 2011 academic year. The SCSD professional development website has received multiple updates and revisions over the past year. A professional development calendar is viewable on the front page. More information is available on the site: www.tinyurl.com/scsdpd Questions about SCSD professional development can be directed to Matt Townsley, Director of Instruction.

subset: commoncrawl


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6 Signs of Domestic Abuse
Unfortunately, domestic abuse is a frequent occurrence affecting many couples. It is a common reason for divorce, but it is also highly underreported in our society, as there continues to be a certain stigma attached to being a victim of domestic abuse. If you are involved in a marriage or other relationship marked by domestic abuse, it is important to leave the abuser right away and contact a skilled domestic abuse attorney who can help you protect yourself.
If you or someone you love is being abused in a relationship, you are not alone during this stressful time. To discuss your situation, please contact a caring and understanding San Diego domestic abuse lawyer of Fischer & Van Thiel, LLP, at 858-935-6211 for an evaluation of your case.
Six Common Indicators of Domestic Violence
It is important to recognize some of the most common signs of domestic abuse so you can better identify when it is hurting someone you love. There are several different types of domestic abuse, but six frequent indicators of mistreatment include:
1. Using force and coercion to control the other spouse
2. Showing extreme jealousy about the other spouse's relationships
3. Frequent and harsh criticism for the other spouse, especially over mundane things
4. Constant threatening from one spouse
5. Private or public humiliation of one spouse by the other
6. Inexplicable bruises or wounds on one spouse
If you are a victim of spousal abuse, there are legal steps that you can take to help protect you from your abuser.
Contact Us
If you or someone you care about is trapped in an abusive relationship, it is important to seek help. Please contact a qualified San Diego domestic abuse lawyer of Fischer & Van Thiel, LLP, at 858-935-6211 for more information.
Mike's Top FAQs About Domestic Violence401K plans and divorce
401K plans and divorce
Question Detail
If my spouse waives his right to my 401k plan, is there any circumstance that the court will still award him half or a portion of my 401k plan?
It is theoretically possible that a court can disturb an agreement to waive rights to property, but it is unlikely. Courts will generally treat agreements as contracts, and thus are likely to strike an agreement only if it is unconscionable, induced by fraud, undue influence, duress or is against public policy. The judge cannot "reject," nullify, or modify the provisions of an agreement merely because of his or her personal belief that a different arrangement should be made.
A marital settlement agreement, or MSA, can be used as a contract between spouses regarding the division of property that would otherwise be subject to community property laws. An MSA is subject to general contract laws, meaning that it can be found invalid if terms are against public policy (which includes, but is not limited to, (a) abrogating the statutory child support duty or impinging on the court's jurisdiction to award child support, (b) limiting the court's exercise of child custody jurisdiction, (c) "altering legal relations," (d) "promoting dissolution," and (e) providing for "fault"-based penalties at marriage dissolution) . The MSA can also be found invalid if entered into as a result of fraud, duress, menace, undue influence, or other factors which may make the agreement void or invalid. Generally, an agreement such as the MSA is favored. Hence, if there are no legal or equitable grounds for rescission or reformation it is binding on the parties and the court without express approval.
Posted in: Divorce, Family Law, Property Division
Can I get child support in California if I am not getting a divorce?
Question Detail
I have been separated for two years from my wife, and my kids live with me. Can I get support without filing for divorce in California? We have not been living together since our separation, and even file taxes separately.
You do not need to file for divorce in order to get support. You will need to go through the court to obtain a child support order so you will have to file something. You can contact your local Department of Child support services office and they can help you get started. So while you do not have to file for divorce, you can file for a legal separation. The court needs to know that you two have in fact separated and there is one parent who is the full time provides and therefore in need of support.
Posted in: Child Support, Divorce, Family Law
Can I move out with my daughter before the divorce in California?
Question Detail
My wife and I are going to divorce, but we have not filed yet. We are always fighting, and my daughter, who is 7, is very stressed with the way we are living. Can I move out with her, if I do not move far away and let him see her all the time? He is not happy with my choice. Is this legal?
Yes, you can move out with your daughter, assuming there are no court orders already in place regarding custody and visitation. It is important to maintain frequent and continuing contact between the child and the other parent. When the court makes custody and visitation orders they will look highly upon the parent who facilitated contact with the child and the other parent. It is important to make the transition as easy as possible for the child.
Posted in: Divorce, Family Law
Question: Is there a statute of limitations on owed child support?
Question Detail
An ex lover of mine (20 years ago) just approached me out of nowhere about getting tested to see if her son is my child. He is 20 and I live in California. I am trying to find the statue of limitations for child support if indeed I take the test and the child turns out to be mine.
Unless the mother has made a claim for child support with the welfare office or her local Department of child support services office, they cannot now collect from you on child support. Since he is no longer a minor child now that he is emancipated, there are no obligations for child support. You can get tested to see if you are the father, but you do not have to.
If the state has paid out welfare for the child, and it turns out that you are the Father, there can be some potential liability there with having to pay back the state the money they paid out. If this is not an issue, then they cannot now ask you to pay for child support.
Posted in: Enforcement, Family Law, Spousal Support / Alimony
Is the opinion of the child ever taken into consideration in a divorce?
Typically the Courts will take the child's opinion into consideration at the age of 12. There is no set age, it depends on the maturity level of the child. If a child is of sufficient age and capacity to form an intelligent preference to custody the court can take it into consideration. It is important to note that all judges will rule for what is in the child's best interests whether it be for the mother or the father.
Posted in: Child Custody, Divorce, Family Law


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Nick Augustine is a freelance writer, broadcaster, publicity and marketing strategist, and he teaches SEO and social media. Nick writes legal industry columns for Chicago Lawyer magazine regarding business and career development. Nick is an alumnus of Marquette University and The John Marshall Law School, where he is an active alumni board member. Connect via @NickAugustinePR, @APIFCharity and Nick Augustine PR.
What makes an attorney successful? Many noble lawyers define success by their impact on their clients. In business, growth and profit show success. Law practice is a service industry business and profit pays the bills. Lawyers with business backgrounds have an advantage in law practice if they know how to manage a business and make money. If you do not have the business background and want to learn additional skills to build your law practice, there are methods you can use to increase business skills sets. Building a business resource network is one way to learn from others.
The premise is simple. Invite a few strategic businesspeople to join your business resource network to exchange ideas and trouble-shoot challenges in service industry professions. Referrals can also arise from building trusted relationships with the members of your group. Some small groups meet on the phone and others get together in person. Establish a routine and meet frequently enough to "check in" but not so often it becomes a scheduling burden.
Invite people to your group who can offer diverse perspectives and experiences.
- Financial product dealers are valuable to any professional who wants to attract more clients. Many investment representatives knock on doors and call friends and neighbors to offer entry-level products such as life insurance. Of course, ethics rules address direct solicitation by attorneys; nevertheless, the experienced salesperson cannot teach a lawyer some new skills in speaking to groups and positioning to receive new business and referrals.
- Marketing professionals who can sell their value to a client, know how to identify the needs of a prospect, and can create a strategy to satisfy needs. Like the financial and insurance representatives, a marketing individual probably attends local chamber of commerce meetings and continuing industry education seminars highlighting new products and tools to develop and marketing campaigns. The competition is fierce in marketing, just like law, so a marketing consultant or provider can share insight with an attorney taking advantage of allowed marketing practices.
- Staffing and human resource consultants are helpful if you ever have questions about employment matters and managing staff. Using talent effectively and appreciating valuable skills sets takes time to learn, and a business resource network member who can answer questions will save everyone time and money.
Your network of business resource friends can include members of several other professions and industries. Developing a manageable network takes time and is worth the investment.


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YouTube promotional video for Ottawa's upcoming 20th annual Dragon Boat Festival – June 22-24, 2013, published on Jun 7, 2012 by CTVOttawaMorningLive – A dragon boat comes rowing down the street outside of the CTV Morning Live studio, so Jeff Hopper heads out to chat with them!
The Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival, now North America's largest festival, began in 1994. Four years later, a charitable component was added to raise funds for local charities. To date, the Ottawa Dragon Boat Foundation has raised over $2.5 million for local charities.
For several years, under several different names, the members of Showboat have pledged and paddled in the Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival. Sponsored by the Chinatown BIA, Showboat, under the direction of Rick Martin, Kevin Reichstein, Mealanie St. Jean and Stephanie Mayer, consists of 20 paddlers, a few alternates, a steersperson and a drummer. This dynamic Dragon Boat team draws a lot of attention, year after year, as the whole day is spent in themed costumes – obviously this year's theme is "Under The Big Top".
The vast majority of the teams attending the Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival are there for competitive reasons, paddling in various heats in a quest for medals. Chinatown's Showboat concentrates on fundraising activities throughout the year to support charities that benefit from the Ottawa Dragon Boat Foundation. So far this year Team Showboat has already raised $17,000 in fundraising events such as:
VIP Gala Launch Party
Drawing from the immense talent that exists in the community, events at various venues around town and the generosity of many Showboat supporters, the team has raised considerable funds. Since 2005, the team raised $82,752.38.
For 2005 through 2007 and again in 2010, the team was recognized by the Ottawa Dragon Boat Race Festival through the Team Spirit Cup award.
I just had to include the following inspirational video I found on YouTube, "Must Watch Dragon Boat Clip!!!", taken from various dragon boat events in Singapore. This video was created to show that the sport, dragon boating, is not just about training hard to win, but to enjoy and embrace all the elements that it encompasses ~ Love ~ Pride ~ Unity ~


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|This is the article on the character. For the episode of Naruto: Shippūden, head to The Fourth Hokage.
|editMinato Namikaze [1][2][3][4]
|波風ミナト Namikaze Minato
|Volume #27, Naruto Chapter #239
|Naruto Episode #1
|Naruto: Innocent Heart, Demonic Blood
|Naruto Shippūden the Movie: The Lost Tower
|Naruto: Konoha Ninpōchō
|Hidden Leaf Village Grand Sports Festival!
|Appears in
|Anime, Manga, Novel, Game, Movie
|Voice Actors
|January 25
|Blood type
|Tailed Beast
|Kurama (Yin half) (Forms)
|Ninja Rank
|Ninja Registration
|Academy Grad. Age
Minato Namikaze (波風ミナト, Namikaze Minato) was the Fourth Hokage (四代目火影, Yondaime Hokage, Literally meaning: Fourth Fire Shadow) of Konohagakure. He was famous in life for his speed, leading to the moniker of Konoha's Yellow Flash (木ノ葉の黄色い閃光, Konoha no Kiiroi Senkō, English TV: Yellow Flash of the Leaf). He died during the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha, sacrificing his life to seal a part of the Nine-Tails into his newborn son, Naruto Uzumaki.
Early life
When Minato was in the Academy, his class-mate Kushina Uzumaki thought that he looked "unreliable" and even "girly".[7] He dreamed of being acknowledged by the Konoha villagers by becoming the Hokage, which Kushina considered to be an impossible dream for someone like him.[8]
Years later, however, when Kushina was kidnapped by Kumogakure ninja, Minato was the only one to pick up on the fact that she was leaving behind strands of her red hair to mark their path. After rescuing her, Minato explained that he had always admired her hair. No longer seeing him as "unreliable", she fell in love with him.[9]
According to those who knew him personally, Minato was a very talented ninja prodigy — a rare genius that appeared only once in a generation.[10] He graduated from the Academy at the age of ten,[3] and was added to a genin team under the tutelage of Jiraiya,[11] who took a special interest in Minato, and took him on as an apprentice,[12] amongst other things teaching him the Summoning Technique[13] and senjutsu. He even believed Minato might be the Child of the Prophecy, someone who would someday save the world.[14][15]
Konoha's Yellow Flash
In time, Minato married Kushina. He also became a jōnin and was put in charge of a genin team of his own, consisting of Rin Nohara, Obito Uchiha, and Kakashi Hatake.[11] For their test to officially become genin, Minato tasked them with taking one of two bells from him in actual combat. Despite the team not having full loyalty towards each other, seeing them work together to snatch even one bell convinced Minato to pass his team.[16] During the Third Shinobi World War, Minato led his team on a mission into Kusagakure to destroy the Kannabi Bridge. Because Kakashi had recently become a jōnin, Minato gave leadership of the mission to Kakashi while he went to help Konoha's forces on the front lines. After meeting up with the surviving and out-numbered Konoha ninja, Minato used his Flying Thunder God Technique to kill the opposing Iwagakure ninja, in the anime stated to be a thousand shinobi.[17] He then returned to his team, just in time to save Kakashi and Rin from another group of Iwa forces, but was too late to save Obito. When Kakashi and Rin recovered from the ordeal, Minato helped them complete the mission.[18]
Before becoming Hokage, Minato clashed with A on several occasions.[19] On what was seemingly their first meeting, Minato, Inuzuka, Akimichi, and a fourth member, confronted A and his team. There, Minato and A had a clash of speed with Minato almost severely injuring the future Raikage before B intercepted the attack. Upon receiving the signal that Konoha was retreating for the time being, Minato lingered to praise B's bravery and told A that he had a good family and followers surrounding him as he did, and also offered A the advice of making sure his brother knew who he was before he became neither human nor jinchūriki. Minato then declared that the next time they met, it would be to put the title of "Kage" on the line.[20] Not one to allow his enemy to escape so easily, A attempted to attack Minato before he left. Believing that Minato would teleport to one of his special kunai, A was shocked to see the Konoha-nin appear behind his brother before realising that Minato had marked him earlier. Impressed by the fact that B had reacted fast enough to pull one of his swords on him, Minato praised B for his skills.[21]
Fourth Hokage
Some time after the war, Minato, not yet thirty years of age, was chosen to become the Fourth Hokage.[22] At some point during his reign, Minato taught his Flying Thunder God Technique to the Hokage Guard Platoon to better aid them in their duties of serving the Hokage at any given time.[23] In the anime, shortly after Minato's official reign began, he sent Kakashi on a mission to retrieve important documents to aid the delicate transition of peace between Konoha and Iwa. Knowing that Kakashi was still traumatised by the death of Rin by the young jōnin's own hand, Minato sent Might Guy and some Anbu as secret backup for Kakashi, which proved to be a wise decision as Kakashi soon collapsed from hyperventilation in battle. Visiting his former student in the hospital, feeling that his student needed a new direction as a ninja, Minato decided to promote Kakashi to the Anbu, working directly under Minato himself.[17]
Later, when Kushina became pregnant, the two expecting parents were overjoyed. Kushina, however, became a nervous of their future child's well-being, to which Minato promised as a father he would definitely protect their child. Midway through the pregnancy, Jiraiya visited with his first book. Minato read it and liked the main character's determination — whom he believed to be just like Jiraiya — decided to name their son "Naruto" in the hopes that he would be just like the main character and, in turn, Jiraiya. Jiraiya warned them that it would make him Naruto's godfather, but they insisted that this was a good thing.[24]
Because Kushina was the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, special arrangements had to be made for Naruto's birth. Since the seal keeping the Nine-Tails within her would weaken during childbirth, Naruto would be secretly delivered in a remote location outside Konoha. In the anime, as Kakashi continued his duties in Anbu admirably, Minato grew concerned when reports told him that Kakashi was growing colder in all his aspects.[25] Deciding to help Kakashi regain his value of life, he went to Hiruzen for advice, who suggested that he assign Kakashi to protect Kushina during the pregnancy.[26]
On the night Kushina's due date, Minato decided to give Kakashi the day off as gratitude for his good work. Soon after Naruto was born they were found by a masked man who had killed the Anbu stationed outside and infiltrated the cave. The masked ninja killed Biwako Sarutobi and Taji then took Naruto hostage, threatening to do the same to him. Minato was able to take Naruto back, but this gave his opponent the chance to escape with Kushina to break the seal. By the time Minato found a safe place to put Naruto and then teleported to Kushina, he spirited her to safety just as the freed Nine-Tails was about to kill her. With Kushina looking after Naruto, Minato heads to Konoha to defend it from the Nine-Tails.[27]
Minato arrived in the early stages of the Nine-Tails' attack. After protecting the village from the beast's Tailed Beast Ball by erecting a barrier and sending the attack elsewhere, Minato tried to reach the Third Hokage to inform him of what had happened, but was stopped by the masked man, who tried to warp him away. However, Minato flew to another one of his kunai, and was quickly followed by his opponent. Analysing his opponent, Minato came to assume that the man standing before him was Madara Uchiha, which he discarded by saying that Madara was dead. When the two began fighting, Minato realised that the battle would be decided by speed, and by carefully timing his Flying Thunder God Technique, Minato was able to strike the masked man with a Rasengan and apply the Flying Thunder God Technique seal on his back as well. This allowed him to teleport directly to the masked ninja and uses a Contract Seal to sever the ninja's hold on the Nine-Tails before he could escape.[28]
When Minato returned to the ruined village, he summoned Gamabunta to hold down the Nine-Tails long enough to teleport it away from the village to Naruto and Kushina's location. Kushina then restrained it with her chakra chains and erected a barrier so that the beast could not escape. Despite knowing that the trauma of resealing the Nine-Tails in her weakened body would kill her, she volunteered to do it so the Nine-Tails would die with her. Minato however disagreed, and instead decided that he would use the Dead Demon Consuming Seal on the Nine-Tails to seal the beast into Naruto. Kushina objected since this would mean Minato's death and leave Naruto orphaned. Minato insisted it was for the best since allowing the Nine-Tails to resurrect itself, without a jinchūriki to contain it, would inevitably cause harm to Konoha and the Fire Country. Also, Minato was convinced that Naruto was the "Child of the Prophecy" Jiraiya had once told him about and would need the Nine-Tails' power to someday defeat the masked man. Knowing that the Nine-Tails' chakra was too immense to seal inside an infant, Minato used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal weaken the demon by removing the Yin chakra, sealing the half inside Minato himself. The Nine-Tails realised their intentions and tried to kill Naruto, but Minato and Kushina used their bodies to shield him.[29]
While Kushina gave her final words to Naruto, Minato summoned Gerotora, gave him the key to the seal he would use on Naruto, and sent him to Jiraiya. After Kushina told Naruto how much his parents loved him he seconds everything she says and then sealed the Nine-Tails and the rest of their chakra into Naruto so that they would be able to see him again when he was older, ending their lives.[30] Since the Third Hokage had come to help, Minato used his last moments to request that Konoha think of Naruto as a hero, and not the container of the monster that caused so much death and destruction.[31] Before he died, he sealed the rest of their remaining chakra into Naruto so that they could someday see him again too, specifically if ever the seal was about to break so that they could restore it, or help him control Nine-Tails' power.[32][33] Ultimately, Minato's reign as the Hokage was rather short, as Tsunade noted that he "died too early".[34][35]
Jiraiya and Tsunade pointed out that Naruto physically bears great resemblance to Minato.[36] Minato was calm, collected, and highly perceptive. During difficult events, he was still capable of maintaining his composure, assessing the situation, and devising appropriate plans of action. He did have a playful side, once making a highly convoluted name for a technique combination, before quickly disconsidering it.[37] He also seemed well aware of the terror his reputation inspired in his foes. He appeared to be respectful of those around him; he didn't like freely speaking about others' pasts, and was said to be a very nice person. Minato also referred to Orochimaru as "Orochimaru-san", a polite way of addressing someone, when questioning how Orochimaru managed to reincarnate him and his predecessors. He deeply cared for and loved his wife and child, becoming very nervous because of Kushina's pain during labour and even shedding tears of joy at his son's birth. Minato also deeply cared for the village and all the shinobi, saying that they all are a big family. He also enjoyed reading, and took a special liking to reading Jiraiya's work in particular.
Though not knowing each other for very long, the dynamics between Minato and the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju is very unique. Both men seem to have a great level of respect for one another, especially since they seem to operate the same in battle in terms of thinking. The fact that they are both users of the Flying Thunder God Technique also seems to factor into this as each has lauded the other's speed and quick-thinking.[38][39] One quirk Minato possess is his tendency to create ridiculous names for techniques. For example, upon seeing Naruto and Sasuke's combination Rasenshuriken, Minato decided to name it Scorch Release: Halo Gale Jet Black Arrow Style Zero, a grandiose title which he himself thought didn't sound good.[40] Later, when he announced he was going to use his Spiralling Flash Super Round Dance Howl Participate Formula, Tobirama stated if they weren't in the middle of a battle he would laugh at such a terrible name.[41] When he later reiterated the name of Naruto and Sasuke's technique, Tobirama exasperatedly dismissed the name, telling Minato to not stop the attack.[42]
Jiraiya said that Minato was a shrewd person, and was not a man who would do something without reason.[43] He was very knowledgeable of the ninja world, concluding that only Madara Uchiha would have the power or the reason to have the Nine-Tails attack Konoha during his battle with the masked man.[44] Minato was known for his indomitable spirit, drive, determination, and fierce ambition which was inherited by his son. His devotion to the village, and his love for his friends inspired all those around him, and, as a result, he became well-liked by the villagers. Minato is also shown to be very forgiving, as even the revelation that the masked man who was responsible for his and Kushina's deaths was none other than Obito Uchiha wasn't enough to make him show the slightest bit of anger toward his former student, and instead showed great sadness over the fact that Obito ended up like that instead of becoming Hokage and displayed a desire to save him instead.[45]
Upon his reincarnation by Orochimaru, and after Sasuke Uchiha's inquiring about the Uchiha Clan Massacre and the meaning of being a shinobi, Minato confessed himself disappointed in failing to meet the Third's expectations for him, as his reign as Hokage was shortened by his sacrifice during Kurama's attack on the village. He also believed that the Uchiha clan's situation could have possibly had a different outcome, if he had survived.[46]
After becoming Hokage, Minato started to take more pride in himself, referring to himself as "ore", which is a prideful way of saying "I" or "me", instead of using "watashi", a more formal way of referring to one's self. Still, this did not make him haughty as he still addressed others with the appropriate honourifics.
Minato was also a very cautious individual as he set up at least two safe houses as well as scattered his Flying Thunder God Kunai over the outskirts of Konoha, presumably so he can intercept enemies that cross Konoha's borders. Inadvertently, this trait enabled him to escape from Obito's Kamui away from Konoha. Ultimately enabling him to subdue the latter and remove his control over Kurama without causing more chaos in Konoha.
Minato was a fairly tall, fair-skinned man who on more than one occasion has been compared with Naruto in terms of physical appearance; both have bright, blue eyes and spiky, blond hair. Minato also had jaw-length bangs framing either side of his face. According to Jiraiya, Minato was considered to be very handsome.[34]
His normal attire consisted of a standard Konoha-nin uniform with two bands each on both of his sleeves, a leaf green flak jacket, blue forehead protector, and blue sandals. After becoming Hokage, he started wearing a short-sleeved long white haori over his normal attire, decorated by orange flames-like motifs on the edges, with the kanji for "Fourth Hokage" (四代目火影, Yondaime Hokage) written vertically down the back, and closed on the front by a thin, orange rope.
During his time in the Academy, he wore a simple white suit of clothing with green trimmings and a hood. After becoming a full-fledged shinobi, he wore a tracksuit with three stripes on the sleeves, mesh under-armour, a pair of black pants and sandals.
According to Jiraiya, Minato was one of the most gifted shinobi who ever lived.[34] His abilities were so far advanced that even the Fourth Raikage thought that no one would be able to surpass him.[19] Anko Mitarashi, in discussion with the Third Hokage about Orochimaru's immense strength and his threat to the village, stated that she wished the Fourth had been alive to face him.[47] At a young age, he was able to single-handedly rescue Kushina Uzumaki from three Kumogakure ninja.[48] During the Third Shinobi World War, flee-on-sight orders were given to enemy shinobi should they ever see him appear on the battlefield.[5] In the anime, he alone defeated a thousand Iwa shinobi in one battle, later prompting Ōnoki to immediately consider accepting a peace treaty from Konohagakure.[17] Minato was also capable of counteracting the Nine-Tails' attacks to the point that Tobi found it necessary to intervene and stop Minato directly due to the short amount of time he could keep Kurama summoned. Tobi was later forced to retreat due to being severely injured by Minato, but not before commending Minato's skills, stating he was worthy of his title of "Fourth Hokage".[49] Upon entering the Fourth Shinobi World War after being reincarnated he was able to give Obito Uchiha trouble despite being the Ten-Tails jinchūriki while fighting alongside his son, Tobirama Senju, and Sasuke Uchiha. He even managed to briefly overpower Obito while both himself and Naruto were in their Sage Tailed Beast Modes.[50]
Minato's fighting style often excluded time consuming hand seals that give enemies an opening so he often relies on two techniques: the Flying Thunder God Technique and the Rasengan.
Physical Prowess
Hailed as the fastest known shinobi in history,[19] Minato's trademark attributes were his immense speed and near instantaneous reflexes. His renown was such that the speed of the currently fastest living shinobi often being compared to his own, such as A or Naruto in his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, with the former admitting that even with his Lightning Release Armour enhancing his already immense speed and reflexes was still outmatched by Minato.[19] He was able to react fast enough to catch an infant Naruto mid-fall to prevent him from being stabbed by Tobi and teleport away before the attached explosive tags went off.[51] He could also respond to Tobi's Kamui technique quickly enough to escape it.[52] Combined with his great proficiency in the Body Flicker Technique, he could easily react and reach in time an ally to save them from enemy attacks.[53] He could likewise well-outstrip Tobirama Senju's, the fastest shinobi of his era, own usage of the technique.[54] In the anime, when Minato went to save Kushina from abduction, he managed to swiftly defeat three Kumogakure shinobi in closed-ranged combat, all of them almost twice his size.[55]
When fighting, he mainly employed the use of his unique kunai, wielding them proficiently and taking advantage of their particular form, which made them even more suitable for close range combat than standard kunai. Using this type of kunai, he was able to nearly sever one of the Eight-Tails' tentacles when B moved to save his brother from Minato's counter-attack despite having nearly no leverage, showing that he possessed a great deal of strength.[56]
Minato spent three years creating the Rasengan by observing the Tailed Beast Ball.[57][58] It is the highest level of shape transformation and it does not require hand signs to be performed. Instead, using precise control of one's chakra to concentrate and spin it, forming a sphere in the user's palm. It is able to inflict immense damage to its target upon contact. The lack of elaborate preparations needed for the Rasengan gave Minato an advantage over other technique users in battle. During his fight with Tobi, he is able to form a Rasengan right after throwing his marked kunai, allowing Minato to land a devastating blow immediately after performing the Flying Thunder God Technique. As its creator, Minato had great mastery over the Rasengan, able to form it in either hand and even make it larger than any other user's Rasengan (roughly the size of the Big Ball Rasengan).
He had intended to combine the Rasengan with his own nature transformation, but the task was too difficult to complete before his untimely death.[59]
Space–Time Ninjutsu
Minato was famous for his use of the Flying Thunder God Technique, later even gaining praise from Tobirama Senju, the creator of this technique, for his superior usage of it. It is a space–time technique applied through the use of special seals, which essentially allowed him to teleport to any location with untraceable movements. With the Flying Thunder God Technique and his reflexes, he could even dodge and counter attack the likes of A despite A's extremely fast speed, being only one of two people to avoid his maximum Lightning Straight.[60] By throwing kunai that had the seal attached to them behind enemy lines, Minato could wipe out an entire platoon in the blink of an eye.[61] Because Minato would mark his kunai beforehand, he could use them as a medium for his space-time ninjutsu, allowing him to remotely activate said techniques from any distance.[62] Likewise, Minato could teleport to his kunai even as it travelled through the air, allowing him to both attack and defend simultaneously, and through this method, outmanoeuvre Obito's intangibility.[63] Minato is also capable of simultaneously transporting multiple people to different markings, without accompanying them.[64] During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Minato was able to teleport the entire Shinobi Alliance, a feat which even Tobirama admitted he could not do to the same extent.[65]
For defensive use, Minato was capable of implementing space–time barriers to counter large attacks such as a Tailed Beast Ball, sending the blast to a distant area away from the village.[66] He was later even able to warp away a Tailed Beast Ball of larger proportions created by the Ten-Tails,[67] and was able to teleport things even as large as the Nine-Tails itself, albeit at the cost of a large portion of his chakra due to the beast's immense size.[68] By working in conjunction with another Flying Thunder God user, he can instantly swap places with said person and any enemy they bring along, in order to allow attacks to connect with the target.
Minato was highly skilled in fūinjutsu, which is due partially to Kushina teaching him some of the Uzumaki clan's unique sealing techniques.[69] He could perform the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to seal opponents at the cost of his own soul being sealed as well. However, he was fully aware that he could not completely seal all of the Nine-Tails' chakra within the death god. Minato could also perform a seal to remove an opponent's control over the respective creature brought by the Summoning Technique.[70]
One of the greatest examples of his prowess with fūinjutsu is the seal used on Naruto to make him a jinchūriki, placing two Four Symbols Seal to create the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style, which would allow small amounts of the Nine-Tails' chakra to leak out and naturally mix with Naruto's own [71] as well as set parameters so that if the seal weakened, he would appear within Naruto's sub-conscience to reinforce it. Minato also showed the ability to transfer an already sealed tailed beast into another target.
Summoning Technique
In his youth, Jiraiya taught Minato how to use the Summoning Technique to summon toads. He was able to summon Gamabunta, showing considerably proficiency in this technique as he was one of the few people that Gamabunta would willingly cooperate without hesitation.[72] He could use the Summoning: Food Cart Destroyer Technique for a devastating surprise attack that could even pin powerful and large targets like the Nine-Tails down.
Jinchūriki Transformations
Main article: Nine-Tails Chakra Mode
Due to sealing the Yin half of Kurama into himself before his death, once he was reincarnated he was able to use a cloak similar to Naruto's Nine-Tails Chakra Mode which overlays his mantle.[73] It seems to take some skill to activate this, as Naruto was amazed, and even the Yang half of Kurama complimented his sealing skills for using the cloak.[74] In this mode, he was seen using chakra arms to grab the chakra of the tailed beasts.[75] He also showed the ability to enter a Tailed Beast Mode, one of near-identical appearance to that of his son, albeit with a darker colouration. In this form, Minato could still use his regular techniques, such as the Rasengan, albeit on a much larger scale. He could also use other techniques that come with the form such as the Tailed Beast Ball in conjunction with Naruto.[76]
After Yang-Kurama was removed from Naruto, to save his son's life, Minato transferred Yin-Kurama to Naruto (which was intercepted by Black Zetsu).
During his lifetime, Minato learned to use the senjutsu taught at Mount Myōboku — the art of gathering natural energy to aid in his techniques, and also how to enter Sage Mode by gathering natural energy into his body as well.[77] By his own admission, Minato stated that his skills with senjutsu were limited as never applied them to actual combat before due the time needed to gather natural energy, an aspect that deviates from his normal fighting style of quickly striking down his opponent.[78] Nevertheless, he was able to perfectly balance the natural energy with his chakra, only displaying the pigmentation around his eyes — the true marking of a Sage. In this form, his physical parameters and techniques are greatly augmented.
Minato was shown to be very intuitive and clever from a young age. Of the many ninja sent out to save Kushina from her Kumogakure kidnappers, Minato was the only one to notice the trail of hair she was leaving.[48] After seeing a technique once, he could correctly deduce the basic mechanics behind it, such as the strengths and weaknesses of Kakashi's Chidori.[79] During his skirmish against the masked man, he was able to determine that his opponent didn't want to drag on their fight as he could not keep Kurama summoned for very long, as well as quickly ascertain a method of counter-attacking. Using this information, he was able to take advantage of Tobi's haste to not only wound him, but also remove his control over the beast as well.[80][81] Minato was also able to understand part of the workings of the Truth-Seeking Balls and come up with an effective counter measure involving his teammates in a relatively short period of time.[82] Minato was also shown to be very clever in marking his enemies with his Flying Thinder God formula shortly after striking a successful blow on them so they wouldn't know they were marked until he jumped to their location. Minato has also seemed to somehow make this into a subconscious habit as he slashed and marked Killer B while at the same time being in shock at discovering his status as a jinchūriki.
Other Skills
Minato had very large reserves and strong levels of chakra, being able to perform high-level summonings as well as enter Sage Mode. Likewise, his chakra control was very refined, most often seen from his proficiency of the Rasengan. Minato could transfer chakra and adapt it to another person's own chakra, as he placed some of Kushina's and his own chakra within Naruto to help him in the future to deal with Kurama.[83][84] Minato also displayed the ability to form hand seals using a single hand.[85]
Minato had noticeable sensory type abilities similar to Tobirama's, being able sense Naruto's chakra within the Nine-Tails', despite being a great distance away.[86] and detect the presence of people within an area by simply placing his finger on the ground.[87] He is adept at using barrier ninjutsu, capable of erecting a Kage-calibre barrier powerful enough to trap the Ten-Tails.[88] He can also use the Shadow Clone Technique.[89]
Part II
Invasion of Pain Arc
It was not until the Invasion of Pain that he made an actual appearance in the story. When Naruto started to give into the temptation of power from the Nine-Tails and was about to release the beast, the imprint of Minato stopped him. Minato voiced his dislike of seeing the Nine-Tails again, but pointed out that its actions had allowed him to see his son once more. Naruto eventually picked up on what Minato was saying, and was overjoyed to finally find out who his father was. Minato tried to talk with Naruto, but the Nine-Tails kept interrupting the conversation, angered at the presence of the Fourth Hokage, so Minato transported them to another space that was quieter. Naruto was outraged at the idea that Minato would seal the Nine-Tails into his own son, which Minato apologised for. Naruto punched him in anger but quickly got over it, claiming that as his son, he could handle it.
Because he had a limited amount of time to talk to Naruto, Minato briefly caught up with him, at the same time indicating that he knew that Pain had killed Jiraiya and was aware of Konoha's destruction as he saw it through Naruto. He expressed his suspicions that Pain was actually being manipulated by someone else due to his childhood psychological traumas, and that it was "The masked man of the Akatsuki" who really wished Konoha's destruction. He went onto suggest that, as long as the current ninja system exists, people like Pain, who were ruined by war will continue to exist. He restored the seal on Naruto's stomach and voiced his confidence in him that he would find a way to stop the vicious cycle of death and destruction before disappearing to the afterlife.
Chikara Arc
Main article: Chikara Arc In the anime, Minato restored Naruto's seal once more when the latter almost lost control after his clone absorbed his Nine-Tails chakra. Once again, Minato voiced his confidence in his son, and his ability to overcome this adversity.[90]
Ten-Tails Revival Arc
In Sasuke Uchiha's quest for answers, Minato's soul was freed from within the Shinigami and subsequently reincarnated by Orochimaru along with other three past Hokage that preceded him, using Zetsu's spore clones as sacrifices.
Shocked to find himself in this state, Minato questioned Orochimaru about how he was able to break the Dead Demon Consuming Seal. Greeted with the question of who he was, Minato proudly brandished the emblem on the back of his haori, letting the First and Second know that he was the person who had inherited the title of Fourth Hokage, pleasing Hashirama who took this as a sign of the village's stability, though Minato admitted he could not say anything about that as he had actually died before Hiruzen had. He later sheepishly told Hashirama that his sealing inside of the Shinigami was due to a different incident than Hiruzen coming to be there. Upon Hashirama's reaction on learning that Tsunade had inherited the title of Fifth Hokage, Minato could not help but ask if he was worried, but Hashirama simply laughed his concern off, noting that he had spoiled the Fifth quite a bit when she was a child.
After the exchange between an outraged Tobirama, who was ready to retaliate after hearing Sasuke declare that he may exact his revenge on the village, and Hashirama, who had to forcefully stop his brother, Minato marvelled at the fact that something so simple had almost caused the Naka Shrine to cave-in. Upon hearing that Madara had been reincarnated on the battlefield and about the Fourth Shinobi World War, Minato soon felt Naruto and Kurama's chakra on the battlefield, and was elated that his son had managed to achieve what he had hoped he would when he sealed the beast inside him. After Hashirama completed his story, and Hiruzen lamented that he had been too indulging a Hokage, Minato told the Third that he had done the best he could have given the circumstances. He lamented that he had failed as a Hokage, having died during the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha, which left his reign woefully short and falling short of all the expectations which had been heaped upon him. Nevertheless, when Sasuke had made his decision to protect Itachi's sacrifice, the four Hokages and their new-found allies moved to the outside of the Naka Shrine where, upon Hashirama's behest, took his place upon his bust on the Hokage Monument. Minato expressed excitement in finally being able to meet his son as well as bringing him a present to make up for not being able to be there for him as a father.
Arriving on the battlefield just in time to warp the Ten-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball away, he managed to save Naruto and the remainder of the Shinobi Alliance. There he greeted his son — enquiring whether or not he was too late — to which Naruto happily responded that he was right on time. Introducing himself to Sakura, Minato also noted that they needed to brace themselves for impact. Just then, the ocean behind them rose up, leading Minato to first explain that he had sent the Tailed Beast Ball out to sea and then that though he was reincarnated, he was on their side. Curious, as he thanked Sakura for healing his son, he also asked whether she was his girlfriend. Sakura's subsequent violent response to Naruto's answer reminded Minato of Kushina. With this the other Hokage arrived on the battlefield and launched into action immediately, at Hashirama's behest. Minato then entered his own Nine-Tails Chakra Mode using the Yin chakra he took from Kurama's being, telling the other Hokage that he had already marked the location. With the Hokage moving to their designated location, Minato and the other Hokage used the Four Red Yang Formation technique to trap the beast as they prepare their counter attack. Minato later is impressed by Naruto changing the "nature" of the Rasengan after seeing the Rasenshuriken.
Minato's attention was later called to the once masked man's cries atop the Ten-Tails. Realising that Madara was controlling the newcomer with his chakra so that he could revive himself. As others around him sprung into action to stop this from happening. Minato then created a shadow clone and was able to teleport directly to where the newcomer was, and is shocked to see that it was his former student Obito. With realisation dawned on him, as he realised that Obito had been responsible for the attack on Konoha by the Nine-Tails. Noting that the Flying Thunder God marking never disappears as Sasuke arrived. Obito falls to the ground, and they turned their attention to Madara. However Obito who is still alive used the opportunity to seal the Ten-Tails within himself, finally achieving his goal of becoming the beast's jinchūriki.
As the shell fell away, Obito's new form was revealed. His appearance changed somewhat drastically, causing Minato to comment that this was too odd. As Obito surveyed the battlefield wide-eyed, he created several chakra arms and destroyed the Four Red Yang Formation sending the real Minato and the other Hokage reeling. As Minato called out for him to stop, in response to this, Obito simply sounded out his own name, as if it were unfamiliar to him.
Shocked to see Obito attack the First and Second with such speed, Minato nevertheless heeded Tobirama's command to get away from the area. Flying Gamakichi and the others to a safer distance, Minato noted how quick Tobirama was to act and watched on as the Second used his Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags in an attempt to incapacitate Obito. When this did not work, Minato noted to Sasuke that while the Hokage were in fact fighting to reveal Obito's abilities, their reincarnated bodies would take some time to reconstruct and such needed to buy some time. Teleporting his clone to his side, Minato noted that while it had been some time since he had used it, he would attack with the Spiralling Flash Super Round Dance Howl Participate Formula technique but before he was able to do so, he noticed Obito's upper half was about to attack Naruto. Just before he was about to teleport to his son's aid, Sasuke arrived using Susanoo and diverted the attack, at the same time, Minato, unaware, was sent reeling by Obito's apparently vulnerable lower half. Later when both Naruto and Sasuke were attacked by his former student, Minato anxiously prepared to fly to their location, hoping that he would make it in time.
Unable to teleport to Sasuke and Naruto's aid as it appeared that the seal for the Flying Thunder God Technique had disappeared from Obito's body, Minato was able to teleport the boys to safety thanks to Naruto's quick thinking to use chakra arms to connect himself and Sasuke to Minato. Proud that his son was keeping up with Sasuke, he once again turned his attention to Obito, noting that they needed to defeat him while he was still struggling to control the beast. As Minato prepared to attack Obito, the latter fired off an attack of his own causing Minato to go on the defensive instead. The group is shocked to see the attack stop short of them and expand, then contract again before attacking Obito's body. Back on the offensive, Minato made his way to Obito, remembering how his pupil was as a child, he called out to him noting that he was on his way. Minato is later shocked to see Obito's form change and the now in control Uchiha in turn attacked his former sensei. Though his arm is ripped off, Minato teleported back to what he thought was safe at the moment only to realise that Obito had attached some of the mysterious substance to his body.
Deciding that he would teleport away from Sasuke and Naruto to protect them from the attack, Minato is shocked to see Tobirama grab the orb before he does. As the orb expanded some distance away from them, the real Tobirama appeared noting that it was a clone who had teleported to Obito with the orb. Upon seeing Obito resurface unscathed, the team prepared yet another counter-attack but before he and Tobirama can act, Sasuke and Naruto rushed forward adamant that they would create an opening for the Hokage to attack. As Tobirama called him to action, Minato also marked Tobirama with his Flying Thunder God seal noting that the technique they were about to use would benefit from their immortal bodies. Teleporting himself in front of Naruto and Sasuke's attack and with Tobirama at Obito's location, the two Hokage use the Mutually Instantaneous Revolving Technique to switch places causing Obito to be struck by an attack that had struck Minato earlier. With this, the jinchūriki's body is set ablaze by the flames.
Watching as his former student was set ablaze, Minato was surprised to see the mysterious orbs head towards Obito's location but Tobirama — who teleported to Minato's side — noted that their attack had landed before he was able to protect himself. This too would also prove to be futile as Obito emerged from the flames barely scathed. As they began readjusting their strategy, Tobirama noted that Minato's right arm had not regenerated yet and surmised that Obito was using Yin-Yang Release to nullify the Impure World Reincarnation. Though chided by Tobirama for acting without thinking, Minato later called out to Obito to remember his dream of becoming Hokage but the latter decried not only the position, but Minato for his failings leading Minato to spiral into a bout of self doubt, blaming the course which followed the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha on himself. His son, however, noted that Obito should not look down on someone who had attained the post of Hokage, and as Tobirama teleported his progeny above Obito to deliver a fatal blow, an astounded Minato realised that his son had also attained Sage Mode like his sensei. As Minato looked on amazed, the Yin half of Kurama sealed within him notes that Naruto's speech was enough to move even it.
Listening on in some shock as the beast told Minato to discard Obito's words and not leave his son to correct the past. When Obito erected a giant tree in their midst which began to form four Tailed Beast Balls and later when his former student trapped them within a barrier, Minato told the Second that due to his current state he would only be able to teleport one of the balls at best but noted that there was another way to handle their current situation. Before he could initiate this counter-measure, his son told him that he had a plan of his own, and listening on as he rebutted Obito's attempt to berate his father, Minato thought of his wife and noted that their son had grown so much before bumping fists with his son and responding emphatically.
As they bumped fists, the father-son duo meld the chakra of the halves of Kurama they each had stored inside them. As they discuss the strategy in their inner world, Minato could not help but marvel at his son's growth, and noted with remorse that he must have endured some hardships growing up, though Naruto simply brushed these aside and tells his father that the only hardship was the task at hand. Naruto's plan allowed Minato to connect himself, via Naruto, to all the other members of the Alliance whom had previously been given Kurama's altered chakra, and teleport them outside of the barrier. When praised by the Second, Minato notes that this was only a start to his atonement for his mistakes and noted to his son that he would like to speak to him a bit longer. Dumbfounded when Naruto told him there was no need as both his and Kushina's feelings had all been conveyed to him already, Minato cannot help but tear up at the man his son had become.
Noting how similar fighting alongside Naruto was to fighting next to Kushina, Minato admired Naruto's courage in light of the situation. However, when Naruto entered Tailed Beast Mode and charged off, Minato could not help but wonder if it wasn't for all the wrong reasons after his son had to be reminded by Tobirama that only senjutsu-based attacks would work. Following Yin-Kurama's lead, Minato also donned a Tailed Beast Mode mantle of his own to provide support for his son on the battlefield. He immediately produced a giant Rasengan, having Naruto feed natural energy into it, while Tobirama teleported the two of them to Obito. Obito, however, managed to block the attack, sending both men reeling backwards. As Naruto and Minato then tried to perform a sage-enhanced Tailed Beast Ball, Obito extracts the Ten-Tails to begin his Eye of the Moon Plan.
As the beast begins to transform into an enormous tree, assuming its final form, Naruto and Minato looked on in shock while trying to evade the giant roots. Minato was able to retreat to Tobirama's side and as the Second tried to destroy the rapidly regenerating roots, Minato noted that his chakra levels were too depleted to teleport to Naruto's aid. As his son is saved by Hiruzen and they are all teleported some distance away, Minato looked on as his former student declared that they should all stop struggling as the giant tree began unfolding its flower.
As Minato surveyed the devastation on the battlefield, through Ino Yamanaka's Mind Body Transmission Technique, Minato was able to see his son's memories and experience his feelings of loss as he grew up after Naruto donned his Tailed Beast Mode mantle. Solemnly Minato looked on as an image of him and Kushina flashed through his son's memories. Seeing Naruto regain his resolve, Minato and Naruto connected themselves to one another so that Yin-Kurama could transfer more chakra to the duo, returning the Fourth Hokage to his normal state. As he watches Naruto go off, Minato he silently puts his faith in his son. Though weakened somewhat, he later assisted the Alliance in their attack on the Shinju by allowing Tobirama to use him as a medium to teleport the shinobi out of harm's way on the battlefield, so they could fight without reservation. Later assisting his son in wresting control if the tailed beasts' chakra from Obito, Minato used a chakra arm to grab onto the chakra if the beasts while manifesting nine tendril-like tails which allowed the members of the Alliance to form an anchor of sort as well as aid in the tug-of-war.
As Obito lays defeated and helpless, Kakashi suddenly teleports on top of the fallen Uchiha, determined to strike him down. Minato quickly intervenes. As Kakashi is shocked by the appearance of his late sensei, Minato explains that much like his late wife Kushina, Naruto's persistent scolding finally reached Obito. Deciding to deal with his former students personally, Minato tells Naruto and the others to go aid the First Hokage against Madara.
Turning his attention to where the defeated Obito laid, Minato surmised that with the tailed beasts extracted, Obito would soon die. Yin Kurama, however, informed Minato that Obito's life was in no danger because even as a shell, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path is filled with life energy, meaning Obito will only be temporarily paralysed. Having agreed to keep watch over Obito as Kakashi departed, Minato was shocked when Obito formed a hand seal and noted that was going to use the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique, sacrificing his life to make amends for his transgressions. They are later shocked when Black Zetsu emerged from underground, merged with Obito and forced him to use the technique to revive Madara instead.
Infinite Tsukuyomi Arc
Succeeding in its main goal of existing, Black Zetsu then proceeded to take Obito's Rinnegan eye to return it to Madara. Minato and Kakashi quickly acted to stop it, to which Black Zetsu responded by merging again with Obito, warning them that his unison with the dying Obito was the only thing still keeping him alive. Minato asks what it is, Black Zetsu responds that he is a manifestation of Madara's will, calling Kakashi and his allies fools for underestimating Madara. Suddenly, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path emerges from Obito's body. Kakashi quickly uses Kamui on it. As the structure to disappears, Minato asks Kakashi if he succeeded, to which the student declined, having only affected the target's right arm. Black Zetsu attempts to take the Rinnegen eye from Obito's left socket with the Uchiha's own hand, to which Obito just resisted. While Obito tells Kakashi to destroy the left Rinnegan, Black Zetsu informs the Konoha shinobi that the right Rinnegan has already been retrieved and returned to Madara.
Deciding that they had to take the risk, Minato and Kakashi decided to attack Black Zetsu. Before they could strike, Yin-Kurama and Minato sensed the disappearance of Yang-Kurama's chakra, realising that the Yang half was extracted and sealed. Suddenly, Gaara arrived with Sakura and an incapacitated Naruto. Gaara quickly told Minato that Yang-Kurama said Naruto can be saved by sealing Yin-Kurama inside his son. Minato began the process of transferring the Yin half into Naruto, only to be intercepted by Black Zetsu, who took the tailed beast for himself before retreating. Madara then appeared, now the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki, to retrieve his left eye.
As Black Zetsu attempted to return to Madara with Yin Kurama and Rinnegan, Obito managed to overshadow Black Zetsu and keep it merged with him, determined to talk to Madara. As the two discussed Obito's purpose in life, Minato quickly transformed into Sage Mode and mounted an attack with Kakashi and Gaara. However, Madara easily repelled the attack, sliced off Minato's remaining arm and kicked him into Gaara. Black Zetsu then attempts to return to Madara with the left Rinnegan and Yin-Kurama, only for Obito to overshadow the manifestation, keeping it merged to him. As Obito begins discussing his relationship to Madara, Minato is shocked as the younger Uchiha impales his hand into Madara's chest.
Obito proclaimed that he has returned to how he was before meeting Madara, choosing to side with his childhood allies. After managing to retrieve portions of Shukaku and Gyūki's chakra within Madara, Obito and Kakashi then teamed up. Minato watched in amazement, remembering how his two students always argued as children. Combining their respective Kamui, Kakashi and Obito managed to teleport both Naruto and Obito himself to the other dimension. Unable to move in his current state, Minato silently thanked Obito for choosing to save Naruto. He also thanked Might Guy, having just arrived to help Kakashi.
Regaining the strength to stand, Minato noted that in his current condition, he was incapable of using hand seals again and his skills with senjutsu were not enough to help them in this situation. This prompted Guy to open the seventh gate and attack Madara with his Daytime Tiger, impressing Minato with his taijutsu prowess. Attempting to save Guy after the attack left him incapacitated, Minato had Kakashi throw his kunai towards Guy intent to fly to his location as Madara resisted the attack. Guy was however rescued by the timely arrival of Rock Lee. Accepting the grim situation, Guy resolved to open the life-threatening eighth gate. Watching in amazement as Guy began to overwhelm Madara, Minato informed his team that they would be supporting Guy's attack. He quickly explained to his allies the mechanics behind Madara's Truth-Seeking Balls. Minato had Lee throw one of his Flying Thunder God Kunai at the orbs, allowing Minato to teleport them away, giving Guy the opening to land his completed attack on Madara.
Minato ended up on his Hokage sculpture in Konoha and was horrified to see the effects of the Infinite Tsukuyomi as the God: Nativity of a World of Trees surrounded Konoha.
Sometime later he sensed Madara and team 7's chakra disapear and headed out to find them. using the truth seeking balls he teleported to their location and saved Sakura, Sasuke, Sasuke's Hawk and kakashi from falling to their deaths, using the tails chakra arms. Naruto then asks him to take care of sakura and kakashi, while him and sasuke fight kaguya otosutsuki. Soon after setting them down he witnessed as Kaguya and naruto clashed against each other with two powerful attacks and naruto falling to the ground.
The Third Hokage did his best to look out for Naruto but very few were able to detach their hatred of the Nine-Tails from that of Naruto despite Minato's final wish that his son be seen as a hero. The Third forbade anyone from speaking of the Nine-Tails, hoping that the younger generation would not blindly hate Naruto as the rest of the villagers did.[31] He also concealed Naruto's relation to Minato in order to keep him safe from his father's enemies,[91] and otherwise did his best to give Naruto a comfortable life, despite him being an orphan and being ostracised from the rest of the village. For years Naruto did not know his parents' identities, and neither did most of Konoha.
With Minato's death, the Third was forced to resume his position as Hokage, a role he filled until his death, never being able to find a replacement of Minato's calibre. Minato himself became regarded as the village's hero,[92] and, indeed, one of the greatest ninja Konoha had ever produced,[34] so much so that villagers would regret his death when tragedy struck the village years later.[47] Because Minato was never able to tell anyone what happened during the Nine-Tails' attack, villagers came to their own conclusions and the Uchiha were suspected of the act. Jiraiya recognised that Minato would not have sealed the Nine-Tails into his own son unless he had a good reason and that Minato intended Naruto to gain control of the Nine-Tails, but could never conclude why.[93]
Although Naruto had no idea about his relation with Minato most of his life, he greatly admired the Fourth Hokage, considering him a hero who gave his life for the village,[92] showing anger when Tsunade spoke ill of him,[94] and becoming overjoyed whenever Jiraiya or Kakashi mentioned his resemblance to Minato.[12][95] Before Naruto left Konoha to begin his training with Jiraiya, he looked at the Fourth Hokage's carved head and asked him to look after him.[96] After learning the truth about his relation to Minato and despite the shock that his own father made him a jinchūriki, Naruto was proud to be the Fourth Hokage's son.[97] Years after his death, Killer B was surprised when he learned Minato created a technique similar to the Tailed Beast Ball: the Rasengan.[58]
Naruto Shippūden 4: The Lost Tower
Twenty years in the past, Minato was assigned a secret mission alongside Shibi Aburame and Chōza Akimichi to intervene in the crisis in Rōran, where a Sunagakure missing-nin from the future called Mukade is building a Puppet Army using the power of the Ryūmyaku, an ancient chakra flow deep underground the city, and plans to change the future to his favour, conquering the Five Great Shinobi Countries. Minato asks the Third Hokage's permission to bring his student, Kakashi Hatake, and the Hokage agrees.
When they arrive in Rōran, Minato and his Team save Naruto from Mukade's puppets. Realising that the boy is also from the future, Minato tells Naruto to leave the city until they finish their mission, trying to keep him in the dark so the future won't be changed. However, Naruto ends up saving the Queen of Rōran, Sāra and attacks Minato, thinking they are the ones after her life. As a result, Minato decides to tell Naruto the truth about their mission and that Mukade arrived six years before Naruto, changed his name into Anrokuzan and has become the Minister of Rōran. Naruto recognises Minato's face and tells him he looks just like the Fourth Hokage. While Shibi claims that it is impossible, because their Hokage is still the Third, Minato asks Naruto to stop talking about the future. Sāra doesn't believe in them and runs off to prove Anrokuzan's innocence. Minato tells Naruto to protect Sāra while they look for Mukade and gives Naruto one of his Flying Thunder God Kunai.
When Naruto and Sāra try to fight Anrokuzan on the city's underground, Minato and his Team reappear and help Naruto while Sāra saves the men Mukade kidnapped to build his Puppet Army and takes them and their families to the Garden of Ryūmyaku, where they'll be safe.
Mukade fuses with his puppets, becoming a giant puppet monster using the Ryūmyaku's power. To stop Mukade from regenerating, Sāra must stop the flow of the Ryūmyaku in the Source of the Ryūmyaku while Naruto and Minato fight off Mukade. Naruto attacks Mukade with the Rasengan, shocking Minato, but is unable to defeat Mukade. Out of chakra and exhausted, Naruto is saved by Minato who tells him to attack Mukade's weak point with the Rasengan once Sāra stops the Ryūmyaku's flow. Naruto answers that he's out of chakra but Minato tells him he'll lend him his. Naruto tells him that it is impossible, because the Rasengan is a technique that the Fourth Hokage completed and that only he and Jiraiya can use, to which Minato replies that is why he can do it, having not only realised that he would be the Fourth Hokage but also that Naruto was his child. Since they have similar chakra, their Rasengans resonate and fuse together, creating the Supreme Ultimate Rasengan and defeating Mukade.
After Minato seals off the Ryūmyaku completely, Naruto and Yamato begin to glow because the time flow has come back to normal and they must return to their own time. So the future won't be changed, Minato decides to erase everybody's memories. However, Naruto tells Minato that he has to talk to him, but Minato refuses, telling Naruto that they'll meet again. Naruto persists and tells Minato that if they don't talk now, he'll never have the chance. As Minato prepares to send them back to the future, Naruto begins to ask if he could possibly be his father. Minato interrupts him and tells him that if he ever had a son, he wished he would be brought up a ninja just like Naruto, to which Naruto smiles and sheds tears of joy, before being sent back to the future. Minato used a technique to wipe everyone's memory so it wouldn't affect the future.
Naruto 6: Road to Ninja
In the alternate timeline of this movie, Minato is still alive, as is his wife Kushina. However, he never became the Fourth Hokage; instead Sakura Haruno's father Kizashi earned this title. Also, Minato and Kushina have a son named Menma who becomes the jinchūriki of Kurama. While essentially the same as his real-world counterpart (kind, courageous and dutiful), this Minato, being a family man, values his family's safety above all else, choosing to put their well-being before all others.
Video Games
Minato Namikaze is a playable character in the following video games:
Though not a playable character, Minato appears in the Ultimate Ninja game series as part of Naruto's ultimate technique called "Mysterious Aid Arrives".
- "Minato" means "harbour" (港) and "Namikaze" means "waves and wind" (波風).
- Minato's silhouette can be faintly seen in the background of the Naruto Shippūden third opening standing behind Naruto and Sora and under the Nine-Tails, in reference to its attack on Konoha that binds all four characters.
- Minato and Kushina died on the same day Naruto was born, which was October 10.
- According to the databook(s):
- Minato's hobby was reading; Jiraiya's novels were his favourite.
- Minato wished to fight Jiraiya.
- Minato's favourite food was Kushina's homemade cooking.
- Minato completed 847 official missions in total: 122 D-rank, 147 C-rank, 216 B-rank, 323 A-rank, 39 S-rank.
- Minato's favourite phrase was "The fire's shadow illuminates the village" (火の影は里を照らす, Hi no kage wa sato o terasu).
- Minato ranked ninth in the sixth Naruto character popularity poll and seventh in the seventh poll.
- In Naruto Shippūden 4: The Lost Tower, Minato's chakra appears to be a light green colour, as opposed to the normal blue.
- In Hidden Leaf Village Grand Sports Festival!, Minato suddenly appears in the hallway of the stadium when Naruto is running to the toilets. All of these appearances in this special were only for the comical effect.
- (About his dreams) "I want everyone in the village to acknowledge me and become a great Hokage!"[8]
- (To Kushina, when he rescued her) "I noticed your beautiful hair right away."[48]
- (To his team) "The most important thing for a shinobi is teamwork!"[79]
- (To Jiraiya) "You're a man with a true skill… an example we should all follow. I can't think of a finer shinobi than you!"[98]
- (To Kosuke Maruboshi) "I won't allow any of my comrades to die for my sake."[99]
- (To Kushina about sealing the Nine-Tails inside Naruto) "Have a little faith! He is our son after all!"[100]
- (Last words) "Naruto… This is your dad. Listen… To your motor-mouth mother."[101]
- (As quoted by Kakashi) "Those who stray from the path of justice have no courage, but under the wing of a strong leader, cowardice cannot survive."[102]
- (To Naruto) "Pain was the one who killed Jiraiya-sensei, but the more I think about it, the more I believe he was killed by that disorder that gave birth to Pain."[103]
- (To Naruto) "You will find the answer… I believe in you."[104]
- (About Naruto) "These feelings… It's really nostalgic. Even though the situation is so hard… He looks like he could do anything… Right… It feels exactly as if I were with Kushina… That's what it is…"[105]
- ↑ First Databook, page 120
- ↑ Second Databook, pages 146-149
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Third Databook, page 163
- ↑ Fourth Databook, pages 172-175
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Naruto chapter 240, page 11
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Naruto chapter 503, page 17
- ↑ Naruto chapter 498, page 11
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Naruto chapter 498, page 13
- ↑ Naruto chapter 498, pages 14-16
- ↑ Naruto chapter 367, page 11
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Naruto chapter 122, page 16
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Naruto chapter 144, page 4
- ↑ Naruto chapter 430, pages 19-20
- ↑ Naruto chapter 503, page 15
- ↑ Naruto chapter 544, page 7
- ↑ Naruto: Shippūden episode 360
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Naruto: Shippūden episode 349
- ↑ Naruto chapters 239-244
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 Naruto chapter 541, page 8
- ↑ Naruto chapter 542, pages 12-17
- ↑ Naruto chapter 543, pages 1-3
- ↑ Naruto chapter 450, page 15; Council mentioned that Minato was younger than Kakashi (who was 30 at the time) when he became the Hokage.
- ↑ Naruto chapter 562, page 13
- ↑ Naruto chapter 382, pages 8-11
- ↑ Naruto: Shippūden episode 350
- ↑ Naruto: Shippūden episode 351
- ↑ Naruto chapters 500-501
- ↑ Naruto chapters 502-503
- ↑ Naruto chapters 503-504
- ↑ Naruto chapter 504
- ↑ 31.0 31.1 Naruto chapter 2, pages 13-14
- ↑ Naruto chapter 439, page 15
- ↑ Naruto chapter 498, page 8
- ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 34.3 Naruto chapter 158, page 5
- ↑ First Fanbook — Konoha's Shinobi Organisation
- ↑ Naruto chapter 367, pages 11-12
- ↑ Naruto chapter 634, page 18
- ↑ Naruto chapter 631, pages 4-5, 8
- ↑ Naruto chapter 639, page 3
- ↑ Naruto chapter 634, page 15
- ↑ Naruto chapter 641, pages 7-8
- ↑ Naruto chapter 641, pages 14-15
- ↑ Naruto chapter 370, page 12
- ↑ Naruto chapter 502, pages 11-12
- ↑ Naruto chapter 640, pages 9-12
- ↑ Naruto chapter 627, pages 6-7
- ↑ 47.0 47.1 Naruto chapter 94, page 8
- ↑ 48.0 48.1 48.2 Naruto chapter 498, page 15
- ↑ Naruto chapter 503, page 8
- ↑ Naruto chapter 645, pages 10-12
- ↑ Naruto chapter 501, pages 3-4
- ↑ Naruto chapter 502, pages 16-17
- ↑ Naruto chapter 240, page 8
- ↑ Naruto chapter 631, page 4
- ↑ Naruto: Shippūden episode 246
- ↑ Naruto chapter 542, page 16
- ↑ Naruto chapter 151, pages 12-13
- ↑ 58.0 58.1 Naruto chapter 519, page 16
- ↑ Naruto chapter 321, pages 9-10
- ↑ Naruto chapter 543
- ↑ Naruto chapter 242, pages 4-5
- ↑ Naruto chapter 667, page 13
- ↑ Naruto chapter 502, pages 15-17
- ↑ Naruto chapter 631, pages 8-9
- ↑ Naruto chapter 650, page 4
- ↑ Naruto chapter 502, pages 7-8
- ↑ Naruto chapter 630, page 16
- ↑ Naruto chapter 503, pages 11-12
- ↑ Naruto chapter 500, page 3
- ↑ Naruto chapter 503, page 5
- ↑ Naruto chapter 91, page 12
- ↑ Naruto chapter 96, pages 9-10
- ↑ Naruto chapter 642, page 18
- ↑ Naruto chapter 631, page 7
- ↑ Naruto chapter 652, page 9
- ↑ Naruto chapter 645
- ↑ Naruto chapter 665, page 11
- ↑ Naruto chapter 667, page 9
- ↑ 79.0 79.1 Naruto chapter 240, page 14
- ↑ Naruto chapter 502, pages 12-16
- ↑ Naruto chapter 503, pages 2-5
- ↑ Naruto chapter 669, pages 6-9
- ↑ Naruto chapter 504, pages 1, 11
- ↑ Naruto chapter 617, page 5
- ↑ Naruto chapter 664, page 11
- ↑ Naruto chapter 620, page 8
- ↑ Naruto chapter 239, pages 16-17
- ↑ Naruto chapter 631, pages 9-11
- ↑ Naruto chapter 637, page 14
- ↑ Naruto: Shippūden episode 293
- ↑ Naruto chapter 440, page 5
- ↑ 92.0 92.1 Naruto chapter 1, page 12
- ↑ Naruto chapter 370, pages 12-13
- ↑ Naruto chapter 158, page 9
- ↑ Naruto chapter 321, page 12
- ↑ Naruto chapter 238, pages 15-16
- ↑ Naruto chapter 440, pages 3-7
- ↑ Naruto chapter 382, page 11
- ↑ Naruto: Shippūden episode 190
- ↑ Naruto chapter 503, page 19
- ↑ Naruto chapter 504, pages 12-13
- ↑ Naruto chapter 21, page 18
- ↑ Naruto chapter 440, page 13
- ↑ Naruto chapter 440, page 15
- ↑ Naruto chapter 645, page 1


text:
From the Erotica collection, the Gabriella Lux hold-ups are a timeless classic: a sheer 20 denier leg (with invisibly reinforced toes) and a 9cm concentric band top with triple silicone strips. Made from a double covered Lycra yarn for optimum fit and comfort.
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Sha Money XL - One Stop Shop Motivation (About A&R's, Producers, & More) [14 Min Trailer]
Trailer For Sha Money XL's One Stop Shop Motivation.
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text:
Cookbook cover image courtesy of Random House
My idea of party perfection is a backyard fajita fest. I have the guys roast the peppers until blistery and browned, then I send them into the kitchen to seed and slice them. Next they grill up the steaks and cut them into nice, thin strips. Meanwhile I've already set out bowls of guacamole, sour cream, salsa, and chips. We all gather around my outdoor table, each of us making our dream fajita with just the right balance of steak and peppers, sour cream and guacamole.
- Yield
- Serves 8 to 12
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (about 1 1/2 medium limes)
- 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 6 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 1/2 cups red wine
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 5 pounds boneless rib-eye steaks
- 1 poblano chile
- 4 Anaheim chiles
- 8 bell peppers (2 green plus 6 in any assortment of red, yellow, or orange)
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1 medium lemon)
- Pinch of kosher salt
- 12 tortillas (flour or corn)
- 2 large yellow onions, cut in 2-inch-thick slices
- Sour cream, for accompaniment
- Guacamole (page 255), for accompaniment
- Beans a la Charra (page 150), for accompaniment
- To marinate the meat:
- In a large (4-cup) measuring cup, combine the soy sauce, lime juice, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, wine, and vegetable oil to make the marinade. Put the steaks in a large, heavy-duty, self-sealing plastic bag, pour in the marinade, seal, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Preheat an outdoor grill; preheat the oven to 250°F. Grill the chiles and bell peppers whole until they blister and brown, turning with tongs every few minutes to ensure they roast on all sides; remove from the heat. Core and seed them, slice them lengthwise into 1/2-inch strips, and sprinkle them with lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Wrap them in aluminum foil and keep them warm in the oven until ready to serve. Wrap the tortillas in foil and put in the oven to warm with the peppers. Remove the steaks from the marinade, drain, and grill according to your preference. Grill the onion slices along with the steak, about 5 minutes per side.
- To serve, slice the steaks thinly; arrange on a large platter with the grilled sliced onion and the chiles and peppers. Alongside the platter, set out the warm tortillas and bowls of sour cream and guacamole. Beans à la Charra, served in small bowls, is another classic fajita accompaniment.
- Variation
- Substitute boneless, skinless chicken breasts or shrimp for the beef. Marinate the chicken according to the directions above. For the shrimp, skip the marinade and just rub them with a little kosher salt and pepper before grilling.
Nutritional analysis provided by TasteBook, using the USDA Nutrition Database
Pastry Queen Parties by Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman. Copyright © 2009 Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman. Published by Ten Speed Press. All Rights Reserved.
A pastry chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author, native Texan Rebecca Rather has been proprietor of the Rather Sweet Bakery and Café since 1999. Open for breakfast and lunch daily, Rather Sweet has a fiercely loyal cadre of regulars who populate the café's sunlit tables each day. In 2007, Rebecca opened her eponymous restaurant, serving dinner nightly, just a few blocks from the café. Rebecca is the author of THE PASTRY QUEEN, and has been featured in Texas Monthly, Gourmet, Ladies Home Journal, Food & Wine, Southern Living, Chocolatier, Saveur, and O, The Oprah Magazine. When she isn't in the bakery or on horseback, Rebecca enjoys the sweet life in Fredericksburg, where she tends to her beloved backyard garden and menagerie, and eagerly awaits visits from her college-age daughter, Frances.
Alison Oresman has worked as a journalist for more than twenty years. She has written and edited for newspapers in Wyoming, Florida, and Washington State. As an entertainment editor for the Miami Herald, she oversaw the paper's restaurant coverage and wrote a weekly column as a restaurant critic. After settling in Washington State, she also covered restaurants in the greater Seattle area as a critic with a weekly column. A dedicated home baker, Alison is often in the kitchen when she isn't writing. Alison lives in Bellevue, Washington, with her husband, Warren, and their children, Danny and Callie.


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No More Plumpy'Nut in an Equal Money System
"It's really revolutionary, because it doesn't need to be mixed with water or refrigerated," Salem continued. "And the most miraculous part is, it will transform a child from literally skin and bones to certain survival in just four to six weeks."
Plumpy'Nut is a friendly-named 'product' developed to mitigate severe acute malnutrition. It's a paste made out of mixed and mashed nuts wrapped in convenient foil packages – just like your regular energy bars. This facilitates its distribution in places where it is required, which is often third world countries with no ability to create any other form of long-term solution because of the lack of money and means to do so.
The creation of Plumpy'Nut is yet another 'achievement' of the human endeavor to create a 'cure' that only mitigates the actual problem, 'saving lives' without any other plan of action to create sustainable ways to keep the 'rescued children' alive. There are no plans to implement laws and regulations that could ensure the end of such poverty and starvation that generate the malnutrition problem in the first place.
It has been deemed by CNN's Anderson Cooper like 'the most important advance ever' in the realm of childhood malnutrition – this statement is already denoting everything that is wrong with how us human beings accept our reality to be like.
Why is 'malnutrition' even existent in a world where thousands of tons of food are dumped every single day? Plumpy'Nut is the equivalent to any other band aid solution toward the problems generated as a consequence of existing in a monetary system that is completely disregarding the fact that people in third world countries are also here in this planet and require to be taken into consideration before there is any attempt to create 'real progress in this world.'
Why have we accepted a world wherein words and realities like 'severe acute malnutrition' exist as part of who we are?
How come we're so blind to believe that such conditions are 'out of reach' and have 'nothing to do' with ourselves?
How can a single product be seen as a 'miracle' and 'life-saving' when the actual causes that create the need for such product are not being addressed to create a definitive solution?
What will happen to these kids once they get literally fed up of Plumpy'Nut and they require to eat real food?
Who will give them the money and means to have food, water and general support that any human being should have access-to by the single fact of being HERE in this world as well?
Poverty made business
Inventions are supposed to support the living experience of beings in this world. The 'human intellect' is supposed to be placed at the service of what's best for all. But what happens when we live in a reality that is run by money yet having to 'combat problems' like famine? Yes, inventions will also be motivated by money and become a profit making business just like anything else, regardless of the purpose of such creation and the problem at hand.
"Severe acute malnutrition, a condition characterized by extreme stunting and wasting that afflicts an estimated 20 million children worldwide"
People saw the opportunity to make business with the production and distribution after seeing such statistics, this is considering that the 'treatment' for each kid costs an average of $60 a month to get them back to a viable condition.
It's shocking how such a 'miraculous' product designed to save starving children became the apple of discord between companies that saw it as an equally 'miraculous business' which generated up to $66 million in sales in 2004 alone from the production of 14 thousand metric tons of Plumpy'Nut.
The very fact that money has to be used to aid other human beings that are at the peril of starvation, is already indicating that someone somewhere in the world will be the beneficiary of all those donations for food aid purposes, as the Earth itself takes no money in exchange for all the nuts used for such magic wand product. Millions are annually raised worldwide for food aid purposes – yet starvation and detrimental living conditions for millions have not changed for those countries that we already know exist in a chronic lack of proper resources and governance to implement what is best for all equally.
"The World Bank, in a recent report, recommended that aid agencies scale up their spending on such programs, which currently stands at $300 million annually, to $6 billion a year."
Similar products began emerging which made of this 'panacea' a matter of legal claims, competition and other disputes on licenses and trademarks where the purpose of such product is absolutely disregarded and only the patent matters, because it is the key to monopolize the production and distribution of it.
Non-profit organizations became part of this charity-like move to raise funds to be able to have a good cause to earn money from. The reality is that:
"(it is estimated) that the product reaches only 10 to 15 percent of those who need it, because of logistical and budgetary constraints."
How come we've accepted and allowed profit to be made out of famine?
From here we can start questioning every single product or food program that hasn't succeeded to eradicate malnourishment in its entirety. This can also be extended to other health problems like AIDS Vaccines which are also part of a great industry with millions that are likely to seek a form of cure for their terminal disease. It is quite shameful that even in matters of human aid, the buck moves the wheels first, greed overruns any attempt to create solutions in this world and it's one of the main reasons why we are promoting Self Honesty as the basis of the Equal Money System.
The End of Famine and Poverty in an Equal Money System
The persistence of poverty in this world indicates that none of the current 'great inventions' and 'solutions' have been able to eradicate poverty and malnutrition in this world. It indicates that the problem and the solution is not to create temporary aids to keep people alive and then having no dignified living conditions to offer them afterward. This is a human matter, and it is our responsibility by the single fact of using money and having the creation of money as the separation point in our ability to give equal access to what is required to live for everyone, which is readily available as part of the Earth.
Chronic states of poverty that produce the infamous 'severe acute malnutrition' cannot be solved with peanuts. Such conditions are created because there is no food around for parents to feed their children, there is no policy of providing the basic needs for fellow human beings to be able to live and that should already be considered as a crime against life. Instead, they're allowed to starve while some others think of better ways to make the most profit out of it.
If a child remains in such states of malnutrition, their life will be condemned by default to become part of the ones that suffer any form of slave labor wherein the less 'fit' you are for a job, the less you'll be paid. Now, you tell me if we live in a 'free and civilized world' – obviously not.
I'll end this exposure of humanity's efforts to 'end starvation' with the quote from the manufacturer and chief promoter of Plumpy'Nut in the United States R.I. Navyn Salem, a product that will most likely remain being the 'solution' to feed those that are about to die, regardless of what they will have to endure once that they have enough muscle tissue to be considered as 'saved for life.'
"We're trying to put ourselves out of business […] That would be the best-case scenario."
When one's financial benefit depends on providing 'aid' to those in need, the ultimate question is: do you really want your source of income to end?
These types of diatribes will not exist in an Equal Money System – Plumpy'Nut will cease to exist as everyone will be equally supported to have a dignified living with food, water, public services and education that will provide them the same living conditions you and I want for ourselves as well. What's 'best for all' won't ever be a 'business' as money will not be able to sustain any level of greed again. With that, all charity, world food programs and annual campaigns to raise funds will be unnecessary – no more financial benefits masked in sheeply altruism either – we will simply be able to give and receive what's of the Earth in Equality.
Cites taken from: Rice, Andrew. "The Peanut Solution." New York Times – Sunday Magazine. (2010): MM36. Web. 6 Dec. 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/magazine/05Plumpy-t.html?pagewanted=all
Video: In Heaven Everything is Fine


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FO: Debbie Bliss Classic Cardigan
by exercisebeforeknitting
I'm so glad so many of you liked the biscotti recipe! Oh yeah and from reading some of the comments from my last post, I think I ought to clarify that I'm up at 4:40 a.m. to shuffle along at a 10:00/mile pace, not to sprint at a 6:00/mile pace. I'm not a good runner, I'm just becoming an early one!
Pattern: Classic Cardigan from The Baby Knits Book by Debbie Bliss
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease in Berry
Needles: US 7
Modifications: Because Debbie Bliss' baby patterns are notoriously boxy, I made the 12-18 mos size but used the 18-24 mos sizing for length. A few months back, many of you commented that you thought that a long, skinny baby would likely grow into a long, skinny toddler so I decided that it would be best to plan on that for next winter's crop of Beatrix sweaters.
Beatrix clearly has some growing to do before this will fit! This project has been about two-thirds finished for months now and since I didn't have much knitting time this week, I decided to take up finishing it here and there. A simple, shapeless stockinette baby sweater is hardly good blog fodder but at least it's out of my WIP pile.
This sweater pattern is an old standby for me but it is painful to knit. Every time I make it, I remember halfway through that I should have used raglan shaping and knit it all at once to save myself the seaming. I don't particularly care for how bulky DB's sleeves/shoulders are but I'm too lazy to do much math for something as simple as a baby sweater so I'll live with the bulk. The buttons on this sweater are a bit of a disappointment too. While I love these shell buttons up close, I think they tend to fluoresce a bit from a distance so if I could do this again, I would likely choose different buttons.
What do you do when your mom makes you wear a sweater that's too big for you?


text:
Portrait of two men in front of tipi, view four
- 22-2-a032838
- Item
- c.1920
Parte de Fred Ryckman fonds
Two men sit in front of a tipi. The one on the left wears native clothing. The one on the right wears western style clothing and is writing in a book. The front flap of tipi is open and debris scattered in the grass in front. Structures and trees in background.
Fred Ryckman