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This is part of a series of articles highlighting the valuable work that Microsoft's Community Affairs Managers are doing in Asia.
Belinda Gorman's long development career has taken her around the world, from championing children's rights in Mongolia, to supporting the delivery of clean water and sanitation projects in Lao People's Democratic Republic and other countries. Her journey has circled back to her home country New Zealand, where she is Microsoft's Community Affairs Manager as well as local representative for environmental sustainability projects.
Belinda enthused over working annually with hundreds of local non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and her sense of pride was palpable while discussing how the strong and diverse nonprofit sector represents the very fabric of New Zealand's society.
But she noted wryly, "I had little interest in technology before joining Microsoft six years ago." Now a passionate advocate for digital inclusion, Belinda explained, "Using the latest technologies everyday has converted me!"
She continued, "Exponential technological advances have altered the structures of societies, economies and governance. The amazing possibilities of technology can be a double-edged sword if we are not on the right side of the digital divide."
The former development worker is all too familiar with entrenched poverty traps as she previously witnessed firsthand in developing countries.
Though New Zealand enjoys a Very High Human Development Index, there are underserved communities with a lack of access to or knowledge about ICT.
Belinda stresses that the gap is not a black-and-white problem or an issue of the 'haves' versus the 'have-nots', but one of various complexities. Mere access to technology is insufficient. Having the skills and the confidence to use technology meaningfully are just as crucial, and this knowledge is reflected in the projects she drives.
Belinda (second from right) with colleagues at Asia Pacific Tech4Good Summitin Bintan, Indonesia
In a multi-partner project called Computers in Homes, which provides computers and training to underserved families, Belinda supported the expansion of ICT training for the participants. She also helmed a partnership with the High Tech Youth Network, which supports youth in using technology for animation, design, production and robotics.
The 2011 Christchurch earthquakes exposed issues with local NGOs' ability to deliver services and access information in crises, thus Belinda initiated a project with social enterprise Infoxchange and the Ministry of Social Development to review the ICT environment of 44 NGOs. The individual audits make specific recommendations for practical plans toward improvement.
One of the most rewarding partnerships for her is with Plunket, the country's largest provider of developmental, health and wellbeing services for children under five. She worked with the organisation on the PlunketPlus project, "the world's first electronic health records system where nurses can share key health data with other health professionals and social services in real time."
Energetic and dedicated, she still manages to find time for her duties as a Trustee of ECPAT New Zealand (an international organisation working to protect children from sexual exploitation), and continues to work on her vision for Microsoft, saying, "The communities and NGOs we support are full of so much potential — much of it realised, and even more to be realised soon!"


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SALT LAKE CITY — Map fans who want to learn about ancient lava flows or potentially active earthquake faults in Washington County's St. George area have two new resources available to them.
The Utah Geological Survey has just published two new geologic maps intended primarily to identify potential hazards such as landslide or rock-fall prone areas or trouble spots where collapsible soils exist.
They are intended to guide government officials, land and resource managers, consultants and engineers and others who deal in the field of crafting resource protection plans or land management strategies.
The maps, however, are also an educational tool for anyone interested in the topography and colorful landscapes of this growing southwestern area of Utah.
The geologic map of the St. George quadrangle covers approximately 50 square miles of land in and around St. George, extending south to the Arizona border. The geologic map of the White Hills quadrangle covers 50 square miles immediately west of the St. George map and includes the suburb of Bloomington and the upper reaches of the Virgin River Gorge.
Among the features that are exposed across mapped areas are colorful 190 milliono to 300 million-year-old sedimentary rocks and black 33,000- to 2.3 million-year-old basaltic lava flows. The maps also show rock formations that emit radon and drill holes from past oil and gas exploration activities.
The maps can be viewed on the UGS website and geology.utah.gov/online.
They also are available as either a printed map for $14.95 or on a DVD (contains GIS database and pdf of map) for $24.95 at the Natural Resources Map & Bookstore, 1594 W. North Temple, Salt Lake City. For more information, call 801-537-3320 or 1-888-UTAHMAP, or visit mapstore.utah.gov.
E-mail: [email protected] Twitter: amyjoi16

subset: commoncrawl


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Software-wise, I feel these current WWDC announcements are the most exciting in years.
Looking at the Swift docs right now, I can see many interesting inspirations at work: there's some Lua/Go in there (multiple return values), some Ruby (closure passed as the last argument to a function can appear immediately after the parentheses), closure expressions, strong Unicode character support, a very very neat alternative to nullable types with "Optionals". Operators are functions, too.
It has the concept of explicitly capturing variables from the surrounding context inside closures, like PHP does, instead of keeping the entire context alive forever like Ruby or JS.
Hell there is even some shell scripting thinking in there with shorthand arguments that can be used as anonymous parameters in closures, like "sort(names, { $0 > $1 } )".
Inside objects, properties can be initialized lazily the first time they're accessed, or even updated entirely dynamically. Objects can swap themselves out for new versions of themselves under the caller's nose by using the mutating keyword.
There is the expected heavy-weight class/inheritance scheme which accommodates a lot of delegation, init options, bindings, and indirection (as is expected for a language that must among other things support Apple's convoluted UI API). But at least it's syntactically easier on the eyes now.
Automated Reference Counting is still alive, too - however, it's mostly under the hood now. Accordingly, there is a lot of stuff that deals with the finer points of weak and strong binding/counting.
Swift has a notion of protocols which as far as I can tell are interfaces or contracts that classes can promise to implement.
I think generally there are a few great patterns for method and object chaining, function and object composition in here.
The language has C#-style generics, and supports interesting type constraint expressions.


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Players Gone Crazy: Shawn Chacon
First it was Sidney Ponson getting released by the Rangers for being disrespectful towards the team, or something like that. Ponson is a guy who once punched a judge on the beach in Aruba, so as you could imagine, the news was quite shocking to hear. Anyway, there must be some sort of a trend going around MLB clubhouses where players are getting increasingly disrespectful these days. The Astros suspended pitcher Shawn Chacon for getting into an altercation with GM Ed Wade. Wade wanted to talk with Chacon privately in manager Cecil Cooper's office to discuss matters (Chacon has been unhappy since being demoted to the bullpen). Chacon wasn't exactly cooperating, as he told the Houston Chronicle:
And I said 'You can tell me whatever you got to tell me right here.' [Wade's] like, 'oh, you want me to tell you right here?' And I said, 'yeah.' I'm not yelling. I'm calm."
It deteriorated quickly afterward, according to Chacon.
"He started yelling and cussing," Chacon said of Wade. "I'm sitting there and I said to him very calmly, 'Ed, you need to stop yelling at me. Then I stood up and said 'you better stop yelling at me.' I stood up. He continued and was basically yelling and stuff and was like, 'You need to (expletive) look in the mirror.' So at that point I lost my cool and I grabbed him by the neck and threw him to the ground. I jumped on top of him because at that point I wanted to beat his (butt). Words were exchanged."
Hello Latrell Sprewell, 2008! Maybe he could call Spree for some advice on how to deal with this. And perhaps P.J. Carlesimo could lob a phone call to Ed Wade to offer support. Honestly, I can't even imagine a dude like that going on the attack after a boss. Sure, everybody says they would want to knock the snot out of their boss, but who actually does it? Chacon says he knows he might be done in the majors after this. I'm not so sure; if teams are desperate for an arm, they'll come calling. Either way, this is pretty disgusting to read. Who knew GMs had to keep assault in the back of their mind?


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Posted by Jo on July 22, 1999 at 09:38:04:
In Reply to: Re: Am I The Only One... posted by MMMMarcia on July 21, 1999 at 17:49:06:
: Champ wrote:
: : I have to agree with alot of what you've said.
: : That is the other thing thats kept me away from Mohicanland as of late, is this senseless tragedy.
: >>Yes, it's a little hard to be flippant with so many people grieving. I start to get back "into" things, and then I stop and go see what's new in the search & recovery.
: : I too am near JFK Jr's age, and though I maynot have agreed with all of Teddy's (etc) politics, this tragedy has hit me hard, as only a couple such nat'l or international tragedies ever have (one that comes to mind is the Space shuttle Challenger, though because my cousin Dick Scobee was its commander, that is understandable -- the other was Princess Di).
: >>There is something about a "national tragedy" that completely rivets one's attention. Sometimes it is the strange realization that so many people all over the world are thinking the same thoughts and feeling the same emotions simultaneously. Something that could not have happened in our world only a (relatively) few decades ago, when it took so long for news to travel from one part of the globe to another. I can almost picture other people all over the world stopping in front of the tv at the same time I do, saying, "Turn that up...something's happened!"
: >>In the case of the Challenger, I was really impacted by that just because it was completely visible from my front yard. It happened, as you must recall, on a very clear day, and that horrifying split plume of smoke hung in the sky for what seemed like forever. While all Americans must feel they lost special people that day, your relationship with Dick Scobee must have made it particularly sad for you.
: : I'm starting to ramble, so I'll close, but let me say I'm thankful that the bodies were found, even in our "high-tech" age, the sea so often does not give up her dead...now, perhaps, Caroline & the rest can have closure.
: : My prayers are with that whole family, but in paticular her.
: >>Yes, I felt relieved this evening, too, when they finally announced that they had found all three. I'm so glad, for all the obvious reasons.
: MMMMarcia
It was very relieving to read your (and others) posts; haven't posted in a bit because of the recent happenings....
When I was in 8th grade, my mom pulled me out of school for the morning (and my sister Kathie - I think she left Mary and Karen at school....I think I would have remembered if Mary/or Karen came along....) - the ONLY time my mom did this in 12 years of school - to see President John F. Kennedy travel through Downtown Oakland in a motorcade. Don't know why he was even in Oakland....but we were accompanied by our adopted "Aunts" - my mom had a habit of adopting all of the senior people in our neighborhood to include in all of our family activities..we had a lot of "Aunties" - these two were from Ireland and of course they brought along Irish flags and great lungs to yell and carry on when Mr. Kennedy was driven by. And like Marcia's experience; Mr. Kennedy turned his whole body around and waved just at US! To a jaded, know it all 13 year old, I was very impressed and moved. Will never forget it.
Fast forward to my senior year in high school, Robert Kennedy is running for President. Of all the high schools, his brother Edward (ignoring his other shortcomings...) arrives at our "flatlander" Catholic high school in Oakland, not the "other" hillside Catholic or any other private or public high school...to give us an incredible speech about his brother Robert. We couldn't vote; but our parents could; it was a great political move; and he was extremely charistmatic....don't know if he went to any other high schools in San Francisco...the obvious place to go...
The next day we walked over a block or two to see Robert Kennedy in a motorcade - Rosy holding on to him so he wouldn't fall out of the car for all of his hand holding and waving and what not! What a thrill... Of course, the next day he was in LA and his death was at the same time as my Senior graduation which became part of those memories....
And now we have John Jr.'s very untimely death at such a young age which brings on all of MY other memories of past things; but now, as a parent, it is more heartbreaking to think of losing any of my children; much less two; or losing any of my siblings; my heart goes out to the Bessettes and to Caroline; I can not imagine the pain they must feel; or any family who has lost members.
Thank you for reading my ramblings; life is fragile.
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While Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) remains one of the best-run companies in the silver sector, the company recently diversified by buying a series of gold streams. One of these gold streams was to come from Barrick Gold's (NYSE:ABX) Pascua-Lama mine that was recently delayed by roughly a year and a half due to cash concerns. While news for precious metals has been somewhat improved lately, particularly from the Federal Reserve, this is not great news for Silver Wheaton.
In the video below, Fool.com contributor Doug Ehrman discusses the developments at Pascua-Lama and their ramifications for Silver Wheaton.
Fool contributor Doug Ehrman has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


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Swig, the online wine retailer and distributor, has told Harpers.co.uk it is up 18% in sales since April, with growth coming from all sectors of the trade, be it direct to the on-trade and retail or through its own trading website, which alone has seen a 100% increase in sales year on year.
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Stephen Decker Donned Several Hats at Skamper
January 26, 2012 by RVBusiness · Comments Off on Stephen Decker Donned Several Hats at Skamper
Former owner of Skamper Corp. Stephen T. "Steve" Decker, 67, of Elkhart, Ind., passed away Jan. 23 at his home.
Decker was a CPA and president and owner of Skamper Corp. in Bristol, Ind., and co-owner of JV Supply in Elkhart. During his many years in the RV industry he served on many boards with the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA). After he retired, he was a substitute teacher for Concord and Elkhart community schools. He was a member of Crossroads Community Church, Stephen's Ministry and Gideons International. He graduated from Marion (Ind.) High School, where he was active in sports. He attended Indiana State University and then graduated with his master's degree from Ball State University. He enjoyed camping.
Decker was born June 12, 1944, in Seymour, Ind., to the late Donald E. and Betty G. (Walters) Decker. Also preceding him in death was a sister, Shirley Jean Decker.
On Sept. 26, 1989, in Las Vegas, Steve married Rose A. Kiser. They have enjoyed 22 years of marriage. She survives along with sons Don "Spike" Decker, Dave Decker, Doug Decker and Christopher (Holly) Decker, all of Elkhart; daughters Stephani (Joe) Carnevale of Cicero, Ind., and Amy Davies of Elkhart. Also surviving are 11 grandchildren and sisters Paula Decker of Mishawaka and Margaret (Biff) Osborn of Marion; and his former wife, Toni Decker of Elkhart.
Funeral services will begin at 11 a.m. today with visitation for one hour prior at Crossroads Community Church, 57415 Alpha Drive, Goshen, Ind. Pastors James Fischer, Marc Royer and Tim Fisher will officiate. Private family burial will follow at Little Pine Cemetery.
The family requests memorials be made to Gideons International in Steve's memory. To leave the family an online condolence or share memories with the family, please visit our website at www.billingsfuneralhome.com.


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Apartments for rent in Naylor Gardens are located just a short drive away from the thrumming city center of Washington D.C. There, you and your loved ones will be a amid a placid suburb filled with young professionals, burgeoning families, and couples who are looking to plant their roots and start the next chapter in their lives.
Parks and Recreation
On weekends you will be able to work on your tan and stretch your legs at one of the nearby parks that are within walking distance of the Naylor Gardens apartments for rent. Alger Park is a thick stretch of woods nestled in between the circuitous side streets of your neighborhood. There, you and the little ones will be able to take leisurely strolls as you enjoy the seasonable springtime heat and take shelter under the thick canopy of the tall evergreen trees. You may also want to head to Anacostia Park, which sits across the Potomac River from the Washington D.C. At Anacostia you can have a picnic and play a game of catch as you watch the boats pass by. At the Hillcrest Recreation Center, there is ample room to lounge on the verdant grass or play a game of frisbee with your new neighbors. Some other notable parks that you may want to think about visiting include the North Barnaby Recreation Center, Barnaby Run Park or the Owens Run Park.
Bordering the community to the west is the Anacostia Freeway, which works its way north to south. This main thoroughfare can bring you up and down the East Coast. If you want to get to the city center of Washington D.C. from one of the apartments in Naylor Gardens you can utilize the fast and efficient metro system. Just a short walk from your new home is the Congress Heights Station. If you are looking to commute by car, then you can always hop on Interstate 95, which cuts right through your community.
Your children will be afforded a grade-A education at one of the schools that are nearby the Naylor Gardens apartments. Your little ones can attend the highly-rated William Beanes Elementary School, or if you want them to enroll in a private institution, you have the option of sending them to the Lincoln Charter School on Branch Avenue or the Samuel P. Massie Academy, which is situated right on the main road, the Regency Parkway.
Shopping Center
Just a short drive to the east, you have a convenient area of commerce where you can pick up all the necessary home goods and groceries from retailers like Shoppers supermarket and CVS Pharmacy. Other nearby outlets include the the Parkland Shopping Center as well as One Best Food on the Marlboro Pike.
Additional Local Resources
Electric Company
Water/Sewer Company
D.C. Water


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Compulsory School Attendance
This policy applies to individuals who have custody or control of a child: (a) between the ages of six (on or before September 1) and 17 years (unless the child has graduated from high school), or (b) who is enrolled in any of grades kindergarten through 12 in the public school regardless of age.
Subject to specific requirements in State law, the following children are not required to attend public school: (1) any child attending a private school (including a home school) or parochial school, (2) any child who is physically or mentally unable to attend school (including a pregnant student suffering medical complications as certified by her physician), (3) any child lawfully and necessarily employed, (4) any child over 12 and under 14 years of age while in confirmation classes,(5) any child absent because his or her religion forbids secular activity on a particular day, and (6) any child 16 years of age or older who is employed and is enrolled in a graduation incentives program.
The parent/guardian of a student who is enrolled must authorize all absences from school and notify the school in advance or at the time of the student's absence. A valid cause for absence includes illness, observance of a religious holiday, death in the immediate family, family emergency, other situations beyond the control of the student, other circumstances that cause reasonable concern to the parent/guardian for the student's safety or health, or other reason as approved by the Superintendent or designee.
Absenteeism and Truancy Program
The Superintendent or designee shall manage an absenteeism and truancy program in accordance with The School Code and School Board policy. The program shall include but not be limited to:
1. A protocol for excusing a student from attendance who is necessarily and lawfully employed.
The Superintendent or designee is authorized to determine when the student's absence is
2. A protocol for excusing a student in Grades 9 through 12 from attendance to sound Taps at a military honors funeral held in Illinois for a deceased veteran.
3. A process to telephone, within two hours after the first class, the parents/guardians of students in grade 8 or below who are absent without prior parent/guardian notification.
4. A process to identify and track students who are truants, chronic or habitual truants, or truant minors as defined in The School Code, Section 26-2a.
5. A description of diagnostic procedures for identifying the cause(s) of a student's unexcused absenteeism, including interviews with the student, his or her parent(s)/guardian(s), and staff members or other people who may have information about the reasons for the student's attendance problem.
6. The identification of supportive services that may be offered to truant or chronically truantstudents, including parent-teacher conferences, student and/or family counseling, or information about community agency services. See Board policy 6:110, Programs for Students at Risk of Academic Failure and/or Dropping Out of School and Graduation Incentives Program.
7. A process to request the assistance and resources of outside agencies, such as, the juvenile officer of the local police department or the truant office of the appropriate Intermediate Service Center, if truancy continues after supportive services have been offered.
8. A protocol for cooperating with non-District agencies including County or municipal authorities, the Regional Superintendent, truant officers, the Community Truancy Review Board, and a comprehensive community based youth service agency. Any disclosure of school student records must be consistent with Board policy 7:340, Student Records, as well as State and federal law concerning school student records.
9. An acknowledgement that no punitive action, including out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, or court action, shall be taken against a chronic truant for his or her truancy unless available supportive services and other school resources have been provided to the student.
10. The criteria to determine whether a student's non-attendance is due to extraordinary circumstances shall include economic or medical necessity or family hardship and such other criteria that the Superintendent believes qualifies.
11. A process for a 17-year old resident to participate in the District's various programs and resources for truants. The student must provide documentation of his/her dropout status for the previous six months. A request from an individual 19 years of age or older to re-enroll after having dropped out of school is handled according to provisions in 7:50, Students School Admissions and Student Transfers to and from Non-District Schools.
12. A process for the temporary exclusion of a student 17 years of age or older for failing to meet minimum academic or attendance standards according to provisions in State law. A parent/guardian has the right to appeal a decision to exclude a student.
LEGAL REF.: 105 ILCS 5/26-1 through 16.
23 Ill. Admin. Code §§ 1.242 and 1.290.
ADOPTED: October 4, 1999
REVISED: February 19, 2001; January 27 2005; August 30, 2007; January 31, 2008; September 24, 2009; December 17, 2010; July 31, 2014; December 22, 2016


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We're still waiting to list sports centres in Dreemskerry but there's still plenty of fun to be had – try one of these instead!
Mooragh Park
RamseyParks and Playgrounds
Suitable for all ages •Outdoor 3.1 miles from Dreemskerry
Curraghs Wildlife Park
BallaughZoos and Wildlife Parks
Suitable for all ages •Indoor, Outdoor 7.3 miles from Dreemskerry
Onchan Pleasure Park
OnchanParks and Playgrounds
Suitable for all ages •Indoor, Outdoor 10.7 miles from Dreemskerry
Manx Fun Farm
OnchanIndoor and Soft Play Areas
Suitable for all ages •Indoor 11.7 miles from Dreemskerry
Pennybridge Riding School
Kirk MichaelHorse Riding and Stables
Suitable for ages: 4+ •Outdoor 16.3 miles from Dreemskerry
Ballahimmin Riding and Pony Trekking Centre
Cronk-y-VoddyHorse Riding and Stables
Suitable for ages: 4+ •Outdoor 16.4 miles from Dreemskerry
Grenaby Estates Equestrian Centre
CastletownHorse Riding and Stables
Suitable for ages: 4+ •Indoor, Outdoor 22.9 miles from Dreemskerry
Brighouse Bay Trekking
KirkcudbrightHorse Riding and Stables
Suitable for ages: 4+ •Outdoor 38.7 miles from Dreemskerry
Cream o Galloway
Castle DouglasTheme Parks and Funfairs
Suitable for ages: 4+ •Indoor, Outdoor 39.2 miles from Dreemskerry
The Cocoa Bean Company
TwynholmParks and Playgrounds
Suitable for all ages •Indoor, Outdoor 43.7 miles from Dreemskerry
Lochhill Equestrian Centre
Castle DouglasHorse Riding and Stables
Suitable for ages: 4+ •Indoor, Outdoor 45.1 miles from Dreemskerry
7stanes Kirroughtree
Newton StewartCycling
Suitable for all ages •Outdoor 45.5 miles from Dreemskerry
Find The Best Sports Centres in Dreemskerry
We've rounded up the best sports centres in Dreemskerry in our quest to discover brilliant family attractions and places to visit near you. There are 12 Dreemskerry sports centres to pick from. Alternatively, why not explore some other sports and activities days out nearby, including cycling, arts and crafts or crazy golf. Find the perfect places to go with your kids and get out on your next adventure!
All the sports centres we list are rated according to the ages they are suitable for, facilities and whether they are suitable for rainy days or best when the sun is shining.
Many of the places we list are historic or educational in nature and would be suitable for class trips or as ways to keep the learning up whilst having fun over the school holidays.
If you've visited one of these sports centres in Dreemskerry , please consider leaving a review on the attraction page to help others plan their next fun day out.
Animals Attractions in Dreemskerry
Water Attractions in Dreemskerry
Adventure Attractions in Dreemskerry
Sports and Activities Attractions in Dreemskerry
- Ice Skating and Rollerskating in Dreemskerry
- Ten Pin Bowling Alleys in Dreemskerry
- Go Karting and Driving in Dreemskerry
- Paintballing in Dreemskerry
- Skiing and Snowboarding in Dreemskerry
- Horse Riding and Stables in Dreemskerry
- Cycling in Dreemskerry
- Crazy Golf in Dreemskerry
- Arts and Crafts in Dreemskerry
- Laser Tag in Dreemskerry
- Indoor and Soft Play Areas in Dreemskerry
- Pottery Centres and Ceramic Cafes in Dreemskerry
- Cinemas and Theatres in Dreemskerry
- Trampoline Parks in Dreemskerry
- Indoor Skydiving in Dreemskerry
- Sports Centres in Dreemskerry
Sightseeing Attractions in Dreemskerry
- Theme Parks and Funfairs in Dreemskerry
- Museums and Art Galleries in Dreemskerry
- Tourist Attractions in Dreemskerry
- Landmarks in Dreemskerry
- Castles and Palaces in Dreemskerry
- Caves and Mines in Dreemskerry
- Sports Stadiums in Dreemskerry
- Tours and River Cruises in Dreemskerry
- Stately Homes and Gardens in Dreemskerry
- Railway and Transport Attractions in Dreemskerry


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During the last three or four months, we've seen many iOS 7 concept images as well as videos. Designers and developers have started predicting how Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)'s next mobile operating system – the iOS 7 looks like. Like always, this won't stop until and unless Apple officially announces anything about the new OS.
Apple's WWDC begins next week, and we'll most likely see Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)'s announcement on iOS 7. But if you're the one who can't wait for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)'s announcement, then Steve King has gone one step further in creating a new interactive iOS 7 concept that's based on rumors till now. The concept is presented in rumored iPhone 5S design.
For those who want to try out the new interactive concept, you simply need to visit recombu.com/mobile/interactive/iphone-5s-ios7-concept from where you can play around with the new iOS 7 concept. Of course, you can also directly visit this link from your iPhone.
According to Steve king, the "changes to the OS will likely consist of a flatter aesthetic and less gradients."
He further says that Skeuomorphic elements will be taking a back seat. This basically means that elements won't represent reality. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has always been a fan of Skeuomorphic but that won't happen with the new OS. For example; Notes app will look a lot less like the real notepad.
What's worth pointing out is that King built this entire concept without using any images, and instead, everything was built using CSS and HTML. Now that's really a coding challenge that he was successful with.
Lets See What Apple Will Get For Us At WWDC 2013:
What's the talk of the town is the new flat UI. However, will Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) really adopt a new flatter approach or will it remain just a rumor needs to be seen. With WWDC approaching, we've got only a few days to see what Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) really has in store for us. We'll keep you informed, just stay tuned.


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You can build a simple bat house in a few hours. For materials, you need a 2 foot by 4 foot section of exterior grade plywood, a 6 foot length of 1-by-2-inch board, 1/2-inch deer netting, caulking, exterior latex paint in a dark color, 3/8-inch staples and 1-inch and 3-1/2-inch deck screws.
Measure and cut the wood
Measure and cut the plywood into two pieces. One piece should be 2 feet wide and 26 inches long, and the other should be 2 feet wide and 22 inches long. Cut the 1-by-2-inch board into three pieces. You will need one 24-inch piece and two 19-inch pieces.
Attach the pieces
Use caulking to attach the longer piece of board to the top edge of the larger piece of plywood. Clamp it in place, and use 1-inch screws every 6 inches to secure it in place. Attach the shorter boards to each side of the plywood piece in the same way. Clean up any excess caulk with a damp rag.
Paint the box
Paint the inside of the box black. You can choose a different color for the exterior, but make sure to use a color that will create a good temperature inside. Dark colors absorb sunlight and make the house warm and comfortable for bats. Paint every exposed surface, and let the pain dry completely.
Attach the deer netting
Use a staple gun to attach the deer netting to the inside of the back section. The netting should lie flat against the back and should be pulled taught. Wrap it around the bottom edge and secure it to the back of the box.
Attach the front
Put caulking along the top of the 1-by-2 inch boards. Making sure that the top edges and corners are lined up, attach the top face of the box. Use 1-inch screws every 6 inches along the edges to secure it in place. Use 3-1/2-inch screws to hang the house outside. Choose a place at least 15 feet above the ground and away from bright lights, with at least 6 hours of sun exposure each day.


text:
I've always been a doodler, and for conferences and stuff I often take notes - not that I'll ever read them again, just to help me focus. So visual notetaking/journaling/sketchnote-ing is totally something I'm interested in. I love the idea of breaking things down and thinking of how to portray them in a graphic way. I think it would be so awesome for scripture study, too - there are some awesome people who blog their scripture journals, actually.
Anyway, as a start into it - and to practice - I decided to make a journal of my lessons I prepare to teach in Primary (my sharing times - when I teach the children at church). I broke out a moleskine (I printed it long ago) and got to work.
Hopefully at the end of the year, I'll have a cool record of what I've done/a handful of basic gospel principles. I rotate with two other wonderful ladies, so I won't have 52 of these, but probably... 16?
Anyway, here are my first two:
I always prepare two different lessons, for jr. and sr. primary, so these are a combination of main points prepared. Both include part of a song at the bottom that goes with the lesson, which I think is something I'll continue.
I think this would be a cool way to teach children/youth, too. Especially visually-oriented ones. I was just talking with my husband about this (he teaches the oldest boys in Primary) and he might have the boys do this in class, that would be cool!
Anyway, fun! If you're interested, check out this book (I've heard good things about this one, too), and this blog! Very inspiring. Do you ever sketchnote? If so, what?
p.s. Here's my current 'everyday' moleskine (I keep everything in there):
It's NOT pretty and cute inside, though there are doodles a plenty. Anyway, I've discovered a new use for washi tape: divider tabs! Cute divider tabs. I decided I needed to mark a few pages I refer to often (currently: birthday party planning, science plans, and history plans). Makes it easier to stay on top of things. Just stick a little piece of tape to itself and the page and there you go!


text:
Adopting your BEST FRIEND!
Adopting a pet is a SERIOUS COMMITMENT: We strongly encourage anyone thinking about adding a furry member to their family to do their research and to be ready for this commitment. Take a moment to read through this helpful Adopting a Pet page. The SPCA of TN will be happy to work with you in finding out what kind of pet is best for you. If you want to have a pet please make sure you can make a 10-20 year commitment to your pet. If you are not sure about adopting at this time, you can consider fostering for us. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us at email@example.com
We will work directly with you providing individualized attention and support in order to help you find the perfect pet(s) for your family. We also suggest you take the time to read through the many resource documents on our website and other sites to prepare yourself for your pet.
You will first be required to complete our application form and agree to our adoption contract. We will require a copy of your driver license and 3 personal references.
In our agreement, we require that every animal be spayed and or neutered (if not prior to adoption) by a specific date. This is VERY important as the overpopulation of dogs and cats in our country is a sad result of too many unplanned litters. If for any reason the match is not as perfect as we all had hoped, the dog or cat must be returned to the SPCA of TN and not given away or turned in to a shelter.
Note: The SPCA of TN requires adopters to be at least 21 years of age. We will require proof of age to finalize any adoption.
The SPCA of TN adoption fees range depending on type of animal, the originating shelter and the vetting the animal has received. Our adoption fees are set to allow us to cover our expenses as well as to help other animals in our program that require additional care. Our fees cover vetting costs, shelter fees, boarding (if needed), behavioral training and additional medical care if the animal require it. By adopting from the SPCA of TN you are not saving just one life, you are helping to save others as well.
In general, you will follow these steps when go to our SPCA of TN website to adopt an animal companion:
Visit the animals available for adoption to find the one(s) who might be right for you on line to www.spcatn.org
Fill out an adoption application (see below) that tells us about yourself and your household so we can facilitate the match-making process.
Talk to a staff member to learn more about your prospective companion and to determine if the pet you are choosing is truly right for you.
Decide whether or not to adopt.
Go through the adoption materials with the Adoption Coordinator. You will receive information about your animal's vaccination history, as well as other information that will help you once you get your new companion home.
There is a Contract to finalize the adoption process
A home visit is require to make sure your future companion will be a good fit for you and your family.
Why I love older dogs?


text:
February 19, 2007
The Political Is Personal
A few days ago, I was personally denounced in a blogpost by a person who barely knows me, with whom I'd had no conversation in a dozen years or more, and with whom the only interaction I'd had before that was on an online bulletin board and occasional chance meetings at conventions.
We never had any vicious arguments; I know this for a fact because, by the nature of the software I was using at the time, I have a record of every message I ever posted on that BBS. I have just searched through the archives for every exchange I ever had where I even so much as mentioned that person or the person's spouse; I read every one, and nowhere was there any unpleasantness between us. The closest I came was when I said that the spouse can be very scathing online but is unfailingly kind and polite in person.
And yet I was denounced, and in the most personal, rage-filled way. The ostensible trigger was a blogpost here on Big Lizards (which of course did not mention the denouncer). But the denunciation segued pretty quickly into a very personal (and oddly misremembered) recounting of my time on that BBS, written as if the blog author were on the receiving end of some rather rough treatment from me.
The only problem is -- it never happened. He or she has confabulated the memory or confused me with somebody else.
What strikes me most about the exchange is the reversal it implies in the old feminist phrase, "the personal is political." What they meant was that your politics arises from the circumstances of your life, what a lefty would call your "class interest." Thus, they argued, a rich woman who could afford to jet up to Montreal to get an abortion for her teenaged daughter wouldn't understand why a poor, unmarried woman with a teenaged daughter would want abortion legalized across the United States.
It was always a silly argument; most of the liberal leaders who pushed abortion rights were from rich and privileged backgrounds, just as most (not all) of the Communist revolutionaries were from at least middle-class, highly educated backgrounds... striking against class-interests like a house afire.
But the reality appears to be just the reverse: the political becomes deeply personal. Among a few on the Right and nearly everyone on the Left, a sharp political disagreement with Mr. X causes them to hate and despise Mr. X, and the little dog he rode in on, too.
Bush Derangement Syndrome is a typical instance of this: nothing for which President Bush is attacked, excoriated, denounced, and hysterically feared would even raise an eyebrow if he had the same politics and party as Bill Clinton; I do not recall the Left assailing President Clinton for bombing Kosovo or invading Bosnia and Haiti (to be fair, a small number of individual pacifists did, but not the Democratic Party or the Democratic Left as a whole).
When Bush was elected in 2000, I lost three friends. Each of them put it to me bluntly: either I agreed that he "stole the election," and that Al Gore had "absolute won Florida" -- or I could never speak to them again. I had to choose the latter; what sort of friendship can flourish in the poisoned soil of extortion? But I was shocked.
(My opinion is that it's not mathematically possible to say with any degree of certainty whether Bush or Gore got the most votes in Florida; the count was simply too close. It is impossible for human beings to count objects in the millions without error. But since Bush was ahead when the Supreme Court blew the whistle, he gets to be president. Had Gore been ahead, I would have been unhappy... but I wouldn't have said it was impossible that he legitimately got more votes.)
I see much more of this sort of personalization of political difference on the Left than the Right; for every Ann Coulter, there are a good half dozen Al Frankens, Jonathan Chaits, and Keith Olbermanns. But the Right is not blameless: while it was perfectly appropriate to impeach President Clinton for various high crimes and misdemeanors, nothing justifies the sort of ludicrous conspiracy-mongering exemplified by the "Clinton Death List."
It's true that the former president knows an unusually large number of people who died violently, but there is not the slightest shred of evidence that Bill Clinton had anything to do with any of it: Vince Foster committed suicide; he was not murdered. Ron Brown died in an airplane crash; he was not assassinated, and the crash was not rigged to cover that up. James McDougal died in prison from a heart condition; at worst, he died by neglect... there is nothing whatsoever to justify the risible charge that Clinton ordered his medication be denied him.
There is some evidence (testimonial) that Clinton raped Juanita Broaddrick; but until and unless such evidence is tested in court, we have no idea whether she's telling the truth, lying, or confabulating; and she has shown a marked lack of interest in bringing such a case (which is now long past the statute of limitations). Republicans are not generally the ones saying that "a woman would never lie about rape;" we're the party that remembers Tawana Brawley.
Yet the hatred by the Right of Bill Clinton was bizarre and ugly. I was an anti-Clinton activist, but I never hated the man; I thought he was a wretched president -- I still think he sold out American national security to Red China for campaign cash... but that's a political judgment. I accepted that he was a groper, and he admitted as such when he settled Paula Jones's lawsuit and more or less admitted Kathleen Willey's charges.
But apart from the unproven Broaddrick charge, Clinton is no more a proven lecher than Arnold Schwarzenegger, now governor of California... and I certainly don't hate Schwarzenegger, despite disagreeing with about 70% of his politics.
I believe that Clinton (wrongly) thinks that everything he did was good for America... or at the least, that since he, himself was good for America, therefore everything that was good for him was good for the rest of us. His venality was petty; it was not on the level of a Khalid Sheikh Mohammed or a Timothy McVeigh.
The hatred by the Right for Bill Clinton was aberrant; but the hatred by the Left of everyone to the right of Hillary Clinton appears to be a perpetually renewed virginity: each time they find someone new to despise, it's as though it were the first time they ever saw anyone so despicable.
[Correction note: I mixed up the Thomas nomination, putting him earlier and stating that Reagan nominated him -- hat tip to commenter Karrde; it was of course his successor, President George H.W. Bush. I should also have mentioned the nomination of Sen. John Tower of Texas to be Bush's Secretary of Defense, and the politics of personal destruction that destroyed him; but I must confess I didn't follow that nomination debacle as well as that of Clarence Thomas. What follows is the rewrite of this paragraph.]
I was too young to be politically active (or even aware) during the 60s and early 70s, so I first noticed this intense personalization of political difference during the Reagan administration, when opposition to Reagan took on an almost evangelical fervor. This accelerated during the administration of the rather innocuous George H.W. Bush -- in particular, the persecution and character assassination of Justice Clarence Thomas, when Bush-41 nominated him to the Supreme Court.
At first, the Left was content to oppose Thomas on political grounds. But when it became clear they had failed, and that even in a Democratic-controlled Senate, he was about to be confirmed, the Democrats scrambled about for a weapon. Leftist journalist Nina Totenberg recruited former Thomas employee Anita Hill to charge Thomas with... with what?
It was never exactly clear what she was charging him with; but it was pretty darned disreputable... whatever the heck it was. It wasn't sexual harassment, because she never claimed he pressured her for sex, touched her, or made her think that her career depended upon giving him sex. She and her puppetmasters tried to claim Thomas created a hostile work environment; but she never presented any other witnesses who testified that they thought so, nor did she claim to have objected to it or even refrain from participating.
It certainly wasn't discrimination, unless she meant discrimination in her favor, because he promoted her and offered to bring her along when he was promoted from the Office of Civil Rights in the Department of Education (DOE) to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). And she certainly did not feel threatened, because she eagerly jumped at the opportunity to follow him in that move... despite being guaranteed, because she was a civil servant (and personally assured by her supervisor) that she could stay on at DOE, keeping her rank and seniority, if she preferred.
Another feminist chum, "Judge" Susan Hoerchner, testified that Hill had called her every day, upset and terrified about how Hill was being sexually harassed by her boss -- and that that boss was Clarence Thomas. But Hoerchner made a very foolish error; she said the calls had occurred while they both lived in D.C., and that when Hoerchner moved to California, they no longer telephoned each other because of the long-distance rates.
Alas for Hoerchner's testimony, Hill did not even meet Thomas until months after Hoerchner moved away; and it was more months after that before she was working for him. So whatever boss she was complaining about, it wasn't Clarence Thomas.
Yet to this day, liberals (and especially black liberals) routinely call Thomas the most vile epithets imaginable, of which the very least is "Uncle Tom." And they repeat as fact all sorts of accusations that were never even floated during the hearings (for example, that Thomas raped Hill, which Hill herself certainly never claimed).
Two Wall Street Journal writers, Jane Meyer and Jill Abramson, wrote an angry, tendentious book titled Strange Justice that interviewed a number of people who hate Thomas (but none who like, support, or defend him). The book is completely unsourced; for every absurd charge, the footnote refers only to private interviews with the person making the charge. There is no independent verification of anything; it just goes on and on, reviling the man up one side and down the other... and by the end, he's thoroughly reviled, let me tell you!
We skip twenty years; this post has gone on too long already. It's a two-decade long unbroken chain of vile personal attacks on Republicans whose only fault is to disagree with the fundamental premises of Leftism, what Thomas Sowell (another "Uncle Tom," according to black liberals) calls "the vision of the anointed." Most recently, when Charles Pickering was nominated to a federal judgeship, Democrats leveled the charge that he was a "segregationist."
In fact, there is no evidence at all that he ever advocated segregation or was a racist; even moreso, he actually fought against just such segregation and racism in Mississippi in the 1960s, testifying against the head of the Mississippi chapter of the Ku Klux Klan, an man who was running around dynamiting businesses and people he didn't like.
Pickering enjoys near unanimous support from black leaders in his home state. But none of that matters: he was being appointed to take the "slot" of a liberal judge... so anything goes. The political turf war justifies any level of invective... even smearing a good, decent, anti-segregationist, anti-racist as a vile, evil segregationist and racist.
When the ends are so cosmic, they justify any means... no matter how repugnant. You can't make an omlet without breaking a few legs.
There is a reason that former leftists or liberals who have broken ranks and joined the other side vastly outnumber those who traveled the opposite route: There are many more Whittaker Chamberses, Ronald Reagans, Robert Heinleins, Irving Kristols, David Horowitzes, and Harry Steins than there are David Brocks (and it's hard not to notice that the former are heavyweights compared to the snarky, gossipy last). The reason is that most people tend to grow up as they grow old. They lose interest in "fan feuds" (modern equivalent: blog wars) and start wondering at the provenance of what they have always believed. They start to think... and thought is the death-knell of fanaticism.
(In an interview in World Press Review, playwright Eugene Ionesco said, "a fanatic can never be convinced, but only converted.")
But there are some Lost Boys (and Girls) who never grow up, for whom the political will always be intensely personal; people who are never content disputing the reasoning of those on the other side but must instead work like the Dickens to destroy them. I mean people like Amanda Marcotte of Pandagon and Melissa McEwen of Shakespeare's Sister, for whom any political disagreement means a personal war.
The enemy cannot possibly disbelieve the Vision: If Musab Zarqawi is an "Islamofascist," then a person who opposes abortion on demand must be a "Christofascist;" he cannot possibly actually believe that a foetus is a human person! It can only be a Fascist scheme to trap women in the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant.
I refuse to understand why I cannot like -- or at least be pleasant to -- someone I disagree with. I reject the notion that my positions are so obvious and opalescent that only an imbecile, a madman, or a thug can dispute them. And while I may well respond in kind to an unprovoked personal attack (I'm no Albert Schweitzer), I will not initiate such attacks based entirely upon political difference.
And I will thoroughly disrespect those who do. I wish I could say those for whom "the political is personal" disappoint me; but sadly, no... I have learned to expect nothing better.
Hatched by Dafydd on this day, February 19, 2007, at the time of 5:52 PM
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The following hissed in response by: unclebenjamin
Well put.
The above hissed in response by: unclebenjamin at February 19, 2007 7:32 PM
The following hissed in response by: Al McAlister
Unfortunately, this is likely to get much worse. Suppose the next presidential election features Hillary Clinton vs. Mitt Romney. Such an election will produce a bitterness that won't be healed in the lifetime of the participants. Don't think Mitt will be nominated? Well, Rudy vs. Hillary won't be much different except the attacks against the Republican will be based on his personal life instead of his religion. Other possible matchups might not be quite as nasty as those two would be, but when people want to personalize political differences they can always find a reason to make a personal attack on a political opponent.
The above hissed in response by: Al McAlister at February 19, 2007 7:42 PM
The following hissed in response by: Mr. Michael
The problem, Dafydd, is one of Religious Faith. While the Left tend to laugh at the Religious Faith of those on the Right, especially Christians, the Left itself has a Religiously believed Dogma that must be believed. Heretics on any of the mandated positions must not only be disagreed with, but banished, stoned, burned at the stake!!!
Many at the upper levels of thier Church of Leftism can enter into a thoughtful conversation, but at the street level they rely more upon volume of protest (both db and quantity) than in quality of the position.
Feel free to blaspheme, but be prepared for the punishment... and you are correct: We can't act suprised.
The above hissed in response by: Mr. Michael at February 19, 2007 9:17 PM
The following hissed in response by: karrde
Small issue with your above post:
Since Justice Thomas began serving on the court in 1991, I don't think he was nominated by Reagan.
Other than that...excellent post. The opener about the interaction of the personal and the political is very pointed, and very well-written.
The above hissed in response by: karrde at February 19, 2007 9:34 PM
The following hissed in response by: Dafydd ab Hugh
Oops, thanks for the correction; I changed the post. And thanks for the kind words!
The above hissed in response by: Dafydd ab Hugh at February 19, 2007 11:16 PM
The following hissed in response by: Terrye
I know plenty of Demcorats whohate Bush and go to Church. Not all people in the Democratic party are lefties, just the people running the thing. The other day I was at some older lady's house and on the coffee table was a copy of John Dean's book, Worse than Watergate. And she really believes all that. She is a strong Christian, never misses church, is not a strong supporter of abortion and is not a member of the communist party. She just thinks that Republicans are rich people who don't care about poor people and they use the government to help their rich friends.
Do not underestimate the resentment some people feel for people with money. But it is personal, no doubt.
Who went after you?
The above hissed in response by: Terrye at February 20, 2007 3:13 AM
The following hissed in response by: HShort
Ole' Dafydd ab Hugh:
You write fairly well and I even agree with a lot of it; however, there certainly is a problem in that you align yourself with the anti-conspiracy crowd who insist that conspiracies are related to witchcraft and since we all know witches can't cross water then all the conspiracies that wrecked havoc throughout the countless centuries in Europe and Asia have never ever tainted our virgin continent. Therefore anyone who ever claims or even considers such a thing is automatically an idiot.
The problem here is that of course conspiracies exist but your group does the monkey see, hear, and say no evil routine so unfailingly that those guilty of the most heinous crimes against humanity are automatically whitewashed and fawned over for having their delicate self esteem so cruelly attacked. Apparently you are incapable of hating anyone for anything. I find that admirable in a monk but disgusting in an adult citizen. There are people who are so craven and egomaniacal that they are simply beast walking on two legs in the form of a human being. They neither know the meaning of the word empathy nor do they care.
You say "I was an anti-Clinton activist, but I never hated the man; I thought he was a wretched president -- I still think he sold out American national security to Red China for campaign cash... but that's a political judgment... His venality was petty..."
Selling out the national security of the United States for cash simply makes him a 'wretched' president with a 'petty' degree of venality? It makes him a traitor, a person to be despised and, yes, to be hated. There is nothing wrong with hatred based on facts; it is a traditional and rightful reaction to traitors who betray their own for their own self aggrandizement, because they put at risk everything we and our ancestors have worked, fought, and died for. I have absolutely no idea where your head is on this.
I also have very different memories of the Hill - Thomas affair. I remember the vicious disgusting hate filled attacks on her by the members of your squeaky clean morally upright Republican party. I remember her as being dignified and believable, while Clarance came across as being anal retentive, guilty as hell, and not about to admit a thing because who gives a damn about what a woman claims. I assure you, the Islamofanatics and the Repubs had nothing to teach each other about how women should be treated. And while I know, because you say so, that you don't hate anyone, especially Anita Hill, your portrayal of the events simply is a continuation of the baseless hate filled attacks on her. Have you ever asked yourself what she had to gain by enduring that circus? Nothing that I know of, except just maybe she wanted the truth to be heard about a man who was being considered for one of the top political positions of this country. Just maybe she cared enough to try and get the truth out.
If you don't believe me that the goody two shoes Rep party can be a hate filled vicious gang of goons just go back and look again at Ross Perot's experience when they attacked his daughter. Made him blink, which was what they wanted, and his campaign virtually ended then and there.
But then I don't understand how anyone can defend any humongous group controlled by lord knows who for unfathomable reasons. There are a few good people who are worth supporting, it makes little difference what political party they may or may not claim membership in. Parties are simply large groups of diverse people and in groups the common denominators are always the lowest. And yes, I'm an independent, and the only politician I'd ever give you a nickel for was governor Hammond up in Alaska.
The above hissed in response by: HShort at February 20, 2007 3:28 AM
The following hissed in response by: Dafydd ab Hugh
Selling out the national security of the United States for cash simply makes him a 'wretched' president with a 'petty' degree of venality?
It makes him a traitor, a person to be despised and, yes, to be hated.
I have absolutely no idea where your head is on this.
I believe Bill Clinton is congenitally incapable of separating what's good for WJC from what's good for the USA. He is morally retarded, and I don't hold him to be as venal as, say, Michael Moore or George Soros, who know exactly what they're doing, what they're risking, and who will suffer for it.
I can honestly hate George Soros, George Galloway, Ayman Zawahiri, and Vladimir Putin; I cannot hate Bill Clinton, any more than I can hate a child for stealing all of the pie instead of sharing it among his playmates.
For that matter, I cannot hate Cindy Sheehan, either. She is not responsible for herself, since she has always lacked a moral compass. She is a shriveled, bilious old woman who has thrown away her entire life in order to play queen bee for a few years. Whatever resentment I might feel is swallowed up by the void that looms over her, now that the sands of her hourglass of fame have almost trickled away.
As for the rest of your rant, which you seem to believe is unique and insightful, I'm sorry you've had so many disappointments in life. But taking another piece of what Harlan Ellison calls "angry candy" probably isn't going to make you feel better.
The above hissed in response by: Dafydd ab Hugh at February 20, 2007 4:47 AM
The following hissed in response by: Steelhand
Thank you for your differentiation. I voted for Clinton the first time, not the second. It was during my change from Liberal to Conservative.
One interesting part of the Juanita Brodderick charge was the feminist react. They say, "Any claim of rape must be taken seriously." (See the Duke debacle.) As you point out, with Anita Hill, any charge of inappropriate behavior must be castigated. Yet, Ms. Brodderick was marginalized, because the 42nd president was "good for women." So the end justifies the means, as it generally does for the left.
If it is done for a good reason, anything is permissable. If it is done for the "Right reason" it is wrong. And anyone with the power to do things they find objectionable is not wrong, but evil.
We on the right are not immune to this disorder, as you rightly point out. But generally accepted opinion on the right finds the left to be merely misguided, not interested in being evil for evil's sake. It makes it tough to consider options when you presuppose the source makes the option good or ill.
The above hissed in response by: Steelhand at February 20, 2007 6:25 AM
The following hissed in response by: snochasr
I believe that the proof of your premise is far more simple than what you have induced here. The liberal catechism, regardless of its individual precepts (of the moment) or disconnection with reality, all rest on one single point of faith: that each individual liberal is intellectually and morally superior to all the rest of us. Therefore, any disagreement is, in fact, a personal attack on that intellectual and moral superiority, and cannot be tolerated. How dare YOU question THEM?
The above hissed in response by: snochasr at February 20, 2007 7:25 AM
The following hissed in response by: nk
The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.
I know which blogpost you are referring to. The commenters who showed up to participate in the echo chamber were a lot less interesting and credible than the magpies who roost in my neighborhood. A cuckoo chimed in as well, to play the misogyny card. I recognized one of the magpies -- I had read some of his "gangster-in-fairyland" stories in my subway-riding days. His comment confirmed my suspicion from back then that he was published more as a result of cozying up to radical feminists than for the quality of his writing.
Illegitimi non carborundum.
(If you feel that this comment grants them too much dignity in the way of acknowledgment, I will not be offended if you redact it.)
The above hissed in response by: nk at February 20, 2007 8:44 AM
The following hissed in response by: ElZee
For HShort--
There are many people who somehow never got the term for "messing up big time" correct. It's not "wrecked havoc," which would mean destroying havoc--obviously meaningless. It's "wreaked (pronounced like reeked) havoc," which means to bring about havoc.
Sorry, but having been an English teacher, I can't overlook these things.
The above hissed in response by: ElZee at February 20, 2007 9:32 AM
The following hissed in response by: Big D
I had a conversation recently with a friend who despises George Bush. At one point he said, "So you think what Clinton did with Monica was worse than Bush starting a war in Iraq?"
I said yes. Clinton literally stopped the country for two years due to his lecherous and venal nature. He could have ended the problem at any time by simply resigning. Bush was acting in his capacity as president to do what he thought best for the U.S.
He was confused, so I gave him an example. Let's say you have two employees. One is not doing his job, having affairs with other employees (in the office during work hours), and giving away information on your company to your competitors.
The second is doing his job, but (with your agreement) ends up losing a lot of money during a business transaction.
Which employee would you fire?
The above hissed in response by: Big D at February 20, 2007 9:57 AM
The following hissed in response by: Il Padrino
I also know the blog post you refer to. I'll defer to your unspoken judgment and not make explicit reference to it (I actually found it completely by accident while researching a *different* author on Wikipedia ... was shocked to find such an attack on a blogger I read semi-regularly). But I do want to discuss something the post and huge comment thread raised.
Why is sf fandom so full of doctrinaire, preening, self-righteous intellectual bullies? It's not the first time I've seen flamethreads so overflowing with vitriol (and such threads were the main reason I abandoned the decaying Usenet years ago). But where does it come from? These people are so unaware of their own prejudices and biases that one of them couldn't see the breathtaking hypocrisy in suggesting bloggers like LGF's Charles Johnson be prosecuted under RICO predicates. (Not kidding.)
What are your thoughts? I left the fandom after a brief flirtation a long time ago, but you seem peripherally involved, at the very least. Why the rancor and the absolute conviction of their correctness, branding any malcontents as subhuman troglodytes?
I would not have thought purveyors and readers of *speculative* fiction would be so ironbound in their views.
The above hissed in response by: Il Padrino at February 20, 2007 9:59 AM
The following hissed in response by: Mr. Michael
Padrino, it probably comes from insecurity. I mean, imagine yourself as a writer of Science Fiction. You're being judged sometimes on the quality of your writing and/or your stories, sure. But you've also willingly subjected yourself to the criticism of Arm Chair Scientists. Spelling errors and tense are important, sure, but mistaking one Scientific Theory for another? Pathetic! Absurd! Sophmoric! burn him at the stake!! (Sorry, personal cliche'.)
Now consider that a lot of Sci-Fi is a lightly wrapped morality play; portraying what would happen if such-and-such is the case. NOW you are walking in the world of Moral Dogma. And we've all seen how much wrong can be done by those who are convinced they are Right, capital R.
The above hissed in response by: Mr. Michael at February 20, 2007 10:56 AM
The following hissed in response by: FredTownWard
I think the conditions you are describing are simply Yet Another unintended consequence of the Left's greatest advantage, which is also its greatest disadvantage: the mainstream media driven double standard which holds Republicans to MUCH higher standards than Democrats. In the short term this is always to the Left's advantage, but in the long term it is always to the Left's disadvantage because of the pathologies it encourages on the Left and discourages on the Right, and the longer it goes on, the worse it gets!
Why could the Clinton Haters never even APPROACH the lunacy of the Bush Haters? Because of the almost infinitely greater scrutiny they faced, as did any "normal" Republicans who seemed to be too sympathetic to them.
The result is quite simple and plainly obvious for all to see: our crooks and loons get run out of the party sooner or later; their crooks and loons end up running the party. Only a continuation of the ongoing rise of conservative media can eventually put a stop to it by shining the light of truth on the Democrat cockroaches and then only when Democrat voters demonstrate a willingness to clean house. As things stand now, only two futures are possible: either some sort of leftist dictatorship (extremely unlikely in part because the totally corrupt and the totally unhinged don't make the best conspirators) or total collapse once another important voting block or two figure out how badly they are being conned to be followed by God knows how many decades of attempted reform. Now while this is excellent for the long term future of the Republican Party, it is problematical for the future of the country because as 2006 reminded us, Democrats can still win the occasional election despite for all practical purposes being clinically insane.
The lunatics are running the (Democrat Party) asylum and will be for the foreseeable future. Frankly, one could argue that their last, best hope for success in the near term would for the so-called Rapture to take place!
The above hissed in response by: FredTownWard at February 20, 2007 1:21 PM
The following hissed in response by: Dafydd ab Hugh
Il Padrino:
The leftward bias of science fiction goes back a long time; the SFWA Grand Master Award, often called the Grand Master Nebula (it's awarded at the Nebula Awards function, but it's actually not a Nebula), was more or less created by then-President Jerry Pournelle in 1975 when it became obvious that Science Fiction Writers of America ("Fantasy" was not in the title then) would never vote a regular Nebula to Robert A. Heinlein... for political reasons.
(To be fair, SFWA, hence the Nebula, didn't spring into existence until 1965, by which point Heinlein was writing much deeper and more literary works that a lot of fans didn't like.)
Science fiction has been politicized since at least the 1930s; but there was a good mix of left and right at least into the 60s. Some magazine ran a survey where a bunch of famous SF authors could sign up either for or against the Vietnam war; as I recall, roughly similar numbers were on each side.
But if you ran such a poll today about the Iraq war -- or even the Afghanistan war -- I think the results would be quite lopsided towards the Left. SFWA and the editorial boards of most SF publishers, like most newspapers and university faculties, are now utterly dominated by leftists, often self-described socialists, Communists, Marxists, Trotskyites, and so forth. Liberals represent the rightmost edge of that spectrum, with occasional isolated dots further right.
The reasons for this are myriad, but I think the key is the "gatekeeper phenomenon": when one side acts as a gatekeeper, only letting its own in, while the other lets in anybody, then within a fairly short period of time, the gatekeeper side controls the entire traffic flow.
There is one more point: There was widespread agreement on many basic issues even among left-leaning SF writers in the past. Old-time lefties such as Fred Pohl and the late Isaac Asimov are very different from the "New Left" that arose during the Vietnam war.
The gap between Left and Right, even on the most basic issues (such as "scientific progress is mostly good"), is much wider today than ever before in science fiction's history.
The above hissed in response by: Dafydd ab Hugh at February 20, 2007 2:06 PM
The following hissed in response by: Fritz
I also don't understand the hatred expressed by people on both sides of the aisle. Yes, there are a few people I actually hate, but they are ones who have earned it and not because of some group they belong to or might be associated with. And I am also willing to differentiate between people who do things because of mistakes and those who do them to be vicious. In a piece of writing I did I used the following quotations and I think they describes my feeling towards hatred quite well.
"Hatred, which could destroy so much, never failed to destroy the man who hated, and this was an immutable law," by James Baldwin. He also wrote the following, "I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hate so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain." Both statements strike me as very true. Deep down people know that hatred is wrong, but they cannot face the pain which accompanies the loss of hate, and so they continue on, destroying themselves in the process. It is so much easier to hate and blame others than it is to accept the pain of recognizing our own failures.
In the end, many of those who express such hatred probably have so much invested in their beliefs that they find it impossible to admit that they might be wrong and therefore anyone who disagrees with them has to be evil. Yet for many, they have never considered that they have never thought through those beliefs and are being used by some very vicious people. In simple terms, they are not smart enough to think and instead try to hold themselves up by becoming rabid supporters of those whom they admire. I actually pity most of them. To be so unwilling to think and question traps you into always being a follower, never a leader. And like a bunch of lemmings, they will follow their leader over the cliff and drown. Truly sad.
The above hissed in response by: Fritz at February 20, 2007 4:43 PM
The following hissed in response by: KarmiCommunist
Humble Low and Ignorant Insane swamp hermit me am a Muslim now, and all non-believers are Infidels!!!
The closest I came was when I said that the spouse can be very scathing online but is unfailingly kind and polite in person.
If the "spouse" is female...perhaps you should've said that she belongs in a burka, especially when online. Speaking of being online...broadband cable is still not available to my humble hut, so i have accepted a slow 1.5 DSL connection from the rich Infidels (best that they could offer)instead, and am *GRATEFUL* to Allah for providing another choice over dial-up or satellite...so to speak.
If the "spouse" is male, then he is a worser Infidel than his wife, and Allah shall deal with him in time.
Karmic Sword of Allah
The above hissed in response by: KarmiCommunist at February 20, 2007 7:41 PM
The following hissed in response by: karrde
Thanks, Daffyd. (I couldn't let the most entertaining blogger I know be wrong about something so trivial, yet important to the historical veracity of drama that he wished to unfold before our eyes...)
As far as the intersection--nay, refusal to distinguish between--the personal and the political, this is a malady that I see too often.
Do I see it on all sides of our multifarious political spectrum? Yes, but it has become endemic among the slogan-creators and the opinion-spreaders of one particular part of said multifarious spectrum.
And boy, does it make reasoned argument hard.
The above hissed in response by: karrde at February 20, 2007 8:14 PM
The following hissed in response by: Jewels
Ha! I just now realized why your name seemed so familiar. I've read your Star Trek novels, even own a few. You were one of my favorite authors and I never connected your name in this context with your name in that context.
What I find even more amusing is that my good friend, who recommended your books to me in the first place, is a democrat. ::whispers:: I wonder if he knows about your "secret" identity...! ;o)
The above hissed in response by: Jewels at February 21, 2007 1:42 PM
The following hissed in response by: CT
I saw the blog post in question. My favorite was the comment on how your views would cost you your soul. Pure comedy.
I've read the blogger in question numerous times. Posts are typically filled with vitriol and the author firmly believes in left wing conspiracy theories. It's a damn shame, but there it is.
Great blog, btw.
The above hissed in response by: CT at February 21, 2007 2:50 PM
The following hissed in response by: Dafydd ab Hugh
Thanks for the kind words... have you read any of my non-Trek novels?
The above hissed in response by: Dafydd ab Hugh at February 21, 2007 4:13 PM
The following hissed in response by: HShort
Ole' Daffy:
Your response certainly is almost humorous enough to elicit a laugh... almost. But since you don't seem to understand the position your response put you in let me just mention a few things. First, your post which is the basis for this comment section had to do with your amazement or outrage or whatever, that a former acquaintance had the audacity to dis you somewhere or another recently. You assure us that you diligently went through all your correspondence with this individual and there was absolutely nothing which could be construed to validate this type of reaction. Well, ol' slithery one, if you want others to believe that then don't make your critic's case for him. Case in point your response to my comments:
"..I'm sorry you've had so many disappointments in life..."
Come again? I didn't relate any personal experiences. I related news reports or coverage concerning items you mentioned. My observations that there are beast that walk on two legs in the guise of humans is amply covered by the above, but also by the daily news stories about mothers murdering their children, perverts kidnapping children, drive by shootings, bombs going off in markets, or any of the other million and one examples of human perversion.
What you have done here is raise the old 'this character is obviously mentally disturbed so anything he says you can ignore'. Nothing original or illuminating in taking this tack, the anti-war far left beat this one to death for over thirty years by applying it to the poor stressed out vietnam vet. The thing is, while I understand the lizard brain is pretty much limited to limbic functionality, your giving into that knee jerk reaction makes you the one guilty of making the political personal, which obviously pretty much convicts you of being at the least a hypocrite:
"I refuse to understand why I cannot like -- or at least be pleasant to -- someone I disagree with. I reject the notion that my positions are so obvious and opalescent that only an imbecile, a madman, or a thug can dispute them. And while I may well respond in kind to an unprovoked personal attack (I'm no Albert Schweitzer), I will not initiate such attacks based entirely upon political difference.
And I will thoroughly disrespect those who do. I wish I could say those for whom "the political is personal" disappoint me; but sadly, no... I have learned to expect nothing better."
I didn't insult you or call you names, but you certainly insulted me. Instead of engaging in a rationale discussion you resorted to personal insults, and thereby hoisted yourself on ye ole petard as it were.
Part of the problem seems to stem from your trying to apply your motives and rationales to others. Don't do that. For instance I am not like you. I don't think the same way you do, and what motivates you sure as hell does not motivate me. Case in point
"As for the rest of your rant, which you seem to believe is unique and insightful.."
Original? Insightful? Not at all. It was more along the line of someone giving you a dressing down after finding muddy footprints tracked into the house and all you can come up with is the clever Simpson-like retort of 'Quit your ranting." Hand over eyes, fingers in ears: because Billy Boy had blow jobs in the oval office its immaterial that he accepted money from agents of a foreign power, opened up access to classified scientific and military systems and information to said foreign power, and thus compromised the safety and security of this country. State of perpetual denial in a private world of self-delusion. Not the best debating technique you could have chosen.
And this brings us to the Second item: As a person of integrity and honor, or so you assure us all, you must be someone who keeps his word, right? And you're going to be closing down this blog, right? Why? Well, because you just basically told me that if I couldn't come up with original or insightful comments then my comments are not worth listening to. And since there isn't any original reporting to be seen here, nor anything especially illuminating either, then by your own confessed standards this blog isn't worth maintaining and you will stand by your convictions and shut her down, right.... Actually, don't. While in the world of the real politic this blog has no significance, on a personal level I'm sure it is very important to you.
But since it isn't important to me, farewell. I'm sure you and your self proclaimed public "I just can't help myself when I see a typo" teacher with his/her own obviously highly engaged limbic system will have many a jolly time since you are both obviously so made for each other.
The above hissed in response by: HShort at February 21, 2007 6:19 PM
The following hissed in response by: unclebenjamin
Oh for goodness' sakes. Lighten up HShort.
The above hissed in response by: unclebenjamin at February 21, 2007 7:58 PM
The following hissed in response by: Big D
Whew, what a pair of diatribes. A tip - writing more doesn't usually make your point better.
Regarding conspiracy claims I always fall back on Sagen's opinion of UFOs - Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. I know, if there was proof it wouldn't be a conspiracy. And down the rabbit hole we go.
How about Occam's razor? "Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem" In this case, don't attribute to conspiracy what can be adequately explained by foolishness, greed, malice, human error, etc.
The above hissed in response by: Big D at February 22, 2007 9:41 AM
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text:
Well, there is another story in his book The Orthodox Heretic, which pretty much puts it plainly.
The story is called "Betrayal", and it and it's short commentary are on pages 117-119. The story is about a temple master who calls his faithful young disciple, and says that he fears the disciple will betray him. The disciple is shocked, and says that he always tries to be faithful to the master's teachings. Here are the master's words, that end the clever little story.
"But you fail to understand, my young friend." replied the Master. "The fact that you have never betrayed my teachings, and the fact that you swear never to betray them; this is to betray them already."
In his commentary, Rollins seems to keep this in the realm of human teachers. But even in that, I think it is problematic. Especially in regards to Christian teachings.
For example, Paul says to "imitate me, as I imitate Christ". Paul does not seem to take the stance that the believers were to practice some kind of "faithful betrayal", as Rollins puts it in the commentary, lest they betray him and his teachings by following them too closely. Now, Paul does seem to recognize areas for differences of opinions, for example when he deals with those who eat meat and those who don't, but he treats most of his teachings as being authoritative, and expects those he writes to to take them seriously, to follow them, and to be faithful to them.
But I think there is more to Rollin's clever little story and commentary. Perhaps I am being unfair, but I think he is going beyond mere human teachers. I think that he is saying that we can betray God by following too closely to what He says in His Word.
I could, for example, point to the story which gives it's name to the whole book, The Orthodox Heretic. In this clever little story, a man gets a message directly from God about a way to act, but he defies God, saying "I do not need the Scriptures or your words to tell me what I ought to do", and "So, my God, I defy you in order to remain faithful to you", p 97. Rather than being angry with the man, the story ends with God seeming to be rather pleased with this man's act of defiance.
I suppose the contrasts could not be more plain--the disciple in the "Betrayal" betrays the teacher by being too faithful to the master's teachings, while the man in "The Orthodox Heretic" defies God in order to remain faithful to God.
And the message could not be more plain--the rebels are the saints, the disobedient are the shining examples, the traitors are the faithful, those who shake their fists at God in defiance to His Word are those who are most pleasing to God. God doesn't want you to follow His Word, but to strike out on your own.
Again, it seems Rollins is most interested in spinning his own betrayals into having been good things. I rather suspect that, consciously or not, Rollins knows that what he teaches is against God, is against God's Word, is contrary to sound doctrine, is actually a betrayal of what God has revealed. But instead of repenting, he would rather do what is right in his own eyes, and wants to justify his ways in the eyes of the world. That is why Judas becomes a figure of courage in his clever little story, why the faithful disciples is the real traitor, why the man who stands in defiance against God is the one who is faithful to God.


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Approach Anxiety Doesn't Exist
(You Just Aren't Being a MAN)
These are my final thoughts on beating approach anxiety.
It's the single biggest reason that most guys don't have options beyond girls they already know.
So long as you LOOK GOOD (above-average), you can Get Laid as much as you want once you can TALK TO GIRLS.
How to Beat Approach Anxiety by Being a Man
(this video largely covers the content and this post with some extra discussion and personal stories)
Also available (like most of the other videos/audios) here on Soundcloud.
Will I Ever Beat Approach Anxiety?
If you want.
After running Good Looking Loser for almost 5 years, it's blatantly obvious who beats approach anxiety and who does not.
Guys that are ACTUALLY serious - do.
Guys that are not - don't.
Unlike some goals in life, everyone and anyone can beat approach anxiety.
It's attainable, regardless of your genetics, environment or socio-economic background.
It's like getting down to 8-10% body fat so you Look Good.
But not everyone will because they simply aren't actually serious about it and it requires consistent effort which most guys aren't capable of.
But it's completely doable for ANYONE who is ACTUALLY serious.
Not that many guys are serious and that's why they will only sleep with a handful of girls in their lifetime.
Can Everyone Beat Approach Anxiety?
You'll beat it if you are actually serious.
You won't beat it if you are not.
We've made it as structured and painless as possible, hundreds of guys have been successful with our free programs -
- The Approach Anxiety Program (Will revise in the future)
- How to Go Out Alone to Bars at Night
If you take the program(s) seriously and actually finish them (or most of it), talking to random girls is beyond easy.
Our programs take a systematic, intelligent, non-theoretical, not too scary, guaranteed approach to beating social anxiety.
Here are a few journals from guys that beat approach anxiety with our program -
- "Rousseau Finishes AA Program" (Rousseau has gotten laid 50+ times)
- "DC7 My AA Log" (DC7 has gotten laid 50+ times)
- "Mr. Q: How I Beat Approach Anxiety in 5 Weeks"
- "Andy Kills His Inner Loser" (Vlog Journal)
But there's a way you can skip over approach anxiety altogether.
Here's what you need to know -
#1 Approach Anxiety Doesn't Exist
(There Are Only Men and Boys)
Think of "approach anxiety" like this.
This should motivate you.
I'm not going to tell you to "be confident!" or "don't be a pussy!", but I am going to tell you to -
Have some self-respect.
You can do that.
No matter what your goals are in life, every single one of you guys have the goal of BEING A MAN.
MEN can talk to girls.
Boys can't.
It's as simple as that.
Nothing more.
Even if they are nervous, MEN can talk to girls that they are interested in.
Boys go home.
That is how I beat it.
The entire thing became a test of my manhood.
It wasn't about the girls.
It was about me and if I really deserved to be alive.
Once I viewed it that way - I was almost always able to step up to the plate.
The anxiety isn't optional, but you ALWAYS have the option to talk to the girls.
You always have the option to resist and fight back.
Is Approach Anxiety Optional? (La Résistance)
#2 There Is No Such Thing As Approach Anxiety
(You Either Want to Get Laid or You Don't)
This is from Scotty.
The guys that ACTUALLY want to fuck girls can beat approach anxiety in a couple of weeks.
The guys that don't ACTUALLY want to fuck girls will take over a year to beat it.
For many guys (including myself when I started), whether they knew it or not, Getting Laid isn't their #1 goal.
Getting Laid would certainly be cool but they are mainly in it for validation.
When you are in it for validation, fear of rejection is even worse.
You are way more fragile and sensitive.
Once your desire to Get Laid is beyond your desire for validation - you won't hardly give a shit.
Getting so frustrated that you ACTUALLY no longer give a shit about your ego might be the best that can happen to you.
For Scotty, this was reality.
For me, it was gradual and I actually wish I hit rock bottom earlier.
That's why it took me well over a year to get serious and beat approach anxiety.
#3 Try Your Best to Forget About Approach Anxiety and Just Get Laid
Do you really need to beat all your approach anxiety to have the sex life you want?
Maybe not.
You can Get Laid plenty, even if you have approach anxiety.
I must have slept with 10 or 15 girls (via cold approach) before I actually could say I beat approach anxiety.
This is because -
The problem isn't entirely the 'approach anxiety', but rather that you don't talk to girls.
If you look above-average, most sexually available girls will be happy to talk to you - even if you are somewhat nervous. In fact, if you hit on girls that are noticeably less attractive/cool than you are, some may even think your nervousness is cute and will totally forgive you.
The best way to get rid of the anxiety is to start talking to the girl. Most of your anxiety generally goes away once you get in there.
So long as you can make small talk and finish your conversations with "let me shoot you a text sometime..." or "do you want to grab a drink sometime?" you can Get Laid plenty.
It might not be "same day game", but you'll have plenty of options.
You have to LOOK GOOD to make this work consistently though.
You have to rock a fairly current style, be as tall as possible (within reason) and have distinct facial features - to be efficient at this.
If you look above-average, once you beat approach anxiety you will Get Laid as much as you want.
If you have approach anxiety, you can still get a fair amount of action though.
#4 You Don't Have to Be Smooth to Get Laid
If you learn only ONE THING from Good Looking Loser, this might as well be it.
Other than "BE A FUCKING MAN FOR CHRIST'S SAKE", the second biggest insight to beating approach anxiety that I realized was -
So long as you are reasonably composed and look above-average, sexually available girls will be happy to talk to you.
Even if she knows that it can't go anywhere.
Sometimes, you'll have instant chemistry with the girl.
Sometimes. you'll have very little chemistry with the girl.
From doing this stuff for 4.5 years, I can honestly tell you that "how smooth" the initial interaction wasn't super important on where it ultimately went.
When they like you - they like you.
Read this before you die -
- "The Most Liberating Thing You Can Possibly Hear If You Are Scared To Talk To Girls - Don't Try to Be Smooth"
#5 Try to Stop Caring About "Feeling Social"
(If You Want a Real Life and a Sex Life)
When I started in 2007, I would go out for extended period of times and do "sets" and talk to a predetermined amount of girls.
This is what we did in the pick up community.
While this certainly paid some dividends and is a great way to beat approach anxiety, it wasn't sustainable and I wasn't very consistent with it.
I would talk to 20 girls or no girls.
I was either in "pick up mode" or "normal person mode".
I couldn't often psyche myself up enough when I simply wanted to talk to a girl under normal circumstances.
I had to "feel social" and "warmed up".
This doesn't translate to when your life isn't solely about picking up girls.
Like I tirelessly explain in the "How to Go Out Alone to Bars If You Are Scared" program, you have to be able to "Go From 0 to 100" so you can just talk to girls whenever you want so you don't have to waste time on "being social".
Having the ability to talk to a couple girls a day (and asking them out) is much more beneficial than doing infrequent marathon days.
In the long-term and often in short-term.
If you want to have a regular sex life (but also a real life) you absolutely need to make yourself the promise that you will try to stop caring about "feeling nervous" or "not feeling social" and do your best to talk to ask the girl out.
Just like anything in life, lasting success is about being consistent and not relying on perfect circumstances to put in the work.
Winning is about doing an adequate job in an inadequate amount of time.
The perfect time is always now.
#6 Social Freedom is Earned
(And You Should Be Proud Of Yourself)
Even to a greater extent than bodybuilding, getting good grades and making lots of money - being able to talk to any girl you want is TOTALLY EARNED.
It's a doable goal but you have to earn it.
I'll never forget coming home after my first 18 months in Hollywood and going out with some old hockey friends one night.
It was like I was a totally different person, making out with girls (obviously this doesn't mean that much), getting phone numbers and introducing different groups of chicks to my friends while I was completely sober.
I realized that I had really earned it.
The average guy, even guys that sleep with a lot of chicks from their circles, can't talk to girls they don't know that well.
It's a real challenge when you start off though.
Most people hardly ever challenge themselves and are content with remaining comfortably average.
I'm turning 34 this year.
The guys my age I know that have money, hot girlfriend(s) and a great life are the ones that really challenged themselves in their 20's.
If your life is going to be worth a shit, you've got to challenge yourself.
Talking to girls is no different.
Challenge Yourself For Once.
Pour Conclure
Obviously approach anxiety "exists".
It's the main reason that most men underachieve in their sex life.
What also exists is the decision to not let it stop you.
In fact, you have 100% control over that decision.
You have 100% control over BEING A MAN or being a little boy.
Listen, our approach anxiety programs are great (they work), but they are only for guys that are ambitious about fucking the most and the most hottest girls.
The average guy doesn't need to 'beat approach anxiety' to have a decent sex life.
He just needs to BE A MAN and stop caring so much.
This is all you need to know.


text:
Uma retrospectiva dos últimos anos da SP-Arte pelo canal Arte1
SP-Arte/2017 came to an end
Inside the Pavilion
Gallery Night SP-Arte/2017
Gallery Night: Pinheiros and Vila Madalena
Gallery Night: Jardins and Itaim
Performance Sector
Linn da Quebrada and Alexandre Hebert at Melissa Meio-Fio project - Arte 1 & SP-Arte/2017
Melissa Meio-Fio project
Repertório Sector
Solo sector
The flowers of Makoto Azuma: Arte 1 at SP-Arte/2017
Japan House
The partnership between Carlos Vergara and Etel Interiores: Arte 1 at SP-Arte/2017
New works by Ary Perez: Arte 1 at SP-Arte/2017
Design Sector
Projects by Architects
Bei's Collection of Indiginous Stools
Editorial Cluster
Book launches
Prizes and grants
Guided tours
Donation Program
Social Entropy
Floating Burkas
Psycographing Tunga
Talks: The city as an art space
Status Quo
Talks: Design – in partnership with Artsy
Talks: Art as resistance + Collections in the Americas
Talks: Collections in the Americas
Talks: Art as resistance
The work of Rodrigo Bueno: Arte 1 at SP-Arte/2017
A walk through the Festival: Arte 1 at SP-Arte/2017
Keep on turning
Installation Days
Backstage of the mounting process: Arte 1 at SP-Arte/2017
Between Parenthesis #5: Office - Gallerist
Here comes SP-Arte!
Between Parenthesis #4: Which art era would you like to have lived in?
1 Minute | Vik Muniz
1 Minute | Sebastião Salgado
Between Parenthesis #3: If you could have created a work of another artist, whose would it be?
Between Parenthesis #2: Does Art Make the World a Better Place?
Between Parenthesis #1: Which Is Your First Memory with Art?