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An article, describing an interview with Joel Spolsky (CEO of StackOverflow) at the Geekwire Summit, states that developers aren't looking for ping pong tables, lounges, fire pits and chocolate fountains as it decreases the overall productivity.
In the article Joel describes the needs for developers to have a closed office, where they can tune out and concentrate, go to a discussion board to ask and seek questions. Obviously this stands very much aligned to Joel's company, StackOverflow (SO), which is an often frequented destination for developers who needs answers to technical problems. I'm not going to go into my own personal opinion of SO or the value it has (or hasn't where that's the case), but more to look at what the core message of the article is about. Namely office environments.
Office environments and Developer Productivity
We all know that crunch-time is a stressful part of our jobs. When we're almost there and deadlines are looming. We need to focus on delivery and we need to get things done as fast as possible.
This means uninterrupted time with your code and external distraction can seriously hinder concentration and drop productivity. We (read: developers) handle that in multiple ways. We work from home; we wear headphones to block out ambient noise; we close the door; Obviously in some environments that's not possible.
In my experience, it takes approximately 15 minutes to get into things and reach your "Zen" zone. This is where you're focused solely on writing the best code you can. Having a constant flow of people around you moving about is a distraction and can very well mean that you never reach that zone throughout your entire day. That's bad of course. But we also have other distractions. Colleagues and team members asking questions. Emails inbound that needs your attention then and there. Your phone ringing or messenger application popping up. None of these distractions has anything to do with having a hip environment with said ping pong tables. They're part of your life to some extent.
So for all of the focus on your environment not containing ping pong tables, breakout lounges and so forth, there're many more ways to distract us than just that. We need uninterrupted time to focus – that's obvious.
Does having a ping pong table in your office distract you from your work? Ok, if you go there instead of writing code or if team mates are loud and disruptive when playing, then yeah it does indeed bring a level of distraction to your job.
We can all agree that we need to concentrate on getting the job done and the environment can definitely bring that distraction.
Is ping pong bad?
Earlier I mention the ping pong tables and can agree that it brings distractions to your environment. But it also brings something else to your environment that a sterile, closed environment doesn't: Time at the office, with friends and colleagues, that helps bond traditionally introverted people together. That's also very important. We shouldn't forget that developers achieve very little on their own. Most projects of any substance are a collaboration between many developers, all working on specific tasks. When we work as a team we are likely to be far more productive than when we work in isolation. That at least is my view as I'm an extremely extraverted developer. I personally need interaction with my peers and colleagues; I don't need it all the time but it energises me a lot more than sitting in a closed office for 8hrs (read: as long as it takes) a day. My productivity drops throughout the day and i counter that with some social engagements. Yes, it's time where I don't write code but it helps me recharge my batteries.
On long hauls – projects lasting months, if not years, the long term effect of having something to take your mind off things are extremely important. We cannot thrive positively if all we have is stress and 100% concentration. We are humans and need to engage with other people. The ping pong table can offset some of that stress.
Ok, I'm focusing on the ping pong tables a lot; It could literally be anything. Air hockey, pool tables, arcade machines, dart boards and any other activity that can offset and counter build up stress in people. I'm thinking long term, which I don't think Joel is in his views from the article. I've never seen, in my nearly two decades in this industry, that staff retention wasn't a big problem for companies. Of course it is. Losing talent is a major issue and not just for software companies. If you're just looking at developers as a productivity figure, you're likely going to be losing some along the way. Work environments are extremely important for retaining your staff and not all developers are the glass wearing nerds that just run on caffeine (ok, we do), pizza and long nights at the office crunching code for 20hrs a day. As a matter of fact, those are the rarest type of developers today. Programming used to be viewed as magic and attracted only the most introverted personalities. Today not so much.
Finding a balance is far more important long term
I think it's possible to get the best of both worlds. Yes, you may not attract talented developers purely because you have ping pong tables. Of course not and with that I agree 100% with Joel. But also just offering them the ability to work from home and closing the door to your office isn't going to make anybody excited.
You need to balance both worlds and we as people aren't just black and white. You can have both. Don't place the ping pong table in the middle of your developers cubicles, look further in your office layout. Have the break out rooms built in a basement, or another building if you have the cash to build a campus. Give developers the best of both worlds so that it's possible to have your cake and eat it.
I personally don't believe that developer productivity can be measured in how many lines of code they have written. I think that's a very flat view of what a developer do and personally don't see that productivity is dictated purely by the environment you are in. Of course, Joel isn't being all that black and white either and he raises some very good points during his talk at the Geekwire Summit. He compares the rates Facebook pays over other tech companies. They pay more and he contributes this to the fact that Facebook can't attract developers due to the work environment. I think it's a little bit more complicated than that to be honest.
The strategy for attracting a developer is very different to that of retaining one.
Mostly a developer want to work on cool projects, with the newest technologies. I can understand that. I wish for a lot of things in my career to have been different, but am now also realistic enough to understand that not all projects are the most exciting in the world. Sometimes you have to eat a sour apple and that's really just part of life. Much like paying taxes and servicing your car.
The point of finding a balance with what you want, need and can get becomes far more important the longer you stay in the industry. Longevity is incredibly important.
As an IT consultant (read: developer mercenary) I understand that I cannot rely on my client and projects to give me all I want in life. Of course, I'm often far more transitional than a traditional in-house developer and some, if not all, of the rules doesn't apply to me personally. But I've been doing this for long enough to understand what to focus on that's important to me.
If I have to choose of a perfect environment for me than It would clearly be that I had the office door to close when necessary, that I could work from home when I wanted and that I worked on the newest platforms available. I would also want that ping pong table available to me and my colleagues when I needed a break. Work isn't always just about work. Yeah, cake..eat it.
But why can't I have both – doesn't seem that hard to me to be honest and it doesn't have to be that complicated.
Article: Just shut up and let your devs concentrate, advises Stack Overflow CEO Joel Spolsky – http://www.geekwire.com/2016/just-shut-let-devs-concentrate-programming-expert-advises/


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"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training." – Archilochus
Ever since episode #2 of the podcast, you've been asking for more Josh Waitzkin, so here it is! This is an in-depth jam session, and you can definitely listen to this one independently.
Josh Waitzkin was the basis for the book and movie Searching for Bobby Fischer.
Considered a chess prodigy, he has perfected learning strategies that can be applied to anything, including his other loves of Brazilian jiu-jitsu (he's a black belt under phenom Marcelo Garcia) and Tai Chi push hands (he's a world champion). These days, he spends his time coaching the world's top performers, whether Mark Messier, Cal Ripken Jr., or high-profile investors. I initially met Josh through his incredible book, The Art of Learning, which I loved so much that I helped produce the audiobook (download here at Audible).
If you're interested in implementing programs designed by Josh in your classroom, go to theartoflearningproject.org and find out if the program is a good fit for you.
If you have just a few minutes, I recommend learning about the principle of scarcity and how it can directly benefit your life.
This episode is DEEP, in the best way possible. Just like last time, Josh will blow your mind.
- Listen to it on iTunes.
- Stream by clicking here.
- Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing "save as."
Want to hear another podcast with Josh Waitzkin? — In this episode (the second ever on The Tim Ferriss Show), we discuss The Art of Learning, what separates elite performers, and strategies for peak productivity (stream below or right-click here to download):
This podcast is brought to you by MeUndies. Have you ever wanted to be as powerful as a mullet-wearing ninja from the 1980's, or as sleek as a black panther in the Amazon? Of course you have, and that's where MeUndies comes in. I've spent the last 2-3 weeks wearing underwear from these guys 24/7, and they are the most comfortable and colorful underwear I've ever owned. Their materials are 2x softer than cotton, as evaluated using the Kawabata method. Check out MeUndies.com/Tim to see my current faves (some are awesomely ridiculous) and, while you're at it, don't miss lots of hot ladies wearing MeUndies.
This podcast is also brought to you by Wealthfront. Wealthfront is a massively disruptive (in a good way) set-it-and-forget-it investing service, led by technologists from places like Apple. It has exploded in popularity in the last two years and now has more than $2.5B under management. Why? Because you can get services previously limited to the ultra-wealthy and only pay pennies on the dollar for them, and it's all through smarter software instead of retail locations and bloated sales teams.
Check out wealthfront.com/tim, take their risk assessment quiz, which only takes 2-5 minutes, and they'll show you—for free–exactly the portfolio they'd put you in. If you want to just take their advice and do it yourself, you can. Well worth a few minutes to explore: wealthfront.com/tim.
QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: How can you use Josh's principle of scarcity to improve creativity, habit creation, or your learning process? Please share your insights in the comments.
Scroll below for links and show notes…
Selected Links from this Episode
- Dreaming Yourself Awake by B. Alan Wallace and Brian Hodel
- Set up a Gibbon Slackline
- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig
- Think Twice by Michael Mauboussin
- Learn more about Headspace, a recommended tool for enhancing mindfulness
- Learn more about Blue Zone SUP, PaddleWoo podcast and Erik Antonson
- Mindset by Carol Dweck
- Watch me get my ass handed to me in Brazilian jiu-jitsu
- Learn more about The Art of Learning Project
- Are you in the educational world? Interested in joining the project? Email: Katy {AT} JWFoundation [dot] com
Show Notes
- Josh Waitzkin's terrifying experience with the Wim Hof method [9:27]
- Explaining "flow" and how Josh Waitzkin uses it as therapy [15:22]
- Describing a "flow state" and how to initiate one [17:59]
- On cognitive biases [21:48]
- Developing high level sensitivity and listening to your senses [27:09]
- Strategies for on-boarding newcomers to mindfulness training [28:45]
- On parenting [38:02]
- Fixed perspectives and growth mindsets [47:53]
- On training somatic sensitivity [50:35]
- On mitigating the dangers of a fixed identity [55:43]
- Marcelo Garcia and the principle of cultivating quality as a way of life [1:01:56]
- Quality and presence in parenthood [1:05:51]
- What is the fire walking process [1:09:03]
- Transitioning physical visualization techniques learned from martial arts to less obvious physical activities (investing for example) [1:16:23]
- The principle of slack [1:20:20]
- The principle of scarcity in the learning process [1:24:41]
- Josh Waitzkin's daily journaling process [1:34:23]
- Talking about thematic interconnectedness in the context of education [1:36:38]
- Explaining The Art of Learning Project [1:45:41]
People Mentioned
The Tim Ferriss Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world with more than 900 million downloads. It has been selected for "Best of Apple Podcasts" three times, it is often the #1 interview podcast across all of Apple Podcasts, and it's been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts on many occasions. To listen to any of the past episodes for free, check out this page.

subset: commoncrawl


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'Common Sense' Supermarket Chain Sells Pre-Peeled Bananas Wrapped in Plastic
Austria-based, German-owned supermarket chain Billa, known for advertising itself as the "common sense" grocery shopping destination, has sparked an online uproar over its sale of plastic-sealed trays containing pre-peeled bananas.
"If there is an easy-to-open ready packed food it's the banana," as Greenpeace Austria spokesperson told the Austrian press. "Peeling it only to pack it in environmentally unfriendly plastic is just madness."
Billa's customers agreed, flooding its Facebook page — since disabled — with angry comments and boycott threats, prompting the company to issue an apology. A Billa rep called the product a "one off" mistake that will never happen again.


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Beat the Clock Essay Writing
- Janice Campbell Home School Enrichment
- 2009 6 Mar
There was a sharp crack, and I turned in time to see the softball streaking for the outfield and the runners taking off from the loaded bases. I watched as the center fielder raced toward the ball, glove stretched high. It looked as if he would make the catch, but the ball skimmed past his glove, over the fence at the edge of the field, and bounced on the other side. If it hadn't been for the fence, the outfielder could have made a spectacular catch and been the hero of the day. As it was, his team was now down 4-0.
The fence that stopped the outfielder is a lot like the deadlines you'll encounter in timed essays on the SAT, AP, CLEP, and college exams you'll soon be taking. It doesn't matter how many great ideas you have or how fast you're going; once the allotted time is up, you must immediately stop writing. However, if you know what to expect in the exam, and if you have a game plan, you'll have a good chance for success on the essay.
There are other uses for the skills you'll practice while writing timed essays. Imagine how much time you could save if you were able to write rough drafts for your other academic subjects in just a half hour! Being able to think quickly is a skill that will help you in college as well, because many instructors, especially in the humanities, give essay exams for some or all of their tests. Take time to learn the skills now, and you'll be glad you did.
If there is an SAT, AP, or CLEP essay in your future, there are three primary things you need to know and do before you take the test:
1. Know what to expect: You need to become familiar with the type of essay that evaluators are seeking, the types of essay prompts you'll encounter, and the criteria by which the essays will be judged.
2. Know how to use your time: You must learn time management techniques so that you can make the best strategic use of each moment.
3. Know the Beat-the-Clock process by heart: You need to practice the timed writing process until it becomes easy and automatic.
The Essay
First, it's important to understand exactly what an essay is. It's not a dry reporting of facts such as you would find in a research paper on Bolivia. Instead, it's a position paper—a paper in which you take a position (express your opinion) about a subject. In most standardized tests with an essay component, you are provided with a topic, often presented as a quote. You must answer a specific question on the assigned topic and provide sound reasoning to support your answer.
There are three primary sections in any essay—the introduction, the body, and the conclusion. The introduction contains the thesis or main idea of the essay; the body contains supporting points that more completely explain the thesis; and the conclusion wraps up your argument, providing a satisfactory close for the reader.
The timed essays you write should contain all three sections, with supporting points or examples taken from your life—from the subjects you've studied, literature you've read, history, politics, current events, or sports. You may choose one major supporting point and develop it deeply over two or three paragraphs, or you may use the basic five-paragraph essay format with three supporting points, each developed in its own paragraph. Because you are offering your opinion, it is acceptable to write in the first person, that is, to use the pronoun "I."
The Essay Prompt
Most of the essay prompts you will encounter on standardized tests will consist of one or two brief passages or quotations from an existing text, followed by an essay assignment. The assignment is designed to help you focus on and write about the issues raised in the quoted text. The quotes are there to orient you to a perspective on the issue, and they sometimes contain a question. Make no mistake, however—the only question you need to address is the one in the assignment portion of the prompt.
The test makers have done their best to create prompts that deal with abstract concepts, such as truth, labor vs. leisure, or responsibility, that should be understandable by students from a wide range of cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. They provide most of the necessary information in the quotes and assignment, but it's the student's responsibility to apply critical thinking and take a position on the issue.
For the best possible score, students need to be able to think abstractly and metaphorically. For example, one of the more unusual prompts I've heard provided the following quote and assignment:
"'Every cloud has a silver lining.' Do you agree or disagree, and why?"
For a student who is able to think metaphorically, it's clear that the quote is suggesting that there is a positive benefit to every seemingly bad situation. A student who has not been taught to think metaphorically may be confused, and end up writing an essay about the weather. Although this may seem unlikely for students at the high school level, at almost every Beat-the-Clock workshop in which I've talked about this prompt, there have been one or more students who simply did not understand it until we discussed it and translated the metaphor.
Evaluation Criteria
There are five specific areas the essay readers will evaluate:
Content and Ideas:
• The ability to develop and adequately support a point of view.
• Evidence of critical thinking.
• The ability to think abstractly or metaphorically.
• The ability to organize information logically and present it coherently
• Writing that speaks directly to the reader.
• An active voice that anticipates and answers questions.
• A tone that is appropriate for the audience and the topic.
Sentence Structure and Word Choice:
• The creation of strong sentences of varying lengths.
• A wide, appropriately used vocabulary.
Conventions or Mechanics:
• The proper use of grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
Essay readers are instructed to evaluate each paper holistically—not weighing one factor above another or comparing one paper with another. Although handwriting is not supposed to be evaluated during the grading process, common sense makes it obvious that readers can evaluate positively only if they are able to read your writing. So write legibly!
You may visit the College Board Web site to see samples of graded essays and take a sample exam. Reading essays written by other students can be a big help in understanding what is expected of you, but don't use them for examples of how to write well. Instead, read high-quality essays by writers such as the syndicated columnists found in the editorial pages of your local newspaper. Many editorials are nothing more than persuasive or argumentative essays, and you will likely find it helpful to study the ways in which professional writers present and support their positions. If you will be taking the ACT, visit the ACT Web site at www.act.org to see sample questions and evaluations.
Time Management
You will have 25 minutes for the SAT, 30 minutes for the ACT, and 45 minutes for a CLEP essay. In this brief time, you must read the essay question, go through the pre-writing process, which includes thinking on paper and organizing your ideas, and finally, you must write your essay. Can you do it? The answer is—YES! You can do it, as long as you have a plan.
Plan to divide your time like this:
• 25% Pre-writing
• 75% Writing
This means that for a 25-minute essay, you should spend approximately 6 minutes pre-writing and 19 minutes writing. Don't stress over the fractions of a minute—just follow the formula as closely as possible.
At the very end of the alloted time, be sure to glance back over your paper to make sure it's as clear and well-organized if it needs to be. If you need to make corrections or move paragraphs, just cross out words or draw arrows to indicate the changes. Never waste time erasing—the evaluators like to see evidence of thought and self-editing, and erasing is a complete waste of valuable time.
The Beat-the-Clock Writing Process
• Read carefully through the question. Be sure you know exactly what it says, because if you don't take time to fully understand the question and answer it specifically, you will earn zero points on this portion of the test! You may find it helpful to copy the assignment portion of the prompt at the top of the page of your test booklet (but not on the lines where you'll be writing the essay).
• Start thinking on paper. This process is known by various terms, including brainstorming, mind-mapping, or clustering. However you do it, this is a very important part of the process and must not be skipped. The reason that you must think on paper, rather than brainstorming mentally, is that ideas that can be seen are easier to organize. If you don't think on paper, you run the risk of losing your best ideas or your train of thought as you write. During the exam, you won't have any scratch paper, so you may use all the available white space in the essay section of the test booklet (not the answer booklet!) to write down ideas as you think about the question. Give yourself approximately four minutes for this step. Write down every idea that comes to you, even if you are not sure it is usable. Feel free to use abbreviations and short phrases—just put down enough to help you remember the essence of the thought.
• Organize ideas. When you have several ideas written down, start organizing them. Select the strongest idea as your thesis, then choose up to three other ideas that offer vivid examples that will support the main idea. You can rank ideas by simply numbering your concepts in the order you want to use them, or if you have time, you can quickly list them. You may use the remaining 1-2 minutes of the pre-writing time for this step.
• Write your first paragraph, using your main idea to answer the question and create the thesis. You may introduce the supporting points as reasons for your answer in this paragraph.
• Build a supporting argument. Write one or more paragraphs for each supporting point. Use vivid vocabulary and sentences of varying lengths.
• Conclude gracefully. Write a conclusion paragraph that wraps it all up. Summarize your supporting points and finish with a recap of your thesis.
• Evaluate: Finally, glance back over the essay to see if you've left out anything important.
• Finish! When time is up, you must turn to the next section, and you may not return to make changes after this point.
Practice Makes Perfect
Well, maybe not perfect, but at least competent! I recommend that you practice writing timed essays at least once a week until you take the exam. That will give you a chance to encounter a variety of prompts and to become familiar with the timed writing process. You'll find one sample test on the College Board Web site and many more in the books listed in the resources sidebar. These useful guides also contain sample essays that have been graded.
For additional practice, you can invent your own writing prompts by selecting one or two quotes from a book of quotations, then creating an assignment that addresses the subject. Sometimes, your assignment can simply be the question, "Do you agree or disagree? Why?" When used with a good quote, this is usually focused enough to result in an interesting essay.
The more you practice, the faster and better you'll become at writing timed essays. If the outfielder in the softball game had practiced vaulting the fence or located a nearby gate before that ball sped by, he might have been able to enjoy his moment of glory. Similarly, you have a chance to prepare thoroughly for the timed essay exam—will you be ready when the challenge comes?
Published on March 6, 2009
Janice Campbell, who homeschooled her four sons from preschool into college, is author of Transcripts Made Easy, Get a Jump Start on College, Evaluate Writing the Easy Way, and Excellence in Literature, a classics-based, college-prep English curriculum for homeschoolers. She is the creator of the Beat-the-Clock Essay Workshop and also directs the National Association of Independent Writing Evaluators (www.NAIWE.com). Visit www.Everyday-Education.com to learn more and to sign up for her free e-newsletter!
This article was originally published in the Jan/Feb '09 issue of Home School Enrichment Magazine. Get more great homeschooling help by downloading our FREE report entitled "The Secret to Homeschooling Freedom" by visiting http://HomeSchoolEnrichment.com/resources/report.htm


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Shop by Category
Explore a world of jewelry at your fingertips.
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A federal Tax Identification Number is used by the IRS and Social Security Administration to identify businesses and non-profit organizations. As a wholesale jewelry supplier, we are required to have your tax identification number on file to guarantee that we are selling only to qualified resellers.


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UPDATE: 8 p.m.
Search and rescue crews have successfully rescued a woman who fell down a deep cave at the north end of the Skaha Bluffs around 11:30 a.m. on Monday.
Randy Brown, public affairs and manager for Penticton and District Search and Rescue, says the Lower Mainland woman in her 50s was removed from the cave at about 7 p.m.
She was taken to hospital and is reportedly in stable condition with upper body and head injuries.
PENSAR had to fly in help from as far as Nanaimo due to the complicated rescue. Help came in the form of nine members of the BC Cave Rescue team.
Those nine cave experts assisted the 20 PENSAR members and two helicopters already on scene to successfully complete the rescue.
Brown says he does not yet have an exact depth for the cave, but believes it was between 40 and 60 feet deep.
All rescue crews are now working to safely get out of the area, as well as removing all of the required equipment that was flown in including ropes, drill bits, spikes etc.
Brown is also have dinner brought up to rescuers, some of which have been on scene since noon.
More information is expected on this rescue later tonight or tomorrow morning.
Penticton Search and Rescue, along with other emergency services, are working to rescue a woman who fell into a cave at the Skaha Bluffs earlier today.Photo courtesy of Skylar Noe-Vack
UPDATE 7:15 p.m.
Observors at Skaha Bluffs are reporting the patient was taken out of cave and landed at the command post at about 7 p.m. in unknown condition.
UPDATE 4:02 p.m.
Emergency personnel are still working to rescue a woman who fell in a cave at the Skaha Bluffs around 11:30 a.m. on Monday.
"It's the depth she is at that is causing challenges," said Randy Brown, public affairs and manager for Penticton and District Search and Rescue. "We have cave rescue people coming from Kelowna and the coast to assist."
Brown said it still could be hours before they are able to get the woman out of the cave.
"We have lots of people right there with her, but I am unsure of her medical condition at this time."
A woman is believed to have suffered serious injuries after falling into a cave at the Skaha Bluffs on Monday.
According to a person at the command station, emergency crews are currently working to rescue the woman.
The Penticton Fire Department, Penticton and District Search and Rescue, RCMP, ambulance services and HNZ air operations are all working together at the scene of the incident.
More information will be reported as details become available.
To report a typo, email: firstname.lastname@example.com.<>


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New Zealand's Ardern storms to re-election with 'be strong, be kind' mantra
Jacinda Ardern turned speaking from the heart and smiling through adversity into a winning formula for a blowout re-election as New Zealand's leader on Saturday.
Now Ardern, who made a name for herself by crushing Covid-19 in the country and healing the nation after a massacre of Muslims by a white supremacist, faces a challenge to show her leadership extends beyond crisis management and kindness.
Her Labour Party won a landslide victory in the general election, a resounding mandate that ushers in New Zealand's first purely left-leaning government in decades and may allow her to form a single-party government.
The win is also the reward for Ardern's leadership through a series of extraordinary events that shaped her first three-year term: the gunman's massacre of 51 worshippers at two Christchurch mosques and the eruption of the White Island volcano, which killed 21.
"Be strong, be kind," New Zealand's youngest prime minister in more than a century repeated through these dramatic events, her empathetic leadership and crisis management skills often masking her government's shortcomings.
Ardern's left-leaning government will face a looming economic hangover from Covid-19, a deep plunge in output and surge in debt after her strict lockdowns, a worsening housing crisis and a growing divide between rich and poor.
Despite promising a transformational term in 2017, Ardern's affordable housing programme was set back by blunders, plans for a capital gains tax that would have addressed the growing rich-poor divide were scrapped, and her government fell woefully short of its goal to reduce child poverty.
Even on climate change, which Ardern called "my generation's nuclear-free moment", progress has been incremental.
"I think it's fair to say they have not achieved what they had hoped to achieve," said Ganesh Nana, Research Director at Wellington economic think tank BERL. "There are many disappointed with the pace of change."
Ardern burst onto the global scene in 2017 when she became the world's youngest female head of government at the age of 37.
She became a global icon in a rise dubbed "Jacinda-mania," as she campaigned passionately for women's rights and an end to child poverty and economic inequality in the island nation.
Ardern, raised a Mormon by her mother and police officer father, left the church over its stance on LGBTQ people in the early 2000s and has since described herself as agnostic.
Asked by a television presenter, hours after being appointed Labour leader in 2017, whether she planned to have children, Ardern said it was "totally unacceptable in 2017 to say that women should have to answer that question in the workplace".
Ardern did in fact have a baby daughter in June 2018, eight months after becoming prime minister - only the second elected leader to give birth while in office, after Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto.
Many took her pregnancy and maternity leave in office as symbolising progress for women leaders. Within three months of arriving in the world, her daughter Neve Te Aroha was at the UN General Assembly in New York with her mother.
Ardern is feted globally as part of a new wave of progressive and young leaders that include France's Emmanuel Macron and Canada's Justin Trudeau.
Helen Clark, a former New Zealand prime minister for whom Ardern worked after university, said the young leader represents a refreshing and sharp point of difference in a world where news is dominated by utterances of populist and authoritarian leaders.
"Jacinda Ardern can be best compared with the three Scandinavian women prime ministers who are from the centre-left," said Clark, co-chair of a World Health Organization panel on the global Covid-19 response.
"All of them have led good responses to the pandemic, putting health security first and communicating in an empathetic way with the public in each of their countries."
Last year Ardern received worldwide praise for her response to the Christchurch attacks, which she labelled terrorism. She wore a hijab as she met the Muslim community the next day, telling them the country was "united in grief".
She delivered a ban on semiautomatic firearms and other gun curbs, a stark contrast to the United States, where lawmakers and activists have struggled to address gun violence despite numerous mass shootings.
At the UN General Assembly, Ardern, asked world leaders: "What if we no longer see ourselves based on what we look like, what religion we practice, or where we live ... but by what we value?
"Humanity, kindness, an innate sense of our connection to each other. And a belief that we are guardians, not just of our home and our planet, but of each other."


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sorry for my horriable spanish
Quote from: jose on November 23, 2008, 06:55:01 PMsorry for my horriable spanish Hell, I am sorry for my terrible english.
hi puddin, and jose you spell vaja (is vaya) too.... but is ok.....i'm waiting here in chile for the next episode, i just can watch it at 1:00 a.m (Chilean Time).....
I'm still at work! But hey, y'all don't have to wait for me...
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I enjoyed my time editing at Conservapedia. My personal social media site is at social.Biblestrength.org and my wiki is at BibleStrength.net.
If my views seem odd, it's only because truth is stranger than fiction. I just follow the facts.
My name is Joshua David Zambrano, and I'm a resident of Illinois. I received my A.A.S. in Business Management from Waubonsee Community College, and just transferred to Northern Illinois University from the University of Nebraska at Omaha with a 3.88 GPA. I am majoring in Political Science.
Jzyehoshua is simply my initials, Jz, followed by the Hebrew name origin for Joshua ("Yehoshua"), i.e. "Joshua Z". I am a Christian who believes the Bible is literally true. While I do believe typos exist in some of the preserved manuscripts, I do not believe this substantially alters the preserved message of the Bible, and that the vast wealth of manuscript evidence is God's way of preserving His Word for future generations.
Editing Guide
I'll have a guide with some useful and practical advice for editing and researching at User:Jzyehoshua/Guide_To_Editing.
I will be keeping a workspace of articles I've created or am working on for easy finding at User:Jzyehoshua/Contributions.
I voted 3rd party for president in both 2004 (1st election voted in) and 2008, for Michael Peroutka and Bob Barr, respectively. I regularly vote for Democrats, Republicans, and 3rd party candidates on the same ballot. I have supported in the past DFLA (Pro-life Democrats), the NRLC, and the Constitution Party (conservative 3rd party). After frustration with the constant dishonesty of the Democrats in the 2012 elections, I began openly supporting Romney in the last few months, and now openly support the GOP while opposing Democrats.
I am generally conservative on social issues and liberal/moderate on everything else, with some exceptions (oppose the death penalty e.g.). I like to criticize both the Republican and Democratic parties. I have been a staunch opponent of both Barack Obama and George W. Bush since 2004, and can prove it (per my 2004 posting history at RenewAmerica's forum). I like to joke that I am the Pro-life, Creationist, bleeding-heart liberal that everyone warned you about. For specifics, see the bottom of this page.
Other Research
Some other interesting projects of mine:
- Color-coded version of the 2012 U.S. Budget. Scroll to the bottom for a categorical summary of all expenses. Based on data from GPOAccess.gov.
- Pro-life healthcare bill, 58 pages. I wrote this 2009-2010 and contacted Congressmen about it as an alternative to ObamaCare.
- U.S. trade data 2009-2010. Complete listing of imports, exports, and total trade for all countries, as well as rankings. Based on data at Census.gov/foreign-trade.
- List of countries by minimum wages.
Editing Style
My favorite editing topics include Political Issues (including Evolution/Creationism and abortion), the Bible, Religion, History, Macroeconomics, Philosophy, and Sports. While I would like to discuss the issues, I would not want to join a listserv as my multiple email accounts are already packed, and it would make it much more difficult to find vital emails. I like forums, I do not like listservs.
As an editor I take pride in my sourcing, and go out of my way to use sourcing that even the most liberal of critics will have difficulty faulting; sourcing with peer-reviewed scientific journals (e.g. Science, Nature), major news sources (e.g. New York Times, National Geographic), or well-renowned fact-checking sites (e.g. FactChect.org, PolitiFact). It's not that I distrust Creationist sources like Answers in Genesis but I recognize such sources will not likely persuade anyone but those who are already Creationists! As such I make an effort to complement any Creationist sources used with mainstream ones; depending on the subject - if scientific then scientific journals, if news-related, then major news sources, if political, then non-partisan fact-checking sites or better yet, senate transcripts/source material.
Other Wiki Involvement
I'm Jzyehoshua from CreationWiki. I've also gone by Jzyehoshua at Wikipedia (for a full explanation of why I left see User:Jzyehoshua/WhyILeftWikipedia) and SourceWatch[]. I went by my full name, Joshua Zambrano, at Citizendium, because it's required. I am an ex-Wikipedia editor who did not like the liberal bias occurring there. I now edit in hopes of helping other wikis replace Wikipedia and its blatant, hypocritical biases. For example, just look at the Obama page there and how many controversies (such as the Born Alive controversy caused by Obama's repeated opposition to medical care for newborn children) go unmentioned, whereas the controversies for conservative politicians are mentioned. I've used Jzyehoshua as my ID across the web since at least 2004 (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, forums, etc.), and to my knowledge no one else uses it, yet a Google search of it receives 35,000 search results.
I strongly believe in editorial fairness. Regardless of whether I agree with a viewpoint or not, I try to be fair to those I disagree with and engage in dialogue. For me, being a Christian means treating others as I'd want to be treated. I am a strong advocate for fair editing at wikis. I left Wikipedia because I did not like liberal bias - it is my opinion that unchecked bias will only result in tyranny and the downfall of a wiki. I argue so strongly for my beliefs because I believe I'm doing what's right. I need to believe in the direction of the organization, and that it will be fair. For me, helping a wiki means not only contributing material, but helping to make it the best it can be in regards to editorial policy.
Political Views, Specific
I am an Independent and I suppose would be considered a 'Moderate' even though my views are a perfect mix of strong socially conservative beliefs and strong liberal/moderate economic/foreign policy beliefs. As such, I can discuss my views on abortion and evolution and be criticized by liberals as a hard-right conservative, but discuss my views on economics and foreign policy, and be criticized by conservatives as a far-left liberal; a fact that never ceases to amuse me.
Socially Conservative
- I oppose abortion save in rape and life of the mother, and lean against it in cases of rape also. I would only consider abortion moral if it could be shown beyond all shadow of a doubt that it's occurring at too early a stage to be murder - I do not support the right to kill others.
- I support Creationism. I believe life on earth is young although whether a specific date to it can be set I'm still deciding. I do not believe earth itself is necessarily young given Genesis 1:2. Again, I consider the Bible literally true and do not believe science has evidence to show that it is not on any given point. While I believe microevolution and natural selection are undeniable fact, I consider Big Bang theory and macroevolution (i.e. evolutionary theory) to be unevidenced, interpretive speculation.
- I oppose embryonic stem cell research not because I think embryos are human but out of alarm at human-animal cloning and that giving scientists power over the petri dish could to lead to misuse and devaluation of human life, growing humans for organ farming. Skin stem cells can be altered to achieve similar effects to embryonic without the moral controversy.
- I support religious freedom and frequently invoke the founding fathers and William Penn's early government to show we began a Christian nation. I believe that belief in God is the foundation of religious freedom, and that one can't believe in inalienable rights without believing in a Creator who gives said rights. I believe the 1st amendment was intended to prevent a religious institution like Catholicism or Anglicanism from usurping government power to persecute other denominations, and to protect freedom of religious expression and faith everywhere. I think progressive interpretations are actually leading to the religious discrimination the 1st amendment sought to stop.
- I support gun rights and the 2nd amendment as a protection against our government and empowering U.S. citizens. While I'm a bit unclear on whether a line should be drawn with assault weapons, I am a strong supporter of giving average citizens the right to protect themselves and be empowered with weapons. The original concept of "militias" was very different as proposed by the founding fathers to the one used today.
- I oppose gay marriage. I support homosexuals having the same rights as everyone else, which is why I think every homosexual man should be able to marry a woman. They have the same rights already, they want a new right and themselves declared a new demographic. I think it is a psychological disorder which is why homosexuals are more likely to have been sexually abused as children; it's similar to an inferiority complex. I also believe it's somewhat a side effect of upper-class living and growing up soft, effeminate; a growing weakness in our pampered society. I do not believe we should lightly conclude the definitions of marriage and morality should be expanded to become meaningless under the belief there is no clear right and wrong; contrary to what the Bible says. I see this as a liberal, progressive elite trying to dictate their opinions in law contrary to the will of the people and believe it should be put to a vote.
- I oppose no-fault divorce and point out it began in 1969, California, the same time and place as the gay rights movement. I do not support couples being able to nullify their vows of "til death do us part" for any reason or no reason when law otherwise holds contracts of lesser importance to far higher standards of accountability. If we are to use the Biblical standards on marriage as the basis for morality, we ought by all means to oppose divorce as strongly as we do homosexual marriage, as divorce is the more clearly wrong of the two, according to the Bible.
Otherwise Moderate
- I oppose warmongering as contrary to Christian ideals. I've opposed the Iraq War since 2004, the first year I voted. Not only did I criticize the Iraq War, but I also dislike prior U.S. wars/imperialism as well, like the Vietnam War, Mexican-American War, and treatment of Hawaiians/Filipinos/Native Americans. I am one of the biggest critics of Catholicism (including its warmongering like the Crusades, Conquistadors, and Inquisition) you will find as well, and believe that the real continuers of Christianity were those persecuted by Catholicism from 300-1000 A.D. like the Montanists, Arians, Donatists, Waldenses, Paulicians, etc.
- I oppose the death penalty. While I think some crimes are clearly worthy of death, I do not believe we as sinful humans, all guilty of death before God (the penalty for sin), can justly render this punishment - only if without sin can we cast the first stone according to the Mosaic Law. I favor life imprisonment and hard labor as an alternative, and recognize that while some crimes particularly call for death, our justice system has put too many innocent people on Death Row, and if we can't assure only guilty people are put to death, then noone should be.
- I support universal health care and welfare but oppose ObamaCare. I believe it moral for a government to provide services for the good of all and that both are necessary to care for a nation's weakest and poorest. Nevertheless, I abide by the rule the Apostle Paul said, that "if a man won't work he should also not eat" and that welfare systems should require work in exchange for services. I simply want the poor to have a chance to work for basic survival so they don't starve, not to give them a free ride. I believe our Social Security and Medicare systems have gotten out of hand, and rather than providing basic care are usurping private industry to the detriment of overall employment, but still support basic government systems for healthcare and welfare. I nevertheless oppose ObamaCare, because while I want to see a good healthcare system, ObamaCare was just designed to fund Planned Parenthood, and was a horrible bill.
- I oppose free trade save with countries who use decent minimum wages. If trade is not fair then it should not be free, and communist countries like China, Russia, North Korea, and Cuba use low minimum wages because (a) they don't care about their people, and (b) it means corporate investment flows to their countries for the cheap labor. I support free trade with countries whose minimum wages are above $4.00 an hour but not those who take advantage of their people in pursuit of power and steal jobs from Americans through free trade.
- I support caps on executive compensation at publicly traded companies. I also oppose the Invisible Hand and Trickle Down theories. This is about worker's rights and workers should be paid fairly in relation to CEOs unless the CEO owns the company (private company) in which case it's the CEO's money and company to do with as they please. This is needed to ensure fair employment and prosperity for all Americans since otherwise CEOs will hike their own pay by reducing wages for everyone else via outsourcing, automation, illegal immigrants, and part-time or temporary workers.
- I support protecting the environment. I want our rainforests protected and land use optimized. I support regulations on pollution by corporate excesses. I think those who stand naked on icebergs are just posturing and attention-seeking buffoons, but reasonable steps to preserve and protect our Creator-given resources as faithful stewards I wholeheartedly support and endorse. While I recognize Global Warming is occurring, 'ClimateGate' made me more suspicious of the Green Energy movement, Al Gore, and the scientific community backing Global Warming. I personally think the main problem is deforestation, that growing global population is a contributor as well, and that pollution is often singled out for political reasons and Green Industry profits.
- I support FDR-type Stimulus programs but oppose Obama's Stimulus programs. FDR's put people back to work inexpensively, paying little per worker hired, and having workers do inexpensive tasks like digging ditches, conservation, cleaning up public buildings, painting murals, etc. Obama's spend hundreds of thousands of dollars paying a single scientist to research ridiculous things, and his stimulus bills were essentially a blank check funding every liberal special interest project for the past 30 years. Thus I would support public works programs like FDR's but strongly criticized Obama's Stimulus even before it passed.


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Apr 17, 2020 (WiredRelease via COMTEX) -- Global Household Refrigerators and Freezers Market (Revenue and Volume), Type, Application, End-User, and Regional Analysis, Import-Export Analysis, Industry Analysis, Premium Insights, Intellectual Property Analysis, Market Attractiveness, Competitive Landscape, Traders/Distributors, Key Buyers, Forecasts 2020 – 2029
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Segmentation by refrigerator door type: Single Door, Double Door, Side by Side Door, French Door. Segmentation by freezer location: Freezer on top, Freezer on bottom, Freezer less. Segmentation by distribution channel: Specialty retailers, Department stores, Mass retailers/hypermarkets/supermarkets, Discount stores, Online
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– Market Overview: Scope & Product Overview, Classification of Household Refrigerators and Freezers with the aid of Product Category (Market Size (Sales), Market Share Comparison with the aid of Type (Product Category)), Household Refrigerators and Freezers Market by way of Application/End Users (Sales (Volume) and Market Share Comparison with the aid of Application), Market with the aid of Region (Market Size (Value) Comparison by means of Region, Status and Prospect
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Louis Lemoine
During the mid 80's he taught at Los Angeles Trade Technical College in Los Angeles, California and has been involved in the performing art of MAGIC.
For over twenty five years, he has been a magician member of the world renown Magic Castle, a private club for magician's and magic enthusiasts, located in Hollywood, California.
He has a Master of Arts Degree in Art, with emphasis in the area of Design, from California State University at Los Angeles in the United States, and has a valid-for-life Community College teaching credential.
He resides in Temple City, California USA.
Louis can be reached at:
[email protected]
Louis L. Lemoine created the font Linotype Spacera™ in 2002.


text:
We've arrived at the most thrilling part of the tale - where the beer finally gets put into bottles. And so quickly, too. It seems like only a month or two since we started savouring this text.
"Bottling the Beer
There are two units at present installed, but, as Mr. Pope said, if their bottled beer trade increases at the present rate considerable additions will have to be made. The bottling units each consist of a "Dawson" washer with a capacity of 400 dozen pints per hour, a 24-head "Pontifex" filler, an "Adriance" crowner, and an "Ermold" labeller. the "H.A." pasteuriser being fed from either.
At each point of vantage there is a "Benjamin reflector lamp focussing exactly on the spot most suitable for the operator. The absence of noise while both the units were in full swing was a very noticeable point. It was learnt that all the exhaust ports on the filler had been fitted with silencers and the crowner had also been softened down. The theory here was, less noise more output, and in practice it has completely proved itself.
If the beer is not to be pasteurised, four butterfly shaped sprayers are fitted over the bottle conveyor leading from the filler to the labeller, just washing off the external film of beer which might have been picked up in transit."
"A Modern West Country Brewery" by H.C. Vickery, 1934, pages 9 - 10.
I wonder why they gavce the capacity of the bottle washer but not the filler? Bit frustrating, that. One thing I have learned: Eldridge Pope used both crown corks and screw-tops to seal their bottles. Exciting or what? I've also learned that not all of their beer was pasteurised. I think I know which beer skipped pasteurisation, but we'll come to that in a later post. Best not get ahead of ourselves.
"The operator simply pushes the top handle downwards, which tightens the screw stopper after it has been inserted by hand. One device has been incorporated by the company, and this is the leather guard just below the operator's right and left wrists. The stopper tightener was found to be a most dangerous "toy" without it, because if a bottle should split it entered the operator's wrist."
"A Modern West Country Brewery" by H.C. Vickery, 1934, page 12.
No-one - the morbidly suicidal excepted - wants their wrists slitting. You can see the leather guard in the illistration.
Now let's take a look at the pasteuriser:
"The Pasteuriser
This machine is on the upper floor, and one was glad to ascend from the arctic atmosphere in the cold room to the more genial temperature generated in this room. This pasteuriser is the product of a practical engineer, Mr. Austin, combined with the practical brewing and bottling experience of Mr. Hipwell, the head brewer of a Midland brewery. It is scientific in principle and simple in design. It uses practically no liquor and very little steam, and is driven by a 0.5 h.p. motor. The breakage claimed is under 0.2 per cent., and this figure was vouched for by Mr. Pope.
The system is simple; the beers are loaded and off-loaded from the slung baskets and these travel through warm water of about 75° F., passing along the bottom at a gradually ascending slope at 105º F. This slope is heated by lower steam coils, so that the bottles pass through a succession of rising temperatures until the culminating temperature is reached of about 140º F. These temperatures never vary, being thermostatically controlled. The bottles travel about 8 in. per minute.
A noteworthy feature of this machine is the silent way in which it works; nothing could be heard except the whirr of the motor. The top of the tank was lagged with bolsters, tightly packed with wood shavings, and the remarkable efficiency of this lagging was clearly demonstrated by the heat felt on one side of the bolster and the ordinary air temperature on the other."
"A Modern West Country Brewery" by H.C. Vickery, 1934, page 12.
140º F. seems a bit of a low temperature. There are bacteria - and even yeast - that can survive that level of heat. Look at those kids unloading the pasteuriser - how old are they? Some don't look more than 10.
"The Bulk Delivery Tank
The last illustration shows one of the aluminium bulk delivery tanks. This has a capacity of 25 barrels and weighs 6 tons when full. The tank has two compartments — one of 10 barrels and the other 15 barrels. This tank is filled from a main in the wall of the store and is used for delivery of the beer to another bottling store in Southampton. It is lifted on to the lorry by the crane which can be seen overhead, and although it carries 9 in. of cork lagging on the sides and 6 in. on the base, great care is taken that the beer shall arrive in perfect condition, for it travels in the cool of the day, leaving at 6.30 a.m. on its journey of only 50 miles."
"A Modern West Country Brewery" by H.C. Vickery, 1934, pages 10 and 12.
I guess Eldridge Pope must have done some business in the Southampton area.
We're very nearly done. Just one more post and then we can all brethe freely again.
* I do genuinely always write sitting down. I experimented doing it standing up once. Not for me, I quickly realised. I like my arse comfortably parked before getting all literary.


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In this most recent article, we saw how to view others as kind to us, as necessary to us, so that we could love them.
But a question may arise, "How can I see people as kind when they are mean or unjust?"
This is the question that came up in my mind when I saw the footage of Philando Castile's girlfriend being comforted by her child in the aftermath of his terrible shooting. As a friend said on Facebook:
If this doesn't humanize the outrageous event, I don't know what will.
The worst of it, it seems to me, is that this has been going on forever. So how to respond constructively, how to see the "kindness" in this situation? As someone else put it on Facebook:
One day I hope I can learn to react to things like this with genuine compassion, rather than it make my blood boil.
I have been wondering how Diamond Reynolds will explain to her little girl what happened. How would a Buddha explain it in such a way that he could help the child, perhaps saving her a lifetime of sadness, victimhood, and distrust?
It pretty much goes without saying, but needs to be said again and again anyway, that if this had been a white family the man would still be alive. This family are victims of the ignorance and prejudice of others. The cop shooter was a victim of his own ignorance and delusions, and he was also a victim of the age-old system that allows this discrimination to carry on.
It seems to me that when it comes to the 400-year-old history of racism in this country, Black or white we are all trapped in this corrupt system together. The sooner we realize that, and the sooner we pull aside the veil of ignoring, maybe the sooner the prejudice and complicit behaviors can end. As Martin Luther King Jr put it, the struggle against racial discrimination is
… not a struggle for ourselves alone, but it is a struggle to save the soul of America.
Delusions are our real common enemy
But, even deeper, we are all victims caught up in the corrupt system of samsara, and this is our real problem. As Geshe Kelsang Gyatso explains in How to Solve Our Human Problems:
Our real problem is not the physical sickness, difficult relationship, or financial hardship that we might currently be experiencing, but our being trapped in samsara.
Whatever problem we are having, whether individually or collectively, we are having it because we are trapped in the prison of samsara, the cycle of impure life, by our delusions. If we are still in samsara, this means we are dominated by our bad habits of anger, selfishness, attachment, jealousy, etc, and above all by our ignorance. These are the source of all our negative thoughts and actions and of all our suffering experiences.
If we are in a prison, whatever problem we are having individually or collectively — whether with cold porridge, moldy surroundings, no money, or violent prison guards — the real problem is always that we are in prison in the first place.
And if we are in this prison of samsara, then even if some other prisoners seem to be having it worst than us at the moment, this is no cause for feeling superior or complacent. We are all in this together, lacking freedom, and we will have similar if not worse problems soon enough.
Delusions are our common enemy, the real enemy. It is essential that we separate people from their delusions. They are not their delusions, just temporarily controlled by them, as are we. Every living being is in fact kind, is even our mother from past lives; and our mother is never our enemy. In How to Transform Your Life, (available as a free ebook), Geshe Kelsang says:
It is because they distinguish between delusions and persons that Buddhas are able to see the faults of delusions without ever seeing a single fault in any sentient being. Consequently, their love and compassion for sentient beings never diminish. Failing to make this distinction, we, on the other hand, are constantly finding fault with other people but do not recognize the faults of delusions, even those within our own mind.
We are all slaves of our delusions together. They are like some master race enslaving us all, so there is power in opposing them together. To borrow a phrase from Martin Luther King Jr:
When the slaves get together, that's the beginning of getting out of slavery.
World peace is possible
We need vision and hope based on reality — based on a realistic, helpful view. A Bodhisattva has huge vision, wishing to end all suffering everywhere with the understanding that everyone has the potential to be suffering-free. Is this what MLK Jr meant when he said:
I have seen the promised land.
We need to know and believe that an alternative way of thinking and living is possible. That world peace is possible. Geshe Kelsang said in 2009:
If everybody followed this view — sincerely believe there is no enemy other than our delusions — all our problems that come from fighting and war will be ceased permanently. Following this view is the best method to make world peace. Unfortunately, everybody denies or neglects Buddha's view, his intention. So we want world peace, everybody says, "World peace, world peace!", but no-one understands how to do this.
Everyone, Buddhist or not Buddhist, can apply these practical teaching on blaming the delusions, not each other, for our suffering. If enough people follow this simple but profound view, world peace is a possibility.
Does this view help me consider the situation with more compassion, for a start? Yes, it does. It increases my wish to help everyone caught up in that situation become deeply free, not just from this horror but from all suffering.
More importantly, could Diamond's little girl benefit from this idea? I believe so. I believe it could help empower her and give her peace if she took it to heart. I believe it could help the cop, too, to see the error of his ways. And it could help everyone trapped in the system see that it doesn't have to be like this, that there is another way out of this mess for all of us.
Temporarily we can be working to improve these particular situations by changing our minds and changing our society. Ultimately we can be working to break everyone out of samsara's prison altogether. And can we not be doing all this at the same time?
An idea whose time has come
Our modern age is a time of momentous and lightning-fast change. It seems as though a lot of things are going downhill fast, but this rapid change can also open doorways in people's minds as they struggle to figure out another, better way to be, given that the old certainties are no longer working.
What MLK Jr said some decades ago seems even more the case than ever:
Men, for years now, have been talking about war and peace. But now, no longer can they just talk about it. It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence in this world; it's nonviolence or nonexistence. That is where we are today.
Given that, I believe that Buddhism is an idea whose time has come.
I have been thinking recently of how Buddha Shakyamuni himself appeared in India at a time of great social change, 2500 years ago. There was a lot of population upheaval from the rural areas to the towns, and a chance to shake things up a bit – and with his teachings on the equality and interdependence of all things, as well as his example of teaching, ordaining, and treating princes and paupers alike, Buddha upheaved the caste system.
I submit that Buddha's teachings would be equally capable of ending racism, and the ignorance and fear and greed that underlie it.
I found this interesting quote the other day by a Sri Lankan monk, Walpola Rahula, who said in 1978:
Buddhism arose in India as a spiritual force against social injustices, against degrading superstitious rites, ceremonies and sacrifices; it denounced the tyranny of the caste system and advocated the equality of all men; it emancipated woman and gave her complete spiritual freedom.
Buddhism is all about liberation from suffering. Mainly this means getting ourselves and everyone else out of samsara permanently. But this doesn't mean that we all have to GO somewhere — samsara and liberation are mere reflections of our minds. We need to create this alternate peaceful liberated reality right here and right now by purifying our minds and our actions.
What is modern Buddhism if not applying the ideas of Buddhism to the problems of the modern world? In the modern world, we are not sequestered in caves and monasteries, as were the practitioners in Tibet. In this world we are all interconnected and interdependent like never before, and we ignore this fact at our peril. Far better to take advantage of it to spread the ideas of wisdom and compassion to bring about genuine, lasting improvement.
So, I am asking you, how are we going to get these ideas, such as the one above, out there?!
More in these articles: What is modern Buddhism for? and A vision of hope in these troubled times.
Related articles
How do I get rid of problems? Buddha's advice


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Since 2015, the European Committee of the Regions has developed a close political and, increasingly, a very practical relationship with Libyan cities. The relationship has the twin aims of helping to improve public services in Libya and of helping Libyan cities to enter the international community. The cooperation is a response to the political turmoil and insecurity that Libya has been experiencing since 2011, which has eroded municipal services in Libya and kept Libyan cities isolated internationally.
At the request of Libyan municipalities, the European Committee of the Regions has been mobilising partnerships for Libya's local authorities since January 2016. The CoR is matching the requests of Libyan cities with offers of expertise from EU cities and regions. The purpose is to improve the lives of ordinary Libyans, by helping municipalities provide better services in areas ranging from primary health care to waste management. The initiative is also a bottom-up contribution – through city diplomacy – to the stabilisation of Libya. In 2021, the Nicosia Initiative entered a new phase with new initiatives to build capacities for local authority politicians and civil servants and foster local social economic and institutional development. With funding by the European Commission, the projects Research and Education Building Urban Institutions for Local Development [REBUILD] and Towards A new Multilevel Shared Approach for Libya Local governance [TAMSALL], will enable continued cooperation among EU and Libyan partners for the coming years and try contributing to support further improvement in living conditions of local populations. This marks a shift from incremental to more structural support for the Nicosia Initiative. The Nicosia Initiative is a bottom-up process that responds to the needs of one of the EU's closest and most fragile neighbours. The CoR's involvement reflects the belief that city diplomacy and peer-to-peer diplomacy can make a key contribution to addressing long-term international challenges in a sustainable way. It is also in line with the EU's global strategy and the conviction that the EU should think globally and act locally.
Libyan cities participating in the Nicosia initiative include:
The selection of municipalities was based on criteria such as the Mayors' availability to overcome existing differences and work together, inclusion of all regions of the country, the potential of municipalities to reach out to a wider number of neighbouring territories, and their capacity and availability to establish cooperation partnerships with international partners. The mayor of Tripoli, Abdelrauf Beitelmal, and the mayor of Zintan, Mustafa Abdullah al-Baruni, are representing Libyan mayors, as observers in the Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM). Most European members of ARLEM, which brings together politicians and political representatives from the EU and the Mediterranean region, are members of the CoR. The CoR serves as the secretariat of the Nicosia initiative.
As a political assembly, the CoR aims to help Libyan cities join the international community and benefit from mutually beneficial partnerships with EU cities and regions that contribute to fostering sustainable territorial development. Since 2011, Libya has suffered at the national level from political turmoil, Even though recent progress has been made, including the installation of an interim government and parliamentary elections foreseen for the end of 2021, the security and political situation remains fragile. The crisis has affected the health, schooling, livelihoods, and prospects of Libyans across the country. In this challenging situation, many local authorities have managed to sustain basic services enjoy an electoral mandate and robust popular legitimacy. Throughout the crisis, they have succeeded in providing a certain level stability for their populations. The CoR therefore concluded that support for Libya's cities and regions was one promising way in which the EU could help Libya. The EU's cities and regions had already shown that they have the political experience, institutional capacity and technical skills to support counterparts around the world. Through the Nicosia initiative, the CoR seeks to catalyse support for Libya in areas identified as critical by Libya's local administrations.
EU regions and cities have provided or pledged support in the following areas:
During study visits to the EU, Libyan experts have made on-site visits to operational facilities, participated in workshops, debates and training activities, and initiated longer-term cooperation actions with EU regions and cities.
The CoR is currently working on:
April 2021: Start of the 48-months REBUILD project ( Research and Education Building Urban Institutions for Local Development) focusing on the extension of the continuous learning programme already developed under the Nicosia Initiative.This initiative by the Committee of the Regions would not be possible without the financial and political support of the European External Action Service and of the European Commission's DG NEAR (Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations), via the EU Public Administration Facility for Libya. Other partners who have contributed funding include the Region of Flanders, the Italian Government, and the European Endowment for Peace.
The Union for the Mediterranean, which brings together the 28 member states of the EU and 15 Mediterranean states, has also provided strong political support. Libya is not a member of the Union for the Mediterranean.
Olivér Várhelyi, the EU's Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement described Libya as now being at a turning point. It is important to continue working with local authorities to help improve their public service delivery capacities and foster stabilisation in the country. The Commission is committed to further supporting the Nicosia Initiative.


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Making a difference, in more ways than one
Our volunteer project for the day is to help local sea-farmer Tetsuo Hatakeyama (aka Iron Man) and his family tie knots in konbu, sort the wakame and prep bags for packaging. Last year, I had visited this family when they were living in a temporary housing area above Minamisanriku after the tsunami, so it was nice to see that they have moved out of the home, back onto their land and are progressively moving forward with their lives.
It's a beautiful day and there are many seagulls flying in circles along the coast as we crowd around a handful of tables to get started with the day's task. It's a less strenuous job than the previous volunteer project at Hamaguri Hama and everyone is enjoying the time to watch the view of the boats lined up at sea, while handling the seaweed.
Eric Kusunoki (left) teaching Iron Man (center) how to tie multiple knots on a rope at one time.
Photo: Andrew Ryan
The teams of people working with the konbu had to tie three individual knots on the long strips of it. I was told that this helps to keep the kelp together while it's boiling. Punahou coach Eric Kusunoki, however, didn't do exactly as he was told. Instead of tying three individual knots one at a time, he tied three knots at one time. It's a skill he learned when he was a kid from a lady who ran a delicatessen out of his house. "They were making knots and cutting it, just like this," he says. Kusunoki shared this knot-tying skill with the Japanese sea-farmer Iron Man and his family, who hadn't known that it was possible to do what he just showed them. They were excited and happy by the idea that it would save them time in their small, family business and continued practicing the knot until we left. It was an exchange that will help them long after we are gone.
Denise Saki Powers (left) giving Iron Man the triple-bladed scissors.
Parent Denise Saki Powers also had a gift for the family—triple-bladed scissors. She was part of the team of parents in charge of gathering omiyage for the Ishinomaki baseball team, and had to buy paper-cutting scissors for the job. On buying them in Hawaii, she was told to have the wakame sea-farmer family try using them to cut the seaweed. The sharp blades work better than the average scissors. Powers gave the scissors to Iron Man and he immediately gave it a try. In one snip, he was able to cut, then strip, the seaweed into two pieces. It was quick and efficient, and exactly what they needed.
Anyone who witnessed both of these exchanges felt chicken skin, knowing that these small acts of kindness will give the family more help and support as they move forward with rebuilding their business.


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It's a miracle our pitiful spaceflights so far haven't been attacked by pirates. Pirates are everywhere, ruthlessly plundering and seizing everything in their path. Space isn't empty, because it's crammed with pirates in every direction. And because space is infinite, it offers limitless hiding places for a ruthless band of buccaneers. Everything you take into space already belongs to pirates — you just don't know it yet. Here's our round-up of the greatest pirates in space.
You can't make a treaty with pirates, nor can you go to war against them. It's all just booty to them. And pirates rule science fiction — just look at this list of 288 science fiction books with pirate themes, including the awesomely titled Pirates Of Cyber Island, from 1977. Come on, how could a book called Pirates Of Cyber Island not rule? Anywhere, here's a very partial list of space pirates:
Space Pirate Captain Harlock is an anime series by Leiji Matsumoto starring Harlock, a character who's appeared in Matsumoto's anime since 1953. He totally lives up to the pirate image, with the eyepatch and the scar and the giant black cape. But he's really more of a freedom fighter, carrying out raids on the ships of all-female aliens who are oppressing Earth, the Mazone. He's sort of a Sir Francis Drake with way better hair, in space.
Jim Henson's puppets-and-Ben Browder show Farscape included a gang of pirates that trap unwary space travelers inside a region of space called the Flax. Browder and Claudia Black get trapped in the Flax, and the rest of the Moya's crew has to find a way to keep the pirates from claiming their booty.
Comics have included a number of space pirates, including the Starjammers in Marvel's X-Men comics and Starslayer from Mike Grell's series of the same name. The Starjammers are led by Cyclops' dad Christopher Summers, who took the name Corsair and led a group of freaks and aliens on a career of piracy across the galaxy. And they fought the Shi'ar Emperor D'Ken, who wanted to sacrifice his sister Lilandra and gain ultimate power. Meanwhile, Starslayer was an ancient Celtic warrior, who gets zapped forward in time to join the crew of a spaceship called the Jolly Roger, and fight against an evil alien empire.
Star Trek featured a number of pirate races, including the Nausicaans, one of whom stabbed Captain Picard when he was just a brash cadet. But the awesomest pirates in Trek are the Orions, who are big bald scary green/blue guys and super seductive green women. (In an Enterprise episode, it's revealed that the green "slavegirls" are actually in charge, and the men are really their slaves, thanks to feminine wiles 'n' stuff. Irony FTW.) In one episode of the animated series, the Orion pirates raid a Starfleet ship and steal some precious dilithium crystals plus some medicine the Enterprise needs to cure Spock. These pirates are tricky bastards, setting up a meeting with Kirk which turns out to be a trap, courtesy of a dilithium bomb. There's also a whole Orion Pirates space battle game:
The Tranquility Wars by Gentry Lee features a gang of pirates who call themselves the Utopians, who are fighting for their freedom against a totalitarian regime (are we noticing a theme here yet?). They even have the required cybernetic parrots, and go around raiding other spaceships and keeping people for ransom. And the leader of the pirates is named Lance! Lance the space pirate!
Mike Resnick's novel Starship: Pirate includes an evil space pirate named Hammerhead Shark, which is actually a better name for a space pirate than Lance. Actually, the good guy, Wilson Cole, is a space pirate too — but he's a nice pirate, who just steals people's stuff and then sells it back to them. Who turns out to be the better pirate, the friendly Wilson or the toothy Hammerhead?
Space Pirate is the name of an online strategy game, in which the space pirates are traders who don't pay taxes to the Intergalactic Revenue Service. Really. It's all about tax-dodging. Oh, and you get to raid other ships as well.
Time-traveling TV serial Doctor Who actually featured a story called "The Space Pirates," which sadly is neither swash nor buckling. It's the distant future, and there are pirates, but they're a bit pants. They're pants pirates. But even that makes them sound more awesome than they really were. They go around looting ore freighters in deep space, and mostly uncrewed robot freighters.
Doctor Who's failure to bring the Yo-ho-ho was a terrible stain that followed the program for almost a decade — until it finally redressed the balance with another story, "The Pirate Planet." This story has EVERYTHING — including a pirate captain with a cyber eye patch and hook-hand, plus a robot parrot. The "PIrate Planet" zooms around, appearing around other planets and crushing the life out of them. The planet Xanak then strips the precious metals and jewels out of the dead planets, and then... Actually I'm not sure what happens after that. Do they sell the minerals and jewels? To whom? It's never really explained.
The Metroid video game series features the Space Pirates, sometimes called Zebesian Space Pirates, among the main adversaries. They're not just pirates, they're aliens, who sort of look like dragons sometimes. They have three fingered hands or sometimes lobstery claws. They go around the galaxy stealing scientific innovations at the behest of ruthless leaders like Mother Brain, whose name is pretty self explanatory — she's got a brain, and it's a mother:


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The Oden State Fish Hatchery Provides Fish for Lakes & Streams
The Oden State Fish Hatchery is one of Michigan's six state hatcheries. The original Oden State Fish Hatchery was established in 1921 and continued to operate until 2002. The hatchery complex just north of the original hatchery was completed in 2002 and is one of the most advanced fish culture facilities of its kind.
This fish hatchery raised both brown and rainbow trout. This facility has a brown and rainbow trout broodstock station and is a major rearing facility for those two species. The Oden facility keeps broodstock (fish that are kept to produce fertilized eggs) for three strains of brown trout and one strain of rainbow trout.
This brookstock produces 2-3 million eggs per year for Michigan's hatchery system. After hatching, the fish, called fry, are put into tanks. Once they have reached 3-5 inches in length, the fish are called fingerlings and are moved to covered, outdoor raceways.
At 7-9 inches in length, the fish, now called yearlings, are pumped from the raceways into a special fish planting truck where they are then taken to their new 'homes.'
The water used to grow the fish comes from five wells located on the property. Each day, more than four million gallons of water are used in the rearing process.
The old hatchery has been transformed into a Great Lakes watershed explanation area featuring a Michigan Fisheries Visitors Center that includes a replica of a fish transportation rail car. The rail car has a historic recreation of the interior of the original rail car, a watershed interpretative area and an interactive computer with hands-on learning opportunities concerning watersheds and other aspects of fish culture.
A trout stream was constructed in the old raceway complex and shows the public how a degraded stream can be repaired. It includes a viewing chamber to allow people to see what happens underwater in a stream.
While touring the hatchery, make sure to bring dimes to purchase fish feed from dispensing machines so you can feed the trout in the pond along the way! The facility includes daily tours during the summer along paved pathways.
For more information about the Oden Fish Hatchery, call 231-347-4689. The hatchery is located on US 31 in Oden.
The Great Outdoors
- Parks Aplenty in the Petoskey Area
- Petoskey State Park
- Petoskey's Bear River Valley Recreation Area
- Petoskey's Bear River Whitewater Park
- Explore the Dark Sky Park Discovery Trail Near Mackinaw City
- Kid's Fishing Pond in Petoskey
- Searching for Petoskey Stones in Northern Michigan
- Disc Golf Up North in Michigan
- Bike the Little Traverse Wheelway from Harbor Springs to Charlevoix
- The Oden State Fish Hatchery Provides Fish for Lakes & Streams
- Kayaking Up North Is The Best!
- Sailing in Northern Michigan for Adults & Kids
- Hike and Bike the North Country Trail
- Boyne City Outdoor Activities
- Thorne Swift Nature Preserve
- Ride the Breezeway Scenic Highway Between Atwood & Boyne Falls
- Up North Outdoor Activities--Hiking, Biking, Golfing, Boating, Sailing, Skiing--It's All Here!
- Visit Young State Park on Lake Charlevoix Near Boyne City
- Arch Rock - A Natural Wonder on Mackinac Island
- Fall is Filled with Color & Activities in Northern Michigan
For more activities & attractions, check out these additional links for Things to Do in Northern Michigan:
Harbor Springs, Michigan -- Harbor Springs is the place to try new things! Rent a bike or a kayak, go snow tubing, attend a concert or an art fair, or play a round of golf with friends.
Petoskey -- There's so much to do in Petoskey from the Bear River Valley Recreation Area, to Petoskey State Park, to biking, golfing, hiking, and more.
Charlevoix, Michigan -- Visiting Charlevoix in Northern Michigan is a fun-filled vacation with great beaches, boating, skiing, fishing and year 'round family fun.
Things to Do in Boyne City, Michigan -- Nothing is quite like Boyne City in Northern Michigan with camping, boating, skiing, year 'round outdoor activities, and of course, the morel mushroom!
Lots of Activities in Mackinaw City, Michigan -- Explore Mackinaw City in Northern Michigan for history, the International Dark Sky Park, and outdoor activities.
Mackinac Island -- Take a step back in time and find lots of things to do when you visit Mackinac Island by horseback or bike--no cars allowed!
Northern Michigan Activities & Things to Do -- Northern Michigan offers many fun things to do for the entire family whatever the season, whatever the reason!
Last Updated: 06-05-2020 09:54 AM ID: 568


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Sony's press conference keeps getting better, with Square-Enix taking the stage with some big news that's sure to excite some gamers while making others fuming mad. No, they didn't finally show off that Final Fantasy VII remake you've been waiting for – actually, if you're one of the many who has been clamoring for that, you might want to sit down. Instead of remaking VII, Square-Enix is giving Final Fantasy X the HD treatment, remaking it for both the PlayStation 3 and the Vita.
And for as much as this is sure to infuriate hardcore FFVII fans, it really does make sense. PlayStation 2 games can be remade in HD without too much extraneous work, as we've seen with ICO/Shadow of the Colossus and the God of War HD Collection. Taking a PlayStation game and making it look like anything less than crap in HD, however, is another story. At that point they'd be literally rebuilding the entire game, and for as fun as that might sound to you, it really makes no sense whatsoever. With the amount it would cost they could just make Final Fantasy XV.
Also, Final Fantasy X is awesome, and we're really hoping that there's a trailer to go with this extremely exciting announcement.
Sep 13, 2011