text:
This Is the Manicure You Should Get, Based on Your Astrological Sign
The Weirdest Beauty Tips You've HeardCan toothpaste really zap pimples? Experts explain whether the wacky beauty tips you've been told actually work |
Older comments
some of this seems odd but I like the olive oil idea
by butterfly11 Wednesday, April 3, 2013 at 11:31AM Report as inappropriate
ewh the urnie is so gross , haha who would try that
by aishak55 Tuesday, December 11, 2012 at 03:00PM Report as inappropriate
Olive oil does make your hair feel really soft, but I found that I had to be kind of generous with it and leave it on a bit longer than they mentioned.
by Chris213 Thursday, October 25, 2012 at 06:37AM Report as inappropriate
Haha. Urine? I wanna know who has actually tried that. I hope they are using their own urine! ill stick to some of the other tips; but definitely not the urine one.
by danny54f Friday, October 12, 2012 at 10:43AM Report as inappropriate
I agree with everyone the urine one is nasty. Pee belongs in the toilet and I'm gonna keep it the way. These beauty tips are great. I have never heard of the hot sauce one before. I would like to try some of the mayonnaise. I would probably buy the hair mayonnaise from sally beauty supply. I like the real mayonnaise for my food.
by misschanel67 Tuesday, August 28, 2012 at 05:04PM Report as inappropriate
Absolutely amazing and honestly makes more sense than any other serious moisture creams.
by Janann Sunday, August 19, 2012 at 06:49PM Report as inappropriate
Actually I have tried mayo on my hair and it helps to calm down frizz or disguise breakage.
by AutumnFlower Monday, July 23, 2012 at 10:35AM Report as inappropriate
Please don't put pee on your face or anywhere else. Alot of these tips I have heard before. I've used the toothpaste trick many times. It does work!
by Crystal0107 Tuesday, July 10, 2012 at 08:08PM Report as inappropriate
the urine one was just nasty, but the rest were pretty cool! this article really cleared things up!
by LeSucre Monday, April 23, 2012 at 12:07AM Report as inappropriate


text:
Download Swallowed Star Season 4 Episode 34 [119] Multi-Subtitles, Watch Swallowed Star Season 4 Episode 34 [119] Multi-Subtitles, don't forget to click on the like and share button. Anime Swallowed Star Season 4 always updated at Donghua World – Watch All Chinese Donghua/Anime. Don't forget to watch other anime updates.
If dark server video buffer in the middle here is some actions you can take.
(1st Try changing quality
2nd Try skipping 10second
3rd Try refreshing the page) &
if anyone Still having any problem on our site feel free to reach us on telegram For help, Have a nice day. Telegram Channel
Turn Off Light
Because of Stream Sb all our data was deleted, now we will Upload Everything From scratch again. you may face broken links issues for our old uploads ... Daily updates will be Updated normally... Without any errors Join our Telegram Channel to stay updated.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Date Tribal Male Help
Back to Help index
- What is the purpose of Date Tribal Male?
- Is Date Tribal Male really free?
- How do I know if the members on this site are not fake?
- What is the difference between entering as a guest and entering as a member?
What is the purpose of Date Tribal Male?
The purpose of the Date Tribal Male site is to make it as easy as possible for you to meet people, using the power of the internet. At Date Tribal Male, you'll find a community of people using the site as a tool to make connections and find partners for dating, romance, friendship, and a variety of encounters. To find your match, we offer several powerful features, that allow you to narrow your search so you can find exactly the kind of person you, are looking for. On various occasions, we also add new features to make your time at Date Tribal Male a successful and fun experience.
Is Date Tribal Male really free?
Date Tribal Male offers a variety of membership packages. Standard membership is free. As a Standard member, you can chat, send instant messages, and browse through our worldwide database of profiles. You also have access to our interactive Magazine, where you can post or answer advice questions or post poetry and articles. There's plenty to do as a Standard member! If you decide you want to speed up your search, consider one of our premium memberships. Premium memberships offer far more privileges and cost as little as 25 cents (or less!) per day.
For more information on the privileges for different membership levels, please see our Membership Chart.
How do I know if the members on this site are not fake?
Date Tribal Male only requires a valid email address in order to become a member of this site, as you will not be able to obtain your password without one. This means that should any member of the site be found guilty of abuse or harassing other members, we will have a lead in finding the person who is causing the problems; with the help of that member's ISP (Internet Service Provider), we can hopefully trace that person. Needless to say, such people will be permanently banned from membership on this site. However, our service is otherwise confidential. There is no way that we can do extensive background checks on members, and we expect you to understand that we cannot take responsibility for any pain, damage or suffering arising from your use of this site. Please use your common sense and be careful about giving out personal information to people you meet on this site.
If you feel that a member is using Date Tribal Male for abusive or fraudulent purposes that are not in adherence with our Terms of Use, please email our Abuse Team their username so that we may investigate.
What is the difference between entering as a guest and entering as a member?
Date Tribal Male works on a membership system so that we are able to keep data files that contain your profile information and other information such as your "Hotlist", etc. Guests may enter the site and browse the listings, but in order to post a listing and use the many features available on the site, you must become a member.
I'm not getting my password or other emails from Date Tribal Male!
How do I contact your Customer Service Department?
How do I submit a suggestion for improvement?


text:
A large part of my fascination in mathematics is because of some very surprising results that I have seen there.
I remember one I found very hard to swallow when I first encountered it, was what is known as the Banach Tarski Paradox. It states that you can separate a ball $x^2+y^2+z^2 \le 1$ into finitely many disjoint parts, rotate and translate them and rejoin (by taking disjoint union), and you end up with exactly two complete balls of the same radius!
So I ask you which are your most surprising moments in maths?
- Chances are you will have more than one. May I request post multiple answers in that case, so the voting system will bring the ones most people think as surprising up. Thanks!


text:
I had been seeing a lot a great looking Kung Pao recipes (such as here or here ) and I just had to try making it. I liked the fact that the recipes called for sichuan peppercorns which I had recently acquired in Chinatown and I had been interested in using again. Chinese black vinegar is another ingredient that I had been wanting to try using. I was also interested in trying a dish that included whole dried chilies. Given my current obsession with prawns I decided to do a shrimp kung pao. Everything about the kung pao dish sounded really tasty!
Though the list of ingredients is a bit long, if you prepare everything before you start cooking and have it on hand it is pretty easy to make. The shrimp kung pao turned out great! It was one of the tastiest meals that I have had in a while. I really enjoy the fragrance of the toasting sichuan peppercorns and chilies. Up till now I had ground the sichuan peppercorns before adding them to the dish and this recipe called for them to be used whole. The fact that the recipe also contains peanuts made me want to chew each bite well to enjoy the peanuts. That meant that I also got to chew most of the whole sichuan peppercorns and fully enjoy their mouth numbing effect. The sichuan peppercorn effect and the heat of the chilies was a really nice combination. I served the shrimp gong bao on rice the first night and I tried serving the leftovers on some whole wheat pasta. I am thinking that when I make this again I will try adding some vegetables.
Shrimp Kung Pao
- 1 pound shrimp (peeled and deveined)
- 1 teaspoon corn starch
- 1 teaspoon water
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce (gluten free for gluten free)
- 2 teaspoons Shao Xing rice wine
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 10 dried red chilies or to taste (cut in half)
- 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns, toasted
- 5 green onions (sliced)
- 1 tablespoon garlic (chopped)
- 1 tablespoon ginger (grated)
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce (gluten free for gluten free)
- 1 teaspoon light soy sauce (gluten free for gluten free)
- 3 teaspoons Chinese black vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon chicken stock
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 handful roasted peanuts (roughly chopped)
- Mix the shrimp, cornstarch, water, soy sauce, and rice wine in a plastic bag and let marinate for 10-20 minutes.
- Heat the oil in a pan.
- Add the red chilies and sichuan peppercorns and fry until fragrant, about a minute.
- Add the shrimp and saute for a minute.
- Add the white part of the green onions, garlic and ginger.
- Add the soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, chicken stock, sugar and corn starch and cook until the shrimp is cooked and the sauce thickens, a couple of minutes.
- Serve garnished with the peanuts and the green part of the green onions.


text:
About Us
Our Reach
Our Achievements
Our Creations
Contact Us
Our Characters
Bob The Train
Zoobees Kids ABC TV - Baby Songs & Nurse...
Junior Squad - Nursery Rhymes & Kids Son...
Baby Toot Toot - Nursery Rhymes and Kids...
Tridev - Hindi Rhymes
Loco Nuts - Cartoon Videos
Little Tritans - Kids Songs and Nursery ...
Ladoo Kids Hindi Nursery Rhymes
Super Supremes - Nursery Rhymes & Kids S...
Boom Buddies - Nursery Rhymes & Kids Son...
View All
Our Channels
Super Supremes - Sing Along Children's...
Baby Box Preschool Kids Songs
Baby Big Cheese - Nursery Rhymes and Kid...
Dinobees - Cartoon Videos
Little Eddie - Nursery Rhymes and Kids S...
Loco Nuts English Nursery Rhymes and Kid...
Nimboo Kids - Cartoon Videos for Childre...
For Parents
How to help children develop a love for reading?
KindyROO Child Development and Programs
Importance of Early Childhood Development
Quality Time With Kids
Music and early child development
Encourage Any Progress
Teach Your Kids
Develop According To The Age
Spend Quality Time With Your Kids
3 Tips On Smart Parenting
Parents Guide - Disciplining Small..
3 Highly Effective Methods for Keeping...
3 Reasons Why Nursery Rhymes are So Imp...
Top 4 Benefits of Singing Nursery Rhymes...
Download Apps
Bob The Train App
Kids First App
Nursery Rhymes World App
Kids ABC TV Nursery Rhymes App
Amazon FireTV Apps
Roku Channels
Forgot Password?
Made With ♥ by HEPTA


text:
2Wait a little and I will instruct you,
for there are still words to be said for God.
3I will assemble arguments from afar,
and for my maker I will establish what is right.
4For indeed, my words are not a lie;
one perfect in knowledge is before you.
5Look, God is great, not disdainful;
his strength of purpose is great.
He does not preserve the life of the wicked.
6He establishes the right of the poor;a
he does not divert his eyes from the just
7But he seats them upon thrones
with kings, exalted forever.b
8If they are bound with fetters,
held fast by bonds of affliction,
9He lets them know what they have done,
and how arrogant are their sins.
10He opens their ears to correction
and tells them to turn back from evil.
11If they listen and serve him,
they spend their days in prosperity,
their years in happiness.
12But if they do not listen, they pass to the grave,
they perish for lack of knowledge.
13The impious in heart lay up anger;
they do not cry for help when he binds them;
14They will die young—
their life* among the reprobate.
15But he saves the afflicted through their affliction,
and opens their ears through oppression.
16* He entices you from distress,
to a broad place without constraint;
what rests on your table is rich food.
17Though you are full of the judgment of the wicked,
judgment and justice will be maintained.
18Let not anger at abundance entice you,
nor great bribery lead you astray.
19Will your wealth equip you against distress,
or all your exertions of strength?
20Do not long for the night,
when peoples vanish in their place.
21Be careful; do not turn to evil;
for this you have preferred to affliction.
22* Look, God is exalted in his power.
What teacher is there like him?
23Who prescribes for him his way?
Who says, "You have done wrong"?c
24Remember, you should extol his work,
which people have praised in song.
25All humankind beholds it;
everyone views it from afar.
26See, God is great beyond our knowledge,
the number of his years past searching out.
27He holds in check the waterdrops
that filter in rain from his flood,
28Till the clouds flow with them
and they rain down on all humankind.
29* Can anyone understand the spreading clouds,
the thunderings from his tent?
30Look, he spreads his light over it,
it covers the roots of the sea.
31For by these he judges the nations,
and gives food in abundance.
32In his hands he holds the lightning,
and he commands it to strike the mark.
33His thunder announces him
and incites the fury of the storm.
* [36:14] Life: a miserable life before death or a shadowy existence in Sheol. Reprobate: cf. Dt 23:18–19.
* [36:16–20] The Hebrew text here is obscure. Although each verse makes some sense, they do not constitute a logical sequence.
* [36:22–25] These verses serve as an introduction to the hymn about the divine marvels, 36:26–37:24, which in some respects anticipates the tone and content of the Lord's speeches in chaps. 38–41.
Copyright 2019-2024 USCCB, please review our Privacy Policy


text:
Senior Staff Scientist
Mark D. Levine was director of the Environmental Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) from 1996-2006. The Division is a leader in research on buildings' energy efficiency, indoor air quality, and various clean energy technologies. It also played a leadership role in analysis of energy efficiency issues, an area that Dr. Levine built up during his leadership of the Energy Analysis Program from 1983-1996.
His major passion in the past two decades has involved analyzing and promoting energy efficiency in China. He was the Group Leader of the China Energy Group at LBNL until March 2012. Dr. Levine is a board member of five leading non-profits in the United States (American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, Center for Clean Air Policy, Center for Resource Solutions, the US-China Green Energy Council, and the California Clean Energy Fund, an innovative green venture capital fund) and one in Asia. He has founded or co-founded two successful non-profits, including the acclaimed Beijing Energy Efficiency Center. He is a member of the Energy Advisory Board of Dow Chemical Company and the Advisory Board of the Asian Pacific Energy Research Centre in Tokyo. In 1999, he was elected a fellow of the California Council on Science and Technology. In 2008, he was selected as the recipient of the prestigious Obayashi Prize, awarded by the Obayashi Foundation of Japan to one person every two years for contributions to sustainable development, especially in urban areas.
In addition to authoring numerous technical publications, Dr. Levine has led a series of high-profile energy analysis activities: he had overall responsibility for the IPCC chapters on mitigating carbon emissions in buildings (2nd assessment report) and shared responsibility (4th assessment report); he was co-leader of the report "Scenarios for a Clean Energy Future" for the United States and co-leader of a major study of energy and carbon futures of China.
Dr. Levine graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University, earned a Ph.D. from the University of California, and has been the recipient of a Fulbright scholarship, a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, and the National Institute of Health doctoral awards.


text:
Hit the beach in this new reversible bikini top! Design 2 styles on 1 single top so you can mix and match your piece however you like. Pair it with our reversible bikini bottoms to get a totally different look every time. Made from 90% Polyester, 10% Spandex Bikini TOP only Fully customizable including halterneck straps Bikini tops are packed in a transparent plastic bag Our editing software makes designing quick and simple Designs imprinted using advance heat sublimation technique; will not fade in water Create bottoms here or a full bikini set here Ideal image size in pixels (W * H) : 2000 x 2000 or Higher Attention: For all waistbands, handcuffs and drawstring, please use either plain colors or patterns only and NOT text messages. Due to bleeding and fabric stretch, the previewed image is only an approximated display of the final product.
If you order more than 50 pcs items (can be combined), please click here to contact us for whole price quotation, please include the SKU# and the quantity you want for each of them. For order less than 50 pcs, please order directly from our website.


text:
Division for Human Settlements and the Socio-Cultural Environment files
- Série organique
- 1978-1989
Fait partie de Secretariat Records
Series consists of files transferred directly from the Division for Human Settlements and the Socio-Cultural Environment (SHS/ENV) and its successor the Division of Population and Human Settlements (SHS/POP). Files cover programme activities on rural and urban habitat, reconstruction, quality of life and human ecology. Activities include missions, training programmes and division contributions to conferences such as the 1982 World Conference on Cultural Policies (Mondiacult). Files contain general correspondence, internal memoranda and final documents. They are in no particular order.
UNESCO. Division des établissements humains et de l'environnement socioculturel


text:
A voluntary moratorium on certain experiments involving forms of bird flu altered in laboratories should continue until there can be more public discussion of safety concerns, a prominent government official told flu researchers at a meeting in New York City Tuesday.
"I strongly recommend that you continue the voluntary moratorium until we can have this open and transparent process," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which funded the research.
U.S. government agencies such as NIAID, part of the National Institutes of Health, couldn't support lifting the moratorium now for federally funded science, he said, adding that plans for a broader public consultation are in the works.
Fauci's remarks were made at a meeting that was originally closed to the press. Officials reversed that decision Sunday, the night before it started and allowed reporters to attend.
Researchers put certain experiments with H5N1 bird flu on hold back in January, because of concerns that the viruses they had created could start a pandemic in people if the germs ever got out of the lab.
The moratorium was supposed to last 60 days, but has been in effect for more than six months. Some researchers are eager to restart, as they say the studies are vital for helping to prepare for a pandemic that might occur naturally.
Take Ron Fouchier of Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands. His lab did one of the controversial experiments with funds from the NIAID. "It is my opinion that we should lift the moratorium," Fouchier said.
Fouchier points out that the two scientific manuscripts describing the experiments have been openly published, there has been time to discuss the work, and countries have had time to review the biosafety requirements. He says those were the original reasons for instituting the moratorium and now all of those conditions have been met.
He noted that some scientists who signed the voluntary moratorium don't rely on U.S. government funds. They're also working in countries that, unlike the U.S., haven't decided to take any new regulatory actions. "There is no reason to stop them from doing this work," Fouchier said.
But Fauci told flu researchers that they need to engage with the global public and address the concerns that have been raised. "You will unquestionably lose the battle for public opinion on this one if you ignore these concerns. You can't ignore them," Fauci told the audience. "The flu scientific community can no longer be the only players in the discussion of whether the experiments should be done."
Fauci outlined interagency discussions that have been going on within the U.S. government. He said there's a plan to call a public workshop that would include international participation to discuss these issues.
A similar meeting is being planned by the World Health Organization, but it won't happen until next year.
Fauci said WHO leadership in this effort would be welcome, but he's not counting on it. "I don't think that that's going to happen because they have not come forth and said that's the responsibility that they want to take," he said. "But we do have to have WHO representation in any process that I'm talking about now. And so we can make them part of this international dialogue."
Virologist Robert Webster, a prominent flu scientist at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, said that he too supports a continuation of the moratorium. "At my dinner table, my grandchildren are concerned," he said. "So I have to convince them that it is safe to continue these important works."
One of the main concerns surrounding the research is the threat of accidental release, if the mutant bird flu experiments get repeated in labs around the world that do not have the same security and safety precautions that are mandated by the U.S. government.
"This issue has been raised but there has been no discussion of how to deal with it," said Dr. Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, whose lab did one of the controversial experiments.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


text:
- Authorised Report
Re Nevin
Free Access - Queensland Reports
The Queensland Reports are the authorised reports of the Supreme Court of Queensland. They are prepared and published by a charitable institution, the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for the State of Queensland.
Whilst the costs of preparing and publishing these reports are substantial, it is the policy of the ICLRQ to seek to ensure that, through this website, the Queensland Reports are readily available online free of charge.
Use of this website is, however, subject to Terms of Use.
The ICLRQ respectfully requests that all users who wish to access the Queensland Reports on this website should, by registration, confirm their agreement to these Terms of Use. Registration also provides users with password-protected access to a number of personalised features of the website (including list creation features).
If you wish to register, please proceed to the Registration page. If you are already registered, please Login.


text:
Arrayed about the fairways of the Arnold Palmer-designed Lone Tree Golf Course, the elegantly beautiful homes at Heritage Estates, priced upwards of $1 million, feature unobstructed city and mountain views, while community amenities include two Junior-Olympic swimming pools and private tennis courts.
Built by some of the region's premier custom-home builders, homes in Heritage Hills start in the $700s and go up to $1.5 million. In just about every aspect – style, livability, elegant appointments, and ease of maintenance – these masterpiece homes are award winners.
Fortune as much as the radiant blue sky seems to smile on this exclusive community in the form of unparalleled convenience and superior quality of life. Although located within minutes of dozens of high-end shopping districts, the area also has nearly 30 stores closer to home at Heritage Hills Shopping Center.
Among them are Safeway, Heritage Hills Wines & Spirits, Chipotle, Blockbuster Video, Heritage Cleaners, Sport Clips, Purrfect Health Cat Hospital, Executive Tans, Wells Fargo, and First Bank.
Most homes enjoy expansive outdoor decks oriented toward the best views and configured for indoor-outdoor living with cooking facilities built-in. Recreational opportunities abound with pedestrian trails connecting to the greater Lone Tree system, Highlands Ranch, and adjoining open space on the south.
Travel to the Denver Tech Center, Inverness, and Meridian business parks or Park Meadows Resort Mall is easy and fast via I-25. With depots for the new Southeast Light-Rail Line within walking distance, many may want to indulge in a relaxed hands-free commute to Downtown Denver, LoDo, and the Central Platte Valley.
With stops en route near key shopping and business centers this is truly urban travel for the 21st century. Meanwhile, mountain parks and resorts begin 20 minutes west via C-470, while the drive to DIA takes just 30 minutes.


text:
Community Is Hard. Deal With It.
DISCLAIMER: The contents of this post may not be agreeable to every reader. Reading this post may cause disagreement, hurt feelings, discomfort, frustration, boredom and/or anal leakage. The Author will not be responsible for any feelings of dissatisfaction, unhappiness, existential malaise or gastro-intestinal distress that might be caused by the reading of this post. CAVEAT LECTOR.
Here's something that I've been feeling badly about: I have, in recent months, been a terrible blog citizen. I have only sporadically wandered out into this virtual neighborhood and checked in with friends and neighbors and kept up on the goings-on and the what-for and all the stuff that keeps this community humming. And I feel badly about that, because the neighborhood - you - have been so good to me, constantly dropping in for visits and bringing me pies and casseroles and bunches of flowers and keeping me surrounded with so much company that (oh shame to admit this) I haven't felt that I needed to go out. Which is wrong, and I'm determined to change that as I feel better. Because I love this community.
I love this community even though it sometimes undergoes paroxysms of indignation that sometimes render it just a teeny bit intolerant. You can be cute when you're indignant, oh internets, but when that indignation turns into sour judgment and hand-slapping, I get a little frustrated. Do we never learn? Why do we, as a community, find it so difficult to maintain our bearing when the road of social life gets bumpy? Why does every conflict, big or small, turn into a harbinger of our destruction or decline oh woe is us? Why do we get so fucking cranky?
Many of you know the current story, even though most of the posts and tweets and hand-to-ear whispers about it played coy with the details. I won't be coy. Here's the story: Sweetney twittered a comment about Fussypant's blog, criticizing the similarity between the name of the latter and the name of another longstanding and very popular blog - Fussy - that many of us know and love. Sweetney's tweet - which I did not see firsthand because, as I said, I've been hiding in my virtual kitchen, only peeking out from behind the curtains occasionally, which causes one to miss stuff - was on the snarky side. Sweetney - or, as I know her (this here would be a disclosure of bias) mah beeyootiful beeloved Tracey - is snarky. She is opinionated. She is straight-talkin', don't mince words, don't hold back, got-somethin'-to-say-gonna-say-it honest, and sometimes that honesty comes with a bite. (She is also an all-around awesome person with an honest-to-goodness good soul, and I say that as a person with very discerning taste in souls. Mmm, souls.) Because that's who she is. And that's how honesty is, more often than not, if we're really honest about it.
The judgment from the internets was, from what I've seen and heard from behind my kitchen window, swift and merciless: Tracey's Twitter comment was deemed bad. It was - everyone said - mean. It was nasty. She was mean and nasty. How dare she? How dare anyone say something like publicly? Who was she to criticize another blogger for emulating another? Who was she to call it copying? NOT NICE. BAD TRACEY.
Ironically, but not unexpectedly, much of the judgment passed on Tracey has gotten pretty mean itself. In the posts and comments that I skimmed last night, I saw statements to the effect that she was nasty and arrogant, that she's just another mean girl, that her own blog is derivative, that she's like totally stuck up because she's popular omg and it's totally obvious that she's like threatened because that other blogger is like totally nice and omg you can just tell that she's mean because she doesn't follow as many people on Twitter as follow her. Also, she's singlehandedly undermining the spirit of the community because, did you know? SHE WAS NOT NICE.
Which, okay already, I get it - feelings got hurt and nobody likes that - but people? CALM THE FUCK DOWN. Because you know what? The furor over Tracey's comment is, I think, doing way more damage to the community - and says way worse about the community - than the comment itself. Because the blanket condemnation of Tracey for tapping out 140 characters into a Twitter box - characters that spelled out something critical of another blogger - amounts to a kind of censoriousness that I find a bit discomfiting.
There are a few issues here, as I see it, in considering that fateful Tweet: 1) was the criticism expressed in the Tweet wrong or inappropriate? 2) was it wrong that the Tweet was quote-unquote not nice? and 3) do either of those two issues, if confirmed as wrong, warrant censoring criticism?
1) Was the criticism wrong or illegitimate? Queen of Spain's was the only post I saw that actually tackled that issue directly. The analogy made in her post on the subject was to hamburger joints: McDonald's enjoys robust business on its street corner, and then one day another burger joint, Burger King, opens up shop on the opposite corner. Mickey D's might not like it, but it shouldn't criticize BK for just doing what it already does, right? Criticizing BK for just wanting a piece of the action is, like, a hallmark of hegemonic market domination, no? And anyway, there's enough room in the market for everybody so don't be a hog, McD's, 'kay?
Which is fine and good as a point of comparison except that in this case: a) it was not BK, but Mr. Mickey Donald's Burger Emporium that opened up on the opposite corner, and b) it wasn't McDonald's that criticized Mr. Mickey Donald's name and enterprise - it was a hamburger-loving (veggie-burger loving, in this case) observer who, between bites of crispy fries, said, oh hai, whaddup with Mr. Mickey Donald's and its Rainbow Arches over there, yo? Isn't that, like, not cool? So it's not like this was some obvious turf issue, as has been charged - the observer in this case has nothing to gain from making the observation. She was just expressing an opinion. A trenchantly critical opinion that rubbed some people the wrong way, and that was undoubtedly hurtful to the proprietor of Mr. Mickey Donald's Burger Emporium (who I'm sure is a lovely person who just thought that the name she chose was awesome and maybe didn't look across the street), but still. It was critical opinion - and entirely fair comment, regardless of whether you agree with it or not, because no matter how you slice it, a blog called Fussypants that is written by a blogger who signs off as Fussy begs comparisons to the longer-standing blog called Fussy that is written by a blogger who is widely referred to as Fussy - critical opinion that, it seems to me, has been dismissed outright simply because it was plainly critical (and, also, that it was made by someone quote-unquote popular, which is an argument that I cannot for the life of me fathom. What does Sweetney's - or Fussy's - popularity have to do with the legitimacy of the critical observation? Seriously? Do we all need a lecture on Nietszche and herd morality? DON'T MAKE ME.)
Is the suggestion here that we should not, in this community, be critical of each other? Bullshit. A community that proscribes criticism within is not a community, it's a cult. Or is it that we should not be critical of each other in public or semi-public forums? Also bullshit. We're bloggers - everything that we say and do as bloggers occurs in media for which the lines of public and private are well and truly blurred - a proscription of 'public' criticism is a proscription of all criticism, full stop. And a community in which open criticism is proscribed has no foundation for robust discourse. It is, as I said, a cult.
So if we allow that we are, as members of a community, allowed to criticize each other, and that the critical observation under dispute here is not an outrageous one - indeed, that it is, arguably, entirely reasonable as an observation, regardless of what conclusions you draw from it or how contentious you view it - where's the problem?
2) The criticism was 'not nice.' Tracey's critical observation of the similarities between Fussypants and Fussy (and other bloggers; I'm not going to address those broader concerns here) was not articulated delicately. She was up front about the fact that she was criticizing someone, and not just gently pointing out a social faux pas or a small green piece of parsley between their teeth. She made it plain that the conclusion she drew from her observation of the similarity between Fussypants and Fussy.com was that such similarity was, in her books, not cool. And that plainspokenness was, unfortunately, hurtful to the blogger known as Fussypants.
Of course it was. I would find it hurtful. I, in fact, find most criticism hurtful. I don't like have it suggested to me that something I've said or done might be wrong or inappropriate or in need of improvement. I want everyone to just love me and think that I'm awesome. Even the best intentioned criticism, the kind that is usually called 'constructive,' carries a bit of a sting. I is imperfect? Oh noes!
Criticism is almost always uncomfortable. Criticism, indeed, kinda sucks much of the time. Even when it turns out to be really helpful and promoting of growth yadda yadda blah, it's just not the funnest thing, you know? And of course, criticism that comes in plainspoken - or snarky - terms is the least funnest thing of all. But here's the thing: if we condemn anyone who utters criticism or makes critical observation - again, Tracey's supposed crime here was not name-calling or general nastiness, it was the making of an (albeit stinging) critical observation - we silence ourselves, to our detriment. Criticism keeps us, and our community, self-aware and self-reflective. Yeah, it stings, but that's why Socrates referred to himself - the greatest and most uncompromising of critics - as a gadfly: because no meaningful criticism fails to sting.
3) The problem, then: there's been almost no real critical commentary about the substance of Tracey's comment - almost everything that I've seen posted has condemned the fact of the observation-slash-criticism, and not addressed its substance. Everyone seems up in arms about the fact that there was a criticism, and that the criticism did or might have stung - the problem, apparently, being that Tracey dared say something that somebody might find hurtful, not that she was incorrect in her observation. Whether the argument implied in her comment was flawed or sound has, for the most, been left unaddressed, and this, I think, represents a missed opportunity - we could, instead of worrying about whether or not Tracey was too mean (a seventh-grade concern if I ever heard one) or whether her comment belies a vast Mean Girl conspiracy to preserve the mamasphere as the domain of some Trilateral Commission-like cabal of popular bloggers (which omg pleez), be discussing the ethics of propriety over blog names and blog personae and the relationship of this to the integrity of our community. Should we be trademarking our noms des blog plumes? Do we have any right to claim variations on names as our own? Do we have proprietary claims on innovations on style or content? How do we negotiate community when so much of our identities therein are associated with the brands - yes, I said brands - that we've (many of us) created? In the context of this community and these identities, am I Catherine, or am I HBM, and how would I feel if someone were going around calling themselves Her Bad Mommy or even Her Big Marmot and using the HBM acronym? Would I care? Would it matter?
The thing about these kinds of questions is, there's no way to discuss them meaningfully without stepping on toes and hurting feelings, at least a little bit, because discussing them meaningfully means discussing them critically, with reference to each other. Talking about the ownership of our identities and our spaces means drawing lines between you - me - us and asserting our independence from each other. Our is not a wholly cooperative social compact - we do not pursue and articulate a General Will - it's a network (a densely and intimately connected network) of individuals who work hard to make and define identities and spaces for themselves. We love and share and connect with each other - but we also define ourselves against each other, as distinct from each other. It's what makes our community so vibrant, so NOT mommybloggerdrone-like.
So why are we not asking these questions? Why, instead, do we all have our collective tits in a knot about whether or not someone in our midst was less than kind in raising a criticism about someone else? Are we not, as a community, so much bigger and better and more interesting than just are we nice enough? Was someone not nice enough? LYNCH THE PERSON WHO WAS NOT NICE ENOUGH. Seriously. By all means, let's endeavor to be kind, but let's not sacrifice inquiry and discourse and criticism at the altar of kindness.
If you honestly think that Tracey was wrong or misguided in her observations concerning Fussypant's blog, then address that issue. Argue the point - there are, after all, points to be made here. Say that you think it's perfectly fine for one blog to adopt a name that is very similar to another. Say that you think no writer or artist should have proprietary interest in variations on names or innovations in style or content. Say that you think that such things are contrary to community, and that community is key here. Those arguments are interesting, they really are. But fussing and bitching about whether Tracey was being mean in making a criticism to begin with? Not interesting. Not interesting at all. Demeaning, actually, to all us, because it suggests that we're not so much interested in critical debate as we are in making sure, above all else, that no-one's feelings get hurt.
We're a community. We live and love and learn in this space together. Feelings are going to get hurt, and they're going to get hurt all the time (if you don't believe me, do an archive tour of post-BlogHer posts for the last two years. Every year people write pages - pages - about feeling hurt and excluded and ignored.) That's community, always has been, from the beginning of recorded time: it's messy and ugly and rewarding and frustrating and thrilling and painful and fascinating and hard. That is, it is those things if we're doing it right. If we come to a collective stop - if we attack and persecute each other instead of engaging each other, if we question our very integrity as a community - every time someone's feelings get hurt, every time someone disagrees with someone else, every time things get a little uncomfortable, we're doomed.
(Go on - disagree with me. But don't call me a mean girl. I can be a pissy beeyatch, but I'm not a meanie, for reals. More to the point, neither is Tracey. Please to remember that.)
Comments to this post are now closed. It's been a productive discussion, but seeing as Sweetney and Fussypants have - YES - hugged it out and put it behind them, I think that it's time that we do the same. There'll be plenty of time for further debate about community, identity and the ethics of criticism at a later date, I'm sure ;)
Peace, ya'll.


text:
Sandy, careful consumers lower US retail sales
Published 12:29 pm Thursday, November 15, 2012
Superstorm Sandy combined with cautious consumers to lower retail sales in October and raise concerns about weaker economic growth and a tepid holiday shopping season.
Consumers may also be holding back because of anxiety over big tax increases and spending cuts — known as the "fiscal cliff" — that will take effect in January unless Congress and the White House reach a budget deal by then.
Retail sales dropped 0.3 percent last month after three months of gains, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. Sales at auto dealers fell 1.5 percent, the most in more than a year.
The storm depressed car sales and slowed business in the Northeast at the end of the month, economists said. The government said Sandy forced some stores and restaurants to close and lose business, while others reported higher sales ahead of the storm as people bought supplies.
Online and catalog purchases fell 1.8 percent, the most in a year. Widespread power outages prevented some online shopping.
But sales slowed in eight of the 13 broad categories tracked by the government. Electronics, building supplies and clothing stores all posted lower sales. The broad declines suggest October's weakness went beyond the storm.
"Looking past (Sandy's) impact, U.S. consumers appeared to dial it back a notch," said Robert Kavcic, an economist at BMO Capital Markets. "There was relatively broad-based weakness in this report."
The retail sales report is the government's first look at consumer spending, which drives 70 percent of economic activity. Economists say the November and December sales figures will provide a better picture of the economy's health.
If sales rebound, that would suggest the October decline was a temporary lull exacerbated by the storm. But ongoing weakness would show that consumers are scaling back on spending, perhaps because of concerns that their taxes will increase next year.
Retailers traditionally see a lull in October because consumers take a break before buying holiday gifts. But Americans' fixation on the presidential election and Superstorm Sandy worsened the trend, said Ken Perkins, president of Retail Metrics, a research firm.
The average shopper is also starting to worry about the fiscal cliff, Perkins said. He expects stores will step up discounting in the coming weeks to make up for lost business.
Most economists expect sales to rebound in the coming months. That's because Americans will begin to repair the damage from Sandy and replace cars that were destroyed in the storm.
One hopeful sign that the weakness could be temporary: Consumer confidence rose in November to its highest level in five years.
But economists point out that consumers may be forced to make storm-related repairs a priority. That could cut into holiday sales.
Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial, said that Manhattan accounts for nearly 20 percent of spending nationwide at luxury retailers. "Much of that will be shifted towards repairs and rebuilding," she added.
Chris Christopher, an economist at IHS Global Insight, reduced his forecast for holiday shopping to a gain of 4 percent compared with last year, down from 4.5 percent. He cited Sandy's disruptions and potential consumer concerns about higher taxes for the downgrade. Some merchants have already begun discounting, after seeing signs of slower sales in November.
Macy's Inc., which operates more than 800 stores, said last week that it has extended promotions in the Northeast region because Sandy disrupted sales. The Cincinnati-based department store chain also said that fourth-quarter profits would be below analysts' expectations.
Luxury merchant Saks Inc., which operates Saks Fifth Avenue, said Tuesday that it will increase discounts after forecasting sales at stores open for at least a year would be unchanged for the holiday period.
Steve Sadove, chairman and CEO of Saks, told investors that sales typically rebound after an event like Sandy, but the question is how long it will take.
"We saw an immediate loss of business during the storm, and we are still generating lower sales in many of the locations," he added. Stores affected by Sandy accounted for 40 percent of Saks' total revenues. The company's online business was also hurt. Even sales in Florida were indirectly affected because many Northeast customers have ties to that market, Saks said.
The October decline followed the best two-month stretch for retail sales in two years, a reflection of higher consumer confidence and a slowly healing job market.
Prior to the storm, business appeared more optimistic that sales would stay strong. They rebuilt their stockpiles of goods at a healthy pace in September, according to a separate report released Wednesday. But most economists expect that restocking will slow in the final three months of the year, partly because of last month's weaker retail sales.
Slower inventory rebuilding and modest consumer spending are big reasons why economists expect growth will weaken to around a 1.5 percent annual rate in the October-December quarter. That's below the government's estimate last month of 2 percent. Analysts expect that figure will be revised upward to about 3 percent when the government releases its second estimate Nov. 29.
Consumers should benefit from low inflation in the coming months, according to a third report Wednesday.
Wholesale prices fell 0.2 percent in October, the first decline since May, the Labor Department said. A big drop in gasoline and other energy prices offset a rise in food costs.
Excluding volatile food and energy costs, prices fell 0.2 percent in October. That's the biggest drop in core prices in two years. Over the past year, core prices were up a moderate 2.1 percent, evidence inflation remains under control. Wholesale prices reflect the cost of items before they reach the consumer.


text:
The editors of The Devil's Tale reserve the right to remove comments deemed inappropriate. We also reserve the right to delete comments that are off-topic or abusive, and do not allow messages that sell products or promote commercial ventures.
Posted comments do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Duke University Libraries.
Please contact the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library with research questions.


text:
The UPS Store
In Suffolk, VA | 3575 Bridge Rd Ste 8
Map Loading...
Location Hours
Drop-Off Pricing
$1.00 per pound*
*Pricing is not guaranteed and is subject to change by the individual merchant.
Other Information
To determine how much you will pay for your drop-off shredding, it will be weighed. Then it will be stored in a secure container until the shred truck comes to pick it up from The UPS Store in Suffolk.
(757) 686-1105
Located in The UPS Store
Paper Shredding Near Me
Here at Shred Nations, we connect our customers to the best service provider that fits their projects and needs. There are several service options that we specialize in, including mobile shredding, offsite shredding, hard drive destruction, and electronic destruction.
We pride ourselves in helping thousands of customers every day with their shredding projects. Our providers are vetted, secure, and ready to assist with your documents. Let Shred Nations help speed along your shredding process!
Drop Off Shredding in Suffolk
For individuals that have smaller quantities, we have a nationwide directory of drop-off locations to help. Drop-off paper shredding is a convenient and cost-effective solution for your small-scale shredding project. Designed for lower volumes of shredding (90 lbs or less), drop-off services make it possible to complete low-volume paper shredding quickly and easily. Drop off shredding services do not come with a certificate of destruction, if this is something you need, please see one of our service options below.
Choosing the Right Service Option
There are many options when it comes to shredding, so you may be unsure what is the right fit for you. One of the biggest perks of connecting through Shred Nations is that we can help discover the perfect fit for you. In fact, it's our job! Our network of certified, secure shredding providers are ready and available to provide top-notch destruction services for your documents.
Whether it be mobile shredding or offsite shredding, our providers ensure the certified destruction of your documents—every time. This is the best perk of using a destruction service with a provider.
For those who need to witness the shredding, want or require a certificate of destruction, or have electronic devices, see our extensive service options below. Shred Nations has all the shredding services you need!
Contact us for a free quote today!
Don't Know How Many Boxes Or Sheets You Have?
Use this handy calculator to convert other volumes into numbers of boxes and number of sheets if you are unsure.
Document Shredding Service Options
Mobile Shredding Services
Paper shredding services with the convenience of shredding at your location. Mobile shredding provides the utmost security option as it allows businesses and individuals to witness the shredding and a certificate of destruction at the end of the process. Get the process started!
Off-Site Shredding Services
Off-site shredding services offers the security of professional destruction and convenience of the shredder picking up your documents. A secure shred truck picks up your papers and transports them to a secure, off-site facility in the area to be shredded. At the end of this service, you will receive a certificate of destruction as well.
Hard Drive & Electronics Destruction
Personal and business data is found on hard drives and other electronics, which is why destroying these devices correctly is imperative. Shred Nations in can help keep this information safe through secure hard drive destruction & electronic shredding services.
Ship N Shred
Using a Ship N Shred service simplifies the secure disposal of sensitive documents and electronic media. Simply follow the process on the Ship N Shred website, pack your items and schedule a pickup, and your items are sent off to a secure facility for proper destruction.
Secure Document Destruction Services in Suffolk
When it comes to sensitive documents, secure destruction is critical for both individuals and businesses. Physical documents contain confidential information that must be properly disposed of to protect against identity theft and data breaches. Our company has partnered with leading document destruction providers across the US and Canada to offer customizable solutions for almost any project. Whether you need onsite, offsite, and mail-in service, we can connect you with the right solution for your needs.
Trusted, Compliant Destruction Processes
Our partners follow all state and federal regulations throughout the entire document shredding process. You can trust that your sensitive information will be securely handled from start to finish. Let us help you find the perfect document shredding service for your project. Get in touch with our team today!
Why Choose Shred Nations
Fast Turnaround
Get matched to a partner in 3-5 minutes. They will work with you to get a quote based on your specifications.
Nationwide Coverage
We have partners all over the United States and Canada.
20+ Years
Shred Nations has over two decades of experience matching customers to the right services.
Partnered with the Best
We are partnered with hundreds of partners nationwide providing you with the best, secure options in your area.
Industries We Serve
Homes generate many sensitive documents. Simply throwing these away in the trash can leave residences vulnerable to identity theft and other breaches of privacy. Shred Nations can help you fully destroy tax documents, junk mail, credit card statements, health information, old credit cards, and more with any service frequency you may require. Mobile and off site shredding are both affordable options for residents ready to purge some files.
Healthcare practices are required by law to protect patient privacy in certain ways. Shred Nations, alongside our nationwide network of providers, is invested in compliance and safety. We understand that no shredding plan is one-size-fits-all. That's why we can match you with a variety of shredding services, frequencies, and providers in the area that are sensitive to privacy regulations.
Shred Nations provides highly secure shredding services for any volume of documents. Legal practices handle thousands of pieces of confidential information daily and need a safe way to dispose of them that does not take up employee time. Mobile and off site shredding are both compliant methods for document destruction that build trust amongst employees and clients. Ensure your files and retired electronics do not fall into the wrong hands - trust our experienced partners.
Shred Nations provides highly secure shredding services tailored to the unique needs of the finance industry. The proper disposal of confidential documents is of the utmost importance. Legal practices, accounting firms, and other financial institutions often manage thousands of pieces of confidential information on a daily basis. Trust Shred Nations to be your reliable partner in secure document shredding.
Small Business
Each small business is unique, which is why Shred Nations has unique shredding solutions. Find the most affordable local services for your project in just minutes when you contact Shred Nations. Off site and mobile shredding are convenient and affordable methods for effectively destroying financial documents, mail, employee information, and more. We can help you create a document retention plan, provide information on what to shred, and keep your information confidential.
Your Project
Shred Nations serves a variety of homes and businesses everyday. Our providers service many different industries and sizes of shredding project. If your project is unique in scope, size, location, or anything else, our experts are eager to help! Get free, no obligation quotes on off site, mobile, and hard drive shredding services anywhere in the area.
Start Shredding Today
Assess: Begin by assessing the type and volume of documents that you or your organization need to be professionally shredding.
Contact: Call Shred Nations or fill out the form to receive free quotes from shredding providers in your area. Choose the provider that best fits your needs and budget.
Schedule Your Service: Local service providers will contact you to discuss the shredding service. They will work with you to schedule a convenient time for document pickup or onsite shredding.
Complete the Service: Once the shredding process is finished, the provider will recycle the shreds and provide you with a certificate of destruction.
Why Should I Destroy My Data?
It's not as simple as just tossing your documents in the trash. Every piece of paper with your information on it is poses a risk to your idenity. For businesses, this could mean company, employee, or customer infomation. It is critical to protect every piece of data that you can. The easiest way to ensure the infromation is protected is through a document destruction service. A certified provider ensures that your documents are 100% destroyed and that means the data is gone forever.
Let's take this one step further. Have you though about how much data is on your old electronics? 1 GB of electronic data is about 50,000 physical documents. If your device falls into the wrong hands, your information is unsafe. Shred Nations can help find a electronic destruction solution for you or your business. Whether you have 1 device or 1,000, we can find the best option for you and your data. Ask one of our service experts today on how to securly destory your electronic data.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the drop-off shredding process in Suffolk?
- Gather your documents that need shredding
- Drop them off at the nearest drop-off shredding center in Suffolk
- Pay by the pound - price will vary by location
- Your documents are safely stored in a secure, locked shredding bin
- When the bin is full, a mobile shred truck stops by to shred the contents of the shred container
Do drop-off locations offer hard drive shredding?
No, our drop-off locations do not accept hard drives for shredding. However, we have other solutions for your small-scale or large-scale needs. Give us a call to learn more!
Do I need to remove staples, paper clips, binder clips, etc?
Usually, staples and paper clips can be left on the documents; however, binder clips need to be removed. These requirements can vary based on location, so we do recommend calling the drop-off center first.
What if I need to witness the shredding?
If you need or want to witness shredding, a mobile shredding service is the best option for you. Mobile shredding comes to your location and shreds the documents right there.
What if I have more than 90 pounds of documents?
How do you figure out how much paper you have to shred?
You can use our shredding calculator to find out how much paper you have.
What is a certificate of destruction?
A certificate of destruction is an official document provided by a shredding service provider to confirm that a specific quantity of documents or materials has been securely and thoroughly destroyed. It serves as a record and assurance that the confidential information contained in the documents has been irreversibly rendered unreadable and unusable. This is available with a professional shredding service. You cannot receive a certificate with any drop off service.
Do you provide a certificate of destruction after the shredding is complete?
If you use a professional shredding service, a certificate of destruction is always provided, including mobile shredding, offsite shredding, and Ship N Shred. There is no certificate of destruction provided with a drop off shredding. If you are needing a certificate for compliance or assurance, then we recommend a service.
Do you offer on-site shredding services for businesses or individuals with large quantities of sensitive documents?
Yes, some shredding service providers offer on-site shredding services where a mobile shredding truck comes directly to your location. This is particularly beneficial for businesses or individuals with large volumes of sensitive documents, as it allows for immediate and secure destruction on the premises.
What industries should consider shredding services?
Virtually any industry that handles sensitive or confidential information should consider shredding services. This includes but is not limited to healthcare, legal, financial, government, education, and businesses that deal with customer or employee records. Shredding services help these industries maintain compliance with privacy regulations and protect sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands.


text: It's the Pies for Puppies charity bake sale, and Jessica, Danny Rebus and others are competing to sell the most pies and become the "puppy hero." But someone has taken all of Jessica's pies! The Electric Company discovers that Danny Rebus is trying to cheat his way to victory, and it is up to them to put a stop to it.


text:
Mark your calendars for National Senior Health & Fitness Day on May 29, 2013, and plan to participate in the Celebration of Healthy Aging. This FREE event will include entertainment, health screenings, a variety of exhibitors, refreshments, physical activity stations and lots of FUN! We will be competing for a Guinness World Record in chair-based exercise, and we need your help!
The Celebration of Healthy Aging will be held on May 29, 2013 from 10:00am until 1:00pm at the LJVM Coliseum Education Building. The Guinness World Record competition will begin promptly at 11:00am, so arrive early to reserve your spot and enjoy the musical entertainment from Ryan Newcomb. Following the competition, stick around to visit the exhibitors and participate in the various fun activities.
Do you have a group that would like to attend? Groups are encouraged to pre-register by calling Rebecca Thompson at (336) 703-3219. Individuals and small groups can register at the door. Again, this event is FREE!
The Celebration of Health Aging is being coordinated by a committee of individuals dedicated to promoting the wellness of seniors; and includes representatives from the Forsyth County Department of Public Health, Winston-Salem Recreation & Parks, YMCA, Gateway YWCA, Wake Forest Baptist Health, Kernersville Senior Center, The Living Well Senior Center, Forsyth County Aging Services and community volunteers.
Fun Activities include: corn hole, shuffle board, basketball shoot, a hula hoop competition, a bucket list and more…
Exhibitors include: Monkey Hooper, Costco, Winston-Salem Bike and Pedestrian Program, Homewatch Caregiver, YWCA, Lowes Food, GroMeds to go, Cricket's Nest, Natural Foot Care, Sticht Center on Aging, Piedmont Plus Senior Games, The Shepherd's Center, Home Instead, Forever Living, and Cancer Services.
For more information, please contact Rebecca Thompson at (336) 703-3219.


text: CTA Mayor Emanuel and CTA President Claypool Join Union Leadership to Announce Key Labor Agreements November 5, 2012 November 5, 2012 Staff Deal with 12 Unions and Over 1,200 Employees Will Reduce Costs by $6.5 Million Mayor Rahm Emanuel today joined Chicago Transit Authority President Forrest Claypool in announcing a tentative agreement with multiple CTA trade unions that will provide the agency more flexibility for CTA construction and maintenance work, and realize more than $6.5 million in cost savings. The five-year tentative agreement covers over 1,200 workers in 12 unions: IBEW Local #134, IBEW Local #9, Plumbers Local #130, Carpenter's Local #1027, Machinists District #8, Painters District Council No. 14, Bricklayers Local #21, Sheetmetal Workers Local #73, Pipefitters' Local #597, Boilermakers Local Lodge #1247, Teamsters Local #700, and Machinists Local #701. "This is a sound agreement that protects taxpayer investments and increases efficiency in services provided to the public," said Mayor Emanuel. "It is essential that we have world-class infrastructure in Chicago, and this agreement allows us to maintain and improve our infrastructure in a responsible, forward-thinking way, while creating jobs and economic opportunity in our neighborhoods." The new agreement includes provisions that will allow the CTA more flexibility to schedule work crews and lower overtime costs. The new agreement provides for afternoon and evening shifts, which will be paid at straight time instead of overtime, and there will be greater flexibility in shift starting times. These are changes that will save around $750,000 annually. "These changes in work rules will save the CTA money and provide us greater flexibility to meet the demands of upgrading our infrastructure while minimizing the impact on customers," President Claypool said. "Equally important, these cost-saving changes will allow us to protect current job levels and guarantee job security for members for the life of the contract." The tentative agreement also includes several "work-sharing" provisions in which members of different trades can work together on specific work irrespective of jurisdiction, thereby providing more flexibility at work sites. It also calls for replacing two paid holidays (for birthdays and hiring anniversary dates) with one personal day and greater flexibility in the use of vacation time—a savings of more than $565,000 annually. In addition, changes in health-care plans—the first in 10 years—are expected to generate as much as $5 million in savings annually while at the same time maintaining high levels of coverage along with greater health-care options for employees. The local unions' membership and the Chicago Transit Board are expected to ratify the tentative agreement later this year. # # # Back to news


text:
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Retrospective: Diplomacy
There's one significant exception, though, and that's Diplomacy. Of course, some might balk at the notion of calling Diplomacy a "wargame" and there's some justification in this. Diplomacy lacks most of the characteristics of the traditional hex-and-chit wargame. Its map, for example, is divided into seventy-five land and sea regions of varying sizes and movement between them is abstract, as is its combat system. Likewise, combat makes no use of a result table. Indeed, random outcomes of any kind are wholly absent from Diplomacy, since the game doesn't require dice to play. Everything that takes place within the game takes place because of specific decisions made by its players and it's for this reason that Diplomacy is, in my opinion, one of the greatest games ever made.
Designed by Allan B. Calhamer, Diplomacy made its original appearance in 1959, gaining a large following, including many people later associated with the roleplaying hobby, such as Gary Gygax and Len Lakofka. I personally never saw the original version of the game, having been introduced to Diplomacy through the 1976 Avalon Hill edition whose cover art I've included above. Diplomacy was one of those games that everyone involved in the hobby in my area played; it was part of the "background noise" of my gaming in the late 70s and early 80s. Because the game requires a minimum of five players and works best with a full seven, it wasn't a pickup game. You needed to work hard to get a game going, but it was usually worth the effort and there was no shortage of people interested in playing. In high school, I played a lot of Diplomacy with my friends and we'd often gather at one another's houses on the weekends specifically to do so. In college, my roommate ran a slow-motion one-move-per-week Diplomacy game with some of our friends and it was a lot of fun too.
The genius of this game are its simple concept and rules. Each player controls one of the Great Powers of pre-World War I Europe: Austria-Hungary, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, or Turkey. Each Great Power controls several regions on the map, some of which are designated "supply centers." For every supply center a player controls, he may build either an army or a fleet with which to conquer more territory (and thus gain more supply centers). If a player loses control of a region with a supply center and, at the end of his turn, has more military units in play than he has supply centers, he must disband any excess units. Outright victory comes when a player acquires 18 or more centers, though many games end in draws, as two (or occasionally more) players decide the game has dragged on long enough without any clear winner.
As noted, there are no dice in Diplomacy. Everything that occurs does so because a player chooses to make it happen. However, especially in the early stages of the game, most actions require the assistance of other players for success and therein lies the essence of the game. In between turns, players are expected to negotiate with other players for support in their own plans. Thus, treaties and alliances are not only commonplace but expected play elements. Of course, so are betrayals, as no one is required to abide by the terms of anything to which they agree, though players with a reputation for treachery soon find themselves popular targets of others' ire. Consequently, good Diplomacy games are a conflict between the need for others and naked self-interest, which creates a terrific dynamic.
It's easy to see why so many early roleplayers were involved with Diplomacy -- it's practically a roleplaying game itself. Goodness knows my friends and I treated it that way on more than a few occasions, penning our orders in elaborate fashions as if they'd been written by ministers in service to fanciful European monarchs. Silly though this was, it added considerably to our fun and I suspect it helped to lighten the mood of the game, which, as anyone who's ever played can tell you, can sometimes turn quite cutthroat.
I haven't played Diplomacy in many years, but I'd like to. The problem is finding six others with whom to do it and the time to set aside for it. As I understand it, the game is still published by Wizards of the Coast as part of its Avalon Hill brand and I appreciate that. The game is also avidly played by mail, which I find delightful, and on the Internet, thanks to the simple nature of its rules and its emphasis on human interaction as the driver of its events. To my mind, that remains the real genius of Diplomacy: its emphasis on human interaction and player skill, two traits old school roleplaying games have in common with it.
47 comments:
This is one of my favorite games. It's also amusing that an actual diplomat—Henry Kissinger—used to write articles on strategy and was known as a play–by–mail player at one point.
There are a few online servers, including one integrated with Facebook, but I find the level of play there to be really unsatisfying, especially with many non–communicative players.
The modern game that I find best gets the "feel" of Dip at times is GMT's Here I Stand with its secret diplomacy phase and encouragement towards historical role–playing. However, it leans more towards the grand strategy sort of wargaming, and lacks the austerity of Dip, which is a big part of what I think makes it so satisfying.So conceptually Diplomacy would be more similar to Eurogames like Cataan or Carcassone than to Avalon Hill's more famous hex-and-chit wargames?
Talk about old school! 1959! And it sounds like it still has plenty to teach us Moon-dwelling, dogs-in-spacesuits, jetcar-riding 21st century types...Sorry to double post, but: possibly relevant?
Paradox Interactive - Diplomacy game for PCChris:
No. I would say the distinguishing mark of Eurogames is the lack of elimination mechanics, which Dip certainly has. You can get eliminated early and see the game stretch for hours or days after you are gone. Eurogames have practically made their reputation on being able to draw in non–gamers, but Dip players will go as far as to say, "This game ruins friendships." The game is also wholly deterministic, a characteristic I cannot think of a single Eurogame possessing.- AnonymousJanuary 26, 2011 at 10:59 AM
Man, I love this game, I've never played anything else quite like it. It's a game of risk that REQUIRES shifting constellations of player alliances and removes the dice as an factor in play. There's nothing left to blame except your own naivete and lack of skill.... and the treachery of your former best friends.
ReplyDelete Diplomacy was the first ...wargame, no Avalon Hill bookshelf game, I owned; it was given to me by a loving relative one Christmas...I hate the damn game! Long, boring, incredibly tedious, we played once--one session--and went on to other pursuits. I tried to give the game away to a friend in HS who played Squad Leader, and he wouldn't take it.
I'll agree with James, one can make the connection between the dynamics in Diplomacy and the give-and-take nature of a RPG session. But there the similarity ends...like whether you're having fun or not.
So, to this day it sits on my shelf, mocking me like the raven in Poe's poem that sits on a pallid bust of Pallas just above his chamber door. I once threw it away, watched the garbage-men haul it off, and the next day it was back on my bookshelf.
What a wretched game!I love Diplomacy! I have many fond memories of playing it in my high school library - we'd play 2 turns during lunch each day. The rest of the day, we'd all carry those paper maps of the board around and neogtiate with one another as we went from class to class. The game is ideally suited for this sort of thing! That said, I don't recall playing it very often as a sit-down game (and that time was reserved for D&D, in any case!).
ReplyDeleteDiplomacy is the best game of screw your neighbor ever created. Never has there been a more "wretched hive of scum and villainy" than your friends when you are playing Diplomacy. It is simpy a great game, win or lose, to be played with great relish and backstabbery.
We had a blast with it.@Ariston: I have a friend who has made the claim that he knew people who's marriages were destroyed by Diplomacy. I suspect that the reality is more like that Bruno Kirby quote: "Marriages don't break up on account of Diplomacy; it's a symptom that something else is wrong."
Playing Diplomacy without social incident requires people to be able to very firmly compartmentalize because so much of the game requires management that level of meta-gaming that lies just above the surface of the table. Diplomacy is cunningly designed to piss off two kinds of gamers: those who don't want overt, player interaction in their games (or want it muted) AND those who demand that "players always play the table situation to win" (i.e. always make the emotionless, "optimal move"). The game, as written, encourages players to reject either of these approaches (in fact, practically demands it), and I can see easily why it creates such nasty play experiences amongst people.
There really ought to be a stern Public Service Announcement warning prominently displayed on the box -- people quite often are really not emotionally prepared for the kind of intricate investment and betrayal that the game demands they suffer when played with someone in the group who really engages in the game effectively.(corrected comment) @ken Saying it's "the best" is perhaps a wee bit of a stretch, but it's certainly one of the best. Stefan Dorra's "Intrigue" is also right up there, plays with a smaller group of players, and takes less time. Imagine Diplomacy without all that wasted "tactical counter pushing" effort, and you're not far off a picture of what Intrigue plays like.
Again, for those who don't like bowbing, stand WELL CLEAR.In 7th grade (I think) my teacher used Diplomacy as a teaching aid, and each class was split up into groups who then played one of the 7 powers.
I think we would play one turn a week, and did the usual negotiations between powers, etc. To this day, I think it was one of the most interesting and engaging history activities I took part in during my K-12 education.The murky world of "Diplomacy variants" often ventured much closer to role-playing games than pure vanilla Diplomacy. I'm always fascinated to hear more about Slobbovia, which was such a variant that ran in the 1970s and 1980s. In this ongoing "campaign game," the actual moves and turns became far less important than the creative world-building.
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SlobboviaOver the years I've reflected on the mechanics of Diplomacy and believe the one mechanic which remains insufficiently explored is the time allocated for actual player interaction. The rules state (IIRC) that prior to writing orders for the first move players have 30 minutes to negotiate with the other players, and 15 minutes for subsequent moves (plus 5 minutes to write orders). Based on my personal experience and supported by other posts here, the time limit is generally ignored. In some formats (such as playing with players remotely or extended over many days/weeks) this is understandable. But it makes less sense to ignore this rule when playing in a single session face-to-face. Fifteen minutes is really not much time to study the board and make allegiances.
I would like to play again, adhering to this limit. In fact, I would like to experiment with modifying it downward. What if you only had 7 minutes to interact with other players before writing your orders? I think it would require a different set of skills to succeed at an accelerated version of the game.When I first joined my current gaming group, one of the members was apparently a world-class Diplomacy player, who made quite a bit of money winning competitions around the world. That is my only connection to the game; I'd barely heard of it before, and have never played it, nor even seen a copy in the flesh.
ReplyDelete@robert fischer
Interesting question, is magic the gathering a war-game and would 4e be a better game if it incorporated more of MtG 'large scale'/dominion type rules and not just the synergy of combat/deck building abilities that classes use together in an adventuring group.
I think I would have liked 4e better if it included this aspect. James, have you played MtG?I was introduced to Diplomacy by my Grade 12 history teacher; and like Alan above, it remains one of my strongest school memories.
My gaming group played a fair bit of 4/5-player Diplomacy back in the late '80s. There were a couple of fanatic fans, and a few who were okay with it, but we stopped playing when one player - burned and betrayed once too often - solemnly swore he'd rather have his fingernails slowly removed then ever play Diplomacy again.
As a junior high teacher I've used Diplomacy most years as part of the Games Club. Some years it gets really popular ... but I do get the kids to sign a note acknowledging that they it's a game where their smiling friends will probably figuratively shove a knife in their back.
It's definitely NOT a game I run in years where Games Club members start off with deep seated internal animosities! In those cases Risk is bad enough ... shudder.How much fun Diplomacy is depends a lot on who is playing. Because it is so exquisitely balanced, if you get two people who are willing to make a stable alliance -- let's say, one regular gamer and a casual player recruited to fill out the game -- you can have a game that is unbalanced from the start and a bore to play.
ReplyDeleteHaven't played Diplomacy in a long time...the simple matter of finding 5-7 players with time available and the willingness to completely stab others in the back and carry on life otherwise as normal is always a challenge.
I've always wanted to play the game with some quality facial hair...waxed moustaches and the like, for maximum authenticty. I never could grow one back in the day...I'm not sure I could now...
I do find it odd that you don't seem to think you'd have the "patience and strategic level thought" for wargames...just seeing the work and detail you put into Dwimmermount would seem to belie that statement.- AnonymousJanuary 26, 2011 at 3:41 PM
@Ariston: Caylus is a totally deterministic Eurogame. So are Steam and Niagara. And Endeavor and Imperial.
Imperial is interesting: it is Diplomacy turned into a Eurogame! In so doing, you lose most of the Diplomacy and instead it becomes something else. (You're bankers lending money to the nations of WW1; whoever has lent the most money controls the nation...) Very interesting game.
I played quite a bit of Diplomacy when I was at high school and later University, but not for many, many years. The number of players required and the time requirement are prohibitive - especially once you add the cutthroat nature of the game, which drops the available number of players...
Time is a killer these days; one occasionally wonders at the LONG older games and wonder why life has changed so much... how were they able to play them then and we can't play them now?
Not all classic Avalon Hill-era boardgames have managed to hold up that well. I think Republic of Rome (recently reprinted by Valley Games, and a good player negotiation game) still holds up well, but Kingmaker, though with a great midgame, has a horrible endgame where your best strategy is to turtle and not do anything. In the version I have, published in 1976, the game is billed for 4-7 players. The modern version is billed for 2-7 players. I can only wonder what changes were made to make it playable for 2, and kudos, I suppose, to Avalon Hill for recognizing the unfeasibility of getting 4-7 players together.
I share radnoff's view. Diplomacy isn't a game I was fond of, and it was quickly relegated to the fourth division after a few plays.
@merrich one occasionally wonders at the LONG older games and wonder why life has changed so much... how were they able to play them then and we can't play them now?
Copious amounts of free time as a young teen who was too young to drive, work, or do much of anything else except get together with a few friends in the neighborhood.- AnonymousJanuary 26, 2011 at 8:48 PM
My wife and I once went to a highly romantic b&b in an idyllic locale... and I noticed amidst the checkers and romance novels on the shelves next to the roaring fireplace: a Diplomacy game.
Sadly, I and the nerd on the couch before the fireplace could not convince our wives to get a game going.
It's one of the most out of place things I've ever seen, that Diplomacy game. They may as well have had a pistol for nice Russian roulette games. I haven't looked at the rules in a while but IIRC the 2-player rules turn the game into a two-way WWI slugfest. Basically straight wargame with no need for diplomacy.
I'll have to go to their website and check out the two-player rules. This sounds far more interesting than the four to five hour snorfest I remember.- AnonymousJanuary 27, 2011 at 1:57 AM
You know, you could keep a side page right here, post photographs of the board each turn, and conduct all backstabbing and brokering in comments. . .
ReplyDelete Diplomacy always was hit or miss, as I recall. I was a Risk guy, myself. Politics by other means and all that!
The poster(mericcb) was referring to adults like Arneson, Gygax, Andre, and Arneson having time to play Diplomacy and the like.(See Gygax and crew's epic D&D sessions as well.) I'd say that the difference is the employer's demands on your time(flex scheduling, mandated overtime, etc..) and the willingness(or desperation) of today's workers to meet them. Not to mention, there are more options now, and a seeming shortness of attention span(Speed Monopoly? Really? Turbo Bridge? :-)) that comes with the proliferation of same. Kind of worrisome, imo. I'd like to think things will work out. Leisure time is important for development. And fun!UWS guy wrote: "Interesting question, is magic the gathering a war-game and would 4e be a better game if it incorporated more of MtG 'large scale'/dominion type rules and not just the synergy of combat/deck building abilities that classes use together in an adventuring group."
Although I have played both MtG and 4e, I'm not much of a fan of either, I'm not sure I should say much about that. But I don't think either qualifies as a wargame even in my own rather broad definition.
merricb wrote: "Time is a killer these days; one occasionally wonders at the LONG older games and wonder why life has changed so much... how were they able to play them then and we can't play them now?"
There's that as communication technology has developed, we seem to devote more time to it. There's that we have many more options for on-demand entertainment. There's that our kids seem to have busier schedules—that we as parents have to keep up with—than we did.
I don't know that it was really all that much easier then, though. It can still be done. Plus, we have tools like eVite that can help a lot in organizing such things.- AnonymousJanuary 27, 2011 at 11:15 AM
Diplomacy has ruined more friendships than anything else on earth. It should be banned.
ReplyDelete About leisure time shrinkage: in addition to increased demands of work, I wonder too if 21st century adult males with wives & kids are just expected to spend a LOT more time supervising kids, ferrying them too and from their after-school activities, and doing household chores then was the case back "in the day.".
I know at lunch, when the guys bemoan how little personal time they have, they frequently comment on how little in comparison their own fathers did or were expected to do.'increased demands of work':
this also contributes to people not wanting to play a sustained game, I've found.
'they frequently comment on how little in comparison their own fathers did or were expected to do.'
8-|. Wow, my grandad worked 60+ hour weeks voluntarily as a bricklayer, helped around the house, took care of us(and we were allowed a great deal of freedom[stupidity would bring punishment, though :-)] to do whatever, glorious!), and still had time to hang out with his friends.(Mostly on the weekends.) I believe it was because he was able to make his own schedule(and his employers seemed very respectful, as well; in may ways I don't see that type of relationship anymore.), as he subcontracted for larger construction businesses. I'm holding out hope for leisure time to be prioritized again, myself.Playing Diplomacy without social incident requires people to be able to very firmly compartmentalize because so much of the game requires management that level of meta-gaming that lies just above the surface of the table. Diplomacy is cunningly designed to piss off two kinds of gamers: those who don't want overt, player interaction in their games (or want it muted) AND those who demand that "players always play the table situation to win" (i.e. always make the emotionless, "optimal move").. The game, as written, encourages players to reject either of these approaches (in fact, practically demands it), and I can see easily why it creates such nasty play experiences amongst people.
Very well said.I do find it odd that you don't seem to think you'd have the "patience and strategic level thought" for wargames...just seeing the work and detail you put into Dwimmermount would seem to belie that statement.
I'm a good improviser and have a decent memory, that's all. I don't mean to minimize their value, especially when refereeing a sandbox campaign, but I don't think my talents as a referee translate very well to wargaming. Past experience bears out the truth of this; I'm really not very good at them.