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Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Morbid self-fascination
This started me thinking that self-awareness itself is the very definition of illness, the core symptom that underlies all experiences of being sick. Whatever your ailment, you are thrown back upon yourself in a way you normally aren't, foecred to think of yourself and your body first, before you can agree to any course of action, before you can conduct any kind of social exchange. And the degree to which our society encourages self-awareness, self-monitoring (c.f. Weber's argument in The Protestant Work Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism), is the degree to which ours is a sick society. There is no greater freedom than the freedom from thinking constantly about yourself, which is basically the definition of insecurity. Our culture, however, is an insecurity-generating machine, with the consumer economy based on selling things meant to assuage the insecurity carefully engineered not only by omnipresent ads, but by the very discourses that structure the way we conceive of ourselves (the law, medicine, education, etc.). Sickness is an awareness of a lack -- or at least we've come to see it that way, because so much of our life experience revolves around perceiving lacks in ourself and trying to rectify them. We are missing some right, some piece of clothing, some feeling of self-possession. Every moment of self-awareness seems like a moment of owning ourselves, but its really a furtive admission that we don't have self-possession, that are desperate self-inventories are just cataloging the ways in which we are dependent on the structures around us to feel an illusion of completion, of security.
When I went to the doctor, I was trying to shift the burden of my self-awareness onto her, make her be aware of me, instead of it being my sole responsibility. This is what people are constantly doing by trying to get on TV, or by making films of themselves, or by vicariously projecting themselves into reality shows. They are trying to share the burden of their self-regard by becoming aware of how much others are regarding them. This is why the temptation to hypochondria is strong. It's hard to be honest with the doctor, when she asks you to describe your symptoms. I always feel like I'm telling a story, and telling it wrong, badly, and I feel the urge to spruce it up with some more colorful symptoms, with more exciting details. To embellish it. I don't want to disappoint her. In some ways I was confessing, in other ways I was offering a defense for myself. But I was acutely aware that the me I was describing in laying out my symptoms was not the me I live with in my consciousness, day in, day out, especially the me that has been paranoid about my health. I was talking in this utterly phony voice, a voice I use when I'm talking to bank tellers or barbers. How could this inane chit-chat do anything to resolve my health concerns? Shouldn't they be sticking me into the CAT scan machine? Drawing blood or something?
But now, having had the doctor's benediction, I'm able to think about something else rather than my symptoms. Nothing has changed, but yet everything's diffferent. I'm aware of different appetites now then I was a few hours ago. All she needed to do was not seem especially alarmed by what I was telling her, and I was suddenly free to move on myself. Its amazing what a moment of attention can do for you.
Monday, November 29, 2004
Bound galleys
Of course, it would have been better for him to have an advance screener to play on the subway before the movie was even released publicly. Then he could advertise his special access to everyone, like I do when I occasionally read a book in bound galleys that comes to the office where I work. When I am reading such a book, its content is secondary to the message I'm using it to send, that I can get things before everybody else can. It's fun to take such books home on Thanksgiving vacation, say, and see how intrigued people are at the machinery of promotion. Of course, you can always go to the Housing Works bookstore on Crosbie Street (among other places) to get bound galleys to impress your own non-NYC friends. You don't need to be a magazine grunt.
Lately, though, that thrill has worn off, and I just feel entitled to seeing such books for free, ahead of time. At a certain point, it just comes with the territory, and you begin to pretend its fundamental to your being able to perform your job, to know what's happening a few steps ahead of the reading public who you're supposed to serve. At that point, you've been hopelessly co-opted, and you're another cog in the culture-industry machine, facillitating the unnecessary flow of commodities, keeping people preoccupied with trivia. Accepting promotional materials makes one complicit with the whole process; you don't beat the system because you are supposed to feel special for getting it for free. There is no scoreboard to be had here.
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
On Easter island
An article in the November 19 2004 TLS confirmed my suspicions that these were emblems of great evil. As its author points out, the megaliths "defy common sense" and do it on such an extravagant scale that its terrifying. you realize how tenuous common sense is, how easily it can be replaced with something so obviously absurd to outsiders. The article offers a quick rundown of the history of Easter island, of how its society and ecology were utterly ruined by the insane potatch-gone-mad need to build ever larger idols than competing clans. The islanders killed all the trees to make scaffolding for their great idols' erection, and they blithely believed the gods they so honored would bring trees back to the island. They believed these same gods would see that their idols were stood up, when no more trees remained to build the necessary platforms. With no trees, nothing remained to build shelters or boats necessary for their seafood-based diet. The topsoil was carried into the sea by the wind. Warfare became endless, cannibalism rampant. The parallels to the disasterous ecological course we're on as a civilization are obvious -- we are so attached to our fetishes (our consumer goods) that we don't think twice about depleting unrenewable resources, and we won't hesitate to "fell the last tree" if it means another wooden doodad for someone to entertain themselves with. According to the article, anthropologists call this "ideological pathology," a kind of path dependence of the collective imagination that prevents individuals from meaningfully conceiving of alternate modes for society.
Now, social theorists -- the Theory of literary studies -- often are dumped on for the gnomic, inscrutable texts, and their hostile "nihilistic" attitudes toward the status quo. But they can't be accused of ideological pathology, despite claims that schools of thought like Marxism and Freudianism are moribund, disproven. The pathology is not a matter of clinging to a false ideology; it's a matter of refusing to question the prevailing one, and it might just be better to confront the existing hegemony with the blunted tools of discarded thinkers than to refuse to confront it all, or worse, to celebrate it.
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Cross of gold
Of course, various efforts have been made to establish the source of gold's value. When classical economists hit upon labor as the source of value, they argued that the difficulty of mining gold, the amount of labor required, gave gold its value. Smith suggests metals made for effective currency because they weren't perishible, and they could be spilt up and rejoined as one pleased. The physiocrats at least had a kind of logic for fetishizing land: it turns one seed into much fruit. But gold, is presumably placed on Earth in finite supply by God, which creates a zero-sum game with the ultimate value of things. You need to acquire as much of it as you can, because then you have a greater percentage of the total possible wealth. Of course this is absurd, but it's easier to grasp than the drive for perpetual growth, which constantly undermines the value of what you've worked to acquire.
Gold allows for the fantasy of value without labor, of usefulness without effort, of a truly benificient God, a pre-fallen world where no labor was required to make things valuable. It allows us to indulge that dream that value inheres in things themselves, and not in what we think of them or do with them. It allows us to indulge a splendiferous passivity.
And let's not miss an opportunity to quote William Jennings Bryan's immortal words: "Having behind us the producing masses of this nation and the world, supported by the commercial interests, the laboring interests, and the toilers everywhere, we will answer their demand for a gold standard by saying to them: You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold."
Uniform nostalgia
The hat (and its corollaries, the overcoat and the suit) accomplishes one thing above all else, and that is anonymity. It makes men in general look the same in public. The prevelance of the hat enforced certain boundaries, it ensured that your personality was reserved for truly intimate moments and allowed one to adopt a kind of generic public persona suitable for conducted civic business. You weren't expected to look young, or anally fastidious. You were expected simply to look like everyone else, so that level of interaction could be swiftly set aside. Of course, in the sixties, as Thomas Frank documented in The Conquest of Cool, conformity was made anaethema by ad campaigns making it a personal duty to evade conformity and publicize how effective you are at "becoming who you are," which is, of course, absoutely unique in every possible way, from the cereal you eat to the car you drive to the slogans you choose to emblazon on your clothing. With conformity out, it was only a matter of time before the hat, which disguises identity, would be out as well, and the theatricalization of public space, in which everyone is perpetually acting themselves out, would be moving ahead full steam.
Now, hats likely connoted their own subtle shades of meaning, and people of those times likely could have read a man by his hat the way we might read a man by his hair cut. But the hat always functioned as an overt sign, it never pretended to be a mark of one's authentic being. I'm guessing it always projected a discrete role in the public sphere. Today, as Richard Sennett argues in The Fall of Public Man, (and to whom I owe much of this line of reasoning) one is obliged to seem authentic in public, to be one's most intimate self at all times, eroding the boundary that defines public and private space. The result is that privacy disappears, as surely as the hat did. We don't mind this, because we are conditioned to think that the more we are on display, the more our authentic being is getting validated -- which explains the mania for self-exposure (i.e. this blog). Privacy invasion becomes the most austere form of self-validation.
I'm probably not alone in my nostalgia for the uniform, but it's a phony nostalgia, because I've never been asked to wear one. I've tried to adopt the voluntary uniform, and wear essentially the same outfit to work everyday, but it's tough to do this without becoming even more self-conscious, and the beauty of the uniform was that it freed you from self-consciousness, it allowed you to reserve your "self" for home. You certainly can't go back to wearing hats. Hats now are always affectations unless they are explicitly keeping your ears warm.
Friday, November 19, 2004
A new toy
OS X is especially full of animations and features whose primary purpose seems to be to encourage the user to stop and think, Wow, neat. It's presumed performance enhancements are all cloaked behind these genie effects and Ken Burns-like pan-and-scan screen savers and icons with more animated effects than a anime film, so that rather than be more productive, I've spent most of my time trying to shut these features and effects off. Perhaps I'm perverse in finding no delight in these doodads, but I always feel faintly infantilized whenever an application icon begins to do a little dance, as if I'm in a crib, and my moniitor is a play-mobile.
The design calls so much attention to itself that it begins to impede utility, pre-empt it as the device's main purpose. It seems more important that I'm working on an Imac than that I'm doing whatever work I'm trying to do. Am I right in thinking that design usurps utility, that form and function have become antagonists in a zero-sum game rather than being happy helpmates, complementing each other?
One might defend these machines as bringing more of an atmosphere of play to office work, which is of course notoriously numbing and spirit crushing. But one might also argue that such playfulness strips office work of what little dignity remained in it. The rounded corners and smoothness of the machine are analogous to how its supposed to smoooth out the workday, offering booby-prize consolations for having to be chained to it all day, processing information rather than using it or generating it (or exiting that dataworld altogether for the realm of senses). The user-friendliness eases the way for you to integrate yourself with the machine, to meld with it. Is this what we want? Don't we want the machines to remain alien, a tool, not a part of us, but something that we apply? Is it a good thing to feel more at home in virtual space, which is ultimately a prison in your own head?
Having a new computer was extremely -- and surprisingly -- disorienting. It was unusually stressful, which caught me off guard a bit. So much work time is spent in the virtual space of the computer, that having a new one made me feel as if I had suddenly moved to a new country or bought a new house. Most troubling of all was having to face the fact of how important that virtual space was to me, becoming more important than the physical space I occupy all the time. It makes me feel more and more like a sentient machine already.
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
The mediated personality
Thomas de Zengotita has an excellent essay in the December 2004 Harper's about the "mediated personality," his term for what happens to us from spending so much of our lives as the fawned over center of attention of so many elaborate media outlets. Television, radio, film, tourist accoutrements, museums, retail outlets -- all these pitch to us as individuals and offer us representations of reality that far surpass anything we could experience independent of them because they offer us reality as if it were designed for us, with us in mind, with us at the literal center of the universe. Writes de Zengotita: "The alchemy that fuses reality and representation gets carried into our psyches by the irresistible flattery that goes with being constantly addressed in such fabulous ways." He illustrates this by pointing how much effort it would require for you to place yourself in a scenario where you're not at the center of it all -- you'd have to make yourself essentially inaccessible, without cell phones and radios, in the midst of a wilderness without billboards or stores or paths or benches. Only then would you be somewhere where things aren't "designed to affect you."
Social theorists have discussed what he's talking about from different angles, of course: Foucault approached the ways we are situated in ourselves by the various discourses of our society, be it that of law and order (Discipline and Punish) or medicine (The Birth of the Clinic) or mental health (Madness and Civilization) or what have you. Perhaps his most famous metaphor for this, which de Zengotita almost off-handedly references, is the panopticon, adapted from Bentham's idea for a prison in which all the cells were able to maintain surveillance on all the isolated others. The isolation forces an illusion of individuality based on personal responsibility, the surveillance suggesting a significance to one's most inauspicious, inarticulate, and inconsequential acts. So we are impelled to self-consciousness, granted a self from outside ourselves which we nonetheless must maintain, which opens up a rich vein for commercial manipulation. And in this situation, no one is really to blame -- you can't pin it on the "man" because we are all the "man" in this scenario, executing the whims of a decentralized and dispersed power structure merely by observing others, by giving them their stage. We are oppressed by our very self-consciousness, by something we have been trained to see as so integral and essential to our humanity, our presupposed uniqueness as an individual. Foucault explains it this way: "He who is subjected to a field of visibility, and who knows it, assumes responsibility for the constraints of power; he makes them play spontaneously upon himself; he inscribes in himself the power relation in which he spontaneously plays both roles; he becomes the principle of his own subjection" (Discipline and Punish, 202). It sort of sounds like the Freudian concept of superego externalized, its incubation occurring not merely within the family dynamic but within the larger arrangements of society. But instead of an internalized authority figure, we live haunted by the notion that others are literally seeing what we are doing, that we must live as if we are observable from every possible angle.
A key to understanding why we consent to this, which de Zengotita rightly points out, lies in the flattery of being so studied and observed, which we often experience as being catered to. Althusser writes of this in "Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses," the experience of being "hailed" by the culture and thereby being brought to understand that we exist as "unique" individuals. We consent to subject ourselves to the ideology embodied in these hailing devices (ads, historical markers, salespeople, films, newspaper accounts, etc.) in exchange for the security of knowing we have a discrete existence as an individual, that we are irreplaceable, and thus can never die.
De Zengotita draws on this in his take on celebrities. Celebrities, according to de Zengotita, have "instilled and reinforced the values and conditioned people's life choices, especially style, the attitude that gets you through the day. These star types posit and reflect the selves their fans have chosen to be. . . . These performer-heroes are all about us. . . . That's big-time flattery -- and a pivot point in the dialectic of mediation. . . . Is it not ultimately the spectators, in their hiddenness, who hold sway? All the gratifications of voyeurism accrue to a judge nobody knows." Celebrities call attention to how they are surveilled to give us the pleasure of having the power of the transcendent observer, the man in the panopticon's tower, seeing all while remaining unseen.
But de Zengotita insists we are not content with that transcendence. He argues that the entitlement implicit in the media's attentions makes us yearn to have more overt attention lavished on us. "Celebrities held a monopoly on the most scarce and precious resource in a mediated society: attention," de Zengotita explains. Thus when technology (camcorders, video phones, cable TV, the Internet) permitted, people rushed to make celebrities of themselves: teenagers are suddenly desperate to become Real World cast members and people like me are suddenly blogging their most mundane thoughts. For de Zengotita, this proves that everyone lives with a level of self-consciousness that makes Method actors of everyone, living worked-up responses to life rather than actually experiencing life in some more straightforward, unmediated fashion. He suggests that we have come to hold the condition of anonymity as a kind of trauma, akin to those of people who appear on daytime TV talk shows, who recoup their losses for being betrayed by fate by earning a modicum of public recognition. Implicit in this is Richard Sennett's thesis in The Fall of Public Man, which was that the collapsing of public and private selves has brought on a "tyranny of intimacy," wherein since all experiences, no matter how trivial, are supposed to reveal your authentic self, we lose all control over our public self and lose all capacity for the civilized, impersonal public discourse necessary for civic duty. We can't take any activity seriously that's not in some way self-aggrandizing. (Perhaps why political discourse what it is now; positions are always taken personally, and politicians are always fixated on their image rather than the quality of their positions.)
So there's a dialectic between the joys of anonymity and public recognition that mirrors the ways in which mass-produced, standardized objects can seem so perfect for us specifically, after we've bought them. We want to be somebody and nobody all at once, and our chronic discontent with what we are makes it that much easier for us to ignore what's really there, if we're even capable of noticing it anymore.
Monday, November 15, 2004
Bahrainian arabica
While Caribou is technically "based" in Minnesota, the article points out that the company is in fact "owned by an Atlanta venture capital company, which in turn is controlled by a bank in the Middle Eastern nation of Bahrain." So though Caribou may have started long ago as a small business in Minnesota, it is now merely masquerading as a homegrown company while it actuallly funnels money overseas to a country known for its dubious royal family and its petrowealth.
The customer's response seems to me emblematic of the way Americans are quick to embrace what chain stores offer -- "niceness and efficiency" -- in favor of the community solidarity and local control and regionalized nuance that local businesses can provide. It reveals their readiness to make excuses for themselves in their eagerness to go to the chain over the allegedly less convenient local business, which suggests they know there is something shameful in it.
Scott McLatchy, who tipped me off to this, explains it thus: "Ignore for a moment the fact that Caribou is actually owned by some offshore conglomerate. It is certainly an amusing twist, but she could be forgiven for not knowing that. What I think is really emblematic of a very American mindset is the bland wish that "neither goes under and both survive and fill their own niches." This is self-deception of the most studied and willful kind. Even absent any knowledge of the mountain of petrodollars underpinning the Caribou empire, does she really believe, as her statement seems to indicate, that the local coffee shop and Caribou have a roughly equal chance of survival? That if the Caribou franchise somehow failed, the little blotch of red ink that failure would leave on the corporate balance sheet would be the moral equivalent of the eradication of some poor local's life savings? "...fill their own niches" is also nice. How many niches are there to be filled in a corporate space based on running hot water over ground coffee beans? Or is she actually saying that there should be one coffee house for those arty, concerned-about-the-world, hippie types, and another for folks like me who drive a nice car, are left-leaning but not all nutty about it, and really, really like all that parking?"
I think she really is saying the latter: that concern for a local economy is a kind of lifestyle choice, catered to and embodied by a genre of stores whose significance run no more deeply than that for her: being owned locally is of mere cosmetic significane to this woman. It's a detail that just helps the shopper construct a certain kind of community-conscious identity, and that's all it means. If that's not your bag, you can go to Caribou, "which is nice and efficient."
And that in itself points out how bureaucratic, monolothic, transnational corporations have somehow managed to leverage their huge size into a monopoly on the very concept of convenience. Most Americans will almost instictively assume that something that is standardized and familiar will afford them a more convenient, efficient experience. It almost seems perverse to dispute it, it's such a hegemonic idea, but shouldn't the local business, with its vested interest in idiosyncratic relationships with specific people be able to provide a more efficent experience? Shouldn't we want an economy geared to make personalized experiences be the ones we experience as efficient and convenient? Has our notion of democracy become so perverted that we experience bureaucratic processing as a reaffirmation of our equality, to be given what everybody else gets everywhere? Or have we all become so conformed, growing up in the public space fashioned by corporate capitalism and having been shaped by it, that the standardized experience prescribed at some corporate office is perfectly adequate for all of us. Our identities are so detatched from any local dimension that these corporatized experiences feel more homey to us? Corporations are able to be efficient by treating human beings as interchangeable commodities; so does the universal triumph of the chain store mean that we have happily adopted the generic identity as our own (and so then must make local stores like Brewberry's fit into a genre, make it no different essentially than say, Alt.coffee in the East Village, in order to understand them, to see them as catering to us in our genericness)? Do we like being standardized, beccause it assures us a chance to fit in, which is a need no longer fulfilled by atomized bedroom communities?
A strange reversal. We are secretly threatened by places like Brewberry's, which no longer seem local and particular, but are really insidery and suspiciously exclusive. The small business is capable of knowing you personally, but doesn't, therefore it's willfully refusing to recognize you and therefore makes you feel like an outcast. And we are cheered by places like Caribou, which assure us of our anonymity, and makes no claim to ever know us personally, and therefore never is capable of affronting us. It reduces us to an abstract set of needs, which it fulfills in its limted, prescribed way.
And our experiences in these places convert us into these abstract needs predicted and/or concocted somewhere else in the name of expediency; and as we convert ourselves into this generic figure again and again and again, we become even more of a stranger to ourselves. And this discomfort makes it even less likely we'll feel comfortable in a local, real space that expects us to have some sense of who are, and to be somebody specific.
Thursday, November 11, 2004
The kitchen debate
The exhibit purported to be a cultural exchange, but it seems mainly geared toward Americans themselves, to help them understand that the consumption of convenience, and the ability to choose among a variety of maufactured goods, is the new national purpose, the new meaning of freedom. As Nixon put it: "Diversity, the right to choose, the fact that we have 1,000 builders building 1,000 different houses is the most important thing. We don't have one decision made at the top by one government official. This is the difference." Here diversity is celebrated for its own sake, not for any additional usefulness it provides. A thousand different houses allows for nothing more than difference, the opportunity for a person to express himself through their consumer choice of house. Consumption becomes self-production, which adds to the size of an economy as much as any other kind. The essence of America, the point of being American, becomes the ability to express yourself in this arena, through the variations of style afforded by capitalist competition. This operation seems to grant Americans a right to selfhood, a chance Russians were deprived of, but actually it strips Americans of the self they are born with, and encourages/forces them to discover some new self in consumption, in fashion, which comes from without and changes according to some one else's design, not that of the individual discovering himself. One becomes obligated to be a shopper to be someone in America.
Khruschev becomes the implicit defender of a kind of essentialism, a sense that one is born with a certain identity and rights as a Soviet citizen (purely fictional, as it turns out), and a defender of utility in its most basic form. Russians build things to last, for posterity, he explains, not to suit the present day's whims. The implication? People find satisfaction in contributing to this future, and find a sense of purpose and identity in becoming a link in a meaningful chain of history in the development of a tradition and a heritage; they don't need fancy gizmos and individualized consummables to make their day-to-day life significant. The surface differences of fashion are nothing to base a society on: "Mikoyan likes very peppery soup. I do not. But this does not mean that we do not get along."
Nixon asks, "Would it not be better to compete in the relative merits of washing machines than in the strength of rockets? Is this the kind of competition you want?" But f course, this is a false reduction of the conflict: the merits of a social order can't be pinned to its military strength or its consumer products. It needs to be evaluated in terms of justice and equal opportunity. What happened in America was that equal opportunity to buy things was made to compensate for the lack of equal opportunity to do things, until now we have to think very carefully to even distinguish the two.
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
The flexible personality
The climate of instability created by a world where trends were constantly changing, and jobs were becoming ever more insecure, was thus given a positive spin by this new material culture, which implied that such transience and the decimation of established, comforting traditions was actually an openness to spontaneity, which was everywhere billed as more authentic, more real, more self-fulfilling. In this way the disorienting sense that "all is solid melts into air" -- Marx's classic description of life under capitalism -- is turned into something to celebrate -- the wonderful joy of everything novel. Novelty becomes an end to celebrate in and of itself, to provide an alibi for capitalism's relentlessly churning economic engine and the upheaval it inevitably wreaks.
The cult of spontaneity has its roots in 18th century fascination with "sensibility," or the ability to cry spontaneously at others' misfortune, thereby proving the soundness of your feeling heart. This was immediatly capitalied upon to sell goods, as a spontaneous reaction is an unreflecive one, and an unreflective response, an impulse, is easy to manipulate into impulsive consumption. Sensibility also encouraged a kind of individualism, since your concern typically stopped at the expression of your own feelings and didn't concern itself with social root causes. Sensibility, in some ways, has been replaced in America by evangelical Christianity, with its emphasis on instant conversions, the truth of the heart (as well as the Bible) and that sort of thing. That evangelicals are uninterested in root causes is evident in their voting patterns, which shows that they are not especially concerned with causes for moral turpitude (poverty) and are more interested in punishing it at the expense of their own chances for greater economic security.
All the innovations of the 50s -- disposibility, portabililty, convenience, stylishness -- all assailed the basis of utility for purchasing things. It was no longer even required of people to think to themselves that usefulness was a criteria. And in the absence of uniform religious tradition, the basis of utility may have been what anchored the national tradition, an understanding that a Benthamite rationality undergirded our collective morality. That is gone, lost to fashion cycles. Perhaps it's the loss of that, and not of some other religious tradition that has led to evangelicalism growing so much.
Vice fund
In the mean time, I'm exploring my investment options. According to Marx, the greater the misery the working class lives in, the greater the interest to be had in speculating on the "vices of ruined proletarians (Prostitution, drunkenness, the pawnbroker)." So it seems like the vice fund would be a safe bet. The fund touts its industries as "recession-proof," which accords with Marx's view, as a recession is sure to increase misery. The fund breaks its investments down into alcohol, tobacco, gambling, and weaponry. And the fund's Web site mounts defenses for cynically investing in these industries, spurious arguments that seem to be tongue-in-cheek: "We think it's obvious that through good economy or bad, fears of terrorism, corporate scandal, and even health fears, many people keep smoking. It's not going away. Many of this country's founding fathers were tobacco farmers. People have been smoking for centuries. While cigarette market in the United States may be limited, the worldwide cigarette market is much different." "Did you look at your retirement plan or brokerage account statements in year 2000, 2001, or 2002 and think, "I need a drink"? Apparently a lot of people did. In years 2000 through 2002 the overall stock market was poor, but alcohol stocks as a whole continued to perform." 'So called "Socially Responsible Investors" would claim that you shouldn't own stocks that have anything to do with defense or weapons. That means that all of the Aerospace and Defense Industries are to be avoided. Maybe in a perfect world these industries wouldn't need to exist, but until that perfect world does exist, we want to own these stocks."
There's truth to this, for sure. In fact, the appeal of the Vice fund is the perverse honesty that underlies it. All investment seems like exploitation at some level, so why not embrace it? Bet on human depravity and your fellow human's unhappiness and desperation. Why not stop pretending that you care about anyone other than yourself when you invest in stocks. You are not investing in the human race, you are investing in your own personal future, and to hell with the rest of society. And so what if you have to live in a maximum-security housing oasis in the midst of a poverty-stricken world filled with whorehouses, gambling dens, strip joints, rundown bars, liquor stores, and gun dealers, overrum by cheap weaponry that makes every trip outside life-endangering. You'll have yours, and that's what matters in the zero-sum society.
Of course, this kind of selfishness undergirds most suburban thinking already: hence the SUV, the vehicle that declares a willingness to kill others rather than take a chance of injury yourself. Of course, as they proliferate, everyone becomes less safe, particularly the SUV drivers. Visibility is reduced for everyone, the mass tonnage involved in accidents increases, and the likelihood of rollover becomes omnipresent.
One of the earliest cases for vice-driven capitalism came from Mandeville's Fable of the Bees, which seems especially prescient now. "Private vices, public virtues" was his basic premise, and it's nearly impossible to tell if he was being ironic about it. But his analysis does seem to hold; prosperity is a product of widespread personal misery and/or selfishness.
Monday, November 08, 2004
McQueen chic
That is, until the film introduces Faye Dunaway, as one the most implausible insurance-company supersleuths in film history. She's supposed to help a police detective (played by Paul Burke) solve the crime, but her main function seems to wear a series of different candy-colored outfits and try to look as much as possible as Catherine Denueve in a Jacques Demy musical. In fact, this whole film is a strange attempt to make a heist movie in the manner of a Jacques Demy musical, or Un Homme et une Femme, right down to the blasting Michel Legrand soundtrack, which telegraphs every emotional cue with over-the-top orchestrations that make every human interaction and dialogue in this film into lush camp. This is especially true of the chess playing scene, where Dunaway and McQueen first hook up, in one of the most feral and aggressive make-out sequences I've ever seen -- it looks like McQueen is trying to chew her face.
McQueen was probably cast in the image of Jean-Louis Trintignant in Un Homme et une Femme, to be a brooding race-car driver type, short on words, but rich in masuline posing. McQueen poses everywhere: in elevators, behind desks, at the chessboard, in airplanes -- every shot makes him static, puts him in a pose, flattens the film to a stack of photographs. And he's perfect for the role, despite his slightly schlumpy, twerpy profile. And you can see why there's been a resurgence in McQueen worship recently -- he crops up in fashion magazines hawking watches and things like that and on hipster T-shirts -- it's because he is one of the few film stars to make posing seem masculine, making him an icon in an era where little more than posturing can be accommodated in public society, in a civic sphere where posing is the primary mode of discourse. And McQueen, who always has to have his masculine totems -- his race car or his cigar or cigarette and so on -- makes a perfect shill for the lifestyle products that dominate the landscape even more today, the products one is expected to require to bolster one's sense of gender. The new ads with McQueen basically treat him as a symbol of this mentality -- the cool guy who likes his macho gadgets. (If you want to see McQueen act, you have to see him in Peckinpah's The Getaway, where, predictably, his hypermasculinity is made brooding and violent.)
The film is self-aware enough to have Burke chastize Dunaway for conducting her investigation like a prostitute all while obviously lusting for her himself. And it emphasizes her disposability by making her indistinguishable, for the most part, from McQueen's other lover. The point is that she is an especially stylish accoutrement to McQueen's lifestyle, the perfect woman to tool around with in your dune buggy. Her thorough objectification assures that we won't take her investigation seriously, and that McQueen will outsmart her in the end. Indeed, he sets up and executes another elaborate heist, not for the money at all, but simply to extricate himself from the relationship when it gets emotionally complicated. It's a pefect byzantine exit strategy, a great indication of how great a length a man will go to avoid emotional directness and confrontation, and how far society will go to make his evasiveness seem stylish, au courant, a marker of having attained the height of social power and prestige.
The film plays like a commercial now, an ad for a kind of jet-set lifestyle that we can no longer dream of emulating without being perversely anachronistic. Thus we can enjoy the film much more, as an expose of that lifestyle relic, as amusing encyclopaedia of its tropes and of the methods the filmmaker tries to use to make it seductive. We can comfortably feel like we transcend such marketing ploys, and can observe them from some safe place, insulated from their pull while still capable of luxuriating in their sensualism. The unfolding of style replaces the film's plot, which is largely formulaic to begin with and requires little of our attention anyway. But while the fulfillment of formula is usually the attraction in most popular entertainments, what The Thomas Crown Affair suggests is that we can be more entertained by explicitly ad-like content even in a preserve where such motives are supposed to banished or suspended. The formulaic story is a pretense for selling a style, as in ads themselves. So saturated by commercials, we may now import the criteria we apply to ads to all entertainments. This film proves that an ad can hold your attention for an hour and a half, and there's something troubling in that.-
Thursday, November 04, 2004
Hold the door
The courtesies I am thinking of hinge upon a moment of hesitation, the extra moment someone waits to hold the iron gate open when leaving the subway stop, or the moment one waits to let you off the elevator. It takes much less time for the hesitation to register and surprise others, and usually they let you know its been recognized with a note of sincerity in their thanks that is impossible to miss. It takes just the slightest pause to make someone else think, oh, you didn't have to do that, thanks. This moment of waiting becomes a leisurely moment snatched from a day of compulsory hurriedness. Its a moment where you assert the priorities of social interaction above those of business, and perhaps because that itself is so rare that these moments feel more precious.
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
Marketplace of revolution revisited
The only problem with this thesis is, as Brewer points out, that the opposite seems to have been true -- colonial Americans rejected consumerism in favor of moral restraint (the luxury debate of the era) and economic self-sufficiency (mercantilism still reigned, and The Wealth of Nations had yet to be published). Brewer sees this as a classic example of themischief that comes from anachronistically applying terminology to a historical period. It's impossible to understand aperiod without understanding the debates that animated them and the language these debates lent to the society to stabilize its meanings. Thus I'll start with A.O. Hirschman's The Passion and the Interests, which offers the original arguments for capitalism in the terms that seventeenth and eighteenth century thinkers tried to understand it.
Play dumb
The same thing goes for ironic ads. When I take these with a stubborn literalness, I feel as though I have warded them off. Those ads that narrate the mundane achievements of someone as though they are heroic accomplishments, I try to think to myself, these aren't achevements. This praise is absurd, and the people praising him should be ashamed. When an ad is absurd, the reponse shouldn't be knowing laughter -- oh, haha, we all know ads are silly; they're fun! -- it should be uncomprehending disgust: the people in this ad are acting idiotically, in a way that would make me ashamed if they were friends of mine. That car can't be on that mountain, there's no road there, and not enough clearance under the vehicle. These ad makers are liars.
A letter from one of the readers of the magazine I work at captures the spirit perfectly. He complains that the editors can't possibly know "the best new restaurants in America," because they haven't been to every single new restaurant. So their claim is meaningless, possibly fatuous. So maybe he doesn't understand superlatives, hyperbole -- but maybe he understands it perfectly, and is holding the magazine accountable for its use of language. He's taking a fundamentalist view of language; people should mean what they say and should be expected to have what they say taken literally. This is a foolproof way to be resistant to ad copy, which is where all poetic devices have gone to die.
This kind of stubborn literalism is forced upon us by ads that want to use our intelligence against us. The problem is we may then carry this kind of willed ignorance into other spheres, like our responsibliites as a citizen in a democracy. Then catastrophes like the 2004 US presidential election can occur.


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Speaking at a Beyond Sport United event in New York this week, WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon said her organization — best known for its wrestling showdowns — is committed to LGBT inclusivity, NBC News reported.
She reminisced about wrestling legend Pat Patterson, the first-ever WWE Intercontinental Champion, who just this week released a book, titled "Accepted." Patterson came out on a show on the WWE Network and according to McMahon, the response "was so warm and supportive that he then decided to tell his story."
McMahon told NBC OUT her organization is committed to inclusive storytelling going forward and plans to "integrate LGBT characters" into its programming.
Through its partnership with GLAAD, an LGBT media advocacy organization, WWE is also prioritizing sensitivity in their writers' room.

subset: commoncrawl


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Enter & Exit iPhone Recovery Mode
Sometimes things go wrong and you need to put your iPhone into Recovery Mode to restore it and get it working again. It turns out that Recovery Mode is what your iPhone goes into when you are doing a standard iOS upgrade or restore anyway, but you may want to put your iPhone into recovery mode for other reasons to troubleshoot a device or perhaps for jailbreak purposes. Whatever the reason, you can place any iOS device into recovery mode, which allows you to restore a bricked iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with the help of iTunes. You'll need a computer (Mac or Windows) and a USB cable to complete the Recovery Mode based restore process. You can either restore from a backup, or set up the device as new, that is your choice.
Remember, Recovery Mode is different than DFU mode because DFU mode bypasses the bootloader which allows for things like downgrading firmware. You can not downgrade firmware with Recovery Mode, you can only upgrade or restore a device. When an iOS device is in Recovery Mode, it will display the image you see here, of the iTunes logo and a USB cable telling you to attach the device to iTunes.
How to Enter iPhone Recover Mode
Here's how to enter into recovery mode on any iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch:
- Disconnect the USB cable from your iPhone, but leave the other side connected to your Mac or PC
- Launch iTunes
- Press and hold down the Home and Sleep/Power button on the top of the iPhone to turn off the iPhone
- Press and continue to hold the Home button while you reconnect the USB cable to your iPhone, this will cause the iPhone to turn on
- Continue to hold the Home button until an alert message in iTunes informing you that an iPhone in recovery mode has been detected, like the screenshot below:
Your iPhone is now in recovery mode. If you have not launched iTunes, you will see the familiar screen of the USB cable pointing at the iTunes logo signaling to connect the iPhone to iTunes to start recovery.
Once you're in recovery mode, you can either restore the iPhone, set it up as new, recover your backups and restore it to functionality again, or adjust the firmware as necessary (you can download iPhone firmware here if need be).
After a successful completion of restoring or upgrading firmware, your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch will automatically reboot and exit recovery mode on it's own.
How to Exit iPhone Recovery Mode
You can typically exit recovery by doing the following:
- Hold down the home and power button for about 15 seconds, this shuts off the iPhone
- Press the power button to boot the iPhone
If you are stuck in recovery mode (or DFU) and you do not want to do a restore or firmware upgrade, you can use a tool like TinyUmbrella or RecBoot to escape too. If you are still stuck that usually means you must re-install iOS firmware.
Entering and exiting recovery mode is the same on all iOS devices regardless of the version of iOS software. Using recovery mode to restore a device is also the same regardless of using a Mac or Windows PC, and it's the same with all versions of iTunes.


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Brussels, 6 April 2011
Data retention: Commission refers Sweden back to Court for failing to transpose EU legislation
Despite a first ruling by the European Court of Justice in early 2010, Sweden has not transposed the Data Retention Directive into national law. The directive makes it mandatory for telephone companies and Internet service providers to store telecommunications traffic and location data for law enforcement purposes. Three years and a half after the deadline for all Member States to transpose, Sweden's failure to do so is likely to have a negative effect on the internal market for electronic communications and on the ability of police and justice authorities to detect, investigate and prosecute serious crime. The Commission therefore referred Sweden to the European Court of Justice for a second time, requesting it to impose financial penalties.
The European Court of Justice will determine the level of sanctions which can take the form of a penalty and/or a lump sum. The lump sum penalises the continuation of the infringement between the first judgement (under Article 258 TFEU) on non-compliance and the second judgement (under Article 260 TFEU). The penalty payment is calculated in principle by day of delay after the delivery of the second judgement. The Commission proposes the Court to impose on Sweden a daily penalty payment of €40.947 for each day after the second Court ruling until the infringement ends and to impose a lump sum €9.597 per day for the period between the 2010 Court judgment and the second Court ruling.
On 4 February 2010, the European Court of Justice condemned Sweden for failing to fulfil its obligations to implement the Data Retention Directive in its national law (Case C-185/09). Following this ruling and in the absence of a precise timetable for adoption of the legislation, the Commission decided to send a letter of formal notice to Sweden on 28 June 2010. The Commission asked for details of the measures which Sweden intended to take to ensure compliance with the Court's judgement.
Sweden informed the Commission in writing on 21 January 2011 that it had submitted draft legislation transposing the Data Retention Directive to its Parliament on 8 December 2010, and that it aimed for the legislation to be adopted by mid-March 2011. Regrettably, on 16 March 2011 the Swedish Parliament decided to defer the vote on the proposed legislation for a further 12 months.
The Data Retention Directive (2006/24/EC) was adopted in 2006 and should have been transposed into national law by 15 September 2007, with the option of postponing the retention of communications data relating to Internet access, Internet telephoning and Internet e-mail until 15 March 2009.
Data retention refers to the storage of traffic and location data resulting from electronic communications (not data on the content of the communications). Under the Directive, traffic and location data retained by Internet service providers and phone companies will be made available only to national law enforcement authorities in specific cases and in accordance with national law.
For more information
Homepage of Cecilia Malmström, Commissioner for Home Affairs
Homepage DG Home Affairs:
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A modern style tuner, die-cast enclosed for permanent lubrication and solid long-life. They are the standard tuner for Warmoth's 2+2, 3+2, Deluxe 5 Straight and Gecko headstocks.
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Sold individually so you can get the configuration you need. 4L in line, 4R in line, 2L +2R, 3L +2R, etc.
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I installed these on my G5. They look good and work very well.
These things are awesome I a set of black GB&'s and a gold set I love them!!!!
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Meme Contest?
Post epic memes and I will judge them
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10=The best meme I have seen
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Post epic memes and I will judge them
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For me I can't wait to be done my piano sonata but I also am excited to compose a concerto for piano and orchestra!
Got questions about music, instruments, brand names, more?
Fellow members will try to answer them to the best of their ability.
(Life advice is fine as well, I suppose)
For those who don't know Polyrhythm is the simultaneous use of two or more conflicting rhythms e.g. triplets at the same time as duplets
Are you a beginner, intermediate, or advanced in piano playing?
What instrument do you all play? I play piano and I trying to learn ukulele. And I'd love to learn cello! It is such a cool instrument!!!!
I was working on a score on the software when it closed unexpectedly.
because of that I lost my score of more than 100 (!) measures.
I tried but I couldn't find him again.
does sombody know a solution?
Hey guys!! :D How are you? ♥ I would like to share my first score with you :D https://musescore.com/user/28725539/scores/5470048 I hope you like it! :3
Have a great day!! Kisses from Argentina! ♥
What are we doing here?
Lol Patrick
I will update this weekly
1 Member
1 Discussion
Group is created today! Woohoo! *confetti and stuff falls from sky*
8 Members
2 Discussions
Eek! I forgot to do this yesterday. The group is already dying, so uhh… :o
@Jaybird1 is one of the first truly active members, I told him I would give him a shoutout here, so here you go :P
14 Members
3 Discussions
I haven't updated this in a while, this group is blowing up now...
22 Members
5 Discussions
Holy cow, this group is blowing up. 8 members in 4 days, wow...
30 Members
4 Discussions
Hmm...Starting to die again...
35 Members
5 Discussions
Welp...I was wrong...
41 Members
7 Discussions
I was very wrong, this group is really blowing up, welp
47 Members
7 Discussions
Again, welp
55 Members
8 Discussions
So I had to kick a member (Indy500) for spamming a link to an unsecure website. Sorry, but spam for no purpose is not tolerated.
Hey All,
I've realized that I'm never one, partly because my cousins keep me moving! (THX, Burggraafs! :D). So I thought I'd select some new admins. I'll only select a few, so let me know ASAP.
15/05/19: I'll only be selecting a few more, so respond ASAP.
17/05/19: I won't be selecting any more. If you totally forgot to reply, please message me and I'll see what I can do! Thank you!!!!
i am working on a piano sonata
How many of you play the flute?
I own a channel on YouTube:
It's that channel I usually upload scores uploaded by me.
Mine is my rondo for a sonata collab
I am your group owner @IsaacBannon and i am happy that u don't want to tear out my throat! Pls feel free to do absolutely anything on this groupchat! *suicides*
Hey all,
I was wondering if any of you knew of easy ukulele songs. I was looking here, but there wasn't much. I would appreciate if you could help me out!!!
Thanks sooo much!!!!


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Sometimes it takes millions of dollars, promises to help improve a community's infrastructure and some well-fought compromise. And that's before a developer has even turned one shovel of dirt for a proposed housing project.
Sometimes it takes millions of dollars, promises to help improve a community's infrastructure and some well-fought compromise. And that's before a developer has even turned one shovel of dirt for a proposed housing project.
The state's Chapter 40B affordable housing law may give developers the upper hand when it comes to pushing through large developments of condos and apartments in communities that don't want unbridled construction, but each town has its own unique experience dealing with the projects.
While Natick received nearly $2 million in mitigation from AvalonBay Communities to deal with the financial impacts of its Avalon Natick development, Westborough last week grudgingly approved a new complex that residents and school officials say will cost the towns millions each year without any benefit from the developer.
As many towns struggle to meet the state's goal of maintaining 10 percent of their housing stock as affordable, some public officials feel they have no choice but to accept affordable-housing projects. Developers who propose projects under the state's Chapter 40B affordable housing law are able to bypass some town bylaws and steps in the permitting process, which can lead to conflict between the proponent and the town where they seek to build.
In Westborough, residents and town officials complained that the 250-unit apartment development proposed for Rte. 9 near the Northborough town line, known as Westborough Woods, is unsafe and will put a burden on taxpayers by increasing school enrollment.
However, the town's police and fire chiefs said they did not have concerns about the proposed single egress on the site.
"Towns are stuck with 40Bs unless there's a safety issue," said Steve Liedell, chairman of Westborough's Housing Partnership Committee.
Westborough Public Schools Superintendent Marianne O'Connor said she expects the schools will have to educate an additional 90-120 students who will live in the development – an influx that could require the town to build another school.
But the Westborough Zoning Board of Appeals, citing recent Housing Appeals Court decisions that ruled towns cannot consider financial impacts of 40B projects, granted conditional approval early last week for a comprehensive permit for the development.
Liedell said the Westborough Woods project, which will feature 63 affordable units, will push Westborough above the 10 percent affordable housing goal to about 12.4 percent.
Though Natick initially fought a proposal for the 407-unit Avalon Natick development off Chrysler Road, the project's developer offered to help pay for infrastructure improvements and offset other costs.
Natick Community Development Director Patrick Reffett said the town received $1.75 million in mitigation money to use at its discretion, plus other funds for water and sewer upgrades.
Reffett said the town is considering designating $1 million of the mitigation money to upgrade the Speen Street fire station, which will service the high-rise development.
Despite the size of the project, Reffett said he did not anticipate a large impact on the town's schools because the primary demographic of residents who will occupy the apartments will likely be older people who are downsizing and single professionals who work at nearby MathWorks.
"Natick really learned that you can't fight 40B," Reffett said.
The town lost multiple decisions by the Housing Appeals Committee after denying affordable housing projects between 2005 and 2007, he said. The rejections were based on claims that the projects did not fit with the fabric of the community.
Developers are not required to provide mitigation for 40B projects, but Southborough is accustomed to receiving it in some amount, according to Hillary Brigandi, administrative assistant in the Planning Department.
The 140-unit Madison Place complex rising on a hill off of Rte. 9 East in Southborough received little pushback because of its highway location.
Developer Robert Moss offered the town $360,000 in mitigation for the project.
Moss also compromised on his Johnson Farms project in Sudbury.
Plans originally included a proposal for a 120-unit apartment complex at 189 Landham Road, but over time, Moss agreed to several incremental size reductions after pushback from neighbors of the property.
The Sudbury Zoning Board of Appeals approved the project for 56 townhomes.
Milford Town Planner Larry Dunkin said although the town is under the 10-percent affordable housing goal at 6.3 percent, there are currently no 40B projects proposed.
Some towns, such as Weston, are not targets for 40B projects because their conservation and wastewater restrictions are difficult to work around.
Weston Housing Partnership Administrator Noreen Stockman said Weston has a high density of wetland areas and "because the town is all on septic it makes it difficult for any type of big development."
Once towns reach the 10 percent goal, they have the option to treat 40B projects as they would any other development.
For this reason, towns often request that developers designate affordable units in perpetuity, so that their percentages won't fluctuate.
Framingham's affordable-housing stock is at 10.4 percent, and Director of Community and Economic Development Alison Steinfeld said her department monitors affordable developments that have expiring uses so the town can ask that they retain affordability.
Sara Mulkeen can be reached at 508-490-7475 or firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Lately, the press hasn't been kind to Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel.
He's been portrayed as a brute who screwed over a former friend to found Snapchat. There's a profile that paints him as a stuck-up brat. And people are angry he hasn't apologized to the 4.6 million users whose accounts were hacked on Snapchat.
Today, Forbes has a feature article on Snapchat and the intro plays right into Spiegel's negative profile:
According to Forbes, Mark Zuckerberg emailed Evan Spiegel to speak, and Spiegel gave a disrespectful response:
"Mark Zuckerberg, the richest twenty something in history, reached out to Snapchat's Evan Spiegel…with an invitation, delivered to his personal email account: Come to Menlo Park and Let's get to know each other. Spiegel…responded to his role model thusly: I'm happy to meet you… if you come to me."
Spiegel's response sounds arrogant. What no-name startup founder tells a CEO worth $20 billion to fly to him?
But in a tweet to Business Insider, Spiegel refuted the Forbes report, saying the email exchange between him and Zuckerberg was much more cordial.
He even provided a screenshots of the emails:
But those emails don't explain why Forbes got the intro of its story incorrect. It turns out, when Forbes interviewed Spiegel, Spiegel seemed to brag about giving Zuckerberg the cold shoulder.
In response to Spiegel's claims that he's not as arrogant as Forbes made him sound, Forbes posted the transcript of its interview with Spiegel. In the transcript, Spiegel told Forbes Zuckerberg came to L.A. for the meeting. Without knowing his exact tone, it's hard to say if he was boasting or not. But from Forbes' response ("that's awesome") it sounds like he might have been:
So, now we have two transcripts. The first is the original email exchange between Zuckerberg and Spiegel. It's very cordial. The second is Spiegel's account of the exchange to Forbes.


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2nd Place Semifinals - afanador - Video 04 - Written in the Chalk
3rd Place Semifinals - Radical_Yue - Video 03 - LuV aNd jOy oF OuRaN hIgH sChOoL hOsT cLuB
Coordinator Spreadsheet & Judge Comments
SilverFreedoms wrote:and here I was thinking animated's amv would make it
Animated wrote:Also, I forgot to congratulate the finalists for their success Great job guys, it was fun times up until now
Kisanzi wrote: Also, it's not as big of a deal as the TTT judging, but it did hurt my feelings a bit that some judges commented on their thoughts of the original videos negatively when it really didn't need to be mentioned. Since they are our favorite videos, I can't help but feel a little sad when reading something like "the effects look cheesy or ugly" on a video that I've held in such high esteem for years, and still do to this day. Not to call anyone out, just know that you made me sad for a few seconds.


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Blue Jackets' Comeau faces disciplinary hearingNHL.com @NHLdotcom
Columbus Blue Jackets forward Blake Comeau will have a phone hearing Wednesday for his hit on Detroit Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith during the first period Tuesday at Nationwide Arena.
Comeau was assessed a minor penalty for boarding and one for diving at 12:47 of the first period. Smith was given a penalty for cross-checking.
The following grounds for the proposed supplemental discipline are being considered: boarding. However, the Department of Player Safety retains the right to make adjustments to these infractions accordingly upon further review.
Columbus won the game, 4-1.


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Camo Burrito Oven for WBBB. Bought this from Canteen Boy in Dec and used it one night in the back yard and one night in the woods. Like new condition. I live in the southernmost depths of Alabama and my 0 degree quilt is plenty for any conditions I might encounter. It fits hammocks with the shelf on the right side. I paid $65 bucks and will let it go for $60 shipped CONUS TYD. PayPal only please.
Thanks for looking.


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Panama president, though unhappy, salutes successor
PANAMA CITY (AP) — Panama's President Ricardo Martinelli, never known to be a good loser, swallowed an initial bitter reaction to the election of an archrival as his successor and offered his support Monday for the coming transition.
Martinelli snapped "May God help us" as he learned the night before of Vice President Juan Carlos Varela's surprise victory, saying he would shelve plans for a quiet retirement and would vigorously oppose his former ally's rule.
But as the sting of the defeat settled in, the billionaire supermarket magnate offered his compliments, at least on Twitter.
"Yesterday Panama won," Martinelli wrote on the social media network. "I congratulate the president for his resounding triumph. Today I'll call to tell him that and to begin the transition."
Results that were nearly complete Monday showed Varela won Sunday's presidential election with 39% of the vote, compared with 32% for Martinelli's choice, political newcomer Jose Domingo Arias. Juan Carlos Navarro, a former mayor of the capital, finished third with 28%.
Varela, who takes office July 1, waved the nation's flag at a rally to celebrate his victory and vowed to put aside the partisan bickering of the past five years and end corruption that worsened under Martinelli.
"Whoever wants to do business should grab their things and go to the private sector," he told a cheering crowd in a clear swipe at the outgoing president.
In his first comments as president-elect, Varela on Sunday night said re-establishing ties with Venezuela, which were were severed in March by that country's socialist government, would be a top priority even as Panama continues to call for dialogue and respect for human rights in Venezuela's grinding political crisis.
He said President Nicolas Maduro was one of the first regional leaders to call and congratulate him.
Pre-election polls had pointed to the tightest race since democracy was restored two decades ago, but none of the major surveys had Varela with a lead. Most gave a razor-thin edge to Arias.
A free-market conservative, the 50-year-old Varela also has strong social credentials. Before breaking with Martinelli in 2011, he was the architect of the government's popular "100 for 70" program that provides a $100 monthly stipend to Panamanians over age 70 who have no pension or retirement benefits.
Although Martinelli wasn't on the ballot, the billionaire supermarket magnate's presence loomed large during the campaign. Many worried he would be the power behind the throne if voters chose Arias, a soft-spoken former housing minister, and even seek to change the constitution to eliminate a two-term cooling off period before becoming eligible again to seek the presidency.
With his wife, Marta Linares, as Arias' running mate, Martinelli crisscrossed the isthmus inaugurating hospitals, stadiums and Central America's first subway while warning the 4 million Panamanians that record-low unemployment and economic growth that averaged more than 8% since he took office in 2009 could be jeopardized if his opponents won.
Never since the United States' 1989 overthrow of military strongman Manuel Noriega has an incumbent party won re-election in Panama.
The outgoing president will have a strong platform from which to battle Varela: Candidates from his Democratic Center party were the biggest winners in congressional voting Sunday, taking an estimated 30 of 71 seats in the legislative assembly. Varela's alliance won just 12 seats, meaning he will almost have to negotiate with Navarro's center-left Democratic Revolutionary Party, which elected 21 representatives.
Varela, who studied engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, is the scion of one of Panama's richest families, owner of the Varela Hermanos rum distillery. He left the 2009 presidential race to throw his conservative Panamenista party behind Martinelli in exchange for the vice presidency.
But Martinelli dismissed him from an additional role as foreign minister in 2011 for refusing to back a plan for a referendum to allow presidents to serve consecutive terms.
Since then, Varela has been the president's fiercest critic, accusing him of taking kickbacks for a government radar system contract with Italy's Finmeccanica.
Martinelli denied the accusation and in turn marginalized Varela from decision-making, never tiring of calling the vice president a parasite for, in his view, collecting a government paycheck without doing any work.
Varela, meanwhile, was accused off receiving payments from the daughter of a political ally convicted in the U.S. of laundering money for an illegal online gambling ring.
Varela said in a February interview he would continue Martinelli's drive to improve Panama's infrastructure, the linchpin of the president's 60% approval rating.
Contributing: Juan Zamorano in Panama City and Joshua Goodman in Bogota, Colombia
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Mongolia and The Importance of This Nation to America, China, and Russia
By Lee Jay Walker
Tokyo Correspondent – SEOUL TIMES – SOUTH KOREA
|Mongolian President Nambaryn Enkhbayar Photo Courtesy of AP
The nation of Mongolia is very large in landmass, however, her population is very small and it would appear that this nation is not blessed by her geography. However, if we focus on this nation being democratic, independent, and neutral; then clearly Mongolia can help to soothe relations between China and the Russian Federation during times of difficulty. Therefore, can Mongolia play a good "hand of poker" and make the most of her geopolitical reality?
For leaders in Moscow, it is clear that Mongolia is important because this nation is surrounded by both China and the Russian Federation. Therefore, the geopolitical significance of Mongolia is obvious to both China and the Russian Federation. Given this reality, political leaders in Moscow desire to help this nation because it is vital that Mongolia at least remains neutral.
Also, America could encroach by offering vast economic and political support. Therefore, important policies are being implemented by the Russian Federation with regards to energy routes, transport networks, economic zones, for example the Tumen River Delta Economic Zone, and other dynamic policies. So the strategic importance of Mongolia to the Russian Federation is abundantly clear and Moscow desires to maintain a neutral Mongolia.
China shares similar views towards Mongolia because if tensions did develop with the Russian Federation, then Mongolia would be an important nation because of the geopolitical reality of this country. So Mongolia is deemed to be a vital "buffer" between both China and the Russian Federation. However, at the moment both Beijing and Moscow have cordial relations between each other and towards Ulan Bator. Therefore, Mongolia should upgrade her economy while both nations are working together on so many issues.
China is also worried about the "American card." So it is in the interest of both China and the Russian Federation to shore up their relationship. After all, American meddling could upset the applecart. However, China does have one major "ace" and this applies to the economic angle. Therefore, China does have a lot of economic influence in Mongolia because China is Mongolia's major trading partner.
China and the Russian Federation also fear America having major military bases in Mongolia in the future. This applies to America having independent bases in Mongolia or via the framework of NATO troops. China is also worried about the Taiwan issue, therefore, China can not afford a weakness within her geopolitical zone of influence and Mongolian neutrality is a must for the leaders of Beijing.
America, on the other hand, desires to keep both nations in check and of course they hope to increase their influence in Mongolia for geopolitical and military reasons. America also understands that Mongolia is in a very strategic region and they desire to increase their influence within the "backyard" of both China and the Russian Federation. America also knows that Mongolia could be threatened, after all inner Mongolia lies within the nation of China. Therefore, it is a good way for America to keep an eye on her main rivals, while justifying this on past history.
Given this, the nation of Mongolia must utilize her geographic reality in order to boost the economy of Mongolia. Therefore, astute leaders are needed in order to play "a wise game." If this happens, then Mongolia can gain from economic and political support from all the major powers. Of course this is not going to be easy, therefore, diplomacy and statecraft is badly needed in order to maintain the current status quo.
However, for now Mongolia is utilizing her geography well because international investment continues, despite the remoteness of this nation. Yet dangers remain within the political system of Mongolia because earlier this year you had mass demonstrations in this nation. Therefore, Mongolia needs to focus on democracy and transparency because internal political tensions will lead to international capital flight and it will reduce direct foreign investments.
Also, it is hoped that regional or global institutions will help this nation. This applies to the Asia–Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, NATO's Partnership for Peace, the Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue, and other major institutions. The European Union should also develop a robust policy and democratic nations throughout the region should implement favorable policies towards this nation, for example South Korea and Japan. Therefore, it is vital for Mongolia and positive outside forces to help this nation to develop and to utilize the natural resources of this country.
If Mongolia can maintain her neutrality in the future, then her economy will continue to benefit and her global influence within Northeast Asia will also blossom. In this sense Mongolia is already winning and maybe this weak nation can help to reduce respective tensions in this part of world via her diplomatic policy? Therefore, all major political parties in this nation must refrain from using violence and intimidation. Instead, they must focus on preserving the independence of this nation and creating a stable economic and political system. So it is vital for Mongolia to utilize the international political system because it is clear that this nation is of strategic importance.
Lee Jay Walker


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Denver Bronco Rod Smith: Thanks, little piggies, for providing insulin, but that's as far as it goes
Ever on the lookout for new ways to earn money, Gleneen Brienza and the committee for 2012 Brass Ring Luncheon hit on something truly unusual: Nominating four high-profile people for the dubious honor of "winning" the chance to kiss a pig.
Former Denver Bronco Rod Smith, firefighter Derek Trombetta, Mrs. Colorado Courtney Graham and Judy McNeil a past president of the sponsoring Guild of the Children's Diabetes Foundation, were the contenders; the winner would be decided by how many $20 votes were placed in their name.
Turns out Smith, a member of the Broncos' Ring of Fame, and McNeil, who is also a past chair of Brass Ring, each received an equal number of votes and were called to the stage to do their duty by mistress of ceremonies Kim Christiansen of 9News.
McNeil, fortified with an extra-thick layer of lipstick, didn't hesitate to plant one on Huckleberry, a cute little piglet who appeared to be enjoying the attention. Smith, who was never intimidated by the beefy members of the National Football League, wasn't quite so enthusiastic. He tried his level best to avoid the porcine encounter.
Of course, it probably didn't help that Christiansen had punched up the camera setting on her phone and was ready to send an image out for the world to see. "This is Facebook gold!" she said with a wink.
Eventually, though, he relented and put a quick peck on Huckleberry's head.
For those who might be wondering about the relevance of this stunt, the answer is simple: For a long time, pigs were a diabetic's best friend. From its discovery in 1922, and until the 1980s, all insulin was extracted from the pancreases of cattle and pigs. Today, insulin is made biosynthetically, by recombinant DNA technology or genetic engineering.
Seven hundred friends of the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes attended the event held at the Marriott City Center. For the third year, fashions were provided by Canadian designer RozeMerie Cuevas and included selections from her Jacqueline Conoir and JAC Collections.
Cuevas also designed the aubergine dress with matching jacket worn by event chair Brienza.
Gov. John Hickenlooper stopped by long enough to share his determination to make Colorado the healthiest state in the nation and to applaud the members of The Guild of the Children's Diabetes Foundation for their service to the Barbara Davis Center.
Margot Gilbert Frank was one of the event's Angel Sponsors, but when she learned the show would be taking place while she was treating husband Allan to a birthday trip to Las Vegas, she didn't back out of her commitment. Instead, she encouraged friends Diane Smethills, Kristina Davidson, Cindi Burge, Gail Johnson, Sharon Whiton Gelt, Jaylene Smith and Sarah Sena to enjoy the show from the rampside table she'd purchased.
Other Angel Sponsors were Tom and Lisa Corley, Patty Jenkins, Meagher Energy Advisors, NexGen Resources, Wells Fargo Bank and SAP.
The Anschutz Family Foundation was the Brass Ring Benefactor; Bill and Deb MacMillan were the Premier Sponsors, along with their business, The Crazy Merchant, and their family foundation, the WILMAC Foundation.
Others enjoying the day were Carol Karsh; Jamie Angelich; Michelle Toltz; Denise Tova; Karen Valdez; Emily Tarleton; Caroline Karlin; Chris Yaros; Quinn Washington and Paulina Szafranski from Lotus Concepts (the Brass Ring kickoff was held at Chloe Mezze Lounge, a Lotus property); Kathy Crapo; Dalyla Creaghe; Jan Chase; Deb Smith; Magrit Brinker; Pam Helm; Bonnie Mandarich; Sharon Cooper; Ginny Messina, whose daughter, Jessie Ketter is with Design Works, the company that did the day's decor; Sharon Kamen; and Cheryl Lebsock, president-elect of the guild and the one who designed and donated the Brass Ring invitations.
Additional pictures from the Brass Ring Luncheon
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314, email@example.com and @GetItWrite.


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RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIF.—Inbee Park's 7-iron tee shot Saturday on the 168-yard 17th hole turned to left on a perfect line at the back-left pin, landed softly and rolled to 2 ½ feet for yet another birdie in the Kraft Nabisco Championship.
The 24-year-old South Korean player, three strokes ahead with a round left in the first major championship of the year, admitted it wasn't quite the way she planned it after watching playing partner Lizette Salas' ball sail too far left and into a bunker.
"It was actually a little bit of a mis-shot," Park said. "I aimed a little more right, but I slightly pulled it and it ended up perfect."
Bogey-free in her last 22 holes at Mission Hills, Park shot her second straight 5-under 67 in tricky wind conditions to reach 12 under.
"I feel really good about my swing and the stroke at the moment," Park said. "I feel really comfortable around this golf course, too. That helps. Three good rounds, and I just need another one tomorrow. . . . I was really used to the wind after yesterday, because we had a really similar wind. It was a lot easier to judge today."
She's in position for her second major title and second victory of the year. She won the 2008 U.S. Women's Open and added her fourth LPGA Tour title in February in Thailand when Ariya Jutanugarn closed with a triple bogey to blow a two-stroke lead.
"This one would mean a lot," Park said. "It's just been a tournament I always wanted to win and, with the special ceremony jumping in the water, everybody just wants to do that."
Salas, a stroke behind Park entering the round, had a 69 to remain second.
"I've just got to stay patient and just trust my putter and just keep it simple," Salas said "I'm just going to stick to my game plan. I can't control what she does. I can only control my swing thoughts and my routine."
Hall of Famer Karrie Webb, the tournament winner in 2000 and 2006, was five strokes back at 6 under along with Suzann Pettersen, Angela Stanford, Jessica Korda, Karine Icher and Pornanong Phatlum. Stanford had a 66, the best round of the tournament. Webb and Pettersen shot 67, Korda and Icher 68, and Phatlum 70.
Park matched Salas with a birdie on the par-4 opening hole and got to 9 under with a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-3 ninth.
Park stretched her advantage to two strokes with another 25-foot birdie putt on the par-4 10th, then nearly holed her 9-iron approach on the par-4 12th, leaving only 2 ½ feet for another birdie that pushed the lead to three.
Salas pulled within two with a birdie on the par-4 13th, and Park countered with the birdie on 17. Park saved par on 17 after hitting into the bunker, then missed a chance to get closer on the par-5 18th when her six-foot birdie attempt slid by to the right.
"I wasn't hitting the ball as well as the first two days, but I kept putting myself in good position, hit some good shots out of the rough, and hit a great bunker shot on 17 to get up and down for par," Salas said. "Obviously, you want to end with a birdie, and it didn't quite drop. Overall, pretty good day considering I didn't hit the ball well."
The 23-year-old Salas grew up west of Los Angeles in Azusa, where her father is the head mechanic at a golf course, and was a four-time All-America selection at the University of Southern California.
"I feed off the crowd and, to have my fans out here, my family here, it just helps me stay calm," Salas said. "I'm playing in my backyard, so I can't ask for anything more than that."
Stanford rebounded with the 66 after opening with rounds of 70 and 74.
"I've kind of been fighting it all week and I kind of found a thought that worked the rest of the day," Stanford said. "I made the turn and started hitting some good shots."
Pettersen, playing on her 32nd birthday, birdied the final four holes. She had a share of the first-round lead after a 68, then dropped back with a 75 on Friday.
"I probably should have had six straight birdies coming in," said Pettersen, a three-time runner-up in the event. "I've given myself a chance for tomorrow."
The 38-year-old Webb won the last of her 38 tour titles in 2011.
"I'm just glad I gave myself a chance," Webb said. "If we can get some breeze going tomorrow, I think that'll make it interesting."
Korda, the 20-year-old daughter of former tennis star Petr Korda, is spending time with her family for the first time since January.
"It's really nice," said Korda, the Women's Australian Open winner last year. "My brother and sister got so big. It was really nice to see everybody. I miss my dad's humour and my mom's calmness, and she did my laundry last night, so it was kind of nice."
Michelle Wie had a 73 to drop to 1 under. She has broken 70 only once in 17 rounds this season and is using an unorthodox putting stance with her torso bent parallel to the ground,
Top-ranked Stacy Lewis was 1 under after a 71.
"Coming into the week my swing didn't feel great and I was kind of hoping I would figure things out by now, but I just haven't," said Lewis, the 2011 champion.
She has struggled after winning consecutive events this year in Singapore and Phoenix to take the top spot in the world from Yani Tseng.
DIVOTS: The second-ranked Tseng was even par after a 69. She won the 2010 tournament and finished second in 2011 and third last year. . . . Lydia Ko, the 15-year-old New Zealand amateur who won the Canadian Women's Open last August to become the youngest LPGA Tour champion, shot a 71 to reach 1 over. . . . Natalie Gulbis was 2 over after a 72 in her return from malaria.


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A longtime Hope College assistant coach has been named the school's next head men's basketball coach.
A longtime Hope College assistant coach has been named the school's next head men's basketball coach.
Matt Neil, 49, a standout Hope player in the early 1980s and a member of the coaching staff since 1985, will succeed Glenn Van Wieren who retired this spring after heading the program for 33 seasons.
His appointment follows a national search for a coach to direct the tradition-rich men's basketball program.
"Matt is passionate about HopeCollege and fully committed to its mission, is an effective recruiter and game strategist, and is known throughout the extended Hope community. Matt is very well prepared to lead the HopeCollege men's basketball program into this new era," said Dr. Mark Northuis, chair of the department of kinesiology who led the search committee."
Neil becomes just the fourth Hope men's basketball coach over the past 62 seasons.
"I am truly humbled to become the head men's basketball coach at an institution that stands for excellence in so many ways, and at the place that helped me grow into the person I am today," said Neil. "In academics, in athletics, and in enriching lives, HopeCollege continues to strive to follow God's leading, which is what we all strive for in our personal lives.
"I have been privileged to be part of coach Van Wieren's staff for the past 26 years. He has modeled excellence as a coach, as a mentor, as a family man of faith and a friend.
"My desire at Hope is to continue to provide our students with experiences that allow them to fully realize the plan that God has for their lives. With the anchor holding fast to traditions of the past, new rope will be attached that will continue to model excellence in the classroom, on the basketball court, and in service to the wonderful community of Holland."
A point of pride for Van Wieren was the continuity of his coaching staff. Neil served as the program's junior varsity coach for nine years (1985-1994) and has been a varsity assistant coach with responsibilities for post players since 1995.
His involvement in Hope basketball has extended beyond coaching. He founded Hope'spopular student cheering section, The Dew Crew, and he has used his vocal talents to sing the National Anthem before games many times over the years. He is in demand as a clinician and speaker at basketball coaching clinics throughout the Midwest.
His path to head coach parallels that of Van Wieren who excelled as a Hope player, served on the coaching staff after graduation and was named to the top spot upon the retirement of his mentor.
Neil was an all-conference (MIAA) forward as both a junior and senior and was named the league's most valuable player his senior season.
He received the masters degree from GrandValleyStateUniversity in 1992.
Neil has been employed in the Holland Public Schools system since 1982 and is currently a middle school mathematics teacher.
He will have the academic rank of Assistant Professor of Kinesiology.
Neil and his wife Kim have four children. Kendra is a 2009 Hope graduate and Logan is a current Hope student who plays both soccer and basketball. Grant and Ellary are high school students.


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MEXICO: Hope and opportunity for vulnerable young girls
Each and every day, children from the southern Mexican state of Chiapas desperately struggle to survive. They live in one-room huts made of wood slats and mud. They drink water from dirty streams and contaminated wells. Food is scarce and health care in non-existent. Many die from preventable ailments such as diarrhea, malaria and tuberculosis. Young girls are particularly vulnerable, often falling victim to forced marriages, domestic abuse, malnourishment and other health problems.
Amidst the misery and despair, however, there is a glimmer of hope thanks to the Salesian Home for Girls in Tuxtla Gutierrez.
Girls as young as 11 years old are welcomed with open arms by the Salesian Sisters who run the program. For the first time in many of their lives, the girls receive the basic necessities that had been sorely lacking, including safe shelter, nutritious meals, clean drinking water, essential medical care and meaningful spiritual guidance.
To ensure that each girl realizes her full potential, the Sisters place a high emphasis on education. Every girl is expected to attend local public school and perform well in her studies. The Sisters also offer individualized tutoring to help those who are struggling.
The experience at the Salesian Home is a life-changing event – one that transforms a hopeless situation into one of hope and opportunity.


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|Frequently Asked Questions
We answer e-mails almost every day, and answer many questions time and time again. Please see most of the common questions that we answer in the faq. If your question is not answered here, please contact us!
Do the self-extracting juicers (the Omega 4000 and the Miracle Ultramatic) process citrus fruits?
Yes, Citrus fruits, such as oranges, grapefruits, tangerines, have a bitter outer rind, and juice from a "whole" orange would be too bitter to drink. It also contains indigestible chemicals. One solution is to grate away (or peel) the outer rind (the orange coloring on the orange - it is best to leave the white "pith", as valuable nutrients are contained within the white area).
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Carlo Lorenzo Garcia
Living Philanthropic was founded in April 2010 as one man's mission to give to charity everyday for a year. This mission is built on a belief that you don't have to be rich in dollars to make a difference; you only need to be rich in spirit. After completing his 365 day mission, the spirit of giving everyday carries on through his friends and in his mission to continue his micro-philanthropy for a second year. For more information, please visit: www.livingphilanthropic.com
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Vital Signs: Iceland Tops Gender-Equality Survey
Iceland makes it five years in a row as the country where men and women are most likely to have equality of opportunity, a new report says.
According to a study out Friday on the global gender gap, Iceland held the top spot among the 136 nations surveyed by the World Economic Forum. Iceland claimed the No. 1 ranking in 2009, when it moved up from a No. 4 showing in the surveys between 2006 and 2008.
The rankings are based on measures in four areas: economics, education, health and politics. Rounding out the top five nations are Finland, Norway, Sweden and the Philippines. The U.S. placed 23rd, just below its 22nd ranking in last year's survey. That put it behind Canada (20th), Luxembourg (21st) and Burundi (22nd), but ahead of Australia (24th), Ecuador (25th) and Mozambique (26th).
The countries with the most gender inequality were Syria, Chad, Pakistan and Yemen, ranked 133rd through 136th, respectively.
More than half the countries surveyed made progress in narrowing their gender gaps, the authors said, thanks largely to women's gains in politics and education.


text: Brand MarketingNutrition Advocates Blast Marketing of Girl Scouts' Newest CookieMango Crème touted as 'delicious new way to get your vitamins'By Katy Bachman |February 8, 2013 ShareBy Katy Bachman |February 8, 2013 Share Nutrition advocates chose National Girl Scout Cookie Day to take the organization to task for marketing the organization's newest cookie as "a delicious new way to get your vitamins." "It's bad enough that the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. sells cookies to raise money, but it shouldn't pretend that its new 'Mango Crèmes with NutriFusion' are nutritionally equivalent to fruit," said the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which fired off a letter Friday to Girl Scouts CEO Anna Maria Chávez. On the Web page for the cookie's baker, ABC Bakers claims that the cookie's mango-flavored crème filling has "all the nutrient benefits of eating cranberries, pomegranates, oranges, grapes and strawberries." "If there were a badge for misleading marketing, I'm afraid the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. just earned it," said Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy for CSPI. In the letter, CSPI asks the Girl Scouts to immediately stop promoting the cookies as "healthful" and "find a healthier way to raise funds." This isn't the first time the CSPI has gone after the Girl Scouts for adding to the childhood obesity rates with its cookie promotions. Last year, the CSPI took the Girl Scouts to task for a licensing deal with Nestlé to co-brand candy bars. The Girl Scouts were not immediately available for comment. Sharehttp://adweek.it/2k8fxNK copy Adweek Adweek


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The 13th Annual Kona Coffee Festival is well under way this week. Starting November 1st, this event runs through the 10th, featuring a diverse lineup of special events that include, the Holualoa Village Coffee and Art Stroll, UCC Hawaii Miss Kona Coffee Scholarship Pageant, KTA's Kona Coffee Recipe Contest, Sugai Kona Coffee Talent Night and the UCC Hawaii Kona Coffee Picking Contest.
Festival Weekday Events continue with signature events including the prestigious Kona Coffee Cultural Festival Cupping Competition, Kona Coffee Market Day and Cultural Events, Kona Barista Jam & Ultimate Barista Challenge Hawaii, Keauhou Resort Kona Coffee Label & Website Display & Competition and the Kona Coffee Living History Farm Tour.
Festival Finale Weekend Events with Festival favorites including the Kona Coffee Cultural Festival Parade and Bon Dance, Kona Coffee Marketplace Festival of Artists and Ethnic Foods day, Kona coffee industry seminars, Big Island Running Company Miracle Mile Run, Kona Coffee Cultural Festival Parade and the Aloha Makahiki Concert.
Admission to Festival events requires the (one-time) purchase of a $3 button which is available at the events. For more info, visit http://konacoffeefest.com