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Around seven years ago, I started raising the question of whether Donald Trump and the MAGA movement he led were fascist. Numerous academics and mainstream journalists pooh-poohed that characterization as imprecise and unfounded. Trump, they argued, was a buffoon, an authoritarian, a xenophobe, a kleptocrat or a con man, but not a threat to democracy.
It seems they operated off of some kind of checklist of fascist characteristics. Trump did not manifest the qualities on their lists. It should be clear by now how wrong they have been.
Not just in America but in numerous countries around the world, democracy is facing a fascist threat. This goes way beyond Donald Trump.
The world is facing a veritable Fascist International where extreme right parties have either come to power or they have contended seriously for power. I would cite Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria and now Italy as countries where the extreme right has gained considerable state power. In other countries like Brazil, Sweden, and France, the extreme right is contending aggressively for power.
When a neo-fascist, Glorgia Meloni, recently won the Italian election to become prime minister, the positive reaction on the American Right was extremely revealing. They widely cheered the election of someone on record as praising Benito Mussolini, the Italian dictator and Hitler’s collaborator. I have to say as a Jewish person I find that response to fascism sickening.
It is extremely dangerous not to see the fascist threat. It is reminiscent of the 1930’s when many in the West failed to recognize the danger represented by the German and Italian fascists. Fascism does not remain static. It evolves depending on local conditions and has some national flavors.
In America, the MAGA Republican movement has evolved in some unexpected directions. Always open to conspiracy theories, their cult leader, Donald Trump, has more openly identified with QAnon.
On his social media site, Truth Social, Trump has been more openly than ever identifying with QAnon, posting images of himself holding a Q playing card along with other Q images. At his rally on September 17 in Youngstown, Ohio, Trump played a song identified with QAnon. He said MAGA is “standing up against sick, sinister and evil people from within our own country”.
Here I think we get close to the demagoguery and grievance-mongering which is central to MAGA. The MAGA movement is fueled by a powerful need to point the finger of blame at others. Opponents are seen as blood-drinking pedophiles, not just another political party on the opposite side of a disagreement.
The need to demonize Democrats is part of the MAGA world view. It is not enough to politically defeat the Democrats. Being so allegedly evil, they must be punished. So Hillary Clinton must be jailed. Or as Ginni Tomas texted Mark Meadows in whack-a-doodle fashion, “the Biden crime family” needed to be put on barges off GITMO to face military tribunals.
To insure victory in what is seen as a war, MAGA Republicans put people in positions to certify elections so they cannot lose. If elections are not in their favor as they still believe about the 2020 presidential race, then their mission is about insuring victory by any means necessary.
Those who insist the MAGA Republican movement is not fascist are not paying close attention. Their playbook is no secret and internationally all the extreme right parties are following a similar script. There is a reason Victor Orban’s regime is held up because it’s the best example of the new model of “illiberal democracy”. It is worth delineating the features.
The extreme right everywhere runs against immigrants who they denigrate as in conflict with their goal of racial purity. They hate black people, brown people and Muslims. As happened when Jews were denied entry into the U.S. and other countries in the 1930’s many countries have made immigration rules much stricter. Asylum seekers and refugees face a wall of opposition. The great replacement theory promoted by Tucker Carlson is invoked as is the spectre of George Soros.
Contrary to mythology, it must be acknowledged that there is much capacity for the United States to accept many more asylum seekers but the political will to allow it is not present in either political party. Our ruling class finds it convenient to scapegoat immigrants. Almost nothing has been learned from the experience when Jews were denied entry to the U.S..
This is history repeating itself. The repression is not on the level of the Nazis but the harm to the immigrants is real. Many die in the desert or drown trying to cross rivers in an effort to get to the U.S. Employers complain they cannot find workers but immigrant workers of color we don’t want and we do not allow them in, at a cost to the economy.
Of course, immigrants are not the only scapegoats of the extreme right. LGBTQ people, particularly trans people, are also in the crosshairs. We see this in Hungary, Italy, and Brazil as well as the other countries where the extreme right is making a push for power. They want to ban abortion, gay marriage, and gay adoption. A little understood minority, trans people, is seen as some kind of menace. The absurd language about groomers and pedophiles is part of their blame game.
In the aftermath of Giorgia Meloni’s victory in Italy, the historian Jason Stanley summarized:
“Fascism is a harshly anti-feminist ideology demanding a world in which women’s choices about their bodies are restricted and patriarchy determines their primary roles – rearing racially pure children and home-making. What better way to sanitize the ideology, to mask its threat to women and its use of violence , then presenting it via a female leader.”
Since January 6, 2021, the embrace of violence by the extreme right has been more clearly demonstrated. To quote Roger Stone two days before the 2020 election “Fuck the voting, let’s get right to the violence”. When you are unhappy with the results, hand it over to the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. History shows that once fascist movements gain power, they often quickly resort to the use of violence against all perceived enemies.
The earlier fascist incarnation in Germany took the violence to another level both internally and in trying to achieve world domination. One major difference now is that modern-day fascists have not yet showed this mad aspiration.
Most mainstream journalism remains wedded to the both sides perspective that has been the norm in the past. In their view, political parties may differ in their views but they are essentially the same. I would suggest that time is now past. Today’s fascists are an existential threat to democracy everywhere.
Related
October 3, 2022 at 6:54 pm
Another thing of beauty! At this critical juncture, this needs to be hammered home as much and in as many ways as possible.
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Things to Do
August 25, 2017
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced the start of construction that will turn the James A. Farley Building into a world-class transportation hub for the 21st century.
The Farley Building redevelopment into the Moynihan Train Hall will create a new 255,000 s/f train hall for Long Island Rail Road and Amtrak passengers and increase total concourse floor space in the Pennsylvania Station-Farley Complex by more than 50 percent.
The Farley Building will also house 700,000 s/f of new commercial, retail and dining space within the mixed-use facility.
$1.6 billion project is expected to create over 12,000 construction jobs and 2,500 permanent jobs.
“If you want to drive development and you want to drive population growth, it is the transportation system that does that,ˮ said Gov. Cuomo.
“We’re investing $100 billion, the largest amount ever invested in the history of the State of New York in infrastructure. Doing projects all across the nation, all across the state, replicating projects that are the first and the best from LaGuardia Airport, which will be the first new airport built in 25 years.
“The John F. Kennedy airport, replacing the Kosciuszko bridge… the Tappan Zee Bridge after 25 years, airports all across Upstate New
York. Investing in the subway system, $8 billion, and pledging $400 million to fund the emergency repair program.
“And these are not plans, my friends, these are not dreams. They’re not subject to approvals, they’re not subject to hope. $100 billion, 250,000 jobs created – these projects are underway, shovels in the ground,
every one of them being built by the men and women of organized labor in the State of New York.ˮ
Skanska is rehabilitating the old post office building with a renovation that covers civil, structural, architectural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing, as well as demolition of existing structural and architectural elements, including asbestos and lead abatement.
Historic restoration of the entire exterior of the Farley Building and adjacent Annex Building is also included.
During the first phase of construction, Skanska managed the
complete renovation of the West End Concourse. The concourse now extends from Platform 3 to Platform 11, allowing for a much bigger space that sits above the existing platforms.
Since the Governor’s original selection announcement in September 2016 Skanska USA has demolished 6,000 tons of concrete and removed approximately 800 tons of steel, as well as an additional 400 tons of hazardous materials.
To allow for future sunlight on the Concourse level from the new skylights, one acre of concrete and steel flooring has been removed.
Restoration has now begun on the exterior façade and the interior courtyards and on 31st Street and new openings to accommodate
escalators carrying passengers to the platform level have been initiated.
Three of the six underground train platforms are shielded and ready for the demolition process to begin.
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A Florida Sheriff’s video, which urges civilians to arm themselves and prepare for war, is quickly making the rounds on social media. But he has a point when one listens logically. He warns that when a mass murderer strikes, the government won’t immediately be there to save you; it’ll be your job to save yourself.
Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey posted the controversial video message on Facebook Wednesday, two days after a deadly workplace shooting in nearby Orlando claimed the lives of five people. The Florida sheriff urged citizens to arm themselves in self-defense saying “this is war.”
He doesn’t mean war in the sense that nukes will be flying, but the war against mass homicides and sociopaths who only seek the destruction of human life. “What’s next is to fully understand that this is war, and you better be prepared to wage war to protect you, your family, and those around you if attacked,” he said. Ivey stressed that attackers rely on people running, hiding, and waiting for help, rather than fighting back. And they will use guns, knives, bombs, and even trucks to kill innocents. “What they don’t count on is being attacked themselves, having to become defensive to save their own lives,” Ivey argued.
Become the first line of defense to prevent the loss of life, and protect yourselves and others. That was the underlying message the sheriff sought to convey.
Ivey’s video is irritating anti-gun lobbyists and politicians who seem content with letting people die with a minimal chance of survival. Ivey encouraged people to take self-defense classes and urged those with concealed weapons permits to carry their guns with them at all times. “No matter who you are or what your position is on guns, there’s no denying the fact that the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun or a knife is an armed and well-prepared citizen or law enforcement officer,” Ivey said. Ivey is simply stating the obvious. Yet, he’s being called “controversial.”
Ivey’s being accused of “fear mongering” and riling up vigilantes for refusing to tow the line. As those in government, police included, continue to lean toward more gun control, (for everyone but themselves, of course) it’s becoming obvious that those in charge want us to suffer at the whims of the sociopathic mass murderers. Leonard Papania, the police chief in Gulfport, Mississippi, spoke out against weakening gun regulations to the New York Times, saying, “Do you want every incident on your street to escalate to acts of gun violence?”
Gun control is a sensitive issue for most, as the logical in society understand that gun ownership doesn’t make one a mass murdering homicidal maniac or terrorist. But the emotional side of people inhibits their brain from understanding that a gun can be used in self-defense, and may even prevent the loss of innocent life. When guns become outlawed, only outlaws will have guns. An old saying, but one the hoplophobes seem to continue to forget.
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Negative interest rates are taxing savers, creating food shortages, and making life miserable in the United States!
There's little time left before the REAL DISASTER occurs!
Refusal To Comply With The Ruling Class Could Cause A “New Deadly Variant
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The ruling class wants the slave class to know that failure to comply with its arbitrary demands...
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Comments
Eisenkreutz on June 11, 2017 at 9:25 am
IF THIS IS A WAR
PersonSmarterThanYou on June 11, 2017 at 1:17 pm
White man here?
CrackSumSkulls on June 12, 2017 at 6:00 am
Notice in the Video the Sheriff Quotes “Sun Tzu” “The Art of War” And that every battle is decided before it is even fought. Who has been Quoting The “ART OF WAR” here for weeks now? Yeah I have,… Learn it and live it. Its your survival. You either can carry daily and prepare to fight and go home to your family alive to live another day, or be a loser and a coward, and let your family bury your cowardly bones in the dirt in disgrace. Remember “F*ck-You I’m Millwall”? How about “F*ck-You I’m an American!!”
You want to create Terror? NOT gonna happen on my watch, I will NOT let my Country be hijacked by parasites, or robbed of our freedom. The best defense is a good offense. Call these cockroaches out at every turn and expose their crimes. Be prepared to shoot and keep on shooting until the threat is stopped. On the Floor Dirtbag and eliminate them, cause they were too slow to hit the floor!!
Carry daily and prepare to Crack Sum Skulls.
CrackSumSkulls on June 12, 2017 at 6:38 am
Muslims In U.S. Are Terrified After What Pissed Off Sheriff Just Gave People Permission To Do.
PersonSmarterThanYou on June 12, 2017 at 7:45 am
RICH99 on June 12, 2017 at 1:02 pm
You only say that cuz your anonymous on a computer ….I love keyboard commandos
PersonSmarterThanYou on June 12, 2017 at 1:54 pm
oops on June 13, 2017 at 1:42 pm
Anyone can tell by your post name that you do not belong on this site.
The Deplorable Braveheart on June 12, 2017 at 9:44 pm
PSTY, NOBODY needs permission for self-defense.
PersonSmarterThanYou on June 15, 2017 at 10:07 pm
Gods Creation on June 12, 2017 at 3:30 pm
Concerned-Citizen! on June 12, 2017 at 7:12 am
Ozzy on June 13, 2017 at 7:22 pm
James on June 11, 2017 at 2:59 pm
Who is the enemy?
The enemy are the people that allowed Obama to remain in office after the police told us that he was using false identity docs in 2012.
The enemy are the people that allowed Obama to “retire” with a pension and SS protection.
The enemy are the people who refuse to prosecute Obama even now.
Our enemy is the federal political machine and the states that prop it up.
WhereEaglesDare on June 11, 2017 at 11:08 pm
@ James, yep I agree !!
CrackSumSkulls on June 12, 2017 at 6:05 am
Who’s the enemy? Those who selected the US Presidents since they murdered JFK. They murdered him, and threaten every President since to tow their SCAM. Obama was a coward.
PersonSmarterThanYou on June 12, 2017 at 12:52 pm
The hard part is getting rid of the body? Perhaps you could set it out front and put a sign on it that reads, “FREE”
wardoc on June 12, 2017 at 8:51 pm
The enemy, also, includes hillary supporters, podesta apologists,
RINOs, corporate globalists, corporate shills, corporate news people, chamber of commerce types that support crony corporatism, etc.
The Deplorable Braveheart on June 12, 2017 at 9:45 pm
russ on June 13, 2017 at 3:06 pm
love how you think
grace on June 13, 2017 at 8:02 pm
The Deplorable Braveheart on June 11, 2017 at 4:09 pm
TEST on June 11, 2017 at 4:32 pm
From the “In the socialist workers’ paradise, we’ll all be equal, but some of us will be ‘more equal’ than the others dept. today:
Caroline Biden, the niece of former Vice President Joe Biden, defrauded a New York City pharmacy out of over $100,000. But she won’t be going to jail. It must be nice to have connections. The New York Post reported: “Joe Biden’s niece dodges jail after $100K credit card scam. The wild-child niece of former Veep Joe Biden stole more than $100,000 in a credit card scam — and quietly cut a plea deal in Manhattan court that spares her any jail time, The Post has learned.” (Ummm… maybe it’s “White privilege?” Or “blonde privilege?)
The Deplorable Braveheart on June 12, 2017 at 9:47 pm
TEST, I think it’s more like ‘libturd privelege’. After all, the girl’s uncle was one of TPTB. The bitch should’ve been buried under the jail.
Jacknife on June 11, 2017 at 9:51 pm
What’s the difference between a sheriff and a police chief? A sheriff is elected, a police chief is not. In this article, a sheriff is telling his constituents to protect themselves, a police chief from Mississippi is whining because he doesn’t believe people should be armed. Although he didn’t say it outright, that’s exactly what he’s getting at. The difference is power and control. The sheriff’s power goes as far as the citizens who elect him. The police chief doesn’t answer to citizens, he exercises power and control over them. If citizens are allowed to carry, which they are but most don’t, and exercise that right that police chief feels powerless because he doesn’t have as much perceived control. Think about it like this, if an entire towns citizens, say 20,000 people, decided to start carrying weapons, do you think those cops would keep treating them as shitty as they do? I know there’s good cops blah blah blah but way too many cops are on the power trip just because they have a badge and a gun, and are pretty much protected in most everything they do, including killing people under very questionable circumstances. This particular sheriff is basically telling people, there are more of you than us, there are more of you than them, do what you’re allowed and able to do.
Marcus on June 12, 2017 at 11:39 am
PersonSmarterThanYou on June 12, 2017 at 12:39 pm
You are right, not really a war if you just sit back and get taxed out of your property so some socialist gets govt money to move enemies of amerika into your old house.
jake d on June 14, 2017 at 7:52 am
If you are a White Male or Christian or believe in the Constitution or believe in your right to live life as you see fit or disagree with the Progressive agenda or own a gun or believe in securing our borders, you are surrounded by the enemy.
Paranoid on June 11, 2017 at 9:43 am
Here in Wyo finding an unarmed group is difficult outside of a kinderguarden class.
viper on June 11, 2017 at 12:36 pm
same here in Montana…..except for the liberal assed city of Missoula
anonymous on June 12, 2017 at 10:32 pm
Jim in Va. on June 11, 2017 at 9:51 am
That is why gun sales continue to set records around the country. Even leftists are arming up…I wonder if they are joining the NRA? Only an individual can protect themselves, there aren’t enough police to go around.
The Deplorable Braveheart on June 11, 2017 at 10:57 am
Jim in VA, libturds are arming up for what purpose? To go against us? They better forget that idea if they want to live.
Jim in Va. on June 11, 2017 at 2:29 pm
I hear ya Brave. They’ll probably injure themselves loading them. They tend towards handguns which aren’t much against rifles and shotguns.
The Deplorable Braveheart on June 11, 2017 at 3:18 pm
Jim, remember some of the old cartoons where a character would fire a revolver and a flag would come out of the barrel saying “BANG”? LOL! I get a picture in my mind of a libturd doing exactly that!
WhereEaglesDare on June 11, 2017 at 11:17 pm
@Braveheart and Jim, don’t underestimate these idiots. They are motivated, driven, and FUNDED. We have all read where they are seeking out training.
Concerned-Citizen! on June 12, 2017 at 7:16 am
Never underestimate your enemy, that is a huge mistake. The LEFT ALL need their heads cracked. And the Clintons and that no good Muslim Barry Hussein needs to HANG for all to see.
The Deplorable Braveheart on June 12, 2017 at 9:53 pm
WED and CC, good points. I never underestimate anyone who has something against me, but they better not underestimate me if they decide to go up against me.
Marcus on June 12, 2017 at 11:42 am
what Eagles said
oops on June 13, 2017 at 1:44 pm
yup, the 30k, o said he had???
buttcrackofdoom on June 11, 2017 at 10:57 am
PersonSmarterThanYou on June 11, 2017 at 1:18 pm
Well they never came to investigate justice Scalia’s murder.
buttcrackofdoom on June 11, 2017 at 11:47 pm
ok, you win….MONTHS away!….uuummmmm, YEARS away?
Concerned-Citizen! on June 12, 2017 at 7:17 am
PersonSmarterThanYou on June 12, 2017 at 1:01 pm
Haha trump foiled their plot by putting another conservative in hahaha I love trump.
PersonSmarterThanYou on June 12, 2017 at 8:13 pm
Years, 911 was an inside job and that is why it was never investigated and it has been 16 years
Rick on June 13, 2017 at 10:01 pm
If he thinks a plane went down in PA he’s nuts. No wreckage at all? vaporized they said like the one at the pentagon that was a missile thru a 16 foot hole. Wise up people jeeeezz if its on the fake news the people all buy it!
Waiting on June 11, 2017 at 10:00 am
It’s only common sense that an attacker doesn’t want to be confronted by a gun toting person he’s planning to victimize. He’d rather move on to the next unarmed victim, less trouble for him. The gun is an inanimate object, it can do nothing but lie there. It takes a person to make the gun work. 33 to 40 % of American households own guns, yet the death rate attributed to guns is no where near what it should be considering all the guns available to the populace. That’s because the deaths occurring from guns is done by the criminal element. The criminals will always have access to guns no matter what the gun laws stipulate. Look at the Eliot Ness Era, all the criminals had guns and lots of them, and fully automatic guns as well. No matter what the gun laws are criminals can find ways to possess guns. The best defense for deterring criminals is a well armed populace. The people of the USA should heed this sheriff’s advice, it could save you life. The man makes sense……….the idiots against gun ownership, well they’re exactly that IDIOTS! Ignore them. Waiting
PersonSmarterThanYou on June 11, 2017 at 1:22 pm
The Deplorable Braveheart on June 11, 2017 at 1:28 pm
Waiting, very good post. The POS always depend on their potential victims to run, hide, cower: in other words, to NOT take a stand and put up any resistance. The potential victims need to do the exact opposite and start resisting. IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE A VICTIM, TO BE ANOTHER STATISTIC, TO STAY ALIVE, FOLLOW MY ADVICE. The antigun crowd can go to hell. If they want to confront me, let them bring it. It won’t end well for them.
PersonSmarterThanYou on June 11, 2017 at 6:36 pm
Elliot Ness was a piece of $hit drunk. His only job was to get the little guys that refused to pay taxes out of business before alcohol was made legal and given to Budweiser and such. Plus machine guns were still legal back then. People…you must read more?
PersonSmarterThanYou on June 11, 2017 at 7:50 pm
Not worried about the criminals, I am worried about scum that taxes me. They steal way more.
Anonymous5 on June 11, 2017 at 10:09 am
Your average leftist will limit his firearms training to what he has seen in movies. And they don’t have the mindset to do what is necessary to defend themselves.
TheGuy on June 11, 2017 at 12:38 pm
Hard to have the mindset around here in Cali, since if I shot someone that was armed and broke into the house at 3AM, I’m pretty much looking at a life sentence.
Yes, we’re that retarded around here.
PersonSmarterThanYou on June 11, 2017 at 1:34 pm
Statistically it would likely be cops breaking into your home to “asset forfeiture” your ass.
nameless on June 11, 2017 at 4:36 pm
Liberal judges. Just get a big dog and some pepper spray. That’ll fix it.
PersonSmarterThanYou on June 12, 2017 at 8:15 pm
Yes but pepper spray is banned in many areas and you can’t fly with it. Big dogs eat a lot.
Gonetoolong on June 11, 2017 at 6:58 pm
Joseph on June 11, 2017 at 8:45 pm
Yes! I guess you are right! I would rather be judged by twelve than carried by six! Backhoe comes to mind!
The Deplorable Braveheart on June 12, 2017 at 9:55 pm
Time for libturd judges to be judged themselves. Karma is a supreme bitch.
The Deplorable Braveheart on June 11, 2017 at 1:30 pm
Anonymous5, the average libturd would simply surrender and be more concerned about the attacker’s ‘feelings’ and ‘civil rights’. Can’t fix stupid libturds.
PersonSmarterThanYou on June 12, 2017 at 1:03 pm
A true libturd will stop as soon as their funding stops.
Kevin2 on June 11, 2017 at 10:19 am
Vehicles used as a weapon, arson, IEDs, guns only can protect but so far. Awareness of your area and the people in it, your sixth sense of, “something isn’t right here” and then “bite the bullet” and get out of there regardless if its inconvenient. I apply it with the ticker which has a problematic history, chest discomfort under load, diminishes at rest, two aspirin and 911. Use logic.
Frank Thoughts on June 11, 2017 at 10:28 am
Really good point: when cars are weapons or bombs, your assault rifle is no use. Situational awareness is your best option and staying away from high risk people. 99% of terrorist attacks are carried out by people who look like the terrorists we are warned about. Just as most violent robberies are done by certain groups in the population. It may not be very PC, but I would not be slack around brown men with beards, any black person under the age of 50, anybody who is brown and sweaty, women in black cloth, brown men who look all pumped up and just back from fighting in Syria (a common sight in Europe), etc. You will be pretty safe around wrinkly old white people, Chinese women, Japanese women, etc. You get my point. Use your brain.
The Deplorable Braveheart on June 11, 2017 at 10:55 am
FT, good post. You don’t have to be PC about this issue or anything else. I know what the libturds say about ‘profiling’, but my advice is YOU DAMN WELL BETTER PROFILE AND PROFILE LIKE HELL IF YOU WANT TO LIVE.
PersonSmarterThanYou on June 11, 2017 at 1:24 pm
Infantryman on June 11, 2017 at 12:59 pm
Correction, yes you can use a rifle to stop a terrorist or whacko in a car or truck.
Kevin2 on June 11, 2017 at 2:36 pm
Its unrealistic to have a rife on your person and be 360 degree on guard during your every day activities. It is realistic not to be bunched up and look for barriers, natural and intentional that limit or prevent ingress of a vehicle at speed. I have a friend who’s wife insists that he not be armed in church. He just bought a smaller more concealable pistol. Gun free zones, non carry states, masses of people, bottlenecks in egress are all to be looked at reproachfully. In every hotel I stay in I count the doors to the staircase exit and make a mental note if its to the right or left of my room. In event of a fire with lots of smoke its no time to figure our how to get the hell out of there. In the end, concentrating on this .00001% chance while driving by drunks and nit wits is illogical.
CrackSumSkulls on June 11, 2017 at 7:01 pm
A hotel floor map is on your hotel room door by the peephole. And shows what room you are in with a red X and where the exits are. I believe that is Federal fire code law. Situational awareness folks, you would already know this.
Son of patriot on June 11, 2017 at 5:19 pm
“Times are tough, you can’t refute it, Buy a rifle and learn to shoot it.”
Concerned-Citizen! on June 12, 2017 at 7:23 am
Why do you think BONDED ammo is made folks!!!! I have made sure I have a nice collection of Bonded ammo as well…Bonded ammo will go thru windshields, doors, sheet metal, etc, etc…get you some and do it now guys.
CrackSumSkulls on June 11, 2017 at 6:53 pm
The TSA forgot to read your memo on how to profile a terrorist. They still like to mollest little old white ladies with fake breasts due to cancer. Make kids take off their shoes and look in your cell phone for that hidden terrorist. The TSA are the terrorists.
I say it most every article: Carry Daily and Crack Sum Skulls.
Anonymous on June 11, 2017 at 7:18 pm
What about the kids wearing diapers or the old folks wearing depends? Strip search.
The Deplorable Braveheart on June 11, 2017 at 9:00 pm
CSS, when TSHTF, TSA had better ditch those uniforms because karma will be after them just like anyone else in a uniform.
Concerned-Citizen! on June 12, 2017 at 7:27 am
TSA is the most worthless bunch of clown monkeys you will ever find in society. I have no use for them and show them no respect at all. I throw my stuff in the bucket at the damn airport and go through the scanner and usually do not say a damn word to any of those horses-asses. They are rent a clowns and have a 4th grade education.
buttcrackofdoom on June 11, 2017 at 11:05 am
perhaps one could deal with that ticker with “two aspirin and A 1911”?…there, i fixed it for yuh.
B from CA on June 11, 2017 at 10:20 am
African savages with AIDs are a rape away.
Middle Eastern extremist Arabs and 3ews are our enemies.
We don’t need cheap labor from South of the border, India, or Asia.
We need to End The Fed. Take away the money, this will stop.
Wake up. It’s the 3ews.
CrackSumSkulls on June 11, 2017 at 7:11 pm
B of CA nailed it. The common denominator of most all of the US’s Problems whether it be race baiting, financial, morals, judicial, hate baiting, Black lives Matter, media lying, destroying our history and cultures and phony wars. Its the GEWS everytime Fukin time creating this chaos. Wake up Sheep Dogs, Time to Crack Sum Skulls.
Concerned-Citizen! on June 12, 2017 at 7:29 am
This country, Western Europe, etc…just don’t seem to get it – keep these savage sand-apes from 3rd world garbage holes the hell out of civilized society, end of story!
PersonSmarterThanYou on June 12, 2017 at 1:58 pm
But they have to bring foreigners in to justify martial law though?
Frank Thoughts on June 11, 2017 at 10:21 am
Then why is it that the most violent places on earth are those where weapons are freely available to the populace? Why should a civilian population have access to assault rifles and hand guns? You say “because of the nuts!!” without realising the nuts also have access to these weapons. A weaponised society is a dangerous society. Bar brawls turn into the OK Corral, a tragedy at a workplace turns into a massacre, as everyone starts firing this way and that.
Only disciplined societies can handle it (Israel, Switzerland). The US is not a disciplined society.
Kynase on June 11, 2017 at 10:32 am
That is a moral and ethical issue, not a gun issue. Taking guns away does not fix that problem. If people want to be angry and cause harm, they can do that without a gun. Maybe the anti gun people should focus on changing core values, morals, ethics…their answer to the violence crisis lies there.
The Deplorable Braveheart on June 11, 2017 at 11:02 am
Kynase, the antigun crowd won’t give up on their primary goal. The only way to defeat them will be to neutralize them. They’re only part of the overall conspiracy against us but all the same must still be defeated. They don’t care about core values, ethics, or morals. NO antigun puke will ever disarm me.
Son of patriot on June 11, 2017 at 5:32 pm
According to all of the writings of the New-age/Progressive-Marxist crowd, straight from their leaders, they seem to know their most fervent enemies are old white guys like us. Their solution is to flood the education system with their prop-operatives (see Marilyn Ferguson’s Aquarian Conspiracy) and take the minds of the young, which they have. They have a thirty year headstart. They then simply wait for us old farts to die off, or at least become geriatrically ineffective.
If something isn’t done, the US will be a marxist paradise in 20 years. If they want it sooner, they’ll need to risk Civil War, which it appears they are now willing to do. Remember their leaders, hippies from the 60’s, are aging too and want to see the Utopia before they croak. This makes for the argument the Left have now crossed the Rubicon and are headed toward Civil War. Even Limbaugh seems to believe this, and he’s far from a radical like me.
Concerned-Citizen! on June 12, 2017 at 7:51 am
The U.S. really is in very bad shape in so many different ways and really under attack and and being INVADED by all of these crazed sand ape Muslims. Look at what is taking place in Europe over the past few years due to them. All they want is to get a check, EBT, free housing, free medical, etc, etc and not work or ever learn English, come on, they serve no purpose at all folks. . .Please wake up to it all.
PersonSmarterThanYou on June 11, 2017 at 6:29 pm
Frank drank the coolaid.
Concerned-Citizen! on June 12, 2017 at 7:32 am
He is 1 of the millions of god damned FOOLS with that thinking of his, good God people.
scott on June 11, 2017 at 9:13 pm
Until they ban machine shop equipment it is impossible
to eliminate guns.
I’m no expert but I could easily make a crude single shot shotgun.
Anonymous on June 11, 2017 at 10:58 am
You’re talking about imaginary issues.
And the most violent places on Earth are those dominated by Muslims and were also the most violent places on Earth before guns were even developed and swords and axes and such were used.
Concerned-Citizen! on June 12, 2017 at 7:38 am
The truth is Muslims in the Mid East especially are wild, crazed savage sand-aples. They have been subhuman nuts since time began. And now they want to send those filthy, lazy trash buckets to the US, etc, etc
Rebel Son on June 12, 2017 at 10:31 am
Rebel Son on June 12, 2017 at 10:36 am
Years and years,,, decades of inbreeding will do this to a society
buttcrackofdoom on June 11, 2017 at 11:10 am
@frank…you mean like chicago, detroit, and DC?….THOSE places where guns are readily available to criminals….but not the general, LAW-ABIDING public?
Smokey on June 11, 2017 at 11:15 am
So just when was the last documented instance of ‘everyone starts firing this way and that’ in some workplace?
Bit of exaggeration there, you think?
Cal on June 11, 2017 at 11:29 am
“Then why is it that the most violent places on earth are those where weapons are freely available to the populace?”
rednek101 on June 11, 2017 at 12:15 pm
Guns are illegal in Mexico and yet they had 2000+ murders last month. Citizens with guns is a good practice. Criminals with guns is a whole different item.
An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life. Robert A. Heinlein
Justice on June 11, 2017 at 12:25 pm
My life got a whole lot better the day I discovered Robert A. Heinlein’s books as a child. Now that I’ve reverted back to childhood, I should re-read them.
Khemp on June 11, 2017 at 12:37 pm
You can never read too much Heinlein.
rednek101 on June 11, 2017 at 12:58 pm
“Now that I’ve reverted back to childhood, I should re-read them.”
Are you dishing on the post?
Heinlein was a science fiction writer. Also served in the Navy, ran for public office, “Heinlein became an anti-Communist Democratic activist”. Doesn’t seem to bad. Problem?
Justice on June 11, 2017 at 1:41 pm
Absolutely not, rednek101. He was my favorite authors growing up. It has just been about 40 years since I’ve read his books.
I have spent a life time studying Finance, Law then virtually every aspect of computers. I just meant that now that I’m in my twilight years I should revisit a cherished memory and re-read his wonderful books.
rednek101 on June 11, 2017 at 1:48 pm
Gotcha. Twilight years. I’m semi-retired at this point myself and am beginning to enjoy the “second childhood” aspect in my life as well.
Justice on June 11, 2017 at 2:06 pm
rednek101, don’t tell anyone but I have framed covers of MAD magazine, can only watch the old movies and TV shows. And of course Classic Rock will never die (because there’s more to the story, than meets the eye).
nuckinfuts on June 11, 2017 at 6:03 pm
haha funny! Mad magazine more truth than fiction!
Rebel Son on June 12, 2017 at 10:37 am
Frank needs to step away from the crack pipe
PersonSmarterThanYou on June 11, 2017 at 1:39 pm
Frank hahaha, go live in Venezuela, they handed over their private guns in 2012. Tata don’t forget to send me a postcard.
PersonSmarterThanYou on June 11, 2017 at 2:56 pm
Your premise of most violent places are where guns are freely available is a lie. That is why you are confused.
Kevin2 on June 11, 2017 at 3:05 pm
The intent of the Second Amendment has virtually nothing to do with this discussion. One may have to go back in recent history to the Bielski brothers in Poland (Now Belarus) to understand. Civilians have surrendered their arms to government since there was government. Every one of those governments did not persecute their subjects (only an armed man is a citizen). When these governments went rogue, they killed more innocent civilians, under some prostituted justification, in one genocidal campaign, then all of the criminals have since Cain and Abel. The problems it brings pale in comparison to its perceived balance of force and its insurance effect.
Kevin2 on June 11, 2017 at 3:09 pm
Senator Humphrey put it very well when he said:
Senator Hubert H. Humphrey on the Second Amendment
“Certainly one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any government, no matter how popular and respected, is the right of citizens to keep and bear arms. This is not to say that firearms should not be very carefully used, and that definite safety rules of precaution should not be taught and enforced. But the right of citizens to bear arms is just one more guarantee against arbitrary government, one more safeguard against tyranny which now appears remote in America, but which historically has proved to be always possible”
The Deplorable Braveheart on June 11, 2017 at 3:23 pm
Kevin2, I always found that particular quote from Herbert Humphries very curious. Humphreys was still one of the biggest libturds we ever had.
The Deplorable Braveheart on June 11, 2017 at 9:08 pm
Kevin2, I love what you do, but how could the 2A NOT have anything to do with this discussion? It has PLENTY to do with it from where I stand. Everything else you say is true, however.
Kevin2 on June 12, 2017 at 7:15 am
Everything I read in the Federalist Papers regarding civilians being armed is to prevent tyranny in government. When the debate goes to criminal attack the purpose of military type weaponry is more difficult to defend. At that point the anti gunners have the camels nose under the tent, the door cracked open. “You don’t need an AR-15 to defend yourself from criminals”, becomes the core of their argument. I don’t give them that forum.
A Democrat in 1960 is a conservative today as the bar has shifted left in society. The Democrat platform today is so far left it isn’t on the scale of a 1960 ruler. Relatively conservative Republicans today would have fit into the Democrat Party in 1960.
Two of the same gender getting married? People using bathrooms and showers based on the gender they identify with as opposed to the gender that they biologically are? Society has changed as these points are even acceptable for serious debate left alone acceptance.
B from CA on June 11, 2017 at 4:54 pm
Frank Thoughts:
I whole heartedly disagree.
Plan twice, prep once on June 11, 2017 at 6:08 pm
Have you ever looked at your own FBI’s crime statistics.
The US is about the fiftieth most violent country in the world, if you remove only the four largest cities (NY, CHI, Detroit and LA, America moves into the top ten safest countries in the world. Those cities have been Democrat controlled strongholds for 30 years and have the strongest gun control. This is a fact you can easily confirm.
70% of the murders in the US are committed by just 7% of the population, African American males. A fact you can easily verify. 90% of African Americans are murdered by African Americans, a fact you can easily confirm. They predominately live in Democrat controlled slums, 90% of them vote democrat and are therefore self governed for all intents and purposes. Asking conservative Americans to fix the problems in democrat controlled slums by giving up the US constitution, is a formula that just equals stupid.
CrackSumSkulls on June 11, 2017 at 7:18 pm
Israel is a disciplined terrorist organization Frank. Wake the Fuk up.
PersonSmarterThanYou on June 11, 2017 at 10:11 pm
Israel is our only ally in the region worth anything. Wake up coward.
timmy on June 11, 2017 at 8:47 pm
What’s an assault rifle?
Concerned-Citizen! on June 12, 2017 at 7:52 am
Rebel Son on June 12, 2017 at 10:38 am
same as a stick or car , if used against its normal means of use
that spoon O’Donnel owns is an assault spoon .. be careful she probably owns an assault fork and knife set too
just look at how her face assaults the camera
PersonSmarterThanYou on June 12, 2017 at 12:32 pm
Assault rifle, a barrel longer than 16″?
Waiting on June 12, 2017 at 1:15 pm
In Oklahoma city on Sept. 26, 2014 a Muslim ex-employee came back to the work place and successfully beheaded one woman and started to behead another woman when the boss grabbed his gun and shot the MFer. I say the USA is a pretty disciplined country or we would have already shot the politician traitors in DC by now. Waiting
Chris Rasmus on June 11, 2017 at 10:32 am
B from CA on June 11, 2017 at 5:27 pm
Read Eustace Mullins or watch his videos on You Tube. For more info:
When you have to fear speaking openly about a people, those people have power over you.
When they represent 2% or 3% of the population, that number should be reflected in positions in politics, academia, publishing, media, banking, etc.; but it is not the case. 40% of the top positions at Harvard are now held by this 2%. They hold 96% of the media. They are most of the Judges, lawyers, politicians, newspaper and book editors, virtually all the key positions in the Federal Reserve Banking System, key positions in the most sensitive and important areas of our lives. They are the masters and we are they’re slaves.
They caused the world wars in order to get their people out of Europe and into the Middle East from which they can control Europe and Asia. They have turned America into their own personal Army to wage war against their enemies. No Country goes unmolested who does not have one of their banks. They intend to kill or expel the remaining Palestinians and spread out into what they plan to be their land.
That is who they are, and they want to take your guns and then murder you like they murdered the Russians, by the tens of millions.
And like they slaughtered and now dominate Europe.
Hold onto your guns as if your life depends on it, or die.
Concerned-Citizen! on June 12, 2017 at 7:56 am
Very true. The U.S. is so pro chew its unreal. I do not like them and never have. Every single one I have ever known was a very nasty, smart mouthed a-hole.
CrackSumSkulls on June 11, 2017 at 7:27 pm
Gews but with a J. The biggest heap of crap the planet ever produced. Go look up the word parasite as it feeds off its host.
The Deplorable Braveheart on June 11, 2017 at 10:52 am
the National Sheriffs Association, International Association Of Chiefs Of Police, and Fraternal Order Of Police have all taken positions in the past supporting the banning of civilian ownership of guns and most likely still do. That proves my point that even law enforcement itself has been divided on the issue for decades. The federal and state supreme courts have said for decades that law enforcement has no obligation to protect ANY citizens. It’s not their job nor their intention. That Florida sheriff is to be commended for hitting the nail right on the head. I’ve already known for decades that when I get into a life-threatening situation, I AM MY FIRST AND ONLY LINE OF DEFENSE. I AM ON MY OWN. I HAVE TO BECOME MY OWN FIRST RESPONDER. I MUST HANDLE IT MYSELF. I HAVE TO BE ARMED AND STOP THE POS MYSELF. I HAVE TO MAKE HIM/HER DEFEND THEIR OWN LIFE. I WILL NOT RUN OR HIDE OR COWER OR EVEN HOPE FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO SAVE ME. So everyone needs to heed the advice of that Florida sheriff. Your lives literally depend on it.
Concerned-Citizen! on June 12, 2017 at 8:00 am
Very true. If you sit around and think and hope that 911 is going to be able to save you, well, good luck with that one people…you will be cold and DEAD by the time they show up to do the paperwork and you are officially a sad Statistic.
Kevin2 on June 12, 2017 at 2:44 pm
911 for criminal attack is pretty much useless, its fantastic for chest pains however.
Anonymous on June 11, 2017 at 10:54 am
If more people had bothered to take part n Saturday’s anti Sharia marches I would have a lot more faith than I do that buying all those guns meant people were preparing to resist anything.
People who won’t even show up for an hour or two at a public demonstration to show their opposition to Sharia and terrorism are unlikely to take up arms and fight to their almost certain death to defend their beliefs.
Plan twice, prep once on June 11, 2017 at 5:49 pm
Anonymous,
Trump is an anomaly. The next president will be another globalist like Obama, or Hillary, I guarantee it.
We will be handled by the deep state. Anyone that goes to an ant-sharia demonstration will end up on a list, and the deep state will see you as a terrorist to their agenda.
Warchild Dammit! on June 11, 2017 at 7:25 pm
Plan,that will be a hell of a big list,and,if those on list get fucked with by govt. all that know folks on that list will be incensed,could get “interesting”.
I am a bit encouraged that firearm sales are still going up,folks realize they may have just a small reprieve from more govt. insanity and using that time wisely,lets all keep it up.
The Deplorable Braveheart on June 11, 2017 at 9:13 pm
Kevin2 on June 12, 2017 at 3:21 pm
“Trump is an anomaly.”
Trump slipped through because of the arrogance of TPTB along with in any other times Trumps unacceptability. He literally won in spite of himself because the body politic was that pissed off. TPTB owned “both horses in a two horse race”. Reagan did their bidding crushing the USSR while out of their direct control.
The Deep State / TPTB or whatever title they fall under are focusing on the leader when the stirring masses have fueled up with the Trump victory. They’re not going away.
Bohica on June 11, 2017 at 10:56 am
boyo on June 11, 2017 at 11:21 am
boyo on June 11, 2017 at 11:29 am
I was at Home Depot picking up parts (no one else had them – right now) and at the checkout a foreign guy walks up to the lady that is looking over the self checkouts. His accent was closer to Christopher Lambert’s, sounding like a ton of accents and he’s olive complexion. He’s walking up holding a propane tank saying he found it outside, while the woman is saying take it outside ( a little forcibly and a little shocked – I think she initially thought the worst). I initially thought the worst but realized he’d have to be a great actor to seem as clueless and wanting to be as honestly helpful as he appeared. Flying tackle averted.
Kevin2 on June 11, 2017 at 4:49 pm
Thats worthy of a comedy skit or a get punked or candid camera episode.
Chief Pontiac on June 11, 2017 at 11:24 am
Agent76 on June 11, 2017 at 11:26 am
Aug 7, 2013 Did You Know #1 – The Myth of Police Protection
Did you know that the police have NO DUTY to protect you? In this episode of DYK, we examine the myth of police protection by first looking at the popular view of police, then contrasting it with the cases of Jessica Gonzales and Joe Lozita.
June 16, 2016 Supreme Court Ruling: Police Have No Duty to Protect the General Public
However, did you know that the government, and specifically law enforcement, does not have any duty to protect the general public? Based on the headline and this information, you might assume this is a new, landmark decision. However, it has long been the court’s stance that, essentially, the American people are responsible for taking case of their own personal safety.
The Deplorable Braveheart on June 11, 2017 at 3:25 pm
Agent 76, damn good point, but read my post above about the same subject.
Plan twice, prep once on June 11, 2017 at 6:39 pm
During the big storm, phone, cell service, texting and Internet were down for 10 days. Even if there was a LEO who wanted to help, the only way you could contact them was to drive through the streets that were closed by downed wires and trees. Most neighbors who stayed, still never talk about the obvious fear factor of those ten days.
Before this little lesson in humility, I was armed, and those tools did come out and were kept very handy. However, since that little learning experience, I have obtained additional tools to improve readiness and stepped up practice.
Nothing like a dry run exercise to show you shortcomings on your plans.
Think of contingencies and alternatives. Test all equipment, don’t buy anything and just leave it in the box, aside from consumables like long term food and ammo.
Asshat on June 11, 2017 at 12:28 pm
Cops are sworn to protect and serve. The Supreme Court says they have no duty to protect general public. Police protection is a psychological safety measure. Can’t tell you how many times people say they feel safer the police are at the event. You wouldn’t bring a knife to a gun fight. What is a cop with gun gonna do against a suicide bomb attack. A 150 grain bullet against a 20ton truck won’t stop its forward momentum. Police are used to protect corporate profits. If they gotta give false safety by putting more cops at the event and people are stupid enough to believe they are safe then the police make $ the event makes $ and you pay more for the tickets and food to cover that. Can you hear me now. Police protect corporations. Follow the $ it tells the truth everytime. If I push you down the stairs then I go help you up and tell you you slipped you gonna believe me. Don’t go out to where crowds are even if there is cops everywhere. Best way to win a fight is not to be there. Don’t put yourself in a situation where your herded like sheep and can’t do anything about it if something happens.
PersonSmarterThanYou on June 12, 2017 at 2:03 pm
Haha cops sworn to protect and serve but supreme courts says they don’t have to protect or serve. Yuk yuk yuk, they are sworn tax collectors and body bag stuffers.
Justice on June 11, 2017 at 12:36 pm
In an effort to be self-sufficient economically I was thinking about opening up an internet business. I would sell #10 cans of dehydrated Water?!?!
Plan twice, prep once on June 11, 2017 at 6:44 pm
What a plan, just add distilled water……… Do you guarantee those cans will restore all the proper levels of lead, arsenic, fluoride and chlorine I get in my city water? If so sign me up!
CrackSumSkulls on June 11, 2017 at 7:44 pm
Today I counted at least 6 Gators in one quarter of my Lake portion of my peninsula moat that murky water surrounds around 3 sides of my property. Thats my back up protection at my BOL, sponsored for free compliments of Mother Nature. Choose your BOL property wisely folks. Think of natural defensable barriers when buying land. I live in the area where the Seminole Indians habitated. And also the only Indian Tribe in N America that were never captured nor surrendered to the US Federal Army. Live FREE or DIE!!
CrackSumSkulls on June 11, 2017 at 7:50 pm
Gee I used the word T R I B E and got thrown into the Moderation penalty box. Gee I wonder why. WTF? And I was referencing the Seminoles TR. Not that other Parasite TR.
Rebel Son on June 12, 2017 at 12:00 pm
hell i get in trouble with more then half the words I use
like the true word for female dog
so many cry babies so little time
heck one time i think i got in trouble for linking the Guns N Roses song “Welcome to the Jungle” in reference to Chicago
ronna on June 13, 2017 at 4:03 pm
Ah! A place to get rid of the muslime bodies!
Cal on June 11, 2017 at 12:36 pm
I’m sorry, this is probably my American showing – but why did you allow this to go on? Why did you not shoot the b’st’rds a time or two and go after any family of them that stole your children?
Why did you allow “law enforcement” to NOT enforce the law, but instead beat up those that were attacked, and then – insult to injury – assist the attackers and their women out of there?
Where is your manhood, your pride, your standing for your nation, your laws to be enforced as they are supposed to be? ALL governments only exist as they are as long as the people will take the abuse. ALL, not just our constitutional republic.
We have been letting those scum who serve within our government slide; but the election of Trump was their warning shot over the bow. IF they do not keep the US Constitution, our LEGITIMATE government we will.
We are from the same stock… so how is it that you allow the rape of your children? The branding of them?
Rockmanr on June 11, 2017 at 12:39 pm
Several times having a firearm that I legally carry has prevented harm to myself and my family. Just a casual moving of my coat showing my firearm in my belt stopped things at the start. Potential attackers include 5 Mexicans, three car loads of teens and a drugged out gay hippie who wanted to fight. All of them deflated fast and left faster. Thanks to immigration every time I go to town now I see fist fights on the sidewalks driving by. Transients have taken over the park band stands and demand money in every parking lot. I see groups of young moslem men acting guilty who are passing through town. its a dangerous world folks
Rockmanr on June 11, 2017 at 12:50 pm
As a further point just standing on a street corner of Van Ness in SF a car load of up town brothers drove up pointed a gun at me but were scared off by another man who was armed and saved my bacon. That was when I was a teen and not armed myself
TEST on June 11, 2017 at 3:29 pm
And *how* did we get this way?
You destroy the family and you destroy *everything.*
Thanks so much, feminazis and gay brownshirts. YOU are the ones responsible for this.
TEST on June 11, 2017 at 3:33 pm
“Americans [have] the right and advantage of being armed, unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust their people with arms”
– James Madison, considered the father of the US Constitution
“[T]he people are not to be disarmed of their weapons. They are left in full possession of them.”
– Zacharia Johnson, speech in the Virginia Ratifying Convention, 1788
“During World War II, six million Swiss had guns and six million Jews did not.”
– Author unknown
“…sort of like the people who repeat foolish slogans like “guns kill” – as though guns sprout little feet when no one is looking and run around shooting people all by themselves.”
– Doug Casey, financial columnist
“If you don’t have to give up your car because others drive drunk with theirs, then why do you have to give up your gun because others commit crimes with theirs?”
“When a crime is committed, does the gun go to jail?”
“Let’s stop playing games. The problem is people, not guns. Our society suffers from a deficiency of personal responsibility – not from an excess of personal freedom.”
– Star Parker, African American writer and commentator
“The horrifying truth is this: we live now in a culture that not only does not respect life, but discards it like trash — not only at the beginning of life, but also at the end, and every place in between. What has happened to us?”
– Catholic Deacon Greg Kandra
“The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule.'”
“No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government”
“Blaming Newtown on guns is like blaming Chappaquiddick on the Oldsmobile.”
“Eliminate guns and they go to bombs, eliminate bombs and they move to poison or something else. Bad people are just bad people.”
TEST on June 11, 2017 at 3:36 pm
Is it guns, or people, that kill? As the old saying goes, Teddy Kennedy’s cars have killed more people than all the guns of 99.999% of all gun owners in America. And this true around the world. My brother lived in ultra-safe Switzerland for years. Why is Switzerland so safe? Is it because guns are outlawed?
Hardly.
Wikipedia notes, at least as of a few years ago when my brother was there: “If you were a Swiss man, you would be a soldier as well. Every able-bodied Swiss man must go to the army in Switzerland for 90 days (Rekrutenschule-Ecole de recrue) and then every 2 years until the age of 42, he must return for practice for 19 days. This allows the government to raise an army of 400,000 men, fully armed, within 24 hours, as every soldier has an assault gun in his house, complete with ammunition.” http://switzerland.isyours.com/e/swiss-business-guide/swiss-army.html “; moreover, “Each individual is required to keep his army issued personal weapon (the 5.56x45mm SIG 550 rifle for enlisted personnel or the SIG 510 rifle and/or the 9mm SIG-Sauer P220 semi-automatic pistol for officers, medical and postal personnel) at home with a specified personal retention quantity of government issued personal ammunition (50 rounds 5.56/48 rounds 9mm…http://en/wikipedia.org/wiki/gun_politics_in_switzerland.”
Switzerland which has had three times the gun ownership as, for example Germany, has also had a much lower murder rate. And statistics like this ring true throughout the world. A short 3 minute video is here, for those that wish to see a short report on the Swiss and their guns http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WFUu7cfa7k&feature=player_embedded#t=22s
Indeed, Thomas Sowell notes countries with stronger gun control laws than the US, such as Russia, Brazil and Mexico (Mexico basically bans firearms completely, yet has a higher gun homicide rate than the US), have much higher murder rates, while there are many countries with high rates of gun ownership but low murder rates, such as Israel, New Zealand and Finland. In fact, in Mexico, the murder rate is 22.7 murders per 100,000, whereas the global average is ~7 homicides per 100,000, and the gun happy US is 4.8 murders per 100,000. http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2013/01/how-to-end-gun-debate-forever.html. That is correct – the US, which has the widest gun ownership in the world, is below the worldwide average in homicides. Of course, in the US, approximately 90 million legal owners of guns, owing 300 million firearms; murdered zero people last year. Contrast that with the approximately 170 million Prof. R.J. Rummel of Univ. of Hawaii, in his book Death by Government, says were killed in the last century, the majority of them after their governments disarmed them (Stéphane Courtois, author of the highly regarded Black Book of Communism estimates 94 million were murdered by Communists alone). An hour long, very sobering summary video documenting what happens when the population has their weapons removed can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDivHkQ2GSg&feature=player_embedded#t=8s
Old Codger on June 11, 2017 at 3:49 pm
Disarmed, and not a word in our Constitution even though ours is based on yours.
Patriot One on June 11, 2017 at 5:20 pm
Our very first President said this a long time ago. This isn’t a new idea. I’m glad I live I the almost Free State of Florida. We must continue to fight to regain our Constitutional Carry Rights, we shouldn’t need permission from government to defend ourselves.
“A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined; to which end a uniform and well-digested plan is requisite; and their safety and interest require that they should promote such manufactories as tend to render them independent of others for essential, particularly military, supplies.” George Washington 1790.
Plan twice, prep once on June 11, 2017 at 5:39 pm
On a brighter note my “Lyman 50th Edition Reloading Guide” arrived a couple days ago.
They really dressed it up being their 50th. I splurged for hardcover, and for the extra also got free shipping, so it was a bargain.
I also picked up an 8 cavity Lyman ammo checker. It’s a go, no-go gauge that sells around $20 and handles 380 auto, 9mm Luger, .38 super, 40 S&W, .45 ACP, .38/.357, .44 Mag/Spl and .45 Colt.
boopsiegirl on June 11, 2017 at 7:41 pm
why are people afraid of gun control ? there are hundreds of millions of guns in private hands and people are buying more, its impossible for the government to collect them and has been impossible for years
PersonSmarterThanYou on June 11, 2017 at 10:10 pm
Gun control is being able to quickly put two in the chest and one in the head. You must be referring to “people”control? If you were smart you would worry too.
Smokey on June 12, 2017 at 11:54 am
Yup. Probably 500 million guns in the US, the only way to get them is to kick open the front door of every house in the country, do an armed search, then come back in a year and do it again.
Not going to happen.
Jimbob 327 on June 11, 2017 at 7:48 pm
Gun ownership seemingly has been attacked from Every conceivable direction. Read not not long ago a woman said that kids should not have/use play guns. (As a kid, we had cap guns, toy guns and such like)
There Must be truth to the fact that thugs like easy prey (unarmed victims). Otherwise our thug politians would not attack guns so often. And they often do.
PersonSmarterThanYou on June 11, 2017 at 7:53 pm
They just can’t stand us slaves having guns hahahahaha £uck those cowards.
Plan twice, prep once on June 11, 2017 at 8:20 pm
There was a round of open immigration that allowed the Italian Mafia to get a big foothold in America in the WW1 era. The unbridled violence they brought to America was frightening and led to the total control of automatic weapons. I think this was planned, it was the same scenario that Obama hoped for with operation fast and furious.
Later the deep state assassinated President Kennedy, and by 1968 we had another huge layer of gun control laws foisted on the American people. Again, no coincidence.
TV, movies and public schools were then used for decades to humiliate Americans into giving up guns and gun rights. The deep state and the communists who now called themselves Progressives were winning.
Somewhere along the way dedicated Americans began fighting back. Gun laws got tossed by courts, and new laws allowing concealed carry turned out to be raving successes. These corrections proved liberal lies were just that lies.
The genie is out of the bottle, the pendulum is swinging back and the deep state is really pissed off. Watch your backs.
B from CA on June 11, 2017 at 10:55 pm
During the immigration period that welcomed Italians, it also brought in 3ew Organized Crime, which was and is much more violent. Organized crime by 3ews is recorded as far back as written history. If you see RUSSIAN organized crime, replace the word RUSSIAN with 3ew. Italians are always associated with crime. 3ews have hidden behind this Italian stereotype. For Italian crooks, they had limits to what they would accept. Italians mostly were business men in the ponies, gambling, speak easy booze, etc. Italians don’t like violence. They left the cops alone. They left women and children alone. They rarely killed anyone. In fact, Italians hired 3ews to do the beat downs and murders. 3ews on the other hand have no aversion to torture and murder. Whether well educated or not, 3ews are mercilous. The biggest killers during that period were a group in New York. They were called “Murder Incorporated”. Every single one of them was a 3ew. So, wise up. The real criminals are 3ews; then and now.
Kevin2 on June 12, 2017 at 8:56 am
I’m Italian, I beg to differ. They use it domestically and their criminals excel at it. The Rothsteins and Lanky’s were the brains, the Italians, the brawn. Murder Inc? One of many.
Plan twice, prep once on June 12, 2017 at 2:38 pm
B from CA,
The significant event that led to automatic weapons control in the 40’s was the St. Valentines Day Massacre in Chicago.
It resulted from the struggle – between the Irish American gang and the South Side Italian gang led by Al Capone – to take control of organized crime in Chicago. Former members of the Egan’s Rats gang (Irish) were suspected of a significant role in the incident, assisting Capone.
No 3ews involved, but thanks for playing.
Kevin2 on June 12, 2017 at 2:59 pm
Capone was never in the mafia and was an equal opportunity employer. Jake Guzik was his non violent business advisor. Henchmen in the Detroit Purple Gang were often used by him too. Chicago was unusual with its underworld violence that even Lucky Luciano called it a ,”God damn crazy place, no one is safe in the streets”. Bonnie & Clide, Ma Barker & Sons, Dillinger, Nelson, Floyd, Kelly among others got the major headlines. The reality is the US in the midst of the Great Depression feared a communist revolution. Roosevelt gave unions protection with the Wagner Act of 1935 to pacify labor drawling them away from the communists. NFA 34 like everything else had ostensible roots.
Plan twice, prep once on June 12, 2017 at 6:05 pm
Grandma’s bank was robbed by Dillinger, twice.
If you ever get to the Fairfax county area of Northern Virginia, check out the NRA Firearms museum, it’s awesome, I saw the gun there Dillinger used to rob grandma’s bank.
They also have the huge Smithsonnian Air and Space museum nearby, so you can get a two-for out of the area.
B from CA on June 13, 2017 at 12:21 am
Ever heard of a crypto 3ew. Take a real good look at the face of Al Capone. Those big lips and other features sure don’t look like the Roman/Greek features of an Italian.
Kevin2 on June 12, 2017 at 9:26 am
Interestingly the frightening use of full automatic weapons against law enforcement were almost universally suppled by theft of police inventory and national guard armories. NFA 34 had zero effect on that acquisition. The use by organized crime, well known in Chicago’s beer wars were directed against other hoodlums.
“The genie is out of the bottle, the pendulum is swinging back and the deep state is really pissed off. ”
Win some (2nd Amendment) lose some (4th Amendment). TPTB, like a thief, look for open doors to exploit. They create an environment where society opens the door, 911 is a glaring example.
h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOXtWxhlsUg
Rebel Son on June 12, 2017 at 12:36 pm
I love it too
my state just went Constitutional Carry
and its fun as hell watching the Libs freak out
“oh no everyone will be able to carry a gun” yeah dipshit we’ve had that right from the get go you were just to dumb to know it
“oh no it will be like high noon” .. yup sure pal , the Quick and the Dead .. and Ive had more then half my life to practice .. welcome to the party pal
wonder why so many hate me… or is it the reality i bring to the table ?
The Deplorable Braveheart on June 11, 2017 at 9:18 pm
PTPO, the conflict with the deep state is getting closer. BTW, I liked your response to Frank Thoughts earlier. Right on the nose.
Traitor Hator on June 11, 2017 at 10:12 pm
Only your enemy wants you disarmed.
good knight on June 11, 2017 at 10:57 pm
God bless this sheriff for having the courage to speak the truth .
Brian on June 12, 2017 at 11:43 am
How far does someone have to go to justify calling that person an invader and not an immigrant? If he wants to totally replace the constitution and the legal system and wants to put his own in place, is he/she an immigrant? If he supports returning the southwestern United States to Mexico, is he an immigrant? When does a person cross the line and become an invader? The native Americans faced the same problem and look what happened to them.
PersonSmarterThanYou on June 12, 2017 at 12:36 pm
Invaders don’t have govt permission to rape and jihad your family. These people had oboinga’ permission.
Ally on June 12, 2017 at 12:31 pm
The darker they are, the more I watch my back. And that has kept me alive for 60 years.!!!!
Rich on June 12, 2017 at 2:01 pm
these sheriffs are just as much of a problem when they REFUSE to call these monsters what they are!
Pamela Geller: There are No Lone Wolves in Jihad.. Millions of Muslims all around the world are following the same playbook — the Quran — and the same ideology — Islam… but the Media wont ever tell you that, it wouldnt fit in with their pro-jihad
Plan twice, prep once on June 12, 2017 at 2:48 pm
ISIS fields an army with heavy weapons that 80% of the worlds nation can’t match. They have armor and heavy weapons of all sorts. They are operating in nearly a dozen nations. Virtually none of their armerments are available to the public anywhere globally.
These weapons are only available to nation states or their operatives.
While all the world is wringing their hands over car, knife, and small arms attacks another faction within Islam is redistributing heavy weapons the worlds governments shipped to the MIddle East. These weapons are being staged all over the world as we speak.
The real party hasn’t even started yet.
PersonSmarterThanYou on June 12, 2017 at 2:07 pm
Sheriffs all know that asset forfeiture laws=corruption. End of story.
Ray Alex on June 12, 2017 at 3:37 pm
Sheriff speaks the truth. This is what its come down to know! We have to save ourselves…GOOD SPEECH!
Anonymous on June 12, 2017 at 3:56 pm
Anonymous on June 12, 2017 at 3:58 pm
That’s right, Eisenshit– “divide and conquer”… just what the elites want! distract us from the REAL issues– (the war the 1% is waging against all of us citizens)– just keep up the stragedy the elites want– concentrate everyone’s attention on the DIFFERENCES OF US CITIZENS, so the elite can steal everything from us, kill us off and basically accomplish their goals.
Brian on June 12, 2017 at 4:07 pm
Plan twice, prep once is right. ISIS is way too equipped to not be getting help from some very wealthy and influential people. Very soon, a passenger jet will be shot down trying to take off in an airport in a western country. I figure that’s next. No matter how much they search people and their luggage, they can’t stop that. I’m surprised that it hasn’t happened already.
Bigbluedrew on June 13, 2017 at 1:27 am
It doesn’t matter what we think, the people in power will do as they please. Watching them slowly destroy a duely elected PRESIDENT in office less than six months should de proof enough for anyone what is about to happen. The wave of immigrants will continue, regardless of how we feel about it, these folks have been positioning their pieces on the board for 50 years and now they are ready to strike. Nothing short of armed insurrection can stop them and frankly, modern Americans don’t have the stones for it. I have bugged out and am becoming debt free. By Winter I will have my self together and I honestly don’t care what the rest of this diseased country does. If they eventually come for me then as I always say everydody dies of something. Why keep bitching about it folks, the game is OVER, ROME ain’t burning it’s burnt. Prepare yourself and fing cover, the rest is all bullshit.
B from CA on June 13, 2017 at 3:53 am
ISIS is funded by Saudi Arabia/ Isreal/ Zionist Occupied Government in the USA. The Sunni are the supporters of ISIS.
Iran and Syria are fighting ISIS.
Our “friends” in the Middle East, Isreal cares nothing about the people of America.
Even 3ew reporter, Geraldo Rivera, is saying so, (sort of).
__ Dr. David Duke’s show of June 12, 2017 is a discussion of ISIS.
__ Duke has been there and he and Dr. Slatary understand it, well.
__Joe Biden explains, too.
The show is on archives Rense Radio.
Alaskamike on June 14, 2017 at 7:20 pm
Way ahead of ya sir. I’m a walking armory anytime I set foot out of my house. If the first shot doesn’t hit me in the head there will be a dead terrorist in less than 3 seconds.
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The cycling part of this tour is mostly along the flats of the Po Plains and is relatively easy, with very little elevation gain. Daily rides vary from 25 to 55 km – mostly on paved cycle paths along rivers and canals, or along quiet country roads. The boat is moored at night and typically sets sail after breakfast, meeting up with the bikes in the afternoon. Some parts of the itinerary are undertaken by boat, to allow easier access onto cycling paths or simply to enjoy the cruise. The total length covered over 5 days of cycling is 205 km (127 miles), but you are free to stay on the boat if you prefer.
Itinerary
You will be welcomed aboard the Ave Maria anytime after 4.30 p.m. The introductory briefing, and our first refreshing apertivo, is at 6.30. After dinner you can stroll into town and savor the historic town center or (if you’ve already done that) we might just stay aboard and spread a little ukulele joy!
This day will be dedicated to the discovery of this little-visited cultural gem, its three picturesque “lakes” formed by the Mincio, and its surrounding countryside – once a City State ruled by the Gonzaga family and now considered by many as Italy’s “Sleeping Beauty”.
In the afternoon, we will meet up with a guide for a walking tour of Mantua, and enjoy the rest of the day in town or head back to the Ave Maria for some more ukulele time. (Click here for more information)
This is a busy day! After breakfast, we set sail from the “lakes” of Mantua and cruise through the lush wetlands that lead to Governolo Lock, where Mantua’s River Mincio flows into the Po. Once there, we saddle up and follow the broad sweeps of the levee towards Ostiglia, renowned for its medieval fortress and the scene of some fierce fighting during the closing days of World War II, as the Allies drove Hitler’s forces back. (Click here for more information)
We’ll also visit Bergantino, home of the Museum of Fairground Rides and its collection of street organs, all expertly restored and visit a cheese factory in Grana Padano, where we will have the opportunity to sample some well seasoned Grana. We catch up with the Ave Maria in Zelo, a sleepy village on the Canal Bianco, the waterway which runs parallel to the Po.
4. Zelo – Ferrara – Adria (50 km by bike + 60 km by bus)
This morning we cross the Po and ride southwards through a patchwork of farms, orchards, and hamlets, as far as Ferrara, known as the ”Cycling Capital of Italy.” Under its ruling family, the Este, this city-state attracted architects, artists, and scholars for centuries, who pioneered town planning principles that have been emulated worldwide ever since.
Then a private bus and trailer will take us back to our floating hotel in Adria, an ancient Roman port once washed by the sea which bears its name. Adria is also renowned for its Etruscan and Greek heritage. After dinner we might indulge in a passeggiata into town for a well-earned grappa or gelato.
After a short cruise, we will cycle into the delta of the life-giving Po, a unique wetland that is Europe’s primary reserve for herons and home to a sizable colony of flamingos. As we continue towards Chioggia, we can also enjoy a break at a fine-sand beach nearby for a dip in the Adriatic (weather permitting!) and a hot savory piadina! Chioggia, a colorful fishing hub, is also known as “Little Venice.” We overnight along the Island Pellestrina.
Pellestrina, a humble and tranquil fishing backwater replete with cottages, boats and nets, is the first of two islands we traverse today. Then a short island-hop by ferry lands us on the Lido di Venezia. After rejoining the Ave Maria, we take an unrushed cruise in front of St Mark’s Square to our final mooring in Venice. After dinner we can savor Venice at night, free of the crowds and at her most romantic.:
After breakfast we meet up with our Venetian guide for a tour through the historic center. Christened La Serenissima (“The Most Serene”), the Venetian Republic held sway over much of the Mediterranean (and beyond) for centuries – both as a military power and a beacon of culture, her explorers reaching as far as China and Newfoundland. After the guided tour, we will have the afternoon free to enjoy the city at our own pace.
Departure after breakfast.
The tour has been planned to feature navigation along the Fissero/ Bianco canal, which runs parallel to the Po river and connects Mantua to the Adriatic Sea. Due to organisational reasons, weather conditions or provisions issued by local authorities, the itinerary may be subject to some changes before and/or during the holiday. Issues with high and low water, as well as logistic obstacles such as officially ordered – previously not announced – repair work on locks or bridges can modify some of the daily stretches or overnight stays and may even request a transfer by bus. These decisions are only taken by the boat’s captain. Remember, flexibility will be the key to having a happy time with your ukulele, no matter what.
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I didn’t know I was having a fight-or-flight response. For 23 years. A response that sent me flying outside of my body — dissociating — every time I became triggered. When there was too much sensory input. When I became too overwhelmed. Every time something took me back to my childhood. To my trauma.
While living in a fight-or-flight state, I wasn’t connected to my body. Which led to many extreme complications. Complications like fainting, having high fevers, rashes, hives, allergies, insomnia, chronic pain, digestive and reproductive issues, depression and anxiety and six neurological disorders. Complications that were indicators of trauma I didn’t know I had experienced. Something I only started to understand once I had access to my interoceptive sense.
For me, my interoceptive sense blends with my intuition. With my Higher Self. Guiding me. Directing me along my life’s path. Not the pain-filled, fear-filled path my trauma once led me down. And will lead me down again if I’m not careful. If I’m not aware. If I’m not connected to my interoceptive sense.
When we aren’t connected to our interoceptive sense, we are often unable to read our body’s cues. We don’t know when we’re hungry. When we’re tired. When we have to go to the bathroom. When something is painful. And we’re also unable to connect to our emotions. We don’t know when we’re angry. Or anxious. Or overwhelmed. And if we weren’t taught personal boundaries or how to feel our feelings, that connection is severed even further after experiencing a trauma.
Now, just over two years into my trauma recovery, one of the many things I’m learning is that the interoceptive sense plays the lead role in our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual connections. The connections we lose the moment our conscious mind restricts information from us, often following trauma, and when we live with post-traumatic stress disorder PTSD, fight-or-flight responses and dissociation.
When I began working with an occupational therapist (OT) for the first time over two years ago, she asked me what it felt like to be inside my body. Something I had never really considered before. Living in a fight-or-flight response for over 23 years can cause you to not feel safe inside your body. So you do everything to avoid being in it. And, therefore, you don’t engage your interoceptive sense.
While working with my OT and getting craniosacral therapy, I also followed the sensory diet she prescribed me. I was learning to re-regulate my nervous system, reactivating my interoceptive sense. The sense that was only stimulated by using my senses. By learning to live inside my body. By writing and reflecting. By observing. By looking deep within. And then, the memory of my trauma surfaced that explained all of my suffering. All of my complications. All of my pain.
Now that I’m healing, I’m starting to see when others are blocked from their interoceptive sense too. Others who have experienced childhood trauma — from intergenerational trauma — whether they know it or not. People I read about. People I see on TV. People I know.
Being connected to our interoceptive sense — having a connection to self that is intuitive and all-knowing — doesn’t feel supported enough in our society. The concept of getting into our bodies. Of feeling safe enough to explore our feelings, and of actually understanding our pain.
Not being connected to our interoceptive sense is one of the most misunderstood parts of people. There is the kid who is viewed as acting out in class because their nervous system isn’t regulated, and they need to get up and move around. Or the one who isn’t connected enough to their body to know how to control their bowel movements. Or the teenager who isn’t connected to their body enough to feel hunger, so they don’t eat. Or the person who doesn’t feel they are angry until they explode.
There is the parent who struggles just to get through the day, who deals with constant anxiety, fatigue and autoimmune illnesses. Who doesn’t know how to recognize their needs because they lived through childhood trauma, which disconnected them from themselves so much that they don’t even realize they have needs. Or the businessperson who experienced childhood trauma, whether they can recall it or not, and doesn’t know how to access their feelings. So they are scattered. Overactive. Hypervigilant. Or they’re depressed. Lethargic. Angry. They sinks into themselves to stay safe because they were never taught that their feelings matter. And they have been so far away from their feelings for so long, they don’t even know how to access them.
While connecting to our bodies is a journey, it is absolutely one worth taking. Trust me, I avoided being inside my body for over 23 years, not knowing how to connect to it (or even that I wasn’t) and pushing away its needs. Suppressing my pain with shame and self-harm. With drugs, tobacco and alcohol. With distractions that helped me avoid myself. But now that I know how to connect to my body — since I’ve taken the journey to exploring what my body was trying to tell me — I would do it all over again if I had to. Even though it’s been the most arduous experience of my life, it’s nothing compared to the trauma I suffered and to the state I was living in before I knew what happened to me. Before I had connected back to myself. And in order to heal ourselves, we have to connect to ourselves.
So in a way, this is a call to action. A plea for all of us to take the journey. To be mighty. To engage our interoceptive sense. To understand our body’s needs and our feelings. And to know what happens to us when we don’t. To gift ourselves the knowledge of ourselves. All of which comes from connecting to our interoceptive sense. To that inner wisdom we all carry inside.
I wish you all a safe journey to the center of yourself — of your universe — and I hope you begin to connect to the beauty that awaits you, no matter how treacherous the journey may be. I promise, it’s there. It’s all there. The answers to all your questions. The remedies to all your pain. It’s just waiting for you to connect to it. Within yourself. For once you learn to live within yourself, your life can truly begin.
10 Ways to Connect to Your Interoceptive Sense to Help with PTSD, Fight-or-flight Responses and Dissociation:
One of the most effective ways I’ve found to connect to my interoceptive sense, to know what my body’s cues are telling me, has been through daily journaling. You can do it any time, anywhere and as many times as you need to. Journaling does not have to mean sitting down and writing, though this also engages your tactile sense. It can mean speaking into the Notes app on your phone, jotting down notes in a notebook or taking five minutes each day to map out your thoughts, feelings and experiences. However you journal, make sure you take some time to reflect back at the end of the week or month. Make note of things that happened and how they made you feel. Begin to understand your inner landscape.
Stop what you’re doing. Focus on your breath. Breathe in through your nose while pulling your breath up toward your head on an inhale and breathe out through your nose while pushing your breath down to your toes on the exhale. Now close your eyes and repeat that five times. During the decades I was living in a fight-or-flight state, I struggled with breathing. Just basic, everyday breathing. I think it was because I was so far away from my body, I wasn’t connecting to its needs. Again, not connecting to my interoceptive sense. I would faint, have panic attacks, feel lightheaded, etc. Learning how to meditate, I began to develop a more natural rhythm to my breathing. Practicing yoga also helps me go with the flow of my breath. If you struggle with your breathing, I strongly suggest a daily meditation and/or yoga practice to help you reacquaint yourself with this essential life force. Yoga with Adriene is a great way to get started. It’s free and has videos for everything you’ll need that you can do in the comfort of your home.
3. Follow a sensory diet to help regulate your nervous system.
This is different for everyone, but it’s easy to do by incorporating ways to engage your senses throughout the day. It’s not a food diet, which is what I thought at first; rather, it’s a plan for using your senses. A daily plan you stick to, like a diet. For example, in the morning, I drink something hot and something cold (engaging my gustatory and interoceptive senses), write in my journal (engaging my tactile and interoceptive senses) and light a scented candle (engaging my olfactory sense). Try doing things during each part of your day to engage all eight of your senses: olfactory, visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory, vestibular (movement, e.g. jumping on a mini trampoline), proprioceptive (where you are in space, e.g. using a weighted blanket), and of course, interoceptive. Engaging our senses is also particularly important amid dissociation or a fight-or-flight response.
The vagus nerve, running from our face to our abdomen, is responsible for carrying information from the body to the brain (it’s like the train for the interoceptive sense: taking information from one place to another). When the mind-body connection is not being made, and the vagus nerve is stimulated, a reconnection can occur. Think of jumping into a cold lake, the shock that makes you feel alive and awake — that’s the vagus nerve. Or the comfort of a hug when you’re feeling distraught — that’s the vagus nerve too. I use a vagus nerve stimulation device daily; click here to learn more.
5. Go at your own pace.
Don’t let others rush you or hold you back as it will cloud your needs and block your interoceptive sense. For me, the feeling that comes up when this happens is anxiety, or even anger. For others, it makes me appear rigid, stubborn, inflexible. But I find that if I voice my needs, we can find space to meet in the middle. For example, my husband is a fast-talker, so in order to keep my own pace during conversations without getting overwhelmed, I’ll ask him to slow down. And I make sure I’m paying attention, staying present, so I respond to him instead of react to him. That way, both our needs are met and we avoid having a potential problem.
6. Surround yourself with people who are nurturing toward your needs.
There’s a big difference between helping someone who’s having a fight-or-flight response and judging them for having one. Or worse, not being grounded enough in yourself and fighting back at them. The former helps bring someone out of it; the latter makes them have to fight harder. A recent example of someone helping someone else out of a fight-or-flight response by being nurturing was when Krista Gneiting disarmed an active shooter while teaching at Rigby Middle School, located in Idaho. Gneiting approached the student, removed the gun from her hand and then hugged her (stimulating her vagus nerve, engaging her interoceptive and proprioceptive senses, and acknowledging her pain). Reports say that when the girl was arrested, she went willingly. Even though she had been shooting people — fighting — she was now calm because of the love the teacher showed her. What if we all were more nurturing, more loving, toward someone else’s needs — even when that someone is trying to hurt us — oh what a different world it would be.
7. Set boundaries.
One of the things I know has contributed to my lack of connection to my interoceptive sense, and thus myself, was not knowing that I own my body and my needs and that others own theirs. Which meant growing up feeling like everything was my fault — feeling like I was responsible for the needs of others, including my parents, over myself — and assigning my self-worth based on how others were feeling. In order to set boundaries, I’ve spent years learning where I end and another begins. This can be extremely difficult, and at times quite painful, but ultimately, knowing we are all individuals who need to learn to live for ourselves is freeing.
I spent almost 20 years trying to find a good therapist to work with, and there are some bad ones out there. But finding the right one was worth the trouble. Finding someone who is able to sit with us in our discomfort, without trying to fix us, as we peel away the layers of our life to find our inner self is invaluable.
9. Work with an occupational therapist.
I think occupational therapy is highly undervalued when it comes to aiding with trauma recovery, and I am a huge proponent of it. Through exercises, craniosacral therapy and sensory incorporation, an occupational therapist can help get to the root of the ways you are suffering, help you determine your sensory diet and help you start living fully again.
10. Trust yourself.
Saved the hardest for last. When we’ve experienced a trauma, we’re robbed of trusting that the world is safe, and we doubt our ability to make decisions about our own safety. This typically manifests as fear. Over everything. Fear of breaking routines. Of going outside of our comfort zone. Meeting new people. Having new experiences. Leaving our house. We stop trusting we can feel better. We carry too much shame and guilt to believe we’re even worthy of getting better. If you have experienced a trauma, if you are suffering, my heart goes out to you. I hope you learn to trust yourself that you can get better. That you deserve to. What I’ve learned, after decades of searching, is we all have the remedies to our pain inside of us. All we have to do is know how to look, be prepared for the changes to feel uncomfortable at first and know that we can learn not only to survive, but to thrive.
I wish you many blessings as you travel to the center of your universe. Goddess-speed.
Image by Daniel Hannah from Pixabay
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THE development of a €40 million state-of-the-art logistics and industrial hub in Baldonnell has the potential to deliver up to 1,000 jobs and a cash injection of €3 million in developer fees to South Dublin County Council – with the local authority also expected to reap €500,000 annually in rates, The Echo can reveal.
On Wednesday, Mountpark Logistics EU indicated that it is poised to invest €40 million into the creation of a state-of-the-art logistics and industrial hub at a recently purchased 35-acre site in Baldonnell – the planning application for which is expected to be lodged with South Dublin County Council in the coming weeks.
According to Mountpark, the proposed development will create up to 120 jobs during the construction phase, which is targeted to start in late 2015, with up to 850 jobs expected to be generated by the companies operating from the hub – plus an additional 150 ancillary service jobs.
The Echo has learned that, if construction is given the green light, South Dublin County Council could be in receipt of a once-off, €3 million pay-out in developer fees, alongside netting a rates payment of €500,000 annually.
Located at Barney’s Lane on the N7, the site lies between Casement Aerodrome and Baldonnell Business Park, and is conveniently close to the M50, Outer Ring Road, N81 and N4 and well connected to key business parks in South County Dublin, including Citywest, Grange Castle in Clondalkin and Greenogue, Rathcoole – making the Baldonnell site an ideal choice for the growing logistics sector.
Mountpark Logistics EU, which is a joint venture between UK-based Mountpark and the USAA Real Co of America, specialises in building logistics centres.
Formed in 2014, the joint venture is already engaged in projects in the UK, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia – with the Baldonnell site Mountpark’s eight logistics investment in Europe.
According to Mountpark, the increasing importance in online retailing and commerce has seen a substantial rise in the demand for premises suited for logistics.
Philip O’Callaghan, of Mountpark, said: “We are delighted to have acquired this ideally located site in Baldonnell and believe that the development will provide a wide range of job opportunities and an economic boost to the area.
“We look forward to developing high quality logistics units in South County Dublin for Irish and international businesses.”
He added: “We know from the discussions we have already held with businesses and development bodies, that there is strong demand for well-located hubs such as this.
“We believe that the project will facilitate agencies such as IDA and South Dublin County Council in attracting companies to the region.
“We look forward to working with stakeholders to deliver a long-term benefit for South Dublin County Council and for Mountpark.”
Mountpark has indicated that it intends to commence with development once statutory approvals are achieved, after which they will begin to market the properties to potential business tenants.
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Getting ready for the new school year can be a hectic and exciting time. Transitioning from the extra playtime and novelty of summer back to the routine of the school year can be challenging. For children with autism (and their parents), all this change can feel overwhelming.
Here are some suggestions for how to help ease your child’s back-to-school anxieties:
Scope out the school and classroom in advance. If your child is going into a new classroom, ask to visit it at least once before the first day of school. If transition has been a struggle in the past, consider taking as much time as your child needs to explore the classroom. Make it as much fun as possible, playing in each of the new areas.
For older children, ask the teacher if a seat assignment has been made. Do some enjoyable activities in that seat. If familiar classmates will be in the room, show where they will be sitting, too.
Find out from the teacher what new activities are planned. Then, prepare your child by performing, practicing, and talking about them. This rehearsal will reduce anxiety when the new activities come up in the first week of school.
The noise and chaos of a typical classroom can sometimes be a bit much to handle. Establish a plan for what to do in this situation – perhaps there is a quiet room where your child can “take a break” for a short time.
Volunteer in the Classroom
Many teachers welcome assistance from parents. If your child’s teacher welcomes volunteers (and your schedule permits), your presence may be a source of comfort to your child during those challenging first weeks.
Going to school can pose many challenges for children with autism, as well as offer countless opportunities for building crucial social, language, and academic skills. Be positive and encouraging, and your child will be off to a great year!
Looking for more school-related tips for your child with autism? Check out our blogs, “Five Steps to Help Your Child with Autism Make Friends” and “This School Year, Build a Trusting Relationship with Your Child’s Teacher.”
Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Autism, Autism family, Autism family tips, Back-to-school, New Activities, New routines, School anxiety, Sensory overload, Transition
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Brian Krzanich - CEO
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by and welcome to the Q1 Fiscal 2020 CDK Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speakers’ presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] I’d now like to turn the conference over to your host, Ms. Julie Schlueter, CDK Global Inc. Director of Investor Relations. You may begin.
Thank you and good afternoon. I would like to welcome you to CDK’s first quarter fiscal 2020 earnings call. Joining me on today's call are CDK’s CEO, Brian Krzanich, and our CFO, Joe Tautges.
A few items before we get started. Throughout today's call, I would like to stress and make clear that we will be discussing our continuing operations only which do not include the Digital Marketing business that continues to be held for sale and presented as discontinued operations. This is consistent with our year-end fiscal 2019 reporting also consistent with our year-end fiscal 2019 reporting and a year-over-year or sequential comparisons are presented in accordance with ASC 606.
Beginning in the first quarter of fiscal year 2020, we adapted ASC 842 for lease accounting on a perspective basis. Finally, unless otherwise noted, all references to financial amounts are on a non-GAAP adjusted basis. Reconciliations of adjusted amounts to the most directly comparable GAAP amounts are included in this afternoon's press release and are available in the Investor Relations section of our website.
Also available within the Financial Information section of our website is supplemental financial data, which contains quarterly data for the prior-year in an Excel format, including a breakdown of revenue by category. I would like to remind everyone that remarks made during this conference call will contain forward-looking statements. These statements involve risks and uncertainties including the risks detailed in our filings with the SEC, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. And finally, we anticipate that our Formed 10-Q will be available tomorrow. With that it is my pleasure to turn the call over to Brian.
Thanks, Julie. And good afternoon, everyone. I'm excited to report to you our first quarter results today. Our results were very strong for revenue and profit for the quarter. And it's really proved to me that we're doing the right things from a strategic perspective. The team is quite focused on continuing to pivot CDK towards customer centric actions, and believe that benefits of that to our dealers, our partners and our OEMs are clear in our performance.
I want to thank all of our employees for rallying around that message and delivering the outstanding results they did this quarter. The highlights of the quarter are as follows. We had revenue of $495 million, which was an 11% increase over Q1 of fiscal 2019. We’re able to grow North America auto sites year-over-year by 37, the third quarter in a row with continued year-over-year site growth.
EBITDA growth was 3% and EPS was $0.79 up 5%. Overall, this was a very good quarter, and I'm pleased with the tremendous progress we've made. Joe will provide more details on the quarter results. But I would now like to start back and reflect on the past year since I've joined CDK and share with you some observations about what we have accomplished and where I think we are headed.
There are many strengths that were quite clear to me about CDK became before I joined, like the fact that it was a solid global company with over 40 years of history and strong positions within the market. During this last year, I spent a lot of time with the CDK teams around the world, as well as with our dealers to really understand the state of the business and where the opportunities were to better serve them. What I found within CDK was such an incredible hidden value. This is a company with great people, long standing customer relations, and sound technology that needed to be more customer and technology focused.
And so I rolled out three strategic initiatives that I believe are making an impact this year, and will improve the company quite significantly into the future. Now, let me get into these and tell you about all the work that we've done so far. It's really quite exciting. The three initiatives are centered around improving how we serve our customers, modernizing our technology and architecture and making it easier to do business with CDK.
Let's start with the first one. How we're transforming the company to become even more customer centric and focused on improving how we engage with our customers. The very first thing we did to fix the customer support engagement model was simple, like answering the phones on the weekends when dealers are open to doing business.
By increasing our support center hours, we're improving the way dealers engage with CDK each day as challenges arise in their dealerships. We then went out and found the right team of customer advocates, and performance managers who really help our dealers maximize the value of their existing technology. We needed to improve our support of customers after they go live on our software to make a smoother transition. So we added a post installation team, which arrives at this critical time to ensure that dealers and their employees can start-off on the right foot when utilizing our software.
In addition, we made several improvements to our customers service channels to make it easier for dealers to get the assistance and support they needed. We're finding new ideas every day on how to improve serving our customers. But let me tell you about the results so far.
They've exceeded my expectations of what I thought we could accomplish when I first joined the company. This is now our third consecutive quarter with growing North American auto sites. Before we did all this, sites had been declining year-over-year for nine quarters in a row. This is phenomenal progress and the impact has come sooner than I thought it would. We now have the highest base of North American auto and adjacency sites over the recorded history of the company with a total of 14,732 sites.
In addition, North America sales were up strongly in the quarter, our best first quarter for DMS sales in the company history and I'm excited to report that our sales team won a 40 plus site dealer group in the quarter, our largest win in the past few years.
Now, let's move on to the second initiative on how CDK is bringing the best technology to the market. We're focused on two areas, modernizing architecture of the current technology, and second building a technology ecosystem for the future. We're modernizing the technology across our platforms, including improvements in our product management capabilities, and main software applications to make them open, and API driven, which will enhance their functionality and be consistent with our investments in the Fortellis API platform.
We're working on a significant number of projects this year that are focused on reducing the number of software versions, streamlining the installations, and improving the data access which will not only benefit the dealers experience and end-to-end workflows, but will also improve our ability to quickly and easily innovate and maintain the software going forward. One of the best examples of this is Drive Flex, the most open and technologically advanced DMS platform in the market. As you may recall, Flex has a modern and modular design, which looks more like a phone app with drop down menus, auto fills, and walk me button and is fully in the cloud with AWS.
We have finalized the certification process with our second OEM. And in order to prepare for a broader rollout, we're being very methodical throughout our implementation process and are learning a lot about how to improve the product capabilities and installation procedures. Given the long-term importance of this product, we firmly believe that investing the time and effort now is the best approach. It will ultimately support a quicker ramp-up as we head into the fiscal 2021 and beyond.
All of this modernization and focus on API driven architecture is putting us in a good position to realize our long-term vision for an open and agnostic technology environment, and to grow our Fortellis API platform. I want to stress the importance of this platform to our industry. We need to prepare for a world beyond just auto sales to contemplate trends such as interoperability to allow cars, dealers and manufacturers and consumers to connect and use the data driven decision engines built within our apps to drive insights and provide dealers with enhanced information to more effectively run their business.
Building out and driving the adoption of our Fortellis API platform will ultimately result in our goal of providing dealers with access to data and analytics at a reasonable cost. In order to prepare for these trends, we need an open architecture and technology stack. Fortellis is the only API ecosystem in our vertical and as a market leader, we are uniquely positioned to champion its development and in end to benefit from its use as the industry standard.
We currently have over 20 API's in production or beta stage that were developed by both CDK and third-parties. For example, Hailer our ride sharing API with Lyft is in full production and live with several hundred dealers. An example in the beta stage is our repair order API, which is being tested with major partners and OEMs, including our expanded relationship with Cox Automotive.
We continue to open up more API's including through the promotion of our developer days, and events for building communities. Our final initiative is about making CDK easier to do business with. We're going to change the way we go to market that will simplify its standardized items such as quotes, catalog lists, installation processes and invoices.
The business process modernization program is a multi-year effort that includes both internal changes that will improve our operating and implementation quality, and customer facing external changes. Like our invoices, which include more user friendly layouts, descriptions, and content.
We've gone out to field test the new invoice format and the dealer feedback was extremely positive. The team plans a broader pilot of a new invoice starting in the next few months with a rollout to all dealers this year. We're committed to moving forward with these priorities and maintaining our long-term strategy looking out to the rest of the fiscal year with our level of site growth and the continuation of our planned investments, we’re confident in reaffirming our full-year guidance.
And finally, I'm very happy to report that we have settled another lawsuit, this one with MVSC. And Joe will provide more details in his section. But I'm pleased to be able to put another lawsuit behind us and continue our focus on the future. I also wanted to provide a little more clarity on the status of the Digital Marketing divestiture, they’ve received a great deal of interest for the asset that are currently in the process of narrowing down the potential options for sale.
We hope to close a transaction by the end of the calendar year. To conclude, I’m very happy with the first quarter progress. I know that we have a lot of work to do in front of us. The investments we're making today will clearly differentiate CDK and our critical component of our long-term strategy. I remain confident in this strategy and our ability to deliver value-added solutions to our dealers, our partners, and OEMs, as well as solid returns to our shareholders.
Before turning over to Joe, I'd like to thank all of our employees one last time. Their work is producing outstanding results, and I'm proud of what they've accomplished over the last quarter. I look forward to sharing more of their progress with you in the upcoming quarters. So now I'll turn over to the call to Joe for the financial results.
Thank you, Brian and good afternoon, everyone. To reiterate, Brian sentiments, we are pleased with our Q1 results and in particular, the progress we've made on accelerating revenue growth and the improvements in site counts, as well as our team's focus on the area of investments that will allow us to continue on our path towards future revenue growth. When you look at the business in aggregate, the revenue we've seen has come from stabilization from our core DMS business and accelerated growth in our layered applications.
Our profitability is in line with the significant investments we're making in the business in the areas of customer success, sales and marketing, and improvements and implementation capabilities and technology. We are happy to be seen improved results due to our focus on enhanced execution as well as our increased level of investments and we are excited about the future opportunities.
As we look forward to the rest of the year, we remain confident that the business can continue to deliver growth in line with our guidance ranges, and we’re reaffirming our annual guidance for revenue, EBITDA and EPS. Now, let me turn to the detailed results starting with revenues.
Total company revenue was up 11% on a year-over-year basis, primarily due to growth in our North America DMS and layered application business as well as from acquisition revenue from the purchased ELEAD business. In addition, revenues benefited from changes in accounting for hardware as a service under ASC 842 offset by the headwinds from the partner program transition that we discussed on the last earnings call.
During Q1, we passed the one-year anniversary of our successful ELEAD acquisition. And we're very pleased with the growth we have seen from the business since it was purchased in mid-September of 2018. Growth in North America came largely from subscription revenue, which was up 10% for the quarter as a result of gains from key applications like CRM, service and document management sold both within our DMS sites and to non-DMS dealers.
North America auto site growth increased for the third quarter in a row with auto sites at their highest level since December 2017. The year-over-year increase was 37 or 0.4% due to growth in three plus site groups, partially offset by a decline in one to two site groups. As Brian mentioned, we are seeing improvements in the one to two site group performance driven by increased sales of our Drive platform as well as much better retention.
I am particularly proud of our overall retention performance of the team in light of the fact that we had been facing a larger than normal renewal schedule as a result of the two-year renewal program executed in fiscal 2018. The peak renewals from this program will occur in our second quarter, and we are quite focused on continuing our retention progress.
Given our investments in sales and the customer experience, we’re confident that we can grow North America auto sites by 1% this fiscal year. North America transaction revenue was up 4% mainly because of rate increases on certain pass through prices for credit checks, modestly offset by lower volumes.
Other revenue in North America was up $16 million, partially as a result of the changes in accounting for hardware as a service under ASC 842 and certain ELEAD business. Revenue from our international segment was $77 million down 2% but up 2% on a constant currency basis. Subscription revenue was up 2% driven by strong growth in revenue per site partially offset by a decline in smaller dealer sites.
Revenue from on site licenses and installations was down by $3.5 million, due in part to the timing of a certain point in time revenue that benefited the prior-year period. International sites were 12,973 down 2% over last year, attributable in part to the impact of site consolidations, and losses in legacy products. While we’re not happy with these results, we are seeing some pockets of improvement. Revenue per site saw a strong increase of 10% year-over-year as a result of broadening solution sales to existing customers and higher mix of DMS revenue as a result of site consolidations.
Moving on to earnings performance, EBITDA for the company was $188 million, up 3% over the prior-year with a margin of 38.1% down 310 basis points. Earnings were driven by underlying growth from our DMS and application businesses, offset by incremental investments and headwinds from the partner program transition. Margins were also negatively impacted by the lower margin profile of certain ELEAD business lines.
At a segment level, North America pre-tax earnings were $168 million, up 3% with a margin of 40.1% down 430 basis points, primarily due to the same reasons. For international, pre-tax earnings were $15 million down 19% with a margin of 19.9% down 410 basis points mainly because of timing of certain point in time revenue that benefited the prior-period.
For the total company, our effective tax rate was 25% and diluted earnings per share was $0.79 up 5%. EPS growth was driven by increases in EBITDA, as well as lower share count partially offset by higher interest expense. Our cash balance on September 30, 2019 was $313 million, of which $243 million was held outside of the United States. Free cash flow was $50 million, which was negatively influenced primarily by a legal settlement payment made during the quarter, as well as the timing of collection of receivables. We ended the quarter with a leverage ratio of 3.4 times net debt-to-adjusted EBITDA.
We continue to be focused on delivering leverage within our targeted range of two and a half to three times with an expectation to return to the top of the range by the end of the fiscal year. In the first quarter of fiscal 2020, we paid $18.2 million in dividends to shareholders.
We are reaffirming our guidance for fiscal 2020 as it relates to revenue, EBITDA, EPS, tax rate and shareholder returns. It is worth noting that our guidance absorbs any negative effects of changes in foreign exchange rates. We expect the level of revenue and profitability in Q2 to be similar to Q1 and anticipate an acceleration in the second half based on normal seasonal factors and results from our investments.
As Brian mentioned, we’re pleased with the recent legal settlement. The claims brought by MVSC were dismissed and a one-time settlement payment was made in October, which was covered by the $90 million litigation liability recorded last year.
Regarding the status update on our Digital Marketing discontinued operations, we continue to work with Allen & Company on the divestiture of the business and are in active discussions with potential buyers.
We remain committed to completing a sale by the end of the fiscal year, though we would hope to conclude it earlier, and our guidance continues to be based on the calendar 2019 year-end sale.
In closing, we're off to a good start to the fiscal year with much more work to come. We're making the right investments to deliver on our guidance through continued revenue growth and improvements on sites. The progress we're making on several fronts, both operationally and financially is allowing us to continue to move forward with our growth strategies and is helping to fuel the spending needed for our planned investments and partner program transition. We’re pleased with this disciplined and focused execution of our strategy, and I look forward to updating you next quarter.
I'll turn it back to the operator, and we'll be happy to take your questions.
Thank you. [Operator Instructions] And our first question comes from the line of Ian Zaffino with Oppenheimer. Your line is now open.
Hi, great. Thank you very much. Nice to see the customer site count increasing. Could you give us an idea of maybe where you’ve seen increases if you can maybe disaggregate the larger dealers from the smaller dealers. Maybe tell us how you did in each area? Thanks.
Sure. So Ian this is Brian. I can start in. I think if you take a look at it, we typically talk about dealers that are like five and less, and then five sites or less and then five to whatever 50 or so and then the really big ones 50 and above. I tell you, the really big ones have just stayed very stable for us and not, not really, have we seen an exit or anything nor have they, we added any of them really, really large ones like that obviously.
You’ve heard in our prepared comments that we added 40 plus dealership on our DMS this quarter, those will start to be installed in Q1 timeframe. So you'll start to see those add to our site count in the second half of the fiscal year where we're seeing a much better retention is in those five and below dealer sites where we really put an effort, that's where we were seeing most of the retention loss before we put a real effort in retaining those.
That's where we'll be inserting Drive Flex first, as well. So if we've had a retention process better service, better support, we've talked about that in the call and then we started to work with these dealerships on the beginnings of Drive Flex as well. So when we look across that, I'd say the biggest change in retention is in those five and below, we've done pretty well in that mid-range five to 50.
And you've heard we added one and then and then it's been pretty stable in 75 and above or whatever you want to get into really big ones. But also remember that we're talking DMS layered apps. That's just as important for us in growth in our revenue forecast and there we’re seeing add across the board from seeing more ELEAD CRM into all of the various levels of those dealerships. So five and below, five to 50 and 50 and above.
Hey Ian, it’s Joe. Just to add some of the numbers to it, so in the three plus dealers consistent with how we've disclosed that in the past, the revenues in that group are up high single digit and to Brian's point very consistent performance in the wins and retention and one to two’s the revenue was down slightly, the best quarter we've seen, at least in the last couple of years.
And so and like Brian said a lot of that from retention, so good performance and improvements in particular, the one to two.
Okay, great and maybe I’m a little bit picky here, but on the average revenue per site, on the DMS side, we saw a little bit of a tick down and it’s like $27 but I tried. But basically, what drove that? Is that a mixed thing is there?
So when you look at the revenue per site, and I assume you're looking at it sequentially Ian?
Correct.
Yes, so when you look at it sequentially, it's actually performed quite well. If you recall, we said at our year-end call that we were going through a transition of the partner program. The reduction of those partner program fees came through effective July 1 at the start of the quarter that put pressure on revenue per site, you'll continue to see that in our rate, as we get into Q2, Q3, Q4 consistent with what you've seen in Q1, underlying rate in the business did grow in line with what we expected, but again that was more than offset by the partner program transition impact that we disclosed at year-end.
Okay, great. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Rayna Kumar with Evercore. Your line is now open.
Rayna Kumar
Hi, thanks for taking my question. Could you talk a little bit about the trends you're seeing in the international business and when you expect that to return to growth?
Sure. So some of the trends, this is Brian again, I will start. Some of the trends we're seeing and return to growth, we continue to A, it's stabilized compared to what we saw last year, which was a decline. And we think that we will or we continue this forecast, it will be growing back into the second half of the year. That's going to be largely on the back of continued growth in partner program and some additional applications in European segment and some growth in China as well this year. And so we continue to see that start to materialize now as we went through the first quarter.
And we continue to think that second half of this year will see us back into a growth perspective
Hey Rayna, it’s Joe I will just add a few comments. So while on the top line, it looks like going to grow, that was currency related. So the constant currency business did grow this quarter. And we had talked about in my prepared remarks the timing of revenue item that also affected some of the year-over-year comparisons. So I think as Brian said, we'll see the acceleration in growth as we head into Q2 and the second half of the year.
And the team has more work to do on sites and they're focused on that, but the rate has been impressive, and I think they've got a lot of the right things going.
Rayna Kumar
That's very helpful. And then just digging a little more into the average revenue per DMS site. Should we expect that to continue to be up for the remainder of the year, especially given your increased renewal cycle that you called out and maybe if you can just tell us a little bit about that 5% increase we saw on North America, how much of that is mix versus actual pricing increases?
Yes, we'll take one at a time. When you look at rate per site and if you go look at the last several quarters and getting into the Q2, I wouldn't expect a rate expansion that we’ve seen in the first quarter, as you go Q2, Q3, Q4, principally because of again the partner program transition that we've announced. And so when you go look at the comparisons, that revenue per site growth will be more muted, if you will, Q2 to Q4. And then once we get beyond that, it will return more to the mid-single digits as we've just discussed historically, then what was your second question?
Rayna Kumar
Just since you guys have this high renewal cycle, should we expect some actual price increases ex the partner program impact?
I'd say we're Rayna we have a good balance of selling. And we're working with our customers to bring more solutions to market. When you look at the application opportunity we have, the sales team has done a great job around bringing the more bundled package, taken the transition of the partner program combined with more application. So I'd say rate for us is more driven right now by bringing and selling more solutions to the customers.
Rayna Kumar
Great and just finally, if you can discuss your progress with Drive Flex and maybe this year migration timeline for onboarding customers to the new platform?
Sure, I can start. This is Brian. So if you take a look at Drive Flex right now, we continue to do installs. We've got, we talked about it. We had our first OEM in 2019, we added our second OEM certification, we're working on a third OEM certification at this time, we continue to look at having all the OEM certifications towards the end of this year.
And so, that portion, that's really how to rate limiting step you have to have all the OEM certifications done in order to really expand beyond a one or two rooftop dealerships. And then you get beyond one or two rooftops, they start to add multiple OEMs and it just gets complex for us to not have the right combination of OEM.
We are continuing at a pretty good rate. And what we've really been focusing on right now is learning. So as we do each install, each install that's going on with Drive Flex is actually a combination of our normal install team and engineering team. And I want the engineers in there doing the installation and a start-up of the dealership. So we really understand what is working and not working difficult on the install.
And our goal is and we've put a target towards the end of this calendar year. So the end of our second quarter fiscally to have a series of improvements that reduces the installation time and costs by significant portion. So the idea here is that Drive Flex will be much easier and cheaper for us to install into a dealer and has gone in and done some of the improvements that we're learning as dealers have actually started to use the software in capacity.
So things like how do you modify forms and how do you get some of the accounting detail out and things like that. So we're quite pleased with the progress. And we're kind of going in parallel with learning and making some improvements while we finish the rest of the OEM integration. And so I think you'll see our target is somewhere sub-100 this year fiscal year, and you'll see a big ramp as we go into the next fiscal year, where we've got all the OEM integrations, we're really able to take it into our larger set of dealers.
Rayna Kumar
Got it. Thank you.
Thank you. And our next question comes from the line of Matt Pfau with William Blair. Your line is now open.
Hey, guys, thanks for taking my questions. First one to start-off with the one to two site dealer segment. And it's great that you're seeing nice improvement in retention there. What do you think needs to happen to flip the switch and get that segment to growth?
So I think there's a couple of things that needs to occur one, we need to go out and support them. If you take a look, said some of the technologies that they were really critical to them. We're going to start to be losing support. I don't think we had the right customer experience. Those are the guys who really needed those extended hours of the call center. They needed customer success advocates because they don't tend to have the staffs and the experience to really manage the software as well as some of the larger operations.
So those have been kicking in, I think we'll see continued and as Joe mentioned, there's a fairly large number of renewals that are coming up. So it's a great opportunity for us to really up that number set over the next quarter or so. So that will be one set. The real answer though, is something like Drive Flex, Drive Flex really gives them the ability, it's much more like an iPhone, it runs on AWS, if your network goes down, you just pull out literally your iPhone or tablet and you can run the software. So you're not tied to network capabilities. You have the ability to modify forms to a certain extent. And so there are training of salesman and workers within the organization is going to be much less.
And so we think it'll be a real efficiency ad for the one to two site dealerships. And that's really going to be a game changer for them. So as we go into next year, what we're really working on is hey in while we're getting Drive Flex ready for you and finished out the OEM integrations, here's our new package of support and continued progress on existing technologies. Here's your better hours of call center, here's your better customer support. And you'll be first also on to Drive Flex. That story is going quite well into that portion of the market.
Yes, makes sense. And the other thing I wanted to ask about is if there's any update on your initiative to target independent and used car dealers with the Drive Flex platform?
Yes, so that's a space. So we continue to do some installs there. And we continue to see the size of the market to be plus 1000 to 2000. That number varies depending on how you want to size it dealers that are probably equipped to take on something like Drive Flex. But what we really want to do is get the installation costs and time down before we really attack that market because that is a market that is going to be a more cost sensitive and we really got to get the initial cost of the technology to be a bit lower.
So the good thing is to me on Drive Flex, that's just kind of summarize it is, it's out there, it's working in dealers. And we're now in the point of refining it. We're refining the cost. We're refining the speed of installation, we're refining the last few things we want to improve on the technology and architecture itself. We're making some improvements on the data architecture, for example.
And that's a very different spot than it's about to come out or it's waiting for the next release. And so for the independents, what I really want to do is I need to get that installed time and cost down before we really attack that market. So I think you're looking at, we will start hitting that one hard in the second half of this year.
Great. That's all I had. Thanks a lot, guys.
Thank you. And our next question comes from the line of Tim Willi with Wells Fargo. Your line is now open.
Thank you. Good afternoon. I have a handful of questions here. One if I could ask with Fortellis, is there a way to and I apologize if this is asked before sort of bouncing back and forth between calls. But is there any way to think about the timing in your mind that Fortellis really begins to have an impact around revenue either as sort of a discrete line item or is just again a reason for deeper relationships with existing dealers or ultimately obviously bringing on new rooftops and new relationships?
So from first talk about Fortellis and kind of where are we, what's running and then we could talk to get to root of your question is because it's something that is revenue generating or is it something that is more focused on the ecosystem and tighter relationships. The answer to that question by the way is it's a bit of both but let's take a look at Fortellis. There are about 20 APIs that last time I checked it continues to grow that are up and running or in development, final stages of development on Fortellis.
Two really good examples, we used is our Hailer application which is application tied to Lyft that allows them to fund the DMS follow Lyft vehicles for the customer, if you causing for maintenance or you've come in to look at a car or something like that created a car in, that's running in several hundred dealers, we continue to sign-up lots of dealers every month. And that is a revenue generator and just informed. We had a percentage of each Lyft that's called. And it's starting to generate revenue.
So it doesn't cost anything to install the software. This is a good example of how these programs will work to some extent, it has nothing to install the Hailer program. It sits as an added feature inside the DMS and its RK is based on a percentage of the use and so the dealer has to see benefit.
So we continue to see that that's growing nicely. The other one is our repair order. That one, we've talked about Cox being the lead partner there. And that's really to build a deeper relationship to start, allowing our dealers to have more choice. And we think that will be a differentiator for our DMS and CDK in general, the open agnostic.
Look, we're here to give you the best solution. And we do get paid for repair order. But the real functionality there is about building that deeper relationship both with Cox and with our dealers allowing them to have more choice.
So both of those are good examples. We are getting paid on those. I don't think you'll see it change the needle of our revenue charge for a couple of years, is that three years or four years? I don't know yet. But it's not this year, and it's probably not next year. That's going to be a big shift in our revenue scheme.
But what you're really seeing is much deeper relationships, much more opportunity for the dealers, the dealers, several dealers are starting to look at moving some of their internal applications onto Fortellis and so all of that ecosystem is a build. It's good for the industry, it's good for our dealers, and in the long-run, it'll be good for CDK.
Great, then I just had two follow-ups. The first one was just going back around the low-end of the market, those one and two sort of dealer rooftops where you said there's still some I think you had said they were still down a little bit, but trends are improving. And I guess I'm just curious that within that discussion of those customers being down, assuming that there are new customers coming on, but just more leaving though you're approving that trend, is there anything to call out around those new relationships at the low-end in terms of products being purchased, revenue characteristics that just was sort of point to the productivity and the future around the revenue, growth and margin in that segment of the market as you continue to fix the retention issue and really build on the sales productivity side?
Okay, so I think I understand your question, but let me start and as I answered if Joe thinks, I've missed the question or we’re kind of looking at each other, trying to make sure we understand the question.
Let me rephrase it, are new customers at the low-end that are coming on, right, so I'm assuming that you're bringing on new customers or customers at the low-end, but you also have an attrition issue with customers leaving and that's still sort of outweighing but it's getting better. So are the new ones that you're bringing on in terms of the revenue profile, product purchase profile relative to those that you're losing. Is it a different characteristic one that we would consider to be encouraging as you continue to build and fix the low-end of the market?
Yes, I don't know if we've really got the absolute numbers for you. But let me give you kind of the general trends and what we're seeing. This is a segment of the market that we said we were not going to -- we were not providing them the right level of support, both in technology and architecture and in just general business support.
So by going out now and saying, okay, look, we made a mistake. We're here to help. We're going to move you along the technology curve. What we've gone out and done now is really said hey, look, we can provide you a solution today with Drive. We can continue to make improvements in your existing architecture. And we can move you first off to Drive Flex.
In addition, we've started going into some of these dealers and showing them even though they tend to be smaller applications like ELEAD CRM, or our service applications or oftentimes, very applicable to those dealerships, and they've been under supported in that area.
So in general, and I think this is something that is we're not talking enough on this call about is, if you take a look, what we're trying to do, and Joe mentioned this in his prepared remarks, and we've tried to talk about this a bit, is it's not just walking into a dealership, whether they're one and two dealer rooftop dealership or 50 rooftop dealership, you can't just sell them a DMS really, you really need to sell them solutions.
And you need to bring them that this bundled package, the CRM, the DMS, the service application, all of these things, and our open agnostic of these some other applications you need that fit your specific business. That solution, that combination is going to be an improvement, it's either going to provide you the ability to serve more customers with the same resources or reduce your resources.
But we're going to show you an improvement in your business operation by doing these packages of products and solutions. And we’re really focused on that and that's with those one and two dealers as well. So the ones we're signing up are signing up more with these bundled packages that have more of our applications not necessarily charging them more for the DMS, we're selling them more solutions and giving them more capability and they’re able to utilize it and improve their operations as a result.
So from a big picture we're selling yes, more if you take a look at it more software per dealer in that space, whether it's typically the renewal or the new ones that we're bringing on, but it's not because we're charging more for the DMS in many cases, we may be selling them a bundle that just is the DMS price may be down up, it doesn't really matter, because that combined bundle is what they're really looking at.
And it’s may be cheaper than what they're currently using or it's going to provide them opportunities that they currently don't have.
Yes, and the only thing I would add is I mean when you look at the revenue of what Brian's saying what it translates into is revenue per site growth that is healthy from the bundling, and listen the Drive platform is a great platform and they can when you bundle in all the other integrations can deliver success we’re dealing I think, we've pivoted hard to this bundled strategy and it's showing up in the revenue per site.
Great, perfect. That's exactly what I was looking for a commentary on. Thank you.
Thank you. And our next question comes from the line of Gary Prestopino with Barrington Research. Your line is now open.
Hey, guys, how you’re doing? Most of the questions have been answered. But I guess first of all, I just want to try to get something clear here. This Drive Flex is for one to two point dealerships. And really is the initial thrust here, once you get all of the certifications is to go out and sell it to your existing base of one to two point dealers. And it will get not sell but really convert. And that's going to have a big impact on retention. Is that kind of a correct assumption?
You're thinking too small. So, Drive Flex is really designed to be modular and it has the ability to scale by both in its data set and its ability to integrate applications and OEMs. So it's really designed for anywhere from a single rooftop to 1,000 rooftops. And if you took, if we are all sitting here in a call 10 years from now, I would expect the majority of our dealers to be on Drive Flex by that time.
And so whether there are 400 dealer rooftop or a single dealer rooftop. We would have them on there, what you see it starting in the one and two rooftop dealers is because of the ability oftentimes, as we add OEMs it becomes easier to fill the one and twos, they may all have just GM, or they have GM and Ford for a town. And we've got that combination, so we can go fill their needs quicker. So it's more of a ability to quickly do that. And then some of the modules that we need to add, because remember each OEM requires a different reporting algorithm set for how the dealership reports the financials up to them, but then the dealer wants to roll those up across all of those OEMs.
And so we have to be able to provide each of those modules, we have to provide a Ford module for rolling up that Ford dealership into the OEM and GM and SCA and so on. And then we need to provide a different module to aggregate the dealerships for the dealer group.
And so those modules are just modules that we develop later stage and oftentimes have to be kind of crafted based on the combinations or how those dealer groups want to see things. And so you just see the multi-site dealers and multi-OEM dealers tend to be a little bit later in the ramp of the technology. So I wanted to make sure you're opening up your thoughts of what Drive Flex was going to go to.
And our approach right now is to actually as we go out, is to go I'd say equally in both converting our existing groups and going and acquiring new ones. So our tension is not to just use Flex to convert the existing business and number of sites, but we think it's a really competitive advantage, and the differentiated technology that will allow us to go compete against our competitors at a level that they are not going to be able to deliver. And so we're going to go after additional sites as well.
Can an OEM actually or can a dealer actually sign up for this before an OEM certification is approved?
No, because the OEM would require like, so we have people, I guess I want to make sure I answer your question. We have people signed up in anticipation of an OEM integration being completed because we have scheduled. So for example, we may not have Toyota done but we say we're going to have Toyota done in the first quarter of next calendar year, third quarter for fiscal year. And so we could sign you up for the end of that quarter, for example. But we wouldn't install it and get you up and running prior because you wouldn't be able to report financials officially up to that OEM and that would be a big problem for you as a dealer.
And did I hear you, right that you said all the OEM certifications will be done by the end of this calendar year?
No, it is probably more like the end of the fiscal year. So majority of the big ones will be done into the first quarter. And then remember there's over 30 OEMs.
Right, no, no, I get that. But I guess the question I would have then is you got this 40 site win. All right, is this going to be an application of the Drive Flex going forward? And if it isn't, then what was the competitive, what was the competitive issue that allows you to take this away? What did they come back to you with that said, you won this business?
So that will not be a Drive Flex, now don't forget. So it will be Drive for the most part. We can run Drive Flex and Drive in the same dealer group once we get the OEM certification. So, for example, we may at some point once we get some of the other integrations done, the last few could be Drive Flex. You can, you don't have to be all or nothing as an example.
So we have the ability to, to really mix and match as we go along. What's winning is the same thing that we've talked about here in this discussion about why our retention is better, why we've hit the highest number of sites in total in the company's history, is it starts with customer support.
The call center hours, the customer success advocates, the post install team, it moves on then to the sales group putting these bundles together and showing people real value and that we can actually provide them a package set of solutions that are better performing with better support for a better cost, and that's what's winning right now both from a retention standpoint and these new acquisitions of sites as well.
Okay, Gary, for the non-techie in the room. Besides this thing that we've done a lot around just there's so much progress and good things happening in the Core Drive product and as Brian said across the value chain of how we engage with customers.
And so our focus is that's every day with the sales team is driving with the installation, with the customer support teams are driving in. And we expect to see those benefits and we expect to see those benefits improving as the year goes on. And we're doing the right things for the long-term with Drive Flex and we're going to be patient with it and do it in a very good quality way. And so it's quite a good balance and yielding the results we were looking for.
Thank you. And I'm showing no further questions. I will now turn the call back over to CEO, Brian Krzanich for closing remarks.
Thank you. I just want to thank everyone for being on the call this evening. And I want to again say, we had a great quarter. Thank the employees for all the work that they've done. And I want to thank you all for your great questions and your time this evening. So thank you very much. Good evening.
Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.
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Samantha Ea: To Be Restless & Resolute as a Young Adult
Date posted: Monday 04 June 2018
It was an honor and privilege to be able to speak at the Saint Paul Area Synod Assembly, Friday, May 18, at St. Andrew's Lutheran Church in Mahtomedi. There, I highlighted the theme: Restless and Resolute, and what that means as a young adult both in the church and in the world. Below are some of the thoughts and feelings I shared, excerpted from my speech.
Restless and Resolute. What better words to describe young people right? Restless, to be in constant motion or activity, unable to rest and relax. Resolute, admirably purposeful, and marked by firm determination. That’s so me.
But first, who am I? Well… I am a young adult. I know it doesn’t look like it, but I am. I turned 24 years old last month, and I am pretty excited about it. Even though I know I look like I could still be confirmation. I am the youngest of five kids. My parents are refugees from Cambodia and came to the United States during the Khmer Rouge. They started a new life and had five kids and gave us the education that they couldn’t receive. They are my heroes.
They were welcomed with open arms, along with many other Cambodian refugees and immigrants, to Christ Lutheran Church on Capitol Hill in Saint Paul. This is where I was baptized and still attend today. I graduated from Luther College two years ago, where I studied English and French. At Luther, I had the opportunity to study abroad, which sparked my interest in the world and my place in it. After I graduated, I had the amazing opportunity to serve abroad as a volunteer with Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) through the ELCA. It was the scariest thing I’ve ever done in my life… besides this, speaking to you all right now.
Through YAGM, I was a volunteer in Palestine. I lived in a small town called Beit Sahour, just east of the city of Bethlehem. There, with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, I taught English to middle and high school students at the Lutheran school. I also ran the English Club at the Lutheran school in Beit Sahour, which was one of the highlights of my year. At English Club, I was able to really interact with my students and get to know them in a more relaxed setting, and ask them about their families, their favorite activities, and what they did for fun. We met twice a week for an hour after school and it was stressful...but also so much fun. I loved my students, even though they looked older than me.
I miss them. I truly loved my students, and I’m so thankful that they would always check up on me, help me with my Arabic, ask me how I was doing, ask if I was happy, and ask if I needed anything.
Along with the joys, I also had some struggles and challenges. It was difficult. Being a woman, being Asian, being American, being an Asian American. Those were very real struggles that I had throughout my year. And because of the way I looked had such an impact on how others treated me, it was hard always having to prove myself in a way or maybe act a certain way. Having to prove my competency of the English language, needing to articulate myself maybe a little more than I probably have to, all in order to be taken a little bit more seriously. Or, maybe I’m not being Asian enough? Or am I not American enough? What does that even mean? Can I just be me? And my whole self?
And being a young person in the world is weird. It’s exciting, and fruitful, but it’s also kinda interesting… at least for me. It’s kind of escaping responsibility of “real adult” stuff, but also experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn about a new culture and way of life. I know I am still very much in my “still figuring things out” stage in life. And I know some of you that aren’t young adults might be saying that you’re still figuring things out too because aren’t we all always trying to figure things out. One day at a time, I like to say. But… it’s different. I know for me and for some other young adults, it’s just a never ending cycle of transitions, changes, and the constant questioning of it you’re making the right decision. And that’s what that restlessness is really about. A constant state of fear. It’s true, but it’s also okay. At least that’s what everyone keeps telling me. It’s okay if you don’t have everything figured out, you will. And I will. And I think that’s where being resolute comes in. Knowing that I will figure it out, and I’m determined to, and it really is going to be okay.
I came back last July from my year in Palestine…a hot mess. I essentially came back broken. And while I probably had the best year of my life, it was also the hardest year of my life. Even though I wasn’t living under military occupation in the West Bank, my Palestinian community and host family are, and so many others.
I was a witness. I saw the injustice, I saw the occupation. Military occupation means so much more than checkpoints, a separation wall, illegal settlements, and limited resources. It means so much more. Imagine trying to go to somewhere, maybe Washington DC, our nation’s capital. But there’s a wall around it, and a building structure that resembles an outdoor jail, and you have to go through a TSA security-like procedure, with a line full of people, and around you are soldiers with guns. That’s a checkpoint, but that also doesn’t even describe what a checkpoint really is for Palestinians living with this every day. And that’s just one part of it all. And it’s a lot to try to explain because words only go so far compared to the in-person experience.
When I came back home to Minnesota, I didn’t know what to do – with my life, but also everything that I experienced and learned from my YAGM year in Palestine. I cried a lot and didn’t know who to talk to that could understand what I was going through. And all I wanted to do was talk about my time in Palestine. But I didn’t know how to and I still today struggle talking about the complexities of the Holy Land. It’s… a lot. So I understand if you didn’t get any of that.
I knew when I came back from my YAGM year, there would be a community of people that wanted to hear about my time in Palestine – and that community was my church. Christ on Capitol Hill has heard me fumble my words with open ears and open hearts, and I am so thankful. Because it’s still not easy for me. And I think it will always be hard because I’m still grieving. I’m still sad. I wasn’t ready to leave. I miss my host family, my students, and Palestine. It’s hard for me to check the news these days. The deaths in Gaza. The US. embassy’s move to Jerusalem. The world’s eyes are all on this issue, and it’s… a lot. And while I hope for peace and justice, I know I can do more and be more. And that’s by using my voice. Like right now. And sometimes that’s the most powerful tool.
I’ve experienced a lot of uncomfortable and difficult conversations since I’ve been back, conversations about Israel and Palestine. But even so, I’m glad that they’re happening. Because I'd rather have a hard conversation than none at all. And I think that’s the most important part of me being back in the States. To be more restless and resolute in hard and difficult conversations. And I think that’s important to take away. We’re here at the assembly to talk about some important topics. It’s important to go into these conversations, open and willing to listen and share. Channel your inner or current young adult. Be restless, be resolute. And leave room for understanding and growth. There doesn’t need to be an agreement, but an open understanding. And let’s lift up the young adults in our church. They’re doing some great things, both in the church and in the world, and it’s amazing to see. So, again, my name is Samantha. I am a young adult, and I am restless and resolute.
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As I immerse myself more and more into the FIRE community, I find myself yearning for a simpler life. I see the pictures and read the blog posts of those who have already achieved financial independence. Some are living life constantly on the road, others take a period to slow travel and more still just sit back for a while and embrace a new, simpler way of life.
Maybe this yearning is partly to do with age and partly just general weariness with the prison sentence of working life. Certainly in years gone by I was happy throwing myself into work, giving my all to climb ever higher up the corporate ladder, scooping up the financial rewards that went with it.
But the passing of time brings ever-increasing resentment. Not just of the hours lost at my desk that I can never get back, but everything that goes along with it. Sitting in traffic. Getting angry with other drivers, knowing there is nothing to be angry about but feeling wound up anyway. Time and money spent on make-up, haircare and clothes in order to conform to the corporate standard. Irritation when yet another late night call is added to my diary. Stress on top of stress on top of stress.
It’s the latter lifestyle that appeals to me. I spend so much time in an office every day, staring out of the window as I endure yet another endless and soul sucking conference call. Daydreaming as a survival tactic just to get through the day. But contrary to what I would have thought even six months ago, I’m not dreaming of a palm fringed sandy beach, the ice in my cocktail chinking delicately against the glass (although I can conjure that picture up nicely if I want to ). Nope, my daydreams are centred around home.
I have always been a home bird. The phrase “no place like home” was written for me. Not because I live anywhere particularly special – although I admit I have lived in the same house for 18 years and have wonderful memories here. Thinking back to when I was at my poorest – living in a room in a run-down student house – when I shut my bedroom door and left the world outside, I still loved that feeling of being “home”.
I have written before about being a single parent, holding down a high pressure job and working towards financial independence. I may not have a partner to help but I am not super woman by any means. To hold all that together and be even remotely successful at any of it requires a team. House cleaner, window washers, gardener, handyman, dog sitter – these are all essential and highly appreciated members of the team. In years past, it also included child-minders and until very recently also grandparents, transported in from eight hours away to help with the family when I needed to travel.
All of the above costs money and adds a hefty chunk to my expenses at a time when I am doing everything possible to keep expenses low. But I have never felt guilty about paying for help. I am only human and I am very aware that I can’t be full-time Finance Director at work and still keep a clean home, the lawn mowed, do all my own house maintenance, run rental houses, make money on the side* and have energy left to be present for my children in the precious few hours I get with them.
But there’s a difference between feeling guilty and feeling resentful. I still resent paying other people to do things I could so easily do myself, if only I had the time.
I want to mow my own lawn.
I want to vacuum my own carpet.
As mundane as those things may seem, I am craving the opportunity to be bored by them. Boredom sparks creativity and I am curious about where that will lead.
I want to watch The Great British Bake-Off and be inspired to fill my home with tantalising baking smells.
I want to clear out the spare room, sell off all the things we don’t use and feel lifted of the burden of having so much “stuff”.
The simple things, the everyday boring household tasks, the taking control of my environment, the being both boss and labourer in my own castle – these are the things that are pulling me.
So it is control that I am craving. Control over my day / my surroundings / the people I interact with. Nobody comes in to my castle without me first opening the door after all.
I’m aware there must be an element of the grass always being greener on the other side of the fence. But once I have hopped over, the grass on this side will wither up and die for a while. There will be no looking back with envy for a working life – of that, I am sure.
Over time, the prison cell will crumble and nature will reclaim this plot of land that was once my working life and fill it with something new and green and vibrant. A whole new life to look forward to and aspire to and create. Where the grass is equally green on both sides of the fence.
* (affiliate link relevant only to UK folk)
Related
17 thoughts on “Yearning for the Simple Life”
August 3, 2018 at 7:39 pm
Beautifully written. This sounds wonderful. You speaking of taking control and caring for your own castle makes me think of a domestic moment I had recently: I accidentally got wrangled into watering my neighbor’s plants daily (my bad for not asking for specifics before volunteering) and it felt like a chore. The days were consistently 90 degrees and I had to walk over there, battle some spiders and water all these veggies outside. But after doing that every day for 2 weeks I started enjoying it. The vegetables started growing and changing colors and I thought “I did that! I helped it become a real bell pepper!” I have never felt that kind of accomplishment from house work before – it just felt like one more annoying thing on my endless to-do list. I’m going to try and infuse this feeling you describe when I’m frustrated I have to do the dishes or vacuum the carpet . Thank you for your wise words. I look forward to you hopping the fence.
LikeLiked by 1 person
August 3, 2018 at 8:11 pm
Well anything that makes your domestic moments less frustrating is good, so I’ll take that! I imagine you reading this post with an “eughhhhh” since my aspirations are polar opposite to yours
August 3, 2018 at 8:41 pm
Haha – not at all! It’s great to hear other perspectives, especially ones that help me practice gratitude for what I have.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ms Zi You says:
August 3, 2018 at 7:47 pm
It does really sound like you are craving much, much more time at home now. Does your current job allow you to work from home?
LikeLiked by 1 person
August 3, 2018 at 8:15 pm
It does – and I’m making the most of it more than I have ever done before. It’s helping my mental well-being a lot. Surprising what a difference taking a lunch break in my own garden, throwing the ball for my dog makes. Plus she sits with me all day and sends me love like my very own cheer leader
August 3, 2018 at 8:42 pm
So much this! That’s awesome. Working from home has helped me SO much. Being able to go over to my partner and ask him for a hug after a hard meeting is hard to beat (though having a pup hug sounds even better!)
LikeLiked by 1 person
August 3, 2018 at 9:15 pm
She is amazing. She just looks at me like “you got this” and it helps so much.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reverse The Crush says:
August 4, 2018 at 3:02 am
Wow, do I ever love this post. I agree 100% about the simple life, and I especially like the point about control. There’s a certain level of fulfillment you attain by setting a goal and then completing it yourself as opposed to being told what to do. I know that feeling of having simple tasks that you want to do. I’m an introverted person and more of a home body too. This life you describe sounds fantastic. I’ve blogged about mine before and it’s similar. I just want time to blog full-time and work on investing more. I want more time to cook healthier meals and to be able to take mid day walks. I want a slower pace. Mostly I just want to control the time and I actually want to work harder on my own stuff. Thanks for sharing this post. I really enjoyed the read. Well written!
LikeLiked by 1 person
August 4, 2018 at 8:46 am
Thank you! It’s good to hear from people on the same wave-length. I agree too – we are not work shy – give us back control and we will work harder.
August 4, 2018 at 3:15 pm
I’m with you on the be at home more. I’m not interested in lots of travel when we FIRE. I’m looking forward to feeling like I have enough time to make bread, to bake, to be out in the garden daily rather than once every so often to blitz it. What I want is time, my time, my days, my weeks.
LikeLiked by 1 person
August 4, 2018 at 3:58 pm
Absolutely – years ago when I was at home with the children I used to bake bread every day. What a luxury!
LikeLiked by 1 person
coco says:
August 4, 2018 at 3:47 pm
I can relate to this sentiment… cleaning house gives me a natural high, no of travel can match that…
LikeLiked by 1 person
August 4, 2018 at 4:03 pm
Haha, I wouldn’t go that far! I just resent paying someone else to do it. You’ll have no shortage of places to stay on your travels if people know this about you
August 7, 2018 at 9:20 am
The palm fringed sandy beach, with cocktail in hand does feature in my plans but I don’t yearn to be on the road travelling all the time – like you, what I’m looking forward to spending more time at home doing the things I enjoy doing. With these sunny days we’ve been having, I’ve been spending hours in the garden just reading but come Sunday evening, part of me feels like I’ve ‘wasted’ the day doing ‘nothing’. When I no longer need to go into work on a Monday, I won’t have these feelings of guilt any more.
It is all about taking control – with you, the work/life balance isn’t quite there and the work is sucking all your energy. Small wonder that you are counting down the days til you can FIRE.
Mowing your own lawn and vacuuming your own carpet? I don’t mind doing the latter but when I’m not working, I’ll still be paying for a gardner as I know I would ‘never get round’ to doing the garden and it would be a mess (and I won’t do such a good job!)
Anyway, wishing you and your family a fabulous holiday!
(sorry if this appears twice – I got an error message first time)
LikeLiked by 1 person
August 7, 2018 at 9:57 am
Haha, I think I am the opposite – on weekend days when I’ve had loads going on I feel like I’ve wasted the day when I could have been at home relaxing and reading
Thanks for the kind wishes, here’s to returning with a new lease of life.
LikeLiked by 1 person
December 31, 2019 at 10:43 pm
Delighted to find your blog! The writing style is refreshing, authentic, and so intriguing. I feel our styles are somewhat similar. I’m currently in the throes of my own “surviving the wait” having recently returned to corporate salaried life in an effort to add fuel to my fire. I had 2.5 years of blissful self-employment, and while it came with freedom it also contained loads of money stress. Since I’ve tasted it, it’s even more tempting to me now. Your posts have given me the strength and perspective to see this job for what I originally intended it to be – an accelerator. With any luck, I’ll be able to hang in there til the end! Heading over to read your recent posts now about having reached FI. Hope you’re in a better place emotionally – I can empathize with where you were in these posts!
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Approximately 600 people attended the “Celebrating Middle Earth: The Lord of the Rings as a Defense of Western Civilization” conference at SPU last Friday and Saturday. The conference was co-sponsored by the SPU Society of Fellows, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute and the Discovery Institute and hosted by the C.S. Lewis Institute.
Associate Professor of Political Science John West, who first had the idea to hold the conference, said he was delighted with the way the conference went.
West said that the role the Society of Fellows and the Discovery Institute, as well as the financial support of the Earhart Institute and Intercollegiate Studies, was instrumental in making the conference a success.
“I couldnt have done it without [them],” West said.
The speakers included Joseph Pearce, author of a biography of J.R.R. Tolkien titled “Tolkien, Man and Myth, A Literary Life,” Peter Kreeft, a Christian author and several SPU professors, including Associate Professor of Philosophy Phillip Goggans, retired Professor of English Janet Blumberg and Associate Professor of Theology Kerry Dearborn.
Goggans said he enjoyed Wests paper, titled “The Lord of the Rings as a Defense of Western Civilization.”
“John Wests application of [The Lord of the Rings] was so timely and thoughtful,” he said. “I found it inspiring and uplifting.”
Goggans loves the book because of the way it helps us live our lives.
“Its something that if we enter into it, well be transformed and enter into that reality and live how we ought to live,” he said.
Goggans said that the book helps us to focus on the task that God has given us, just as Frodo has his task as the ring bearer in the book.
The conference included many speakers, as well as “The Lord of the Rings Symphony” performed by the SPU Symphonic Wind Ensemble.
West enjoyed the symphony, and said that the Symphonic Wind Ensemble did a spectacular job. He also said that Peter Kreeft approached him afterward to express his enjoyment of the symphony.
“He was just amazed that an undergrad symphony could sound so good,” West said.
Senior Lisa Tifft also liked the symphony.
“I thought that the music was very good,” she said. “I thought it presented the characters very well.”
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graciously trimmed all 49 pepper trees at the Arena. We are fortunate and truly appreciate his generosity and hope that when someone needs any kind of Landscaping and design, that they will think of Bryon and call “Land Mechanics” at 714-393-1802 tell him you heard about his company on the OPA-ETC website.
Annual Report to Orange City Council
August 5, 2013 Kathy
June 24th, 2013
Alice Sorenson, OPA-ETC Board Member and new Chair, presented a Report to the City Council as an Informational Item on their regular Board Agenda. Accomplishments for 2012 were highlighted and included the re-building of the Mara Brandman Arena, our first season of Horse Shows and Gymkhanas, and the addition of a new equestrian event for OPA – Arena Cattle Sorting! Expanded programs for the 2013 Season were outlined. The Report also described the addition of Night Lighting in April 2013 thanks to a generous donation from the Frank Sanchez Family in Silverado in honor of their mother, Ana.
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All seasons of Survivor, hosted and executive produced by Emmy Award® winner Jeff Probst, are now streaming on Paramount+. Try it FREE!
Notice for readers who avoid the previews: In this week’s blog, I will be referencing the information from the end of episode preview. I will not be discussing the further details revealed in the promos that have aired subsequently. (I haven’t seen these myself, though I’ve heard a few things.)
One of the best decisions I have ever made in my Survivor-watching career was not to get invested in the Brains tribe. When the twist was first announced, I figured to myself that the Brains wouldn’t win, because everybody else would want to prove they could outwit a Brain. When the cast was first revealed, I looked at it and thought that Luzon was going to implode under their own strategy. Then after the premiere, I supposed that a Matsinging seemed all but inevitable.
Basically, even though they’ve always been my sentimental favorites, I have never seriously entertained hope for this tribe.
The great thing about this is that I don’t really mind when they go to Tribal Council. Forget what I said last week about hoping Beauty lose again, because the Beauty Tribal Council was just depressing television, as I watched them vote out one of the players I actually did pin my hopes on.
Conversely, the Brains are at their best when they’re going to Tribal Council, when they’re trying to figure out just what rationale they’re going to use for the vote this time, and, above all, when they’re parrying Jeff’s disbelief with their own verbal barbs. This might not be the best opening run of episodes ever, but it’s got to be close.
Better yet, it seems that the Brains’ particular vogue for overthinking the game is spilling over onto the other tribes. The title of this week’s blog comes from one of J’Tia’s webclips, where she says of her tribe: “We can strategic [sic] ourselves in circles.” And that’s exactly what each and every tribe did in Cagayan this week.
Beauty – Lessons Learned
There are a few things which we, as a fanbase, feel every Survivor should learn before going out on the show, e.g. how to start and build a fire. To that list, how about we add the basics of chicken farming? This isn’t even the first tribe that’s wondered if they need the rooster to get the hens to lay (more) eggs—it happened in One World too. Hopefully, all future Survivor players have taken in the wisdom passed on by Josh Wigler’s erudite wife.
The worrying thing about this whole sequence is that, so far as I can tell, they never did kill the rooster, which is still alive and merrily consuming its portion of feed. No, they actually killed one of the hens. The show edited events together for speed, but one of LJ’s confessionals explains that the following morning there were no eggs, and since the girls were ‘whining’ for chicken, they decided to kill the one that was looking ‘down and out’.
He does not explain why they chose this chicken over the rooster, but it seems that for all of LJ’s dinosaur egg wisdom, he wasn’t willing to commit to the fact that chickens don’t need roosters to lay eggs.
Let’s pretend we’re going on Survivor and do two minutes of research. Now we know that the rooster was having no effect on egg laying, but the stress of moving to a new place did. We saw the Beauty tribe collect three eggs, which we presume were already in production so to speak, but then the hens needed to settle in before laying any more—a fatal mistake for one of them.
I don’t know how long it could take for hens to start laying again, and it might be that your average Survivor chicken is worth more in meat than in eggs, but the wise player should hedge their bets and kill the rooster first. (Preferably out of sight of the chickens.)
As it turned out, the educational value of the chickens was twofold, as they came with another clue for the immunity idol, which Jeremiah found and read aloud to everybody. I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he thought it might be instructions for caring for the chickens, but it’s still an obvious contrast between Beauty and Tony. So far as I can tell, nobody else was thinking to look for clues. LJ, of course, didn’t need to, and I thought he did a decent job of covering his tracks—I doubt the acting job would have stood up in anybody had been looking at him, but nobody was.
Noticeably absent from that scene was any kind of follow up. I rather expected that somebody would say: “Let’s go find the idol. We’ll use it for the whole tribe!” We didn’t hear so much as a confessional from anybody but LJ, but the rest of the tribe has to be looking out at the rocks and thinking about it. Are people saying airily: “I’m just going to go and look for some clams!” Are people stalking people ‘looking for clams’? Do people genuinely want to look for clams but don’t dare for fear that it will look suspicious?
High on the list of suspects.
It’s probably a good thing for LJ, because at whatever point it becomes common consensus that the idol has been found, there will be any number of other potential culprits. It’s probably a bad thing for Morgan, because she will be high on that list of suspects, especially since the impending Tribal Swap will likely reveal that she had the first clue. It will be interesting to see if any Brawn members pull Morgan aside and use that information as leverage, or if they’ll spill the beans publicly and let the rift grow within the Beauties.
Considering that Morgan is already on the outs with her tribe, it would probably be more beneficial for them to talk to Morgan directly and try to gain some trust with her by offering to keep that a secret—it won’t actually help Morgan, but odds are good that she’d leap to align with somebody who is showing such concern for her best interests.
With or without somebody in her corner, Morgan is going down fighting. Jeremiah had been worried about her reaction after Tribal Council, but he had nothing prepared for it. She did a great job of calling him out in public without ranting, and then following that up with a conversation behind his back where she fed Alexis and LJ some choice tidbits Jeremiah had been saying about them. (It’s possible that Morgan’s story was true, though I think at most, it was probably Brice saying those things and Jeremiah not objecting.)
Alexis wasn’t convinced by what Morgan was saying, but she acknowledged that she had to be wary of Jeremiah afterwards. Sometimes that’s the best a player in Morgan’s position can hope for. It’s definitely terrible news for Jeremiah, who could be in trouble if the swap shuffles him into a tribe with either Morgan or Alexis—his worst case scenario is being with both of them while LJ and Jefra go elsewhere. If Alexis isn’t sure who she can trust on her former tribe, she might well default to new allies.
Last week, we talked about Jeremiah being a potential lifeline for Morgan. Clearly, that’s not how she saw it, but could Jeremiah have been more proactive in making up with her after the vote? He would have had to have been very quick off the mark, and for all we know, there were conversations that went un-aired. But as it stands, it looks like he opted to sit tight and see what happened. This is a good example of why a lot of returning players come back determined to play more aggressively.
The big question is did anybody attempt to make Morgan feel secure in the tribe? Did anybody promise her that she was above somebody else in the pecking order? Tribe swaps are always unpredictable, and Morgan is the weak spot for anybody seeking to break Beauty. Their best hope is that with the merge looming, the Beauties might be considered better allies than targets. Breaking Brawn who have both the numbers and the individual immunity threats should surely be the first priority.
This episode was a revealing one for Aparri dynamics, especially if you combine it with a deleted scene posted online that shows how the Brawn tribe goof around to keep themselves entertained. Sarah was shown doing the classic Survivor gag of pretending to talk into a phone, while Lindsey farted and joked about it. (Not a bad effort, but the Brains are still winning the comedy awards this season.)
A surprising objection to fart jokes.
What surprised me about this scene was how much trouble Tony had with Lindsey’s crassness—in confessional he seemed quite taken aback by how crude all the women on the tribe are. When he tried to tease Lindsey, and she returned in kind, he couldn’t handle it and had to walk off, much to her and Sarah’s amusement. This social discomfort is a side of Tony we haven’t seen before and helps explain how he found himself in the minority on the tribe to start with.
As this happened on day nine, it also shows that, despite believing Tony’s lies, Sarah has maintained a close relationship with Lindsey who seems quite unaware that her friend is plotting against their alliance. That’s a mark in Sarah’s favor, though it’s set against the fact that she has yet to realize Tony is lying!
Last week, I worked on the false assumption that that foursome was two pairs: Woo and Cliff; Sarah and Lindsey. However, we now know that Lindsey and Cliff are very close in their own right. Moreover, Sarah felt confident enough to talk to Woo separately, and Woo actually showed interest in siding with her against Cliff.
That last was the real eye-opener for me, and the point at which Woo exceeded the expectations I had for him over the entire season. I thought he’d be the loyal sidekick, but he seemed to have no difficulty in reconciling his affections for Cliff with his intent to beat him in the game.
Honestly, if I was in the habit of giving out awards to the best player of the episode, I’d seriously consider giving it to Woo this week. Not only was he open to a side-alliance against one of his childhood heroes, but he was also ready to argue down throwing the challenge.
This was where the Brawn tribe went in a complete circle of bizarreness this episode. Throwing an immunity challenge is always a dicey move, but Sarah’s grounds for it came from false information, and then they couldn’t even succeed in throwing the challenge, because the Brains tribe was genuinely that bad.
Setting aside the fact that Tony was lying for the moment, was it right to consider throwing the challenge? I am generally opposed to challenge-throwing, since I feel the risk (losing numbers) usually outweighs the reward (voting off a threat), but there are occasions when I feel it’s merited. China, when Peih-Gee and Jaime threw a challenge to vote off Aaron and save Sherea and Frosti is my favorite example, though they didn’t/couldn’t carry the plan to its fruition.
However, that situation happened after a swap. As the Know It Alls pointed out, Sarah had no reason to think Cliff would turn on her in a swapped tribe situation, as opposed to after the merge. If they had blindsided him, they would only be alienating Lindsey before the swap.
On Twitter, Sarah cited Ozzy and Billy as an example where throwing the challenge worked. I’m not so sure I agree with her… if anything, I’d say it proved the opposite. Ozzy voted Billy off, putting the original Aitutaki tribe at a numbers disadvantage come the subsequent merge to two tribes. While Ozzy lasted to the final four (largely thanks to the mutiny), Cecelia and JP were the first ones gone on their new tribes, and Cristina (Billy’s closest friend) only managed fourteenth place. Trying to placate Billy and help him feel secure might have been the better option.
Of course, this doesn’t apply to Sarah’s situation, because Cliff feels totally secure—she’s the one fearing for her game-life. Sarah might easily have been paranoid that a swap could put her on a tribe with Cliff and Lindsey, and they could offer her as a sacrificial lamb to the new majority. Or she might have expected the show to follow precedent and dissolve Brains between Brawn and Beauty, which could possibly mean Cliff and Lindsey gaining an extra vote to blindside her. Or maybe she was thinking of Tandang, who needed a pre-merge Tribal Council to relieve the pressure.
Regardless, I don’t like the move, but I can understand her motivation—she wants to keep as much control over her game as she can, and that means not waiting for the variables to come into effect. Still, thank goodness for Woo, who ignored Sarah’s request in favor of keeping Brawn at six strong. (It should be noted that Woo didn’t fully commit to voting Cliff off if they lost the challenge either.) Hopefully Sarah will not hold this against him.
When I first watched the episode, I felt Tony was at even greater fault for letting this plan go ahead when he knew Cliff was loyal. However, Twitter revealed that there was a simple reason for Tony’s permissiveness. He didn’t know they were throwing the challenge.
Back in the first episode, when Sarah willingly took on that starting line leadership, we learned that she wasn’t comfortable putting her game in the hands of others. I thought this meant that she would quickly ferret out Tony’s lie because she was bound to talk to the other players. I wasn’t entirely wrong: she didn’t fact check Tony, but nor did she sit and wait for him to pass on information and strategies.
Judging by his reaction when he saw her talking to Woo, Tony hadn’t bargained on this. While no doubt his initial concern was that Woo would debunk his story about Cliff, once he realized he hadn’t, he got excited that a ripple effect was starting from his lie and he now had an alliance of four—he was in the majority for the first time.
As great as that is, Tony should have been keeping Sarah under close observation after her display of initiative. Not satisfied with getting Woo in her corner, Sarah started strategizing with Trish—the woman Tony had intended to keep in his back pocket. Tony should be the filter between the two women, making sure that each is closest to him. Instead, the two women came up with a plan independently and they didn’t even tell him about it! I’m not so sure it’s Tony who has this new four-strong alliance.
Cliff tweeted that he never realized they were throwing the challenge either, which means Sarah still has her original alliance of four intact and loyal to her, even if she doesn’t know it. She then has a second, secret, majority alliance: Woo, who is closest to her, Tony who has made an endgame pact with her (probably won’t honor it, but they’re tight for now, and Trish who is willing to make plans with her behind Tony’s back.
Sarah remains the lynchpin of her tribe.
Any way you look at it, Sarah remains the lynchpin of her tribe and is certainly more popular than Tony. Here’s a puzzler for fans of the game: a Sarah/Tony final two scenario, where everything Sarah did was predicated on Tony’s lie… but Sarah was the one who did it. My money would be on Sarah to get the win, but who deserves it? Who is outplaying who?
Certainly, right now, I would say that Trish and Sarah are both viewing Tony as a potential finals goat, probably each believing that he is loyal to her above the other woman. Sarah also has Woo as an extra vote and potentially a voice of sanity. In a tribal swap, I think Sarah could be her own worst enemy if she ends up on a tribe with Cliff and/or Lindsey and feels like she needs to flip on them. If she’s lucky, she’ll have Woo as well, since he will almost certainly counsel her against it, and he remains her best chance of discovering Tony’s mendacity.
However even if Sarah and Woo are together, there’s nothing to stop Tony or Trish turning traitor. (They benefit more directly by Brawn fracturing anyway.) The biggest question I have going into the swap is will Brawn stay strong to keep their numbers advantage at the merge?
After blazing her trail through the game, J’Tia finally went home this week. For somebody so wholly unsuited to Survivor, she was a great character, and her story provided a dramatic arc for this three tribe stage of the game, much as Garrett’s rise and fall tied together the double episode premiere. It would most assuredly be a mistake for all concerned for J’Tia to make a return appearance, but I am very glad she was there in Cagayan. (Certain members of Luzon may have a different view.)
I was personally disappointed with her terse and defensive approach to her RHAP interview. After listening to her in confessionals and Tribal Council, I was looking forward to her being a lively and funny podcast guest, but it seems it was not to be. If anybody is still confused as to why I’m a J’Tia fan, I will have to point you to her in-game take on rice and on brains.
The question everybody’s been discussing this week is whether or not it was a good idea for Kass and Tasha to vote off J’Tia instead of Spencer, when precedent suggests that there will be a tribal swap next episode. As much as Spencer proclaimed his loyalty, it’s tough to believe he’s got any reason to be loyal to the others. I’m largely with the Know It Alls on this one, and both Rob and Stephen expanded in their own blogs on the matter. Spencer might be disloyal, but they’ve got as many options as he has, and probably less of a target.
The rational player
Conversely, J’Tia’s unpredictable behavior could wreck their chances to build a new alliance. Spencer was dead on at Tribal Council when he suggested unpredictability amounts to much the same thing as disloyalty—that’s exactly why I’m always against aligning with the wild card. Spencer has struggled with his temper (with due provocation), but he’s a lot more laid back than J’Tia, and he’s played a submissive game up until this point, first following Garrett’s lead and now meekly going along with the girls. As I said last week, Kass and Tasha might see him as a more malleable player than we do.
Besides, as a rational player it should certainly be expected that Spencer would want to stick with his numbers (and what’s effectively a final three deal) rather than tag onto the bottom of another alliance. The smart move for him now is not to ditch Tasha and Kass but to try and pick up a couple of extra allies of his own to team up with the Brains trio come the merge. He can use those to create a power shift within the alliance getting himself into the safe, lynchpin spot.
In Kass’ case, as well, it makes a lot more sense to get rid of J’Tia who has that day one bond with Tasha. Not being the third wheel to another pair was probably the main reason she went with Tasha the previous Tribal Council—we shouldn’t forget that the deal Tasha offered her at the time was that J’Tia would go next.
The fact that Tasha kept wavering on their decision to vote her off should have made Kass even more certain that J’Tia should be the one to go. (Like Josh Wigler, I am of the opinion that the Tribal Council whispering was probably Tasha’s indecision and Kass telling her to stick with the plan.)
One thing I do want to stress is that Tasha and Kass are taking very different approaches to the game. Lumping them together for the purpose of analysis is an oversimplification. They might be making the same decisions, but they have different motivations for doing so, and they should be judged by those individually.
Keeping the conversation to herself.
Curiously, and frustratingly, we didn’t see much of Spencer’s attempts to save himself. I find it hard to believe that he didn’t do any one-on-one scrambling. When Kass first declared that they should keep Spencer and J’Tia thinking that Spencer was going home (breaking the season’s trend of notifying the intended boot!) I did wonder if this was to keep Tasha from talking to Spencer, so that all his communication was coming through Kass. There’s nothing to suggest that was the case, but if they really did leave him so absolutely out of the loop, that’s shocking gameplay, especially when they want him to remain loyal.
I’m hoping very much that somebody gave Spencer the head’s up before Tribal Council, even if he was wary of believing it—his comment about them patting him on the back did sound like he received confirmation it would be J’Tia going. It didn’t have to be from Kass; he has a day one alliance with Tasha, after all. However, lately, the only functional relationship we’ve had evidence of on the Brains Tribe is Kass and Tasha’s, and even that is strained.
Tasha’s online confessional this week is a despairing rant about her tribe’s challenge performance. She’s always been involved in individual athletics, and she’s struggling with depending on other players (plural) who aren’t committed to winning. She doesn’t name names, but she’s not talking about Spencer.
Kass has a follow up to that, where she talks about the difference between Tasha and herself, how she is much more focused on taking care of the players, describing Tasha as the coach barking orders and herself as the soccer mom handing out oranges.
(At one point, when Kass is talking about Tasha’s insistence on making everybody practice with blindfolds, she asks, “What if one of us got hurt doing that?” I’m glad it didn’t happen, but wouldn’t it have been the perfect cap to Luzon’s challenge failures if one of them got med-evaced from a practice session?)
This Kass and Tasha dynamic reminds me of myself and my husband, and we’ll be celebrating ten years of marriage come September, so it could actually be a great and very effective relationship. (Perhaps I’m biased in thinking my marriage is awesome, but let’s roll with it.) However, the current climate of challenge losses is not easy on them as a pair or the tribe as a whole.
Stop accepting defeat.
Whereas on Matsing, the repeated losses forged a near unbreakable bond between Malcolm and Denise, the alliances on Luzon seem to be the weaker for it. Kass and J’Tia tend to an attitude of: “We lost, we can’t change that, let’s move on.” Tasha and Spencer are more of the philosophy that they need to stop accepting defeat. That’s creating conflict.
Kass’ other confessional was on how nobody else on the tribe was interested in working, while she felt they should always be doing something to improve their camp. As with everything else, she seems resigned to it, but it’s yet another cause for division. (As LJ had much the same complaint regarding the girls on his tribe, I am rooting for him and Kass to end up together after the swap.)
Ultimately, the most important factor when it came to the last vote was the relationship that either of the older women had with Spencer, and that’s what we haven’t seen. We don’t really know how any of them feel about each other on an emotional level; on a strategic level, it’s not clear if anybody respects anybody else’s game.
Much as I liked J’Tia, I was relieved that Kass and Tasha decided to stick with Spencer. Whether or not it made strategic sense to vote him off, it would have been very hard to see somebody go when they effectively had to do the whole immunity challenge by themselves. (At least Cliff had Woo on his side.) While players often claim they were the only person of use in the challenge, I don’t think anybody has ever had more cause to do so than Spencer.
The problem with that challenge was the emphasis it had not just on swimming, but swimming underwater, and as it turned out, the Brains tribe had ended up with three of the weakest swimmers left in the game. J’Tia was the worst of them, but they couldn’t simply adopt their usual policy of putting J’Tia where she would cause minimal damage, because Kass and Tasha weren’t much better at diving down under the water.
It shouldn’t be possible for me to say that had I been in a challenge, the tribe would have won, but for this one, I’m saying it. I’m not the fastest swimmer and I don’t think I’ve done front crawl in Spencer’s lifetime, but I’m comfortable in the water and I know how to dive down and stay down.
Future Survivor contestants, when you’re done brushing up your knowledge of chicken-care, go to a swimming pool and learn how to turn yourself upside down so that the weight of your legs drives your buoyant torso to the bottom of the pool. (Think how Woo was all but doing a handstand as he untied his buoys.) It’s a relatively easy trick to master, and there’s really not a lot of skill or stamina involved in retrieving objects from less than ten feet down. Fear of drowning is always going to be a difficulty, but swimming skill shouldn’t be.
At any rate, had Spencer not had to get four of the five buoys, getting out of the water to tag off to himself each time, it’s seems all but certain that Brawn would have succeeded in losing the challenge. Thus, if Garrett had still been around, the Brains would still be four-strong. It’s less certain that they’d have performed better at the previous immunity challenge, but I don’t think Beauty were ever going to finish that maze.
What if Garrett had stayed?
So we essentially have confirmation that if Garrett had stayed over J’Tia on day six, the tribal swap would be happening on a 5-5-4 ratio, with the Brains’ minority being much less significant. This is a great opportunity for a retrospective on Kass and Tasha’s original decision to save J’Tia. On the podcast this week, we had an interesting contrast between the guests when Coach was advocating for staying strong and winning challenges, while Josh theorized that a Matsinging had its advantages. Which of them is right, at least when it comes to Luzon?
(Before we start, let’s be strictly fair and note that Kass wanted to vote off J’Tia on day three, and it was Garrett and Spencer pushing to vote off David. Had they kept David, the Brains probably wouldn’t have lost another challenge, and Beauty would be down two members. However, for the purposes of this analysis, we’ll keep the ‘what if’ to the second vote.)
So what if Kass had voted with Garrett and Spencer, and J’Tia had gone home? Clearly, this would have been much better for Garrett who would still be in the game. As I noted at the time, his stock was low on his tribe, and we don’t really know how well he would have done in recovering from that. I kind of think that the loss of the rice would have been a much bigger issue, since Garrett was already struggling with the starvation. Unlike J’Tia, he needn’t accept the blame for the rice going home, but I don’t doubt that Kass and Tasha would have continued saying he was partially responsible.
Ironically, it would potentially have been a much more turbulent camp without the person who poured out the rice. Without any idea of Garrett’s true social range, it’s hard to predict if they could have reached an accord.
Spencer at least would have been in a much better position, since he was already distancing himself from Garrett at that Tribal Council, showing himself as the one sympathetic to the women’s grievances. He would have had a secure place in the alliance, Garrett as a shield, and, had he any sense, he could have fostered his relationships with both Kass and Tasha, promising that at the final four, they’d vote Garrett off and go to the final Tribal together. If successful at that last, he would be entering the tribal swap in the strongest possible position from the tribe of four. Spencer was absolutely right to vote for J’Tia and not Garrett.
Kass and Tasha’s respective positions are less certain. Would the two have forged an underdog bond or would they have been too busy jockeying for third place? Either or both of them might have been going into the swap looking for another alliance. Or perhaps private conversations would have given each of them comfort that they were in the top three.
The most notable improvement to their fortunes in sticking with Garrett would have been the greater numbers. The more tribemates/allies you have, the greater chance that you will be in a safe position after a shuffle. If I’m going to give Sarah grief for throwing a challenge, I have to give Kass and Tasha grief for throwing away the numbers advantage they could have had.
However, it’s important to bear in mind that this is in retrospect. At the time, Kass and Tasha could not be confident that they would not lose another challenge regardless of who went home, and they certainly couldn’t have anticipated Beauty’s failure with the maze or Brawn’s decision to throw a challenge. They had to cast their vote in consideration of what would happen in the event of a third Tribal Council—all of which I covered in my first blog for the season.
For Tasha there was the added hope that she could keep J’Tia through to a swap, either by not losing another challenge or convincing Kass to let her go back on their deal. It didn’t pay off, but it was worth a try.
For Kass, we now know that she developed a good working relationship with Tasha, likely better than any she could have had with Garrett. Tass respected Kass’ opinions, asked for advice on the vote and took it. Perhaps Kass didn’t choose between keeping Garrett or J’Tia, so much as she chose between working with Garrett or Tasha. In that respect, she absolutely made the right call.
Kass’s confessional states that her prime focus is not to be voted out. She does not mention making the tribe a strong, cohesive unit. Overall, I don’t think that voting Garrett off helped the tribe to get past its social rifts, even if it probably didn’t make them any worse. Maybe the reason Kass and Tasha were willing to take the risk with Spencer’s loyalty is because they’re not expecting their original tribe to figure in their long term game plans anyway. (Though I hope not. Even if you’ve not got the ideal alliance, you need to work with what you have.)
What does this mean for Coach and Josh’s differing views? Well, the short answer is absolutely nothing. A sample size of one tribe isn’t representative! I think a strong alliance is always the desirable option, but every tribe is going to have a different social breakdown, and for individuals, it does not help to support a strong alliance that you’re not a part of.
Either way, it is with a heavy heart that I bid farewell to Luzon. You’ve been the most amazing ride, and the new tribes have got one hell of a lot to live up to.
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By day, Sarah Channon is a stay at home mum; by night (or at least early evening), she’s an internet writer. I would love to take the discussion further: comment or tweet! Twitter: @ChannonSarah
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on December 7, 2022
on December 7, 2022
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Our final day Italy was a little unexpected. We had planned to catch an early train to Pisa, spend a couple of hours at the leaning tower, and then take the train up to the highest town in Cinque Terre and hike down.
The day started off promisingly, we caught at 8am train to Pisa and got there before it was too crazy with tourists.
We didn't have to wait in line at all to climb to the top of the tower, which believe me, is a trippy experience! Because it leans so far you have very little sense of equilibrium as you climb in a circle around the perimeter of the town, half the time leaning left, and the other half of the time leaning right.
The climb wasn't nearly as tedious as the duomo in Florence, but the view was still great!
The tower's shadow from above
leaning tower smooches!
the bells.
ps. I am no longer that tan or skinny!
After 15 minutes or so on the tower, we had to move for the next group.
We had to get some goofy pics, so we found a couple girls from NC State [it's such a relief to find an American when you travel abroad!] and swapped cameras to take pictures like this
We grabbed a quick bite, since we heard there was very little to do in Pisa other than the plaza, and headed back to the train to Cinque Terre.
After waiting at the depot for close to an hour, we went back to the ticket desk to ask where the train to Cinque Terre was...and found out through broken English that the train was cancelled due to a train wreck on the tracks north of Pisa. We were told we could still use our Eurail passes to get on a bus. We wandered Pisa somewhat frantically to find the bus station and finally made it and squished onto a tour bus which we hoped was destined for the coast.
2.5 hours later we arrived in Cinque Terre after a crazy bus ride through the countryside stopping in several towns. When we finally realized that the train wreck wouldn't be cleared up by the evening, we knew we had to leave at least 3.5 hours to get back to Florence, which left us with about 2 hours in Cinque Terre (a 6 hour hike).
I was so disappointed, we were crabby from hours of travel, and tired. So we stopped in the first city (would have been the last if we'd have hiked down), Rio Maggiore and decided to just make the best of the few hours we had.
And after walking out to the coast...we realized it wouldn't be sooo bad
The afternoon started out pretty overcast
Cinque Terre is a vacation spot for the locals, so we saw very few tourists. Most Italians take extensive time off (usually a month) in August, so the first week of July was very quiet!
We found a quiet rocky beach, and sunned for a bit. We brought bathing suits, but no towels or dry clothes, so I wasn't sure I wanted to dive in
we lounged, ate lots of gelato and hiked up and down the trail to dry off after our dip
We had another crazy bus ride back, but I was super impressed with my new husband's foreign-country direction skills. We made it back safely and tucked in our last night in Florence!
Posted by Katie at 4:00 AM
8 comments:
Heidi said...
Looks beautiful! Sorry your day didn't go as planned, but at least you made the best of it! :)
April 6, 2010 at 9:39 AM
Looks amazing - breathtaking really!
Oh, and I found a new flower fields coupon for you!
April 6, 2010 at 9:45 AM
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
April 6, 2010 at 10:13 PM
Just stumbled across your blog from The Bobby Pin, and I love it! These pictures are breathtaking! What an amazing, amazing honeymoon!
April 6, 2010 at 11:42 PM
Brandi said...
I love the leaning tower pics. I've seen a few and yours are the best by far :)
April 7, 2010 at 10:29 AM
Katie said...
So cute! It seems like it turned out to be a nice day after all! You two are so adorable! I'm very jealous! I'm so intimidated by traveling abroad b/c I don't speak any foreign languages, but I so badly want to go to France, Italy, Greece, etc- this makes me want to go even more!
April 7, 2010 at 1:32 PM
this is so cute! your leaning-tower photos are adorable!!!!
April 16, 2010 at 9:10 AM
my husband and I (when we were dating) studied abroad in Italy! Wasn't it just the most marvelous place on Earth. I loved every second of it. Looks like you guys had a blast!
| 4,369 |
FILE - People protesting against human trafficking and slavery raise their fists during a demonstration in Mexico City, Oct. 14, 2017.
share
Computer giant IBM Corp., financial services company Western Union
Co. and European police launched a project Thursday to share financial data that they said may one day be able to predict human trafficking before it occurs.
The shared data hub will collect information on money moving around the world and compare it with known ways that traffickers move their illicit gains, highlighting red flags signaling potential trafficking, organizers said.
"We will build and aggregate that material, using IBM tools, into an understanding of hot spots and routes and trends," said Neil Giles, a director at global anti-slavery group Stop the Traffik, which is participating in the project.
Data collection, digital tools and modern technology are the latest weapons in the fight against human trafficking, estimated to be a $150 billion-a-year global business, according to the International Labor Organization.
The U.N. has set a goal of 2030 for ending forced labor and modern slavery worldwide, with more than 40 million people estimated to be enslaved around the world.
Certain patterns and suspicious activity might trigger a block of a transaction or an investigation into possible forced labor or sex slavery, organizers said.
The project will utilize IBM's internet cloud services as well as artificial intelligence and machine learning to compare data and to spot specific trafficking terms, said Sophia Tu, director of IBM Corporate Citizenship.
With a large volume of high-quality data, the hub one day may predict trafficking before it happens, she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
"You can't do it today because we're in the process of building out that amount of data and those capabilities, but it's in the road map for what we want to do," she said.
While law enforcement is teaming up with banks and data specialists to chase trafficking, experts have cautioned that it can be a cat-and-mouse game in which traffickers quickly move on to new tactics to elude capture.
Also, less than 1 percent of the estimated $1.5 trillion-plus laundered by criminals worldwide each year through the financial system is frozen or confiscated, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.
Along with IBM and Western Union, participants include Europol, Europe's law enforcement agency; telecommunications giant Liberty Global; and British banks Barclays and Lloyds, organizers said.
| 2,610 |
If you enjoyed reading this series, check out these other great Wizard101 Fan Fiction series by our creative Wizards!
Something totally unexpected happened to me today. This was stranger than anything I’d ever witnessed before. It was even more surprising then the time that John couldn’t move anymore because I’d glared at him, or the time that the snowman came to life because I’d been thinking about Frosty. It was even stranger then the day that the public swimming pool turned into an ice skating rink because I had wished for it. No, it was even more astonishing than all those things combined. Well, to start, have you ever heard of Ravenwood School? ….. No? Well then, maybe I should start from the beginning.
It was a cool fall day in October. I was sitting outside of the orphanage. The cold never seemed to bother me. Since I was an orphan, I never knew my last name. All that the owners of the orphanage will tell me is that they found me alone by the ocean. That is why they named me Sierra. It’s like “Sea” and “arra” combined. They said they never knew how I’d gotten there, but they thought that I must have been abandoned. So, they took me in.
Even though the owners of this place are nice, I’ve never felt at home here. The other kids always make fun of me. They call me a “freak” because of the strange things that happen to me. I hate this place. So, as usual, I was alone. Outside I was looking at the orange leaves on the beautiful trees. Almost all the leaves were gone now, because it was getting very close to winter time. I sighed and thought all about the things that have happened to me before. Earlier I had accidentally “turned the refrigerator into a freezer”. Somehow the temperature in there had gone from 40 degrees Fahrenheit to negative 40 degrees Fahrenheit. I had gotten blamed and sent away from the kitchen. I wasn’t allowed in there until tomorrow morning, meaning I couldn’t have any dinner. So I was hungry, tired, and dismal. As I was looking up at the setting sun, I noticed something strange. There was an owl in the tree in front of me.
Of course owls aren’t anything supernatural. But they were unusual to see around here. In fact, I thought it was impossible for them to be even near here. But there he was, sitting calmly on a branch. His giant eyes were staring right at me. Even though I knew he was just an owl and couldn’t hurt me, I squirmed uncomfortably. He almost seemed to be examining me. Maybe he was just afraid that I would hurt him. But somehow, I felt like there was intelligence behind those observant owl eyes. I stood up and began to walk toward him.
He stood stationary and continued observing me.
“Shoo!” I said. He just cocked his head to one side and kept staring.
“What are you doing here? Go away!”
Then, he suddenly straightened up and quickly looked around. Then he cleared his throat. Yes, an owl cleared his throat! Then, he began talking:
“Are you the one they call Sierra?” He (or should I say it) said.
I don’t know why, but I answered him. “Maybe. Why are you wondering? And who are you?”
The owl flew down to the ground in front of me. I jumped, guessing he would hurt me. All it did was laugh and replied “I am Gamma, Headmaster Ambrose’s pet. I need you to come with me.”
“What!” I exclaimed. None of this was making any sense at all. Who was “Headmaster Ambrose”? I decided that this must be a dream. None of this was possible.
“Well,” said the owl, “I suppose I’m getting ahead of myself. I guess I just forgot what world I am on…”
World? Oh yes, this was definitely a dream.
I think my heart skipped a beat. “A…a wizard?” I repeated. “That’s not possible!” Then I reminded myself that anything was possible in a dream. But when had I fallen asleep?
“Yes, a very talented wizard in fact. Or at least, I’m guessing you are. The headmaster wouldn’t have accepted you into our school if you weren’t.”
“A school? You mean with other wizards?” Now I was beginning to wonder if this were a trick. It seemed like the perfect thing that John would think of to prove that I was a freak. It all sounded a lot like Harry Potter.
“Yes. It is called Ravenwood School. You are very lucky, Sierra. It is the most prestigious school in all of Wizard City. So, I need you to teleport with me to-“
“Teleport?” Oh, I’d love to see how John did that. Because I had now convinced myself that it was his doing.
“Yes, teleport,” said the owl impatiently. “Will you hold onto my wing?”
“Come on!” The owl laughed. “It’s completely safe, I assure you.”
So, I grasped hold of the mysterious animal’s wing and suddenly, the world around me was gray and looked as if I were inside of a hurricane. It was windy too, and yet strangely relaxing. It almost looked like we were in a tube of wind. And suddenly, my feet touched solid ground, and I was in some sort of office. There was an old man who, coincidentally, was dressed as a wizard, complete with a snow white beard. “Hello!” He greeted.
“Of course not.”
Now I was back to thinking it was a dream. What was going on?
“Now Sierra, answer these questions and we will decide which type of wizard you are.”
I curiously peered at the book he had placed in front of me. It was labeled “Book of Secrets” and was brown and old. I opened it. Inside, there were questions and a couple of answers. When I answered them all, the old man took the book from me and said, “Well, it turns out that you’re ice! That means that you will be taught by Professor Greyrose.”
Ice? Apparently he knew me well. It did make sense that I would be ice, because I did all those strange things that seemed to be related with ice.
“I guess now we should take you to your family…”
Now my heart had stopped. That couldn’t be right. Even in a dream, that seemed impossible. I couldn’t have a family. It just didn’t make sense. I must have heard wrong.
“Excuse me,” I said to the old man. “What did you say?”
“I said your family!”
“That’s what I thought. Um, but sir-“
“Oh, we haven’t been properly introduced, have we? I am Merle Ambrose, Headmaster of Ravenwood School.”
“Oh, well I’m Sierra. And as I was saying, Mister Ambrose-“
“Please call me Professor Ambrose.”
“Ok!”I exclaimed, because he kept interrupting. “Well ‘Professor Ambrose’ I was going to say that I think you’re mistaken. I don’t have a family. I’m an orphan.”
“An orphan? Well goodness, is that what you thought? I guess we have much to explain to you, don’t we.
Well then, sit down. This could take a while.”
I sat in a big blue chair across from his desk. Then he began:
“Sierra, all I am going to tell you today is just what we think. We can’t be completely sure. When you were younger, you loved to use teleporting magic. Only at 6 days old you had learned how to teleport an entire mile! So, we believe that you somehow teleported yourself all the way to the world called Earth. We had no idea where you were for the longest time. We only discovered you just a few months ago! Even though your parents had another daughter, Rowan, they still never forgot you, the baby who they never got to even name.”
“So wait. Even after I was born they still hadn’t named me?”
“No, but since they heard that the people at the orphanage had named you Sierra, they decided to keep that name.”
“Wow,” I breathed. “Well where are they?”
“They are at their home of course! Why would they be here? They don’t even know that you have arrived.”
“Oh. When can I meet them?”
“After you meet all your teachers.”
So, Headmaster Ambrose sent me on a “quest” and I met all the teachers. There were so many new sights to see! I met the storm, balance, fire, life, myth, and of course the ice professor. I also found out that the poor death school had fallen into a giant hole. Since I felt sorry for them, I decided to use the training point I’d received earlier to learn the Dark Sprite spell. When I finally finished, I went back to the old guy and he finally told me the location of my family’s house. He teleported there with me. When he opened the door, a man with brown hair opened the door. He wore long white robes and dark blue shoes. He smiled a warm smile at the headmaster. “Hello, Merle.” Then he looked at me. “Oh, is this your newest student?”
“Yes, but she’s more than that.”
“What do you mean?” Then his eyes lit up. “You can’t possibly be…” He turned around. “Angela! Oh Angela, come here! And Rowan too!” He turned around. “You’re Sierra, right? Sierra Winterbreeze?”
“Well if you’re my Sierra then your last name is Winterbreeze. What school are you? Life? Ice? Or something completely different?”
Just then two people appeared beside him. One of them was a woman who could possibly be my mom. She had light blonde hair and wore light green robes with a darker green trim. Next to her was a young girl a little bit younger than me. She was also wearing green robes, but her robes were trimmed with a silver color. “Who’s that?” she asked.
“Rowan,” her (and apparently my) dad said with a smile, “this is your sister, Sierra Winterbreeze.”
She looked at me and gasped. After taking in my appearance, she walked over to me awkwardly and smiled an uncomfortable smile. “I’m Rowan Willowleaf,” she said.
“Willowleaf? Don’t you mean Winterbreeze? She is my sister, correct?”
“Yes, she is,” answered Professor Ambrose. “But unlike in the world called Earth, wizards do not always have the same last names as each other.”
“Oh.” Then I turned and asked, “So what are my parent’s last names?”
“Your mother here is Angela Unicornrider. And I am Caleb Frostsong. What school are you? Your sister and mother are life, but I’m ice.” Then he glanced at my clothes. “If you’re ice, I can get you some normal clothes.” I was still wearing blue jeans and a purple T-shirt from Earth.
“I’m ice,” I replied.
He smiled the biggest smile I’d ever seen. He turned to his wife and second born daughter. “Did you hear that? We finally have another ice wizard in the house!” He was obviously very excited. He turned back to me.
”Come on inside. I’ll give you some clothes and show you where you will sleep.” I followed him inside and he took me into a small room. It was dusty, but cozy.
“Here,” he said as he sat down on the bed. “I know it’s a little dirty, but it will work, right?”
I joined him on the bed. “Yeah, it’s fine. Where are those clothes you were talking about?”
“Oh right!” He stooped over a wooden chest that was in the corner of the room. He took out two robes that were white trimmed with purple. But they obviously weren’t made for young girls like me. They actually looked like they belonged to an older man.
“Um, they’re boy clothes.”
“Yes, I hoped you wouldn’t mind for now. They are from when I was a boy, just after I’d graduated from Ravenwood. Are they okay?”
“Great,” I mumbled, “Not only am I going to be wearing boy’s clothes on day one, but I’ll be wearing outdated clothes as well.” Of course I didn’t say that to him. All I did was pick them up and I put them on.
“Good.” He grinned. “Now you’re ready for classes.”
“Classes?”
“Yes. You only have a short time to see Professor Greyrose today, but maybe it’ll be long enough for you to learn Frost Beetle.”
“Oh, you mean those kinds of classes? I took some of those from Malorn Ashthorn today.”
“You mean the student who teaches the death school? What were you training there for?”
“I felt bad for their school so I used my training point to learn Dark Sprite. I didn’t get it much. Pretty much all that happened was that he summoned a fairy thing and handed me these cards.”
“The death school. I can’t believe you decided to train second in the death school! Your mother and sister are both life, and therefore they despise the death school! Your mother won’t be happy about this.”
“Sorry! Why do they hate death?”
“Oh.” I didn’t like that. I had really enjoyed meeting Professor Falmea today.
He sighed. “What’s been done has been done and we can’t change that. But I’d better tell your mother. Angela!” He called.
Within a minute, Rowan and our mom appeared at the door. “What is it?”
“Guess who just decided to train second in death?”
Then Angela (or should I start calling her mom?) glared at me and asked “It wasn’t you, was it?”
“I’m sorry! I didn’t know!”
Rowan was looking at me wide eyed. “You decided to train second in death? Wow, that’s totally awesome!” Then Angela glared at her. “Um, I mean, you should be ashamed of yourself. Death is terrible and evil.” She rolled her eyes and glanced at her mom. Angela just smiled at her encouragingly. When Rowan looked at me again, no longer did she appear uncomfortable. Now she just looked curious and maybe even a little respectful.
“You’d better get going anyway. You don’t want to get a detention on your first day of school!”
So, I went back to the ice school. I was late because for most of the day I had been on Earth or meeting teachers or getting to know my new family. Classes had started hours ago. When I came in, I immediately noticed that the entire room was blue or white. The walls were decorated with snowflakes, and even the other wizards clothes were white, blue, or purple. At the front of the classroom, Professor Greyrose was drawing something on the board that looked like a big circle with little swirl marks coming off of it. When she saw me (which actually took about a minute because she was so absorbed in teaching) she smiled and said, “Hello Sierra Winterbreeze! Welcome to ice class.” She turned to the other students. “Everyone, say hello to Sierra. She is a new student in this Novice Ice Magic class.”
Everyone mumbled “Hello Sierra” before they returned back to doing whatever they had been doing. It looked like they were waving sticks around.
“Well Sierra, have you gotten your wand yet?”
“Um, I’m supposed to have a wand?”
“Yes. I guess that means you don’t have one yet. Here, I have a few.” Then, after rummaging through some of the stuff in her desk, she pulled out a black handled “wand” with a pretty white gem on the top. I held it in my hand. I tried to wave it around, and little snowflakes fell off of it.
“Now that you have your wand, you can take a seat. Go ahead, chose anywhere you want.”
I sat at the back where no one else was sitting. I guessed here wouldn’t be any different from the orphanage. I was used to people calling me weird, so this feeling of loneliness wasn’t new to me. But here, I wasn’t a freak. The people nearest to me were accidentally freezing their desk or giving their friends frostbite. It resembled the things I had done on Earth.
“Ok Sierra,” said Professor Greyrose, “Right now we are trying to make the ice symbol in the air. The ice symbol is on the board over there.” She pointed to the circle she had drawn. “The first person who manages to make it gets to learn Frost Beetle first!”
“Um, alright, but how do I do that? I don’t even know how to do any kind of magic!”
“Just focus your energy and think about what you have to do.”
I groaned in frustration as Professor Greyrose walked back to her desk. First, I tried to draw a circle in the air with my hand. Nothing happened. Then, I decided that I would use the wand and make the snowflakes come out again and try to get them to form a circle. But when I waved the wand again, no snowflakes would fall. I wanted to scream. I glanced around the room and tried to see if anyone else had any good ideas. But everyone seemed to be having as much trouble as I was. Some were even saying random words to make it appear. I guessed that might work, so I tried all the Earth wizard words I could remember. “Hocus Pocus! Abracadabra! Alakazam! Um, uh, I don’t know! Magicy icy thingy!” I finally realized that it wasn’t going to work. So, just then I remembered what my teacher had said to me: “Just focus your energy and think about what you have to do.” So, I grabbed my wand, closed my eyes, thought about the ice symbol, and tried to trace it in the air with my wand.
I heard a strange noise that reminded me of a blizzard. When I opened my eyes again, in front of me was a floating blue sign that looked exactly like the one on the board! I had done it!
“Well done Sierra! You did it!” exclaimed Professor Greyrose. All the other kids turned around to stare at me. I blushed. “Since you have done so marvelously, why don’t you come up here and show the other kids how to do it?”
What? I had to come up in front of the class? This wasn’t mentioned! Still, I didn’t want to get in trouble on my first day here, so I stood up reluctantly and placed myself in front of the Professor’s desk.
“Um, well, ok…” I began. “I, um, think that all I did was close my eyes and trace the symbol in the air.”
“No way! That can’t be true. I tried that and it didn’t work” called out one boy in the second row.
“You have to focus you energy on it.”
All the other kids began to try, and they found out that they could do it too. Professor Greyrose was beaming. After everyone had managed to do it, our teacher taught me how to do the first ice spell: frost beetle.
When I was walking out the door, I accidentally ran into a girl wearing a completely white robe with a blue hat and blue shoes. “Sorry!” I exclaimed.
“Oh no, it’s not your fault. I should have been watching where I was going. I’m sorry.”
Wow, that was a surprise to me! If this had happened back on Earth, the other kid would have started yelling right away. For someone to apologize for running into me was a huge difference!
“What’s your name?” I questioned.
“I’m Jasmine Iceflame. Your name is Sierra Winterbreeze, right? I thought you did a wonderful job at showing the class how to make the ice symbol.”
“Thank you.” I smiled at her. This girl was really nice!
“I guess I will see you in classes tomorrow then, right?”
“Actually, no. I graduated to Apprentice Ice Magic today. I will be taking those classes tomorrow.” “Oh,” I said sadly. “Well, I hope you have fun in your new class tomorrow.”
“I hope you have a good time in Novice Ice Magic as well. Good luck!”
“You too. Goodbye!”
“Bye!”
After school, I walked back to my new house with Rowan. I had found her waiting outside my classroom after I got out from class. I found out that Rowan didn’t always like the life school. She said that hardly any of her spells actually hit anything. They all healed. “I normally have to rely on my secondary school, fire,” she explained.
“Fire?” I asked, surprised. “How on earth did you get your father to agree to that?”
“Well, my mother thought that it would be a great school for me. So, after a lot of arguing, my dad finally agreed. And by the way, what is ‘Earth’?”
“Oh yeah, I forgot that you wouldn’t know that. Sorry. What are you going to do after school? I am probably going to do my homework, which is practicing making the ice symbol in the air and trying to improve the aim of my frost beetle. Do you have homework?”
“Not tonight. I’ll probably go to Triton Avenue to finishing up helping some of the people there.”
“Triton Avenue? Where’s that?”
“It’s in a gate in Olde Town. But you can’t go in there yet.”
“Why not?”
“You aren’t a high enough level.”
“Oh. What level do you have to be?”
“I don’t know. I’m level 8 and you’re level 1. So obviously, you must be at least my level to get in there.”
“Because level doesn’t matter how old you are. It only depends on how much magic you know.”
“Aww, that’s not fair!”
“Yes it is. I know Leprechaun, Imp, Legend Shield and Unicorn. I even know Fire Cat and Fire Elf and Glacial Shield. All you know is Frost Beetle and Dark Sprite! You wouldn’t be able to defend yourself against the monsters there. But I have heard that Unicorn Way needs help. Higher levels like me are too busy to deal with small low level monsters like the ones in Unicorn Way. Maybe you can go there to start.” Then Rowan had to stop talking, because we were at our house. That night, I was lying in my new bed when my mother came up. She smiled at me lying there. I smiled back. “Are you comfortable?” she asked.
“Yes, these sheets are nice and warm,” I answered.
“Well, just tell us if you need anything, sweetheart.” Then, she leaned over and kissed me on the forehead as if I were just a little girl. But I didn’t mind, because I had never been kissed by my mother before. I loved the feeling.
“Goodnight, Sierra.”
“Goodnight Ange- I mean, Mom.”
And before she left, I thought to myself, if this is a dream, then it sure is the greatest one I have ever had.
The Wizard101 Fan Fiction Archive is where we showcase the wonderful adventure stories of Wizards like you! Please read our game fan fiction submission guidelines to submit your Wizard story. You must include a Title and Character Name for Author. If you are under 13 years of age, ask your parent or guardian for permission to send us your story.
| 21,219 |
There have been rumors floating around for a few weeks that the French Military had chosen the HK416 (piston AR) over the FN SCAR-16 as their next service rifle. I haven’t commented on it publicly since frankly, I have zero connections in the French Ministry of Defense. Hell! Is that what it is even actually called?
See what I mean?
FAMAS Bullpup Rifle
Well…now it seems multiple reputable sources in Europe are reporting that France has selected the HK. Or maybe it’s “down-selected” the SCAR? However you want to put it, the deal seems to be done. As long as FN doesn’t win their assumed appeal.
What does this mean for the US Military?
Later model of FAMAS Rifle in Africa.
Not too much. At least at first. But it’s a big win for HK and might be a sign of things to come. Recall, not too long ago, the Brits selected the Glock 17 to be their next service pistol. And while the UK MOD (I do know their name!) isn’t what it once was, when the US Army picks Glock to replace the Beretta, the connection is inevitable.
And let us not forget, SOCOM runs the HK416’s quite a bit, and the USMC has selected the piston driven HK, M27, as a supplement to the SAW.
Will the US DOD (I’m on a roll now!) switch to the HK416 sometime in the next 10 years? Time will tell. But consider this, France is a “major” Western military power. They are engaged in combat operations around the world. There’s nothing like 10 years of combat deployments to (Horn of Africa, Astan, Syria, West Africa, Libya, Lebanon, etc) give the HK the desired “battle tested” reputation it needs.
French Solider with FAMAS in Africa
As much as the SOCOM fan-boys might be butt-hurt by my last statement, the fact remains big armies work and think very differently than “operators”. Congratulations, HK. This is a feather in your cap. Now just don’t screw it up!
But this article is about the FAMAS
FAMAS in training. I love gun forums who decry weapon wear. Stupid bitches.
I have always been very interested in the FAMAS rifles. Not because I particularly care for bullpup’s, I actually don’t. But the FAMAS has always had a certain type of “distance value” for me. I only ever see them when traveling. They seem exotic and different. And I would LOVE to have one. Even in semi-auto.
So…I am going to be the first to go publicly on record. Dear Century Arms, please do what you can, when you can, to get semi-auto FAMAS or FAMAS parts kits into the United States. I would love to have one and would pay a pretty penny for the privilege. As would many of my peers.
FAMAS Rifle on the streets of Europe.
Do I expect them to be great sellers to the masses? No. But don’t ignore this fact. The US firearms market has grown to be quite sophisticated since the import bans of 1989. If by some miracle you are able to convince the French government to surplus some of them out, I know in my heart of hearts you would sell every last one of them stateside.
| 2,916 |
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Embassy Healthcare is excited to announce Empower Outpatient Therapy - Coming Soon!
What is Empower Outpatient Therapy?
Empower Outpatient Therapy allows people to receive therapy at one of our local clinics, in their own community. We often treat patients with similar medical conditions as those in an inpatient setting. The difference is that patients visiting our Empower Outpatient clinic tend to have conditions that, while acute in nature, are less medically complex and with fewer comorbidities. For instance, a first-time stroke patient with no other medical history or complications may get treatment in an outpatient clinic, while a patient dealing with multiple strokes and other medical issues would more likely be treated in a post-acute setting.
Empower Outpatient therapy is perfect for those who need help to restore their health after experiencing minor injuries or other health conditions. The services you can receive from outpatient programs generally include Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Speech Therapy. Our clinics are ideal for patients looking to improve their daily mobility and quality of life, but are independent enough to receive these services while living in their home or community. We focus on helping patients restore function following an injury, so they can get back to their normal activities.
Our clinics may also provide other types of services, such as pre-or post-surgery rehab, biofeedback, and a variety of modalities including ultrasound, diathermy, and more. We are a great option for services that aren’t offered within the community such as voice or speech therapy. Visits to an outpatient clinic tend to be 45-60 minutes in length, and patients often continue their exercises at home between sessions. Medicare patients may be eligible to receive outpatient therapy under Medicare Part B and, because the therapy caps were repealed, they can benefit from improved access to these services.
How to get started with Empower Outpatient Therapy?
To get started in the program, outpatient orders from your physician are initiated, insurance is verified and your initial evaluation is scheduled. After the initial evaluation, a licensed therapist will outline your individualized plan which includes treatment goals, therapeutic interventions, and the frequency/duration of care. For more information about Empower Outpatient Therapy services, please contact our Admissions Director.
Embassy's Wound Care Program is led by Dr. Marc Berkowitz
Dr. Marc A. Berkowitz started practicing Podiatric Medicine and Surgery in the greater Cleveland area in 2007. Dr. Berkowitz has special interests in Wound Care, Reconstructive Foot Surgery, Sports Medicine and Diabetic Foot Care. Dr. Berkowitz graduated from the Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine in 2004 where he served as an adjunct clinical faculty member. He completed a three year surgical foot and ankle residency at University Hospitals Health System/Richmond Heights where he served as a clinical attending. During his post-graduate residency, Dr. Berkowitz received specialized training in Pediatric Lower Extremity Surgery in Vienna, Austria. Dr. Berkowitz currently owns and operates Wound Care Consultants LLC, a multi-specialty company composed of physicians and nurse practitioners that render conservative and invasive care to patients residing in post-acute type facilities. Dr. Berkowitz is double American Board Certified in Podiatric Medicine and Wound Healing.
What is Wound Care?
What is the Wound care program?
The wound program would be more of a preventive program to start. Reviewing new admissions/ being proactive with current residents in identifying nutrition and surface selection for the residents. Weekly rounds and communication between the facility and the wound provider. Weekly and monthly outcome tracking.
Why is it a good program?
Our wound program is good because we focus on being proactive with new and current residents to help reduce the chances of new wounds to develop. When wound care is needed the physicians look at the entire care of the residents and address them holistically with the IDT.
What are the benefits of the program?
Staff and resident education by the provider. 7 day provider available to assist with complex wounds on admission/ skin sweeps. Advance skin substitutes for wound healing.
Who are the providers?
Please see the list of physicians in the accordion below. Click on a physician’s name and title to read their biography.
Click on the tabs below to read about our fantastic team of providers.
Kenneth Arsham, M.D.
Kenneth Arsham M.D was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his medical degree at Georgetown University, in Washington D.C in 1979 and completed a General Surgery residency and Plastic Surgery fellowship at University Hospitals of Cleveland.
Dr. Arsham received specialized training in Laser surgery in the 1980’s and taught nationally. Wound Care was always part of his practice and after further wound training from Healogics in 2009. He became actively involved in the South Pointe Wound Care Center. Also, he speaks nationally on wound healing on behalf of Smith-Nephew. He has served as a wound care provider for Wound Care Consultants, LLC since 2019.
Dr. Arsham is the past chief of the Department of Surgery at South Pointe Hospital, a Cleveland Clinic Hospital and has been the chief of the Division of Plastic Surgery since 1990. He has been certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery since 1987.
Rachel Askew, FNP-BC, WCC, is a Family Nurse Practitioner who specializes in wound and ostomy care with Dr. Marc Berkowitz at Wound Care Consultants, LLC. She completed her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the Ohio University in Athens, and then earned her Master of Science degree at Kaplan University in Chicago, Illinois. She holds her national board certification with the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) as a Family Nurse Practitioner. Rachel has more than 15 years of nursing experience in acute, subacute, and outpatient care settings. Rachel has a passion for wound care, healing hands, is a member and board certified in wound care through the National Alliance of Wound Care and Ostomy (NAWCO).
Shari Villafane, a board-certified nurse practitioner, has lived in the Cleveland area for thirteen years. She graduated with her master’s degree as a Family Nurse Practitioner in 2018 from Chamberlain University. Shari’s clinical rotations were spent in a family practice, a pediatrics’ office, and in an urgent care. Shari has been practicing Urology for two and a half years. Shari has more than ten years of experience in the medical field. Prior to urology, Shari worked in Women’s health for 4 years as nurse and sent the time as a member of the research team. Shari also spent time as a nurse in the float pool.
At Longmeadow, we provide trust, friendship and fun in a safe, home-like atmosphere for your loved one with functional and cognitive capabilities. Our staff is proud to introduce our ALLY Lifestyle Memory Care Program.
“Allies” would include family members, physicians, nurses, state-tested nursing assistants, social workers, and therapists including occupational, physical, speech/language and recreational. With the help of these allies, we create a customized profile that details the unique preferences of each resident and their family.
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Ten years ago, I accompanied my parents on a trip to their homeland, Slovakia. My father fled his country at the close of WWII to escape the incoming communist takeover by Russia. Some sixty years later, on the day we arrived in Slovakia, Dad was overcome with fear that somehow his past might catch up with him. That is, until we arrived at the home of his sister, Františka. The moment she opened the door and he saw her face, he lit up like a sunrise. He said, “I’m in heaven!”
Do many doors lead to God?
“Will only a few be saved?” someone asked Jesus while he was teaching.
He answered, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.” Though they knock, no one will open the door. For, the Owner of the house won’t know them.
Does God know me? In one sense, God knows everyone for he created each one of us. He has numbered the very hairs of our heads.[1] However, the knowing Jesus refers to here is a relationship. My aunt opened the door to my father because she knows him well.
I know who President Barack Obama is. However, if I knocked on his door would he open it? Nope. I may be a citizen of the United States, but he doesn't know me. And, I don't really know him. We've never spent any time together.
However, God opens his door to me daily. I talk to him all the time. He knows me. I know him. I’m at home in his presence. It's not that I'm good and I've earned the right to enter heaven's door. Not at all. I'm a sinner in constant need of his grace. Apart from Christ, I'd never get in. That's what the cross is all about.[2] I entered through the narrow door.
Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 NIV
Today, the Father’s door stands wide open, inviting all to enter into a relationship with him through his son, Jesus Christ.[3] However, at some point, he’ll close the door. Many will stand outside and knock. But, no one will let them in. For, the Owner of the house won't know them. They never cared to meet him when his door stood open.
“Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” John 17:3 NIV
The more I know Christ, the more I want to know Him. I can be quick to read God’s Word, spend a few minutes in prayer, and then run off to my job or writing or cleaning or whatever needs to get done. However, it’s when I linger in his presence, that my soul is filled with joy, love, and peace. My connection with God is the one thing I need most, not just in the morning, but throughout my day. Jesus is the door to Real Life.
Lord Jesus, I want to know you more.
Do you want to know God? Visit www.needhim.org or call (888) NEED-HIM.
Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”
He said to them, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’
“But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’
“Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’
“But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’
“There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.” (NIV)
[2] "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8 NIV
[2] “Come! Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.” Revelation 22:17b
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Comments
Shel Harrington April 4, 2014 at 10:45 AM
That was a very powerful analogy with your parent, Peggi - and, I imagine, the trip of a lifetime!
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Peggi Tustan April 4, 2014 at 10:28 PM
Thanks, Shel. It was an amazing trip! I was so blessed to go with them. :)
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enthusiastically, dawn April 4, 2014 at 10:09 PM
I am so glad my sweet friend shared this post with me, it is a wonderfully expressed message, and call to each one of us!
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Peggi Tustan April 4, 2014 at 10:30 PM
Thanks, Dawn. I'm so glad you stopped by. I appreciate your encouraging words. Yes, he is reaching out to each of us in love!
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Unknown April 5, 2014 at 11:06 AM
I'm thankful my friend sent me this link. What a terrific story. You may enjoy my my devotions at http://snapshots-bertad.blogspot.com
In Christ,
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Peggi Tustan April 5, 2014 at 5:52 PM
Hi Berta, Thanks for coming by and reading my blog. I'm heading over to visit yours! :) Peggi
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Pat Garcia April 12, 2014 at 7:27 AM
You have pointed out a very significant point here and that is spending time in the presence of God. And that occurs when we don't restrict God in our lives. There are times when I know that God is presence. It might be while I am writing an article. I feel his presence, even though I have already had my morning meditation. It is then when I must decide to stop and listen or to keep on writing. I am blessed to be able to say, when it does happen, I usually stop and listen. There have been some times when I have not stopped and those times I have regretted.
Thank you for this article. It made me think about my own relationship with God.
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Peggi Tustan April 12, 2014 at 11:26 AM
You've said it so beautifully. It's all about relationship. In him, we live and move and have our being. Thank you for sharing, Friend. Love you! :)
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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment!
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I'm an ordinary woman living an extraordinary Real Life in Christ. A life of faith can be hindered by misconceptions about God. I encourage others to take hold of a Real Life (1 Tim. 6:19) by taking hold of the Real God.
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Today was a “sleep in day”. Like most days when you plan on sleeping in, you find yourself awake at the usual time. The nice thing was the opportunity to grab your pillow and snuggle back in for a little while. Speaking of pillows, we call the ones that are on our beds “a bag of lumps” as they have been washed so many times, that is exactly what they have been reduced to.
The majority of us went to an African Church today. We were supposed to attend one in the city, slip into the back, enjoy the service, and slip away. Imagine our surprise when our van drove out of town. An hour later, we arrived at a small church (I didn’t see the name) and the people were waiting for us. There was even a translator (the teacher Clinton). The Bishop spoke to the people and Clinton translated emulating the Bishop’s tones. He did a great job as he became impassioned when the Bishop did and then soft when the Bishop reduced his voice.
The congregation sang Jesus loves me to start but I think it was the only English song they knew. Oh I forgot, once we arrived, we were paraded up the aisle and had to take a seat behind the altar. I think I accidentally sat in the Bishop’s chair but I didn’t know where else to put myself. The service, at least our portion, ended with drums, clapping and everyone, including our nurses in a frenzied dance. Fortunately, I was taking video so I didn’t have to show the Kenyans that I didn’t have rhythm. When we left the service continued in its usual manner, but not before an offering when we were asked to pay for a boy’s hospital bill. We didn’t pay for it but everyone gave something toward it. Interestingly, during the service the Bishop said there was a land dispute in the village and asked the offending parties to come forward. They came and prayers were said for a just solution.
The majority of the nurses then went to Lake Victoria to see the hippos and to a Masai market to shop for African style goodies. Lynn and Trish stopped at the pharmacy and purchased more medications for this week. Dinner was exciting as those who shopped brought many of their purchases to the table and we all ooohed, etc. I am publishing a photo of the service and some others that were taken this week.
Talk to you soon,
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To support and improve the health of people who live in rural communities of Kenya through short term health care and sustainable health initiatives.
All members of Canadian Nurses for Africa are volunteers. All funds donated and raised go toward supporting the medical missions and public health programs directly. Our largest expense during each mission is medications. As the jiggers program, deworming program and building latrines are all on going, they require continuous financial support.
Canadian Nurses For Africa
Copyright 2022 - Canadian Nurses for Africa
Trish Corbett – RN, BN, MSN, GNC
Trish has sat on the CNFA board of directors since 2011 and served as Treasurer from 2013 to 2015. Trish has been a member of five past medical mission, as part of the lead team. Present and past nursing experience includes Geriatrics, Emergency medicine, Intensive Care and Public Health. Trish also serves on the BOD of the Geriatric Nurses Association of Ontario, Hamilton chapter.
Trained as a Primary Care Nurse Practitioner, Nancy has had a wide and varied nursing career mostly in paediatrics at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Her experience includes Paediatric Critical Care, Emergency as well as providing care to adult patients with cardiac issues. She provides primary care of patients at a Nurse Practitioner Led Clinic (NPLC) and is Director of Health and Wellness at a summer camp in Ontario.
She has lived overseas, providing humanitarian work in the country of Ghana. Currently she is working at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre as part of the COVID-19 response at the Assessment Centre, working with Infectious Diseases and managing COVID patients at home as well as vaccinating.
Nancy has a Masters in Nursing, is an adjunct lecturer at the University of Toronto Bloomberg School of Nursing and has been a clinical instructor at the university level for many years.
She has a passion for women and children’s health in low income settings and conflict areas. She volunteers at a Refugee Health Centre and also for Global Medic, a global disaster relief organization. She has been to Kenya with the 2019 CNFA Medical Mission.
Meaghan graduated with a BScN in 2011 and is currently pursuing graduate nursing studies. Meaghan has been involved in CNFA since 2018 and has been on the past two medical missions. She has work experience in internal medicine, surgery, surgical oncology, and critical care. Meaghan is excited to have joined the BOD and brings a strong passion for nursing and helping her community.
Thirty+ years of experience helping organizations to set – and achieve – specific goals in international and domestic markets. Specialist in helping organizations to make sound decisions based on research, analysis, due diligence, feasibility studies and strategic partnerships.
Significant professional experience in international development, organizing and leading trade and investment missions to and from various countries and regions of the world.
Currently focused on Volunteer work. In addition to joining to the Board of Canadian Nurses for Africa in 2022, I also serve as a Volunteer Advisor with the Canadian Executive Services Organization (CESO), a non-profit agency funded primarily by the Government of Canada. This involves providing time and energy to advance social and economic change working in partnership with international organizations.
Also focused on work with the Rotary Club of Oakville Trafalgar as a member of the International Service Committee and the Club’s Board of Directors, as well as fundraising initiatives.
Jacinda is one of the newest CNFA board members. Currently, she relishes the challenges in her role as a staff accountant with Henderson Roller Smit Professional Corporation in Oakville. Her skills developed over the past 10 years in public accounting will help CNFA meet its goals and support the organization’s clinical missions to Kenya. She is excited to join the board and is looking forward to the rewards of being one of such a dynamic group of women.
Gail Wolters – RN (ret’d), Founder and Past President of CNFA, Honorary Board Member
Gail worked as a front line hospital nurse in hospitals across Canada, as well as Northern Outpost Nursing in remote communities of Ontario and Manitoba. She worked in many areas including Neurosurgery, Trauma, ICU and the Emergency Department. As well, Gail has volunteered in a variety of capacities with an array of community organizations.
In 2007 Gail became acutely aware of the poverty and lack of health care in Western Kenya. Deeply moved to make a difference, she founded Canadian Nurses for Africa with the intent to provide free medical care to the people of these communities. As Team Leader, Gail has lead ten successful medical missions to Kenya. She also oversees the implementation and monitors the public health programs.
After ten years of development in the Kakamega and Vihiga regions of Kenya, there is a marked improvement in the overall health in these communities, which local people and leaders attribute to the health care provided by Canadian Nurses For Africa. Gail stepped down from the President’s role in 2021 and the board of directors in 2022. She remains a valuable resource to the board of directors and is now an honorary board member.
Trained as a primary care and acute care nurse practitioner (NP), Patti has worked in a wide range of nursing roles throughout her career, mostly in acute care and ambulatory care cardiology settings. She also has experience in emergency and walk-in clinic settings.
Patti completed her PhD in Nursing (University of Toronto), where she developed and tested a NP intervention for patients following heart attack. Following her PhD she completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship with the Canada Research Chair for Health Interventions.
In her most recent position as a Nurse Scientist, in partnership with McMaster University, she developed an innovative approach to improve patient care by teaching healthcare providers how to integrate research and leadership activities into their practices. Currently Patti is taking time off from her academic work to pursue activities such as the CNFA medical mission work in Africa and becoming a competitive dressage rider. Patti is very excited about being a member of the CNFA team and hopes to contribute to the success of future missions.
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(CNN) — With infection numbers rising in more than 30 states, including Georgia, the US set a daily record for new coronavirus cases. And federal health officials warned that the number of people who’ve been infected is vastly undercounted.
At least 37,077 coronavirus cases were reported Thursday, surpassing a previous one-day high on April 24, according to Johns Hopkins University.
• Virus taking stronger hold in US, other populated countries;
• Governors who quickly reopened backpedal as virus surges;
— The Associated Press (@AP) June 26, 2020
The sudden spike in confirmed cases in recent days comes as no surprise, a health expert said.
“Every epidemiologist was telling, screaming as loud as we could that three weeks after Memorial Day, we’d have a peak in the cases and five weeks after Memorial Day we’d begin to see a peak in hospitalizations and deaths,” epidemiologist Larry Brilliant told CNN’s Don Lemon on Thursday night.
“If you let everybody out without face masks and without social distancing in the middle of a pandemic, this is what was predicted.”
And while more than 2.4 million cases have been diagnosed nationwide since the pandemic started, the number of people who have been infected is likely to be 10 times as high. Antibody tests show more than 20 million people have been infected with coronavirus, most of them without knowing it, said Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Antibody tests examine a person’s blood for signs that the immune system responded to an infection. Federal officials have been conducting such tests nationwide to determine how many people had past undiagnosed infections.
“A good rough estimate now is 10 to 1,” Redfield said.
Between 5% and 8% of Americans have been infected with coronavirus but the numbers vary by region. New York, once the epicenter of the pandemic, will have a higher percentage of people with past infections than some states in the West, Redfield said
That means 90% or more have not been infected and are susceptible to the virus, highlighting the need to act aggressively to combat the rising infection rates.
Some of the cases went unnoticed partly because testing was at first limited to people who were very ill, Redfield said. As more people get tested, he added, it’s clear a large percentage had mild symptoms or none at all.
States postpone reopening plans
Coronavirus has killed over 124,000 people in the United States, and confirmed cases are surging in a majority of the country.
So far, 32 states are reporting an increase in new coronavirus cases this week as compared to the prior week. Eleven of them are reporting a 50% increase or greater. They include Montana, Idaho, Vermont, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Missouri and Mississippi.
“It’s growing, and it’s growing fast across all age groups and demographics,” Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said at a news conference Thursday. “Anyone can get this virus, and anyone can spread this virus.”
Arizona health officials reported new cases topping 3,000 as of last week, a pace that could soon overwhelm hospital intensive care facilities, the governor said. “We expect that our numbers will be worse next week and the week following,” Ducey said.
In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott paused any further phases to reopen as the state recorded nearly 6,000 Covid-19 cases Thursday. “It’s pretty dire,” said Dr. Peter Hotez of Baylor College of Medicine.
Abbott’s moves came as his state, California and Florida — the three-most populous — set records for new coronavirus cases.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also indicated his state would not be moving to relax present restrictions. So did Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, who said the state is putting further economic reopening plans on hold.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a budget emergency to free up $16 billion to fight the pandemic. The state’s hospitals have seen a 32% increase in patients with coronavirus over the past two weeks, he said.
The list of most vulnerable is updated
At the beginning of the pandemic, health experts didn’t focus on younger people because the priority was the older population and those with underlying health conditions.
With the rising numbers, some states are warning that the virus is affecting a wider range of people. More younger people testing positive is a “smoldering fire” that will hit vulnerable populations, said Erin Bromage, a CNN medical analyst and a biology professor at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
Meanwhile, federal health officials updated the list of who’s most at risk of severe complications from Covid-19.
The CDC added mild obesity to a list that includes the elderly, people with lung or kidney disease, and those with diabetes. People with moderate to severe asthma are also at higher risk along with pregnant women, the CDC said. Those with cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are also at higher risk, the CDC’s Dr. Jay Butler said.
So are those with conditions such as sickle cell disease, poorly controlled HIV infection, bone marrow transplants or an organ transplant.
The CDC also removed the specific age threshold, saying it’s not just those over age 65 who are at increased risk for severe illness.
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When a winter norther blows through the Bahamas, the northeast trades can reach gale force as they funnel through the Windward Passage between Cuba and Haiti. After waiting for a lull, though, we had a fabulous beam reach aboard our Liberty 458, Distant Drummer, from Santiago de Cuba across to Point Tiburon at the west end of Haiti. In the lee of the island, the wind veered, and we picked up a west-setting counter-current. Our second night out was spent motorsailing slowly into a headwind.
The following morning we entered the channel between Haiti and Île-à-Vache, a small island on the south coast popular with cruisers waiting for fair winds to sail east to the Dominican Republic. The passage meanders between shoal reefs and is peppered with buoys and plastic bottles marking fishing nets and lobster pots.
As we approached land, a dinghy came out from the shore, and a pair of local men, Felix and Pipi, offered to guide us in to Baie Ferret. I was at the helm. My husband, Neil, was up forward keeping a lookout and preparing the anchor. When entering an unknown anchorage, Neil and I have a number of agreed-upon commands we use to warn of imminent danger. “Neutral,” for example, is used to stop the prop if we are about to catch a fishing net or buoy line. “Reverse” is used to stop the boat quickly and avoid a collision with something hard, like rocks or a coral head.
Suddenly one of the men cried out, “Reverse, reverse, reverse now!” To me this could only mean one thing—we were about to hit a coral head–so I shifted into reverse and revved hard to stop the boat as quickly as possible. Moments later, Neil came running aft to find out what was going on. He had seen nothing ahead and told me to put the engine in neutral. Looking over the transom, I now saw a white fishing buoy floating on the surface immediately astern. A black spurt of water flushed out with the exhaust. Our hearts sank. After 13 years of cruising, we had finally snagged a lobster pot, and the rope was now wrapped tight around the propeller.
Cutting free the propeller shaft was just the first step in a long process
Photo by Suzy Carmody
Hopping into the water, Neil was eventually able to cut it away. But while the rope came free, we found after starting up our engine that we were no longer getting any kind of drive from either it or the propeller—something was wrong with our drive train. Luckily Felix’s dinghy had a 15hp outboard, and tying the dinghy to the starboard side of Distant Drummer, he and Pipi were able to tow us the rest of the way into Baie Feret where we finally dropped anchor—a distressing end to the voyage.
As soon as the hook was set, Neil went to work in the engine room trying to assess the damage. Our worst fear was that the transmission had failed, but it thankfully checked out. Further examination revealed the flexible coupling fitted between the transmission and prop shaft had sheared. It had, in essence, acted as a kind of weak link that prevented the locked prop from causing any serious damage to either the engine or transmission. Removing the coupling while the boat was still in the water would be a tricky business. But we were able to get the job done by doing the following:
* Supporting the prop shaft with straps and chocks to try and keep it in correctly aligned with the transmission
* Fixing spacers on the prop shaft between the propeller and the casing on the outside of the hull to prevent the shaft from pushing inward when it was released from the transmission; this also prevented the dripless seal on the prop shaft from moving out of adjustment and letting water in
* Removing the exhaust elbow and silencer to gain access to the coupling, and plugging the exhaust pipe with an object of a suitable diameter to prevent water from coming in from the outlet—in this case we found an empty rum bottle fit perfectly!
* Carefully unscrewing the bolts holding the flexible coupling to the prop shaft and transmission flanges, a job made more difficult due to the severe rust that had collected on the bolts over the years
Somewhat surprisingly, Île-à-Vache had good internet coverage, and we were able to get in touch with a Perkins specialist in British Columbia who’d worked on Distant Drummer when we’d overwintered on Vancouver Island three years earlier. We sent him photos and measurements, and he was able to source a replacement part and have it on its way in only a few days.
Limping into harbor after snagging the pot
Photo by Suzy Carmody
Logistics in Haiti are fraught with problems. Theft is not uncommon. Corruption is endemic and anything (goods or people) transported by road has a high chance of being intercepted by bandits. Fortunately, local help was at hand, and we arranged delivery by DHL into Port-au-Prince where our newly made friend, Marc, worked with DHL to have the package delivered to Les Cayes, a nearby city on the mainland. That done, we settled in for the long wait.
Life on Île-à-Vache moves at a very leisurely pace. The nearby village of Caicoq had a school, a church and a community center that pumped out a mixture of evangelical music, Calypso rhythms and funky Haitian tunes. When the kids weren’t in school, they’d paddle out in their dugout canoes to knock on your hull and ask for bonbons, pens and notebooks. Fishermen would come by to sell us their catch. The problem of overfishing all too very apparent in the small lobster and tiny fish they’d offer us. Others would stop by and ask for jobs to do, like cleaning the hull, polishing brightwork or guiding us to the market or nearby beach—anything to earn a few Haitian gourdes, the local currency.
The transmission and shaft with the coupling removed
Photo by Suzy Carmody
The poverty on the island is appalling, and the tourists who visited in years past have been scared away by the unpredictable violence and instability on the mainland. The three hotels on the island are either struggling or closed. Visiting cruisers provide a trickle of income and are warmly welcomed, although the continuous knocking on the hull by the seemingly endless procession of visitors can become a bit tiresome. It was safe to travel around the island and leave the dinghy unlocked on the beach, where the locals would look after it.
Market days in Madame Bernard, the largest village on Île-à-Vache, are Monday and Thursday, and the walk there follows a muddy footpath along the coast through several fishing villages. The solid-looking houses are built of stone with rusty corrugated iron roofs and are beautifully painted, each stone picked out in gentle pastel colors. The market is very African, with small piles of produce laid out on wooden tables or on the ground on plastic sheets. Sacks of rice or maize are doled out with a tin can. Red chunks of goat or beef are prodded and haggled over in shrill, strident voices.
The local men are fantastic sailors, and a flotilla of white sails could be seen daily crossing the channel to fish or visit Les Cayes. The large, lateen-rigged sails (often made from tarpaulins reused from UNICEF or USAID aid deliveries) are supported by long bowsprits and booms that look oversized for such small wooden boats. The men stand on planks and skillfully navigate their heavily canvassed boats in stiff breezes that blow up to 20 knots later in the day.
“Carnaval,” as it is called in Haiti, is celebrated all over the Caribbean and lasts for three to five days before Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent. We went with some of our new local friends from the village to celebrate in Madame Bernard. The parade was very simple: a truck loaded with throbbing loudspeakers and gaudily dressed dancers followed by a pickup carrying the Carnaval king and queen. The crowd dancing along behind the procession was a lively, happy one, excited at the prospect of having a three-day party to hang out with their friends.
Unfortunately, the first day of Carnaval was also marked by a shootout between police and the army in Port au Prince. Looting and chaos ensued, a state of emergency was declared and all roads out of the city were closed. This in turn meant our new coupling, which had arrived the day before, was stuck. In the wake of the violence, Marc closely monitored the situation, calling the DHL office every day until finally—success!—the new coupling arrived nine days later.
Carefully reversing the extraction process, Neil had the coupling back in place in no time. After that, with the drive train fully assembled, we delicately hand-turned the prop shaft to check the clearance between the flange on the shaft and the flange of the transmission. Finally, with the shaft aligned, we completed the final bolt up. Three weeks after snagging the lobster pot, we were mobile again!
April 2021
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Lights, Camera (on please!), and Action: Tips for getting your students to turn their camera on during distance learning | edHelper Lights, Camera (on please!), and Action: Tips for getting your students to turn their camera on during distance learning
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Lights, Camera (on please!), and Action: Tips for getting your students to turn their camera on during distance learning
Teaching to a screen filled with black boxes feels a bit like casting your vast knowledge out into the great unknown. It feels like leaning over a wishing well, calling out in hopes of finding you're not alone, but hearing only your voice echo in response. While far from ideal, with so many school districts still in a season of strict distance learning or transitioning to a hybrid approach, teachers spend countless hours in front of a screen trying to engage students, impart wisdom, build community, and stay sane!
Many teachers have shared that the lack of face-to-face encounters with students has made it harder to foster a sense of community this year. It's created a barrier when checking for understanding. When you can't see your students, it's impossible to see that lightbulb go off. You can't experience the a-ha moment where their eyes light up, and you know that the content clicked!
Most of the tech platforms that teachers are using to facilitate instruction allow students and teachers to be on camera. While, in theory, students can show their face, and your classroom can magically transform into a modern-day clip of the old Brady Bunch TV show's theme song, few students join the class with their cameras on. Is there anything teachers can do to change this?
Start with Why
Before jumping into the "how" of getting students to turn on their cameras, it's important to identify some of the reasons why they are opting to leave the camera off.
Environment: Some students may feel embarrassed by their learning space (or lack thereof!) While we've always known that there are vast differences between students' home environments, distance learning has made that more concrete. Not every student has a quiet room, desk, and access to supplies.
Insecurities: Very few people enjoy looking at themselves all day long. A handful may like it, but those people and their overly inflated egos may need therapy! When we are reading, solving math problems, or digging into history, few of us choose to do that in front of a mirror. Instead, we focus on the task at hand and may occasionally glance at a classmate or the teacher. When we're on camera, however, we're forced to look at ourselves all day long. Students (and teachers, for that matter) can easily become fixated on their insecurities. If they don't like their nose or are having a bad hair day, guess what they will focus on? It won't be math! The number of people opting for plastic surgery is rising, and research blames video conferencing for at least part of the surge. If adults, who, in theory, have better coping skills and more self-esteem, don't enjoy looking at themselves all day long and have become fixated on aspects of their face they'd like to fix, just imagine how tough this must be for younger students.
Now the How
Knowing that there are a handful of reasons why students may opt for leaving the camera off, how can you encourage them to turn the camera on for at least part of your class period?
Start with Heart: If your goal is better connection and your hope is to build a sense of community, it's important that you communicate that your desire to have your students' cameras on is because you desire connection, not compliance. "Requiring" students to be on camera may defeat the purpose beyond wanting to have them on. Consider asking your students for feedback regarding camera usage during class. Having your students complete a Google Form can offer great insight! When you hear their heart, and they hear yours in response, it's easier to build community and compromise.
Some are Better than None: If you'd like cameras to be on, consider allowing students to show some part of their body rather than requiring that their entire face be on screen. Being able to see part of an arm, an ear, or half a smile is still enough to know your students are there! You can also have "camera optional" time. Perhaps you can ask students to turn their camera on during class discussions but allow them to be off when you are doing a read-aloud of a novel. If you are asking for cameras to be on during a test, consider giving students permission to turn them off during long stretches of independent work time. This can help with camera fatigue and may actually increase focus.
Teacher Tips: Teachers have the best ideas! Teachers across the country have found that the following fun strategies have helped students turn their cameras on during class. Once they use the camera for "fun," using the camera for class is an easier transition:
Game Time: Ask students to be on camera if they want to participate in class Zoom games.
Show and Tell: Invite your students of all ages to share their pets, introduce siblings, share a treasured award, or go on a scavenger hunt for specific items.
Social Circles: Use breakout rooms to your advantage. Create rotating small groups of students and assign them to brief breakout rooms where they can share jokes and engage in ice breaker activities.
Technology is a powerful tool! As you seek to see more of your students during this season, consider encouraging the use of these technology tools to help.
Loomie: Loomie is a free application that allows students and teachers to create incredible avatars that can be used during video conferences. Students (and teachers!) can create a personalized avatar and select a virtual background. Loomie mimics eye contact and gestures, so it feels more personal than a static picture or blank black square.
Virtual Backgrounds: We've already established that, for a variety of reasons, many students may not want their classmates to see their home environment. Virtual backgrounds can be a great solution for these learners and a fun option for all students in your class! You can also encourage students to create custom backgrounds that correspond with a topic, location, or subject that you are currently studying.
Private Chat for Check-ins: If you have a student (or students) who consistently opt to remain off-camera or who suddenly stop turning their cameras on, consider sending them a private message during class. A quick "just checking in on you and wanted you to know that I miss seeing you on camera. Is everything ok?" message may help open the lines of communication and create a safe space for students to share why they are suddenly less present.
Other Video Options: If seeing your students is really important to you, but the camera remains off, why not offer other video alternatives? Maybe your student could create and record a video of him/herself demonstrating understanding of the current content. You could ask students to recite answers to discussion prompts and submit them to you. You could then respond with a video as well. Students can create TikToks, YouTube videos, and other video projects to demonstrate their understanding and participate as part of the class community without leaving their camera on during live sessions.
Part of the power of teaching is the ability to differentiate. Educators have the amazing ability to adapt instruction to meet the varied needs of the varied learners in their classrooms. The use of cameras during distance learning is another opportunity to do just that. Teachers can seek to understand the reason why students may choose to remain off-camera and then work to identify solutions that may encourage increased participation. At the end of the day, it's the connection teachers and students are longing for. Whether that's on-camera or off, teachers will always find a way to connect with their students because teaching really is a work of heart.
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Over recent years the amount of damage caused by flood water has increased to such an extent that the government has even set up an insurer called FloodRe to take the risk where insurers won’t. Unfortunately for small firms, its remit excludes business customers, even small businesses who live on site.
FSB Insurance Service has been looking into ways these businesses can protect themselves from flooding since before we officially launched in February 2018. We have released articles discussing Business Continuity Planning, Flood Prevention Techniques and Loss Recovery Insurance to help in the event of a claim. We also partnered with a special scheme underwritten at Lloyd’s to help businesses in high-risk areas acquire flood insurance if they weren’t able to get cover elsewhere.
This year we’re trialling a partnership with a brand new event-based insurer called FloodFlash who may be one of the most exciting disruptors in the flood insurance industry we’ve ever seen - and they’re also members of FSB!
What are the benefits?
FloodFlash is pioneering a scheme in which businesses can fix a sensor to their outer walls, which will detect the water levels at their premises. FloodFlash and the business will agree what flood level the payment is triggered by and in the event it happens, FloodFlash immediately makes a full payment of the agreed compensation which can be spent on anything the policyholder chooses.
As a business, you can adjust the depth and settlement amount to make the policy work for you. For example, you could decide to elevate stock or equipment which might allow you to select a greater trigger depth and a more affordable premium.
*note this is an illustrated representation of the quote process and does not reflect exact quotes
The sensor, which is fitted to the external wall of the property, provides real-time data feedback to FloodFlash and is fully flood and tamper resistant. It is installed by one of FloodFlash’s trained engineers.
If a flood occurs and the sensor detects that the depth has exceeded the pre-agreed level (no lower than 20cm), the whole sum of agreed compensation is sent to you.
This aims to improve the experience of making a claim, and simplify the process so that if the worst happens, you can focus your efforts on more immediate concerns than a lengthy claims process. It also removes confusion about what’s included and what’s excluded.
Also, unlike other insurance policies, this is not a traditional ‘indemnity’ policy designed to put you in the same financial position as before. It is an agreed lump sum (from £10,000 to £200,000) that you can use for anything-
To maintain cash flow at a time of critical business interruption
To cover an increased excess imposed by an insurer because you are in a flood area
To pay for clean-up and to make your property more resilient to flood damage
Possibly to fund a move to a different location
or even a holiday to recover from the stress of having to handle a flood!
What are the risks?
Once agreed, the compensation sum cannot be increased or decreased until the policy’s renewal date the following year. The same applies to the ‘trigger depth’ of flood water at which the compensation is sent to you.
The FloodFlash sensor is extensively tested and manufactured here in the UK, but if by chance is does fail then FloodFlash will take other evidence such as high water marks, the meteorological office reports and interviews with your staff to establish whether you are due the compensation.
This is obviously still a very new product, but we believe it has the potential to make a huge difference to the lives of business owners in high-risk areas. If you'd like to get a quote, call us today on 020 3883 7976.
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FSB Insurance Service Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA Registration No: 788654 ) Registered Office: 20 Fenchurch Street, London, United Kingdom, EC3M 3AZ. Company Number: 10831430
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The surprising link between bedtime and dementia
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Alzheimer’s disease, a common form of dementia, is one of the top ten leading causes of death in the United States.
New research indicates that time spent in bed and bedtime may impact dementia risk.
People aged 60-74 are the most affected.
Previous research has also highlighted the role of sleep quality in memory and dementia..
Sleep can influence physical and mental health and is linked to illnesses ranging from heart disease and stroke to depression and obesity.
And a new study published on September 21 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society provided new insights into the role of sleep in dementia.
Researchers in China, Sweden and the UK looked at sleep data from 1,982 Chinese with an average age of 70, none of whom had symptoms of dementia at the start of the study.
An average of 3.7 years later, 97 participants (5%) had been diagnosed with dementia according to the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV).
Those mainly affected were between the ages of 60 and 74. Men were also at higher risk, which contradicts what many other dementia researchers have already found.
“In most studies, women are known to have twice the risk of dementia than men. It is unusual that this study found otherwise,” said Dr. Alex Dimitriu, dual board certified in psychiatry and sleep medicine and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine and BrainfoodMD.
The study found that longer time spent in bed (TIB) was associated with a significantly increased risk of dementia. Those who stayed in bed for more than 8 hours were much more likely to show cognitive decline on a Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) – a test used to measure cognitive impairment.
So why might older people need to spend more time in bed?
“As we age, we see a fragmentation of sleep states,” sleep specialist and clinical psychologist Dr. Michael Breus told Healthline. This means “we don’t seem to be getting the same type of physically restorative sleep (stages 3/4) as when we were younger.”
As such, “people with poor sleep quality may need more sleep time to compensate,” Dimitriu added.
Other factors may also play a role, explained Dr. Carl W. Bazil, PhD, Caitlin Tynan Doyle, professor of neurology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Depression (for which the elderly are at greatest risk) can make it difficult to sleep, he explained. “But there are also many other medical conditions (such as heart disease or diabetes) and the medications taken for them that can increase fatigue and sleep needs.”
The time at which individuals went to bed has also been highlighted by researchers as a key contributing factor. Early evening hours were considered the riskiest. The research paper stated that “every 1 hour advance to bedtime [before 10 pm] was associated with a 25% increased risk of dementia.
The study authors hypothesized that earlier bedtimes could be driven by a disturbed circadian rhythm.
“The parts of the brain responsible for sleep management begin to change with age. It impacts our circadian rhythm cycles,” said Dr. David Rabin, PhD, neuroscientist, board-certified psychiatrist and co-founder of Apollo Neuro, a wearable stress relief device.
Age-related factors, such as having to use the bathroom more frequently during the night, “also impact our deep, good-quality sleep,” Rabin continued. Cumulative sleep deprivation “leads to a change in brain structures that regulate circadian cycles.”
Other influences could also be at play, Dimitriu said.
“It’s possible that people in the early stages of dementia experience brain fatigue earlier in the day, leading them to want to sleep earlier,” he said. “Sunset is a well-known effect in older people prone to dementia, where they can become confused and disoriented in the evening.”
Limitations of the study to be taken into account
One of the main disadvantages of research is that the TIB does not necessarily reflect the weather. spent sleeping. Sleep duration has been noted by scientists as a crucial factor in cognitive health and dementia risk.
Breus said a longer TIB could indicate an underlying sleep-related issue, such as insomnia, that “could affect this situation and make it worse.”
A recent Canadian study also pointed out that people with insomnia were at a higher risk of memory loss.
Additionally, the BIR does not take into account the quality of a person’s sleep, which is also thought to be important in cognition and dementia. For example, not sleeping deeply enough can have a huge impact on memory (more on that later).
There is one final consideration to keep in mind.
“This study, along with many others like it, are association studies and as such do not show cause and effect,” Bazil explained.
“It is therefore never clear whether the observed association (in this case, short or long periods in bed or time of falling asleep) actually causes dementia, or is indirectly related to it,” he said. added.
A key sign of dementia is memory loss. However, at all stages of life, “we know that quality sleep is necessary for many, if not all, types of memory,” Bazil explained.
So what happens when you are in a state of sleep? When it comes to memory, two main actions occur.
The first is the processing and “storage” of memories.
“Short-term memory is initially stored in the hippocampus when it arrives in the brain, which is the area where information is stored for short-term recall and use,” Rabin explained.
“When we sleep, information from the hippocampus is transmitted to higher cortical structures in the brain, allowing it to become long-term memory and integrate with memories from the past,” he continued.
Rabin revealed that this process is called memory reconsolidation – and is particularly affected by poor REM sleep quality or shorter sleep duration.
Second, sleep is when our brain eliminates harmful toxins that over time can impact memory.
“When the brain is active during the day, it produces a lot of what we call ‘reactive oxygen species,’ or inflammatory waste products,” Rabin said. “When the brain is asleep and able to recover, especially in deep and REM sleep states, [it] detoxifies and eliminates inflammatory waste.
A buildup of toxins ultimately puts additional stress on the brain and prevents it from achieving memory reconsolidation.
“In summary, the quality of sleep, as much as the quantity of sleep, can be important,” Dimitriu said.
This study monitored the onset of dementia in older people – the time in life when its symptoms are most likely to appear.
“Dementias, such as Alzheimer’s disease, often present with symptoms [among people] in your 60s, although an early onset in your 40s or 50s can occur,” Dr. Sandra Petersen, senior vice president of health and wellness at Pegasus Senior Living, told Healthline.
She continued: “Dementia is an ‘umbrella’ term for a group of conditions, of which Alzheimer’s disease is the most common, in which progressive changes occur in the brain.”
Petersen explained that the common signs and symptoms of dementia are:
Persistent and pervasive difficulty with memory, cognition, and the ability to perform daily tasks
Loss of concentration
Inability to pay attention
Loss of language skills
A loss of problem-solving skills
Impaired reasoning and judgment
Dementia risk factors
If this new study (among others) reveals that sleep is a risk factor for dementia, it is not the only player involved.
“Researchers have looked at a number of possible causes of dementia,” Petersen said. “We don’t know for sure, but it’s probably a combination of factors that contributes to [its] development and evolution. »
She revealed that scientists hypothesize that dementia may come from:
Inflammation – resulting from poor sleep, poor diet, lack of exercise and other unhealthy habits
The appearance of abnormal ‘tau’ proteins in the brain
Untreated and prolonged depression
The inability of the brain to properly use insulin
Sleep has long been linked to dementia. Poor sleep is thought to increase the risk, while people with dementia often struggle to get a healthy, restful night’s rest.
This study did not explore some critical aspects of sleep, such as quality. However, it does highlight the link between dementia and BIR and bedtime – things the article noted as “poorly understood” and “rarely explored”, respectively.
More research is needed on how BIR and bedtimes may influence the onset of dementia.
But, until then, the study authors said their findings “suggest that cognitive function should be monitored in older adults who report prolonged time in bed and advanced sleep patterns.”
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The caravan came into the city, and for once the strangers in their strange dress and with their big horses were ignored. The people gravitated to the grain and began dancing in the streets.
“We aren’t exactly starving,” Ulrik said. “But near enough. We can’t hunt or gather much with roving bands of Gutians out there.” Ulrik paused to make sure his lieutenant took the grain to the storehouse. Alexis took that moment to speak.
“I can’t leave my patient until I get him home and in bed, and instruct his family how to care for him”
“That means I have to come,” Lincoln said. The man was tied to Lincoln’s horse and floating along, held up by Elder Stow’s anti-gravity device.
“And I,” Elder stow said, and pointed. “To get my device back.”
Lockhart made a command decision. “Decker, would you go with them to keep an eye out. Try not to kill anyone unless absolutely necessary.”
“Only if absolutely necessary,” Decker repeated, and rubbed his right eye. “That witch has sharp fingernails.”
“Mingus, Boston, keep your glamours up. I imagine we are going to see the king.”
“I should go with you?” Katie asked. She felt Lockhart’s unhappiness with her for a while now, and knew it was because she was taking risks and not especially following orders, so she thought it safest to ask.
“You are with me, are you not?” Lockhart asked in return. Katie smiled and stepped up beside him before he ruined it. “We need one marine on each team to watch over us.”
“Ready?” Ulrik asked before Katie could respond. He started to walk, and a man by the name of Amrabbi paced him. The others fell in behind, the horses following after them, Boston and Mingus at the back. When they got to what looked like the only finished building in the city where most of the people were still living in tents and squalor, Katie could not hold her tongue.
“Opulant,” she said. “Don’t let Alexis see this, she will give us the lecture on the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.”
Ulrik heard and responded. “Actually, the poor here can’t get much poorer without being dead. But we are beginning to build houses for the people, even as we work on the walls.”
“How many?” Lockhart asked.
“Between four and five thousand,” Ulrik shrugged. “I have tried to get the king to order a census, but he sees no reason for it and calls it a waste of energy and time.” They had to go up the steps to get inside, and Ulrik helped them find a place to tie off their horses. He also found men to guard them, because in a city near starvation, it was not safe to leave unattended meat walking around.
“I suggest you camp outside of town and keep a careful watch on your horses in the night,” Ulrik said.
“What I was thinking,” Lockhart agreed.
Katie wanted back on subject while they walked. “Shemsu builders?” She had looked carefully at the perfectly fitted stones in the growing walls.
“Some,” Ulrik said. “They have become careful over the centuries not to reveal themselves, but some. I don’t believe any city in this age would be possible without some Shemsu builders.”
They had to pause as a young woman ran and threw herself at Ulrik. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, and kissed him all over his face. Ulrik responded by going for her lips and her legs slowly slipped to the floor so she could be held by him and their two bodies could press together like true lovers. Katie and Lockhart glanced at each other and turned red enough. Boston had only one thing to say.
“I wish Roland was here.” Mingus reached out and patted Boston’s hand like a doting father.
Ulrik pulled his head back from the kiss and said, “We have company.”
The woman turned her head briefly and looked like this was the first time she realized others were standing there. “Hello,” she said, and her eyes and face zipped straight back to Ulrik. Ulrik pulled back, but she grabbed his hand for dear life.
“Channa,” he named her. “This is Lockhart, Katie, Father Mingus and Boston.”
“I love your red hair,” Channa said. “How did you get it that color?”
“I was born this way,” Boston admitted.
“No?” Channa said and snuggled up to Ulrik’s shoulder. “My Ulrik has the most interesting friends.” She grinned a mighty grin.
“Channa is the king’s daughter,” Ulrik said. “Amrabbi is the king’s spy and personal snitch. And I am the kings slave and most obedient servant.”
“Slave?” Lockhart said. He had not really caught that back when Lincoln was reading through the database.
“Yes,” Ulrik said as he got them walking. “The Akadians came two centuries ahead of the Gutians, and more from the bottom of the Black Sea in Anatolia. They swept down through the Levant, basically Syria where they took many people as slaves. They moved into Samaria, where they conquered many cities of the Sumer. Sargon himself only died five years before I was born. The high king is now Sargon’s son. Meanwhile, a nephew, my king’s older brother, took and rebuilt Kazailu, and promptly threw out my king, the younger brother, so my king gathered what people he had and came here to build his own city the way Sargon, his uncle, built Akkad.”
“We are there,” Amrabbi said as they came to large double doors.
“Why here?” Katie wanted to ask her question before they entered. Ulrik smiled, knowing what she was asking.
“There was the foundation for a city here. This is Barak’s Urudu. I am sorry you never got to see it. Now, show respect,” Ulrik said, and they went in.
King Belusis sat on a throne at the end of the hall. He had men around him, attendants of one sort or another, but one man beside him was dressed in different sort of clothes. Katie guessed they were not Gutian clothes or they would have heard something in the gate. She also figured Lockhart did not notice because men did not notice such things.
Ulrik went to his knees. Amrabbi bowed deeply. Channa went to sit on a small stool, a few paces to the side and two steps down from the throne. Lockhart and Katie stood as Americans, and Mingus and Boston moved up to stand beside them. Belusis frowned at them.
“Do you not bow to your king?” he asked.
“No,” Lockhart answered. “In our home, we believe that all men are created equal.”
“And where is this home?” one of the king’s attendants asked.
“It is a land so far away, we have been traveling for over a year and a half to get here, and we will travel almost three more years to get home,” Lockhart said. He had been keeping track since Roland was taken from them. Boston appreciated his concern, but she usually whined when he told her his calculations.
“Well, here we respect our king,” the attendant said, like he had not heard a word Lockhart told him. He waved, and a big guard drew his sword and started toward the strangers. Ulrik looked up and commented.
Lockhart and Katie both drew their handguns, but Mingus stepped up. “Allow me.” They all saw the flame and wind that blew from his hands toward the guard. The guard paused, not wanting to get burned, and then it seemed he could not move at all. Ulrik had to move. He could undo whatever his little ones could do, so he touched the guard and ordered him to return to his post. He had a word for the attendant.
“You, I would let them kill.” He turned to the king. “My Lord, I have a report. We brought grain from Kish, and I talked to a man from Erech, who suggested we contact him next time we are in need.”
“And how did you obtain this grain,” the obnoxious attendant asked. “Did you have your strange creatures steal it for you?” he waved his hand generally in the direction of the travelers.
“No, actually. I told the King of Kish if we ran out of foodstuffs, my people were instructed to suggest to the Gutians that Kish was a city overflowing with food and riches.”
Lockhart saw the king hide his grin as his attendant huffed. “Very good for now,” the king tried to straighten up.
“And I see you picked up a visitor of your own,” Ulrik said.
The man offered a strange bow and spoke in a strange accent. “I am from Aram, a small kingdom with too many people. There is much war where I live, Hittites, Hurrians, Kasdim, Suteans, so many, and all fighting over such small space. I, and my brothers, have gone in search of a land where we may live in peace, and you have much land here, good, blessed by Hebat, fertile, and not used.”
Lockhart smiled. “I remember Hebat,” he said, and Katie hit him in the arm, and not too softly.
The king spoke. “He has promised to help us drive away the Gutians and bring us foodstuffs for a spot of land where they can live in peace.”
Ulrik turned to the man. “How many?” he asked.
The man looked at the floor and pulled on his beard. “Some tens of tens,” he said softly.
“A thousand, or a few thousand,” Ulrik told the travelers before he turned again to the man. “Will you acknowledge Babylon as your home and Belusis as your king?”
There was a long drawn out pause. “We hope for our own land.”
Ulrik nodded and turned to his king. “I do not recommend it. They might take the land across the Euphrates from where we are building, but it will only work if they accept Babylon as over all the land and accept you as their king. The two people must become one or it won’t work. Neighbors can be impossible, but family allows for things and works things out.” He bowed to his king and turned to escort his friends from the chamber. “Okay, Amrabbi,” he said as they left. “Now you can tell him all the juicy bits.”
Avalon, episode 4.4 continues with the second half, post 4 of 6 is Enemies at the Gate…as you can imagine. Don’t miss it. Happy Reading
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Hi there! I'm Drew. I'm from the small town of Salem, New Hampshire. I've lived in New England my entire life, but am looking forward to moving to the big city after school. I've been performing since I was 8 years old and have only fallen more in love with it ever since.
When I'm not performing, I can be seen playing and caring for my super cute little puppy, Toby, watching absolutely anything Marvel related, and spending time with my friends. During the pandemic, I've been able to catch up on a ton of shows. some of my favorites include: Grey's Anatomy, The Umbrella Academy, and The Walking Dead.
I am so excited to have just graduated from The Boston Conservatory at Berklee with a BFA in Musical Theater and a Minor in Psychology in May 2021.
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Propose Day, the 2nd day of the love week, is filled with proposals. Are you eager to know the significance of this day and how you can celebrate it? If yes, then all you are needed to do is read here.
Love is a beautiful feeling! Nothing ever can come close to how love can make us feel. When you are in love with someone, it becomes important to express your love for that special someone in your life. Expressing your love and pouring out your heart's contents to someone is not an easy feat. However, you should remember that showing your affection and professing your love is important. If you have been waiting for a long time to declare your love to a special person, Propose Day is the perfect occasion.
Let's get to know more about Propose Day 2022.
The second day of Valentine's week- Propose Day, is all about expressing your true feelings to the one who matters the most to you. The Propose Day 2022 is on 8th February 2022, which is a Tuesday. Propose Day falls on 8th February every year.
What Is The Significance of Propose Day?
Propose Day is the 2nd day of this love week. As the name suggests, Propose Day is about proposals. After Rose Day, Propose Day gives you the chance to make your beloved feel special. This day allows you to profess your love to your beloved, life partner, or your crush directly. This day is all about expressing your heartfelt feelings to the one you love the most in your life. Whether you want to surprise your significant other with a marriage proposal or want to tell the love of your life how they make you feel, Propose Day is the right day. On this day, it's all about taking the plunge and gathering the courage to confess to your beloved.
Propose Day is an exciting day for those who are sure about their love and want to take the next step towards getting betrothed. Even if you are not ready to tie the nuptial knot yet, you can still go ahead and propose your love to your beloved. You can propose to the love of your life for marriage or a committed relationship. This particular day is not only an important day for singles and lovers, who are waiting to profess their love to the special someone in their life, but also couples. Even if you are already in a committed relationship, you can still make this day all about romance and reignite the spark in your relationship on Propose Day for your husband or wife. If you still haven't told the love of your life about how you feel about them, there is no better occasion than Propose Day to spill the beans!
How Should The 12 Zodiac Signs Celebrate Propose Day?
Many people propose to their prospective boyfriend or girlfriend on Propose Day. If you are lucky to be in the same city as your beloved, you can think of doing something exciting before you propose to them. What once was the norm, of only the boy getting down on his knee to propose to the girl, has become passé now. Nowadays, everyone can take the initiative to propose on this day. So, dear boys, don't be surprised if she makes the move while you are still wondering how to broach the subject.
If you want to make Propose Day memorable and meaningful for your significant other, take a look at their zodiac sign. The zodiac signs can offer insights into the personality traits, quirks, and characteristics of a person. Getting to know their zodiac sign can provide insight into their likes and dislikes and what would make this day unique for them.
Here is what the 12 zodiac signs would like on Propose Day.
How Can Aries Natives Celebrate Propose Day?
If your significant other is an Aries native and you wish to propose to them on this day, keep in mind that they would like a well-thought-out proposal that communicates what you feel about them. Aries natives are spontaneous, energetic, passionate, highly motivated, and loving. They like being told how good they are, so they appreciate mushy dialogues. Telling them- "You are the only one I have truly loved," will melt their heart. You can also shower them with gifts and treat them to a delicious meal to make this day memorable for them.
How Can Taurus Natives Celebrate Propose Day?
Taureans are known for being stubborn, grounded, stable, and dependable. If your beloved is a Taurean, you should know they don't adapt to change well. So, you need to take it slow with your proposal and keep things simple. The bull of the zodiac sign loves words and worldly riches. So, you would need flattering words and a lot of patience when proposing to them. It would take you some time to capture their attention, but they would be happy to accept your proposal once you prove that you are worth their time. Taureans love a grand gesture. You can propose to your partner in a beautiful garden as Taureans are stimulated by the senses. Also, don't forget to get a good gift for your significant other on Propose Day.
How Can Gemini Natives Celebrate Propose Day?
Gemini, the twins of the zodiac sign, is an interesting mix of humor and intelligence. If your significant other is a Gemini native, you should know that they love language, thoughts, and words. So, you must be careful about what you say during your proposal. Penning down something original or quoting from their favorite film, poem, or passage will touch their heart. They love talking, so preparing an exotic dinner and confessing your feelings to them over dinner is something that a Gemini would surely love. Keep the proposal fun and meaningful, and the Gemini in your life will love it! It's the little things and expressive gestures that a Gemini loves.
How Can Cancer Natives Celebrate Propose Day?
If your significant other is a Cancerian, you must know that Cancerians are all about emotions and sentiments. Cancerians are homebodies, and they like spending time with their own families. Forget all about flamboyance with a Cancerian. You don't have to go overboard with your proposal. They like things that are simple and homely. Nostalgia and warmth draw them. If you plan on proposing to your boyfriend or girlfriend on Propose Day, make both of your families a part of your proposal, especially if it's a marriage proposal. This will touch a Cancerian's heart. You can also plan a homely dinner and then pop the question on the dining table.
How Can Leo Natives Celebrate Propose Day?
If a generous and larger-than-life personality like Leo is your desired partner, then you should know that Leos love attention. When you plan a proposal for a Leo, you have to go big! Plan a grand gesture with lots of onlookers as that will give your partner a chance to bask in others' attention. Leo natives would like a proposal that makes them feel one-of-a-kind. Treat them like royalty and pamper them with gifts. Plan an exotic night with a lavish dinner at a classy restaurant and then propose to them. This will surely impress Leos.
How Can Virgo Natives Celebrate Propose Day?
If your significant other is a Virgo native, you must know that they are perfectionists. Virgos like old-school romance. For them, it's all about one true love. When proposing to a Virgo, being romantic is key. Flowers, reciting love poems, getting down on one knee, etc., are gestures that a Virgo will appreciate. Virgos will appreciate the attention to detail. They wouldn't like anything too flashy. These grounded individuals are quite traditional, so taking them to meet your parents along with popping the big question will make them feel special.
How Can Libra Natives Celebrate Propose Day?
Libra natives are quite romantic by nature. If your partner is a Libran, you must know that their idea of love and romance is similar to what is shown in romantic movies. Librans love being in love, and they won't settle for any less than what they deserve. When proposing to the Librans, appeal to their refined sense of style and stick with classics. Roses and a fancy candlelit dinner are things that Librans would like. As they are highly romantic, take them out to an intimate setting and set up a romantic ambiance. Make sure that you tell them what you feel with genuine emotions, and they will melt like an ice cube.
How Can Scorpio Natives Celebrate Propose Day?
If your desired partner is a Scorpio native, you must be aware that they are known for being passionate and intense. If you are in love with a Scorpio, you must never hurt their sentiments. Scorpios take a while to express what they feel, so you have to be patient with them. When you are proposing, make sure you are sincere and truthful about your feelings. Wear your heart on your sleeve so that the love of your life knows what is in your heart. Anything related to intelligence or physical aspect is bound to capture a Scorpio's attention and intrigue them. Creating a perfect atmosphere at home and popping the question can be a good plan.
Sagittarius natives are known for being free-spirited and intuition-driven. These individuals love anything that broadens their horizons. If you are thinking of proposing, and your desired partner is a Sagittarian, plan a proposal while you both are traveling. You can select a beautiful location and take them out on vacation. Sagittarians love traveling, so taking them on vacation and popping the question there will be a memorable proposal. Planning an adventurous trip or going for star-gazing is a great way to confess your feelings on Propose Day. You can also propose to them spontaneously. This will surprise them, and they will also be quite impressed with you.
How Can Capricorn Natives Celebrate Propose Day?
If your significant other is a Capricorn, you must know that they are grounded, ambitious, organized, and they can be quite a tough nut to crack. Capricorn natives are pretty traditional. If you are planning to propose or confess your feelings on Propose Day, you must be prepared and have a plan. Be specific and confident in what you say to them because they are very certain of what they want. You can take them on a drive or take them to their favorite place and then pour out your heart's contents to them. Don't expect an immediate answer when you propose to them, as they will take some time to decide.
How Can Aquarius Natives Celebrate Propose Day?
If the love of your life is an Aquarius native, you should know that they like being out-of-the-box. When planning a proposal for them, you need to use your creativity to impress them. Aquarius natives love getting associated with charitable and social causes. So, you can find a way to tie your proposal with their favorite charity or social cause. This will make them happy as it will be the ultimate proposal. You can also whisk them away to their favorite spot in the city and find the right moment to pop the question. Aquarius natives don't express their love publicly, but they will reveal their true feelings in an intimate setting.
How Can Pisces Natives Celebrate Propose Day?
If your significant other is a Pisces native, you would know that they are sentimental, emotional, and sensitive. They are the dreamers of the zodiac signs and are known to be in their own la-la-land. When proposing to your beloved, make a memento or souvenir of your relationship and give it to them as a gift. Pisces natives like feeling loved, comforted, and validated. That's why you can create a perfect ambiance with proper lights, soft music in the background, romantic words, alongside some delicious food, and then pop the question. This will ensure that your beloved not only loves your proposal but also says "yes" to it. If you wish to propose to a Pisces native, you must make the proposal perfect. You can also tap into one of their fantasies while going for the proposal.
To make the love of your life feel special on Propose Day, go the extra mile to show how much they mean to you. When planning anything, always make it a point to plan it according to your partner's likes and dislikes. If they enjoy a display of love and affection, go all out while planning the proposal; however, stay away from it if they do not like a public display of affection. The zodiac sign of your beloved can help you plan out your proposal so that it's nothing short of perfection. Always look for innovative ideas to express your feelings and sweep them off their feet.
If you are in love, don't deny yourself its pleasure. This beautiful Valentine's week is dedicated to love, so make the most of Propose Day. Wish your beloved and say- "My love, happy propose day," and tell them what you feel about them. Propose Day gives you a chance to express yourself to the person who makes you feel the happiest person in the world. Whether you want to bear your heart to your beloved or pop the big wedding question to them, Propose Day 2022 is the best day to do so.
Remember, you should not take proposals lightly. When you propose to your partner, make sure you are confident about your feelings before saying them aloud. If you want to ensure that you enjoy a lifelong relationship with a strong foundation, Vedic astrologers can offer you insights and advice.
To ensure that your relationship is ever-lasting, consult Astroyogi's renowned astrologers and get proper guidance.
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Leadership
Leadership
Toward Movement Grace: Criticism, Self-Criticism and the Wisdom of Silence
Beef. It’s been a part of our work for millennia. We disagree – sometimes over big ideas and basic values. Sometimes over little ideas and tactics. What makes a disagreement full blown beef? Usually it’s a lack of movement manners – a kind of grace – that forgets the humanity of the folk “on the other side.”
I wish I could say that I didn’t see it much. A doesn’t trust B. H is envious of I and uses their criticism as a way of getting a “come up” into the spotlight that is now trained precariously on their target. Those in the spotlight are, in turn, stressed and inept at handling criticism. They lash out, hurt and confused. They forget that spotlight invites scrutiny, and they are woefully ill prepared. Social media has only exacerbated the issue. Big audiences, instant response. So much at stake. It’s all a pretty volatile combination.
The truth of the matter is that beef never really goes away without a lot of intentional work at trust building. If there is one thing I know for sure is that whatever we say to one another, we need to say it like we will be in the same room together 20, 30, 40 plus years from now. Because most likely we will. Whatever we say, whatever we do, we will eventually have to confront it. So, we might as well treat each other with the respect and grace we would like to receive. Here’s a little guidance in hopes of helping you to prevent your own star turn in the next episode of Movement Beef aka Five Questions to Ask Myself Before I Go Off.
Is this an opportunity to elevate the public conversation? Meaning, if I respond, will I be modeling how to constructively engage with criticism and add something new and useful? If you have something constructive and useful to say, take your time and craft it with the humanity of all actors in mind. Start by acknowledging any good work or point on which you can agree. Do not react to how you are feeling. Breathe. Think. And if someone puts a mic in front of your face and asks you to criticize a comrade. Stop. Breathe. Think. Ask yourself, will I be strengthening movement with my commentary? Is this necessary to moving our work and relationships forward? Or am I just getting caught up in another episode of politics as entertainment?
Will I lose something important if I don’t respond? Accusations can feel hard to ignore. It’s also hard to ignore when people lie about themselves, you or your organization. Yet, often times ignoring them and encouraging supporters to do the same can help prevent further attacks down the line. Is your reputation really on the line? Is the source of the challenge a credible source? Take time to check in with a diverse sample of supporters. You may find it’s much less of an issue than you thought. In other words, don’t use your energy to fan their f(l)ame.
Is the individual or group targeting me picking a fight to get attention? “Come up controversies” are real. And real exhausting. It’s become the 21st century incarnation of gun slinging as the relatively unknown use beef to build name recognition – or get back into the spotlight. However, even if their motivation is suspect, their criticism could well be valid. Take a moment to assess any criticism you receive and see what it’s telling you about yourself and Are they underfunded and freaking out about resources? Do you have the spotlight but not playing well with others? Hate is a powerful teacher. Listen to what it’s saying (and what it’s not). You always have better standing when you enter a conversation with humility and integrity.
If you are starting something, what’s your motivation? Be honest. Did you reach out and share your criticism directly prior to going public? What was your relationship prior to this incident? Have you asked for and/or taken resources from your target? What do you really want from them? Integrity and trust are the most important assets we have in the movement. Does your action engender trust or suspicion? And, finally, are you willing to face the consequences of your decision? There are few things less sexy than a group who goes off on others and then gets “sensitive” when there’s blow back. Yes, it’s important work to share your analysis, if it meets the criteria for Rule 1. It’s also great modeling to admit it when you’ve made a mistake and started in without all the information.
Don’t assume. The FBI’s COINTELPRO and other spying programs were designed to disrupt and destroy organizing work. Rumor mongering and destructive hearsay have been critical tools for disruption. Anonymous letters and calls implicated rival organizations in crimes against one another and too often, organizers believed what they were told. Now, with social media, we can add public embarrassment to this toxic cocktail of hearsay. We do not want to repeat this difficult history. People were isolated and even murdered over this stuff. Let ours be a movement so filled with Love and Principle, that our grace with ourselves and each other is an impenetrable force field against provocateurs. Be sure to meet, discuss and address issues with those directly involved. And when there’s a real fracture, develop clear, supportive protocols for parting ways – including what each party will say (or not) to the public.
Of course, this guidance is for working with allies because we need each other, and we need to be discerning about how we build movement together. Relationships are the foundation of change work. They are how we get work done and are our main source of power. Constructive criticism is also important to movement growth and development. Without criticism, our work grows stagnant and dies. That is why we must offer and receive criticism in ways that help build (not undermine) our capacity to be in principled relationships. Future generations will be watching how we move through these tests today. Let us choose Love even as we critique and be critiqued.
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Elaine Hamilton has spent years helping families of children with disabilities, as a parent mentor, advocate, and volunteer in Ohio. So when a representative of SPARK asked her to tell others about the autism study, she quickly agreed. In fact, she did more than that: she signed up her own family.
“I did it for myself as well,” she says. Her daughter Maliyah, 17, has autism. Two relatives also have autism, and Elaine Hamilton suspects a genetic link. Participants in SPARK — people with autism and often their parents — provide a saliva sample for genetic testing. SPARK researchers look for changes in genes and chromosomes that may contribute to autism.
“Maliyah did have a genetic test when she first got her diagnosis, and they said there was nothing there pointing to autism,” her mother recalls. “But that was 14 years ago, so I’m not sure what they’re looking at now, compared to what they looked at back then.” In the last decade, scientists have discovered more genetic changes they believe to be linked to autism. Genetic tests also have improved since Maliyah was born.
When Elaine and Reginald Hamilton began their journey to a diagnosis for Maliyah, “autism was not on our radar screen,” Elaine says. The toddler was walking, cooing and smiling. She would even look right at people with her expressive brown eyes. She just wasn’t talking, her mother explains.
“We kept asking our pediatrician at every visit, ‘What’s going on?’ We just kept getting the same answer: ‘developmental delay.’” As it so happens, Maliyah’s older brother, Donovan, had been a late talker. After speech therapy, he caught up to his peers and even began reading early.
Maliyah began receiving speech therapy and attending a special needs preschool in their school district. A teacher became concerned that Maliyah was flapping her hands and hitting her head on things. She encouraged the Hamiltons to take her to a neurologist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus. There, the 3-year-old received an autism diagnosis. “My husband and I were pretty numb,” Hamilton recalls.
They enrolled Maliyah in a research-based autism program in their school district. The program included behavioral, speech, and occupational therapies, along with home visits and parent training. Teachers explained how to use picture schedules to prepare a child for the day’s activities and how to manage sensory sensitivities. Those tools helped prevent behavior problems when Maliyah accompanied her family to stores and other places. “That program was probably the biggest thing that helped us as a family and helped her to manage herself,” Hamilton says.
Hamilton left her job in the marketing department of a hospital so she could focus on school meetings and Maliyah’s medical and therapy appointments. Many mothers of children with autism reduce their work hours or leave their jobs, according to research.1
A Phone Call, a New Career
One day, Hamilton got a call from a supervisor in the Columbus school system. The man said he had heard about her from the principal of a school where she volunteered. He wanted to know if she would be interested in working as a parent mentor. A mentor, he explained, helps educate and guide families through the special education process. She took the job, eager to help other parents understand their children’s rights and navigate the school system.
Being a parent mentor did not mean her own special education path suddenly became smooth. From time to time, Hamilton advocated for Maliyah when problems arose in the classroom or on the bus, or with her Individualized Education Program.
Maliyah is now a tenth-grader who enjoys math, music, painting, and making jewelry. She began talking around age 5, and she often prefers to write down what she wants to tell her mom. She likes her daily schedule to stay the same, but she responds well to changes when her mother drafts a Social Story to explain them, Hamilton says. A Social Story is a particular type of personalized and illustrated story that teaches someone what to expect from, and how to respond to, a new or difficult situation.
In 2018 Hamilton took a job as an information specialist at the nonprofit Ohio Coalition for the Education of Children with Disabilities, the state’s training and information center for parents of children with special needs. Hamilton now helps educate parents in 20 counties by phone.
Special needs advocacy is more than her day job. She also volunteers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, on both the Family Advisory Council of the Autism Treatment Network and the Family as Faculty program. She gives presentations to doctors and newly hired hospital staff about family-centered health care. “My story revolves around autism and what that looks in the medical setting, when my daughter goes to an appointment. I talk about some things that have gone wrong, and what medical staff could have done to support us, and some things that have gone well,” she says.
She learned about SPARK at Nationwide Children’s, one of more than 20 SPARK clinical sites across the country, and joined SPARK’s Community Advisory Council. She hopes research will lead to more effective therapies and treatments for autism. “We all want to know what we can home in on,” she says. And she hopes to spread that information to other families.
Photo reprinted with permission of Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
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RBI’s mistake may have been in interpreting its mandate to keep retail inflation at 4%, with 2% leeway, as permitting it to do nothing even when inflation was at or near 6%.
Illustration: Manisha Yadav and Ramandeep Kaur
A former governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), reminiscing on his days at Mint Road in Mumbai, told your columnist once that one of his rules was never to surprise the market with negative news. He said it was ok to give the market a positive surprise but, if there was unpleasant action coming, the market should be given advance warning of what to expect. Given the way in which the RBI’s off-cycle jacking up of the policy rate for overnight money (and that by more than the usual 25 basis points) has been received, there can be little doubt that it has come as a negative surprise — even if most people knew already that a cycle of rate increases was in the offing. Also noteworthy is the unanimity on the subject within the monetary policy committee, just as there was unanimity a month ago when no repo rate change was announced. This is an unusual two-way groupthink, even as it appears that the RBI is now trying to make up for lost time in tackling inflation.
The mistake by the RBI may have been in interpreting its mandate to maintain retail inflation at 4 per cent, with 2 per cent leeway in either direction, as being a mandate that permitted it to do nothing even when inflation was at or near the upper bound of 6 per cent. That’s where it had been for many months before recently breaching that mark. Even when the breach occurred, the RBI’s response was wishful thinking (forecasting, if you will), that the problem would be short-lived.
But such an approach leaves neither time nor space for corrective action to stay within the 2-6 per cent band when inflation pressures mount — and time is needed because, as everyone knows, monetary policy works only with a substantial time lag. A correct reading of the mandate should have been that the inflation target is 4 per cent, not 6 per cent. And action to raise interest rates should have begun last year.
Why would the RBI misread its mandate? The reason could be that it gave primacy to its role as the government’s banker, to facilitate North Block’s huge borrowing programme at the lowest cost possible, and subordinated the RBI’s role as the economy’s monetary authority. Since North Block has aimed at keeping up government spending in order to boost growth, the RBI found itself giving primacy to the government’s growth objective, whereas its legislated mandate makes this secondary to inflation control.
Such a reversal of the mandated priorities resulted in negative real interest rates (ie nominal interest rates minus inflation) for savers, pushing them into the equity and other markets in a search for positive returns. What has resulted is an asset price bubble. As often happens in such situations, foreign portfolio investors have used inflated prices as an opportunity to cut and run, even as more retail investors have come rushing in.
There will be those who disagree with this admittedly reductionist deconstruction of the RBI’s thought processes. For instance, it has been argued that the inflation spurt, especially in fuels and in food products like edible oils, could not have been foreseen since they are byproducts of the war in Ukraine. But that war is now in its third month, and the monetary policy committee met during the build-up to the war, when oil prices had already surged, and met again more than a month after the war started. What explains the inaction then, indeed the near-unanimity on inaction?
There is another possible temptation. The government’s total debt has moved up sharply in recent years to nearly 90 per cent of GDP, against a stated ideal of 60 per cent. The cost of servicing this bloated debt through interest payments rises if interest rates get hiked, thereby constricting government expenditure on other items. So you kill the problem by allowing inflation to boost nominal GDP; the debt-GDP ratio automatically comes under control, as does the fiscal deficit ratio. This is a well-worn response to excessive public debt (“Inflate away debt”), except that the mandate to the RBI effectively forbids it.
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While brainstorming for a topic to write on for this article, nothing on my list of ideas was really jumping out at me. And I realized that in my search, I’d been asking God for His presence, but I myself had not really been present with Him.
So I asked God if we could have a “date” the next day while on my morning walk. I promised that my mind and heart would focus on being present just with Him. No phone. No distractions. Just time out in God’s creation to seek and listen to Him.
Feeling the responsibility of writing something that would be worth your time as the reader, I asked God to please give me something INCREDIBLE, an idea that would be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit to change hearts and lives.
Morning walk date with God set, I excitedly got my shoes on, buckled my small boys into our beast of a double jogger, and set out on a gloriously clear morning the day after a spring rain. “Ok God, I’m HERE”, starting off the time with a simple prayer thanking Him for this time and asking Him for what I was needing regarding this article.
As we started down our street, my older son, who is three, started off by noting his usual landmarks that we see on our walks … the house with the dinosaurs, our neighbor so and so’s house, the most fun driveway to run up and down, and so on. As we continued on and I humbly asked God for His lightning bolt of an idea for my writing, I suddenly realized that everything about my day was feeling very, very normal.
In continuing to seek God with this time, I thought maybe it would help set the the tone for experiencing His presence by starting with some praise. Pushing the stroller along and knowing my boys would be listening, I suddenly realized this was a chance to involve them in this process. And so I started off with the first praise song that came to mind, which was “Hallelujah, Praise Ye the Lord”. I had to chuckle a little in my head at how simple the “greatest” song I could think of was at this phase in my life with littles.
As my sons and I walked through our neighborhood taking turns with who belted out the “Hallelu Hallelu Hallelu HALLELUJAH” and “Praaaaise Yeeee the Lord” portions of the song, it occurred to me that seeing how completely normal of a day this was becoming, there might not actually be a lightning bolt epiphany that was going to take place for my article topic after all. But – this simple interaction I was sharing with my three-year-old was being heard by God. And what’s more, my little son was also having a moment singing his heart out to his Maker at a level that he could connect with.
And I realized that recently I’d been praying that God would show me how to not just parent my children as a Christian but to actually disciple them, and that this small, very usual step of singing this children’s praise song with my son while walking through our neighborhood may not be the most awe-inspiring spiritual moment, but who knows where this would eventually lead in my son’s life, and it has been my prayer that these simple moments of getting to know God in his very early years would eventually turn into the greatest love of his life.
And it all became so clear in that moment that with God, small beginnings have the potential to grow into great things, far beyond our biggest dreams and imagination.
The book of John, chapter 6 in the Bible tells of the boy with a few fish and loaves of bread who is willing to let Jesus use what he had and winds up feeding THOUSANDS of people miraculously.
What Do You Have?
Of COURSE it was a child who offered his food and ended up feeding thousands! Any adult who had food on them would’ve rationally seen the futility of the situation and would have given up before even trying. I love this boy’s pureness of heart and willingness to help. He knew he had something he could offer Jesus and he didn’t question it.
And it occurred to me, how often do I talk myself out of doing something because it doesn’t already seem great? What if this boy had thought to himself, “But I only have a few small loaves of bread and a couple of tiny fish, how in the world could what little I have possibly matter?” This boy could’ve given in to the doubt of how his small lunch wasn’t enough to make any difference. Or he could’ve given in to being too embarrassed to show Jesus what simple food he had. Or he selfishly could’ve considered that he himself was hungry and to divide up what small amount he already had would only leave him hungrier. Any one of these scenarios he could’ve allowed to keep him from giving to Jesus what small amount he had. Surely he had NO IDEA what Jesus would end up doing with it!
Not enough. Doubt. Embarrassment. Selfishness. How often do we let these things talk us out of giving God what we have? How often does it seem impossible that something with tiny beginnings could be grown by God into something miraculously great? And yet in the impossibly tiny beginnings is where the “God moment” is hidden, the glory awaits!
In Southern California, each spring, one of the most spectacular things in nature that happens is the hills becoming covered in bright yellow mustard flowers. What I especially love is that the mustard grows wherever sunlight touches. This means that the sun-facing side of the hills is covered in yellow, and the shady sides remain green, allowing the mustard to highlight and accentuate their shape and form, and it’s as if the sides of the hills become sunlight themselves. Walking through mustard that is above head high is truly an exhilarating experience.
What many don’t know is that the mustard plant is not indigenous to California. It’s seeds, which are among the tiniest in the plant kingdom, were brought over by Spanish settlers hundreds of years ago, and today have turned into a phenomenon that many are delighted by each spring.
Small Seeds
The Bible says that faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains. Who would’ve thought that the tiny mustard seed would eventually cover entire hillsides of a large state? Who would’ve thought that a boy’s humble lunch would be able to feed thousands of people? Who would’ve thought that a baby born to a teenage girl in a stable would become the Savior of mankind? It’s when we start taking those tiny steps forward in faith that God moves, and can transform lives beyond what we could ever imagine.
Small Things with Big Impact
The next time you start talking yourself out of taking a leap of faith because you feel inadequate, you have doubts, you’re embarrassed or you’re feeling selfish, remember what God can do and put your faith in Him. The Bible shows us over and over that being faithful and seeking God in the ordinary and small things of our lives that might have the greatest impact beyond what we could ever know!
And so in the anticipation of spring, I encourage you to have faith and plant that tiny seed. Offer your small loaves and fish. Find that small thing in your daily life that you can begin with. You don’t have to move the mountains, God will do it for you.
First published in Salt+Clay Spring Issue: Cultivate
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Writer & Geek • By Writer & Geek • Sep 15, 2017
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Operation Overlord was launched on 6 June 1944 and is to date the largest amphibious assault in the history of warfare. Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on 6 June, and more than two million Allied troops were in France by the end of August. It led to the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. Links to our essentials: Find the affiliate links to the equipment and resources we use to make this podcast here. Find Writer & Geek's guide to podcasting here. Image MIckStephenson at English Wikipedia.
May 23, 2021
The Pyramids are one of the ancient wonders of the world. It is one of the most mysterious structures ever built. In this episode, we try to uncover some of the mysteries. Links to our essentials: Find the affiliate links to the equipment and resources we use to make this podcast here. Find Writer & Geek's guide to podcasting here. Image by Soupy Squirrel from Pixabay
May 09, 2021
The Indian Revolutionary Movement The first signs of the revolutionary movement can be traced back to 1847 when 5000 peasants rose against the British East India Company (EIC) in Kurnool district (Andra Pradesh) under the leadership of Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy. They were protesting against the changes made to the traditional agrarian system. Jugantar Party The revolutionary movement was not organised till the 20th Century. The first signs of its organisation can be noticed in 1905, during the partition of Bengal. The Jugantar party was formed in April 1906 by Aurobindo Ghosh, Barindra Kumar Ghosh, Bhupendranath Datta, Lal Bal Pal, Subodh Chandra Mullick. They collected and manufactured bombs. The Jugantars sent some of their members for training abroad, too. But the attempted murder of a district judge in Muzaffarpur resulted in the arrest of many of them. They planned to revolt against the British during the First World War with the help of Indians living abroad. It relied on the clandestine landing of German arms and ammunitions in the Indian coast, which never materialised. They supported Mahatma Gandhi's Non-Cooperation Movement while conducting revolutionary activities. Hindustan Socialist Republican Association It was established in October 1924 in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh by revolutionaries like Ramprasad Bismil, Jogesh Chatterjee, Chandrashekhar Azad, Yogendra Shukla and Sachindranath Sanyal. They aimed to throw out the British and establish the Federal Republic of the United States of India. The Kakori train robbery is one of the notable mutinies by the group. It led to the hanging of Ashfaqullah Khan, Ramprasad Bismil, Roshan Singh, Rajendra Lahiri. The group reorganised under Chandrashekhar Azad with new members of the likes of Bhagat Singh, Bhagwati Charan Vohra and Sukhdev and renamed themselves the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA). They killed Saunders, a police officer involved in the lathi-charge that killed Lala Lajpat Rai. Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru threw a bomb inside the Central Legislative Assembly. It was followed by their trial and hanging on 23 March 1931. Abhinav Bharat Secret Society It was a secret society started by VD Savarkar and GD Savarkar in 1904. It was involved in many revolutionary activities until its disbandment in 1952. One of the popular deeds of the society was the assassination of Lt. Col. William Curzon-Wyllie on 1 July 1909. After the existence of the society was unearthed, Savarkar was transported to the Cellular Jail in the Andaman Islands in 1910. Kotwal Dasta It was formed by Veer Bhai Kotwal with around 50 members during the Quit India Movement. They cut down electric pylons to cripple the industries and railways. Around 11 pylons were cut from September to November 1942. Previous episode mentioned in this episode: 074: Oh beer, oh beer! Find the affiliate links to the equipment and resources we use to make this podcast here. Find Writer & Geek's guide to podcasting here. Image by Rueben lys
January 14, 2021
In this episode, we talk about the Boeing 737 Max accidents and the reason behind it. Boeing’s 737 is one of the most widely used aircraft. But two crashes of its new 737 Max 8 model and the following investigation, led to some dark details about how a software system overpowered the pilots and plunged everyone on board to a horrific end. Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System, abbreviated as MCAS is a software designed to save an aeroplane from a potential stall due to a high angle of attack. The angle of attack is the angle between the aircraft direction of mention forward and the wing. Aircraft usually have a slight positive angle of attack to create more lift at slower speeds. But if the angle of attack becomes too high, added drag is created and there is a danger of a stall where aircraft falls out of the sky uncontrollably. MCAS was designed to lower the airplane’s nose when the angle of attack becomes too high and thus preventing a stall. But in two of Boeing’s 737 Max 8 aircraft, these systems erroneously pushed the planes into nosedive resulting in catastrophic accidents. The worst part of this disaster was that the pilots of 737 were not informed of this particular software and wasn’t even mentioned in any training documents. In this episode, we delve a little deeper into the background of these tragedies and learn how competition between two aircraft manufacturers resulted in the loss of hundreds of lives. Previous episode mentioned in the episode: 048: Jet Engines Find the affiliate links to the equipment and resources we use to make this podcast here. Find Writer & Geek's guide to podcasting here. Image by nickyhardinguk from Pixabay
January 08, 2021
Rodney Alcala is a notorious serial killer who spread terror in the United States from 1968 to 1979. Name: Rodrigo Jacques Alcala Buquor Birth: 23 August 1943 Convictions: Battery, kidnapping, murder, probation violation, rape, providing cannabis to a minor Victims: 8 to 130 Span: 1968 to 1979 Crime penalty: Death Aliases: The Dating Game Killer, John Berger, John Burger, Rod Alcala During his appearance in The Dating Game in 1978, the host, Jim Lange introduced him as a "successful photographer who got his start when his father found him in the darkroom at the age of 13, fully developed. Between takes, you might find him skydiving or motorcycling." Alcala won the competition (a date with Cheryl Bradshaw) with his charm. But Bradshaw later declined the date because Alcala started acting creepy. The fellow bachelors in the show described Alcala to be very strange and have bizarre opinions. It is believed that the rejection led Alcala on a killing spree where he killed at least three women. Find the affiliate links to the equipment and resources we use to make this podcast here. Find Writer & Geek's guide to podcasting here. Source: Rodney Alcala Biography Rodney Alcala Murderpedia The Dating Game Wikipedia Rodney Alcala Wikipedia Image from LA Weekly
December 28, 2020
Mahatma Gandhi was the primary leader of India’s independence movement and also the architect of a form of non-violent civil disobedience that would influence the world. Until Gandhi was assassinated in 1948, his life and teachings inspired activists including Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Name: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi Born: 2 October 1869 (Porbandar, Gujarat) Known for: Being the father of the nation, political activism leading to Indian independence, nonviolence (ahimsa) Occupation: Lawyer, activist, writer, politician Died: 30 January 1948 Cause of death: Assassination through gunshot by Nathuram Godse Introduction He was the youngest son from his father, Karamchand Gandhi’s fourth marriage to Putlibai Gandhi. Karamchand Gandhi did not have much elementary education but was capable to be the dewan of Porbandar. He went on to become the dewan of Rajkot later on. Mohandas Gandhi was a mediocre student who won the occasional prizes and scholarships who was - “good at English, fair in Arithmetic and weak in Geography; conduct very good, bad handwriting.” He got married at the age of thirteen to Kasturba Makhanji Kapadia. They went on to have four children - Harilal, Manilal, Ramdas, Devdas. Education He liked to be a doctor but coming from a background of Vaishnava faith, they were against vivisection. To attain a good post in the high posts in one of the states in Gujarat, he had to be a barrister. He went to England and joined the Inner Temple which is one of the four London law colleges. He struggled with more issues than academic problems, especially vegetarianism became a major struggle for him. He came under constant pressure from his friends about how vegetarianism is going to wreck his studies and health. But then he found a vegetarian restaurant and a book reasoning the goodness of vegetarianism. He became a member of the executive committee of the London Vegetarian Society, contributing articles to its journal and attending its conferences. Early Career He had a lot of issues practising law. His fear of public speaking took a toll on him as he could not get any prestigious barrister jobs back in India. This led to him moving to South Africa and taking a job there. South Africa taught him a lot about the disparities between the white and the coloured. India (1915-1947) Non-Cooperation Movement (1920) It began because of the Rowlatt Act and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Ended with the Chauri Chaura incident of 1922. It led to the arrest of Gandhi and many other prominent leaders. Civil Disobedience Movement(1930) Dandi March (12th March - 6th April 1930) Time Man of the Year 1930 Gandhi and 78 trusted volunteers marched from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi (384 km) in 25 days. Resulted in the Government of India Act 1935 which granted large measures of autonomy to the provinces of British India. Quit Indian Movement (1942) It was opposed by Hindu Mahasabha, All India Muslim League, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Communist Party of India, and the Princely States. Quotes mentioned in the podcasts from Britannica: “Gandhi had critics in his own country and indeed in his own party. The liberal leaders protested that he was going too fast; the young radicals complained that he was not going fast enough; left-wing politicians alleged that he was not serious about evicting the British or liquidating such vested Indian interests as princes and landlords; the leaders of the untouchables doubted his good faith as a social reformer; and Muslim leaders accused him of partiality to his own community.” “Scholars have continued to judge Gandhi’s place in history. He was the catalyst if not the initiator of three of the major revolutions of the 20th century: the movements against colonialism, racism, and violence.” Book mentioned in the episode: The Story of My Experiments with Truth by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi: Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle Edition | MP3 CD | Audio Cassette Fin
December 15, 2020
Dear Listeners, We are taking a month long break to come back with some more amazing content for you. Till then we will be recasting four of our favourite episodes from the past. Hope you enjoy it! :) This week, we recast the episode where we talked about Dyatlov Pass Incident. To the east of the Ural mountains, in Yekaterinburg city cemetery, there is a group grave of 9 members from a hiking group who died mysteriously. Timeline Arrived by train at Ivdel a town at the centre of the northern province of Sverdlovsk Oblast on 25th January 1959. Took a truck ride to Vizhai (last settlement towards the north). Hikers purchased and had loaves of bread when they were in Vizhai to keep energy high. Started trek towards Otorten from Vizhai on 27th January. Yuri Yudin returned on 28th due to health issues. On 31st, the hikers arrived at a highland area and started preparing for their climb. They saved surplus food in a wooded area for their return hike. Snowstorms resulted in hikers being deviated from their intended path and ended up on the slopes of Kholat Syakhl (Dead Mountain). Group decided to camp on the slopes of Kholat Syakhl instead of hiking all the way back into the wooded area about 1.5 km away. It is speculated that the group wanted to practice camping on a mountain slope. Dyatlov had told his sports club that he would send a telegram from Vizhai no later than 12th February and that it might take even longer. It was not until 20th that the relatives of the hikers demanded a search be conducted for the missing hikers. The search party was mobilised and the military also took part in the search. On 26th of February, the search party found the tent that was used by the hikers. The tent was torn from inside and the hikers were missing. All the belongings including warm clothing and shoes were left behind. A set of footprints could be found heading away from the tent towards the woods, but after 500m, the tracks disappeared in the snow. At the edge of the forest, under a Siberian Pine tree, there was a visible sign of a fire that was lit. The first two bodies, Krivonischenko and Doroshenko were found shoeless near the fire site wearing only their underwears. The tree also had visible marks of someone having climbed it, with branches up to 5 metres broken. Someone seems to have climbed the tree to either escape from something or to look at something in distance. Further search in the snow between the camp and the pine tree revealed the bodies of Dyatlov, Kolmogorova and Slobodin. Their poses suggested that they were trying to return to the campsite perhaps for food and warm clothing. They were found at a distance of 300, 480 and 630 metres from the tree respectively. The four remaining hikers were not found until 4th of May under 4 metres of snow around 75 metres away from the pine tree towards the woods. These four happened to be better dressed than others and the ones who died later were wearing the clothes of the ones who had died earlier. A hastily constructed den was found near the bodies. Something happened on the night of 31st - 1st which lead to the death of all the hikers. Inquiry An inquiry was started into the matter after the first five bodies were found. It was concluded that hypothermia was the reason for the deaths. The finding of the four bodies later presented puzzling details which changed the course of the inquest. Three of the four hikers had serious fatal injuries to the head and chest area. Doctors concluded that the force required to cause a similar injury would be something similar to that of a car hitting a person. Except for Dubinina who was missing her tongue, eyes, parts of lips and a part of the skull, no major external wounds were found on the bodies. It was later claimed that these injuries were a result of her being face down on the water. Theories The inquest concluded that all the hikers had died of a compelling natural force. The inquiry was stopped in May and all
December 08, 2020
Dear Listeners, We are taking a month long break to come back with some more amazing content for you. Till then we will be recasting four of our favourite episodes from the past. Hope you enjoy it! :) This week, we recast the episode where we talked about time measurement in Hindu culture. Resources: Find the affiliate links to the equipment and resources we use to make this podcast here. Find Writer & Geek's guide to podcasting here.
December 01, 2020
Dear Listeners, We are taking a month long break to come back with some more amazing content for you. Till then we will be recasting four of our favourite episodes from the past. Hope you enjoy it! :) This week, we recast our conversation about the history of smoking. History The origin of tobacco can be traced back to 6000 BC, in the American continent. It was considered medicinal and used as a painkiller. Smoking cannabis can be traced back to 2000 BC, India. It is also mentioned in Atharvaveda. Cannabis smoking in the middle east was common, especially Hookah. Even women took part in it privately. Christopher Columbus played a big part in getting it to the European continent 1531 - first tobacco cultivation in Europe. By 1600, tobacco became an integral part of the society as a good section started smoking. In 1560, Jean Nicot took tobacco with him to Spain from France In 1571, a Spanish doctor named Nicolas Monardes, apparently “found out” tobacco could cure 36 health problems (what a joke!) In 1588, Thomas Harriet, a Virginian, said that smoking gives the daily dose of tobacco. Not surprisingly, he died of nose cancer. English King James I was one of the first to speak against smoking Tobacco used as an exchange during these time. The barter system did rely on tobacco. Africa was introduced to tobacco by Arab traders in the 13th century, It was popularised by French merchants in 1600 by bringing tobacco to Senegal & Gambia. The 17th century saw Japanese use a device called Kiseru. It was a long-stemmed device. In 1760, Pierre Lorillard set up the Lorillard Tobacco Company in NYC. it is the oldest tobacco company in the US. Nicotine was discovered in 1826 and found to be harmful to humans. 1836, Samuel Green mentioned that tobacco is an insecticide, a poison which can kill. Chinese got into the habit of smoking opium due to colonialism. The British got them addicted to opium and it resulted in the Opium Wars. Chewing tobacco became popular amongst cowboys in the 19th century. It was more popular than smoking. By 1901, smoking was catching up with 6 billion cigars and 3 billion cigarettes sold. In 1902, Britisher, Philip Morris set up Marlboro brand 1913, R. J. Reynolds set up the Camel brand of cigarettes. World Wars saw a tremendous increase in smoking. It was called soldier’s smoke and was included in the soldier’s ration. By 1923, Camel took over 45% of the market in the US. Which led to Marlboro marketing it as women’s cigarette in 1924. They called it Mild as May. The number of women smokers tripled over the next few years. Nazi Germany has one of the most powerful anti-smoking movement. During the 1950s evidence of smoking leading to lung cancer began popping up. In 1952, Kent Brand developed Micronite, a cigarette which contains asbestos. It was shelved shortly afterwards. In 1953, Dr Ernst L. Wynders found that cigarette tar causes a tumour in mice In 1956, first menthol cigarette was released by RJ Reynolds called Salem. In 1964, regulations in cigarette advertisements were placed after the finding on Smoking and Health report made it clear that smoking causes lung cancer. In 1965, Britain takes cigarette commercials off television In 1966, health warnings started popping up on packets In 1968, Bravo, a non-tobacco cigarette brand made of lettuce. Mega Failure! The US takes off cigarette advertisements in 1971 the first national Great American Smokeout takes place in 1977. It is an annual event which takes place on the third Thursday of every November. In 1982, it is found out that second-hand smoking also leads to lung cancer In 1985, lung cancer overtakes breast cancer as the number one cause of women’s death. India and Smoking The first act to add a statutory warning on packets came into existence in 1975 Public smoking banned in Kerala in 1999. The first state in India to do that. On September 8, 2000, the complete ban on tobacco and smoking advertisements came into
November 24, 2020
Dear Listeners, We are taking a month long break to come back with some more amazing content for you. Till then we will be recasting four of our favourite episodes from the past. Hope you enjoy it! :) This week, we recall our conversation about Cyanide Mohan. A serial killer from South India. Mohan Kumar, infamously known as Cyanide Mohan is a serial killer who targeted women by offering them marriage. Details: DOB: 1963 Place: Mangalore Marital status: Married thrice Span of crime: 2005-2009 Number of victims: 20 Date of apprehension: October 2009 Crime History Cyanide Mohan worked as a primary school teacher from 1980 to 2003. He was fired from his job for allegedly pushing a woman off the Nethravathi when she refused his marriage proposal. The motive of the murders were to satisfy his sexual needs and to extort the valuables from his victims. He used cyanide laced pills to kill his victims. Convicted for 5 murders of the 20 murders. He is his own attorney and successful appealed to convert one death penalty into a life sentence. He is also found to have committed bank frauds and forgeries Currently serving two death penalties and two life sentences. Resources: Find the affiliate links to the equipment and resources we use to make this podcast here. Find Writer & Geek's guide to podcasting here.
November 17, 2020
Dear Listeners, We are taking a month long break to come back with some more amazing content for you. Till then we will be recasting four of our favourite episodes from the past. Hope you enjoy it! :) This week, we recast the episode we did with our dear friend, Nikesh Murali. He is a writer and voice actor and also hosts the critically acclaimed horror podcast, Indian Noir. Find Nikesh online: Indian Noir Nikesh’s website Resources: Find the affiliate links to the equipment and resources we use to make this podcast here. Find Writer & Geek's guide to podcasting here.
November 10, 2020
Note: This is not a sponsored episode. But do go check Headphone Zone if you are looking for premium quality audiophile equipment which are not available anywhere else in India. Watch the episode on YouTube. We have always been hardcore music enthusiasts since our childhood. We have had exposure to a variety of music styles, and it has influenced our daily lives a lot. But over the past few months, we realised we have not been listening to music the way it is supposed to. And in this episode, we talk about stuff related to audiophiles and our journey from being complete rookies to beginner audiophiles. We also talk about some of the equipment that we use. "An audiophile is a person who is enthusiastic about high-fidelity sound reproduction." - Wikipedia DAC A digital-to-analogue converter (DAC, D/A, D2A, or D-to-A) is a system that converts a digital signal into an analogue signal. Most of the listening devices that we use, such as laptops and smartphones have inbuilt DAC in them. But being multipurpose devices, it is equipped with sub-par DACs. So, to get the best quality from the audio, a dedicated external DAC is required. Headphone Amplifier A headphone amplifier is a low-powered audio amplifier designed to drive headphones worn on or in the ears. It helps increase the threshold of the maximum volume achievable on a headphone. DAC vs Headphone Amplifier A DAC help in the seamless conversion of digital signals to analogue. On the other hand, a headphone amplifier only helps to increase the maximum volume of a headphone. A DAC removes the white noise from the headphone. But a headphone amplifier does not help with that as it still uses the listening device's inbuilt DAC. Closed-Back Headphones Closed-back headphones have a solid outer shell with no perforations of any sort such that the shell effectively cups the entire ear. This results in noise cancellation, reduction in sound bleeding but a reduced sound staging. These are mostly used by studio professionals while recording. Open-Back Headphones Open-back headphones are designed so that the outer shell of the ear covering is perforated in some fashion, typically with horizontal cutouts. Thus, resulting in sound bleeding but providing a better sound stage. These are mostly used by studio professionals while mixing and mastering. True Wireless Earbuds True Wireless Earbuds are earphones that are completely wireless and does not even have wires connecting the two buds. It is a revolutionary piece of technology that came along with Apple removing the headphone jacks from their headphones. The technology is still at its infancy but has grown tremendously since its inception in late 2016. Sound Signatures Extra Bass - It is in the name. These headphones have their bass boosted while the mids and highs suppressed. Most of the JBL and V-Moda headphones follow this sound signature. Suits for DJs. Warm and Smooth - Here, the bass is emphasised with the high trebles cut to remove the harshness of the audio. Sennheiser is known for creating some great warm and smooth sounding headphones. V-Shaped - It emphasizes bass and treble while cutting down on the mid-ranges. Apple's Airpod Pro is the best example of such earphones. Flat - As the name suggests, these headphones do not emphasis on any frequencies. These are well-suited for studio professionals as it provides what is there in the audio. Balanced - Balanced is similar to the flat signature but has all the frequencies tweaked a bit to give you a fun sound. The Jabra Elite 75t is an example of balanced sounding earbuds. Bright - They have boosted treble and mid-ranges. These depend on the quality of the audio you listen to because if the audio quality is low, it can get quite jarring and uncomfortable. But at the same time, it exposes the imperfections in well-recorded audio. Find all the products mentioned in the podcast below: Headphone Zone DAC - ifi Audio Zen Closed-back headphones - Audio Technica ATH
November 03, 2020
Kunchan Nambiar was an early Malayalam poet, performer, satirist and the inventor of the Kerala art form of Ottamthullal. Kunjan Nambiar was born in Kerala on May 5 1705, in Palakkad, Kerala. Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan and Cherusseri Namboothiri and Nambiar are known as the ancient triumvirate. Nambiar learnt Kalaripayattu and Sanskrit before moving to the court of Marthanda Varma in 1748. He had established himself as a poet by the time he reached the royal court. He introduced Ottamthullal to the masses in the 18th century. The motivation behind creating Ottamthullal is that Nambiar was made fun of by the Chakyar for sleeping while playing Mizhavu during a Chakyar Koothu performance. He created Ottamthullal to parody prevalent regional prejudices and sociopolitical conditions. Ottamthullal is a dance and poetic performance. It is usually accompanied by a Mridangam or an Idakka. The performances take popular folktales from the past and satirise it with a lot of comedy. He parodied everyone in attendance and didn’t spare even the rich (Which was a big deal back then). The Chakyar complained to the King about Nambiar’s performances and Ottamthullal was banned in some of the temple complexes. The performer is draped in colourful clothes and green makeup. Some of the performances similar to Ottamthullal are Parayanthullal and Seethankan Thullal. Nambiar had written 64 works for the art form. One of the most popular works of Ottamthullal is Kalyana Sougandhikam. The main feature of the art was that it was conducted in Malayalam which most of the commoners could understand. Back then, most of the performances included stylised or Sanskritised Malayalam which was not accessible to the common folks. What we can understand is that art was used to spread a social message even back then. Nambiar died of rabies in 1770. May 5 is celebrated as Kunchan Day in Kerala. Links to things Mentioned: Our episode on vaccination: 090: How Does Vaccination Work? Find the affiliate links to the equipment and resources we use to make this podcast here. Find Writer & Geek's guide to podcasting here. Sources: Curating Kunchan Nambiar for the masses Kunjan Nambiar Wikipedia Story of the birth of Kunjan Nambiar Ottan Thullal Wikipedia That Inexplicable Tenth Rasa From An Actor-Dancer Who Collapsed And Died On Stage Image by Bobinson K B from Flickr | Source: Oh, my brother is coming!
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October 27, 2020
Correction - Shankar incorrectly mentions that Thomas Edison published the Theory of Relativity as opposed to Albert Einstein. Either he had a momentary lapse of reasoning or he is a complete idiot. You decide! In the 100th episode of Writer and Geek Show, the lads discuss the origins of the numerical system and how Vishnu was poor in maths. Tally marks were used as early ways of counting. Roman numerals were an extension of primitive tally marks with the usage of alphabets as numerals. A positional system with place value attached to digits was invented in India between 1st and 4th century AD. Aryabhatta approximated the value of Pi during the early medieval period. Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi popularized the Hindu numerals in the Arabian and Western world through his mathematical work. Fibonacci used these Hindu Arabic numerals for his work and thus popularized it in Europe. They came to be known as the Hindu Arabic system or as Arabic numerals. In the 15th century, Hindu Arabic numerals replaced Roman numerals as the primary number system. Wikipedia articles: Number System Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi Find the affiliate links to the equipment and resources we use to make this podcast here. Find Writer & Geek's guide to podcasting here. Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
October 20, 2020
099: Colonialism in India - Part 10: British Raj and Indian National Congress
After the Rebellion of 1857, nationalist movements cropped up across the country. The idea of a free India became prevalent during this time. Indian National Congress (INC) Inspired by AO Hume, Dadabhai Naoroji and Surendranath Banerjee founded INC in 1885 It was the first time an organisation recognised India as a country The organisation initially did not have a well-formed ideology and was a debating society that met annually The idea was to let Britishers rule India while obtaining some kind of rights for the Indian citizens But it did not last long and the party was divided into two factions - Moderates and Extremists Moderates and Extremists Moderates were led by Dadabhai Naoroji, Gopal Krishna Gokhale who opposed the extremists led by Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal and Lala Lajpat Rai. The extremists were forced out of INC and the Tilak was later arrested, which led to INC losing its credibility. Aligarh University and the Muslim League In 1875, under Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh was founded (renamed Aligarh Muslim University in 1920) Bengal was divided into two in 1906 - East Bengal and West Bengal The Muslim faction in the country did not feel INC is inclusive and they formed The Muslim League The Revolutionaries Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in 1919 was a turning point in the revolutionary movement The work of the revolutionaries including Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki gained recognition Both of them tried to assassinate British officials and were captured and executed Jugantar was established in April 1906 by Aurobindo Ghosh, his brother Barin Ghosh, Bhupendranath Datta, Raja Subodh Mallik. They collected and manufactured arms and explosives for revolutionary activities. Ghadar Party and its movement to conduct a Pan-India rebellion in the British Indian Army. All India Conference of Indian Christians was founded in 1914 with KT Paul as its first president Find the affiliate links to the equipment and resources we use to make this podcast here. Find Writer & Geek's guide to podcasting here. Source: Indian National Congress Wikipedia Indian Independence Movement Wikipedia Timeline of Indian History from 1857 to 1947 10 Events That Led to Indian Independence Image courtesy Canva
October 13, 2020
Welcome to the third part of Writer & Geek Unscripted. In this episode, we talk about our idea about life and death. Watch this episode on Youtube. We touch upon our personal experiences of dealing with the death of near and dear ones and also how we rely on the principles of optimistic nihilism and stoicism to get through tough situations. Find the video about Optimistic Nihilism mentioned in the episode here: Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell - Optimistic Nihilism Find more about Stoicism here: The philosophy of Stoicism - Massimo Pigliucci Find the affiliate links to the equipment and resources we use to make this podcast here. Find Writer & Geek's guide to podcasting here. Image by Oli Lynch from Pixabay
October 06, 2020
Phones have progressed from just being an appliance to connect via voice to becoming an all in one device that keeps you connected with the world at all times. Alexander Graham Bell is credited with inventing the phone back in 1876. In the same year, the first two-way long-distance communication via phone was conducted. First telephone exchange in India was set up in 1882. Telephones were improved during the early 20th century Early car phones appeared in 1946 in the United States In 1947, Bell labs proposed a cellular network Motorola built the first truly wireless phone in 1973. The public started using wireless phones in the 80s First mobile phone communication happened in India on July 31st, 1995. Find the affiliate links to the equipment and resources we use to make this podcast here. Find Writer & Geek's guide to podcasting here. Image by Stefan Kuhn from Pixabay
September 29, 2020
INS Viraat was India’s flagship aircraft carrier before INS Vikramaditya was commissioned in 2013. It was completed and commissioned in 1959 by the British Royal Navy (as HMS Hermes) and was the last of Centaur-class aircraft carriers. It served the Royal Navy for 25 years before being sold to the Indian Navy in 1987. The carrier was decommissioned in 2017 and is currently on its way to be scrapped at the port of Alang, Gujarat. Largest Aircraft Carrier USS Gerald R Ford Length: 337 metres Displacement: 100,000 tons Speed: In excess of 30 knots (56 km/h) Range: Unlimited (20-25 years) Cost: $12.8 billion + $4.7 billion R&D Smallest Aircraft Carrier HTMS Chakri Naruebet Length: 182.65 metres Displacement: 11,486 tons Speed: 25.5 knots (47.2 km/h) Range: 10,000 nautical miles (19,000 kilometres) Cost: $285 million in 1993 History of Aircraft Carriers In 1806, the Royal Navy used a ship to launch kites with propaganda leaflets. These leaflets with propaganda against Napoleon in French were dropped in France. Ballon Carriers On 12 July 1849, Austrian ship SMS Vulcano tried to drop incendiary balloons in Venice. But the wind blew most of the balloon incendiary back to the city. Gas-filled balloons were used during the American Civil war for the reconnaissance of Confederate positions. Ballon carriers were used during World War I by the navies of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, and Sweden mostly as observation posts. Their ships were mostly decommissioned or turned into seaplane carriers. Seaplane Carriers In 1910, seaplanes were invented. These led to the development of ships which could carry these seaplanes. It was the first form of aircraft carriers. The first seaplane carrier, Foudre, was developed by the French in December 1911. A 10-metre flat deck was developed in 1913 for launching the seaplanes. HMS Hermes was temporarily converted to a seaplane carrier by the Royal Navy in April-May 1913, making it the first British seaplane carrier. The first seaplane carrier of the US was USS Mississippi, which was converted in December 1913. The first naval launched air raids that happened in 1914 during World War I. The Imperial Japanese Navy seaplane Wakamiya lowered four Maurice Farman seaplanes using a crane, which went on to bombard German forces. The naval raid on the Zeppelin base at Cuxhaven on 25 December 1914 demonstrated the ability of seaborne air raids to the Europeans. Many ships used catapults to launch seaplanes for reconnaissance and later retrieve it using cranes. This method was popular even during World War II. Flat-Deck Carriers The first successful launch of a plane from a stationary ship took place in November 1910. The pilot was Eugene Ely. A structure was fixed over the armoured cruiser USS Birmingham. The first landing took place on 18 January 1911 on the structure fixed on USS Pennsylvania. It used an improvised braking system of sandbags and ropes. On 9 May 1912, Commander Charles Rumney Samson became the first pilot to take off from a moving plane. He took off from the battleship HMS Hibernia. World War I HMS Ark Royal was the first aircraft carrier. It was launched on 5 September 1914. It was part of the Gallipoli campaign. It was a merchant ship modified to be a carrier. The first ship to be designed as an aircraft carrier was HMS Furious in 1916. At first, it had separate flight decks but was rebuilt in 1925 with a full-length flight deck. It took part in combat during World War II. Squadron Commander EH Dunning landed his plane on a moving HMS Furious on 2 August 1917, becoming the first person to land on a moving ship. But he tragically died five days later while trying to land another plane on the same carrier. The first-ever carrier-launched airstrike took place on 19 July 1918 during the Tondern Raid. Seven planes were launched from HMS Furious with two 23-kilogram bombs to attack the German Zeppelin base in Tondern. As the carrier had no recovery system
September 22, 2020
Correction - Vishnu incorrectly mentions that Tor stands for ‘Tor Onion Router’ and that it is a recursive acronym. He’s an idiot As Shankar mentioned, it actually stands for ‘The Onion Router’. The early form of the Internet was invented by the Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA) in the form of ARPANET, which was a group of computers connected together and sharing resources. In 1990, Sir Tim Berners-Lee developed the first website with an address info.cern.ch and was available within the CERN network. This site is accessible at http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html IP addresses help identify a computer on the network and Domain Name Service (DNS) helps assign meaningful web addresses (like writerandgeek.com) that direct to these IP addresses. This makes remembering websites easy. Integrated Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is a non-profit controlling the DNS. Trans-oceanic cables help provide internet to every continent except in the world except Antarctica. Any damages to these cables can result in disruption of the internet over a wide area or a country. Deepweb is the part of the internet which is not indexed by search engines and websites in the deep web cannot be viewed by normal browsers. Browsers like TOR browser are used to access these websites. A subset of the deep web is called Darknet where usually activities that are illegal take place. Like drug trade, etc. Find the affiliate links to the equipment and resources we use to make this podcast here.Find Writer & Geek's guide to podcasting here. Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
September 15, 2020
094: Colonialism in India - Part 9: The Causes and Impact of the Revolt of 1857
The Revolt of 1857 is also known by other names such as The Sepoy Mutiny, The Indian Mutiny, The Great Rebellion, The Indian Insurrection, India’s First War of Independence. Political Causes: Doctrine of Lapse Cancelling of Nana Sahib’s pension (Bajirao II) Not letting Rani Lakshmi Bhai rule Jhansi Abolish the Mughal Emperor title after the death of Bahadur Shah II Economical Causes: India was turned into a colonial economy to serve the British capitalist interests High taxes, eviction of people, discriminatory practices, and destruction of traditional handicrafts Social and Religious Causes: Sati, infanticide, re-marriage of widows were considered to be interference by the Indians The work of the Christian missionaries and the introduction of English education The change of the Hindu law of property to accommodate conversion to Christianity Military Causes: The Indian soldiers were considered inferior The high ranks in the army were exclusively reserved for English men Sending Indian soldiers overseas Immediate Cause: The introduction of the Enfield rifle and the greased cartridge Timeline: On 29th March 1857, a sepoy called Mangal Pandey killed his superior English officers during a parade in Barrackpore, Bengal. It spread to Berhampore on 24th April 1857 where the cavalrymen refused to accept the greased cartridges. On 10th May 1857, Mutineers killed their superiors in Meerut and started marching towards Delhi. On 12th May, Bahadur Shah was proclaimed the Emperor of India. He was 81. But the real command was in the hands of Bakht Khan who led the troops in Bareilly and moved them to Delhi. Nana Sahib led the troops in Kanpur. He proclaimed himself to be the Peshwa and governor of the region. It was Tantya Tope who did most of the fighting there. Hazrat Mahal, the Begum of Awadh led the revolt in Lucknow. She proclaimed her song Birjis Qadr as the Nawab of Awadh. It is in Lucknow where Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence (the British resident) was killed. Rani Laxmi Bai was defeated in Jhansi, but she captured Gwalior with the help of Tantya Tope. In Bareilly, Khan Bahadur Khan Rohilla led the revolt and proclaimed himself as the Nawab. Banaras, Allahabad, Nasirabad, Indore, Aligarh and Kota where the other centres of the battle were the mutineers killed their superiors, not even sparing women or children, burned the land records, plundered the treasury. Bahadur Shah II proved to be a weak leader and the Britishers were able to suppress the revolt soon enough. He was arrested and deported to Rangoon where he died in 1862. They recaptured Delhi on 20th September 1857 under the leadership of John Nicholson. General Havelock defeated the rebels in Kanpur. After his defeat, Nana Sahib refused to surrender and escaped to Nepal. Hugh Henry Rose suppressed the revolt in Jhansi and Rani Laxmi Bai died on the battlefield. Banaras, Bareilly, and Gwalior were recaptured by the Britishers. Why did the revolt fail? It was a highly localised revolt mainly restricted to North India. It was poorly organised and the leaders lacked coordination. Scindia of Gwalior, the Nizam of Hyderabad, the Holkar of Indore, the Nawab of Bhopal, the Raja of Jodhpur, the Rulers of Kashmir, Patiala, and Sindh, and the Rana of Nepal actively support the British during the revolt. The British had way better and advanced resources and also proven generals leading their troops. There was no common cause for the rebels, they had different goals. Impact of the Revolt: The Queen’s Proclamation of November 1858 announced the policy of the British Government to be followed in India. It abolished territorial extension, the native rulers were assured of their title, land and rights, and honour if they cooperated with the British. The ruler's right to adopt a child in the case of the absence of a natural heir was accepted. The policy of divide and rule was actively pursued to keep the Hindus and Muslims separated leading to the gro
September 08, 2020
093: Unscripted - Part 2: Entertainment during Lockdown
Welcome to the second part of Writer & Geek Unscripted. In this episode, we talk about the series’ we have binged on during the course of the lockdown Series’ mentioned in this episode: Netflix: Mad Men Fauda The Good Place History 101 Snowpiercer 100 The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Amazon Prime Video: The Family Man The Office (US) Suits Apple TV: The Morning Show For All Mankind Curiosity Stream: Forensic Files Find the affiliate links to the equipment and resources we use to make this podcast here. Find Writer & Geek's guide to podcasting here. Image by Oli Lynch from Pixabay
September 01, 2020
Note: Our friend Rupen Paul for The Right Room podcast helped us a lot in researching Robert Clive. So, go check out his podcast or find him on his socials here. After the Battle of Plassey, the British East India Company under the leadership of Robert Clive realised that they can administer the Indian colony and expand their territories and improve their profits. This led to a series of new policies which resulted in many battles. Battle of Buxar (23 June 1764) Fought against the British under Major Hector Munro by Mir Qasim, Shuja-ud-Daulah of Avadh and Shah Alam II of Mughal Mir Qasim fled the battlefield and later committed suicide The Allies are defeated and Mir Jaffer is again crowned as the puppet Nawab The company did not want to indulge in the administration of the country They wanted to expand their settlements to improve the trade They began involving in the affairs of the Princely States to achieve this objective They began appointing Residents in all the Princely States to look after the relationship and trade between the company and the State The company wanted to use political, economic and diplomatic methods to extend their influence With the residents, the company decides who would be the successor and also who should be appointed in administrative posts in these Princely States Robert Clive chose Warren Hastings as the British Resident for Bengal in 1758 Warren Hastings was one of the prisoners of Siraj-ud-Daulah during his campaign in Fort William Robert Clive left India in 1760 amassing massive wealth Clive returned to India in 1765 after the Battle of Buxar and was appointed the Governor of Bengal After the death of Mir Jaffer in 1765, the tone of the company changed Clive wrote a letter to the company chairman that they should become the nawab themselves In the same year, the dual system of governance was introduced Dual System of Bengal (1765-1772): The East India Company set up a dual system of Diwan and Nizam The Diwan was selected by the company for revenue collection for them and the Nizam to rule the region The company basically took over the defence administration and left the nawab with the civil administration This happened under the Mughal emperor, Shah Alam II who was forced to allow the company to collect taxes from Bengal, Bihar and Orissa In return, the company paid an annual tribute to the Emperor The revenue received from these regions were used to buy merchandise from India and the returns would go to England Thus the company became economically self-sufficient in India - Thus began the British loot of India The Regulating Act of 1773 The act brought the three provinces under one rule and established the governor-general of India By 1772, the company acquired Bombay and Madras, too, as their presidencies Warren Hastings (1773-1785) became the first Governor-General of Bengal in 1771 and the Governor-General of India in 1773 The Great Famine of 1770 (almost 10 million deaths) brought about a need to change the system in the colonies The share prices of the company plummet and the British Government had to bail out the company Hastings’ Judicial Plan of 1772 created Faujdhari (criminal) and Diwani Adalat in the districts of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa Each district had a district collector - he had the power of administrator, judge and magistrate The Kazis and pandits translated the local laws to the officials This created a fair justice system and it led to the present-day District Administrative System It helped correct the defects and retain the local traditions of the courts and law in the regions But it also this led to unsatisfactory judgements due to the bias of Kazis and pandits In 1773, a Supreme Court was established in Fort William It was set up due to the dilemma the British government was in due to the importance of the company but their need to stop corruption Want for expansion After Bombay and Madras presidency, the British wanted to ex
August 25, 2020
091: Colonialism in India - Part 7: British East India Company and the Battle of Plassey
As the French, British were also late to reach the shores of India. Facing tough competition from the Portuguese and the Dutch, it took them a few decades to figure out ways to outweigh the other empires. But by 1757, the British East India Company became the true force in colonial India. In 1588, British traders asked for permission to conduct trade in East India The British acquired a charter from Queen Elizabeth I in 1600 and arrived in India in 1608 at Surat The British East India Company had competitors like the Portuguese and the Dutch who had reached India before The British decided to rely on politics to do trade with India till 1661 when they set up their first factory in Hubli (they only had trade posts till then) They used the internal conflicts among empires for their advantage By 1696, they began building a fort around the settlement In 1698, they bribed the Mughal officials to give them zamindari rights to three villages (one of the villages were Calcutta) The British also persuaded Aurangzeb to issue a Farman (a Farman is a royal order providing permission to trade) This Farman had a condition that the trade will be duty-free leading to a huge loss for Bengal The British officials used to indulge in private trade, adding to the woes of Bengal After the death of Aurangzeb, the empire struggled to survive with internal issues Murshid Quli Khan (1717-1720), Alvardi Khan (1740-1756), and Siraj-Ud-Daulah (1756-1757) were the three most powerful nawabs of Bengal Murshid Quli Khan, the 1st Nawab of Bengal, took the matter in his own hands and started fighting against the British Alvardi Khan was also engaged in conflicts with the Marathas The British didn’t pay taxes, they expanded their fortification, wrote disrespectful letters to the nawab, and caused huge revenue loss to Bengal The company tried to justify their action by saying that the nawabs made unjust demands, they imposed extreme taxes and duties, and trade can expand only through increasing settlements The Company wanted to remove Siraj-Ud-Daulah from the rule and place a puppet ruler The nawab asked the company to stop interfering in the region’s politics, stop fortification, and start paying taxes These conflict of interest led to the Battle of Plassey starting with the Nawab capturing Fort William Nawab Siraj-Ud-Daulah ordered the French and British to stop fortification of Fort William He captured 146 Britishers and locked them up in a room that can hold only 25 people for 3 days (Black Hole Incident) 123 people died and the British retaliated leading to the Battle of Plassey Robert Clive with an army of 3000 defeated Nawab with the help of Mir Jaffer, Nawab’s Commander-in-Chief After defeating the nawab, he fled in a camel, but was later captured and assassinated by Mir Jafar Mir Jaffer becomes the puppet Nawab The Battle of Plassey was the first major victory of the company in India and it instilled the confidence in them to start administering in the colony Source: Crash Course Modern History | British East India Company from 1600 - 1857 Economic Impact of Colonial Rule in India How did British occupy India? | British India Timeline | British East India Company | Eclectic East India Company Wikipedia Trucial States Wikipedia Princely States Wikipedia Attribution: This work includes the following sounds from http://freesound.org/ “EPIC GAME MUSIC BEST ONE DONE ON KEYBOARD BY KRIS KLAVENES.wav” by Freesound.org member klavo1985 “Epicmusic.wav” by Freesound.org member nuria1512 “Wooden_door_open.wav” by Freesound.org member joedeshon “field recording wood stairs going running” by Freesound.org member Garuda1982 “Writing” by Freesound.org member Hornetan1 Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
August 18, 2020
A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. Vaccination comes from the Latin word “Vacca” meaning cow. First used to eradicate smallpox estimated to have killed about 300-500 million people. Vaccination is different from inoculation in that inoculation is a process where the actual pathogen itself is injected and in some cases, the person inoculated may catch the disease and infection can become serious as well. Variolation: Practised in Ottoman Empire for immunity against smallpox, brought to England by lady Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Required quarantine. Milk Maids rejected the procedure claiming they had cowpox. Immune cells start as stem cells within the bone marrow. Lymph nods store immune cells to be released during pathogen infection and swell during infection as a result. Antigen Presenting Cells (APC) monitors blood for pathogens and on finding them start the process of Phagocytosis where the pathogens are ingested and broken down to be presented to the nearest lymph nodes which start the immune response. These pieces of pathogens are called antigens. APC activates the T cells which oversee the cytokine proteins. These proteins of the immune system help regulate immunity. B cells multiply and generate antibodies that can kill the pathogens. After the first infection, these T and B cells remain in the system preparing for future pathogen invasions. Two types of vaccines: Live attenuated vaccines: a mild version of the pathogen is used. Effective for a long time but the risk of being infected. Inactivated vaccine: Dead pathogens or parts of pathogens are used. It is effective for a short term and repeated booster shots might be essential. Safer. Herd Immunity: When a majority of people in the society get immunity which slows down the spread. Immunological memory: Ability of an immune system to quickly and specifically recognise an antigen the body has previously seen and then initiate an immune response. Acquired Immune System: It is a subsystem of the immune system that consists of specialised cells and processes that eliminate pathogens by limiting their growth. Vaccination can fail due to difference in immunity amongst people. Usually has side effects and no vaccine is 100% effective Source: Infographic Show video: How Are Vaccines Actually Made Reddit post on Rabies: What's a scary or disturbing fact that would probably keep most people awake at night? Image by cottonbro from Pexels
August 11, 2020
089: Colonialism in India - Part 6: Japanese Occupation of India
The story of Japanese occupation is one that is long forgotten. So here is an episode throwing some light into the incident. They were merciless and gained confidence after the Japanese-Russian war. The war happened between 1904-1905 The Russians did not have resources or technological advancements to fight against the Japanese Conquered China in the 1930s The Chinese invasion of Manchuria began on 18 September 1931 It happened right after the staged Mukden Incident They established the puppet state of Manchukuo The deception was exposed in 1932 by the Lytton Report It led to Japan being diplomatically isolated and eventually, their withdrawal from the League of Nations Nanjing Massacre It was an episode of mass murder and rape by the Imperial Army of Japan in Nanjing, the then capital of China during the second Sino-Japanese War. China was the underdog and much inferior army and the Japanese showed no remorse. It happened over a period of six weeks starting from 13 December 1937 Around 40,000 to 300,000 people were murdered and looted during this period of time The accounts of the massacre were erased by Japan shortly before their surrender in 1945 There is a huge controversy surrounding the issue including outright denial of the occurrence of the massacre to the accusation that the Chinese government exaggerated the number of people killed But many in the Japanese government themselves have admitted to killing many non-combatants Conquering of Burma Japan occupied Burma (a previous British territory) from 1942-1945 The conquest began in December of 1941 Conquer of Andaman and Nicobar Islands The conquest of the island by Japan took place in 1942 The accounts are collected from the unpublished reports of a local resident Rama Krishna: The Andaman Islands under Japanese Occupation 1942–1945 unpublished account by a British Officer, D. McCarthy: The Andaman Interlude (he was sent on a secret mission to the islands in 1944) and with the memories of the older inhabitants interviewed by historians On the fourth day after the arrival of the Japanese, the first victim was killed. A young man Zulfiqar Ali angered by the soldiers pursuing chickens in his house fired an airgun at the soldiers. He was forced to go into hiding. Once he was captured his arms were twisted till they broke and then he was fired at. Locals joined the Indian Independence League founded by Rash Behari Bose One of its members, Dr Diwan Singh also formed a peace committee An airport was built through forced labour Comfort Women were brought from South Korea to these garrisons Most of the topmost leaders of the Indian Independence League were captured and killed Andaman and Nicobar Islands were handed over to Indian National Army in 29 December 1943 Subhas Chandra Bose visited Port Blair and raised the INA tricolour proclaiming Azad Hind The Japanese screened his every movement to shield the reality of the situation from Bose The Homfray Ganj massacre took place on 30 January 1944, where 44 civilians from the island were killed on the accusation that they were spies The Islands were ruled by the Japanese till the British took it back in October 7, 1945 In 1945, due to scarcity of food, around 250-700 inhabitants of the islands were forced to move to uninhabited islands to produce food A rescue mission could only find 12 survivors and hundreds of skeletons on the islands. Many also died due to shark attacks Around 2000 people were killed and over 500 tortured during the course of Japanese occupation The Battle of Imphal The battleground was spread across present-day Manipur and Nagaland 30,000 soldiers died. More than half while retreating due to starvation and diseases Japan was not prepared at all. Expected to get it over within 3 weeks, but went on for months The allied air supply was far superior Lt. Gen. Renya Mutaguchi said the conquest would require the sacrifice of 5,000 soldiers Hirokuni Saito’s journal gave
August 04, 2020
This episode is sponsored by BodyCafé. BodyCafé is an organic lifestyle wellness brand that is based on authentic and traditional beauty practices. Visit BodyCafé and use the coupon code HI15 for the best quality hand sanitizers and other beauty products. Coupon code: HI15 Welcome to the first part of Writer & Geek Unscripted. We have been planning this a series where we talk about things that are happening around us for the longest time. But it needed a big push in the form of a pandemic to get it in motion.In the first episode of the series, we talk about how the pandemic has effected our personal, work and social life, and how we are coping with it. We also talk about some of the things we do to keep some sense of sanity in this new "abnormally" normal times.If you find this relatable, make sure you share your story with us. Be it in written, audio or video form, let us know how you are getting through. If you are okay with sharing it with the rest of the world, we will add your story in the next episode.Find the Writer & Geek's guide to podcasting here. Productivity application we mentioned in this episode:Notion | Things | Tick Tick Books we have mentioned and recommend you to check out: The Third Door: Hardcover | Kindle Atomic Habits: Paperback | Kindle | Audio CD Sherlock Holmes: Paperback | Mass Market Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle The Hound of Baskervilles: Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD Note: The purchase links for the books are affiliate links. So, it will do a world of good for us if you purchase any of these books using these links. Thank you! This episode is sponsored by BodyCafé. BodyCafé is an organic lifestyle wellness brand that is based on authentic and traditional beauty practices. Visit BodyCafé and use the coupon code HI15 for the best quality hand sanitizers and other beauty products. Coupon code: HI15 Image by Oli Lynch from Pixabay
July 28, 2020
This episode is sponsored by BodyCafé. BodyCafé is an organic lifestyle wellness brand that is based on authentic and traditional beauty practices. Visit BodyCafé and use the coupon code HI15 for the best quality hand sanitizers and other beauty products. Coupon code: HI15 What is a hand sanitizer? It is a liquid, gel or foam used to reduce infectious agents in on our hands. Hand wash is usually preferred as hand sanitizers cannot kill certain kinds of germs and it cannot remove harmful chemicals. But during certain situations, it is handy to use hand sanitizer over hand wash. Effective hand sanitizer has over 60% of alcohol content. It is usually a combination of isopropyl alcohol, ethanol (ethyl alcohol) or n-propanol from 60% to 95% concentration. It works with many microorganisms but does not have much effect in spores (a primitive usually unicellular often environmentally resistant dormant or reproductive body produced by plants, fungi, and some microorganisms and capable of development into a new individual either directly or after fusion with another spore). Glycerol can be added to reduce drying of the skin. Fragrances can be added but it can lead to allergic reactions. There are non-alcoholic hand sanitizers but are mostly ineffective. Alcohol-free sanitizers use povidone-iodine, benzalkonium chloride or triclosan. Alcohol's antiseptic properties have been put into use since the 14th century but in the modern world, alcohol-based hand sanitizer became a fixture from the 1980s. Hand sanitizers were introduced to the healthcare setting in 1966 and were popularised in the 90s. Hand sanitizer not effective on greasy, oily surfaces. It cannot remove heavy metal and pesticides like contaminants. Hand sanitizers are recommended only if hand wash is not available. It is flammable so has to be handled with care. It does not affect the beneficial microorganisms but removes the outer oil layer from the skin. Cases of ingestion have caused deaths. During the pandemic, the scarcity of alcohol leads to nine alcoholics in New Mexico to drink hand sanitizer. They were severely injured and three died. How to use it? Apply product to the palm of one hand. Rub hands together. Rub the product over all surfaces of hands and fingers until hands are dry. Do not go near flame or gas burner or any burning object during applying hand sanitizer. Listerine: Founded in 1879 by Joseph Lawrence Named after John Lister Kill germs that cause bad breath Joseph Lister demonstrated in 1865 that using carbolic acid on surgical dressings drastically reduces the chance of post-surgical infection. His demonstration was inspired by Louis Pasteur's study of microbial infection. It was promoted to the dentist as an oral care product from 1895. Finally released as over the counter mouthwash in the US from 1914. It started as a powerful surgical antiseptic, the distilled form was sold both as a floor cleaner and as a cure for gonorrhoea. It was not successful until the 1920s when it was promoted as a solution for chronic halitosis (bad breath). (Mention the advertisement.) From the 1920s-1970s it was also marketed as a preventive measure for sore throat and cold. (did not work at all) Listerine cigarettes were also marketed in 1927. From the 1930s - mid-1950s it was also advertised as a preventive measure for infectious dandruff. Safety concerns were raised saying acidic mouthwash increases the chances of oral cancer but was cleared as no evidence was found to support it. The active ingredients listed on Listerine packaging are essential oils which are menthol (mint) 0.042%, thymol (thyme) 0.064%, methyl salicylate (wintergreen) 0.06%, and eucalyptol (eucalyptus) 0.092%. Dettol vs Savlon: Dettol was released in 1933 as an antiseptic liquid for the treatment of cuts and wounds. It remained like that for the next 50 years. Now it has hand wash, liquid antiseptics, body wash, plater, soap and shaving cream with 50% of market sh
July 21, 2020
086: Colonialism in India - Part 5: French Occupation of India
The French came into play relatively late in comparison with the British, Dutch and Portuguese. They established themselves in colonial India in the second half of the 17th Century and occupied their post until 1954. They produced rice, peanuts, betel nuts, and vegetables. Their major establishments in India were Pondicherry, Karaikal, Yanam (Andra Pradesh) on Coromandel Coast and Mahe on the Malabar Coast and Chandernagor in Bengal. By the time the French came to India, other colonial powers had multiple trading stations and ports set up. Their customs barriers, belief systems, inexperience in such large investments are quoted as some reasons for their late entry in the trade. The first French East India Company was set up under Henry IV in 1603 but didn’t have any settlements. The second was set up in 1642, but it took its proper shape only in 1664 with the help of Jean Baptist Caillouet under Louis XIV. The company gained a monopoly for the next 50 years. The company was given the go-ahead to trade in Madagascar (a fertile land for agriculture). But it took up a lot of resources and they dropped the idea in a few years to concentrate on India. The duties of the company were handled by Francois Caron who previously worked with the Dutch East India Company for 30 years and reached the post of Governor-General. Factories were opened in Surat in 1668, Masulipatnam in 1669, and Bantam, Indonesian. And in 1673 with the permission of Mughal in Chandernagore. They established their stronghold in Pondicherry by 1674. Pondicherry was obtained from the Sultan of Bijapur. In 1701, Pondicherry was made the headquarters of French East India Company. Dutch had seized Pondicherry from the French in the 1690s, but they took it back in 6 years through the Treaty of Ryswick. But the Dutch held their garrison in Pondicherry for another two years before leaving, eventually. (The Peace of Ryswick, or Rijswijk, was a series of treaties signed in the Dutch city of Rijswijk between 20 September and 30 October 1697. They ended the Nine Years' War which took place from 1688 to 1697 between France, and the Grand Alliance, which included England, Spain, Emperor Leopold, and the Dutch Republic.) The War of Spanish Succession in Europe led to French losing many of their factories in India. As the Dutch left Mauritius in 1715, the French replaced them there. Later they took over Seychelles and Chagos Islands. By 1718 they had to leave Surat, Masulipatnam and Bantam factories because they were not able to compete with the Dutch and the British. The company was combined with John Law’s Mississippi company in 1719. Its purpose was to run both the west and east Indian companies. But the company dissolved in a year. In 1723, the company restarted and set up their factories in Yanam in Andhra Pradesh, Mahe, and Karaikal. They worked under the name of “The Perpetual Company of the Indies”. They rose in power from 1720-1742 under the leadership of governors Pierre Christophe Le Noir and Pierre Benoît Dumas backed by the possession of Mauritius and the Southern Indian Ocean. The political situation in South India was weak during the 1740s. The princely states were busy fighting each other, leaving the colonial power to conquer territories that were left without much protection such as the Coromandel Coast. (Hyderabad battling Marathas) Joseph François Dupleix (most successful general), after he arrived in 1741, wanted to create a French empire in India. This clashed with the interest of the British. They extended their empire from Hyderabad to Kanyakumari. But the dream of further expansion was squashed by the arrival of British Governor, Robert Clive. Dupleix was sent back to France after the peace talks failed. The British and the French got too much into the political scene of India leading to a conflict between them - Carnatic Wars (1740-1748). Seven-year war - French and British - 1756-1763 - it is also referred to as Zero World War. In 175
July 11, 2020
The Danish-Norwegian occupation of India is not as significant in comparison with many of the other colonial empires because they did not pose any military or trading threats. They were never able to capitalise and monopolise on their trade routes like the British, the French or the Portuguese. First Danish East India Company Danish India was the name given to Danish-Norwegian colonies in India. The Danish used to trade with India before the Portuguese drove them off. Their empire survived for over 200 years in India. They established bases in Tharangambadi in Tamil Nadu, Serampore in West Bengal, and the Nicobar Islands. They were able to hold on to their posts in India because they created their own niche in the trade so there was no conflict between the other empires. But as always, the British finally took the Danish occupied regions in the 19th century (1839, 1845, 1868 to be exact). Christian IV on 17 March 1616, ordered the creation of the Danish East India Company for managing trade with Asia for the next 12 years. But the project took another 2 years to launch as they were not able to secure finances right away. (Dutch assistance to trade with Sri Lanka) The first expedition to Asia took place in 1618 under the leadership of Admiral Ove Gjedde. The crew took two years (May 1620) to reach Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka) and lost more than half its crew. They had to occupy Koneswaram Temple as the Emperor no longer wanted to trade with anyone other than the Portuguese due to the peace treaty they signed in between. Their trade director, Robert Crappe had already set sail to Asia a month before the main voyage started. Their ship was sunk near Karaikal with most of the crew killed and two were placed on the beach on spikes by the Portuguese as a warning to the Danish. Crappe and 13 other crew members who escaped were captured by native Indian and taken to the leader of Thanjavur. The leader was interested in trading opportunities and let the Danish set up their base in Tharangambadi, building Fort Dansborg on 20 November 1620. 1621-1650 The colony faced a lot of issues due to this time. From administration to investment and loss of two-thirds of trading vessels, things looked bleak. The geographical location of the colony resulted in high tides resulting in the destruction of everything they built. The dire financial situation forced them to directly conduct business. 1625 a factory established in Masulipatnam (major hub) Mini hubs in Pipli and Balasore They still were under poor financial conditions and had only three ships left Tensions began building up as they could not pay the local leader The British and the Dutch also wanted them out but did not do anything as it would complicate their relationships in mainland Europe. They try to sell Fort Dansborg to the Dutch in 1640 Go to war against the Mughals in 1642, capture one of their ships in the Bay of Bengal and make it theirs naming it Bengali Prize. In 1643, the Dutch and Sweden declared war on Denmark. The Danish holdings profit decreases drastically under the Dutch and the leader sends his band to raid Tranquebar. Christian IV, the King, dies and the company goes bankrupt. Two years after Christian IV’s death Frederick II, his son, abolished the company. Though abolished, the colony remained a royal property of the Danes and it was held by a garrison unaware of the developments back home. But over the years, the number of Danes decreased and it was hired by the Portuguese. It was later taken back by Eskild Anderson Kongsbakke (the only remaining Dane in Tranquebar) in 1665 and he defended it from everyone. He kept on seizing ships in the Bay of Bengal and built a wall and finally negotiated with the local leaders. This news prompted the King to send another vessel captained by Captain Sivardt Adelaer, to confirm the coming back of the colony in India again after 19 years of isolation. Second Danish East India Company (1672-1732) With
July 04, 2020
Marriage is a culturally recognised union between people. The ceremony of marriage is called a wedding. Marriages may be conducted for legal, social, emotional, financial, spiritual, political and various other reasons. Early marriages started as strategic alliances and the parties marrying each other usually have no say in the matter at all. Some specific rules exist about who is allowed to marry. Certain relationships are forbidden from marrying. In modern times, interfaith and same-sex marriages are common and part of many societies around the world. Marriage happens when the parties bring government into the commitment! Most countries require a civil marriage and registration of the marriage to be considered valid and not just the religious ceremony. Crazy facts: In Ancient Greece, if a woman's father dies without a male heir, she can be forced to divorce the nearest relative. Even if she has to divorce the first wife.In some cultures, marrying to the spirit of a deceased person was also conducted to strengthen the family bond.A Roman statesman married off his wife to his friend to strengthen their bond and then remarried her when the friend died.Upper-class aristocrats usually had arranged marriages and practised adultery to help nurture the marriages. Weird.People from lower strata of the society in Europe, like peasants, had to pay a fee to marry someone they loved, else the village decides for them.It some parts of the world, loving your spouse too much and calling nicknames was all considered to be impolite. Sources: Wikipedia The Spruce Psychology Today Live Science International Business Times Image by marla66 from Pixabay
June 27, 2020
Marriage is a culturally recognised union between people. The ceremony of marriage is called a wedding. Marriages may be conducted for legal, social, emotional, financial, spiritual, political and various other reasons. Early marriages started as strategic alliances and the parties marrying each other usually have no say in the matter at all. Some specific rules exist about who is allowed to marry. Certain relationships are forbidden from marrying. In modern times, interfaith and same-sex marriages are common and part of many societies around the world. Marriage happens when the parties bring government into the commitment! Most countries require a civil marriage and registration of the marriage to be considered valid and not just the religious ceremony. Crazy facts: In Ancient Greece, if a woman's father dies without a male heir, she can be forced to divorce the nearest relative. Even if she has to divorce the first wife.In some cultures, marrying to the spirit of a deceased person was also conducted to strengthen the family bond.A Roman statesman married off his wife to his friend to strengthen their bond and then remarried her when the friend died.Upper-class aristocrats usually had arranged marriages and practised adultery to help nurture the marriages. Weird.People from lower strata of the society in Europe, like peasants, had to pay a fee to marry someone they loved, else the village decides for them.It some parts of the world, loving your spouse too much and calling nicknames was all considered to be impolite. Sources: Wikipedia The Spruce Psychology Today Live Science International Business Times Image by marla66 from Pixabay
June 20, 2020
Listen to the first part here - A Comprehensive Overview of the History of Malayalam Cinema - Part 1 The 1970s witnessed a new wave of Malayalam cinema where the bridging of parallel and commercial cinema was at its best. It was also the time when political and action movies gained a following. Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s directorial debut, Swayamvaram in 1972 is known for pioneering the new wave of cinema movement in the industry. Chattakari (1974) and Avalude Ravukal (1978) were some of the boldest Malayalam movies of that time with the latter being the first A certified movie. The movies were based on the themes of teenage pregnancy and prostitution, respectively, which were topics that were profoundly frowned upon during those times. The latter half of the 1970s witnessed the emergence of the legendary actor Jayan. He reformed the industry with his macho image and action sequences never seen before. Like who can forget the “We are not beggars…” dialogue from the movie Angadi (1980). It still gives me goosebumps. Notable movies from the 1970s Swayamvaram (1972) Arakkallan Mukkalkkallan (1974) Chattakari (1974) Kodiyettam (1977) Avalude Raavukam (1978) Thacholi Ambu (1978) The 1980s was the decade of combining common man’s problems with comedy. The rise of geniuses like Sreenivasan spearheaded this genre of movies to the forefront with movies such as Odaruthammava Aalariyam (1984), Sanmanassullavarkku Samadhanam (1986), Nadodikkattu (1987), and Varavelpu (1989). 1981 was a milestone year for Malayalam cinema with the release of Elippathayam and Manjil Virinja Pookkal. The former being screened at the London Film Festival and winning the Sunderland Trophy and the latter propelling Mohanlal Viswanathan, our very own Lalettan, to stardom. Though it is almost impossible to imagine that he started his career predominantly playing antagonistic characters. M T Vasudevan Nair made his presence known with his screenplay for movies like Nakhakshathangal (1986), that helped Monisha win the National Award for Best Actress at the age of 15, and Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha (1988), an epic historical drama which showed Chandu Chekavar as a misunderstood hero. Director P Padmarajan also made his mark with the 1987 romantic drama, Thoovanathumbikal, and the 1988 mystery thriller, Aparan. The decade also delivered Malayalam’s own investigative thriller detective series with Oru CBI Diary Kurippu (1988), the first movie from the four-part series, with Mammootty playing the role of Sethurama Iyer. The 80s observed many firsts with Padayottam (1982), a film based on the novel The Count of Monte Cristo, becoming the first Malayalam film to be shot in 70 mm, My Dear Kuttichathan (1984), the first Indian 3D film, and Adipapam (1988) gaining the crown of being the first Malayalam softcore film. Notable movies from the 1980s Angadi (1980) Manjil Virinja Pookkal (1981) Elippathayam (1981) Padayottam (1982) Odaruthammava Aalariyam (1984) My Dear Kuttichathan (1984) Nakhakshathangal (1986) Sanmanassullavarkku Samadhanam (1986) Nadodikkattu (1987) Thaniyavartanam (1987) Aparan (1988) Oru CBI Diary Kurippu (1988) Varavelpu (1989) Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha (1989) The 1990s had a great start with movies such as the comedy-thriller In Harihar Nagar (1990) and comedy-drama Godfather (1991) running for over a year in theatres gaining cult status. It also saw a few larger than life stars take on a majority of screentime. With Mohanlal and Mammooty taking lead roles in almost all genres, Suresh Gopi shining in the action movie landscape, and Jayaram starring in your next-door neighbour, family-friendly characters. Siddique-Lal’s Vietnam Colony was released in 1992 and it is noteworthy for having plot similarities with the 2009 movie Avatar — the second highest-grossing movie in the world. What does James Cameron have to say about that, I wonder? The time also witnessed movies like Manichitrathazhu (1993) where the female
May 28, 2020
Over the years, the landscape of Malayalam cinema has changed. It has evolved. From the hero-centric, superhuman and outright chauvinistic characters in the late 1990s and early 2000s, it has moved to a character-centric, common man, and realistic stories.
May 21, 2020
The Dutch are one of the most prosperous countries in the European continent. But that was not the case back in the 16th century. It was not even an independent country as it came under the Spanish. Before Spanish occupation, they used to trade spices procured from the Portuguese who virtually owned every major spice port in the East.
May 14, 2020
The Stoneman Killer terrorised the streets of Bombay and Calcutta in the mid and late 1980s. The killer's modus operandi involved dashing their victim’s face with a stone that weighed around 30 kg.
May 06, 2020
It is a common misconception that Portuguese were the first Europeans to start trading with India. In fact, it was Danish. So, we bust the myths and talk about the facts.
April 23, 2020
India has a long history. But no story about Indian history would be complete without mentioning one of the greatest civilisations that ever existed - the Indus Valley civilisation. The Bronze age civilisation that stood majestically along with Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilisations.
April 11, 2020
Black death is a pandemic that raged in many parts of the world and wiped out around one-third to two-thirds of the population in Europe.
March 31, 2020
Blue whales are the largest living beings in the world. The marine mammal is scientifically known as Balaenoptera musculus. It is classified as endangered but its population is increasing. Blue whales are hunted for its oil, blubber and also meat.
March 08, 2020
In this episode, we talk about the mighty beer!
November 24, 2019
In this episode we talk about how memory works.
November 08, 2019
In this episode in the serial killer series, we talk about Jolly Joseph, a killer from Kerala
October 25, 2019
In this episode, we talk about time measurement in Hindu culture.
October 04, 2019
In this episode, we talk about what you need to know while renting a house in India.
September 20, 2019
In this episode, we talk about human orgasm.
September 13, 2019
In this episode, we talk about how water crisis is cripping Bangalore.
June 22, 2019
This week, we talk about the history of money.
June 05, 2019
This week, we talk about the unsolved mystery of Dyatlov Pass.
May 26, 2019
This week, we discuss more about why humans are fascinated with the horror genre.
May 17, 2019
This week, we why humans are fascinated with the horror genre.
May 10, 2019
This week, we talk about the scary lifesaver - the ejection seat
March 16, 2019
March 08, 2019
This week, Vishnu is joined by Naga Subramanya from Passion People Podcast to discuss personal finance
February 12, 2019
This week, we talk about the tribe of Cholanaikkans
January 22, 2019
This week, we talk about good humble 'ol toilets
January 09, 2019
This week, we talk about the gangster who terrorised Madras in the 80s
December 29, 2018
This week, we talk about the delicious chocolate
December 18, 2018
In this episode, we talk about Shravanabelagola and Jainism
November 20, 2018
In this episode, we talk about how domestication of animals work.
November 07, 2018
In this episode, we talk about the history of smoking.
October 30, 2018
In this episode, we discuss about the art of tattooing.
October 09, 2018
What were the origins of this humble but useful home applaince?
September 16, 2018
Ice-cream is fascinating, and it does have a fascinating history too.
September 09, 2018
A standup comedian, a writer and a software engineer talk about cryptography
August 26, 2018
In this episode, we talk about Cyanide Mohan. A serial killer from South India.
August 19, 2018
Jet engines are awesome, we get that. But how did it all start?
August 12, 2018
Pizza is one of the most popular food item in the world, let's see where it came from.
August 05, 2018
Formula 1 is a crazy motorsport, not just driving around in circles.
June 03, 2018
Pioneer 10 travelled beyond solar system, it continues into the unknown.
May 27, 2018
Doing it isn't just for having kids, so how did people prevent that through history?
May 20, 2018
043: Beer Talk: Why Learn History?
Is history important? Why should we learn it?
May 13, 2018
Clocks and watches are devine! We talk about how humans felt need for timekeeping and all about it.
May 06, 2018
Coffee is the beverage of champions. We talk about how coffee is extracted and other stuff related to coffee.
April 29, 2018
We talk about the DC Snipers who terrorized the US in 2002.
April 15, 2018
Was the world different when dinosaurs lived? We discuss about plate techtonics in this episode
April 08, 2018
How safe is your data? How are you being tracked, we ramble about that in the pilot of beer-talk
April 01, 2018
A look into the famous race to South Pole by a Norweigian and a Brit
March 25, 2018
A simplified view into the mysterious blockchain technology that powers cryptocurrency
March 18, 2018
A deeper look into the involvement of Indian and South African players in the match-fixing scandal of 2000
March 11, 2018
An interview with a good friend and Bangalore's up and coming standup comedian Rupen Paul
March 04, 2018
Submarines are awesome. We discuss the history and workings.
February 18, 2018
We are foodies and here are few places we love or hate
February 11, 2018
We talk about the Green River Killer.
February 04, 2018
We talk about missions after Apollo 11.
January 28, 2018
We talk about the evolution of motion pictures and photography
January 21, 2018
We talk about Dravidian languages, especially Kannada.
January 12, 2018
We talk about our little friend called the toothbrush
January 05, 2018
We talk about Ed Gein, man behind Psycho
December 29, 2017
We talk about how human beings moved out of Africa into other parts of the world
December 22, 2017
We talk about how LOA really works, no BS!
December 15, 2017
We talk about lesser known facts of Apollo 11 mission.
December 08, 2017
We talk about our experiences in freelancing and startup.
December 01, 2017
We talk about some lesser known facts related to World Wars.
November 24, 2017
We talk about Richard Ramirez, The Night Stalker
November 17, 2017
We are foodies and here are few places we love or hate
November 10, 2017
We discuss about how we got into writing and the tools we use
November 03, 2017
We discuss the evolution of our musical taste over the years.
October 27, 2017
Neanderthals co-existed with human beings, we wonder where they went.
October 20, 2017
We continue our discussion on podcasting and get into the technical aspects.
October 13, 2017
We started a podcast on budget. How can you do it?
October 06, 2017
Mars One makes ambitious claimes of putting man on Mars. How solid is the plan?
September 29, 2017
We grew up reading Sherlock Holmes stories, let's discuss that.
24:48
September 22, 2017
24:48
September 15, 2017
Mangalyaan was a success for ISRO. Especially the budget management part.
September 08, 2017
We discuss 3D priting and it's practical application in future of lifestyle and business.
September 01, 2017
We discuss the pros and cons of AI development.
August 16, 2017
We discuss the curious cases of mass hysteria from around the world.
August 01, 2017
We discuss in depth about the Apollo spacecraft and Saturn V.
July 16, 2017
We discuss the events that eventually lead to the humans walking on Moon.
July 01, 2017
We discuss Phantom Time Hypothesis which questions the existance of early middle ages.
June 16, 2017
Our discussion today is about losing weight the right way without going through difficult diet plans and exercises that burn yourself out.
June 01, 2017
Key Takaways No need to be rude to express your opinion on social media. Before you post something, think a few times to see if you might end up in a awkward situation. Be careful before you add people to your friend/follow list. If you end up in an online argument with your friends/relatives, best thing is to have a direct talk. Be polite to customer care that uses social media. Remember, it is always a human being on the other side. Mentions Justine Sacco Tweet Controversy Read how the reporter later came into peace with Justine - Gawker Sashi Tharoor’s tweet that Shankar tries reproducing Media Background Music: Lamprey - Breath Pachyderm - Ice Cold Find the affiliate links to the equipment and resources we use to make this podcast here. Find Writer & Geek's guide to podcasting here. Image: Pixabay
June 01, 2017
001: Does Formal Education Do Justice?
Key Takaways Experiences over Academics: School and colleges teach you more about real life experiences than about academics. Subjects don’t matter (that much): The subjects you learn during your academical years don’t matter much. If you have passion and interest, you can make a living in the field of your intrest. Hands on better than theory: Always focus on getting experince, do practical work. This is worth more than a degree. Mentions Sir Ken Robinson’s TED Talk Pallikoodam Media Music: Pachyderm - Ice Cold Lee Rosevere Find the affiliate links to the equipment and resources we use to make this podcast here. Find Writer & Geek's guide to podcasting here. Thumbnail Image: Pixabay
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Hi all, I’m on Apple TV while doing an event this morning on Wandering Flats and riding through Neokyo city the screen flashes with bright lights so much I can’t see the group of riders then the screen freezes and I have to reboot Zwift and late rejoin the ride is then fine until the same point and the same problem happens. This happened 5 times in this one ride this morning.
Coloured flickering during group rides in Neokyo
Dave_ZPCMR (Dave) October 23, 2022, 7:38pm #2
Couple of other threads, like this one: Flashing Roads on Neokyo World
Roman_Svitanic (Roman Svitanic) October 25, 2022, 1:50pm #3
MacOS is also affected, as I mentioned in the thread you have linked. It makes Neokyo completely unusable on MacBooks (I have Intel-based Pro 2018 15").
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Peace. It’s the word God put before me multiple times on Monday. In my Jesus Always devotional, she spoke about how often we forget that our peace comes from God. In all our striving, we easily lose our peace.
Our day was anything but peaceful. The realness of deployment is setting in. Add a feverish, fussy toddler and you can imagine the battle I faced for peace. My sweet mama came late that evening to let me exercise, stop at Publix, and just have a minute to myself. Lifting heavy is usually my go to, but Great Are You Lord (All Sons and Daughters) came on my headphones and it felt like a night for yoga and a relaxing walk. As Unitied Persuit’s song Running in Circles came on, I found myself identifying with the lyrics:
“Lord I come.. to tell you I’m sorry, for running in circles,
for placing my focus on the waves and not on your face….
That described my day. I had moments of peace, and moments of just dealing with the day. Minutes later, mom called to tell me something was wrong with one of our girls. 20 minutes later, we were on our way to the Peds ER. God had JUST prepared me before I even knew my need.
Grace.
Promises that never run dry.
He gives us the exact amount we need each day…
just like the manna in the desert.
I earnestly prayed for his protection of my daughter, and for the medical staff we would encounter. We waited less than a minute once through the door, and everyone who cared for us either had a cross tattoo or necklace. Jesus came through in their kindness and attentiveness. A friend (who might as well be my sister) came to hang out with us and help lighten the mood. All is well, and she’s on the mend. Yet, the reminder that He always goes before us and carries us along the way is embedded once again in my mind and heart. While I can’t let myself think of the length we have to go before daddy is home, I have grace for TODAY. To THRIVE in this season, remembering we are held steadfast in His hands. I’m sure I’ll need more reminders, and we will have our share of rough days, but I rest in the fact that God holds us close. His promises prove true every single time.
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted on January 9, 2017 by adakate
A few months ago, my most spirited angel had a melt down. The “almost-dropped-her-for-all-the-flailing” meltdown. She’s grown so much in this area over the past few years, but when she’s on sensory overload, you can see the tornado brewing for a few hours or days. Oh how God has grown me as I’ve waded through the waters of motherhood, and most often, it’s with this one. I took her to the back yard (it was still nice and warm here in Alabama in November and the baby was asleep), and whispered to her the parameters that she must stay in the back yard and stated the consequences if she disobeyed. She’s a stomp it out and scream at the top of her lungs releaser. I’ve shared my “scream zone” aka the garage with her the past two years. So she pushed away, ran to the swing and forcefully made it swing back and forth while screaming at the top of her lungs. I sat on the back porch, asking God for the wisdom to speak life into my girl. Asking turned to begging as I heard “I’m WORTHLESS. No one WANTS me. I’m STUPID. No one loves me. I can’t do ANYTHING…..WORTHLESS. WORTHLESS” I sobbed and BEGGED the Lord for answers. I recalled the tape of lies the Accuser would play over and over for me. To think she believed those things about herself broke me. “Those aren’t things she hears at home. Lord WHERE is the coming from?? Lord HOW do I help my baby? “My Name.” He whispered. “JESUS!”As she heard my cry, she ran to me, proclaiming how much she loved me and how sorry she was. I was able to wrap her in my arms and whisper truth into her heart. “I love you. Don’t believe the lies you hear the Devil say to you. You are smart and kind. You are worth so much to God that Jesus died for you to live in heaven with Him! He calls you beautiful, priceless, blameless, and perfect…..and at the name of Jesus, he has to leave!” Grace upon grace that was lavished on us at the cross. It’s ours for the taking EVERY single day.
That night we had the Spring at church. It’s our once-a-month instrumental worship service. My heart was overflowing with the truth God had placed before me that day. The songs that night bathed me again in His truth:
The mountains shake before him
The demons run and flee
At the mention of the name
There is no power in Hell or any who can stand
Before the power and the presence of the Great I Am!
There’s a calm that covers me
When I kneel down at Your feet
I’ve come to worship
Songs proclaiming His name and His power. He reminded me when he told Moses His name “I AM”. He is I AM! He is our rescuer. Yet we sometimes believe the lie that He only rescued us from hell by dying on the cross. One and done. He longs to rescue us every single day from temptation, fear, and the lie as old as the Garden… “did God REALLY say….”. David puts it so beautifully in Psalm 18:19 “He led me to a place of safety; he rescued me because he delights in me”. Our heavenly Father DELIGHTS in us. There’s a lyric in Place of Freedom that says
Like I am unashamed
At the mention of your name
I’ve come to worship
Creation proclaims the majesty of God. He’s given us a song to sing, completely unashamed. What terror that must bring to the gates of hell if God’s people believed that so deeply that they sang unashamed, proclaiming His goodness and faithfulness. We see glimpses in our life when we aren’t drug down with the stress and distraction of life. Even when we have our moments with God and He speaks truth to our souls, Satan is always around the corner with some version of “But did God REALLy say…” Weather we whisper or shout the name “Jesus”, he has to flea. When we fill our mind with His truth in scripture, we can say His name AND recall the TRUTH! We can’t trust our feelings and emotions. But we can trust in the name of the Lord our God! Sing boldly, my friends!!
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted on May 22, 2014 by adakate
Deuteronomy 6 has been a favorite of mine since becoming a mom. It’s a lighthouse that helps guide me in this journey of motherhood. Family worship has been more of a spontaneous than planned “thing” at our home. We crank up worship music and dance and sing together (it puts EVERYONE in a good mood!), we read Bible stories at bedtime, talk about the Lord’s goodness, and pray with our girls. Tonight, however, I was reading “Grace for the Moment for Kids” (Max Lucado — LOVE HIM!) Today’s message is that OUR own name is written on the Lord’s hand and spoken on HIS lips. Let that sink in, just how incredibly amazing THAT is! Towards the end, it suggested reading Psalms 139 to see just how closely the Lord watches over us, and at 10 p.m., we did just that. A passage so familiar to me made tears fill my eyes. We stopped and discussed portions as we went, but verses 17-18 is what stood out the most tonight:
“How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!”- Psalm 139
We are beach people. We “close down” the beach on a daily basis as we play while the sun sets. I cook most of our meals ahead of time so that dinner is easy (I, for one, do not think taking my 3 kids out to eat after a day at the beach sounds even the least bit fun!). One thing my kiddos know is sand. They LOVE it! We dig in it, build with it, and explore all day every day. They get that you can’t count grains of sand. My prayer is that they get how much the Lord loves them. That His never-ending, can’t-hide-from-him presence is a GOOD thing.
The cherry on top tonight is the section of Psalms Chloe spontaneously started reading as I was flipping through looking for something. She kept talking about Psalm 29 and when I flipped there, Psalm 28:4 was where her eyes landed:
“The one thing I ask of the Lord- the thing I seek most- is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in His temple. For he will conceal me there when troubles come; he will hide me in his sanctuary. He will place me out of reach on a high rock.” – Psalm 29:4-5
An amazing friend reminded me this week that our kids need time to “Be still and know that He is God.” I’m working with sweet Chloe to carve out that time in her day with her bible, notebook and things to write and draw with. I told her that some times the Lord may put a song in her heart, or give her something to draw, or something special she wants to write down. I long to help her establish a habit of sitting still with the Lord and listening for Him. I can’t wait to see the blessings flow.
I’ve been hanging out in 2 Peter a LOT the past week:
“By his divine power, God had given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.”
It’s our job to guide them; to parent from the fullness of Christ that bears HIS fruit in us. When we want to scream back at that 2 year old pitching a fit– we respond with love and grace (along with a good measure of discipline!). We are in a battle for the hearts of our children. Thankfully our weapon is Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. We are called to be Image-bearers of our Savior, to all who meet us; ESPECIALLY those the Lord gives us stewardship over. Let’s walk together as we live for Christ!
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted on April 21, 2014 by adakate
We are in a particularly rough season at our house. We’re making the best of it. It’s so easy to be overwhelmed, even in the day to day tasks as a wife, mom of 3, and getting our homeschool routine established. Add Warrant Officer School and potty training and you’ve got one potentially stressed out family!
To help combat the stress, I’m up at 4:30. I exercise on the weeks Rob is in town, and spend time with Jesus in the morning. They are super sacred hours for me. When he’s gone, I get to do Insanity in the afternoons, and I’m working on still getting up EARLY. It’s a process.
Easter weekend has been such a blessing to my soul. It started with Secret Church on Friday. I LOVE David Platt’s preaching. He’s real; he strives to live what he calls us all to. The theme this year was “The Cross and Everyday Life” (check it out here). Sundays with our church family are always a blessing, and Easter Sunday is always a special time together! God has been working on my heart for weeks with this question: Overwhelmed: by the world or by God? And then this came on while I was struggling through my saw planks this morning:
I see the work of Your hands
All that You are is so overwhelming
I hear the sound of Your voice
all at once its a gentle and thundering noise
all that You are is so overwhelming
I delight myself in You
Captivated by Your beauty
by You
God, I run into Your arms
unashamed because of Mercy
I am overwhelmed
by You
I want to live in the place of constantly being overwhelmed by God. I realize its a choice. It’s a discipline to make time to spend studying the Bible and memorizing Scripture. I can tell you from experience, being overwhelmed by God is a MUCH better place to be than overwhelmed by the things of this world.
“For this light momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” — 2 Corinthians 4:17-18
“I will exalt you, my God and King, and praise your name forever and ever. I will praise you every day; yes, I will praise you forever. Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! No one can measure his greatness. Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts; let them proclaim your power. I will mediate on your majestic, glorious splendor and your wonderful miracles. Your awe-inspiring deeds with be on every tongue; I will proclaim your greatness.” — Psalm 145:1-5
Posted on March 6, 2014 by adakate
“Let no one caught in sin remain, inside the lie of inward shame. We fix our eyes upon the cross and run to Him who showed great love and bled for us. Freely you bled for us!” –Matt Maher Christ is Risen
Good Friday.
Easter.
I’ve been on a journey lately. Wrestling with truth God was teaching me, and letting Him work through my heart and transform it. Christine Caine spoke at the IF: Gathering conference on how we settle for the deliverance of the desert, when we were meant for the FREEDOM of Cannan. We can live in such a way that the blood of the Cross saves us from hell, but does it TRANSFORM our lives? As I danced in the kitchen this morning with my girls, as I looked at their precious faces and looked deep into their eyes, I YEARN to teach them that Jesus died and SAVED us, but the cross is about so much more than NOT going to hell. It’s restoration, to the fullest. It’s about the FREEDOM we have to abide in our Jesus all day. He stands by our side, ready to defeat the enemy daily, moment by moment if necessary.
Its about moment by moment resting in who He is, and His power in our lives. My girls are familiar with consequences. We are having a particularly rough season with one acting out in anger. I’ve recently told her to take a deep breath and run away. And not to yell at her mommy when she’s angry. I’m praying they notice the time outs that Mommy takes with Jesus. One day, they will not be under our roof and daily instruction. But we all have the opportunity to be under the wing of our Savior, walking in His daily instruction. I want them to run, calling his name, like they do mine. And boy am I thankful He doesn’t want to change His name (like many days I want to change mine!).
Its time to confess. God’s been showing me just how much I’ve lived in deliverance, settling for something other than the freedom He died for. That I live life so much in my own strength and not in His. So during this season of Lent, I’m waking up early to spend time with Jesus, to worship Him. When I begin my day that way, it’s a lot easier to begin our day as a family that way. I can live sacrificially for my family when I’m tucked under the arm of Jesus.
As we approach the celebration of Easter, I want to challenge you (and me) to bury in the grave the secret sin that so easily entangles us.
“Come awake and rise up from the grave”
Anger? Withholding yourself from your spouse? Worry? Wandering eyes? Self-sufficency? Gossip? Self-righteousness? Too much time in front of a screen? There are so many things that keep us from the relationship with Jesus that He died for. Let God bring them before you, acknowledge sin as sin, and let Him cast it as far as the east is from the west. Walking step by step with Jesus each day helps us then be able to conquer the temptations Satan throws our way daily. I pray our lives, as well as our mouths proclaim: “Christ is risen from the dead! We are one with Him again. Come Awake! Come Awake! Rise up from the grave!”
Are you participating in Lent this year?
Posted on November 3, 2013 by adakate
“We wont move without you, we wont move without you.
Your the light of all and all that we need”
Those words to one of my favorite songs speak of such dependence on God that we don’t move without Him. It’s what I aspire to, but I’m not there.
I feel that dependence on Coca-cola from time to time (that relationship is way more “ON” than “off”) Sad I know. I opened up months ago about struggling with eating issues…and this is the other end of this thorn. God has been working on my heart the last few weeks about my dependence on things other than Him. When I’m tired.. I want a coke. When I”m stressed, oooh I need another one. I’ve been known to load up the babies in their pjs and drive through the golden arches (there is just something about coke THERE..I don’t eat their food, but their cokes are the best!). It’s been my legal drug of choice.
When I’m stressed, God wants me to run to Him. I love to camp out in Psalms from time to time and read of the promises written:
“Be still and know that I am God!” – Psalm 46:10
“Praise the Lord; praise God our savior! For each day he carries us in his arms.” Psalm 68:19
There are times I feel like the 1 sheep. You know the story. The shepherd is counting..98,99…..99….. oh where did she go again?!?! I know the original parable found in Luke 15 was speaking of salvation, but when I fall out of total dependence on God, I wander away from His voice. I think I can find green pastures and still streams by myself. It’s not always a conscience choice, but I’m headed for a meltdown when I don’t come when He gently calls me back. We belong in the arms of our Shepherd!!
Today, I had two very different experiences with my kids. During a mid-shopping meltdown, Molly (age 2) turned into a limp noodle and kept trying to wiggle her way to independence. In contrast, when I pick up my 3 year old out of the bed to take her potty before I rest, she MELTS into me. (those are the sweetest moments of the day!) I think most of the time, we fall in between these two points, but I long to learn to just melt into God every day. To put away the distractions… or even in the midst of them “BE STILL and know that I am God”. To rest in Him, and not get my feathers ruffled.
“I, the Lord, have called you to demonstrate my righteousness. I will take you by the hand and guard you.” – Isaiah 42:6
“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:19
These are the verses I’m going to camp out on while I fast from coke. Day one was not hard. And you know what….. God kept His promise- He met ALL of my needs.
What in your life calls you away from constant companionship in the arms of Jesus?
Please enjoy this awesome song!
Posted on October 31, 2013 by adakate
Today marks a special day for our family.
Our Prince Charming has been home for a FULL YEAR!!!!
As you can imagine, it was a VERY emotional day!
The day daddy arrived home, he had spent a total of 5 weeks of this girl’s life with her (she turned 1 twenty-one days before he came home). Thankfully, they are big buddies (it must have been all of those skype dates.)
I’m so thankful that we have a year of new memories, ones that include daddy at every turn! Our family has adjusted beautifully back to normal this past year, and for that I am so grateful. We have quite a few friends who are deployed/have spouses who are deployed, and I hold each of you close in my heart and prayers. Rest in Jesus my friends, it will be over soon!
One of the biggest blessings during our deployment year was our church family (and still is!). They wrapped around us as we did life for a year. They emailed and loved on my husband on the other side of the world. You will be cherished in our hearts for life. Thanks to all of you who came to the airport that day, and waited hours, to honor our soldiers and our family. We love you!
Thank you Lord for your blessing of family.
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted on October 30, 2013 by adakate
So, it has been quite a while since my last post. This has been a very busy season for me. I write MANY posts in my head, and they just haven’t found their way to words on a screen yet. Maybe one day….like December when microbiology is over…( insert happy dance HERE!)… So the real reason we’re here tonight….
Lately, I seem to see marriage encouragement just about everywhere (I love Darlene Schacht who blogs at Time-Warp Wife). Did you see this post on 25 Ways to Communicate Respect (found over at www.lovinglifeathome.com)? Well, tonight, I want to share some encouragement with you from my little corner of the blogger world.
So..before we EVEN get started, lets be honest…sometimes we all have better weeks than others in our marriages. Sometimes, we don’t communicate well for a few days. Or we let the tiniest (and not so tiny) things ruffle our feathers. We had one of those “few days” recently. And thankfully, we are on the other side. I love the words of Exodus 15:13
“With your unfailing love you lead the people you have redeemed. In your might, you guide them to your sacred home.”
Praise God we are redeemed people….and that He leads us. One place He has lead us lately is to pray together each night. Rob started this new tradition just last night (well, restarting something we did before he deployed) – we each mention one (or maybe two) things we would like the other to pray for, and as we stand in each others arms, we pray specifically for each other. People, there is POWER in those sweet moments we spend together in communion with our Creator – the two sinful humans, redeemed by His blood that He brought together for His purpose. I find myself praying for him more throughout the day and excited for his return in the evenings. It seems to be centering my heart in finding joy in our journey (even in the midst of lots of dishes!)
I just want to encourage you to be listening to the Holy Spirit and His leading in your heart, and be asking specifically for Him to strengthen your marriage with His touch– and adjust, if necessary, its reflection of Christ and the church.
**and just a note to any dating/engaged readers….please be careful praying alone together, it creates such an emotional attachment that can lead places it doesn’t need to outside of marriage**
Posted on August 14, 2013 by adakate
Last night it was closes to 2 a.m. when I closed my eyes to drift off to sleep. I had an “after kids bedtime” meeting to work on an awesome Both Hands Project for my friend. My heart was going to sleep full and blessed- yet my body so weary. I haven’t been sleeping much lately, and its really starting to take its toll.
So, at 4 a.m. when my 5.5 year old woke me up with her gentle touch and a whisper, “Mama” – I REALLY wanted to just send her back to bed. And I tried to first with “Sweet girl, mama is really tired, go use the potty and snuggle back in bed”. Her response, “But Mama, I need you. Will you please come lay down and snuggle with me?” This is not a usual response from my sweet girl. She usually happily goes back to bed and is asleep in 5 minutes or less. I’m thankful that God let me be awake enough to realize her need to just have her mama. When we all got up 2 hours later, she said, “Oh mama! YOu are the BEST mom in the world. Thank you for getting up and snuggling with me, even though you were tired.” I reminded her gently that we couldn’t do that all of the time and she said:
“Oh mama, I know. But how wonderful to know that when I need you, you are ALWAYS there.”
That right there is reason enough to put away our phones, sign off of facebook and just really enjoy life with our kids. I want to be the mom who is sensitive enough to realize when my kids really need me, and set aside my own needs to remind them “I’m always here”. Right now, our girls are learning about the Father’s love because of the way their dad and mom take care of them and love them. That’s a huge responsibility. The only way to even come close to living up to it is seeking God and asking Him to show us the right way to respond to our sweet ones.
They are growing way to fast. I hope and pray that when she “needs” me in her teen years, we will have built a road of trust , and she will know, no matter how tired and weary I am, I am ALWAYS here!
Posted in Motherhood
Posted on August 9, 2013 by adakate
This morning, I was playing trains with our almost two year old, Molly. The simple figure 8 track was built and we were playing her favorite way: sending the trains one by one down the slope to bang into each other, once you have a “line”, make choochoo noises and start again. After a few minutes, I notices she was studying my indian style legs criss cross applesauce legs and then looking at her own, moving them a bit, and glancing back at mine. She continued over and over again, glancing and adjusting, until she had it just right. She was so happy and pleased at herself for imitating her mama- the woman she loves most!
Isn’t that how our relationship with God goes? As he grasps our hearts, we start to notice the qualities in character and action that are His. They are the ones we ultimately want to imitate. I love what Ephesians 5 :1-2 has to say:
“Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God”
We are so richly blessed as followers of Christ to have the Spirit of God dwelling WITHIN us! He is there to guide us and teach us– to mold us like Christ. A few verses later, In Ephesians 5:8-9 we are told:
“Fore once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.”
The best way we can imitate Jesus– is to follow his teaching and example: LOVE ONE ANOTHER!
I’m going to end today with one of my favorite verses in the Bible. This is Psalm 32:8-9
“The Lord says, ” I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you. Do not be like a senseless horse or mule that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”
Join me in seeking to imitate Christ, in every moment of every day. We wont be perfect, but ever so slowly, we are becoming more and more like the One we love above all. Ask the Lord to lead you by His spirit. To teach you each and every day. He will be faithful to do just that! (His promise to do so is right there in Psalm 32!)
Posted in Motherhood, Weedless
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Binjimen Victor has gone through a full regular season, winter workout, and spring camp under Urban Meyer, and now he is experiencing his second summer as an Ohio State Buckeye.
The newness has become routine, and once that happens for a player, everything becomes a little bit easier.
Playing as a true freshman last year, Victor managed just four receptions for 64 yards and a touchdown. For the first time in a while, his physical abilities did not translate into production. This is normal for freshmen, and it also provides a baseline to grow from.
Watching what Victor was capable of doing last year and this spring, Urban Meyer doesn’t get hung up on the lack of production because he sees what Victor can become.
“He’s as talented as any (receiver) I’ve ever coached,” Meyer said this spring.
Meyer mentioned Victor quite a bit last season as a player who was close to seeing the field in a meaningful role. That didn’t happen until later in the season, however. And even then, he still only caught three passes in Big Ten play. So what was it that was holding him back?
“Just the go-hard, knowledge of the offense,” Meyer said. “He just wasn’t a go-hard player all the time. He really grew up and he’s a great young man. He’s fine, a very good player. Just that typical freshman stuff.”
Even with that “typical freshman stuff”, you could still see a lot to like. Now as a sophomore, he still stands 6-foot-4, but has added weight and checks in around 195 pounds. He still has to get stronger, but he is definitely on the proper path.
What is he capable of when he is going right?
“Anything he wants,” Meyer said. “That’s how good he is. That’s how talented he is. He’s not good yet, but that’s how talented he is.”
Victor also put last year’s bowl preparation to good use, and he brought that momentum with him into spring camp. His position coach Zach Smith says that Victor has “all of the talent in the world,” and was showing it this spring before he was dinged up with a couple of minor injuries.
Despite the nagging injury issues, Victor powered through and never missed a practice. It slowed him down, but it was also a positive to see him keep fighting despite the setback.
What are his teammates saying?
Even while getting dinged up, Victor still had his moments in the spring. When it comes to what he is capable of doing, however, he won’t truly take that next step until he finds the consistency that is needed on every snap.
“He’s kind of like a little brother to me,” said receiver Terry McLaurin. “He roomed with me in camp, so I’ve seen him when he first came in to now and it’s just maturation. The biggest thing he needs to keep working on is the ebs and flows of practice, the ebs and flows of a game. You can’t get too high, you can’t get too low. Just take it play by play, step by step. But his future is very bright and I’m excited for him to take that next step.”
The coaches — and the quarterbacks — are hoping that Victor is going to be ready for a much larger role in 2017. The Buckeyes have not had a consistent receiving threat out wide since Michael Thomas left after the 2015 season. Thomas wasn’t ready for that responsibility until his third year, however, so even the great ones can take some time to blossom.
Whenever Victor does eventually come into his own, you might want to prepare yourself for something pretty special.
“Bin is a freak,” said receiver K.J. Hill. “He’s 6-4, 190 or 200 pounds, can run, so he’s a freak. You’re going to see Bin going deep, you’re going to see him coming back. Just like he came on at the end of the year last year, I expect a big year out of Bin.”
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“My meaning is that we don’t need to force him too tight now. Let him relax, then at most 10 minutes later, his injury will deteriorate to the point that he can’t hold anymore and he will pass out directly. By then, it will be easy to catch him alive.”
Wilson nodded, then he said into the microphone in front,
“The drone enters the tracking mode. Don’t attack for the time being. Temporarily deactivated Purger Type II.”
Following Wilson’s order, Fang succeeded in getting a breather. He was gasping for breath; his eyes were filled with bloodshot.
But soon, Fang directly stepped on the accelerator pedal of the truck he was driving.
Just after the truck accelerated to a certain level, Fang suddenly showed a grin on his face. He reached out and threw something out the window.
This thing looked like a silver-white ball which was only the size of a ping-pong ball, but it exploded after flying out the window for a dozen meters!
Suddenly, the extremely fierce electromagnetic shock wave spread in all directions in an instant. All the electronic devices with a radius of nearly 20 square kilometers were greatly disrupted and crashed.
There were many instruments that had been burnt due to overheating. The drones in the air were all out of control, spinning around like a fly without their heads, then they all exploded!
Not only that, even the detectors on the satellite found that this area was completely immersed in a hazy atmosphere.
This thing was a product of another world. It was completely a direct pressure of technology of another level! It was often used in interstellar warfare to cover and interfere with the opponent’s fleet communications!
Umbrelia’s science and technology tree was focused on the biochemistry field, so its technology in the electronic information field was limited. Therefore, facing Fang’s electromagnetic oscillation ball, they couldn’t do anything. Their losses in an instant were huge.
Not to mention that the signal in the command vehicle was lost, even the mobile phone couldn’t be reached.
What’s more terrible was that the internal control chip of the monster, Purger Type II, was also burned and lost contact. It was equivalent to that the monster had no restrictions. It had fallen into a state of complete loss of control.
It was directly dominated by instinct. If it gets enough flesh and blood, it will eventually grow into a monster that can destroy a city!!
Therefore, the focus of Umbrelia’s work must immediately shift to the Purger Type II.
Otherwise, once the incident became serious, the entire company would be in a very passive situation. If it attracts the attention of the national government, it will even be condemned by everyone. After all, they had not yet grown to the point of being able to confront the government.
After using his trump card to trick the enemy, Fang then turned the steering wheel! The truck roared and directly smashed through the guardrail next to it, then it rushed into the surging river next to it together with a lot of debris, splashing a lot of waves!!
Before falling into the water, Fang opened the door in advance and jumped straight into the water.
After he entered the water, he immediately activated his own voodoo: The [Soul of Fish Man]. The principle of this thing is to use his own essence and blood to supply the [Soul of Fish Man], then he would obtain its blessing.
This was also a typical black magic voodoo, that was, sacrifice first, then get the benefits later.
Under normal conditions, Fang could use this voodoo very easily, but at this time, when he was almost dying, the flesh and blood essence absorbed by the [Soul of Fish Man] could really take his life.
Fortunately, the [Soul of Fish Man] gave Fang the ability that he needed most at this time, that was, underwater breathing and swimming ability. Fang moved forward at high speed like a torpedo underwater, leaving a series of bubbles behind him. There was a black light lingering around his body.
If someone witnessed it with their own eyes, they would be surprised to think that this was a fish, not a person.
However, good times always pass too fast. The Soul of Fish Man’s blessing time depended on how much flesh and blood one offered.
According to Fang’s current look of exhaustion, how much flesh and blood could he offer to the [Soul of Fish Man]?
Therefore, 2 minutes later, Fang appeared and started looking for a place to land, but at this time, he saw that there was actually a cargo ship sailing slowly in the middle of the river.
Fang was overjoyed seeing this. He knew the power of the “Typhoon” Electromagnetic Oscillation Ball. It could at least ensure that the other party’s communication couldn’t be restored within two or three hours.
At this time, after boarding the ship, he could not only recover from the injury, but he could also take the ship and leave at full speed. He could have it both ways.
After jumping on the boat, Fang went straight to the cockpit and saw a middle-aged man playing with his mobile phone with his legs folded. He was shocked to see Fang who looked ferocious, had broken one arm, and had crisscrossed wounds that became white due to soaking in water too long. As he was about to speak, Fang just knocked him out with his knee.
Immediately afterward, Fang searched the boat briefly and found that there was no one else except the middle-aged man. He returned to the cockpit, adjusted the speed to the maximum, and drove in one direction.
Because it was in autopilot mode at this time, Fang only needed to look at the distance occasionally to adjust his course. He then began to deal with his wounds. The key was the parasites on the face. It was very difficult to remove them as they had attached to his flesh. It greatly affected Fang’s vision.
But for Fang, this was not a particularly big deal, because this thing had been controlled. It wouldn’t be fatal in the short term. As long as he could survive until the mission time limit.
Then Fang began to search everywhere. What was he looking for? It turned out that after he entered the cockpit, he smelled a faint smell of coffee, and Fang also wanted to have a cup of hot coffee at this moment.
So without much effort, he found an electric kettle, a packet of Nescafe instant coffee, and a coffee cup that had just been used not long ago. The aroma of coffee came from the cup, and there was more than half boiled water in the electric kettle.
Needless to say, Fang boiled the water and made himself a cup of hot coffee.
But he still felt not satisfied because there was an empty wine bottle on the table next to him. So, Fang looked around and found three small bottles of Red Star Erguotou in the locked drawer, and there was a bag of cream sandwich bread on the shelf.
It was normal for this thing to appear here because Fang knew that it was not normal for the crew to not bring strong alcohol due to the windy and cold weather on the boat and the crew had to watch the night too.
As for the bag of bread, it was also very common; it should be the snacks when the crew got hungry.
So without discovering any doubts, Fang eagerly poured half a bottle of Red Star Erguotou and three bags of coffee mate into the hot coffee, then he squeezed the cream from the butter bread into the coffee.
This is a very popular way to drink in Fang’s hometown: hot coffee with Irish whiskey, sugar, and a thick layer of cream at the end. This drinking method was called “brown bomber” locally, which meant that after drinking it, it would give an explosive feeling in the throat.
If you are hungry, you can serve it with a croissant with pickled cucumbers and bacon.
After making this unorthodox “brown bomber”, Fang couldn’t wait to take a big swig, feeling the sensation of hot coffee flowing through his throat. He seemed to be alive once again.
Fang exhaled very comfortably. He fell to the chair next to him, closing his eyes and feeling the soreness from all over his body.
This was the most powerful passive {Regeneration} talent among his beast bloodline. As long as his head wasn’t cut off or his body wasn’t cut in half, this talent could stabilize the injury. It could even heal the injury bit by bit. The heavier the injury, the stronger the recoverability.
At this time Fang was tired and hungry, and he was in a period of extreme weakness after his transformation, so he simply drank two cups of “brown bomber” and ate all the bread next to him. But after drinking for a while, Fang gradually felt extremely sleepy. He could barely keep his eyes open.
Fang felt that something was wrong at this time. He repeatedly screamed in his mind that he couldn’t sleep, but the tiredness couldn’t be dispelled. It stayed in his mind and continued to influence his mind.
In the end, Fang couldn’t resist the intense sleepiness after all. He fell asleep. Snoring sounded loudly…
This scene was already recorded by a hidden camera by the side and replayed on the screen on the other end.
10 minutes later, a thin figure appeared at the door of the cabin. It was no one else, but Fang Linyan!!
What he held in his hand was a strange machine similar to a blower, and it looked heavy. It was a bit difficult for him to hold it. Then, Fang Linyan slowly approached Fang, who was lying on the chair next to him, and turned on the switch.
Suddenly, a 50 centimeters long gray flame appeared at the front of the machine.
Fang Linyan waved it down,
There were many coincidences in the world, but it definitely did not include the seriously injured Fang casually got on a boat, then fell asleep directly. He also happened to meet Fang Linyan in the end.
What was behind this was careful planning and a lot of investigation… Of course, there was still some luck.
To clarify all these causal relationships, it must start from the beginning.
—
Fang Lingyan could actually deduct Fang’s action?
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I am curious to see how he could convince the government to do al this. Even give up a purger and all.
For now this seems a little far fetched. It was a little more believable in the previous book.
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So, you want to start your own health services business? Congratulations! This can be a very rewarding and exciting venture. However, it’s important to keep in mind that starting any business is a lot of work. Here are a few tips to help you get started on the right foot:
Do your research
If you’re thinking of starting your own health services business, the first step is to do your research. There are a lot of different factors to consider, from the type of business you want to start to the location and target market. You’ll also need to ensure you have the necessary licenses and permits in place. Once you’ve done your research and gathered all the information you need, you can start putting together a business plan.
When it comes to starting your own health services business, one of the most important things you can do is develop a business plan. This document will serve as a roadmap for your business, outlining your goals, strategies, and financial projections. While it may seem like a lot of work upfront, developing a comprehensive business plan will save you time and money in the long run.
Here are a few tips to help you get started:
Define your business. What products or services will you offer? Who is your target market? What need does your business fill? Answering these questions will help you develop a clear and focused business plan.
Research the competition. Take a look at what other businesses in your field are doing. What are their strengths and weaknesses? How can you position your business to be successful in competition?
Create financial projections. Estimate how much start-up capital you will need and how much revenue you anticipate generating in the first year, five years, and ten years. This information will be essential when seeking funding from investors or lenders.
Outline your marketing strategy. How will you generate awareness for your business? What channels will you use to reach your target market? What promotions or discounts will you offer?
Identify your management team. Do you have the skills and experience necessary to run your business? If not, consider bringing on a partner or hiring key employees who can help you grow your business.
By following these tips, you’ll be well on your way to starting your own health services business.
Hire qualified staff members
One of the most important factors in the success of any business is the quality of its staff. When starting a health services business, it’s important to hire qualified employees passionate about what they do and who have the skills necessary to provide quality services.
To find qualified employees, start by posting ads online or local newspapers and job boards. You can also reach out to local colleges and universities to find recent graduates who may be interested in working for your business.
When conducting interviews, be sure to ask each candidate about their experience in the health care industry and their education and training. You should also inquire about their availability and willingness to work evenings and weekends, as many health care businesses require employees to work flex hours.
Source high-quality tools and equipment
When starting a health services business, it’s important to invest in high-quality tools and equipment. This will ensure that your employees have the tools they need to provide quality services and help your business run smoothly and efficiently.
When shopping for tools and equipment, compare prices and quality. It’s also important to read online reviews to see what other customers say about a particular product. Get FDA-cleared cannulas, syringes, and other devices from a reputable supplier. Never skimp on quality, as this could put your business at risk.
In addition to tools and equipment, you’ll also need to stock your business with first aid kits, cleaning supplies, and paper products. Once again, it’s important to compare prices and quality when shopping for these items.
Starting a business takes time, effort, and dedication. But if you’re willing to put in the work, you can achieve your goals and build a successful business. An important factor in the success of any business is its ability to stay patient and persistent. This means pushing forward even when things get tough and never giving up on your dreams.
If you keep these tips in mind, you’ll be well to start your own health services business. Just remember, starting a business takes time, effort, and dedication. But if you’re willing to put in the work, you can achieve your goals and build a successful business.
Starting your own health services business can be a great way to make a difference in your community. You can set your business up for success with proper planning and execution. Follow these tips to get started on the right track.
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At the end of last year, Pivovar Kout na Šumavě was shut down. This was no surprise to anyone who follows Czech beer news, the problems that led to this had begun in 2017, if not earlier. Nonetheless, it is a sad ending for a brewery that for some time was considered one of the best.
When Koutské pivo appeared in Prague in 2007 or 8, the 10° and 12° pale lagers were better than anything anyone was doing at the time, and the two dark lagers, 14° and 18°, were equally superlative. When they opened U Slovanské Lípy, their flagship pub and also distribution point in Žižkov, and Koutland, in Pilsen, they seemed ready to take over the world; literally, because it was not only at home where they were gaining fans. Koutské pivo was also exported and, at some point or another, it made its way to Sweden, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain, the UK, and even the US, among others. The brewery could barely meet the demand – domestic and foreign – and it didn’t take long before they had to start thinking about buying a new, and much bigger, brewhouse, which was ordered in 2012.
It was at about that time their momentum seems to have stalled, at least in Prague. Kouland shut down, U Slovanské Lípy closed down and reopened, twice; and the second time was a total shift, with Koutské pivo no longer being the only brand, but just another one among nine or ten. Eventually, the market for characterful classic lagers from smaller breweries would be filled by newcomers like Únětický pivovar and Kout na Šumavě was relegated in the beer discourse. Myself, I became less interested about their beers, too, especially by the middle of the decade, not only because my thirst for a good Desítka or Dvanáctka was already being satiated by someone else, but also because their quality had become hit-and-miss. What’s worse, though, when it was a hit, I was left saying: ‘to není vono’; it was no longer that amazing beer that had blown my mind a few years earlier, but one slightly above average, at best (at least the pale beers, the dark ones vanished from the market and I can’t remember the last time I had one). I thought (probably mistakenly) that this was due to growing pains after the manifold expansion in capacity and that the company was more interested in the more lucrative export market than the local one.
Things went definitely south in early 2017 with the passing of Jan Skala, the brewery owner. In 2002, he bought the ruins of Pivovar Kout na Šumavě and it took him five years to bring back to life the brewery that the Communist had closed in 1969. Five people inherited the company, among them Skala’s last two wives, who received at least one offer for the brewery, but they refused it, and things would get worse; or it’s possible that they were already pretty bad by then. An article in Euro.cz (now behind a paywall) mentions that the brewery had received a hefty fine from the environmental authorities for dumping untreated water in the nearby river. Whether that was before or after Skala’s death, I don’t know, in any case, this was not the only problem the company had, there where debts, too. But the knock out punch would arrive last year in August, when Jana Skalová, Skala’s second wife, filed a petition for insolvency against the brewing company on the account that they owed her more than 1.5 million CZK. In the end, Gabriela Hodečková, Skala’s third wife and majority shareholder, who was also running the brewery, decided to pull down the blinds and left the keys in Skalova’s mailbox.
The fate of the brewery is now in the Courts. An insolvency administrator has been appointed, who’s been authorised to sell the remaining stock of beer still in the tanks before all of it gets rotten, as the proceedings to liquidate the company won’t start until May. I don’t have much hope for a second resurrection and even if I happen to be wrong, I wonder whether it’ll be worth it.
The saddest thing about this is not so much the closure, but the circumnstances that led to it. The company was left to people either uninterested or incapable of running it, who likely had a personal feud on top of that. To some extent, this is the owner’s fault. I don’t know the circumnstances of his death, but he wasn’t a young kid. Perhaps he should have checked if the people around him were willing to carry on with the company once he was unable to run it, and find someone who would if they weren’t. To be fair, though, maybe he tried and couldn’t find anyone. The brewery was for him a passion project, I’m sure, and it is often hard to find someone to share our passion, or we don’t start looking until it’s too late.
This also makes me wonder what will happen with other successful and well regarded independent breweries once their founders and owners retire or kick the bucket. Who will take over their mantle? Isn’t it better perhaps for the brewery to fold instead of becoming a shadow of its former self? Or maybe we should congratulate the owners who choose to sell it to a bigger company when they are still relatively young and health and wish them wholesome retirement?
PS: If you want to know more about Kout na Šumavě and Jan Skala, I can't recommend enough Evan Rail's "The Brewery in the Bohemian Forest" available for Amazon Kindle.
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Unknown 13 April 2020 at 21:49
This is a great shame.
I loved their pale lagers, especially the 10° when I first tasted them around 2010 so much that I made a special visit to the brewery and was amazed to see the ramshackle buildings and the small brewery. There I was introduced to their two dark lagers, 14° and 18°, both superb. I especially liked the 14° so as a homebrewerI have brewed it ever since based on a recipe I found in Stan Hieronymus' book "For the love of Hops". The recipe was supposedly given to Evan Rail by the brewmaster. If anyone has the recipe for the 18° I would love to see it.
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Petar 15 October 2020 at 21:55
I am so sad to read this. I've went to Prague in 2015 or 16 and was tasting as much beers as possible. Everything was ordinary until I tried Kout 10° and it blew my mind. Best thing I ever tasted to date.
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Anonymous 18 October 2020 at 00:53
Everything was ordinary....?? Not sure what you have tasted. There are many great beers in Prague and Czech. Not only Kout.
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Petar 18 October 2020 at 10:57
I am sure there are, but being there for the first time we mostly tasted readily available beers: Pilsner Urquell, Bernard, Kozel, Krusovice... Jezek was a bit better than most. I targeted Kout at that time because I've read Evan Rails article on it, otherwise would not have discovered that gem. And it was luck that we tasted it in pansion Patanka where it was fresh as second tasting in some pub in Prague was awful.
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When the December employment report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics was released, the number of jobs created was only half of what economists predicted, despite reflecting what is usually a good season due to the holidays. Yet Joe Biden took a victory lap anyway, calling it “a historic day.”
“I would argue the Biden economic plan is working,” he said at a press event. “And is getting America back to work, back on its feet.”
But only 61.9% of the population is in the workforce, a number that is low and has remained stagnant for a while.
The jobs report was particularly solemn for the black community, which took quite a hit. There was an overall rise in black unemployment. Unemployment among black women rose by more than a point to 6.2%, which is more than double the rate for white women. The rate for black men was more than twice that of white men. And joblessness among black teens was at a very high 21%.
This is the kind of recovery I promised and hoped for, for the American people, where the biggest benefits go to the people who work the hardest and are more often left behind. The people who have been ignored before, the people who just want a decent chance to build a decent life for their family, just given a clear shot.
In a press release that went out just as the president was doing his happy dance, members of the National Center’s Project 21 black leadership network called out Biden on such assertions. Directly addressing this particular assertion, Project 21 Director of Membership Services Donna Jackson said:
When they campaigned for the White House, the Biden-Harris ticket promised racial equity. In power, their policies are putting more black folk out of work. This is unsustainable. These jobless numbers don’t yet reflect the damage we will see from the Omicron COVID variant and Biden’s employer vaccine mandate. But they do prove that the Biden Administration is failing in its commitment to black Americans.
Other Project 21 members added their skepticism to Biden’s assertion that the American economy is “back on its feet.”
Project 21 member Derryck Green said:
Less than 200,000 jobs were created in the month of December, and the labor force participation rate was under 62%. This isn’t great economic news for the Biden Administration to begin 2022. There are several other economic metrics that show the country isn’t in good shape:
Despite the average hourly wage earnings increasing 4.7% in the last year, increased consumer prices outpaced wage gains at 5.7%. The continued rise in inflation will continue to force people to pay more for goods and services rather than allowing them to save or invest that money for the future.
Because of the continued supply chain issues and the Biden Administration’s lackluster response to it, the average cost of a used car is now $29,000.
Black unemployment, which was at historic lows during the previous administration, is at 7.1% while black teen unemployment is at 21%.
Continued lackluster economic news combined with the poor response to Covid-19 – the Biden Administration continues to falter in the very areas the president promised he, and the country, would flourish.
And Project 21 member Michael Austin added:
In an economic address, Joe Biden said something unexpected. He said “a job is about a lot more than a paycheck. It’s about your dignity.” I wholeheartedly agree. This is why we should take the latest jobs report as a sign to reject his socialist policies.
The latest jobs report doesn’t say low job growth is a problem, it says too many people have stopped looking for work.
In the run-up to the holiday season, the U.S. added 199,000 new jobs, less than half of what Wall Street Journal economists predicted. While the unemployment rate did tick lower to 3.9%, it was partly because a lot of people dropped out of the labor force. Across the nation, 61.9% of the working-age population either have a job or are looking for one. For blacks, the participation is even lower, at 60.8%. Both statistics are among the lowest participation levels in 40 years.
Bottom line: jobs are an important part of a person’s identity and well-being, and yet Biden’s perverse incentives are weakening Americans’ level of economic engagement. Congress stopping Biden’s Build Back Better Act is a step in the right direction, but it shouldn’t stop there. Congress should end the incentives that are causing more Americans to stay home rather than work.
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Since standard homeowners insurance doesn’t cover flooding, it’s important to have protection from the floods associated with hurricanes, tropical storms, heavy rains and other conditions that impact the U.S.
In 1968, Congress created the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to help provide a means for property owners to financially protect themselves. The NFIP offers flood insurance to homeowners, renters, and business owners if their community participates in the NFIP. Participating communities agree to adopt and enforce ordinances that meet or exceed FEMA requirements to reduce the risk of flooding. Find out more about the NFIP and how it can help you protect yourself.
Learn about The NFIP Partnership.
Flood insurance protects two types of insurable property: building and contents. The first covers your building, the latter covers your possessions; neither covers the land they occupy.
Building coverage includes:
The insured building and its foundation
The electrical and plumbing system
Central air conditioning equipment, furnaces, and water heaters
Refrigerators, cooking stoves, and built-in appliances such as dishwashers
Permanently installed carpeting over unfinished flooring
Contents coverage includes:
Clothing, furniture, and electronic equipment
Portable and window air conditioners
Portable microwaves and dishwashers
Carpeting that is not already included in property coverage
Clothing washers and dryers
The two most common reimbursement methods for flood claims are : Replacement Cost Value (RCV) and Actual Cash Value (ACV). The RCV is the cost to replace damaged property. It is reimbursable to owners of single-family, primary residences insured to within 80% of the buildings replacement cost.
All other buildings and personal property (i.e. contents) are valued at ACV. The ACV is the RCV at the time of loss minus physical depreciation. Personal property is always valued using the ACV.
Contact Steele Insurance Agency, Inc. or call 707-207-5700 to identify the best combination of coverage, value and price just for you.
Need an insurance quote? Get in touch!
Access quotes from California's most trusted insurance carriers. It’s comparison shopping at the click of a mouse.
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Much of the way we think about ourselves is gained through distorted information we accumulate from our culture and our mundane lives. Sadly, these misconceptions regarding our essential nature have caused many to develop poor habits that deny them an opportunity to experience true spiritual awakening.
To better understand self, one must become familiar with the multiple dimensions of our being and the intelligent energy that works through these dimensions of spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical self. This understanding will lead to embodiment, realizing the divine self within, and then manifesting it in our physical form. The enlightened self is able to make use of this power for healing, personal growth, and experiencing a better connection with the creative source.
This path of self-discovery begins with accepting and engaging the multi-dimensional self and the energy that moves through it. The physical body is made of the same matrix of energy that surrounds and composes all matter. We are part of a quantum field that is present everywhere with the potential to manifest as a material substance or the energy around it.
All physical matter is simply a more dense concentration of this energy field. Because all matter including ourselves is connected, we are able to affect, and to be affected by, one another and the whole of the universe.
The individual consciousness is able to engage the essential energy of all creation for a wealth of personal power. This empowerment allows us to create the life that we desire and the ability to be more responsible for our own health. The power that is being referred to is called Chakra energy. This energy, power, can be found within our Chakra System.
the chakra system
Chakra is a Sanskrit term meaning circle or wheel.
The term “chakra” means wheel or circle in the Classical Sanskrit language.
Originating in Ancient India, there are many philosophical and energetic concepts that describe the human chakra system. For thousands of years, the idea of the chakras has been an integral part of many spiritual, energetic, religious, and personal disciplines.
Theories of this energetic system relate to the timeless concept that the mind and body are actually a single integrated unit. This is known as “namarupa,” sometimes referred to as the “body-mind.”
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A lifelong resident of Grant Parish, Sheriff Steven McCain graduated from Grant High School in 1995. In 1997 he began his career in law enforcement as a dispatcher for the Grant Parish Sheriff’s Office. In 1998 he earned a degree in criminal justice was transferred to the patrol division at the Sheriff’s Office. He attended the Alexandria Regional Police Academy and graduated first in his class. In 2000, he went to work for the Louisiana State Police and was assigned to work in Troop E. He was a hostage negotiator for the State Police, a training officer for new Troopers, and was a member of a specialized tactical team. In 2005 he was hired as the Investigator for the Grant Parish District Attorney's Office.
On July 1, 2012 Steven McCain took the oath of office as the new Sheriff of Grant Parish. At the age of 34, McCain was the youngest Sheriff in Louisiana. McCain then assembled a team of dedicated deputy sheriffs and began to work toward accomplishment and accountability in the Grant Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Stacey Roberts, Chief Criminal Deputy
Chief Roberts received his bachelor’s degree from Northeast Louisiana University in Criminal Justice. He began his law enforcement service with the Colfax Police Department as a patrol officer in 1996. The following year, he went to work for the Grant Parish Sheriff’s Office as a Patrol Deputy. In 2000, he became an Investigator with the Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control (ATC). During his tenure with ATC, he was promoted to Captain in the Alexandria Region and then promoted in 2007 to Headquarters in Baton Rouge where he served as Major over the Enforcement Division. In 2011, he went to work for the Department of Public Safety where he was assigned to the State Capitol Police detail in Baton Rouge.
On July 1, 2012, he came back home to the Grant Parish Sheriff’s Office to serve as the Chief Criminal Deputy under Sheriff Steven McCain.
He and his wife, Kim, reside in the Pollock community and are the parents of 3 children.
Howell Addison, Chief of Operations
Chief Addison began his law enforcement career in May 1992 at the Grant Parish Sheriff’s Office as a patrol deputy. In 1999, he became a patrol officer with the Pineville Police Department. During his tenure with the Pineville Police Department, he was promoted to Sergeant where he served as a patrol supervisor. In 2008, he returned to the Grant Parish Sheriff’s Office as Chief of Operations and is responsible for the day to day activities including purchasing, fleet management, and logistics.
He and his wife Rhonda reside in the Prospect Community and have three children.
Ryan James, Chief of Detectives
Chief Detective James is a lifelong resident of Grant Parish and graduated from Montgomery High School in 1992. He attended Northwestern State University before beginning work at the Grant Parish Sheriff’s Office in April of 1994.
During his 28 year career in law enforcement he has worked in corrections, communication, patrol, a K-9 handler and a detective. He has also served on the S.W.A.T. team, working his way to becoming a sniper and assistant team leader.
In April of 2022, he was promoted to lead the detective’s division.
He and his wife, Relieda, live in Montgomery and are the parents of 5 children.
Mariann Coolman, Chief Civil Deputy
Mariann graduated from Bolton High School, in 1995.
Her background began as that of an educator. She taught elementary school for 9 years, at Alpine Christian School.
Mariann began her career at the Grant Parish Sheriff’s Office, as a summer employee, before moving to a full time position in the financial section of the Grant Parish Sheriff’s Office. In 2020, she was promoted to the Chief Civil Deputy, overseeing property taxes, sales taxes, payroll, accounting and finances, along with civil processes.
She is married to Russell Coolman and they are the parents to 4 children and 2 grandchildren.
Warden Watkins is a lifelong resident of Grant Parish and graduated from Grant High School in 1995. Immediately after graduating high school began working at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola for 3 years. In 1998, an opportunity to work in Grant Parish for a private ambulance service came about. In 2004, he was hired full-time for the Grant Parish Sheriff’s Office, to serve in the capacity of a Patrol Deputy, a lifelong dream passion.
In June of 2009, he was promoted to Detective and served in that capacity until 2017 when he was promoted to Captain and took an administrative position at the Grant Parish Detention Facility. In January of 2020, he was promoted to Warden of the Grant Parish Detention Facility.
In 2018 Warden Watkins attended the National Command and Staff College, an extremely rigorous leadership study where he successfully graduated. Warden Watkins also serves as a Firearms Instructor currently oversees the marine division.
He and his wife, Marsha, are the parents of 3 children and reside in the Simms Community.
Assistant Warden Durand began his law enforcement career in 2014 as a correctional deputy at the Grant Parish Detention Facility.
He has worked as a correctional deputy, records and classification, and in 2020 was promoted to Assistant Warden. In this capacity, Assistant Warden Durand oversees all activities of the Grant Parish Detention Facility where he is primarily assigned to billing and supervises the Animal Control Division of the Grant Parish Sheriff's Office.
Captain Bryon Taylor
Captain Taylor began his career as a Law Enforcement Professional in the fall of 1993.
He has worked as a community service officer, a dispatcher, a patrol deputy, a detective, a school resource officer and currently serve as the head of the Criminal Division of the Grant Parish Sheriff’s Office in addition to commander of the SWAT team.
Captain Taylor's vision and goal is to motivate and support the deputies of the Grant Parish Sheriff’s Office as we serve the residents of Grant Parish with professionalism and excellence.
He and his wife, Rochelle, reside in the Bentley community and are the parents to 4 children.
Sergeant Cade Fletcher, Grant Parish OHSEP Deputy Director
Sergeant Fletcher began his law enforcement career in 2004 as a patrol officer for the Town of Colfax. Shortly after, became a communications operator for the Grant Parish Sheriff's Office and has worked in patrol, information technology, and now serves as the Deputy Director of the Grant Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. In 2019, he successfully graduated the FEMA National Emergency Management Basic Academy held in Baton Rouge. This course provided him extensive knowledge in managing disasters or incidents and better prepared him to assist Grant Parish respond to, recover from, and mitigate future disasters. Sergeant Fletcher also oversees the various State and Federal grants awarded to the Grant Parish Sheriff's Office.
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← Contractors are not permitted to park in reserved (signed) Hema Malini and her daughter Esha Deol walked the ramp for →
Posted on February 8, 2014 by bherrlinger
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The Walk at East Village
Barry Herrlinger is a registered advisor offering investment advice through Signature Investments, Inc., an SEC Registered Investment Advisor, 6500 Poe Avenue, Suite 110, Dayton, OH 45414. 937.890.1988. Atlas Financial Alliance, LLC is unaffiliated with Signature Investments, Inc.
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The sink is fixed, the WiFi is broken, huge ships passed us on the Seine River, and we bought a Guinea Fowl. Just another day on the road, right?
We awoke to a greyish morning on top of the cliffs in Saint-Jouin-Bruneval. It was a quiet night with a gusting wind sweeping the cliffs. I slept through most of the night but still feel ragged. I love the sound of storms as I go to sleep at night, but ear plugs and eye masks do nothing to block out the rocking of the machine in the wind. It’s one of those things you never really consider when you first start living in a motorhome.
While sipping our tea and coffee, we decided to pack up and head out, delaying work until later in the afternoon. There wasn’t much on the agenda for the day, but we did want to get the sink fixed. So we cleaned up, packed up, dumped our tanks again, and set off.
However, dear reader, before going any further, I want to clarify that preparations to get underway are not trivial. It has come as a surprise just how much effort it takes to (properly) clean, pack up, secure our stuff, and get going. It is easy to imagine waking up, enjoying a cup of coffee, turning over the engine, and driving off. However, when the knife you left on the counter becomes airborne, embedding itself in a cupboard, you suddenly realize how important it is to put stuff away. And when a closet door flies open, spilling food or clothes throughout the interior, you put more emphasis on double-checking all the latches. Do you know how much those plastic roof vents cost in a motorhome? Or a side window? You don’t want to find out, so you triple check each from front to back, muttering to yourself, kind of like Rainman. Finally, with two cats, there is litter and fur to contend with. If we don’t vacuum at least once a day our small space can get pretty disgusting. So when I say something as simple as “we packed up”, keep in mind all of the above!
Now back to the day’s story. From the aire, we first followed the road to the bottom of the cliffs to see what was there. Turns out there is a nice new beach at the bottom, next to an oil storage facility. I’m not sure how clean the water is, but so long as nothing is leaking I guess it is fine. The beach provided a nice view of the cliffs and we had a fabulous view of a trio of horses and riders galloping up and down the packed sand. They all looked to be having a fun time splashing through the surf.
After a short walk, we drove towards Le Havre to find a do-it-yourself store with plumbing supplies. We spotted a ‘Bricoman’ sign outside Montvilliers and decided to head there instead of going to Le Havre. We never found the Bricoman but we did find a Leroy Merlin (for North Americans, this is like a Home Depot or Kent). We parked in a back parking lot — again, lots of barriers up to prevent camping cars from entering — and I walked across the business park to the store (obviously no one walks here because there was nary a sidewalk to be found).
Leroy Merlin’s plumbing selection was limited and I didn’t find the part I wanted. Let’s be clear, I am not a plumber. I had narrowed the leak down to a bad seal between the sink’s basin and the drain catch. My first thought was to replace the sink’s entire drain, but the sink/drain combo seems to be something custom built for motorhomes (quel surprise). I did find a rubber gasket in Leroy Merlin which looked like it would fit nicely between the sink’s catch filter and basin itself. My theory was the rubber would seal against the sink (if I torqued the screw enough) thereby sealing the leak. I also found a drain snake and a laundry hamper. Total cost: €18.03
Back in the motorhome, I tried out my theory and voila! It worked. We tentatively poured some water down the drain without a single leak. Fearing it might be due to hot water, we tried putting some boiling water down it. It held! We were back in business!
Mighty proud of myself for fixing the sink, we set our sights on our next overnight destination, a France Passion site in Heurteauville, across the Seine River from Jumièges. Jumièges is a small town in the Seine-Maritime department and is home to France’s “most beautiful ruin,” Jumièges Abbey. We are planning to visit the abbey tomorrow morning but wanted to be close by so we could be there as soon as it opened.
Amelia is all alone for the night on her lovely farm stay.
For the night, we decided to stay at a France Passion site, Ferme Vautier, right on the edge of the Seine River. After parking, we were able to spot the towers of Jumièges Abbey peaking above the trees on the other side of the river. We then took a walk around the farm, owned by Isabelle & Jean-Luc Vautier, who raise chickens, guinea fowl, and cows, and produce milk, cream, cider, honey, and more. We were intrigued by the Guinea Fowl, although we’ve never tried it, let alone cooked it. Nonetheless, we are game to try it (see what I did there?). So we bought a whole Guinea Fowl and some cream from Isabelle who then wished us a pleasant stay. Total cost: €16.08.
We certainly couldn’t argue with our view for the night.
We had fun watching these calves scampering about the farm.
Back in Amelia, we broke out our laptops and got to work. At one point I looked up and cruising down the river was a bloody big boat. It was one of the oddest things to see this far inland. Of course, I knew the Seine was a major shipping lane, but I had never thought about the size of the ships. The barges on the Rhine have nothing on these monsters! They towered above us and took up nearly the entire river. Maybe they were lost and didn’t realize they were on a river? Yikes!
Orange was less than impressed by the giant ships passing by.
After fighting with the MotorhomeWiFi iBoost WiFi extender, I think it is broken. I can’t even access it now, not that it has picked up a single WiFi connection consistently yet! Not sure this was a good purchase. We are back to using the Huawei MiFi again tonight. At least, that’s been a solid purchase so far. (Note: I found out I busted the WiFi Extender by using the reset button. Why is there a great big reset button if you’re not supposed to use it!? Now trying to figure out if I can fix it or it has to be returned to the UK.) (Additional Note: Have to return it to the UK to be re-flashed. *sigh*)
Speaking of WiFi, I discovered that SFR is partnered with FON. FON is a company that offers WiFi access around the world through their partnerships with broadband internet providers. Companies like SFR set up their DSL and Cable modems to share a guest network specifically for FON pass holders. Then SFR and the other broadband internet providers give FON passes to customers who subscribe to particular levels of service. So, if you have service from SFR you can get access to the FON WiFi network anywhere FON has an access point.
I had heard of FON before we left Belgium (I actually worked on a project with them at Belgacom) but I thought you needed to be a subscriber to a broadband provider to get access. When I connected to the SFR-FON WiFi access point, I discovered I could buy a FON pass directly. I can’t buy a pass via FON’s website, but I could buy one via the SFR-FON WiFi access point’s authentication portal. The user experience for this system is beyond painful.
I bought a 30-day FON pass for €29.90, which is cheap compared to the data rates we’re paying on the Orange SIM card. So in theory, we now have access to FON’s WiFi network via SFR and to Orange’s WiFi network thanks to buying an Orange SIM card (although I’m still missing the password for the Orange WiFi, which was supposed to be sent by text message). Not sure if we’ll ever be somewhere we can use these, but I’m hoping WiFi access will become easier.
Andrew meets some friendly locals on our walk.
Alison never could resist a pretty face…
That evening we went for a long walk down to the ferry crossing and back beyond our camping spot. The community is made up of some exquisite gardens created around beautiful old wooden framed houses. I love the topsy-turvy feel to some of the houses. I’m certain our parents would like it here. On many lawns, rabbits seem to have won the battle as numerous generations frolicked and chased each other around without fear. Many properties were fenced (often with barbed wire) which makes me think that livestock sometimes gets loose in the area. Can’t have those pesky cows eating your garden (that’s the job of the rabbits)!
Alison wants to live here when she grows up…
We had to laugh at the house next door. Doesn’t it look like Amelia is parked beside the Weasley’s house?
We returned to Amelia and enjoyed a quiet evening on the farm. Maybe we’ll get the hang of this motorhome life after all.
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Andrew is a technology enthusiast (aka geek) who enjoys coding, history, technology, travel, food, wine, and more. He also creates videos and writes for CheeseWeb.eu, our site about slow travel in Europe and beyond. He loves castles, driving on narrow, twisty mountain roads and relaxing with a glass of peaty Scotch. Follow Andrew on Google+.
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Reflections on motorhome living after 90 days on the road - August 8, 2015
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Alison and Andrew are exploring every corner of the world in a motorhome (with their 2 spoiled cats). After budgeting, saving, and buying a motorhome, they're on their way. Follow their journey as they experience life on the road!
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I trained for my first half marathon for a couple weeks and I was a bit nervous coming into this marathon in Provo, UT. But, knowing how I am I challenged myself to keep with the run. My friends Justin … Read More
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Financial knowledge is life changing
Financial wellness is the state of healthy living actively pursued through knowledge, planning, and goal setting to live your best life.
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Guilt-inducing or not, Eating Well’s very existence underscores the changes underway at food magazines. In one way or another, each is striving to provide readers with more tips on preparing and eating healthier foods.
Some, like Eating Well and Cooking Light (published by Southern Living) are devoted entirely to that goal; still others, such as Bon and Food & Wine, have set aside columns to healthful cooking. Even Gourmet seems to be including more recipes with less cream and butter into its traditional devil-may-care mix.
It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions.
as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making it look like readable English. Many desktop publishing packages and web page editors now use Lorem Ipsum as their default model text, and a search for ‘lorem ipsum’ will uncover many web sites still in their infancy. Various versions have evolved over the years, sometimes by accident,. Randomised words which don’t look even slightly believable.
If you are going to use a passage of Lorem Ipsum, you need to be sure there isn’t anything embarrassing hidden in the middle of text.All the Lorem Ipsum generators on the Internet tend to repeat predefined chunks as necessary, making this the first true generator on the Internet. It uses a dictionary of over 200 Latin words, combined with a handful.
as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making it look like readable English. Many desktop publishing packages and web page editors now use Lorem Ipsum as their default model text, and a search for ‘lorem ipsum’ will uncover many web sites still in their infancy. Various versions have evolved over the years, sometimes by accident,
Labor Depar rules pro as tweaks overtime
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Also expect to see more restaurants serving way or another
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These are thei tastiest restaurants in this city right now. So we scour the city every day for great eats, great value.
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(WGNTV) — To save or not to save cord blood? The answer is not so simple. For decades, doctors have put the precious resource to good use, most commonly, to treat patients needing a stem cell or bone marrow transplant.
It can be a lifesaver for families who chose to bank the cells. But others wonder, “Will I ever use it and more importantly will it work?’”
Jesús Torres was experiencing bruising and light headedness. After a month of the mysterious symptoms, tests revealed a devastating diagnosis: acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, an aggressive blood cancer.
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Torres had intensive chemotherapy to control the disease in the short-term. For a better long-term prognosis, Loyola Medicine Hematologist-oncologist Dr Patrick Hagen suggested a stem cell transplant — essentially a new immune system.
“Our first choice in that situation is to find another adult who is a genetic match and unfortunately certain ethnic groups, African Americans and Hispanics, which is a big group we serve here at Loyola, having an adult donor in a donor pool is very uncommon,” Hagen said. “(It is) sometimes as low as 10 percent depending on your specific ethnicity.”
For Torres, who is Mexican, the search led the team to cord blood. While his family did not bank cord blood from a newborn, others preserved it and donated it.
“These are family members who have really done a service to the leukemia community by donating newborn child’s stem cells taken from the umbilical cord so this is not taken from the actual baby this is the umbilical cord that would be discarded otherwise,” Hagen said. “We can get away with less similarity between the cord blood and the patient than we could for example a sibling or relative or adult.”
That’s because the newborn stem cells are easily coaxed into new cells.
But there are challenges. Depending on the size of the umbilical cord, the sample may be small, and often patients need a higher volume of cells to help ensure the treatment is successful.
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“The more cells, the quicker that bone marrow grows, the less complications that patient can have,” Hagen said.
Fortunately, Torres was able to take part in a clinical trial.
“We take the stem cells, it goes to the lab and they treat it with something that allows the stem cells to divide and grow but not differentiate,” Hagen said.
It’s a process Dr. Nadim Mahmud has been perfecting in his UIC lab.
“We can now expand one unit of cord blood to about 8 to 10 units,” Mahmud said.
This bag of cord blood cells will grow to meet the needs of an adult patient like Torres.
“We found a strategy which allows a stem cell to replicate without committing to differentiation,” Mahmud said.
Cord blood cells are most commonly used to treat blood-related disorders and cancers, as well as immune deficiencies. More recently, scientists have begun looking at its efficacy in helping treat brain injury, autism spectrum disorder and cerebral palsy.
Kate Girard is with the private cord blood bank Viacord.
“If those run in your family or if that happens in your family then that is one clinical way to put these cells to work,” she said.
But some families will be disappointed.
WGN News’ Dan Leister lost his daughter to cancer. He and his wife Emily banked her cord blood. But when Meera was diagnosed with brain cancer, the family was told the cells would not be helpful for her disease.
“We spent the time researching it and we have this treatment and [we thought] ‘It’s going to work, it’s going to help her’ — and it just didn’t pan out,” he said.
“Will you ever use them? Every family varies highly,” Girard said.
According to data provided by Viacord, out of 500,000 banked samples, 550 units have been used for transplants, the most common application. Some families have used their stored cells for experimental treatments in a clinical trial – in some cases for the donor child’s own benefit.
“I feel very strongly about families having access to complete and correct information,” Girard said.
But many cords go unused and are disposed of as medical waste. Parents do have choices at the time of birth; give the newborn’s umbilical cord to a public bank, accessed by doctors and researchers or, harvest the cells for your family and store them in a private facility. There is a fee for the initial collection then annual bills for storage. At Viacord, the collection and processing starts at $1,900 dollars. The company’s annual storage fee is $175.
“Those are some amazing cells. Put them in a bank and see what science brings,” Girard said.
“It’s interesting what you don’t know that can help others,” Torres said.
Viacord Private Banking
More on Public Banking
“If you are at a hospital that allows cord blood donation, I would highly encourage it because that donation could potentially save someone’s life,” Hagen said.
More than 35,000 patients have received cord blood as a graft. But even if a family saves cord blood and pays for life, a child or family member in need, facing a cancer diagnosis for example, may not be able to use it. The applications are very specific and do not apply to most cancers.
But research is increasing and that may boost the potential benefits of cord blood.
Copyright 2022 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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by Bob Powell, 3/28/09
These are two objections to what I've written at
Freedom? Liberal vs. Conservative, 3/01/09 and
I originally posted these responses with the articles above. But they're important enough to deserve a separate article. The objections addressed here are essentially:
3/23/09: Libertarian Objection, 1st try: Government's had a hand in all market failures, so why blame the "free market" and not government?
3/25/09: Libertarian Objection, 2nd try: What's the proof that "conservatism" produces bad results? I can disprove so-called "progressive" anti-think: progressively taxing income is like progressively taxing intelligence & performance ... both produce dysfunctional results.
I've expanded on what's in Wealth Happens to include more on the "path dependence" dynamic, known in systems thinking as the "Success to the Successful" archetype, that makes progressive taxation necessary to avoid extremes of poverty and wealth.
Links to sections on this page:
The Rules of the Game
The Universal Human Paradigm and "Winning Strategy"
Libertarian Objection, 1st try, 3/23/09: "... name for me a single free market failure ... that was completely free of government fingerprints ... why blame one and not the other."
Subject: Huh?
Reading your article, "Freedom? Liberal vs. Conservative," reminded me very much of the Flat Earth Society's writings regarding lighthouses and "...absolute proof." Of course, the Earth is round, I mean, check out the shadow on a full Moon.
Back on point, name for me a single free market failure. Should be easy, right? Now, now. What I mean, just so there's no confusion, is name a single failure that was completely free government fingerprints. I know: impossible. So why blame one and not the other, hmmm? Hint: he who RUNS it OWNS it. Duh.
P.S. George Lakoff is a certified twit.
This e-mail reveals two things:
1. Writing "name for me a single free market failure. Should be easy, right? Now, now." indicates a belief that there is no such thing as a "free market" failure. There are; I describe them at Invisible Hand Drops Ball & Economics 101.
2. The belief is that, when there's a failure, government had a hand in it and therefore should be blamed.
Further, this objection raises a vitally important point that I've not made clearly enough: Even if the "free market" were absolutely "free" and totally unregulated ("lawless"), there are specific mechanisms that cause it to fail ... without fail.
Here's my response:
The counterpart of the "Flat Earth Society" are the pathetic fundamentalists who believe in the infallible magic of "free markets" and "free trade."
Rather than understand the failures, ideologues argue, as you do, that it "just wasn't free enough."
Markets are more or less free depending on which one. It's true, government sometimes intrudes in ways it should not. Most often though, it doesn't get involved where it should or doesn't get involved in the ways it should.
In any case, even if there were completely free markets, they would FAIL for the reasons described at:
Invisible Hand Drops Ball & Economics 101, 3/24/08, "Conservative" economic policies deliver dysfunctional results. They should have the courage to admit that's what they want.
The comment that "George Lakoff is a certified twit" is a very intelligent and incisive comment ... not. A twit is someone who's annoying ... he certainly does annoy the ignorant, which it seems you are ... assertions with no logical argument.
Of course government gets involved when there are market failures. And it's true that there are policy failures; see Government Dysfunction. Indeed, many times policies do not address the root causes of the problems; government applies band-aids because it's unwilling to directly address "free market" failures. That unwillingness practically guarantees failure.
The root of the unwillingness? The U.S. has moved so far to the economic "right" that it blinds policy makers to what should be done: address systemic root causes, rather than applying band-aids to symptoms. For example, now government is giving trillions of dollars to banks with NO STRINGS ATTACHED. Is this government controlling business or business controlling government; that is, is it socialism or fascism?
Libertarian Objection, 2nd try, 3/24/09: "I can prove the fallacy of so-called "progressive" anti-think any day."
Subject: Huh? x 2
Where's your proof that it's conservatism that produces the effects you abhor? I can prove the fallacy of so-called "progressive" anti-think any day. Here's a hint: grade point average tax. You're a Ph.D. for chrissakes (well, on paper, maybe). Pick a college, a top marginal rate, set up bracketshell, model the damn thing after the US tax code if you want tooand figure out the "dysfunctional results' on yourr own.
As for Lakoff, a "twit" is a foolishly annoying person. You missed the foolish part. A fool is a silly or stupid person; a person who lacks judgment or sense.
I dare you to post this on your website, too. You won't for the same reason that not one of the so-called "liberal" universities I petitioned extensively will enact the "Progressive GPA Tax." They're scared.
P.S. When I went to "Invisible Hand Drops Ball & Economics 101", I was expecting some authority on the issue. Not you. I laughed!
Sigh. These people really are hopeless. Here's my response to what he sees as a gottcha:
My proof? I specifically describe the mechanisms (averse selection, path dependence, externalities, delays, inelasticities, etc.) that lead to the results. While these are well-known, their effects are too often ignored.
My dictionary on my computer says simply "an annoying person."
OK, I will, as I posted your last e-mail. It really is helpful when "conservatives" display ignorance of how the world works.
You actually sent that GPA tax idea to universities? How embarrassing. It's not that they're scared; it's because it's an idea based on ignorance. A tax on income or wealth and a GPA tax would be completely different.
Now this GPA tax idea is foolish ... thanks ... How so? Vast spreads in the wealth of individuals develop even when all persons start with equal ability and resources. On the other hand, intelligence varies by individual from the birth, which allows some to get ahead thanks to their individual ability, not by chance.
That said, it is true that there's a well-known "halo effect" in business, schools, and universities that leads to those who get ahead getting even further ahead, even were they to all have equal ability.
This is due to the "path dependence" dynamic. See Wealth Happens on "path dependence". This and other archetypes are described in The Archetypes, Generic Structures & Examples from my course at Colorado Tech.
Regarding your "expecting some authority on the issue. Not you." That's "conservatives" ... always looking to a higher authority, rather than the merits of the case.
Talk about laughing ... I love you guys ... :-D :-D :-D
Thanks again,
Would he read the Harvard Business Review article, Wealth Happens, on complexity theory or portions of Sterman's Business Dynamics on path dependence? Of course not. Better to ignore reality.
While this is amusing, it's also profoundly depressing. Ignorance is one thing; everyone is ignorant about many things. But willful ignorance is really stupid.
The finding suggests that the basic inequality in wealth distribution seen in most societies may have little to do with differences in the backgrounds and talents of their citizens. Rather, the disparity appears to be something akin to a law of economic life that emerges naturally as an organizational feature of a network.
... random returns on investment drive a counterbalancing rich-get-richer phenomenon. Even if everyone starts out equal, differences in investment luck will cause some people to start to accumulate more wealth than others. Those who are lucky will tend to invest more and so have a chance to make greater gains still. Hence, a string of positive returns builds a person's wealth not merely by addition but by multiplication, as each subsequent gain grows ever bigger. This is enough, even in a world of equals where returns on investment are entirely random, to stir up huge wealth disparities in the population.
Generic Path Dependence Structure: Once one entity (person, product, organization, company, or country) gets ahead, it's easier to get even further ahead because better performance provides more resources and a greater ability to improve performance. Tracing a "figure 8" path around these structures leads to the "see-saw" tipping further and further in the direction to the side to which it initially tips. The reason for the initial tipping may be by design or by random accident...
It is a natural dynamic. What he describes is known in system dynamics as "path dependence" and in systems thinking as the "Success to the Successful" archetype.
Seeing this natural process has led "conservatives" to believe that poverty is part of the "eternal order of things ... which never can be removed by legislation."
But that is not true; we need not condemn millions to poverty through no fault of their own. Economic "conservatives" do not want policies that avoid extreme poverty; they should have the courage to admit that's what they want.
This is not to deny that some individuals are largely responsible for their own problems. It's just that systems effects are way more powerful than they're given credit for being ... and libertarians deny systems effects even exist.
Many are told to take personal responsibility for their addictions that have driven them into poverty. But addiction is a human affliction, a trap that can snare almost anyone in one way or another.
In fact, our entire economic system is addicted to the quick fix. Addiction to growth, described in the Growth Facts of Life, has driven California to financial ruin and Colorado has followed in its path with its Proposition 13-like TABOR.
The "addiction to growth" dynamic explained: Growth with insufficient taxes brings in some immediate income, but not enough to cover long-term infrastructure costs as people move into an area. Those addicted to growth advocate even more growth to increase the tax base. But this only adds to the infrastructure backlog over the long-term.
Folks, such "economic growth" is what libertarians and other economic "conservatives" love, but it's the same structure as addiction to drugs, which they deplore as an individual weakness for which individuals must take "personal responsibility."
But they will not take personal responsibility for their policies creating infrastructure backlogs. No, they blame the financial problems in California on liberals who promote environmental protection that increases costs and makes the region less competitive. But environmental pollution is a redistribution of the costs of doing business onto the public; it's socialism on the cost-side -- a redistribution that should not be allowed.
We can change the dynamic to counteract some of the inequality. This can be done
With progressive income taxation,
by taxing capital gains and dividends at least at the rate that income is taxed (why discourage work relative to investment),
by not stealing regressive Social Security taxes for use in the general fund, and
by reducing regressive sales taxes.
For an experiential proof of path dependence, one only need play the game, Monopoly. In this game it's not necessarily the most intelligent or hard-working who wins; it can simply be the person who goes first, thereby getting ahead, and because of path dependence thereby getting even further ahead. On Monopoly strategy:
Monopoly involves a portion of luck, with the roll of the dice determining whether a player gets to own key properties or lands on squares with high rents. Even the initial misfortune of going last is a significant disadvantage because one is more likely to land on property which has already been bought and therefore be forced to pay rent instead of having an opportunity to buy unowned property.
Exploiting path dependence is a well-known business strategy for increasing market share. Ways to exploit path dependence:
Switching costs: And it comes into play when one product is more in use and switching costs make changing to a better product unattractive. That's how the QWERTY keyboard layout prevails over possibly more efficient layouts (e.g., Dvorak).
Network effects: It comes into play when network effects make one product more attractive than another, not because it's a better product, but because it's used by more people and there are advantages to using what others use. That's how the Microsoft Windows OS overwhelmed Apple's OS.
Economies of scale: And it comes into play when one product is used more than another, even when it's not a better product, economies of scale make it cheaper to produce. That's how units with the VHS format overwhelmed those with the better quality Betamax format. Plus, there were also network effects: more people with VHS machines made it easier to echange VHS tapes with others.
Greater cumulative production thanks to greater market share gets companies further down the experience curve to reduce costs and get even more market share. Exploiting this is why products are often initially sold at a loss, with companies betting that more cumulative production will result in more learning to reduce costs to below break even.
Path dependence explains the evolution of economic clusters as described in Principles of Economic and Workforce Development. Also see sections of A Systems Thinking Perspective on Manufacturing & Trade Policy.
And it explains how successful quality initiatives at Analog Devices almost sank the company due to the tight coupling between manufacturing and engineering. See Unanticipated Side Effects of Successful Quality Programs: Exploring a Paradox of Organizational Improvement by John Sterman, Nelson Repenning, and Fred Kofman at MIT.
Examples are abundant. One has to wear impenetrable blinders to not see them even when they're pointed out (see examples, with causal loop diagrams, in my Wealth Happens article).
The Rules of the Game
The path dependence dynamic accelerates when, as in the U.S., investment returns (capital gains and dividends) are taxed less than wages. Why would that be? The argument is that taxes discourage "investment" (which is often not investment at all, but speculation or gambling). However, why have higher taxes on wages to discourage work even more than investment?
The "Rules of the Game" evolve to favor those with wealth & power to give them even more wealth & power.
The answer: The "Rules of the Game" are fixed. The old saying, "He who has the gold rules." is true. John Sterman describes this self-reinforcing feedback process in Business Dynamics, Systems Thinking for a Complex World:
The larger and more successful an organization, the more it can influence the institutional and political context in which it operates. Large organizations can change the rules of the game in their favor, leading to still more success-and more power. [The Figure at right] shows the resulting golden rule loop [R1]. The golden rule loop manifests in many forms. Through campaign contributions and lobbying, large firms and their trade associations can shape legislation and public policy to give them favorable tax treatment, subsidies for their activities, protection for their markets, price guarantees, and exemptions from liability. Through overlapping boards, the revolving door between industry and government, and control of media outlets, influential and powerful organizations gain even more influence and power. In nations without a tradition of democratic government, these loops lead to self-perpetuating oligarchies where a tightly knit elite controls a huge share of the nation's wealth and income while the vast majority of people remain impoverished (e.g., the Philippines under Marcos, Indonesia under Suharto, and countless others). The elite further consolidates its control by subsidizing the military and secret police and buying high-tech weaponry and technical assistance from the developed world to keep the restive masses in check. Even in nations with strong democratic traditions these positive loops can overwhelm the checks and balances designed to ensure government of, by, and for the people.
For more on how the system is biased toward the wealthy: Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You with the Bill) by David Cay Johnston (2007).
I've lost all hope of trying to convince such ideologues. No amount of facts and logic will suffice to penetrate such strong ideological blindness. The worldview that sees only individuals, in which they've invested so much, would collapse. On this worldview, see There's No Collective or Social Reality and Problems: A Society's or An Individual's?
The Universal Human Paradigm and "Winning Strategy"
This isn't only a problem for economic fundamentalists; it's a universal human challenge that often makes unlearning more difficult than learning. From Learning as an Integrating Concept for a Successful Company Strategy:
Personally and organizationally, unlearning the technique, or formula, that made us successful is perhaps the most difficult task of all. On a personal level, Tracy Goss [in The Last Word on Power, New York, NY: Currency Doubleday, 1996, p. 35] calls this our "Winning Strategy," which is a result of what she terms the Universal Human Paradigm, defined as: "There is a way things should be. And when they are that way, things are right. When they're not that way, there's something wrong with me, with other people, or with the world."
This Winning Strategy is a lifelong, unconscious formula for achieving success which we learned from childhood onward. "It constrains our ability to create the future we desire and it controls and limits our lives, because we respond to interpretations of events, not to the events themselves. It focuses our attention and shapes our actions, thereby determining what's possible and not possible for each of us." It creates our ultimate confirmation bias and, in fact, creates our reality.
Eventually, the Winning Strategy that brought us success becomes the very thing that brings failure.
This Universal Human Paradigm and "Winning Strategy" apply as much to nations as to individuals. The success the U.S. has achieved has been, in large part, to its Winning Strategy of using the power of the "free market's" Invisible Hand that balances supply and demand via price, service quality, and product quality feedbacks.
Unfortunately, with this success this has come the problems described above. We're at the point where desperate clinging to the Winning Strategy that brought national success is, not only our greatest impediment to further success, but also what has brought us over the brink of economic collapse.
Can we evolve as a nation to and overcome this mental prison? Ken Wilber, in A Brief History of Everything (1996, p. 30.) writes: says, Evolution is a process of transcend and include, transcend and include. To evolve, we must transcend a laissez-faire "free market" ideology and include policies that allow market forces to properly function. It's ironic; current "free market" policies actually obstruct the effective operation of market forces to properly balance supply and demand.
Note: Organizational Evolution addresses the "transcend and include" challenge that organizations face as they grow.
What this means for our economy is we need to use market forces where they work, but also adopt policies to deal with "free market" failures.
For example, when costs of a product are not internalized in the product, the market cannot properly value choices. Examples:
Costs are not internalized when we allow pollution ... the public either pays the cost of cleanup or pays by suffering negative impacts on health.
Costs are not internalized or when development is allowed that does not pay impact fees to cover the costs of all the infrastructure required to serve the new growth. See the Growth Facts of Life.
Such evolution is difficult because giving up a "Winning Strategy" feels like a death threat. After all, our "Winning Strategy" brought us success, kept us alive, and what made us who we are. It's understandable that we tend to cling to them so strongly. And it's dangerous, because it makes us prisoners of our own thinking. Our greatest strength has become our greatest weakness.
Because these mental prisons are so powerful, it's impossible to convince true believers who have elevated belief in the infallibility of the "free market" to the status of religion.
What is possible is to post their writings for all to see to allow independent judgement by those who are not ideologues of the extreme economic "right" or "left".
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Don’t wait any longer and hire a good car accident lawyer and have a prosperous recovery. | Nothing will work unless you do.
Nothing will work unless you do.
We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.
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25. February, 2020 | Posted by | Categories: Uncategorized
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The neighborhoods around Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino in downtown Buffalo, New York will be revitalized with the help of a million dollar fund to upgrade infrastructure, lighting, landscaping and other amenities.
The funding was announced Sunday by Seneca Nation President Robert Odawi Porter and Seneca Gaming Corp. Chair Karen Karsten.
“We are committed to being good neighbors and changing the perception of our casino as an island that does not fully benefit those interests around it,” Porter said.
The Seneca Gaming Corp. will provide the $1 million funding. The project emerged from a series of community meetings held late last year and in early 2011 between nation leaders and waterfront, Old First Ward, Erie County and Buffalo stakeholders. The money will be a resource for casino neighbors, nearby developers, residents and businesses.
“We met with scores of stakeholders, we listened, and now we are moving to lead a collaborative effort to help Buffalo’s waterfront, Old First Ward and Perry Street neighbors as a demonstration of that commitment. Talking was valuable, but we are now putting money and action behind the ideas we all know are so crucial,” Porter said. ,
The funds will remain under Seneca Gaming’s control, but will be spent in accordance with recommendations made by a working group comprised of Seneca Gaming, Seneca Nation, city, and community stakeholders. The group’s aim will be to use these dollars in a manner consistent with existing community plans.
The Seneca Gaming Corp. was chartered in August 2002 to manage the nation’s gaming operations. A gaming compact with New York State that same year gave Seneca the exclusive right to build and operate three Class III gaming facilities in western New York. The nation also owns the Seneca Niagara Casino and the Seneca Allegheny Casino.
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The unfinished Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino was originally to be developed as a $333 million casino with a luxury hotel and restaurants, but the project was stopped in 2008 because of the plummeting national and state economies. Porter and gaming officials have said they want to see on a smaller scale and designed to integrate with the surrounding community rather than be distinct from it. The nation is exploring redesign options.
“Much has changed since we first opened Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino in 2007,” Karsten said. “There is energy and substantial momentum permeating the Inner Harbor area of downtown Buffalo. By working together with our partners and neighbors, Seneca Gaming Corp. wants to play a role in the continued revitalization of this historic area, which has been the Seneca Nation’s home for generations.”
The nation bought the nine acres of land where the casino is located in 2005. The land is now considered sovereign Seneca territory. The property is near the renovation of the Erie Canal terminus, the Old First Ward neighborhood, the Cobblestone District and the Buffalo River; and its neighbors include HSBC Arena and the Buffalo Sabres; HSBC’s back office building; the Buffalo News; the Buffalo Bisons’ Coca Cola Field; the soon-to-be redeveloped Donovan Office Building; and HSBC Center. In addition to the vibrant business community, the area has a residential mix that ranges from public housing to upscale lofts.
“Our meetings with the many constituents involved in making this part of the city go and grow clearly showed that there were ample good ideas on what to do, but that funding was needed to help make them happen to enhance the area,” Porter said. “I’m very pleased that Seneca Gaming and the Nation stepped up to invest a substantial sum in the future of our friends and neighbors nearest our casino.”
Porter said he will also ask the Nation’s Legislative Council to establish a Buffalo Creek Development Commission for purposes of facilitating forward movement on the projects and bringing together interested parties.
The commission, which will include Seneca Nation and Gaming officials, neighborhood representatives and community stakeholders, will accept applications for funding projects and improvements that will directly affect the area around the casino. Landscape and other improvement projects will be identified collaboratively. The nation or Seneca Gaming will take the lead, but allocations to local groups or the city are not precluded. The funding has no time limit, but Porter emphasized that he wants to see the money move projects forward that have been stalled or otherwise can’t get working capital.
“This effort is a microcosm of my administration’s philosophy that what’s good for the Seneca Nation is good for Western New York, and the reverse,” he said. “We have more than 5,000 employees and a $1.1 billion economy and we all want to see those numbers grow – to everyone’s mutual benefit. When we improve the look and feel and amenities of this Buffalo neighborhood, we’ll attract more jobs, more housing development, more entertainment options and everyone will benefit.”
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Say for example you're still in high school. You don't want to be in class for any longer then you really need to be. I remember when I was back in high school however long they gave me for lunch was not enough. So, to get out of, say your fourth hour, class right before lunch. Cooperate with your teacher and let her get through the material quickly. You never know she might just let you go a couple minutes early and get a break on the rest of the lunch crowd.
The same also applies to those of us who get stuck in 11:00 meetings. Just agree with everyone's ideas and you'll be on your way to an early lunch!
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Thanks Pete. As one such 4th hour high school teacher, I can honestly stay that quietness after finishing work (since there are 10 EXTRA minutes in class) is the best way to convince me to let them go early. However, begging and asking is the quickest way to get me to say no!
You know, I don't have too much sympathy for those of you with 11:00 meetings. In a perfect world we would all get 45 minute or hour lunches. However, in the world of middle school you get 20 minutes. And after you walk your students down to the cafeteria and pick them up, that becomes 15. Then if it takes 3-5 minutes to warm up your frozen meal you are now left without about 10 minutes to eat it. And unfortunately for my class, we aren't given a proper lunch class, so lunch cuts into classtime and the students are often late for lunch because we have to cover the same material as everyone else. I would love your 10 extra minutes Kris!
Enjoy your lunches today everyone, and think of me enjoying my 15 minutes of what middle school administraters call "lunch." :) (Please note that though this comment is completely true, it is all in good fun and I really do just accept my fate of 20 minute lunches)
The 10 extra minutes that we have in class came from a 10 minute break we use to have during the day, or so I'm told, which came from, they wanted to add 10 extra minutes to the instructional day. What do we do, we add it to 4th hour so that the class is longer (66 minutes instead of 56) than all of my other classes. So whatever I prepare for my other classes is never enough for this one.
I do have to say, having a full half hour for lunch is nice, but yes, Rach, I have no sympathy for those who have as long a lunch as they need, or for anyone who has lunch earlier than 12:45, or a break in the day before that.
I'll take your 15 minute lunch and raise you 2 plan periods any time! :)
Not giving up my planning periods! Sorry! :) Nice try though. I'll stick with my 15 minute lunch.
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Recently I’ve been doing some volunteer coaching through Catchafire and it is wonderful to support new managers within the non-profit space.
One of the main topics I end up discussing with new managers is trust.
As a manager, your job is to build trust. Build trust between you and your team and build trust between you and your supervisor. More trust means less micromanaging. Trust will help your team feel empowered, and you will feel confident in the goals you need to achieve together.
One way to increase trust is to really listen to your team. “The biggest communication problem is we do not listen to understand. We listen to reply,” Stephen Covey
This means when you ask your employees how their week, project, day is going, you listen to what they say. You don’t ask them nicely so you can turnaround and tell them what you need them to do instead. You ask because you really care and want to know if there are challenges you can help them overcome. You ask follow up questions. You see where they may be feeling stuck and then you help them. All of this without thinking about your own agenda. You ask them a question and listen to their response.
If you don’t have time, don’t ask the question. Asking and not listening is worse than not asking at all. If you are meeting because you need to address a concern you have, start there. “I have a concern I need us to talk about.” or “This is going to be a hard meeting and I am here to support you as we find a resolution.”
If you have a meeting that is focused on your concern, make sure to have another one soon where you can address their concerns. Don’t make every meeting about you.
Another way to build trust is to be transparent. Share what you can, when you can and be clear when you can’t. Let the team know they are part of a bigger picture and help them understand where their work falls within the greater organization. When possible, ask for feedback on goals and department objectives yet don’t ask for feedback when a decision has already been made.
“I’m still looking for the right solution and welcome any ideas or feedback you have.” Vs “I think we have a solution in place that will be announced soon. If you have any additional feedback I should consider, let me know.”
These two sentences are similar but the difference is crucial. One lets your team know that you are still exploring options and the other lets them know you are settled on a direction and will share more soon. For your team, this is an important distinction.
Finally, to build trust, take the time to get to know your team, their strengths, challenges, areas of interest, and career goals. This may be through teambuilding exercises or reserving a few minutes during a meeting for a general check in. Either way, letting your staff know you care about more than just their performance builds trust.
For more on building trust, check out the framework put forth by Brene Brown in Dare to Lead. Her website and books have wonderful information for leaders.
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Everybody thinks Magic Leap's mixed-reality system is going to turn our homes into the movie ‘Avatar.’ It's actually headed for boardrooms and corporate meetings.
By Mike Elgan
Opinion by Mike Elgan
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Smartphones make people distracted and...
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Magic Leap is finally here.
After seven years of rumors, speculation and hype (not to mention $2.3 billion in funding from major companies like Google), Magic Leap this week started selling a real product you can buy.
[ Further reading: How AR and VR will change enterprise mobility ]
And I'm here to do a magic trick of my own: I'm going to make your misconceptions about Magic Leap disappear!
The hardware bundle in detail
The Magic Leap One Creator Edition is available on the Magic Leap website for $2,295. The headset weighs just under a pound and comes in two sizes based on head size and eye distance. Both sizes come with removable, variably sized and shaped nose and forehead rests. It gets about three hours of battery life.
In the box you get the headset, the Control handheld input device, the Lightpack computing pack, a Fit Kit for optimizing fit, chargers, a Quick Start Guide and a one-year limited warranty.
The Lightpack is the "computer" part – an Nvidia Parker system-on-a-chip with a Tegra X2 processor, 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Round and flat, the Lightpack looks like two portable CD players from 15 years ago that open clamshell-style to clip into pants. It can also hang from a strap and is connected to the headset via cabling.
The controller is a pretty typical VR-type one-handed peripheral that provides haptic feedback. It's got a trigger, another button above the trigger on the front, a home button and a round touchpad surrounded by 12 multicolor LED lights.
The Magic Leap One headset won't fit over prescription glasses, but the option to insert prescription lenses option is coming. (Unfortunately, the headset may not be able to physically accommodate prescriptions that require especially thick lenses.)
The Magic Leap store also sells a $60 hub for transferring data to a computer and charging the battery; a Fit Kit for $40; shoulder straps for $30; extra Lightpack chargers for $60; and extra controllers for $290.
A "Professional Development Edition" cost $495, which is weird because both the "regular" and "pro" versions are, in fact, for developers. That buys you an extra "hub cable" and a service plan called "RapidReplace."
In order to buy one, you have to live or work in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, the Silicon Valley or Seattle. Elsewhere in the U.S., you can make a reservation and hope for the best. Magic Leap has not announced any timing for sales outside the U.S.
Magic Leap delivers. Literally. The company will bring your new unit to you, fit it to your face and set it all up for you free of charge using their "LiftOff" service. Like Lenscrafters, it takes about an hour. ("LiftOff" service is provided in collaboration with a company called Enjoy, which was founded by former Apple retail head Ron Johnson.)
Magic Leap also announced a few core applications: These include a 3D web browser called Helio, a video app called Screens and an app for avatars called Social. They also released new demos.
The biggest difference between the experience of using Magic Leap One devices and the YouTube demos is 3D, which is impressive – and in one respect superior to VR 3D.
In VR, everything is in focus all the time. In Magic Leap, however, the technology makes your eyes change focus when switching from a near object to a far one, so the 3D is more convincing.
Magic Leap One shows you a narrower field of view than, say, typical VR experiences. Computer-generated objects appear only in a small portion of the room. Magic Leap emphasizes that it's a "cone" of vision. Near objects have to be small. But you can see a life-size dinosaur if it's far enough away.
A depth sensor constantly scans and maps the room and the objects inside it, so content can "interact" with the room. For example, virtual animals can jump off the floor and onto a chair -- or behind it. Tiny buildings on a table look like they're solidly anchored to the table, even as you walk around to see them at different angles.
Like Microsoft's HoloLens, the device refines its room maps over multiple passes, and stores those maps in the cloud for future use – including for use by other users with their own Magic Leap One headsets. Once a room is mapped, it's mapped for every user.
You can use your hands to interact with floating objects.
Critics and reviewers say the Magic Leap One experience is generally superior to Microsoft HoloLens – which is neither impressive nor surprising, given that HoloLens shipped two years ago.
Making the leap to business
Everyone, including probably Magic Leap, seems to believe that Magic Leap will be all about fun and games. But it won't be. Magic Leap is far more likely to excel in the business arena, as well as in the healthcare, design and military markets.
I think the Pentagon is going to buy these by the truckload. Consumers? Not so much.
That may surprise you, because nearly all the "content" we've been shown so far is confectionery. The demos are: fish swimming through the air, sci-fi experiences like playing music by running fingers through what looks like electric sea grass and 3D doodling, flying saucers, dinosaurs and a tiny Lebron James dunking a basketball.
Eye candy is not a use case, however. The demos are designed for two purposes: to showcase various technological capabilities and to make you go "wow."
That "wow" factor lasts about 10 minutes. Then what?
Of course, some real consumer use cases are demoed.
One of the coolest is a 3D browser called Helio. That browser uses a JavaScript library called Prismatic that enables 3D objects that can be grabbed and pulled out of the browser and into the room, where they become life-size 3D objects. The most obvious application is a furniture catalog, where you can move a couch from the browser to your living room, resize it and place it where it would go. Great for shopping, right?
Well, no. It's unrealistic because hardly any consumers will have Magic Leap headsets.
Magic Leap is much too expensive to gain significant numbers of gamers, for example. At current pricing, it's 10 times the price of an Xbox and five times the price of an Oculus Rift. And it won't have a sizable library of games available for years.
Sure, the price could come down, though there's no reason to believe it will. The developer version of the Oculus Rift was cheaper than the shipping consumer version.
By the time mixed-reality games emerge, VR games will already offer far higher-resolution and far more immersive experiences that will be preferred by gamers – at lower cost.
And Magic Leap headsets are not for casual use. It takes about an hour for a knowledge expert to fit the headset (in the same way and for the same reason an optometrist fits glasses). And this process must take place for each new user. That is not a consumer-friendly proposition.
Magic Leap shipped Wednesday, and reviewers are already bored with it. Just look at the headlines. The Verge called it a "flawed glimpse of mixed reality's amazing future." Fast Company said that "much of the excitement and cool factor around Magic Leap is now gone."
What's happening is that these same reviewers have been trying HoloLens, VR and other augmented reality products for a few years. Because the novelty of all this is gone, Magic Leap didn't "blow them away."
The naysaying isn't based on market analysis. It's based on the observations of a few jaded journalists eager to appear as skeptical critics.
They're answering the question: "How do I, a professional gadget fan, feel about this?" Not: "What are the real-world applications for this for the people or businesses willing to pay for it?"
So I'll answer that question: Magic Leap is the ultimate meeting technology. Here’s why.
How to mix reality
In order to understand Magic Leap's appeal to businesses, governments and other organizations, you have to understand its actual benefits beyond the visual experience.
The most powerful of these is multitasking.
With Magic Leap, business users will be able to multitask by combining PC-like "window" screens, which float in space, with shared-reality 3D objects and animations.
Magic Leap's operating system is called Lumin OS and is based on the Lumis Core Linux kernel. Lumin-native apps can multitask, but those created with 3D engines like Unity and Unreal (also supported by Magic Leap) cannot.
The first are landscape apps, and they execute in what Magic Leap calls 2D prisms. They're like "windows" for desktop computing, but they live in 3D space, which is to say that if you step to the side, they no longer face you. These include video screens, desktop-like app windows, floating buttons or icons that launch stuff when you poke at them in the air, and others. (It should be trivial to port existing desktop PC applications and mobile apps into landscape Magic Leap apps.)
The second are 3D prism apps, where you create 3D objects or experiences that operate within a limited, invisible 3D space. These "prisms" can be placed and positioned in the room, and they maintain that orientation. Imagine an aquarium full of water containing fish, but without the aquarium or the water. The fish would swim in that 3D space, but would be limited by the unseen aquarium, which itself is positioned in space.
The third kind of app is an "immersive" app. Rather than being contained in prisms, these apps live in the whole room, interacting with furniture and other objects therein. These are the "wow factor" gaming apps that currently dominate the demos.
And the fourth and most interesting kind of Magic Leap apps are called casting apps. These are 3D prism apps that are shared by multiple people in the same room. If two people are facing each other, and there's a virtual car between them and one person is looking at the front of the car, the other person can look at the rear of the same car. Anyone can walk around, and they all see the car in 3D space as if it were really there.
The "killer app" for Magic Leap is combining the first app type with the last. Imagine any kind of meeting where everyone in the room sees the same 3D virtual object, scene or concept. This could appear on a boardroom table, or on the stage of a large meeting hall.
The presenter could pop-up an unlimited number of 2D screens to augment the 3D information. Each participant could have their own 2D windows visible only to themselves, with notes, email, web searches – whatever they need.
The Magic Leap One's notoriously narrow "cone" of content is fatal to gaming, but no problem at all for meetings where the whole point is to focus attention.
One way to think about the ability of Magic Leap to offer multitasking 2D screens is to imagine a world where PC displays were free. How many would you use? Where would you put them?
Magic Leap tech won't thrill gamers or consumers. But it could totally transform the quality of meetings and work in a few years.
While Magic Leap is selling the first version now, the company is working on the next two versions, which are expected to be much smaller and lighter. Magic Leap Two will probably be aimed at consumers and support 5G.
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Most ‘residents’ are older retirees, at the moment the majority are here for the season (May to September), although there are some travelling ‘seeing the sights’ avoiding the winter weather down south, some could be younger (with or without young families)on the road doing their lap, plus with school holidays still on there are some with youngsters hurtling round on bikes and scooters.
Apart from those like us who are using cabins everyone else is living in tents or ‘homes on wheels’ of all shapes and sizes and vintages –
camper vans …newer posh ones with pop up roofs and side awnings as well as some travelling tourists in a brightly painted hired ‘whizz bang’ one ( think of the noise the sliding door makes)
converted buses, big fifth wheelers and this year something that ‘looks like a fifth-wheeler’ but seemingly sits on top of the flat tray of a ute (there’s a really tiny one parked close by – I must get a snap of it sometime)
Which means it’s an outdoor lifestyle – for the majority gathering with others would be outside or in the park facilities like the pool, camp kitchen (open on three sides) laundries (also open on three sides) as well (for some) the various toilet/shower amenities blocks ( which for privacy are enclosed).
Contrary to what so many of the population think/believe Covid-19 hasn’t gone away…..it’s still out there and case numbers are on the rise again. I’m not sure why people are loathe to take precautions, there seems to be a belief that vaccination prevents them being infected rather than lessening the effect so mask wearing is scorned – when the staff are available cafes & restaurants are doing big business, theatres, ’pub nights’ and other gatherings are all the rage again.
The Golfer is a chatter….he’ll stop and say Hello to anyone….especially if there are other fellas gathered at someone’s ’door’ (men can gossip as much as women – they tend to hover out the front of other vans and motors discussing this that and the other) …..which means (whether I want to hear them or not) he often relays some of the snippets he hears here and there.
He began the other day with “you’d never guess what”……seemingly the wife of one of the other men came back from the shower block all in a tizz about something.
She’d been finishing up, brushing her hair before leaving and another woman came to the next mirror so they’d begun chatting (as you do) – the chat turned to the hot topic of covid and how lucky they were to be out on the road and not in towns where it was raging and even though (rightly or wrongly) many restrictions had been lifted if you did become infected self isolation was one way of breaking the cycle.
She’s about to leave and the other woman moved closer, looked her in the eye and whispered…..”I tested positive a couple of days ago, I certainly haven’t reported it and theres no way I’m isolating. I’m not staying in my van away from everyone else – no one’s going to tell me what to do” and with that walked off out the door.
So we had one previously happy camper worried sick in case she’d become infected by someone she didn’t recognise and hasn’t seen since (possibly a short stay/overnighter whose site was in another lane) – other campers also worried not knowing if they’d crossed paths with the infected unknown woman – who now (if what she said is true) is out and about infecting others.
I’m amazed no one has reported it to the office…..… there’s nothing anyone can do, there are no rules no reprisals…..’because the onus is on us to keep ourselves safe’ …..seems to be the attitude. I can’t be the only one wondering if they’re just a lonely voice pleading with others to be sensible – it’s not just about yourself, you have a responsibility to keep others safe as well.
I nipped out after I wrote this and took these.
Handy if you dont like towing but….according to this review not quite as simple as tossing one on the back of your old ute
Corinne hosts Monday Musings. – pop over you never know what you’ll find to read
← And breathe… Honestly….it would appear →
16 thoughts on “It’s a tricky one indeed….”
cedar51 says:
July 18, 2022 at 5:22 am
A little like some experts here saying that they believe double the official numbers have covid, not isolating or reporting via the special app. Mainly because they can’t afford to take sick leave. SAD that they are spoiling it for the rest of us. Also returning from holidays overseas and traveling back with covid, bringing a new variant in with themselves.
The Milard ute caravan add on, old school way. Nice to see it’s a bit more modern. I suspect anything on wheels has quirks, just any cabin in such a place…but it’s how you “make” it happen for your trips.
A bit like this week away for me, except it’s not a campground…
July 18, 2022 at 5:27 am
God Bless America!!! The gall of that woman–notwithstanding that she knew she had been infected, but to get up close to another person and breathe on her while admitting that ‘no one was going to tell her what to do…’ Truly, she should have been taken to task on the spot. How dare she!
July 18, 2022 at 5:58 am
The rabid COVID woman reminds me of some of the far right types we have here in the United States. “It’s just a virus.” “We don’t have to shut down the whole country.” ” Live your life.” It was announced at church this morning that all the local hospitals are full, not allowing visitors. The admonition to not need emergency care as you might be in a hallway for a long time. This is the results of all those free thinkers who don’t want to be told what to do.
July 18, 2022 at 6:04 am
We are still wearing masks in public, keeping our distance from others out of doors, and sanitizing all objects that come onto our property from outside.
BUT hubby has worked in a crowded setting through the entire pandemic, and now no one there is wearing masks any more, it feels hopeless trying to avoid Covid because of that.
I haven’t been anywhere except to medical appointments for two and half years, most recently to the hospital for surgery.
It isn’t over yet, so we avoid the yo-yo it’s OK, it’s not OK and continue to take precautions. People can be without any symptoms at all, and wandering around spreading the virus not knowing it.
I think we may have had Covid, it seems hard to believe with all the work exposure that we have evaded it. But how would we know for sure if we were asymptomatic.
Elephant's Child says:
July 18, 2022 at 7:21 am
Sigh. And hiss and spit. How I resent those people whose ‘freedom’ impinges on and endangers others.
July 18, 2022 at 8:22 am
COVID is still very much with us, and I know first-hand a number of folk who have tested +ve and gone down with the illness … and all of them triple vaxxed. Varying levels of illness, from a nasty cold effect to the full-on C19 effect. Complacency (and downright bolshy ignorance such as you have exposed here) is the enemy. I remain, still, ‘shielded’ and just don’t mix and mingle – and the few visitors I do have come to me are very good at doing their LFTs first. It’s a changed world, for sure… YAM xx
Andrew says:
July 18, 2022 at 9:26 am
The slide on was interesting to read about. It is possible the woman didn’t have Covid and just a trouble maker with her own agenda. Regardless, what an appalling person.
July 18, 2022 at 10:51 am
I can understand (but would never condone) testing positive and not wanting to follow the rules. But to boast about it?
Your photos speak of warmth and tropical smells and a bit of humidity. The slide on looks a bit precarious. Seems like the worst of both worlds.
July 18, 2022 at 11:52 am
Earlier this evening I scratched a couple of notes on the pad about camping in my childhood (40’s, 50’s. and adulthood and past, 60’s, 70’s 80’s) vs. the seeming epidemic of it now, and here is this fun post. I don’t know (yet) what I’d do about an unreported case of Covid. Interesting to know you have a “hot” climate to counter your mild climate. I didn’t really grasp that last year.
July 18, 2022 at 11:41 pm
Florida Is wide open and everyone is doing what they always did and there are no masks or social distances. We just stay home, and away from as many people as possible which is not hard because we have always stayed home. we are not travelers. Covid is definitely on the rise and now Monkeypox is here in he USA… the camper thing is adorable, I could sleep in one of those or a cabin, but no tents or anything that doesn’t have doors and windows that close and lock. I too begin my blogs and who knows where I end… its fun so keep doing it and be careful around those other people
Elizabeth says:
July 19, 2022 at 5:58 am
I have been assuming that many people have tested positive but refuse to keep their distance. I am amazed that a woman would be so bold as to brag about it.
Tiggers Honey says:
July 19, 2022 at 6:05 am
We would like to say ‘unbelievable’ but unfortunately it is entirely believable and I was appalled after months of observing lockdown rules here to get back to work and hear from colleagues about clandestine parties, travelling to out-of-bounds summer homes and generally behaving like rules are for other people.
July 19, 2022 at 7:43 am
Hospital nurses and docs report that people dying of covid and taking their last breaths still say they don’t have covid! Linda in Kansas
July 21, 2022 at 7:22 am
Obviously more people than you think are walking round positive and don’t know it or like that lady don’t care otherwise how else would it be spreading
July 25, 2022 at 2:14 am
Yes it is pathetic to see people not taking precautions and also not isolating themselves if they test positive. Things are easier for everyone if people follow basic precautions.
July 25, 2022 at 6:36 pm
How can people be so careless not just about themselves but every one else! I have lots of similar stories from our neighbourhood!
Comments are closed.
Cathy
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The single biggest difference from myself and other small business coaches is I work exclusively with people in the health and wellness field. This is what I have been doing since 1992, it's what I love, and I have seen many wonderful people - passionate about what they do - unable to make it in the business world.
I have also seen establishments abuse employees, so I want them to have the skills to have a thriving practice of their own, if they choose to work for themselves. Details below....
I also offer coaching services exclusively with small business entrepreneurs, specializing in the health and wellness industry. Why?
I left the corporate world back in 1992 to enter the massage therapy and bodywork field. I had handled marketing and training at local, state, and international levels for a large corporation, and thought it would be easy to transition to running my own successful massage therapy business. I remember thinking, “if I just do 10 hours a week of massage, I’ll be able to pay all my bills and have some money left over.” Easy, right?
Well, at that time - and place - when you opened the phone book and everything under the category “Massage” was a brothel…that was easier said than done! (And the city ordinance listed the activity of massage under “Adult Entertainment”...you get the picture.) I had to immediately learn to differentiate myself as a massage therapist. That was one of many learning curves for me in crossing over from the corporate world to the health and healing world. Fortunately, the industry has changed since then, with the wellness industry becoming more mainstream and better understood. The point is, I learned to adjust my skill sets to fit in with my new profession.
The health and wellness field also tends to attract nurturer / caregiver personality types. It is part of what makes us unique, special, great at what we do, and – more times than not – entering the field with little to no business training. (I have yet to see a bodywork program that focuses on how to set up and succeed at business once your training ends…I am trying to help fill that void.)
I have the experience and unique insight of both worlds. I understand the importance of getting specific about the value of what you offer, and then crafting a message that resonates with you. I want to help you make a plan that works for you…to help you set goals, implement it, and watch your business goals be realized.
Have you ever purchased a piece of furniture that requires assembly, and started putting it together only to have to take some apart again and redo it? What would have helped you? Having some direction, perhaps? That’s what I want to provide for you. Some step by step ways to help you focus on your objective, and achieve it.
- Think from a business perspective
- Identify your business standards (your business vision, coupled with personal values and beliefs)
- Choose your competitive strategy
- Prioritize tasks and manage your time so you don’t feel overwhelmed
- Help keep you motivated
If this sounds like something you need, then pick up the phone...let's talk!
Sonya S. Bykofsky is Board Certified in Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork by the NCBTMB, and an Approved Continuing Education Provider. She a licensed massage therapist in the states of Massachusetts and Washington, and has been working exclusively from her in-home office in Lenox, Massachusetts since 2009. She also offers motivational speaking, specializing in the massage / bodywork / spa industry.
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We believe that, as entrepreneurs, we have an obligation not only to our clients, speakers, staff, and suppliers, but also to the communities in which we work and live. That’s why over the years we’ve supported various charities and community groups. Here are some that we are actively working with now and have supported in the past.
Given the devastating situation in Ukraine, we are currently making donations in support of the Red Cross Ukraine Emergency Appeal to help provide vital aid to the people of Ukraine during this difficult time. Every day, volunteers and staff of the Ukrainian Red Cross travel to different parts of the country to support people who have found themselves in difficult living conditions or are suffering from emergency situations.
National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation is a place of learning and dialogue where the truths of the residential school experience will be honoured and kept safe for future generations. They are committed to facing the painful truths of our history and present in order to move forward on the path to reconciliation. We are committed to supporting survivors and honouring the many children who never made it home.
The Black Health Alliance is a community-led registered charity working to improve the health and well-being of Black communities in Canada. Their mission is to reduce the radical disparities in healthcare. Driven by ground-breaking research, strong partnerships, and people, this movement strives to build innovative solutions, and mobilize people and financial resources to create lasting change in the lives of Black children, families, and communities.
We’ve partnered with Kids Help Phone, Canada’s only 24/7 national support service offering professional counselling, information and referrals, and volunteer-led, text-based support to young people in any moment of crisis or need.
Since 1989, they’ve provided kids, teens, and young adults with a critical lifeline of hope and support through their free, anonymous service, and are recognized as a Canadian and world leader.
We’re proud to support their vision to create a future where every young person in Canada can access the support they need, in the way they need it.
Pathways to Education Canada
Pathways to Education Canada seeks to reduce poverty and its effects by lowering the high school dropout rate and increasing access to post-secondary education among disadvantaged youth in Canada.
The Pathways program provides four key supports: academic, social, financial, and advocacy. We have set up a scholarship fund to help students graduate from high school and enable them to continue their post-secondary education.
charity: water
Nearly 800 million people around the world do not have access to clean drinking water. Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of diseases and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war.
charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to the people who need it. In just over five years, they have funded more than six thousand water projects in twenty developing countries. When complete, these projects will provide clean, safe drinking water for more than 2.5 million people.
In January 2013, we sponsored a water project in India, where approximately 100,000,000 people lack clean water. We will include updates, photos and GPS coordinates of the exact community we are helping as the project is completed.
In 2014 we joined forces with the grassroots charity Jacob’s Ladder, The Canadian Foundation for the Control of Neurodegenerative Disease, which aims to benefit children by reducing occurrences of neurodegenerative disease through education, awareness, and research into ground breaking discoveries for diseases such as Autism, Rette’s Syndrome, epilepsy and Gaucher’s Disease. Their work has also made it possible for both women and men to be screened for a wide variety of genetic disorders.
Ellen and Jeff Schwartz started this charity in their son Jacob’s honour, when he was diagnosed with Canavan disease, a rare, fatal and progressive illness. Through their sheer will, hard work, and determination, their small family-run charity began to grow as they were joined by dedicated business and community leaders, doctors, researchers, and concerned parents. Now millions in funding has been raised and great strides are being made.
In 2008, we partnered with Kiva.org, the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending website, which empowers individuals to lend directly to an entrepreneur in the developing world.
By combining microfinance with the internet, Kiva.org is creating a global community of people connected through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty. To date, we have made loans through Kiva to nearly 3,500 entrepreneurs in the developing world.
Regent Park School of Music
In 2016, we partnered with the Regent Park School of Music (RPSM), a non-profit Toronto-community music school whose goal is to provide cost-free or subsidized music education to as many youth as possible.
For over 16 years, the school has seen that the study of music allows young people to flourish creatively, personally, and academically, and enriches their lives and their future prospects. Their students have access to over 70 dedicated music teachers and an array of musical options and instruments, and they learn everything from classical piano and violin, to “turntablism” and electronic music.
This year, the RPSM is set to give music education to 1,750 young people between the ages of 3-18 at their central hub in Daniels Spectrum in Regent Park, and in satellite locations in Jane and Finch, Parkdale, and other high-priority neighbourhoods in Toronto.
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Roleplay - A Masked Ball in Padova
Author
Joined: Jul 27, 2012
totallyawesomepira... on Jan 9, 2014 wrote:
OOC: Couldn't decide which one to do, so I'll do both! However, Claire will act like Emma, and her twin? You'll find out soon enough.
Clarabelle Hawkins, or Claire, stared at the Doge's Palace with her arms crossed. 3 stories up, and 2 windows to the left was her target. Claire smiled, for in that room a legend of a document was rumored to have the directions to 2 pieces of the Map. Such information would surely win the Resistance the war, or at least give them a tremendous advantage. However, rumours in Valencia were usually just that - rumours. But rumours were almost always based on truth, so even if there weren't directions, there was certain to be something useful there. All Claire needed to do was scale the Palace's wall, slink into the room, snatch the paper, and get back down again. It all seemed so easy...
But there was always the bump in the road.
And it was marching past her that very moment.
Claire scowled inwardly at the Armada Troops as they passed, oh, how she hated them! She hated them for the hundreds of children across the Spiral they had orphaned; she hated them for the countless "incidents" and "disappearances" they had caused; but most of all, she one reason she loathed the Armada a million, no, a trillion miles in all directions and back, was because they had changed her sister.
Claire remembered the day as clearly as if she were there herself. (which is not unusual as Claire has a photographic memory) It was the eve of her's and Cassandra's 12th birthday. Both girls were excited as tomorrow they would reach the required age to go on missions for the Resistance that were labeled, "dangerous." (OOC: A custom I just made up, hope ya don't mind) Cassandra had ripped her dress a few weeks ago, and went out to a tailor with her dress, and a written message for a certain Unicorn, who happened to be a member of the Resistance.
Claire didn't know exactly what happened, but from what she gathered from people present at the time she figured that Cassandra was walking on the sidewalk, tripped, and the message she was holding fell out of her hand, and stopped at the feet of an Armada Officer.
Obviously, Cassandra was arrested for traitorism, and taken in for "Excessive Questioning."
Claire had no idea what they did to her in there, but she remembered that her 12th birthday wasn't nearly as exciting without Cassandra.
But then there was The Truce.
Cassandra & Claire happened, purely by coincidence, to be walking down the same road at the same time. They stood about a foot away from the other, and their eyes were cold. Finally, Claire broke the silence.
OOC: I'll put more info on The Truce later, but I ran out of room. I'll be tracking both girls, and you can tell by which name is at the top. And Anne, my idea is that Cass is told by the Armada to attend the Ball, arrest anyone one who is suspected as a member of the Resistance, and retrieve that document as well. Hope that that helps! :)
(Sure, I can work with that... how about this, does this work?...)
Cassandra stared at the beautiful colors beneath her feet and repressed a shiver. At a time when few people had carpets, and when they did, the costly carpets adorned tables rather than being stepped upon, here was an exquisitely patterned carpet that obviously spent its time on the floor. The room was dim, lit by only one candle on the table near her, but she could see a glimpse of the luxury that easily filled the room. And the room was warm. The contrast between her present surroundings and the grim, freezing dungeons she had recently exited struck her again, and she couldn't prevent a shiver this time.
"Cold, my dear?" a smooth, rich baritone voice asked silkily. Cassandra peered into the shadows where she could just make out a bulky shadow seemingly seated somewhere in the darkness. She would have like to have drawn closer and seen who she was speaking to, but dared not disobey the simple orders she had been given and stayed where she was.
The silence stretched out, and Cassandra hastily realized she was expected to answer. "No, sir," she managed.
"Bene. I do hope you realize that you are very fortunate to still be alive. You were utterly condemned by the evidence you were carrying. To be a member of the Resistance, no matter how lowly, carries the sentence of death. However, I convinced the Armada captain that you could be useful to us. I hope you are duly grateful."
"Yes, sir." What else could she say?
"Most wise. Now, concerning your mission. You will go to the Masked Ball tonight at the ducal palace, observe the guests, and notify the appropriate contacts there if you find anyone who might be a member of the Resistance. At least one or two young human undesirables are associated with the Resistance, one in particular who was making plenty of trouble in the Aragon skies, and regarded as something of a folk hero." Cassandra could hear the curl of distain in his voice. "Because of your youth and appearance, any Resistance operatives will likely be easily fooled into believing you are an ally, as long as you act your part well."
"There is a further service we would have you perform. The Doge is a collector of books and manuscripts, and though he is supposedly a loyal son of Valencia, he has yet to allow a full examination of these. Rumor has it that there is a document of potentially national interest that he selfishly keeps to himself, believed to be located in his library study. Gain access to his study, find the document if it exists, and inform your contact at the Ball. You will be given a full description of what you are seeking."
"Do well, and you will be generously rewarded. Fail, and you will be punished. Betray us... well, I need not detail your fate should you do so," he commented with false delicacy. "Do you understand?"
Cassandra carefully hid the resentment from her voice. "Yes, sir."
Rank: Petty Officer
Joined: May 30, 2013
Posts: 97
Anne Radcliffe on Jan 10, 2014 wrote:
(Sure, I can work with that... how about this, does this work?...)
Cassandra stared at the beautiful colors beneath her feet and repressed a shiver. At a time when few people had carpets, and when they did, the costly carpets adorned tables rather than being stepped upon, here was an exquisitely patterned carpet that obviously spent its time on the floor. The room was dim, lit by only one candle on the table near her, but she could see a glimpse of the luxury that easily filled the room. And the room was warm. The contrast between her present surroundings and the grim, freezing dungeons she had recently exited struck her again, and she couldn't prevent a shiver this time.
"Cold, my dear?" a smooth, rich baritone voice asked silkily. Cassandra peered into the shadows where she could just make out a bulky shadow seemingly seated somewhere in the darkness. She would have like to have drawn closer and seen who she was speaking to, but dared not disobey the simple orders she had been given and stayed where she was.
The silence stretched out, and Cassandra hastily realized she was expected to answer. "No, sir," she managed.
"Bene. I do hope you realize that you are very fortunate to still be alive. You were utterly condemned by the evidence you were carrying. To be a member of the Resistance, no matter how lowly, carries the sentence of death. However, I convinced the Armada captain that you could be useful to us. I hope you are duly grateful."
"Yes, sir." What else could she say?
"Most wise. Now, concerning your mission. You will go to the Masked Ball tonight at the ducal palace, observe the guests, and notify the appropriate contacts there if you find anyone who might be a member of the Resistance. At least one or two young human undesirables are associated with the Resistance, one in particular who was making plenty of trouble in the Aragon skies, and regarded as something of a folk hero." Cassandra could hear the curl of distain in his voice. "Because of your youth and appearance, any Resistance operatives will likely be easily fooled into believing you are an ally, as long as you act your part well."
"There is a further service we would have you perform. The Doge is a collector of books and manuscripts, and though he is supposedly a loyal son of Valencia, he has yet to allow a full examination of these. Rumor has it that there is a document of potentially national interest that he selfishly keeps to himself, believed to be located in his library study. Gain access to his study, find the document if it exists, and inform your contact at the Ball. You will be given a full description of what you are seeking."
"Do well, and you will be generously rewarded. Fail, and you will be punished. Betray us... well, I need not detail your fate should you do so," he commented with false delicacy. "Do you understand?"
Cassandra carefully hid the resentment from her voice. "Yes, sir."
{OOC: Anne, that works perfectly!!! I was going to do something just like it actually, but you beat me to it.
Anyhoo, as you can seemingly predict my actions, you'll understand that the two girls will find themselves in a situation where every path ends dreadfully. Hopefully someone who has not taken The Truce will come and fix it, but it would be so much more interesting if we use one those ideas I can see up your sleeve.
Also, I was hoping I could have Claire join Group A, or at least interact with them in some way. (Don't tell, but I think Claire might get a bit fond of Jack, if you get me)}
Claire fumbled with a strand on her shirt as she waited for a response from her best friend Leah. (OOC: Leah's a secondary character, BTW, don't plan on using her much, mainly just as someone for Claire to talk to)
Leah gave her a look. "You're kidding, right?"
"Nope."
"Well," Leah said. "Besides the fact that you could totally fail, get brutally killed by the Armada, or bust your identity, I think it's a great idea!" Leah ended with a smile.
"Thanks," Claire was fully aware of the danger, but hearing her friend say it aloud, joking or not, made the mission seem even more real.
"Can I see your outfit?" Leah urged.
"Sure."
Claire disappeared into her room and returned a minute later wearing the dress of a Valencian maid. She had a white apron draped over a gray skirt. On her top she wore an orange shirt with little ruffles at the ends, and a white scarf thing that attached to the apron. All of her strawberry blonde hair was tucked into a bonnet the same color of the apron.
Leah's mouth fell open in awe. "I L VE it!!!" She exclaimed.
Claire blushed. "You really think so?"
"Yes. Definitely. No doubt. You look unrecognizable. It's perfect."
Claire sat back down in the big armchair located in the center of Leah's living room. "Right. That reminds me, I don't have a firm idea of how I'm going to actually get in the Ball." Claire smiled. "I hear you have some impressive lock-picking skills."
Leah looked worried, "Where did you hear that?" She whispered hastily.
Claire laughed. "No one you should worry about, another Resistance person."
"Was it your sister?"
Claire gave Leah a serious look. "Don't. Talk. About. My. Sister." She warned.
"Geez, Claire, what's gotten into you?" Leah rolled her eyes. Her friend could be so, territorial sometimes!
"Alright," Leah sighed. "I'll teach you how to pick locks." But before Claire could thank her, Leah added, "On one condition."
"What's that?"
Leah gave a devilish grin. "You have to use your amazing illustrious skills to draw me pictures of the dresses you see at the Ball!"
Joined: Feb 29, 2012
totallyawesomepira... on Jan 10, 2014 wrote:
{OOC: Anne, that works perfectly!!! I was going to do something just like it actually, but you beat me to it.
Anyhoo, as you can seemingly predict my actions, you'll understand that the two girls will find themselves in a situation where every path ends dreadfully. Hopefully someone who has not taken The Truce will come and fix it, but it would be so much more interesting if we use one those ideas I can see up your sleeve.
Also, I was hoping I could have Claire join Group A, or at least interact with them in some way. (Don't tell, but I think Claire might get a bit fond of Jack, if you get me)}
Claire fumbled with a strand on her shirt as she waited for a response from her best friend Leah. (OOC: Leah's a secondary character, BTW, don't plan on using her much, mainly just as someone for Claire to talk to)
Leah gave her a look. "You're kidding, right?"
"Nope."
"Well," Leah said. "Besides the fact that you could totally fail, get brutally killed by the Armada, or bust your identity, I think it's a great idea!" Leah ended with a smile.
"Thanks," Claire was fully aware of the danger, but hearing her friend say it aloud, joking or not, made the mission seem even more real.
"Can I see your outfit?" Leah urged.
"Sure."
Claire disappeared into her room and returned a minute later wearing the dress of a Valencian maid. She had a white apron draped over a gray skirt. On her top she wore an orange shirt with little ruffles at the ends, and a white scarf thing that attached to the apron. All of her strawberry blonde hair was tucked into a bonnet the same color of the apron.
Leah's mouth fell open in awe. "I L VE it!!!" She exclaimed.
Claire blushed. "You really think so?"
"Yes. Definitely. No doubt. You look unrecognizable. It's perfect."
Claire sat back down in the big armchair located in the center of Leah's living room. "Right. That reminds me, I don't have a firm idea of how I'm going to actually get in the Ball." Claire smiled. "I hear you have some impressive lock-picking skills."
Leah looked worried, "Where did you hear that?" She whispered hastily.
Claire laughed. "No one you should worry about, another Resistance person."
"Was it your sister?"
Claire gave Leah a serious look. "Don't. Talk. About. My. Sister." She warned.
"Geez, Claire, what's gotten into you?" Leah rolled her eyes. Her friend could be so, territorial sometimes!
"Alright," Leah sighed. "I'll teach you how to pick locks." But before Claire could thank her, Leah added, "On one condition."
"What's that?"
Leah gave a devilish grin. "You have to use your amazing illustrious skills to draw me pictures of the dresses you see at the Ball!"
( Oh my... Heck yea! I just realized- your pirate, Claire, has a sister named Emma, and it's the same for me! Sort of... My name is Emma, and my sister's is Claire... XD)
Joined: Jul 27, 2012
CdeWinter on Jan 9, 2014 wrote:
[OOC: Even though this post comes after Chrissy's last two awesome posts, for the sake of clarity, and because I was unable to post this earlier, can this post please be considered as happening before Chrissy's post? Simply because it reveals a little bit about Scarlet's mask.]
Scarlet carefully glanced in the mirror, and saw to her horror, everybody revealed in their true forms. Everyone except for Gaziella who wasn't wearing any disguise, and herself. The mirror simply reflected Scarlet as she was, dressed for the masked ball and wearing her peregrin mask.
Bien, Muzzer's mask still works, nozing can reveal who I am untill I myself remove it. Scarlet though quickly, reasurring herself. Outwardly though, Scarlet was completely shocked,
"Chrissy? Who is zis Chrissy? Zis woman is not Chrissy, she is Lucia, and she 'as been our attendant for many years! I will not stand to 'ear anyzing else! Graziella, I zink we should move zis meeting downstairs so zat my Muzzer may be witness to zese 'orrid accusations!"
But, as Omar and Chrissy simply stared at her in obvious disbelief, Scarlet grinned and simply asked "It was werz a try no?"
One revelation after another, Graziella thought, bemused, as the secrets of Chrissy came out. The Valencian lady did not know what to think. Hoodoo? Magic? It was all so very much unlike the rational intellect prized in her social circles.
But Scarlet's lightly comical words brought Graziella straight out of her musings. Although Scarlet's words were playful, they bore an underlying seriousness. They all had an important task to perform, and anything else - even as dramatic and fantastic as the revelations to young Chrissy - had to be set aside until later. Furthermore, Scarlet bore another very good point. They had to remain 'in character', even in the supposed safety of Graziella's own house. With a frisson of alarm, Graziella wondered how safe it could be if someone had circumvented her security and entered her private rooms to steal the music book. It was time to be more careful - everywhere.
"Isabella is correct," Graziella replied with calm dignity. "We should be going downstairs. Isabella, it is time for you and your sisters to go to the ball with your mother and Lucia as well. But there is no need to bother your mother with what has transpired here. These are merely fancies that enliven the life of Lucia, tales told by musicians. You know how fanciful musicians can be," Graziella opined with a straight face, broken only by a very small wink at Chrissy and Omar.
"I am certain it is time for the musicians to be leaving to attend to their business as well. I know that you may have a gig at the ball with the fine players the Doge is known to provide. I enjoyed your offerings of music, and please do not forget your pay from my steward for entertaining my household yesterday eve." Graziella spoke to Omar, but made it seem from her words as if all of them had been there. "I shall enjoy the music tonight as well. I have heard it is supposed to be exceptionally fine."
Shepherded by Graziella, Chrissy and Scarlet thus joined the others. As they made last minute adjustments, Graziella quickly briefed Lia on what had happened, as the human professor would be staying behind at the villa, not having the status to be invited to the Doge's Masked Ball, and after her ordeal of imprisonment, not ready to go out dancing at the lesser balls either. Lia looked alarmed but thoughtful, as if she wished to think about the problem further. Setting her household in order, Graziella then left with the Vinaldis and their attendants in the Vinaldi's coach.
Rank: Gunner's Mate
Joined: May 28, 2013
Sam Underhill on Jan 6, 2014 wrote:
The kitchens at the Palace of the Doge were a beehive of activity; for not only was the regular staff in attendance, but hirelings galore bustled about carting food and drink out to the banquet tents. The more decoratively attired were entrusted with trays of sweets and yum'n'nade to offer amongst the crowds, the stronger ones to lug up the gallons upon gallons of drink, while others remained behind gathering, stirring, dishing, and any number of necessary (and unnecessary) tasks that needed doing.
At the center of this maelstrom stood a short, round Guinea Pig; Georges - Master Chef of the Palace and creator of the feast. His direction giving of the ensemble made an overall kind of sense, as this was his moment - any fault found would land upon his head.
One of his subordinates was a pastry chef named Rosie. She was one of the rare Deer that made their way to civilization. She kept all her cooks and servants hopping, keeping a gimlet eye out for anyone not pulling their weight. One such slacker was a Wharf Rat known only as Pace. Such was his ill luck that just as he had stuffed a chocolate covered cherry in his mouth with one hand, and nabbed a strawberry/yum tartlet with the other, he was caught red-handed by a rather short tempered Rosie. So off he was sent to the cellars to fetch another bag of sugar. This actually didn't bother him unduly as it meant he could take his time - maybe even squeeze in a short nap, for he was sure no one would miss him until after the show was over.
The cellars were an unpopular place amongst the servants. Generations of stories had the place littered with evil haunts and walking undead, not to mention still living thieves and other scum. But Pace went whistling down the stairs as if freed from any further heavy labor for the evening. He had taken a candle to light his way and found the sub-pantry door quickly enough. As he reached for the handle something gave him pause - were those voices he heard inside? Probably just some other layabouts like himself he decided. So he threw open the door expecting to join in a friendly game of cards.
The door opened. The voices stopped. Pace stopped. Then his head exploded in a rainbow shower of light before he pitched forward onto the hard floor. A large lump started growing on the back of his head.
"Wasn't someone supposed to be guarding that door?" an angry voice asked no one in particular.
"Sorry, guv'nor," apologized a seedy looking Cat, pocketing a short club. "Just lookin' 'bout fer somewhat to eat, y'know."
---
Rosie looked about for the bag of sugar she had sent for - oh, it must be a half hour or more ago. Where was that boy? The work had slowed down to where she decided she had time to go and grab it herself. Taking a lantern, she headed for the cellars...
Rosie stopped at the bottom of the stairs. Something wasn't quite right. Usually the torches leading to the food stores were well lit on evenings like this. But now it was dark save for the light her lantern threw. The shadows dancing along the walls reminded her of all the fanciful stories she had heard since arriving at the Palace several years ago. She, of course, pooh-poohed them as superstitious nonsense - but tonight some of her instincts kicked in. She was still a Deer, and Deer survived by being cautious. She had no desire to return upstairs to ask for help and look like a fool. That would cause her to lose face, and some authority.
Glancing at the sconces where the torches still remained, Rosie saw they had been extinguished - and recently. She stopped, cocked her head, pricked up her ears and listened. Had that been a footstep? Maybe it was Pace finally bringing the sugar. But no, it was multiple voices, and getting closer!
"Over here!" a soft voice, barely above a whisper called from the closest alcove. Rosie's memory knew that easily spoilable dairy goods were contained within. "You've no time! In here quickly!" abandoning all decorum Rosie ducked inside, covering the lantern with her apron.
And just in the nick of time, for approaching was a trio of Cats, thugs all. Rosie shivered against her rescuer and huddled deep in the shadows, trying desperately to remain out of sight.
"Naw, I doesn't see nuttin'," one of them said with a dinstinctyive Marleybone accent. "Still, we'd best make sure so's the boss doesn't get mad. At least not at us." The three turned around and headed back the way they came, strutting about as if they owned the place.
"Who are they?" Rosie wondered aloud.
"Who indeed?" a soft, feminine voice soothed. "Here, drink this." From within the shadows a small flask was passed over. Rosie's instincts kicked in again, warning her against gifts from strangers, and she sniffed at the contents. "It's just Yum," the voice informed her.
Rosie lifted the flask to her lips and drank. The immediate effect of the Yum made her feel better, but there was a bitter aftertaste. When she tried to stand, her knees failed her. Her vision began to dance and swirl. She fell back into the waiting arms of her 'rescuer'.
"Sorry, but it's better you sleep down here tonight." The young, blond human girl made sure the Deer was comfortable before peering out of the alcove. "This is no place for amateurs," she informed the now fully unconscious pastry chef. She replaced the flask in her pouch and warily headed up the stairs.
From there it was child's play to find a serving maid outfit. Within minutes she was passing out petit fours amongst the guests. It didn't take long to spot her quarry. The Lion and the Raven, actually Human boy and Unicorn, were conversing with some of the other guests. She continued inconspicuously circulating around the room, smiling to herself.
Joined: Jul 27, 2012
Though it was now dusk, the marble steps into the ducal palace were awash in light. On the steps, elegantly dressed footmen stood holding staves topped with swinging globes, lit from within by alchemical means that produced steady and brilliant light in many colors - gold, silver, pink, cobalt -- all depending on the chemical reaction within. The display revealed well the finery of all the guests as they entered, removing their masks for a time as they greeted the Doge and his son in the splendidly decorated entrance hall.
Finally, it was their turn. The Doge bowed with exquisite politeness before Duchessa Alcina and Dona Graziella, but his eyes were cold.
"Duchessa," he murmured. "Such a pity your husband is not here to share this celebration with you and your children."
"Alas, he has been gone some time to attend duties at our northern estates," Alcina parried calmly.
The Doge smiled thinly. This was a fiction that was well known to him, the supposed reason for the Duke's absence, rather than a flight from 'justice', but it was a fiction that all parties were willing to support. For now.
"At least you have your lovely children with you," he replied courteously, somehow making the pleasant words a veiled threat. Now he looked fully at the youngsters (Jack and Chrissy, being servants, in the background and not to his notice).
The young pirates couldn't help but hold their breath. They had been assured by Maestra Lia that if they acted like the children of a duke they would be seen as such. But now, as the pirate girls curtseyed and the Unicorn youth from the Resistance bowed, their hearts were in their mouths. Supposedly the Vinaldi children had not yet been brought out much in society. But the Doge had seen the real children from time to time, although not for at least a year. Would he accept that any alteration in appearance could be considered the natural change of a child growing? Or would he realize that substitutions had been made?
Rank: Petty Officer
Joined: May 30, 2013
Posts: 97
totallyawesomepira... on Jan 10, 2014 wrote:
{OOC: Anne, that works perfectly!!! I was going to do something just like it actually, but you beat me to it.
Anyhoo, as you can seemingly predict my actions, you'll understand that the two girls will find themselves in a situation where every path ends dreadfully. Hopefully someone who has not taken The Truce will come and fix it, but it would be so much more interesting if we use one those ideas I can see up your sleeve.
Also, I was hoping I could have Claire join Group A, or at least interact with them in some way. (Don't tell, but I think Claire might get a bit fond of Jack, if you get me)}
Claire fumbled with a strand on her shirt as she waited for a response from her best friend Leah. (OOC: Leah's a secondary character, BTW, don't plan on using her much, mainly just as someone for Claire to talk to)
Leah gave her a look. "You're kidding, right?"
"Nope."
"Well," Leah said. "Besides the fact that you could totally fail, get brutally killed by the Armada, or bust your identity, I think it's a great idea!" Leah ended with a smile.
"Thanks," Claire was fully aware of the danger, but hearing her friend say it aloud, joking or not, made the mission seem even more real.
"Can I see your outfit?" Leah urged.
"Sure."
Claire disappeared into her room and returned a minute later wearing the dress of a Valencian maid. She had a white apron draped over a gray skirt. On her top she wore an orange shirt with little ruffles at the ends, and a white scarf thing that attached to the apron. All of her strawberry blonde hair was tucked into a bonnet the same color of the apron.
Leah's mouth fell open in awe. "I L VE it!!!" She exclaimed.
Claire blushed. "You really think so?"
"Yes. Definitely. No doubt. You look unrecognizable. It's perfect."
Claire sat back down in the big armchair located in the center of Leah's living room. "Right. That reminds me, I don't have a firm idea of how I'm going to actually get in the Ball." Claire smiled. "I hear you have some impressive lock-picking skills."
Leah looked worried, "Where did you hear that?" She whispered hastily.
Claire laughed. "No one you should worry about, another Resistance person."
"Was it your sister?"
Claire gave Leah a serious look. "Don't. Talk. About. My. Sister." She warned.
"Geez, Claire, what's gotten into you?" Leah rolled her eyes. Her friend could be so, territorial sometimes!
"Alright," Leah sighed. "I'll teach you how to pick locks." But before Claire could thank her, Leah added, "On one condition."
"What's that?"
Leah gave a devilish grin. "You have to use your amazing illustrious skills to draw me pictures of the dresses you see at the Ball!"
Claire nearly skipped her way home. The etiquette lessons with Donna Marcia had went perfectly, and because of her photographic memory Claire easily memorized this "fan-talk."
Claire pulled the key from her neck off of the string it dangled on, and unlocked her house. Her aunt wasn't home, so Claire left a note on the table saying she would be gone that night for a party with Leah. (OOC: The Ball istonight, isn't it?) She hurried upstairs to her room, looked in her closet, and gasped.
The maid's dress was gone!
But, this is impossible! Claire thought. She only showed the dress to Leah, Donna Marcia, who would never steal it. So, there was only one possibility...
"Jacob!" She called out her door.
"Wha-at?" Her brother called from his room.
"You know very well, Jacob," Claire was in his room now. "Where's my dress?"
Jacob smiled. "Oh, that old thing?"
"Yes, that old thing! Where is it?"Claire said through clenched teeth.
"Oh, that was your's? Sorry, but I thought it was a costume from a decade ago,"
"And where is it?"
"WHAT?!" Claire screamed.
"Yep," Jacob was grinning ear to ear now.
"I needed that for, er, a party Leah's holding!" She couldn't tell her brother what she was really going to do, he had no idea the Resistance existed!And if Claire told him, he might side with the Armada and land her, where, again? Dead.
Claire dashed out the door to Donna Marcia's house and explained her situation.
"Well, you could always come with me," The Unicorn offered.
"As a servant?"
"Perhaps, yet I was thinking something more, elegant. You could be my niece."
"That would work. But I still need a costume and a mask and why do you have an invitation anyways?"
Donna Marcia smiled. "I have my ways. And no worries, we can get you a dress in no time. It might be a little big, and it might not suit your liking, but the mask is up to you."
Claire pondered the plan in her head. There was a large possibility it could work, but there was still two problems.
"Why will people believe you're my aunt? You're a Unicorn and I'm a human."
"Believe me, child, two different related races are not that uncommon."
"Alright, but, if the worst should happen, how will I be able to fight in a dress?"
Donna Marcia hesitated. The Ball was in a few hours, there was practically zero time to prepare Claire.
"You will," Donna Marcia paused. "You will... hope for the best, and try not to die.
Thanks for the help, Claire thought sarcastically. She was putting her life into complete and utter danger, of course she would try not to die, because if the worst should happen, what alternative was there?
Claire shuddered, for that alternative was almost as worse as dying.
She would have to join her sister.
Joined: Jul 27, 2012
totallyawesomepira... on Jan 13, 2014 wrote:
Claire nearly skipped her way home. The etiquette lessons with Donna Marcia had went perfectly, and because of her photographic memory Claire easily memorized this "fan-talk."
Claire pulled the key from her neck off of the string it dangled on, and unlocked her house. Her aunt wasn't home, so Claire left a note on the table saying she would be gone that night for a party with Leah. (OOC: The Ball istonight, isn't it?) She hurried upstairs to her room, looked in her closet, and gasped.
The maid's dress was gone!
But, this is impossible! Claire thought. She only showed the dress to Leah, Donna Marcia, who would never steal it. So, there was only one possibility...
"Jacob!" She called out her door.
"Wha-at?" Her brother called from his room.
"You know very well, Jacob," Claire was in his room now. "Where's my dress?"
Jacob smiled. "Oh, that old thing?"
"Yes, that old thing! Where is it?"Claire said through clenched teeth.
"Oh, that was your's? Sorry, but I thought it was a costume from a decade ago,"
"And where is it?"
"WHAT?!" Claire screamed.
"Yep," Jacob was grinning ear to ear now.
"I needed that for, er, a party Leah's holding!" She couldn't tell her brother what she was really going to do, he had no idea the Resistance existed!And if Claire told him, he might side with the Armada and land her, where, again? Dead.
Claire dashed out the door to Donna Marcia's house and explained her situation.
"Well, you could always come with me," The Unicorn offered.
"As a servant?"
"Perhaps, yet I was thinking something more, elegant. You could be my niece."
"That would work. But I still need a costume and a mask and why do you have an invitation anyways?"
Donna Marcia smiled. "I have my ways. And no worries, we can get you a dress in no time. It might be a little big, and it might not suit your liking, but the mask is up to you."
Claire pondered the plan in her head. There was a large possibility it could work, but there was still two problems.
"Why will people believe you're my aunt? You're a Unicorn and I'm a human."
"Believe me, child, two different related races are not that uncommon."
"Alright, but, if the worst should happen, how will I be able to fight in a dress?"
Donna Marcia hesitated. The Ball was in a few hours, there was practically zero time to prepare Claire.
"You will," Donna Marcia paused. "You will... hope for the best, and try not to die.
Thanks for the help, Claire thought sarcastically. She was putting her life into complete and utter danger, of course she would try not to die, because if the worst should happen, what alternative was there?
Claire shuddered, for that alternative was almost as worse as dying.
She would have to join her sister.
OOC: Yes, the Ball is beginning. Dona Marcia, since she has an invitation, is then part of a prominent family -- you get to pick. Let's see... Marcia could be a first cousin of the hero Duca Giovanni Bembo. He and his wife will be at the Ball, and while a sudden of Marcia might be surprising, it is the niece of a cousin, after all, and might have been forgotten. Bembo is not a complicated person; he would not suspect his cousin to be making a false claim. Or Marcia could be a member of the powerful Cornaro family: one of the younger daughters of the Duke and Duchess is Dona Elena Cornaro, member of the ruling Council and professor of Mathematics & Philosophy at the University of Padova. Elena would trust Marcia and support her fiction, and the rest of the Cornaro family present at the Ball would likely follow her lead. Those are your best choices; a third would be the Ariosto family, highly respected for their literary talents, but the Doge's secretary is a younger son of the Ariostos. Since he is usually by the Doge's side, evading discovery would be very tricky indeed. (So, how much trouble do you want to get into?)
Claire's gown would probably be one of Marcia's, quickly cut down and altered in the space of a couple hours by talented Valencian seamstresses. (It could be done; interpreters at Colonial Williamsburg have demonstrated how swiftly seamstresses in the 18th C. could get a job done)
And yes, Bembo, Elena Cornaro, and even the idea of the Ariostos are all a nod to historic people!
Joined: Jul 27, 2012
Anne Radcliffe on Jan 12, 2014 wrote:
Though it was now dusk, the marble steps into the ducal palace were awash in light. On the steps, elegantly dressed footmen stood holding staves topped with swinging globes, lit from within by alchemical means that produced steady and brilliant light in many colors - gold, silver, pink, cobalt -- all depending on the chemical reaction within. The display revealed well the finery of all the guests as they entered, removing their masks for a time as they greeted the Doge and his son in the splendidly decorated entrance hall.
Finally, it was their turn. The Doge bowed with exquisite politeness before Duchessa Alcina and Dona Graziella, but his eyes were cold.
"Duchessa," he murmured. "Such a pity your husband is not here to share this celebration with you and your children."
"Alas, he has been gone some time to attend duties at our northern estates," Alcina parried calmly.
The Doge smiled thinly. This was a fiction that was well known to him, the supposed reason for the Duke's absence, rather than a flight from 'justice', but it was a fiction that all parties were willing to support. For now.
"At least you have your lovely children with you," he replied courteously, somehow making the pleasant words a veiled threat. Now he looked fully at the youngsters (Jack and Chrissy, being servants, in the background and not to his notice).
The young pirates couldn't help but hold their breath. They had been assured by Maestra Lia that if they acted like the children of a duke they would be seen as such. But now, as the pirate girls curtseyed and the Unicorn youth from the Resistance bowed, their hearts were in their mouths. Supposedly the Vinaldi children had not yet been brought out much in society. But the Doge had seen the real children from time to time, although not for at least a year. Would he accept that any alteration in appearance could be considered the natural change of a child growing? Or would he realize that substitutions had been made?
The Doge coolly examined the youngsters making their polite obeisance before him. He had not held power for years in the frequently volatile ways of Valencian politics by being stupid or unobservant. Indeed, though one part of his mind dismissed Jack, Chrissy, and Marta (Alcina Vinaldi's real lady's maid) as servants, another part of his mind registered their appearance and took note.
But Maestra Lia was quite correct. The graceful motions, the courteous lowering of their eyes, the proper inclining of their heads mimicked years of aristocratic training well enough that they indeed seemed to be what they were pretending. And that the girls were human greatly helped the charade. That the skin tone might be darker (Anne) or considerably lighter (Elizabeth) than the olive-toned skin of the real Vinaldi girls was unremarkable to the Unicorn Nicolo Foscari. After all, Unicorns themselves underwent similar variation in regards to the season of the year. The hair color was also no distinction: Unicorns, proud of their own silky manes, dyed it to their fancy as they pleased.
The child at risk was the Unicorn youth portraying the natural son of the Vinaldi's. He had been chosen for certain physical similarities to the Vinaldi boy, as well as his competence. However, for one heart-skipping moment the Doge frowned as he looked upon him. After a moment, however, the Doge evidently decided that his hazy memory of the youth must be at fault, or merely not taking into consideration of the change of a child growing up.
"I am pleased to see that your mother brought you all here to this grand occasion. Since this is the first such occasion for several of you," Nicolo smiled at the 'younger' ones, though the smile did not reach his eyes, "I would have you mark the occasion as among my most honored guests. Therefore, it would please me if you all sat with me during the entertainment before the Ball." He turned to his secretary, standing beside him. "Benvolio, escort the Vinaldi family to their seats, and return to me afterwards."
The younger Unicorn bowed respectfully to the Doge, and then bowed to the Duchessa and her children. "Princess," Benvolio Ariosto addressed Alcina with the same respect, "if you would follow me?" After a swift greeting, much warmer, from the Doge's son, Orlando, they followed the Doge's secretary into a grand palace room. They had passed the first test... they hoped.
Joined: Jul 27, 2012
As they followed the Doge's secretary, Alcina kept up a light, softly spoken commentary on the people they were meeting, nothing that could be heard by others, even their guide, but no whispers that might have attracted attention. "Benvolio Ariosto is from a particularly literary family - both his parents and several of his siblings are known for their poetry or prose works. So far this younger son has not shown the talents of his family, but he has made quite a success ingratiating himself into the Doge's good graces," the duchess observed with sharp humor. "As for the tall young Unicorn with the slightly rumpled hairstyle, carrying the squid mask, who stood beside the Doge, I am certain you recognize him as Orlando, the Doge's son. By all accounts he is a harmless youth, caring only for his studies at the University. One wonders what his father thinks of him."
"Oh, and there is my dear friend, the Duchessa Chiara Bembo and her husband Giovanni." Alcina's face relaxed into a genuinely warm smile as she indicated a handsome Unicorn couple, the male wearing a number of medals upon his elegant coat, and the female gorgeously gowned and quite obviously pregnant. "Chiara is quiet, but she has depth and humor. Giovanni, of course, is a great hero of the Polarian Wars - he lied about his age in order to enlist." Alcina shook her head but still bore a fond smile. "He is just as good-natured, reckless, and courageous as he was then. We don't see eye to eye in politics, but we are still friends." Then Alcina's smile faded momentarily and her eyes grew shadowed. She might have to flee tonight and leave home and friends behind. She wouldn't be there to greet Chiara's baby when it was born; wouldn't be there to serve as godmother as they had all cheerfully planned.
Alcina gave herself a mental shake. It might not happen. But if it did, she had to focus on survival, her first responsibility to her children - and these youngsters too who played those roles.
Rank: Gunner's Mate
Joined: Oct 11, 2012
After the Dona and the Vinaldis left, Omar bade his friends good luck and ran off to the ball. To his relief, Aloetti was waiting for him by the street corner. He inquired as to what kept him so long.
"Well, there was a slight problem about a music book and I needed to reassure Graziella that it would soon come up."
Aloetti eyed him, and found him to be telling the truth. They quickly weaved their way throughout the alleys and crowds and Omar was impressed with how well his companion navigated through the twisted streets of Padova, which he later explained as being because he was very intuitive about navigating through tough situations. They made it to the kitchens with time to spare, but there was an ever so slight presence of something he recognized only too well. A shiver slithered down his back and he became a bit wary for the time being. The other musicians were warming up and though his eye were sharp, he let his mind go as he prepared for a beautiful night. While preparing his flutes, he wondered about how fared his associates.
At the entrance of the Palace, Alexandros and Maria Fonte were greeted by the Doge.
"Signore Fonte." he greeted, a mixture of surprise and gladness "It is an honor that the son of such a revered Condottier could come. Tell me, how is your father?"
"Well, though the memory of his missing niece has not left his mind" he replied with gentile solemnity that was drastically different from the snickering and tricksy rouge the others met not too long ago.
"He sends his complements to you and your bright son and wishes you both a long and joyous life."
The Doge smiled towards the son of Lord Fonte and warmly greeted his companion, Maria. As Orlando greeted him, Alexandros thanked him for the invitation and was led to the main hall.
Maria was vexed, though her fan hid her shock.
"Your actually a Fonte?!" she whispered
"On my late mother's side, I'm directly related to Lord Cesare Fonte." he answered, a hint of the dark memories of her.
Joined: Jul 27, 2012
Anne Radcliffe on Jan 13, 2014 wrote:
The Doge coolly examined the youngsters making their polite obeisance before him. He had not held power for years in the frequently volatile ways of Valencian politics by being stupid or unobservant. Indeed, though one part of his mind dismissed Jack, Chrissy, and Marta (Alcina Vinaldi's real lady's maid) as servants, another part of his mind registered their appearance and took note.
But Maestra Lia was quite correct. The graceful motions, the courteous lowering of their eyes, the proper inclining of their heads mimicked years of aristocratic training well enough that they indeed seemed to be what they were pretending. And that the girls were human greatly helped the charade. That the skin tone might be darker (Anne) or considerably lighter (Elizabeth) than the olive-toned skin of the real Vinaldi girls was unremarkable to the Unicorn Nicolo Foscari. After all, Unicorns themselves underwent similar variation in regards to the season of the year. The hair color was also no distinction: Unicorns, proud of their own silky manes, dyed it to their fancy as they pleased.
The child at risk was the Unicorn youth portraying the natural son of the Vinaldi's. He had been chosen for certain physical similarities to the Vinaldi boy, as well as his competence. However, for one heart-skipping moment the Doge frowned as he looked upon him. After a moment, however, the Doge evidently decided that his hazy memory of the youth must be at fault, or merely not taking into consideration of the change of a child growing up.
"I am pleased to see that your mother brought you all here to this grand occasion. Since this is the first such occasion for several of you," Nicolo smiled at the 'younger' ones, though the smile did not reach his eyes, "I would have you mark the occasion as among my most honored guests. Therefore, it would please me if you all sat with me during the entertainment before the Ball." He turned to his secretary, standing beside him. "Benvolio, escort the Vinaldi family to their seats, and return to me afterwards."
The younger Unicorn bowed respectfully to the Doge, and then bowed to the Duchessa and her children. "Princess," Benvolio Ariosto addressed Alcina with the same respect, "if you would follow me?" After a swift greeting, much warmer, from the Doge's son, Orlando, they followed the Doge's secretary into a grand palace room. They had passed the first test... they hoped.
The Doge turned his attention to Dona Graziella. "It was a courageous act, to be seen with the Vinaldi family after the duke's traitorous behavior," he commented silkily.
Graziella waved her fan airily, in a nonchalant gesture. "We have been friends long, Your Serenity. And how could I blame the duchess and her children for some supposed crime of the duke?" Her voice lost its false playfulness and became candidly serious. "Surely you know that politics has never been Alcina's concern. She has gained her reputation as a patron of the arts, and for her religious piety. Whatever her husband might be accused of, surely a man of justice must realize that she and her children are blameless, Most Serene Prince."
The Doge smiled blandly. "Of course. And concerning your own powers, may I continue to rely on your supporting vote in the Senate next week?"
Graziella made a stiff curtsey. "As we agreed, Your Serenity." And as she was dismissed with a nod, Graziella wondered with concern if her words of support for Alcina Vinaldi had made any difference at all. With his last words, she had the unhappy feeling that he was reinforcing the bond of agreement -- because she would be unwilling to do so based on events that might happen this evening."
Joined: Jul 27, 2012
At last Quentin and Valona found themselves greeted with cool formality by the Doge of Padova. They had scarcely turned aside and had time to put on their masks, when they were greeted with enthusiastic warmth by Orlando Foscari.
"Quentin! Mio amico! I knew it must be you, with Valona by your side, she whose radiant beauty can not be disguised by any mask." He bowed smilingly to Valona, kissing her hand with elegant courtesy. The younger Unicorn straightened again, and spoke happily to Quentin, waving around his squid mask as he spoke in the excitement of his words.
"I've met so many charming girls, but there is one in particular - the eldest Vinaldi girl, Isabella. I hope to secure at least one dance with her. See, that girl, over there, the tall one, being led into the grand ballroom. I haven't seen her for years! She has grown up well, don't you think? And I love how she has dyed her hair. What a lovely red color. It almost looks natural!"
Rank: Gunner's Mate
Joined: Oct 11, 2012
Chrissy Th'Blesser on Jan 9, 2014 wrote:
Omar gave a soft chuckle, "Indeed she most likely can. There is a legend among our people of a Hoodoo princess that disappeared when her ruling family was killed by a Hoodoo using abomination called Bishop. We have been searching for her for decades." He looked at Chrissy, "When I looked into that mirror I also saw that you bear that royal mark that only royal born Hoodoo can see. Indeed I would be surprised at what she cannot do for you Dona. I wouldn't try too much too soon though. Almost everything you knew has been blocked for quite a long time. I would tread with caution." "Understood" Chrissy replied. She looked again at Dona Graziella and her friends. "I think I will leave it to my slightly more educated 'knowing' as time is of the essence.
Oh and one more thing. If you one of my characters speaks about Hoodoo Lore, I would suggest that Maria would be the best one to say it. Omar is from Krokotopia and Maria is deep in hoodoo mysticism than Omar. Not that you would know that or that I hold anything against you, it's just that it might make a wee bit more sense on my point o view.
Joined: Mar 10, 2009
The Undead Obeah on Jan 17, 2014 wrote:
Oh and one more thing. If you one of my characters speaks about Hoodoo Lore, I would suggest that Maria would be the best one to say it. Omar is from Krokotopia and Maria is deep in hoodoo mysticism than Omar. Not that you would know that or that I hold anything against you, it's just that it might make a wee bit more sense on my point o view.
I didn't hear one iota of mean spirit, not to fear. Point taken, thank you for the clarification. Guess I just put too much meaning in the definition of 'Undead Obeah' and blended it into the character. My apologies and I will, if needed, adjust accordingly.
Joined: Sep 20, 2009
As Scarlet walked through the grand hall with her "family", she tried to focus on her surroundings and on the other guests, but her usually clear and easily focussed mind was crammed with competing thoughts.
Overall, she was actually quite impressed with the grandeur of the Doge's palace. It was decorated enough to show his wealth and influence, without overdoing the effect. The piratical portion of Scarlet's mind couldn't help but assess the wealth of the Doge and his guests, and pick out the items that would be easiest to liberate.
Scarlet was also listening intently to Alcina, trying to remember everything she was saying about the guests. When Giovanni was mentioned as a hero of the Polarian Wars, Scarlet's stomach jumped. If there was one veteran of the Polarian Wars here, surely there were more. What would happen if just one of them recognized Scarlet's mask as once belonging to Scarlet's real mother, still known in Polaris as The Peregrine? Her crew member, Gaspard de Vole did frequently comment on how much Scarlet resembles her mother.
And, almost not realized, tucked away in a girlier section of Scarlet's mind was another persistant thought. Scarlet kept remembering how the Doge's son kept glancing at her during their introductions. Apparently, Isabella was making a bit of an impression on some of the young gentleman present at the ball. And, probably not quite the same impression she was making on a young lion mask wearing human that Scarlet only just realized she had been intently staring at.
Joined: Jul 27, 2012
CdeWinter on Jan 17, 2014 wrote:
As Scarlet walked through the grand hall with her "family", she tried to focus on her surroundings and on the other guests, but her usually clear and easily focussed mind was crammed with competing thoughts.
Overall, she was actually quite impressed with the grandeur of the Doge's palace. It was decorated enough to show his wealth and influence, without overdoing the effect. The piratical portion of Scarlet's mind couldn't help but assess the wealth of the Doge and his guests, and pick out the items that would be easiest to liberate.
Scarlet was also listening intently to Alcina, trying to remember everything she was saying about the guests. When Giovanni was mentioned as a hero of the Polarian Wars, Scarlet's stomach jumped. If there was one veteran of the Polarian Wars here, surely there were more. What would happen if just one of them recognized Scarlet's mask as once belonging to Scarlet's real mother, still known in Polaris as The Peregrine? Her crew member, Gaspard de Vole did frequently comment on how much Scarlet resembles her mother.
And, almost not realized, tucked away in a girlier section of Scarlet's mind was another persistant thought. Scarlet kept remembering how the Doge's son kept glancing at her during their introductions. Apparently, Isabella was making a bit of an impression on some of the young gentleman present at the ball. And, probably not quite the same impression she was making on a young lion mask wearing human that Scarlet only just realized she had been intently staring at.
The great hall was fast becoming crowded with people, yet the chance movement of one of the many guests suddenly caught Duca Giovanni Bembo's eye. His attention was arrested by a tall human girl with red hair and a peregrine falcon mask. The mask, the way she moved, something of the face that was visible to him... he suddenly remembered what made her familiar -- La Peregrine. Giovanni took a sharp breath, recalling the events of years ago, during the Polarian War. He was a rising lieutenant at the time, of an age where he really should have been a midshipman, but advancing fast due to his education, native talents, and sheer daring. La Peregrine's ship had overtaken and boarded his own and somehow he had found himself in hand-to-hand combat with her. He had been proud of his skill with a sword, but almost instantly he had found himself badly outclassed. For the first time he had the realization that he could die in the war. Yet he gamely fought on.
She pressed him hard for a few passes, then gave him a space. "Se rendre! Surrender," she ordered him. Young Giovanni knew that would be wise, but he could not give the enemy an opening and possibly lose his commander's ship. He could not! He had no breath for words, but mutely shook his head, all the while knowing that he had just sacrificed his life.
His adversary's eyes narrowed, and his fate hung in the balance as she paused. "I do not murder children," she muttered, and with a lightning quick movement of her blade deftly disarmed Giovanni, sending his sword spinning away to hit the deck with ringing sound. "You, however, would undoubtedly make a fine hostage," she continued, her sword advanced to check any movement of escape. "Such a young aristocrat surely would have worried parents, oui, mon enfant?"
Giovanni did not have a chance to answer her, for before he could take a breath, the shout of one of her men alerted her to the fact that another Valencian ship had pulled aside, and soon The Peregrine's own company would be outnumbered. She quickly assessed the situation and ordered her own people to retreat to their own ship. They of course grabbed everything they could as they methodically pulled back -- The Peregrine herself took Giovanni's sword.
"Is something wrong, my love?" Giovanni sharply brought himself back to the present at his wife's concerned expression.
"No, my darling Chiara," Giovanni automatically responded. As his wits caught up with his eyes, he realized he was being foolish. The human who reminded him so strongly of La Peregrine was still a child, not the daring enemy privateer of his memory. Furthermore, as a familiar Unicorn woman bent her head in conversation towards the red-haired child, he realized she must be one of the Vinaldi girls.
Giovanni Bembo chuckled. "I just had a strange fancy about Tomasso and Alcina's oldest child, that is all. I haven't seen them recently, and they are so much more grown up." He sighed, looking affectionately at the youngsters.
Joined: Jul 27, 2012
Duchessa Chiara followed the gaze of her husband towards the Vinaldi family, smiling as well. Giovanni was right, a few years away at school, and they look so very different, she thought fondly as she looked at them. But as her gaze slid over them, she suddenly froze. The youngest child, little Violetta -- that was not her, Chiara realized with a gasp as she gazed at Anne.
Chiara had taken tea with Alcina not two months past, and had enjoyed a pleasant conversation with Violetta, who had shown her the new doll she had received for her birthday ('her last doll', she had informed Chiara solemnly) and discussed the books she enjoyed. Now Chiara looked at the group more sharply and realized that none of the children were Tomasso and Alcina's own.
"Chiara, are you well?" Now she was the one whose thoughts were interrupted by her love's concerned voice.
Chiara thought quickly. Alcina Vinaldi must know and be a full member of this deception. But was it willingly or forced upon her? Observing Alcina's easy motions towards the children, smoothing the light-colored hair of her supposed second-youngest, Mariella, Chiara concluded that Alcina had real affection for these imposters. Something must be gravely wrong for Alcina to perpetrate this fraud. Chiara decided to trust her friend.
"The baby shifted," she lied, putting a hand to her protruding abdomen.
Giovanni looked concerned. "Are you well enough? Should we go home?"
That might be a good idea if something dangerous was going on, Chiara considered. Such an excuse could keep her beloved (but reckless) Giovanni out of trouble. But to go too soon would offend their host, which was also dangerous.
"I think I am well enough - for now, at least. And besides, I do want to see the opera performance before the dancing. I have heard that it should be very fine indeed."
Rank: Gunner's Mate
Joined: May 28, 2013
CdeWinter on Jan 17, 2014 wrote:
As Scarlet walked through the grand hall with her "family", she tried to focus on her surroundings and on the other guests, but her usually clear and easily focussed mind was crammed with competing thoughts.
Overall, she was actually quite impressed with the grandeur of the Doge's palace. It was decorated enough to show his wealth and influence, without overdoing the effect. The piratical portion of Scarlet's mind couldn't help but assess the wealth of the Doge and his guests, and pick out the items that would be easiest to liberate.
Scarlet was also listening intently to Alcina, trying to remember everything she was saying about the guests. When Giovanni was mentioned as a hero of the Polarian Wars, Scarlet's stomach jumped. If there was one veteran of the Polarian Wars here, surely there were more. What would happen if just one of them recognized Scarlet's mask as once belonging to Scarlet's real mother, still known in Polaris as The Peregrine? Her crew member, Gaspard de Vole did frequently comment on how much Scarlet resembles her mother.
And, almost not realized, tucked away in a girlier section of Scarlet's mind was another persistant thought. Scarlet kept remembering how the Doge's son kept glancing at her during their introductions. Apparently, Isabella was making a bit of an impression on some of the young gentleman present at the ball. And, probably not quite the same impression she was making on a young lion mask wearing human that Scarlet only just realized she had been intently staring at.
"There we were in Mooshu, surrounded by Ninja Pigs..."
"Did you see what she was wearing..."
"So much pirate activity recently..."
"So he lowered his horn and..."
"With someone half his age..."
"Brought up on charges, if you ask me..."
"Mauve is just not her color..."
"So I said to her, 'Have you ever?", and she said 'No, I haven't'..."
"The boy's a bit of a twit, can you believe he has a Human professor..."
"They aren't even real diamonds anyway..."
"Blasted Marleyboneans broke their half of the treaty first..."
"Doesn't look well at all, I wouldn't be surprised if..."
"I hope the Armada puts things to right soon, we're losing money hand over hoof as it is..."
"Oh look, His Pomposity is coming over to grace us with with presence..."
Sam's ears were assaulted on every side by the constant babble. He took a petit four from the proferred tray and was pleasantly surprised how good it tasted. Perhaps he should give his regards to the pastry chef. The serving girl had moved on and Magdelena was dragging him into another bout of 'polite' conversation.
"So young Throckmorton, enjoying yourself?" His inquisitor was a finely dressed grey Unicorn wearing the badge of office of - Sam quickly searched his memory - Chancellor?
"Indeed yes, Your Grace. I must truly admit to never seeing anything like this before." He debated adding a 'Cor," but wisely decided against it.
"Look, the Vinaldi family has arrived." Most everyone in the hall turned to gather a brief view of the newcomers before resuming their own gossiping. Sam spotted a collection of Unicorns and Humans bowing to the Doge and his son. "No doubt the Duke did not join them." Contempt riddled the Chancellor's tone.
"Your Grace," Magdelena had spotted the situation and came forward quickly to rescue Sam from making any dangerous errors, "Why is it I do not seen your lovely wife this evening? Does that mean you are free to share a dance with me later?" She batted her eyes and delivered a devastating Pout at him. Sam was pleased it had not been turned on him.
"Maestra Vendelino, I do hope the funding for the Library has not suffered under your current... protectors?" The Padovans had a certain knack for turning ordinary sentences into threats.
"I am sure you have the authority to prevent that from happening, Your Grace," Magdelena acknowledged, allowing him the small victory. After the smiling Chancellor had departed, "Incompetent windbag," she muttered, so softly Sam thought he must have imagined it.
Sam took a moment and reassessed the crowd at the hall. It was filling up quite quickly now, and people were beginning to wonder about the forthcoming entertainment. He spotted a young lady... staring at him? It must be the lion costume. Wait a minute, wasn't she one of the Vinaldi children? Magdelena was busy chatting up a pair of Guinea Pigs, so Sam collected two glasses of punch and approached the Vinaldi girl.
"Thirsty?" he wittily opened.
Joined: Jul 27, 2012
Sam Underhill on Jan 18, 2014 wrote:
"There we were in Mooshu, surrounded by Ninja Pigs..."
"Did you see what she was wearing..."
"So much pirate activity recently..."
"So he lowered his horn and..."
"With someone half his age..."
"Brought up on charges, if you ask me..."
"Mauve is just not her color..."
"So I said to her, 'Have you ever?", and she said 'No, I haven't'..."
"The boy's a bit of a twit, can you believe he has a Human professor..."
"They aren't even real diamonds anyway..."
"Blasted Marleyboneans broke their half of the treaty first..."
"Doesn't look well at all, I wouldn't be surprised if..."
"I hope the Armada puts things to right soon, we're losing money hand over hoof as it is..."
"Oh look, His Pomposity is coming over to grace us with with presence..."
Sam's ears were assaulted on every side by the constant babble. He took a petit four from the proferred tray and was pleasantly surprised how good it tasted. Perhaps he should give his regards to the pastry chef. The serving girl had moved on and Magdelena was dragging him into another bout of 'polite' conversation.
"So young Throckmorton, enjoying yourself?" His inquisitor was a finely dressed grey Unicorn wearing the badge of office of - Sam quickly searched his memory - Chancellor?
"Indeed yes, Your Grace. I must truly admit to never seeing anything like this before." He debated adding a 'Cor," but wisely decided against it.
"Look, the Vinaldi family has arrived." Most everyone in the hall turned to gather a brief view of the newcomers before resuming their own gossiping. Sam spotted a collection of Unicorns and Humans bowing to the Doge and his son. "No doubt the Duke did not join them." Contempt riddled the Chancellor's tone.
"Your Grace," Magdelena had spotted the situation and came forward quickly to rescue Sam from making any dangerous errors, "Why is it I do not seen your lovely wife this evening? Does that mean you are free to share a dance with me later?" She batted her eyes and delivered a devastating Pout at him. Sam was pleased it had not been turned on him.
"Maestra Vendelino, I do hope the funding for the Library has not suffered under your current... protectors?" The Padovans had a certain knack for turning ordinary sentences into threats.
"I am sure you have the authority to prevent that from happening, Your Grace," Magdelena acknowledged, allowing him the small victory. After the smiling Chancellor had departed, "Incompetent windbag," she muttered, so softly Sam thought he must have imagined it.
Sam took a moment and reassessed the crowd at the hall. It was filling up quite quickly now, and people were beginning to wonder about the forthcoming entertainment. He spotted a young lady... staring at him? It must be the lion costume. Wait a minute, wasn't she one of the Vinaldi children? Magdelena was busy chatting up a pair of Guinea Pigs, so Sam collected two glasses of punch and approached the Vinaldi girl.
"Thirsty?" he wittily opened.
Anne stiffened in shock as she heard a familiar voice nearby, one she had not expected. Sam?! What was he doing here! She had prepared herself for the possibility that she could be suspected as an imposter, but she had not expected someone here who could recognize her as herself!
Sam was a good friend, one with whom she had spent happy times in conversation or sparring in play, in those times they stepped through the flexible nature of their universes. She usually won any sword-play matches between them, while he usually won when they played backgammon together (a mystifying thing, as backgammon was supposed to be a game of chance between two knowledgeable players). But there was an artless streak to Sam. Anne mentally cringed as she imagined, horrified, at the notion that he might exclaim her name in surprise, alerting the entire ballroom.
Anne pressed herself closer to Alcina, her 'mother', and wished herself invisible, or at least smaller than she really was. Sending an incoherent prayer skyward, her mind muttered frantically 'Don't look at me, don't look at me, don't look at me,' as if somehow Sam could somehow be influenced by her silent thoughts.
Joined: Sep 20, 2009
Anne Radcliffe on Jan 18, 2014 wrote:
Duchessa Chiara followed the gaze of her husband towards the Vinaldi family, smiling as well. Giovanni was right, a few years away at school, and they look so very different, she thought fondly as she looked at them. But as her gaze slid over them, she suddenly froze. The youngest child, little Violetta -- that was not her, Chiara realized with a gasp as she gazed at Anne.
Chiara had taken tea with Alcina not two months past, and had enjoyed a pleasant conversation with Violetta, who had shown her the new doll she had received for her birthday ('her last doll', she had informed Chiara solemnly) and discussed the books she enjoyed. Now Chiara looked at the group more sharply and realized that none of the children were Tomasso and Alcina's own.
"Chiara, are you well?" Now she was the one whose thoughts were interrupted by her love's concerned voice.
Chiara thought quickly. Alcina Vinaldi must know and be a full member of this deception. But was it willingly or forced upon her? Observing Alcina's easy motions towards the children, smoothing the light-colored hair of her supposed second-youngest, Mariella, Chiara concluded that Alcina had real affection for these imposters. Something must be gravely wrong for Alcina to perpetrate this fraud. Chiara decided to trust her friend.
"The baby shifted," she lied, putting a hand to her protruding abdomen.
Giovanni looked concerned. "Are you well enough? Should we go home?"
That might be a good idea if something dangerous was going on, Chiara considered. Such an excuse could keep her beloved (but reckless) Giovanni out of trouble. But to go too soon would offend their host, which was also dangerous.
"I think I am well enough - for now, at least. And besides, I do want to see the opera performance before the dancing. I have heard that it should be very fine indeed."
OOC: I love this post Anne. It seems somepeople already have their doubts about the Vinaldi girls, I'm wondering what will happen when they actually start interacting with the other guests. And lovely little story about Scarlet's mother, I think it would suit her personality quite nicely. (at least the little bit I've thought up)
Rank: Captain
Joined: Mar 09, 2011
Posts: 709
Sam Underhill on Jan 18, 2014 wrote:
"There we were in Mooshu, surrounded by Ninja Pigs..."
"Did you see what she was wearing..."
"So much pirate activity recently..."
"So he lowered his horn and..."
"With someone half his age..."
"Brought up on charges, if you ask me..."
"Mauve is just not her color..."
"So I said to her, 'Have you ever?", and she said 'No, I haven't'..."
"The boy's a bit of a twit, can you believe he has a Human professor..."
"They aren't even real diamonds anyway..."
"Blasted Marleyboneans broke their half of the treaty first..."
"Doesn't look well at all, I wouldn't be surprised if..."
"I hope the Armada puts things to right soon, we're losing money hand over hoof as it is..."
"Oh look, His Pomposity is coming over to grace us with with presence..."
Sam's ears were assaulted on every side by the constant babble. He took a petit four from the proferred tray and was pleasantly surprised how good it tasted. Perhaps he should give his regards to the pastry chef. The serving girl had moved on and Magdelena was dragging him into another bout of 'polite' conversation.
"So young Throckmorton, enjoying yourself?" His inquisitor was a finely dressed grey Unicorn wearing the badge of office of - Sam quickly searched his memory - Chancellor?
"Indeed yes, Your Grace. I must truly admit to never seeing anything like this before." He debated adding a 'Cor," but wisely decided against it.
"Look, the Vinaldi family has arrived." Most everyone in the hall turned to gather a brief view of the newcomers before resuming their own gossiping. Sam spotted a collection of Unicorns and Humans bowing to the Doge and his son. "No doubt the Duke did not join them." Contempt riddled the Chancellor's tone.
"Your Grace," Magdelena had spotted the situation and came forward quickly to rescue Sam from making any dangerous errors, "Why is it I do not seen your lovely wife this evening? Does that mean you are free to share a dance with me later?" She batted her eyes and delivered a devastating Pout at him. Sam was pleased it had not been turned on him.
"Maestra Vendelino, I do hope the funding for the Library has not suffered under your current... protectors?" The Padovans had a certain knack for turning ordinary sentences into threats.
"I am sure you have the authority to prevent that from happening, Your Grace," Magdelena acknowledged, allowing him the small victory. After the smiling Chancellor had departed, "Incompetent windbag," she muttered, so softly Sam thought he must have imagined it.
Sam took a moment and reassessed the crowd at the hall. It was filling up quite quickly now, and people were beginning to wonder about the forthcoming entertainment. He spotted a young lady... staring at him? It must be the lion costume. Wait a minute, wasn't she one of the Vinaldi children? Magdelena was busy chatting up a pair of Guinea Pigs, so Sam collected two glasses of punch and approached the Vinaldi girl.
"Thirsty?" he wittily opened.
Mariella, upon seeing the lion mask-wearing gentleman waltz over and offer some punch to her eldest sister, grinned from ear to ear. "Have fun, Isabella!" As she currently had her arm linked to her sister, Mariella rested her hand on Isabella's and gave her the biggest smile before turning on her heel and linking arms with her younger sister. "Oh, Violetta! What a wonderful night!" She lowered her voice, smiling with a slightly impish twinkle in her eyes. "It appears Isabella has been noticed by a few gentlemen here. And the gentlemen aren't the only ones -- It seems as if our friends Duchessa Chiara and her husband have noticed all of us as well. The Duchessa seems positively astounded by your beautiful dress, dear sister! Oh, what a fantastic night this has turned out to be, and it's only just started!" Mariella giggled and raised her gaze. The palace looked so wonderful and golden, warm and inviting, so incredibly wonderful. It was absolutely magnificent just to be here, and the pleasure of this was very clearly written on Mariella's face. "Oh, dear Violetta, how amazing it is to be here." She murmured as a couple walked by. "It's amazing how much attention our family has already gotten in this short amount of time, don't you think?" Lizzy gave Anne a pointed nudge that was perfectly disguised as Mariella leaning into her sister while walking. "It's such an honor to be invited to this marvelous place! I can't wait to dance in these fine halls!"
Lizzy's mind was overwhelmed with all sorts of thoughts, the effects made worse by that fact that all around her people were gossiping just as much as she was, if not more, as impossible as it seemed to the swashbuckler. Though she remained completely aware of all of her surroundings and never once did she let her character slip, she allowed herself her own thoughts. Her first private thought, a thought that she had made as Elizabeth and not Mariella, was of what her 'mother' had described of Orlando, the Doge's son. She didn't fancy him, though she admired the fact that he so strongly cared for his education. She probably would have been the same way, if she hadn't been dragged into the mess with the armada... if her parents hadn't died... Lizzy wondered which University she might have been accepted to, if she had taken the educational path that she had wanted to. Definitely a Valencian one, she decided. She gazed to Orlando, which on the outside was Mariella momentarily vexed by the squid mask. Someday, thought the swashbuckler, when this is all over, I'd like to really meet you. No armada, no need for weapons, no pirating, no favors, no war, no disguises. Just who we really are. I'd really like to meet you, to be able to focus on my education like you. Someday.
Mariella evidently concluded that Orlando's squid mask looked just plain funny, and turned to gaze at other guests' masks.
Rank: Petty Officer
Joined: May 30, 2013
Posts: 97
Anne Radcliffe on Jan 13, 2014 wrote:
OOC: Yes, the Ball is beginning. Dona Marcia, since she has an invitation, is then part of a prominent family -- you get to pick. Let's see... Marcia could be a first cousin of the hero Duca Giovanni Bembo. He and his wife will be at the Ball, and while a sudden of Marcia might be surprising, it is the niece of a cousin, after all, and might have been forgotten. Bembo is not a complicated person; he would not suspect his cousin to be making a false claim. Or Marcia could be a member of the powerful Cornaro family: one of the younger daughters of the Duke and Duchess is Dona Elena Cornaro, member of the ruling Council and professor of Mathematics & Philosophy at the University of Padova. Elena would trust Marcia and support her fiction, and the rest of the Cornaro family present at the Ball would likely follow her lead. Those are your best choices; a third would be the Ariosto family, highly respected for their literary talents, but the Doge's secretary is a younger son of the Ariostos. Since he is usually by the Doge's side, evading discovery would be very tricky indeed. (So, how much trouble do you want to get into?)
Claire's gown would probably be one of Marcia's, quickly cut down and altered in the space of a couple hours by talented Valencian seamstresses. (It could be done; interpreters at Colonial Williamsburg have demonstrated how swiftly seamstresses in the 18th C. could get a job done)
And yes, Bembo, Elena Cornaro, and even the idea of the Ariostos are all a nod to historic people!
Dona Marcia's ship, The Powerful, hit a dip in the windlane and Claire clutched her stomach, resisting the urge to vomit. 3 things were going on in her mind right now. 1. They were late for the Ball. 2. Claire had learned the hard way that she was vulnerable to seasickness. And 3. This dress was itching.
When the windlane steadied again, Claire sighed and rolled over on her bed. Squeezing her eyes shut, she recalled the past few hours, and everything in them.
"I was reluctant to consider this possibility," Dona Marcia had said to her. "You see, well, I am a member of the Ariosto family-"
Claire quickly caught on. "And so is the Dodge's secretary." She finished for her.
"Exactly. My cousin - the secretary, that is - is very observant, and can spot a lie from Aquila. You must keep your head down in his presence."
"But won't that cause suspicion?"
"No, you are so young, that it is more polite to avert your gaze from authority."
This seemed more of an excuse to Claire than anything else.
Claire had then glanced at the clock on the far side of the Dona's sitting room. The Ball was in 2 hours, and if they left now they'd be 30 minutes late, which might offend the Doge and foil their mission.
The words were on her lips when the Dona continued. "Now, for your dress. I am afraid the smallest one I have is quite too large for your small structure. However, my seamstresses can work wonders with this kind of thing." Dona Marcia smiled and summoned for a band of young maids to enter the room. She told them to fetch the small gown and trim it so Claire could wear it to the Ball.
Claire bit her lip. "What about my mask?"
"That is completely up to you, my dear."
Claire had quickly skimmed through all the animals to her knowledge. She wanted to be something that resembled her, and the first creature that came to mind was an owl. No, she had thought. An owl is a bird of prey, I am not lethal whatsoever.
Claire was still pondering when a single thought came into her mind.
Mother.
Claire took a sharp intake of breath. She had not thought about her Swashbuckler mother for so long! But now everything came back. Her flowing strawberry blonde hair that she had passed on to her twin daughters. Her deadly skills with both cutlass and rapier, that she had only partially passed on. But the memory that was most clear in Claire's mind, was her mother's driving determination to find El Dorado before the Armada did. When her mother died, Claire and Cassandra both vowed to help find the golden city, and avenge their mother.
That is, to avenge their late mother.
Claire thought of the Swashbuckler's unofficial mascot and declared, "Dona, I would like to be a racoon."
The Dona was only slightly taken aback at this, yet she agreed it would look great on her and nodded to the maids to get started.
The ship dipped again and brought Claire back to reality. She looked out the window and found Padova, where fate was a roller coaster.
Rank: Gunner's Mate
Joined: Oct 11, 2012
Chrissy Th'Blesser on Jan 17, 2014 wrote:
I didn't hear one iota of mean spirit, not to fear. Point taken, thank you for the clarification. Guess I just put too much meaning in the definition of 'Undead Obeah' and blended it into the character. My apologies and I will, if needed, adjust accordingly.
Thank thee. I have been debating whether to change my pen name from the Undead Obeah to say The Court Of Miracles, but Omar is my most developed character, my power player, and my primary voice in the Spiral (even more than my Sorcerer in Wizard). Understandable and forgiven threefold.
And now, back to our story!
Rank: Gunner's Mate
Joined: May 28, 2013
Anne Radcliffe on Jan 19, 2014 wrote:
Anne stiffened in shock as she heard a familiar voice nearby, one she had not expected. Sam?! What was he doing here! She had prepared herself for the possibility that she could be suspected as an imposter, but she had not expected someone here who could recognize her as herself!
Sam was a good friend, one with whom she had spent happy times in conversation or sparring in play, in those times they stepped through the flexible nature of their universes. She usually won any sword-play matches between them, while he usually won when they played backgammon together (a mystifying thing, as backgammon was supposed to be a game of chance between two knowledgeable players). But there was an artless streak to Sam. Anne mentally cringed as she imagined, horrified, at the notion that he might exclaim her name in surprise, alerting the entire ballroom.
Anne pressed herself closer to Alcina, her 'mother', and wished herself invisible, or at least smaller than she really was. Sending an incoherent prayer skyward, her mind muttered frantically 'Don't look at me, don't look at me, don't look at me,' as if somehow Sam could somehow be influenced by her silent thoughts.
"HI!! ANNE!!" Sam cheerfully called out across the crowded room. Everyone turned to look at her. She had somehow changed back into her pirate garb and drawn her sword. She backed away from the masses but behind her were two Armada Dragoons. One reached out and pulled the sword forcibly from her hand while the other clasped both hands on her arms, rendering her helpless. The Doge above shook his head sadly as she was force marched out to the waiting execution ground beside the buffet tables in the garden. Her crew, all dressed in black, stood somberly by, heads bowed.
"GUILTY!" cried Deacon. "Guilty," spoke Bishop. "Guilty," said Rooke.
Anne was swiftly tied to a flagpole while six Armada Musketeers paraded in. They stood in formation, then raised their guns as Orlando, the Doge's son, raised his sword. Sam waved a hesitant 'Hi' from the crowd. Kane then stepped forward and called out. "Ready! Aim! FIR..."
The whole thing had taken but a blink of an eye in Anne's imagination. Her mind reeled as she burrowed further against her 'mother."
| 85,473 |
Are things in your life or the world distracting, frustrating, or holding you back from fully pursuing God's purpose, destiny, and plan for your life?
Are you walking in the will of God but not entirely content with how it's going for you?
Are you still trying to discover what God's plan is?
Are you tired of inwardly comparing yourself and your life to other women you know and those you see on social media?
Do you struggle with fully accepting what your role is as a woman in singleness or marriage?
If you answered yes to one or more questions above, join Prophet Andrea for this FREE webinar. She will drop Pearls of Wisdom as she shares her revelation of The (9) Nine "FIREWEEDS that may appear throughout your life as a woman that prevent you from living out your
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I love building relationships with people I wouldn’t normally come into contact with. I enjoy being the one to better someone’s life through a career that they love.
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Why are you passionate about this industry?
I have grown up around the medical field my entire life. My entire family is made up of nurses or other medical personnel, and while nursing may not be for me, this is my way to help patients get the best care they can.
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I have a pretty small tight-knit family. I am very close with my parents and my sister who is my only sibling. I currently live with my girlfriend and our foster dog, who is basically our child.
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For most jobs, suitability/behavioural factors are about 50% of the reason people succeed or fail at a job. Therefore, effectively measuring suitability is an essential part of a good assessment. The importance of assessing behaviour during recruitment is evidenced by the fact that most organisations hire people for their eligibility and then try to develop…
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1. Hire for Job Specific Behaviours Research conducted by Harrison Assessments formulates different sets behavioural factors for more than 650 job types. Each job type also has different behavioural requirements depending on the required management level and experience level. Consequently, by uniquely calibrating management responsibility and experience levels, the Harrison system offers more than 6500…
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“Every pain, addiction, anguish, longing, depression, anger or fear is an orphaned part of us seeking joy, some disowned shadow wanting to return to the light and home of ourselves.”
As a therapist and personal growth expert, I know that shadow work helps us make contact with the entirety of who we are. Let’s face it: There are parts of ourselves that we are proud of and there are parts we would rather never see the light of day. Sometimes, we are not even aware of these dark parts of ourselves.
To create genuine change in your life, you have to face these hidden aspects from your shadow self.
In this episode of the podcast, I discuss how shadow work leads to self-awareness and, ultimately, self-acceptance. Through several examples, I share valuable tips and walk you through uncovering your shadow self. (Be sure to download the workbook I created for you so that you can do even more shadow work exercises on your own.)
If you find yourself wondering why you do things you shouldn’t and how to change behaviors you don’t like, this episode is for you!
In this episode I’ll be discussing how you can:
Discover how your shadow self can control you without you knowing.
Learn tips for how to get in touch with your shadow self.
Understand how shadow work can help you and your relationships with people.
Schedule a Free Consultation Today.
The human mind is so powerful and complex that it’s impossible to be fully aware of everything. Most of the time, we are only aware of what is in front of us. A lot is going on in the background, which determines our behaviors or reactions.
Your shadow side lives in the part of you that you’re not fully conscious of. Your shadow self consists of you with goals, needs, or a voice that you sometimes don’t consciously know of or hear. If you’re not aware of it, it can drive you to make unhealthy or unhelpful decisions. Your shadow self only has control when it remains unknown.
Listen to this episode to get new insights into yourself and how shadow work therapy can help you get in touch with the deepest parts of your being. Through this powerful self-awareness work, you can become truly empowered.
Learning how you could create love, happiness, and success for yourself has never been this easy. If you enjoyed today’s episode of the Love, Happiness and Success Podcast, then hit subscribe and share it with your friends!
Post a review and share it! If you enjoyed tuning into this podcast, then please don’t hesitate to leave us a review. You can also share this with your friends so they can shine a light on their shadow self.
Have any questions? You can contact me through our website or find me on Instagram or Facebook. You may also reach out to us and inquire about online therapy and life coaching. Growing Self is also on Instagram and Facebook.
Thanks for listening! For more updates and episodes, visit our website. You may also tune in on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher.
To finding love, happiness, and success
Download free shadow work excercises to power your personal growth.
Got it. Check your email for your download.
Music Credits: The Tunnel, “The Visitant”
That’s “The Visitant” by the band The Tunnel. I am recording this leading up to Halloween. I love this time of year, not least of which is because I get to trot out gothy music for you, you guys, you little Gen Z’s and millennials. And I’m keeping it alive. So I hope you enjoy it.
And in addition to entertaining myself, I am also playing this to set the mood for our topic today. Because today, we’re going to be talking about yet another kind of deep and important issue that will benefit you, and your love, happiness, and success to learn a little bit more about. We are talking about Shadow Work.
As always, today’s topic is about me doing my best to support you on your journey of growth. I have recently been getting a number of questions on the blog www.growingself.com, through Instagram, through Facebook, that are in this category of “Dr. Lisa, why do I do this?” And the ‘this’ can be many different things. It can be, “Why do I have the same pattern and relationships over and over? Why do I make choices that I later regret? Why do I do things that I know are not really in alignment with my long term goals, hopes, or even values?” Like I had somebody get in touch with me not too long ago, it was like “Dr. Lisa, why do I lie to my partner?”
And these kinds of questions are hard, and they’re very real. And I hear and feel the intention behind them. Which is that you really legitimately do not understand why you do the things that you do. And without that clarity and self awareness, feeling a little helpless or even hopeless about being able to change these patterns and behave in a way that is more consistent with who you want to be.
But when I get these kinds of questions around, why do I do XYZ? The knee-jerk and true response to this question is I don’t know. I don’t know why you lie to your partner. I don’t know why you cheat on your girlfriend. I don’t know why you say one thing and you do another. I do not have that information.
But what I do know is that this information is contained in a part of yourself that you do have access to. And that with some support and guidance, you can get into that aspect of yourself, get that incredibly valuable information to understand, “Oh, that’s why I do what I do.” And with that self-awareness and knowledge, then you will be empowered to handle things differently, and make changes that stick, and feel more in control of yourself and your life. And the part of yourself that all of those things exist in, all of that information is available in your shadow side.
And that’s what we’re going to be doing today on the podcast. I am going to be sharing a little bit more information with you around what that is, how you can make contact with it, and then what you can do in order to achieve that clarity by listening to these parts of yourself that you not only just don’t listen to or maybe even don’t know about. So that again, you feel more aware and complete, and able to do what you want to do, and be who you want to be.
So, on this episode, I’m going to be talking about all kinds of things. And in addition to the information I’m providing, I’m also putting together a little worksheet for you that has some tips, ideas, strategies that you can use to crack into this a little bit more deeply. If you cruise on over to www.growingself.com/shadow-side, you will be able to download a worksheet that has some journaling prompts that can give you the opportunity to reflect and answer for yourself some of the questions that I will be posing to you today on this episode. Because, as always, and is so often the case really with any kind of growth work, the answers to the questions lie in new questions and being able to answer those questions.
And that’s one of the real, I think, strengths and almost superpowers of being in a relationship with a great coach or therapist is being asked the kinds of questions that will help you elicit the truth and the answers that do exist within you, but that you may not consciously have access to. So if you’re one of the listeners who has been asking questions or leaving comments on the blog, or getting in touch with me on Facebook, Instagram, elsewhere, I’m so glad that you’re reaching out and letting me know what’s going on with you, so that I can be of service to you on this episode and hopefully others.
And if this is your first time listening or if you’re a longtime listener who has yet to pose a question, I would love to hear from you, too. You can comment, question, rant, opine, anything you’d like on the blog www.growingself.com and always get in touch with me, Facebook @drlisabobby, or Instagram at @drlisamariebobby. I can’t wait to hear from you.
Now, let’s jump right into our topic today. So okay, Shadow Work. We, humans, are incredibly complex. As we’ve talked about on different podcasts in the past, when I was talking to my colleague, Josephine, a while back about being honest with yourself or last year, I think we did a podcast about your subconscious mind and how to connect with it. There are parts of ourselves that are known and parts of us that are unknown. And I am not talking about it in, like a really, you know, Freudian way necessarily. It’s kinda just a fact. We all have things going on inside us that are operating outside of the level of our awareness. They’re often subconscious core beliefs, or thoughts that fly through our head so automatically and outside of our awareness that we don’t even notice them. We just have a feeling we don’t even know why.
And also, we have emotional and mental and psychological processes that are operating at a level that is so deep, we don’t even know it’s there. And it’s all okay. It doesn’t mean that anything is wrong with anybody because those things are happening. That is actually the way that human beings work. The human brain is incredibly powerful and complex. And because you are so smart, and your powerful brain is capable of remembering so many things, and so much information, and being conscious of so much stuff, all at the same time.
It would actually be so overwhelming that no one would be able to function at all if we were all completely aware of everything all the time. It would overload the systems. And so our brains typically pay attention to what is in front of us, and what we are consciously aware of, what is occupying our attention in the moment. And everything else is kind of humming away in the background, not a problem in and of itself.
But we do have things humming away in the background that typically have much more power and control over how we feel and what we do than the things we are consciously aware of. And so I know you know what I’m talking about here. I mean, we’ve all had the experience of going on autopilot. Sometimes you’re in the car, and then you get to a place and you can’t quite remember how you got there but you’re there. Or you know, “Wait, did I take my vitamins this morning? I can’t even remember.”
We do things all the time without being consciously aware of them. But we are also – without conscious awareness – having reactions to things. We are making choices. We are responding to things in accordance with what lies beneath much more often than the things that we’re telling ourselves are true or what we want. And it’s important to understand that every person is complex and that we all have pieces of ourselves that we know.
The parts of ourselves that we know are often the parts of ourselves that we feel good about, or at least okay about. It’s our public front. This is who I am. The part of yourself that has your personality as you understand it, the part of yourself that goes and talks to people, or does the things. If you were to give somebody an elevator pitch about who you are and what you’re about, that would be your conscious self.
And it is also true for everyone that if you observe yourself over time, the way that you actually behave is often different than the story that you tell yourself and others about who you are, how you feel, what you want. The classic example that everybody in the universe has done, self included, is to say, “I need to get more exercise.” “I need to go to bed earlier.” “I need to eat more vegetables.” Whatever it is. And that your narrative, your working self-concept is that I am a conscientious, responsible person. I take care of myself. I care about my health. I care about the health of other people. I do the right thing. That’s the core narrative, right?
And then, we observe ourselves being like, “No, I’ll do it tomorrow. I’m just gonna sit here and drink coffee and eat jelly beans.” You know what I mean? It’s like these patterns, these habits. They’re always operating in us all the time. And so it’s not that we are not thoughtful, conscientious, care about our health, XYZ. It is just that there are other things inside us also, that have preferences, and needs, and hopes, and a voice – whether or not we consciously hear it – that actually have more control over us most of the time than the parts of us that we are aware of. The part of yourself that wants to sit around on your bed for 45 minutes and a towel staring at a wall when you know you are going to be late for work and you really should get ready for work. The part of yourself that just wants to sit there is stronger.
That is your shadow self. The part of yourself that steers you towards having unhelpful reactions with other people or engaging in relational patterns that you know consciously are not good for you is simply stronger.
And one of the reasons why it is stronger is because it – before you gain awareness of what it is, and what it wants, and why it’s doing the things that it’s doing – because it is unknown and operating without your knowledge or consent, it is able to assert itself in your life. When you shine a spotlight on it and understand it, it immediately loses a significant amount of its power right then and there.
So, a big part of Shadow Work is really deliberately focusing on the parts of yourself that are currently unknown in order to bring them into the light. Once you do, that is half the battle. And then from there, you can continue acting to deliberately make changes based on your understanding of that shadow side of yourself.
So I feel like, again, we’re talking about this a little bit theoretically. So let me give you some examples in addition to the little ones that I shared. You or someone that you know and love probably has developed a shadow side – we often do – in response to often early childhood messages about who we should be. The classic example would be a little boy who gets messages that he shouldn’t cry. He shouldn’t feel or express vulnerable emotions. That’s not who boys are or what boys do. And so because children always accommodate their parents in order to maintain a relationship with them, children will always disown parts of themselves in order to stay close to their parents and try to be the kid that their parents want them to be.
So for many boys that grow into men, their shadow side is often a repository of all of the vulnerable feelings, or attachment needs, loneliness, desire, longing that they were scolded out of having by the time they were five or six years old. So they want to be good. Therefore, they do not have those feelings consciously. But of course, since they’re human, they do still have those feelings. They’re just in the shadow side. They’re tucked away.
For women, many times, what do we learn? Girls should be nice. We should share. We should take care of other people and we should always be sweet. And so for many girls who grow into women, they will put into their shadow side the things that others have communicated are unacceptable, like anger, taking care of themselves, prioritizing their own needs and feelings. Sometimes even their sexuality gets put over into the shadow side.
It doesn’t go away. It doesn’t go away. But things that aren’t acceptable need to be put somewhere. And so they’re kept safe in this semi-conscious or subconscious part of ourselves. And they still influence us, but in ways that we don’t understand or expect or feel in control of.
So when we disown parts of ourselves, we are disowning the parts oftentimes that have been criticized or rejected by others. And through the process, we have – sometimes again subconsciously – come to believe that those parts of ourselves are unhealthy or shameful, or that they should be rejected. They shouldn’t be listened to or embraced. But part of doing really authentic, impactful Shadow Work is beginning to reclaim not just parts of ourselves that potentially make us uncomfortable, but is questioning the discomfort in the first place.
For example, as we’ve discussed on this podcast before, dark emotions are your best friend in the whole world. Healthy, legitimate anger is incredibly protective and instructive. In our feelings of sadness or grief even, that is the wellspring of empathy, and compassion, and caring for others. The ability to recognize and effectively cope with big feelings is something that we don’t learn how to do if all of those big dark feelings are getting pushed away into our shadow side to be dealt with later, if at all.
So to begin to haul all of this stuff back out and ask yourself really powerful questions like, “How do I really feel about this?” What’s interesting, what I’ve learned over the years as a therapist or coach when I sit down with a client and I say, “Well, how do you feel about that?” The first answer I get usually is what people think they should feel about something. So they tell me, they say, “Well, you know I love him. It’s fine.” And then I ask, “How do you really feel about that?” And we go into like a little bit deeper. “Well, you know, sometimes, when I think about it, I’m really not that happy. You know, I feel frustrated but then, you know, I feel bad for feeling frustrated. I mean, they’re doing the best they can, too.”
Like, there’s all these efforts to kind of minimize and push away again. And it can take me quite a while. Many, many episodes of questioning on different days to finally help someone peel that onion and get into the truth of how they really feel and what they really want. And not even just like what the truth is, but being okay with what that truth is. Because it’s one thing to have something be true and to feel it. But many people feel ashamed or judgmental of themselves for having the thoughts or feelings or ideas that they have. So it can be scary work. And I think that that’s why it’s so important to be in a relationship with a coach or a therapist who can help you. First of all, who can ask you the question 17 times and not accept the first answer – which is the one that is the conscious answer. That’s the one that you’ve been telling yourself.
Our work involves going into the rest of the story to help you uncover the true story, the true feelings, and be able to walk into that shadow self. And the reason why this is so important, is because unless and until you do this work and begin to understand all the thoughts and all the feelings, they cannot just control but sometimes ruin your life. And I know that sounds incredibly dramatic, but it’s really true.
Like, so, for example, if we go back to that simple scenario that we can all relate to, which is having a bad habit. You do something that you don’t like. You wish you didn’t do it. You tried to stop it, but you can’t and you don’t know why you keep doing it. When we walk into the shadow part of ourselves fearlessly and honestly, we often discover that there are understandable reasons why we do the things we do.
Very often they’re related to comfort of ourselves, needing connection, wanting to feel good about ourselves, wanting to feel pleasure, wanting to feel taken care of, managing anxiety, or managing fears that we’re not even aware that we have. Those are often things that are discovered through this type of Shadow Work. And you may be thinking that this is like more of a deep, super serious therapy thing, right? And certainly, to gain self awareness and make contact with the shadow side is always — whether explicitly or implicitly part of effective therapy — but it’s also really part of good coaching as well.
We think of life coaching as somebody coming in and being like, “Okay, these are my goals. Help me attain them.” And you’re like, “Okay, here’s what to do.” And coaching can certainly have that quality sometimes. But what will also invariably happen over the course of any type of coaching – whether it’s life coaching, career coaching, relationship coaching – is that somebody’s like, “Okay, these are my goals.” I’ll be like, “Alright, here’s how to attain them.” They’re like, “Great, I’m gonna go work on my plan.” And then they come back, and they’re like, “Well, I didn’t do the plan.” I’m like, “Why didn’t you do the plan?” They’re like, “Well, I don’t know why I didn’t do the plan. Why didn’t I do the plan?”
And that is actually the moment where we can then start to get all kinds more information about what’s really going on. And talking about why they do things they do in terms of not how annoyed or frustrated they’re with themselves. But let’s talk about this, about why it makes sense that you didn’t do the plan. I know your conscious mind is telling you this, but if we were to listen to what else is true, and what we always find is that this person is in their shadow side, in this like closet part of themselves where all the rest of this stuff is, there are other goals that they are actually achieving. They’re just not conscious of them.
And so we have to uncover the unconscious goals that they are achieving and fulfilling at the expense of their conscious goals in order to help them make progress towards their conscious goals, competing goals. So it can get quite complex, but it’s always so interesting.
So, one great way to really make contact with a shadow self is to connect with a coach or therapist who understands how you’re operating, how we’re all operating on this level, and who can help you make contact with that part of yourself through questioning, through kind of shining a blind spot. Like, “I hear you say this and I see you do that. Help me understand the discrepancy.” So super annoying coaches and therapists ask those kinds of questions for better or for worse.
But in addition to that, there are some other great ways that you can begin to tap into some of this on your own. Dreams are a fabulous window into how we’re really thinking, feeling, and viewing the world on a deep level. And I am not talking about dreams like prophetic dreams or like magical dreams or I dreamt that I lost a tooth therefore it means XYZ.
Our dreams are always just a little window into the part of our mind that we are not fully conscious of during the waking hours. And so sometimes, dreams do not make any sense at all. Sometimes dreams are simply – our brains running through a little program that helps us synthesize and incorporate little bits of information. Part of the reason we sleep and dream is to kind of just literally clean and organize our brain.
And it is also true that when you pay attention to dreams, you can get information from a different part of yourself that may be worth listening to. So one great strategy to get in touch with your shadow side is to simply start keeping a dream journal. And it does not have to be anything complicated. It can simply be a notepad on the side of your bed or a little notes app that you keep on your phone. And first thing in the morning, just write down what you remember even if it was completely dumb, irrelevant. Not all dreams are significant, right? And some of them are. And again, maybe it’s not a specific dream, but patterns of dreams, or themes, or “I had that weird tornado dream again. What could that possibly mean?” Being able to do some exploration around that.
Another fabulous way of making contact with your shadow self is to observe what you do and just even write it down. Log it without judgment, condemnation, criticism or excuse. Just write down what you do, what you actually do. Because we all have intentions that are conscious. We all have reasons why we do the things that we do that are conscious. We have excuses. “I meant to go to the gym, but then you know, I got to be at work, blah, blah, blah.” So fine, like those are all well and good. And those are all your conscious mind telling you what it wants you to hear and what is available. But it is through our behaviors that we really get the truth.
So just begin to notice what you do and perhaps how that is different than what you intend. Again, over time, you can see patterns in your way of behavior that point to the existence of an aspect of your shadow self that you will need to get to know before you can have those behaviors be different.
Additionally, another great window into our shadow self is our reactions to other people, particularly the big ones – either really positive reactions or really negative reactions. But if you are aware of yourself and like, why do I have this feeling when I’m around this person? Or why did I snap at somebody in this situation? Or why did I feel this like, big feeling when this person did this or did that because it was a little bit out of maybe proportion to what the actual event warranted? What is going on with me right there?
Particularly in relationships with people that we’re close to that can come up – and not just with your romantic partner – sometimes with friends, very frequently with our family members – we can have interesting reactions that if we follow that thread all the way down can really illuminate some important things about patterns, shadow selves, and also particularly when it comes to reactions to your parents.
Part of their – let me say that differently. I was gonna say part of their messaging to you. But let’s just be fair. There can oftentimes be a difference in what particularly children think people are saying or think that people are wanting – that may or may not be true – because they are filtered through our very limited child minds. So your child-self may have received a message that a parent or authority figure may or may not have intended to send and it doesn’t matter because it was still incredibly true for that child and therefore true for you as an adult. But I just want to be fair to parents in this situation as well, because all kinds of things can happen in the space between a parent and child in close relationship with each other.
Now, in addition to these self observation practices that I’ve been sharing, including noticing your behaviors, noticing your reactions, you may also consider keeping an ear out for how you hear other people perceive you, particularly if those perceptions that other people have are different than your self-concept. And certainly, we want to limit this to only healthy, emotionally safe relationships, because you may also have relationships in your life with people, who perhaps due to unrestrained forces on their own shadow side, are unnecessarily hurtful, or critical, or condescending, or unloving towards you. And in those cases, it’s often a better strategy to set boundaries and protect ourselves from people who may not be in the best place themselves, as evidenced by their behaviors.
And if you also scroll through the people in your life that are close to you, you’ll probably also have friends and family – who you love and who you know love you and who are kind and good and treat you well – who also may share their impressions of you that are worth listening to.
And I don’t know what those may be. That’s obviously beyond this, the scope of a podcast. But if I were your therapist or coach, I might help you make a list of some of the things that you’ve heard over the years from people that you trust. Not that we have to agree with them, but just to log them. Because there might be useful information there that is easy for our conscious selves to reject out of hand as being wrong and well, “They just didn’t understand XYZ.” And we can explain away all kinds of stuff, doesn’t mean it’s still not there in the shadow side. So, there’s that.
And also, I want to say something. So I am giving you strategies to make contact with the shadow self around dreams, and noticing your reactions, and noticing your behaviors, and kind of how others might perceive you. In order to be ethical and appropriate here, I want to be very clear that where this is helpful to do on your own in the way that I’m describing is when your shadow self is kind of like the garden variety shadow self that everybody has, right? We all have aspects of ourselves, things that we’ve disowned, etc., that we need to engage with, and incorporate in order to grow and grow into the fullness of our potential.
It is also true that people who have been traumatized at points in their life, particularly early childhood trauma, can have dreams, super scary dreams, intrusive thoughts, incredibly intrusive feelings, or reactions that are extreme to people or situations that are quite mysterious to them. And they can feel, sometimes, out of control with their behaviors. Like they’re doing things that they don’t want to do, but they can’t stop doing them anyway.
It’s thought by some researchers in the field of substance use and substance disorders that to a person, everyone who has a profound and debilitating addiction or attachment to a substance is at least partially a cause of their efforts to protect themselves from the symptoms of often early childhood trauma or neglect.
And so, I just want to say this for the purpose of providing you with information to help you differentiate. Is my shadow self something that I can kind of like, get to know and like, hang out with and take information from? Or is there stuff in here that is trauma-based and that I really need to get help with in order to recover, because my experiences of what’s coming out of that shadow side are above and beyond what’s kind of normal and expected for everybody to have. What is coming out of the shadow side is actually a symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder that needs to be dealt with.
There’s a real difference there. And also, just if you’re listening to this, if you have someone in your life who has been traumatized and who may not fully be in control of themselves or have things that they are really working hard not to feel or deal with, just be sensitive to the fact that there might be a really good reason for that.
Not just that they can’t, it would be potentially even harmful to try to force them to go into that place and deal with those things on their own or through their conversations with you. They really need a very experienced, licensed mental health professional who is specifically trained in evidence-based forms of trauma recovery work. There are many out there: trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, EMDR has achieved good results. There are also kinds of exposure therapy that can be super helpful for trauma work.
And I just wanted to bring that up, because I would hate for anyone to hear what I’m saying on this podcast and be like, “Okay, cool. Shadow Work. Got to do that.” And unintentionally stumble into something that’s beyond the scope of this kind of self-help work that I’m describing.
Okay, that’s my disclaimer. Now, when you use these kinds of activities to do your shadow work, be aware of the fact that you are deliberately trying to make contact with something that you can’t see, that you are not fully aware of, and that there is a tendency as a result to avoid.
One of the key indicators that you are connecting with a really important motherlode of shadow self that is important to connect with is a feeling of discomfort and an immediate sort of knee jerk reaction. Like, I don’t want to talk about that. I don’t want to think about that. No, I feel bad about that. I don’t want that to be true.
Whenever I hear that, as a therapist, or coach, I think to myself, “All right. Like we’re getting somewhere.” And so just know that as you do the self exploration work, that can be one of your signs that you’re actually on the right track. And to practice in these moments, mindful self-compassion, and be very actively not judging yourself, not criticizing yourself, not shaming yourself, and really just practicing being like, “What if this is true?”
If that feels too hard to do, and you notice yourself just avoiding and avoiding things all over again, and it feels like it’s, like, too uncomfortable to stay in contact with, that could be an indication that it’s time to connect with a good life coach or therapist around that.
And then also a question that I often ask my clients and that I would encourage you to use on yourself is the question, “How does this make sense?” Which is the exact opposite of our tendency to criticize or shame ourselves. But when we encounter one of those sort of uncomfortable things, ask yourself, “How does this make sense?” And embrace that. Like, if I had to tell myself a story of why this made sense as opposed to like, me trying to make this not be true or feeling bad about it – why does it make sense? And that’s often the doorway to not just self-awareness, but a really deep self compassion and empathy for yourself that you do actually make sense. And there is a perfectly good and understandable reason why you do all the things you do.
And that if other people had lived through your life path – and we’re born into the world with your set of circumstances and dealt the hand that you were dealt – they would probably do exactly the same thing, that we are all a product of our life experiences. And so it’s okay.
And even if you encounter things that you don’t currently love, understanding why they make sense will empower you to then be able to say, I’ve been kind of doing this on autopilot. I haven’t fully known why I have done all of these things that I don’t love. It now makes sense to me. Here are the needs that I was subconsciously attempting to have met. Here is the unconscious narrative that has been going on in my head that led me to do the things I did and make the choices that I made. Or here are the messages that I internalized about who I should be that aren’t actually true for me. When I tap into my shadow self and listen to it compassionately, so it really just opens the door to so many, so many opportunities.
So I hope that this discussion has helped you just gain some insight into what this type of work involves and some strategies that you can use to begin to unearth these truths inside of yourself. Because the answers to all of the questions that you guys have been asking me lately, everything from “Why am I attracted to these partners who are emotionally unavailable over and over and over again?” Ask yourself the question, why does that make sense? And pay attention to the answer. To really ask yourself without shame, judgment or criticism.
Why do I lie to my partner? What is going on with me in those moments? I’m not fully aware of having a feeling or a thought, but I’m doing it for a reason. Why does that make sense? What am I obeying? What am I feeling that would lead me to do that?
And beginning to crack into that truth? Why did I or do I cheat on my spouse? My spouse would tell me it is because I’m a monster, and I am a terrible person. I don’t know if that might be true. But also, what is the reason why it makes sense for you to be doing that?
Again, these can be very challenging questions to grapple with on your own, particularly if you are aware of doing things or feeling things that you’re really unhappy with. And especially if you use some of these exercises that I shared with you today. And a true understanding of yourself feels elusive, that could be a sign that it’s worth getting involved with someone who can help kind of like, pull you in deeper to those parts of yourself in a safe way. There’s always a balance in growth work. Like it has to be somewhat challenging in order for it to be meaningful and effective, but it can’t be so challenging that it feels scary and like you’re really uncomfortable or emotionally unsafe with the person that you’re working with.
So always step number one is to establish a really positive and trusting relationship with a therapist or coach who can help you and make sure that you feel good with that person. And then slowly over time, allow them to assist you in peeling that onion, and getting deeper and deeper into these parts of yourself that need to be brought out into the light, so that they can be in your conscious awareness and dealt with intentionally and effectively.
Because when you do that, not only will you be happier with what you’re doing day to day, you’ll feel more in control of yourself. You’ll be doing things that are more in alignment with what you want. But there’s also the sense of like integration for the part of yourself that you’ve known about, but also this other part of yourself that maybe you haven’t known about, maybe you have kind of disowned, or rejected.
And in my experience doing this work with people, even though they’re a little like, “Oh, I don’t know what’s there. I’m not sure I wanna make contact with that.” Like when my clients do, they almost always move into this space of developing greater compassion and appreciation for themselves. And like a more compassion and appreciation for other people too, as a result of that work on understanding, and accepting themselves, and making sense of their own life story.
Also, through this kind of deep, deep Shadow Work, you can – believe it or not – attain greater emotional intelligence. Because in that shadow side, as we mentioned, are oftentimes the dark feelings or the challenging feelings that we have pushed away. And through that pushing away, we really sometimes do not know what to do with them when they come up in a constructive way.
And so, we are reactive, or we lash out, or we do weird things in the moment when we’re feeling emotional intensity, because we simply have not had the practice and the opportunity to learn skills of: What do I do when I start to feel mad? How do I have productive conversations with people without flying off the handle or not saying how I feel? Because that’s not helpful either. How do I manage stress and anxiety in productive ways? How do I stay in control of myself, even when I am going through something hard, and most importantly, how do I understand the presence of these emotions in others and use their expressions of emotion in order to help me understand them better, and have more meaningful and productive conversations and communication and connected relationships with them? It’s so important.
Another neat byproduct of this work is that when you do it, you will walk through the experience invariably of encountering some uncomfortable things about yourself that again, you need to embrace, and learn about, and appreciate, and accept. And in doing so, you will release any judgment towards yourself that you may be holding. You will feel more confident in yourself. You will feel higher self-esteem oftentimes.
And you will become – I wish there was another way to say this but I’m sure there is – you will become less judgmental of other people. Because you will come to understand that everyone, every single one of us is fighting these types of battles on the inside. And that when people perhaps don’t behave well – just like it was true for you – there’s a reason why it’s true for them, too. And you know, maybe they haven’t yet done all the work that you have done, but to hope that they will and understand that they have conflict inside themselves as well, as opposed to just kind of judging people harshly and casting them away as a result. Everyone makes sense.
So, again, I hope all of this has helped you and inspired you to begin to Shadow Work, either for yourself or with a coach or therapist. Again, I have prepared a worksheet like a little plan with some questions and activities to help you do some of this work on your own. Again, cruise on over to www.growingself.com/shadow-work to download your copy. You can print it out and write in it. And that in itself may be very, very useful for you. I hope it is. So again, if you have questions for me, or would like to follow up questions about Shadow Work, or would like to hear information about a different topic or other types of questions that you’ve been grappling with, I’d love to know about it so that I can make a podcast just for you. You can leave your comments on the blog at www.growingself.com. You can also get in touch with me on Facebook, Instagram, et cetera. And I look forward to hearing from you and to being with you again on the next episode of the Love, Happiness, and Success podcast.
Lisa Marie Bobby, PhD, LMFT, BCC PhD, LP, LMFT, BCC
Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby is the founder and clinical director of Growing Self. She is a licensed psychologist, a licensed marriage and family therapist, and a board-certified coach, as well as the author of “Exaholics: Breaking Your Addiction to Your Ex Love,” and the host of The Love, Happiness & Success Podcast.
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October 28, 2020 at 12:40 PM
In your
Shadow Side” podcast: When you said “Here were the needs I was subconciously attempting to have met.’ Can you give some examples of this? Examples make it much easier for me to access my own subconscious stuff.
Also the “How does this make sense?” If you give some real life examples of this it would be so great and so helpful!!
Also I would love a couple examples of this too: “HERE ARE THE NEEDS that I was subconsciously attempting to have met.” [Examples of these that one might have or that other people have indeed had.] THANKS SO MUCH for your GREAT WORK in this area!!
Ben says:
November 9, 2020 at 12:59 AM
I’m still exploring your podcasts and have found very interesting and helpful ones. Thank You!! When I remember to, I listen to podcasts at night when I wake up and cannot go back to sleep “most nights”. This one came at a time when I’m really questioning myself in the midst of making some major life changes that I know I need to make, must make and to some degree I know how to make them and now with COVID, i even have the time and opportunity to, but After getting off to what I thought was a good start I paused for a break and have not been able to get back into stride. I suspect it may well be the shadow self that’s causing issues and want to explore it now after listening to this podcast. I was just speaking to someone and commented., when did my life become so complicated.. This weekend should have been a happy weekend for me with the election results and hopefully removal of political stress but I found myself obsessing the entire weekend about something that happened over emails Friday at the end of the day at work that angered me. I’m guessing it has to do with this shadow self and after listening to this podcast I think it may be what’s holding me back in multiple areas of my life so now I’m on a quest to explore it: late in life but hopefully not too late to make a difference going forward. Thank You.. I can’t afford long term therapy but hopefully one day I can have at least have a few sessions with you once I target exactly what I need most to get the best benefit. Thanks Again for this and all of your podcast. I started with the one about sleep and it has helped me get back to sleep a couple of times. Your voice is really comforting and pleasant.
November 9, 2020 at 7:09 AM
Thank you so much for sharing Ben. I’m so glad to know that my podcast has been helpful to you. Makes my day. I hope you continue listening, and that you take advantage of all the free personal growth resources available for you here at GrowingSelf.com. They’re all for you! Wishing you all the best, Dr. Lisa
June 8, 2021 at 4:35 PM
Hi Rebecca! Thank you for listening, and these are great questions. And…. they are not for me, or anyone else to answer. I know it’s incredibly annoying for therapists to be vague sometimes, but it is in fact purposeful. It is creating space for you to think about (deeply, and with intention) think about what these things mean to you, and what your needs might be, without them being obscured by anyone else’s thoughts, feelings, or perspectives.
I will also add that with deep work like shadow work, it is not “informational” but rather “experiential.” While, by necessity, creating a podcast on the topic of shadow work must be informational, it is not actually shadow work. My sense is that you are feeling that too, and are really longing for the opportunity to do the experiential side of this work which is making contact with your internal truth. This is done through talking, journaling, etc. But often talking with a good therapist who can help you crack into the deep stuff (and shine a light on those blind spots you might not even know you have) is the most direct route.
I do hope that at a minimum you download the shadow work journaling exercises and other experiential activities I put together for you. But are you in therapy? If not, it sounds like it might provide you with some of the (self directed!) answers you’re seeking. Wishing you all the best on your continued journey of growth! xo, Dr. Lisa
August 29, 2022 at 5:09 PM
In your
Shadow Side” podcast: When you said “Here were the needs I was subconciously attempting to have met.’ Can you give some examples of this? Examples make it much easier for me to access my own subconscious stuff.
Also the “How does this make sense?” If you give some real life examples of this it would be so great and so helpful!!
Also I would love a couple examples of this too: “HERE ARE THE NEEDS that I was subconsciously attempting to have met.” [Examples of these that one might have or that other people have indeed had.] THANKS SO MUCH for your GREAT WORK in this area!!
Ben says:
August 29, 2022 at 5:09 PM
I’m still exploring your podcasts and have found very interesting and helpful ones. Thank You!! When I remember to, I listen to podcasts at night when I wake up and cannot go back to sleep “most nights”. This one came at a time when I’m really questioning myself in the midst of making some major life changes that I know I need to make, must make and to some degree I know how to make them and now with COVID, i even have the time and opportunity to, but After getting off to what I thought was a good start I paused for a break and have not been able to get back into stride. I suspect it may well be the shadow self that’s causing issues and want to explore it now after listening to this podcast. I was just speaking to someone and commented., when did my life become so complicated.. This weekend should have been a happy weekend for me with the election results and hopefully removal of political stress but I found myself obsessing the entire weekend about something that happened over emails Friday at the end of the day at work that angered me. I’m guessing it has to do with this shadow self and after listening to this podcast I think it may be what’s holding me back in multiple areas of my life so now I’m on a quest to explore it: late in life but hopefully not too late to make a difference going forward. Thank You.. I can’t afford long term therapy but hopefully one day I can have at least have a few sessions with you once I target exactly what I need most to get the best benefit. Thanks Again for this and all of your podcast. I started with the one about sleep and it has helped me get back to sleep a couple of times. Your voice is really comforting and pleasant.
August 29, 2022 at 5:09 PM
Thank you so much for sharing Ben. I’m so glad to know that my podcast has been helpful to you. Makes my day. I hope you continue listening, and that you take advantage of all the free personal growth resources available for you here at GrowingSelf.com. They’re all for you! Wishing you all the best, Dr. Lisa
August 29, 2022 at 5:09 PM
Hi Rebecca! Thank you for listening, and these are great questions. And…. they are not for me, or anyone else to answer. I know it’s incredibly annoying for therapists to be vague sometimes, but it is in fact purposeful. It is creating space for you to think about (deeply, and with intention) think about what these things mean to you, and what your needs might be, without them being obscured by anyone else’s thoughts, feelings, or perspectives.
I will also add that with deep work like shadow work, it is not “informational” but rather “experiential.” While, by necessity, creating a podcast on the topic of shadow work must be informational, it is not actually shadow work. My sense is that you are feeling that too, and are really longing for the opportunity to do the experiential side of this work which is making contact with your internal truth. This is done through talking, journaling, etc. But often talking with a good therapist who can help you crack into the deep stuff (and shine a light on those blind spots you might not even know you have) is the most direct route.
I do hope that at a minimum you download the shadow work journaling exercises and other experiential activities I put together for you. But are you in therapy? If not, it sounds like it might provide you with some of the (self directed!) answers you’re seeking. Wishing you all the best on your continued journey of growth! xo, Dr. Lisa
| 53,630 |
We left Grazalema on Friday to head for the Costa de Luz. On the evening before when the sun was going down we took a hike up to the dam that overlooks the town. And indeed ensures its' water supply.
It took about 30 minutes to reach the base of the dam then just a case of climbing the steps.
Behind the dam it was more tranquil and a fair few degrees cooler than down in the town - still pretty hot though even at 8 in the evening.
Looking back from the base of the dam to Grazalema. I will come back here again - probably earlier in the year so it will be possible to walk some of the treks in the surrounding mountains.Although I'm still miffed that we won't be here on Monday for the annual bull run (for someone who spends their life at the moment doing research I dropped off regarding this trip!) On Thursday evening (well the early hours of Friday) the fiesta leading up to the bull run commenced with the opening of the funfair. I had a little play using long exposure and rear curtain flash to record the movement. Might have done better had I not been consuming Rioja for most of the evening!
Bumper cars
16 July 14
Posted at 3:41
Arrived in Grazalema 24 hours ago. A very nice town situated in the centre of the Sierra de Grazalema nature park.
Grazalema - this is a view I took last night on the way up a tricky path to a deserted ruin of a Hermitage overlooking the town. More or less in the centre of the photo is the main municipal building and police station (three arches).
And above is my view of that same building as I sampled the local breakfast this morning. A few things have struck me since arriving and spending time wandering the streets and sampling everything that is on offer here. What strikes straight away is how clean and orderly the town is. Although something of a tourist destinantion this time of year the tourists are relatively few and predominantly Spanish. The town has its industries, wool and leather goods, honey and a few factories. There is little evidence of Spain's infamous unemployment here but there again a complete absence of employess anywhere who are not Spanish (unlike many of our towns). Another thing is the total absence of global/American chains - not a Starbucks, McDonalds or KFC in sight - how refreshing!! There are though a wealth of traditional local foods and beverages on offer - and if you don't like that you had best go 50 or so miles East to Marbella et al where you can savour Little England, Holland and Germany serving their own favourites under in the Spanish sunshine. Personally I'd prefer to hang around here.
An old lady sweeping her step earlier today - everyone here seems to have a pride in their town.
There are plenty of pet dogs around but no evidence of them left behind on the spotless streets (again refreshing).
The town is a striking example of many white housed towns perched in the mountains in the region. They are known as Pueblos Blancos.
Grazalema is famed for a number of ancient festivals. This bronze depicts one the Fiesta Del Carmen Y Lunes Del Toro De Cuerda. Which I believe translates loosely as Bull Running Monday and is held on the third Monday in July - which happens to be in five days time. The town is preparing for it now with steel gates ready to mark off the routes for three bull runs that will be held throughout that day. I am thinking of coming back here to witness it - will have to see. Well I'm off for a siesta now before venturing up the mountains to Zahara de la Sierra where I hope to find a large colony of Griffon Vultures to get some snaps of.
| 3,709 |
Dr. Yusef Salaam, one of the “Exonerated Five,” a group of teenagers wrongfully convicted for the 1998 rape and assault of Trisha Meili in Central Park, opened this week’s Common Hour with that question.
The roaring crowd before him quickly quieted. Salaam’s arrival was eagerly anticipated, but as he took the stage, the excitement surrounding his visit fell away, replaced with a more somber recognition of his far from glamorous journey here.
Salaam’s talk, titled “The Criminal (In)Justice System: Guilty Until Proven Innocent,” explored the effects of his false incarceration on his life and the ways he has coped with and overcome the experience. At first, Salaam spoke slowly, deliberately. He’d done seven years for a crime he didn’t commit. One of his best friends did thirteen. Hanging on his words, the Common Hour crowd sat with a sort of uncertainty and impatience perhaps reminiscent of Salaam’s own feelings throughout his ordeal.
But Salaam said at the time of the verdict, he was still hopeful. He still believed that truth would prevail- that it was the criminal justice system. He dove into a poem he’d delivered when he was asked that very first question. “I stand accused,” he repeated rhythmically amidst an articulate rant about the injustice of his accusation. It wasn’t until he finished that it became completely clear that those were the same words written in the court records that the then fifteen-year-old Salaam responded to the judge on the day of his sentencing, along with some words of one of his heroes, Malcolm X.
His “She-ro,” though, as Salaam put it, was his mom. She taught him about resistance: “the struggle.” As he stood stylishly dressed in a suit, scarf, and sunglasses, appearing triumphant over his trials, the messages she instilled in him were evident. Salaam seemed matured by his time in prison. As he put it, he did the time; he didn’t let the time do him.
The talk proved reflective, as Salaam recounted his career successes and spiritual revelations after the devastating conviction. An avid reader, both in prison and out, Salaam found solace in the stories of Joseph written in the Bible and the Quran- a figure who, too, was falsely accused of rape but prevailed free in the end. Eventually, his passion for knowledge led him to his gainful careers in technology, rather than in the painful cycle of recidivism. God has a plan for everyone, he asserted.
Faith predominated Salaam’s talk. In fact, it was the faith and atoning of Matias Reyes, Salaam said, that moved Reyes to confess to the crime in Central Park- ending the thirteen-year sentence of one of the five now exonerated. Salaam did explicitly denounce the racism inherently related to poverty and the prison industrial complex. But he went on to state rather matter-of-factly how the case of the Exonerated Five is about more than what most may think. Instead, he called it “a love story between God and His people.” Becoming free and the truth prevailing were emblematic of how a people could be brought low “only to rise.” Salaam encouraged gratitude to God for “the lessons and the blessings.” Falling down constantly is inevitable; getting back up one more time is essential. Drawing on the wisdom of “the great philosopher, Cardi B,” Salaam pronounced: Fall down 9 times, get up 10… Period.
Salaam, as perhaps many were surprised to find, maintains an optimistic, almost transcendent, perspective on institutions of oppression like racism and the criminal justice system. His advice for the college students before him? Live a full life, pursuing your dreams and ambitions. Underlying Salaam’s story was his defiant defence of the worth of his own life, of poor lives, black lives, or immigrant lives. He stressed the importance of refusing to submit to the toxic messages of systemic racism, affirming value where systems of injustice deny it.
Salaam’s activism flowed easily throughout his inspirational Common Hour talk, resonating among those closest to him in the audience. “Being born here in American doesn’t make you American,” he said, receiving a wave of snaps signaling support and agreement. He spoke out against the PTSD-inflicting family separation at the U.S.-Mexico Border, and he scrutinized the integrity of the 13th Amendment itself, which permits slavery even today. At the same time, Salaam maintained his humor, joking about his daughters, false advertising, and the President of the United States, a figure notoriously implicated in Salaam’s own condemnation.
Nearing the end of Common Hour, he had time to answer just one, but significant, question: How are institutions such as F&M complicit in the oppression of black and brown bodies?
He immediately reframed. “Think of it this way,” he started. While not appearing to want to understate the ways in which predominantly white institutions can alienate students of color, Salaam stayed committed to the bigger picture. “They want us in prison cells,” he said sternly. “Not college dormitories.” Placing the emphasis on doing well in school and encouraging other minoritized students to complete their college education, Salaam shifted the focus of the struggle from one of racial oppression to one of personal fulfillment. At the same time, voting, speaking out, and uniting for the interests of the oppressed are all invaluable for progress. What Salaam’s story ultimately demonstrated, though, as he finished referencing Gil Scott-Heron’s “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” is the intimate relationship between the personal and the political, the individual empowerment and the uplifting of a people.
“I know,” he admitted. “I am the revolution.”
Junior Nina Kegelman is a Staff Writer. Her email is [email protected].
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Matt and Jim visit the Flour City Brewers Festival and speak to some of the participating craft brewers. We also speak with the man himself, John Urlaub, asbout the sucess of the festival.
ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Matt and Jim visit the Flour City Brewers Festival and speak to some of the participating craft brewers. We also speak with the man himself, John Urlaub, asbout the sucess of the festival.
It's time to take your grilling skills to the next level. We will take you from grill disaster to grill master. So grab your tongues, your aprons and your pint glasses. Get ready to grill this with Matt Wilson and Jim Salmon. Well, I guess where we are. Are we in a proof festival? Yeah, we hire. We're at the rock city brew fest at the Public Market. Isn't just great? Look at all these people. It ISS jam packed here and we somehow got these visp pestles around our neck. Even know how we work that out. And, by the way, Jim Sammond here, along with the Great Matt Wilson, on Grill List. Now, I I got here about half an hour ago, so I've made one pass already. I've tried five stars, a hundred loggers and you know, I'm only drinking like a half in it. Yeah, I got you. So, yeah, so we got these great back. This is Batt Wilson and it's another road show for us. Now we're coming off of going to robots brewery and now we're at the event that robots put on. As the flower stay group was this is almost full capacity. It's really great today. It is. It's just there's people enjoying everything in there's every kind of craft beer that you could imagine and and who knew that there were this many craft breweries around the Rochester New York area? This is awesome. So we're right at the public market downtown Rochester. I les you walk. Just walked out of studio from my other job, Jim, but I just walked that, walked to took a cub right over here and there we go. Well, there's thousands of people here literally, and it's it's reasonable to it was like forty five dollars a check out and the IP, of course you and I have are seventy five, but it was. It's so cool. Yeah. So, so what are you tricking on right now? Actually? Well, I have a very sour from big ditch brewing actually, and we've tried some of the big ditch craft brewers on girl this over the years and sales managers over there. I happen to do his home inspection. So there's a connection there. Will get him and I grill this. It's pet test. So...
I'm looking at a big beer can wall right here. Shows you almost all the beers from all the thunders that are that are here and you can see it's filled up. So you can literally if this is if you're a person who's not tried craft beer, this is the event for you. Oh, absolutely. Now you and I got to get our pictures taken in front of those stylesand beer cans in Oh yeah, that's gonna happy. Right, yeah, that's gonna Happen. Well, Jim and I can do some more browsing. We'll be back in a moment. This is girl. This on I heart radio, spotify. Where you are to podcast, Jim. Should we seple some more? I think we should. We will be right back. Hey, Jim Samon with Matt Wilson's the girl this podcast. And I know what my buddy cry does. Chris Allry, Buddy, I'm doing fantastics. Good to see you, mat see it too. So how many beer fustivals have you been able to a send since this whole pandemic thing? This is my first one in two years. Last one was this one two years ago. The people, look at all the people. I mean it's it's so amazing. It's so good to see everybody out here again and and a beautiful night. Let's Fantastica what are you poring over here? So tonight we've got our October fest. Then we have a brand new IPA called Saber Tooth Tiger. So just came out. So now, if you could explain the flavor profile of Saber Tooth Tiger, what would you what would you said? So it's a new thing in style IPA, really low and bitterness. It's a it's a IPA, but base IPA is brewed with Asaka and Centra hops, some really nice tropical fruit notes and then the Sabro hops, double dry hops for those guys, gives a really nice herbal component to it. So what is Naked Dove's best beer? I mean, what do you want? What's the what's the most popular beer you guys have? So this time of year our October fest takes over as our number one selling beer. But other than that are amberrel actually is our number one seller throughout the year. Went bowing amber right quickly. Tell everybody where naked dove is. So we're in Canada. Wea Right on five hundred and twenty on the east side of town.
00:04:02 - 00:06:00
Let's look. Last question. Do you do Pumpkin Beers? That is one line that we have not crossed yet, but just all wants. Chris will be back over the later on. Well, I'm back here with Jim. Jim, we just got beers from a ronic way brewing. What are we trinking on right now? Well, it's called buried alive. It's a fruit sour explodes with blackberries, boys and berries and blueberries set a top, a pleasantly tart neck drop with an alcohol at four point nine. It's awesome. I love it. I think it's delicious. It's very drinkable some nice warm day. This, I think this goes perfect with it's kind of weather. Yeah, it's it's I mean some are still going. Let's not give up on it. Right, and sours are summer, so that's great. Around quite beer company, I'm guessing, is in Aronticoit. Yes, now this is one of the ones I have not visited yet. This is one of the First Beers I've had from wrong quick growing company, to be honest with you. Well, ironically, brewing companies at seven hundred and sixty five tightest avenue in Rochester and they have all kinds of beers and specialty is this great sour. So if you get a chance, stop in. We're at the Rock City Brook Prest, by the way, and they're one of the I don't know, hundred or eighty or whatever it is here. There's a ton of breweries there, buddy, and you can hear the live music in the background. It's like a big summer party right now. Yeah, Grill this boy I got. This is so cool. I mean, why aren't we millionaires by now? Because people haven't gone to spotify. I heartcom, where we get your podcast. Listen to girl thiscom and follow it and seek it out and do whatever else you do on social media. Come on, grill iscom. All right, we'll be back where in a sepple some more. Hey, we're here at Witchcraft Bruise, here at the Rock City broocast. Jim Salmon here along with Matt Wilson. The grilled, this podcast where every...
00:06:01 - 00:08:03
...week week grill something and we talk Craft Beers and whatever. We're here with Jesse Steeves. Tell us about this gator goose. This is a really, really good hey, I'm glad you like it. So it's a exact gator GOESA as a name. So it's a sports drink goza. I think with the name you can kind of imply which sports drink we may have used for trademark reasons. We can go ahead and we won't say it on the PODCAST. Yeah, we won't. We won't say it, but I think we kind of know what drink it is. But we just essentially took a base Goza and then we added forty five pounds of this sports drink to it. We kind of want to have a little fun. Figure it's going to be a hot day out here. People kind of want something that seems a little refreshing. And you know what's more refreshing? This sports shrinks and Beers. So our are there a Lectra lights of this beer? Also, say that again. Are there a electro lights to this beer? Also? Yeah, if we use it. So it's to see that it'll hydrate. You you know, they see Beers hydrating, but not this one now. But yeah, we so we had fun with it. We just kind of took a Goza base and there in a bunch of sports drink and kind of want to have something a little fun, maybe something that you won't see at every booth here. You know, some people might live it, some people might hate it. It is what it is. But we had fun making it. Well, we both tried it and we really like it. It's a Sour Ale with sports drink mix and it's seven five, seven point five percent alcohol and we love it because of that. So it's a win. Yeah. So, I mean our goes a base probably gave us around five percent. I typically when you fruit a Goza you add a bunch of fruit, but that has water in it, right. It dilutes it, so you kind of get a lower ABV. We added pure sugar from the sports drink. So it the yeast loved it. A date it up and gave us another few alcohol percentage points on that one. All right. So where is witchcraft? Where are we? People want to come and sit on and yere. So we're really small. Three barrel system, one thousand nine hundred Empire Boulevard.
00:08:03 - 00:10:01
So that's in Webster Baitsoun Plaza specifically. So we're kind of an unassuming spot, kind of tucked away into a plaza next to a few gyms in a pizzeria. But if you make your way out to us, once you get inside, you realize it's a really cool spot. We gotta indoor food truck and we got, I guess had three barrel systems. Are Really Small. Everything we're making his small scale, but we have fun with it and essentially don't distribute, with the exception of like one or two places. So really the only place you can find is coming into the brewery's us. What the stalk bothers sometimes? Yeah, absolutely, a road trip for grilled this. Oh, by the way, you can get grilled this on Iheart, spotify and wherever you get your podcast, right, Matthew let's rout, and also the severn res couble hooker shows a Bible. Now we're back soon. Roll this. Hey everybody, Jim Sammon, along with Matt Wilson. We're here at the Rock City brewfest at public market downtown Rochester. What a great event, packed with people all over the place. We're at the New York beer project both and we're here with and Elford. All right, ben what what is this all about? It so the two beers that we brought today is our West Coast Ipa and also our Vienna logger. So the Vienna logger is a more traditional style German logger. The West Coast is a little bit of a throwback to two thousand and five, two thousand and six. Whenever people are trying to get as much hops as possible into every beer. New York Beer project itself we have two locations, one in Buffalo one in Victor New York. We have a larger brewing system out in buffalo then we have a smaller one out here in Rochester. So how long have you been doing this? Personally, I have been. I was a home rower for about...
00:10:01 - 00:12:00
...nine years before I went pro then I was I've been a brewer for about five years. What do you love about this? I mean, you get up. Are you one of these people that you know when you go to work you don't work a day in your life? TYPE OF DEAL? Is that as a you're living a dreamer one. Yeah, for the most part. About five years ago I was working in insurance. So you know, I have no complaints at this point. What I like about is it's a combination of basically like cooking and science. So it's a nice combination, you know, using your brain and also using your ideas of how to make things taste good. So any problems with the supply chain and hops and stuff? I mean what's been going on with a virus over the past year and a half with you guys? Yeah, I mean it. There's definitely been some issues in terms of supply for our our raw materials. Our bigger brewing location out and buffalo has been hit a little bit harder than us here in Rochester because they're the ones that are reproducing our flagships and things like that. I usually do five to ten barrel one off, so it doesn't hurt me quite as much. So where are you local located here in Rochester. So we are in Victor, New York, so right outside of Rochester. Now do you guys do like the whole look, first apple here, there's outdoor music, the food trucks is all that stuff. Do you guys incorporate that with you're with your brewery? So our Brew House actually has a gigantic restaurant as well. So we have a massive restaurant location. That's also you know, then we brew all of our own beer as well. So it's a nice spots to stop by. That's been from the New York the beer project. This is great. Thank you for taking the time. I know you're busy. Will let you get back slowly. Cheers. Guys, look just so much. Juf Sam and Matt Wilson. Roll this all right. We're here...
...at what are you called the concession booth paracter Roxady Brooke. AST RIGHT DRINK NEW YORK Association. WHOOFS? All right, so whatso I see there's a bunch of cool things, your t shirts, hoodies. Now what sold the website throat New York York. Your was it about? Did you just play to us? Th Drink New York is the consumer facing campaign for the New York State Brewers Association. We are nonprofit organization that Supports The New York State Craft Beer Age, New York state craft your industry through legislative support, education, promotion, advocacy been we're here today just spreading the word, promoting our New York state craft beer APP, which is free and has a map of every brewery in the state and so on. Some sweet New York state craft beer gear. So there's Matt there's t shirts, hats, mugs, all kinds of cool stuff. Is Really Cool. So how Has New York State been as bars craft breweries and your opinion? Oh, I think we are easily one of where, I think personally, where the best craft beer stay in the country. We're actually number two in number of braries in the country, right behind California. There's over four hundred and eighty license braries in New York State. That's awesome. Well, thank you very much taking time out of your schedule. We appreciate that. Now just look up. Here we go. If you could tell everyone the website they can go to if they want to look up there permission and find the nearest craft brewers to them. Yes, if you want to find craft breweres and learn more about everything near stay craft beer. Visit ww dot think and why drink and wycom. All right, thank you so much. Jim's An and Matt Wilson Hair grow less while we right back. All right, we're back. This is grill as Jim Standon. Matt Wilson. Guess WHO WE HAVE MATT? Oh my God,...
...she's our frequent flyer, one of our best friends in our podcast. That we have in a puppet tour and a beer festible bigger. It's good world. I'm so excited to see these boys here this see you like the happiest verst in the world. How are you guys? So what do you think of this whole deal though? Rock city roofs amazing. Everyone's vibe is amazing, the music's jam in, the beers flowing like. I love the set up. You know, I'm sitting here dissect everything. It is so good all around and I just love it. I'm so happy to be here and see my God, it well, I'll tell you, I'll be honest. I ask you. Looked at the footage from your possible. You're my girlfik. You just very well. You are the first one that good at this year. How's it feel to be able to because you see the numbers are going to get a little bad of him and hold it? You may be, you know, things might be folding. You might have beat that, that time frame where we could have us as a pullin. Know that you've got it in this year. I can't even explain the feeling. I mean seriously, there's this big sense of relief, but then you know how I am like right back at it, but it's so good to know that we did it. Everyone has wonderful feedback. We brought in twelve hundred people. Like I'm still blown away the the love, the beer flow. We had some of the top borees in the seat. They're like it was a it's just amazing. It's amazing, amazing, amazing. Thank you. Thank you, Ka. I just love you guys so much. You know, mad I was just doing a little senses here and there's about fifty percent girls here. Oh, I know, they've all been stobbing. I have my drink like a girl swag going here, like my God, I love your shirt. I'm like no, I love you and we've been talking and passing cars and I'm just just love this of it. Now, Jim and I both were very said I couldn't make it to the yours because I had my daughter's graduation party. So I'm very sad, but Jim and I made,...
...we did a promise. Will be there for next one. We promise. May Be sewing your barbecue. Yes, we can do that. I promise you. I will do that right. I am going to be trying to do like a like that really like to do. I like the barbecue. Are we serious right now? Do I like it? Do you remember our first meet? Do you remember? I couldn't talk during remember, because I was smacking my lips on that rib yea, and man, I'm looking at you like you're not gonna eat all of that out. You want to be honest? I like so. I'm when I first met Jim, I already liked him then when he fled me. I like to be before, because he who meets too. Oh, this is great. where? At the Rock City, Brook prest at the Public Market Downtown Rochester. Jim Sammon, Matt Wilson and our best friend on grill this, Kelly, you'll boiled drink like a girl. Thank you. Thank you. Before I go, Kelly, so far out of all the beers you've tried, you normally you're noman asking wish one was your top five? How about that? HMM, top ten. This is im say. I'm not going to name tops, but I will say there's a and you guys are going to take this is crazy. It's a CIDER. Did you try the CIDER smoothie like more Talis has, but insider version tried that. We'll have to check that out. That's right over here. Did you know this existence? No, I didn't till today, all right, and that is embark M Bark cidery. So check them out. It's insane. They're taking in turning. This is one of their first ones. They've done too then in travel. Go before that, Dude. It's solid and they're just going to make it better and better. To go and joy that boy. All right, we're on it. All right. Thank you, Kelly. It's Jim Sinnett, Wilson Groll, this will be right back. That all right. Matt Wilson and Jim Samon and...
...what's your name? Sir Kadan Davis. All right here. Know, where are you from? Where you work? Who Do you work with? In Bark past sider works and Williamson New York. So what are we sampling today? So you're going to get like twenty drops of very nice. All right, really awfully so. So this is like a hears, like a let's make it work to a CIDER smoothie. Yeah, absolutely, CIDER smoothie, boys, marry blackberry and Raspberry. Very nice. Look how thick that is. Give it a try right here. Oh yeah, he's tipping it. Oh my God, look at them. That is insane, my friend. That's insane. One's going so well. We're very, very patient here on Grill List and we're waiting. We're at MBAR CRAFT CIDER works, right here at the Rock City brokest Jim's Hannon, along with Matt Wilson. You can get the grill this podcast on, Iheart, spotify and wherever. And while he's pouring. Keep going and wherever you get your podcast, this is great. Hey, Jim's annon, along with Matt Wilson, were at the Rock City Brew Fest on at the Public Market and we're hair with the godfather of crap rowing, Rochester, John Airline by buddy. Hey, thanks for coming, guys, we appreciate that. I couldn't miss this. This is one of the best festivals I've been to. I've told you that I've come to one of your first ones here. Used to do it in the area, work out from city in those bars would be back in the day and in the high balls area, and now you're out here at the public market. This is still one of the biggest, one of the best proof festivals in the city. How are you managed to keep getting the interests to getting and you sold down immediately in these hut how do you spark so much interested in his festivals? You know, honestly, and you guys are here, you...
...can look around and see it. First of all, the market is built for a tasting event. It is just a perfect spot. It's right in the city, it's easy to get you lots of parking, but honestly, there's so many new breweries and cramp. Beer is still increasing demand and people are just really into it. They love the festivals and I can tell you from our standpoint we always take a long term attitude, making sure the lines aren't too long. Why are you rushrooms? All the important things with the festival, good food and people just want to come back every year. So we're really, really lucky and we're great to really, really happy to be at the market now. You didn't have this last year, right, and this year, I mean all the things going on with the virus and whatever. It's well attended and and you know I mean you're really hammering at it. It's great. Yeah, we kept the attendance down a little this year just to be safe, and the Nice thing is it's an outdoor event, so we feel pretty safe about and we're following all the guidelines and stuff. But I think people are real happy to get back to form a little bit of normalcy and it's fun specially at a beer fest. I will say this is Jim early or when you walk it or even though it's a scale out of event, it does have that normal feel. You're outside, you're mingling, you see all these great broo vendors and beer makers. Now the question I want to ask you is you see how covid is kind of ramping up again and things again. Are you nervous about what's going to happen in the future? Are you still it's going to go full speed to have what what you're doing? Well, you know, we're going to whatever happens, happens. Nobody knows the future. We always remain very optimistic. You know, if we have to mask again, will mask again. Will do whatever it takes to get past this. But I don't see us closing businesses down. At least I don't see it. You know, things could change, but right now they keeps open. Whatever guidelines they give his will follow them and just keep trudging along till we get past us. You know, Matt and I've been here for a couple hours and we've had some of the amazing beers, all kinds of different things, but we're about to go there and get my favorite beer, which, of course, is rouer box of Scott jail. So thank you so much, buddy. Appreciate Jim, you're a man...
...of good taste. So, John, one last question I want to ask you. What about this festival will stand out? This year because, like you said, you had to scale it down, you have to do a couple things, have to cut some curbs to make it work this year. So what's going to make the stand out the comparison with to all the other vessels you've done all over the years? Well, honestly, Matt, that's a great question, you know. To me the first thing it comes to line is just we did it and honestly, even a week ago, as things were starting to not look so good, we weren't so sure and we had different plans in the beginning, but we about two months ago, eather, let's just do the normal one, a little bit smaller but the same way, and the fact that we pulled it off is a great thing. And next year big and better than ever. And might I be so brave as to say, next year, when the VIP tickets come out, get on that right away. That was a quick cello. I'm very impressed John. Once again, fantastic job. I always love coming as Brew Festivals and obviously will see you soon, I'm pretty sure. Yeah, it sounds great, guys. Thanks for being here and enjoy the rest of the fast. Jim Salmon, Matt Wilson, this is the grill this podcast growing craft brew. We're at the Rock Sidy Brew Fest Right here at the Public Market Downtown Rochester. Will be back a little bit. Hey, everybody, jims Hammond and Matt Wilson, guess where we are? Y Up, we're still at the Rock City broomfest downtown Rochester, New York, at the public market and we're here at the lake drum table and we're with Louie Louie, who were pleasing to meet Your Mountain Super I. I. We've been doing a lot of Craft Beers and we love the Craft Beers. The cool thing that we see what you do with cider. Can you tell us about what you're doing with the CIDER here? Really? So this is a totsy spruce cider. So in the process of fermentation we actually took some of spruce tips and added that to our fermentation to really give it a nice spruce flavor and background and then when you drink it's nice and clean and not too much residual sugar and...
...just finishes on the Palette Really, really nice with that pine finish. Now, do you use a particular kind of apple or what do I mean? What? How do you make that decision. So typically for our apples it comes on basically what we're looking for. We'll, you will try the juice at the apples and kind of think what it's going to taste like after fermentation. For this specific cider we use, I'd a red apples and they just are really nice and compliment the flavor of the pine really well. So how long does it take from the time that you get the apple juice or squish it or whatever you do there, until it becomes clider? It really depends on what the end goal is. If we want just a nice, simple, clean cider, you know, we could typically crank one of those oute a month and a half. Something that we're trying to really develop flavors and stuff into, you know, will slow down to the fermentation and let it go a little bit longer. So of course I want to ask you is what made you want us, you know, because your Brew Beers already. What made you want to do cliders also? So we kind of just want to stick out and be a little bit different from everybody else said at the end of the day, and we really feel like we do our cider making very well. So we're going to try to keep that bad it. We're having a Tulsa Spruce cider from like drum it to five point nine alcohol. It's excellent. Thank you for taking the time little we appreciate absolutely. Thank you very much each other. So evening. All Right, Matt Wilson, Jim Salmon grow this will be right back. All rights. Ben Wilson here with the girl this podcast and I'm here with OSP CIDER works. Now we're at the flower free profess. The thing that I love about this, as you guys are all women. So in a male Donner Field Husle, that's a gill. Have a product out here in the proofess for everyone to try and see. Women killed it right now. It's really great. The owner of this company is female. She's a single proprietor. She's filled this company...
...for five years and she like pries uself and hiring that ass women to like own our product. It's really great. We fit in. We roll with the punches in this mail dominant industry. Yeah, so what made you want to get into this industry? I mean I just genuinely have a love for craft here and I was a tourism major, so like the hospitality part of it from a customer standpoint and then I got into cider based off of police, based off the owner of this company. So so what another question one asked as a whole. hows industry been towards you, as there the been cooler? You have some challenges? or I mean, yeah, like we I mean, all in all the industry has been fair to us. I think it's because we we come in hard, hated and strong, like we come in in Selpha's, and we're not trying to like trying to get pushed around at all. But I you know, I have seen those challenges within other females in this industry, is bartenders and his owners. But it's coming around, it really is. And this, this city, Rochester, like this is a family. This whole industry is a family. So that was your last how us New York stick to to you overall? That's because I know for craft brewers at people love this date because they're very good for craft brewers. So for you, how is the state treated you state? It's been great. I mean, honestly, it was tough with the mandates and all of that, but we work through it, you know, just like everybody else did, and I think that would like with the change of how people go out and how people patron breweries of actually had like a up an uprising sales and all of that. Last question as far as this hold pandemicals, because obviously there was an issue with the pandemic. The things kind of open back up and now we see things maybe going on in a bad direction. How has it been for you? It's been good for us. So for us O, our main brewery is in Livingston County, which is a more rural community in New York state, so we haven't been hit so hard,...
...but our buffalo location has had a completely different situation. So, you know, we're literally just roll with the bunches. We'll see what happens. We just got it, just got a roll of it this well, I preach your topic of Muscroll. This podcast will talk to you suit well. Okay, Jim Sammon and Matt Weilson, here's all last interview of the night at the rocks city brew fast here at the Public Market Downtown Rochester, New York. All Right, Matt, who we with now? This is my buddy nick. He's worth the rock brewing. I'm known nick for a few years more. You you know, I tell you how much local half our service industry. I was a part of it myself, so is my buddy nick nick. What is going on, man? Well, since you're here, everything good, man, everything good. It's always it's great to see Soo. So what is it? So, number one, what do we have today here at the fallerty proofest? All right, so, the new two normal beers that we brought. We brought our scrumtrelescent calls and are Super Tasty and surprisingly light sworts beer. But what what we want to give you right now is our ten year anniversary barrel aged imperial stown. Now, so tell us what makes us ten number one? Ten years a long time. So that's great. Where is special? What's witch stands out about this beer? Well, it was a huge beer. took a long it took it took a while to make. It was a very intensive brewing process. We aged it for a very long time and a lot of luck involved to it came out really well. So all right, well, Jim, I'm gonna try this right now. There, here we go, live on grill this let Jim, here we go. That is insane. God, that's awesome. That is delicious. Dude it yes, I'M gonna go right to sleep. This is excellent. This is one of the better was up out of...
...the evening. This is fantastic. You make me blost me. So if everyone wants to come see you, gentlemen, where's your location working? They find you, what do you do? Let everyone know? Well, Shit, we're right down the street, Fifty six South Union Street, rock brewing. Yeah, I don't want to stay it. We still get a few of these left. We got a bunch of rotating beers on tab that we all make an house. We tell yousome. Now, when we first walked over here, all three of these guys were making a lot of noise, let's say, if we can get him to do it again. All Right, guys, I'm a coming to count three ready. One, two, three, rock bowing, Matt Elson, Jim Salmon here, and this is the end of the Rock City Group. Jeff, I had something so much fun. I want on the road doing these things. Will do one another. One suit. Yep, you can get the grill as podcast on Iheart, on spotify and wherever you get your podcast. Do you know that follow us? Go directly behind us or however the hell that all work? You know we're on it. We're all where, everywhere, and we're out and we'll talk to him next time. Girl, this Matt Wilson, Jip Salmon will see you. Look Sun.
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In this Episode, Wild Alaskan Fish is on the menu! Jim and Matt speak with the founder of Sena Sea Foods, Sena Wheeler. Sena operates outside of Seattle Washington and has a masters degree in Nutrition and Food Science Her company, Sena Sea Seafoods ships fresh, never-farmed fish straight from the waters of Alaska all across the country. Jim opens up a sample package and uses one of the recipes found on her website, senasea.com, to prepare some Potato Crusted Salmon in a Beurre Blanc sauce! Of course, Matt brings some amazing craft beers to sample as well. Listen to Sena's story and find out how the fish that Jim prepared turned out!
Jim and Matt hit up the NYS Brewers Festival in Buffalo Grill This style. The guys speak to organizers, brewers, festival patrons like Meg from Southern Tier Brewing, Matt and Emily from 12 Gates Brewing, Josh from Westshore brewing; Festival Patrons like Gary and the Hammer, John from Maryland and Homebrewers Jeff and Cindy; and festival organizers like Chloe and Executive Director Paul Leon. They also speak to the ticket winners of the Grill This giveaway Luke and Sherri! These are only some of the great folks Matt and Jim chat with. Check it out!
Matt and Jim indulge in a summer time favorite, Chicago Style Hot Dogs. Also, they boys sample more craft beers perfect for the summer. They answer the question which grill is better the Kamado Joe or the Big Green Egg, and the Grill This! crew gears up for the NYS Craft Brewers Fest in Buffalo on June 25th!
Beef Ribs and Grill Lights
Jim and Matt are back at it again with great food and beer. The boys feast on smoked beef ribs covered in the Jim's homemade cherry bourbon BBQ sauce featured on the Salmon Ranch Cowboy Cooking Show. Matt brings some more beers perfect for summertime. And, the Grill This crew are joined by Steve and Tricia LaBuzetta from Tipsee Light Company (https://griponlights.com/) who have invented lights designed to attach to grilling tools.
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A 1-on-1 breathwork session is the surest way to ignite a new sense of direction, gain insight into life-path challenges, find calm from the stresses of life, ease relationship tension, and supplement your healing journey.
What you'll get:
75 minutes of focused 1-on-1 attention with Joey Hauss.
You'll explore proper breathing mechanics and dive deep into techniques that will help you calm your unique nervous system, boost your immune system, and build a powerful mindset.
Breathwork techniques may include, but are not limited to:
Upon purchase, you will schedule your 1-on-1 at your convenience.
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Looking to schedule multiple sessions? Embark on a twenty-four-session 1-on-1 journey. Learn more, here.
What People Are Saying:
I thought I knew a thing or two about breathwork. Joey, your knowledge and presence and how you articulated the biomechanics and effects of breathing and cold immersion is unmatched. I had such an emotionally and energetically pivotal shift because of your guidance and knowledge.
I am so grateful that you are doing this. What a gift.
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Joey has a special way of gently bringing you out of your comfort zone through your own controlled breath with his expert guidance. As a participant who was terrified of both Breathwork and Ice Baths, I can say that I am beyond grateful for these experiences and for Joey’s ability to professionally and compassionately guide me through these life-changing sessions.
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The Breathing Method is like a drug to experience inner bliss. The ice bath is a way to break my boundaries. Joey Hauss has helped me go beyond my fear of the cold. Thank you.
After being discharged from the military I have struggled severely with controlling my temper and unrealistic thought patterns that have resulted in many disruptions in my life. The first time I did breath work with Joey Hauss I instantly noticed that I could recognize the mentation and emotions that would lead me on the path of not being able to control my temper. I also noticed my mind would not tend to race as much as I continued to engage in the breathwork in the weeks to come and the enjoyment of a calm mind for the first time in years is priceless. I have also implemented the breathing techniques under extreme stressful situations. This has resulted in success with being able to better control my emotions and the ability to fully understand them and their correlation to the triggers that have often resulted in the past with such extreme tension that my entire day would go down the drain. Thank you so much Joey. I’m truly grateful for the help and love you share. Aloha from the bottom of my heart.
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Never before have we understood so much about the benefits of nature for our kids, and its importance in their lives. As more research piles up to help us understand the vital role of nature in childhood, there are still many popular misconceptions about the outdoors and its role in a child's life. Here, we round up some of those myths and hope to set the record straight.
1. Kids are more active in the summer
With its easy, breezy days and ample time for active play, it would make sense that summer is a more active period in a child’s life. After all, during the school day, kids are busy, well, learning. But not according to research that looked at physical fitness in kids in summer versus the school year. In one extensive study, researchers noted that overweight and obese children experienced increased weight gain during the summer. Sadly, studies demonstrated that school year fitness improvements were lost during the summer and that physical activity declined across the summer.
"Data actually shows kids tend to have more sedentary time and less structured physical activity. There's also data that says kids' weight goes up over the summer," said Dr. Aaron Carrel, a pediatrician and the director of the UW Health Pediatric Fitness Clinic, in an interview with NBC News.
Dr. Carrel summed it up by a reminder that summertime equals a little bit more boredom, a lot more eating, and too much screen time.
2. Rural kids get more outdoor time.
The fresh air and surrounding nature surely make rural kids immune to nature deficit disorder. But according to a study, rural children are spending more time in front of screens than in nature. The researchers surveyed 543 sixth- to eighth-grade students across rural South Carolina and found that screen time was higher than outdoor time for almost every demographic group that the researchers examined. Students who reported increased screen time tended to also report lower levels of connectedness to nature.
Ain’t nothing like the real thing when it comes to nature. But of the many benefits known from spending time in nature (better learning, a calmer mind, reduced stress, sense of environmental stewardship, enhanced wellbeing) does nature from a secondary source such as screens, a view, books, videos, apps, offer the same effects? Interestingly, sometimes it does. According to a round-up of studies looking at the topic of “second-hand nature” from the Children & Nature Network, second-hand nature can be helpful in a variety of situations.
For example, literature that focuses on the beauty and wonder of nature can help young children develop an understanding and appreciation of the natural world and provide a firm foundation for the development of environmentally responsive individuals and the establishment of a more sustainable society. And images of nature in different forms of art and depictions of nature in children’s literature can promote understanding and appreciation of the natural environment as well as promote children’s health and well-being.
It’s a good thing that the research is seeing the benefits of indirect experiences with nature as this way of accessing nature is becoming even more prevalent. Questionnaires completed by over 750 children showed that they had more indirect experiences with nature than direct experiences. Results also showed that both vicarious activities (e.g., watching nature programs) and observation activities (e.g., bird watching) were statistically significant predictors of connectedness to nature.
Well...this study might be a shocker. But a University of Chicago-led study looked at how kids develop a relationship with the outdoors. It found that while adults prefer nature to more developed or controlled environments, kids don’t. Kids actually prefer cities. So when your kids tell you they don’t like hikes, there could be some truth behind it. Naturally, we think that a child's relationship and perception of nature can only be improved by positive outdoor experiences. And many of them.
5. Kids are more active on weekends and holidays.
Sitting at desks for the majority of the day, school isn't a very active day for most kids. For sure our kids are more active on weekends or holidays when they are home. Alas, no. A study of the activity level of grade 5 students at 60 schools across Alberta, Canada observed that children are more active on school days than on weekends and holidays when the weather turns bad.
A number of factors likely contribute to the trend: electronics, overscheduled kids, less active lifestyles. But one UK study uncovered some interesting information. In a survey of British parents, over half reported that they do not think they are fit enough to play actively with their kids during the summer holidays. The survey found that 65% of parents are worried they won’t keep up with their kids over the 6-week break, suffering from “fitness anxiety”.
6. Play is play. It doesn’t matter where it takes place.
When it comes to play, getting kids to be active is all that matters. Of course, we would never discourage fun, creative, imaginative, active play. But a look at the research comparing indoor versus outdoor play does seem to favor outdoor play. A range of reasons is at “play” here starting with the fact that outdoor play tends to get kids moving more. One study noted an increase in moderate to vigorous physical activity (from 1% to 11%) was seen with outdoor time in childcare settings versus indoors. And when outdoor play was child-led, the amount increased to 17%.
7. Nature is most beneficial when it’s big and impressive.
Between family bonding, lessons in self-reliance and physical challenges, a summer whitewater rafting adventure or backwoods camping trip is likely an experience your family will never forget. But it doesn’t take a stockpile of gear from REI or the best rated outdoor app to get some of the purest and most needed benefits of the outdoors for you and your kids. Your outdoor family time can be as simple as taking a walk outdoors with your kids. And while you can certainly head out to the nearest park, you can simply take a walk in your neighborhood. Really, all you need is a sidewalk or a safe path to walk on and some nature along the way.
8. Kids are more likely to get hurt outside.
As much as we want to protect our children from every scrape and injury, some experts say that keeping kids safe actually means letting them take risks. Many experts say that outdoor play, in fact, risky play, is a necessary element of childhood. They say risky play helps children learn, build resilience and confidence. Like the old adage, you learn from your mistakes. Without bumps and bruises, how will children learn how to control their bodies or test the limits of their physical abilities.
9. No need to worry about getting older kids out in nature.
Older kids should have a lifelong nature connection from their early childhood experiences. No need to put the effort into getting them out in nature. Big misconception. Unstructured free outdoor play tends to drop off for preteens and teens likely due to the invasion of electronic devices in a tween or teens life. When researchers from the University of Derby, the University of Exeter, Natural England, Historic England, the National Trust, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and The Wildlife Trusts looked at nature connection in older kids, they found that young people’s connection to nature drops sharply from the age of 11 and doesn’t recover until they are 30. So get those tweens and teens out there!
Get your child’s winter gear ready. The fact is that winter play can offer your child a bunch of benefits that summer play can’t compare to. And as long as you are smart about winter play by watching the weather conditions carefully and dressing your child properly, your child can have a blast in the cold.
11. Parents want kids to learn inside.
Even though the benefits of outdoor learning for children of all ages are well known, very few schools take advantage of the outdoors as a learning space. Many reasons may lie beneath but parental buy-in shouldn’t be one of them. One study looked at parents’ and teachers’ perspectives of the benets of outdoor time for children. It found that parents considered the outdoor environment equal to the indoor classroom in terms of providing an eective environment for learning. In fact, three-quarters of parents believed that their children “always” or “often” learn equally well in either environment. However, parents said that they “consider both environments equally benecial as long as the time children spent outdoors is structured and adult-led.”
12. Being outside is too distracting for kids to learn.
Quite the contrary! Among the many benefits of nature for a child’s physical, social and academic development, several significant studies have found that the outdoors may also reduce ADHD symptoms. Experts point to Attention Restoration Theory, or the idea that natural environments restore attention, for the effect. The idea states that only focus our attention for a certain period of time before feeling mentally fatigued and so a short break in natural environments helps restore it.
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November 25, 2020
Really interesting read! Another common myth is that outdoor play should be completely safe. In fact, a degree of risk is great for development of skills such as decision making, leadership, and teamwork.
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Cheryl saw her sister struggle with mental illness. Feeling neglected as her parents shifted their focus from her to her sister, Cheryl found love elsewhere.
Pregnant and 17, Cheryl thought abortion was the logical choice.
After 14 years of "living" like the walking dead, Cheryl had a loving encounter with Jesus Christ. Realizing her sin, she blamed everyone else for her abortion, but once she accepted responsibility, she felt God's forgiveness.
Cheryl told her story a few times to large church groups but felt like she got the Christian cold shoulder, so she went silent for many years—until she was on her first mission trip. Then she had to decide whether to accept God's call to change the abortion conversation.
But her tests weren't over. Her beloved brother, also stricken with mental illness, disappeared.
Tested and retested and ReTested again!
How will Cheryl respond this time?
And how does she think the abortion conversation needs to change?
Abby Johnson says...
“You just don’t know what people have encountered in life until you walk in their shoes. Cheryl’s raw memoir gives you a walk in the shoes of an abortion-minded woman both before and after crisis.”
Abby Johnson is the author of Unplanned and the founder of And Then There Were None.
“Abortion affects all of us whether we know it or not. ReTested provides much-needed insight into the pro-choice mindset and the pressures women face before having their choices dictated to them. A compelling memoir that demonstrates how suffering neglect often causes women to dehumanize their own children in the abortion decision. But more, in ReTested there is hope and redemption and grace.”
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Emirates Draw Announced as Main Sponsor of GBA Qualifier Tournament for FIBA U18 Asian Championship - The Latest Sports News In Berrikuntza
Emirates Draw Announced as Main Sponsor of GBA Qualifier Tournament for FIBA U18 Asian Championship
July 26, 2022 brcpadminLeave a Comment on Emirates Draw Announced as Main Sponsor of GBA Qualifier Tournament for FIBA U18 Asian Championship
In line with the UAE’s pursuit of sporting excellence on the world stage, Emirates Draw is pleased to announce that it is the main sponsor of the FIBA U18 Asian Championship GBA Qualifier, which will be held from 29 July to 6 August 2022. This association is in line with the direction of the country’s wise leadership to foster a culture of participation in diverse community initiatives. In addition to the organization’s growing efforts to build on its vision, as a beacon of hope with the power to transform lives and create a sustainable economy for a better tomorrow.
Emirates Draw’s sponsorship was announced during the tournament’s official press conference at the UAE Basketball Association headquarters yesterday. The event was attended by senior officials from FIBA Asia, UAE Basketball Federation, Dubai Sports Council, General Authority of Sports and Emirates Draw in the presence of local, regional and international media.
“Our participation in this important sports tournament, recognized as one of the strongest championships in the Middle East, is based on our strong belief in giving back to individuals and society as a whole. In line with the UAE’s aspirations for a better tomorrow, we are genuinely proud of our support of our country’s youth team as they represent our country at the FIBA Asian Cup. Basketball is truly an exciting sport with a growing following in the UAE and beyond, so we hope to touch as many lives as possible through this collaboration,” said Paul Chader, Emirates Draw Marketing Manager.
The organization’s determination to support communities in the UAE and beyond continues to be reflected in its weekly draws, which have transformed the lives of more than 23,000 winners by giving away over AED 31 million in just over ten months to have.
Emirates Draw is also an active participant and supporter of the UAE’s sustainability agenda through its Coral Reef Restoration Programme. The program is led by experienced divers and volunteers who are passionate about preserving the UAE’s rich marine life. To date, multiple sites have been surveyed and over 4,000 coral polyps have been planted in various locations across the country and the plan to intensify the planting effort is in line with the government’s conservation mandate to ensure the UAE’s leadership in the ongoing coral conservation effort continue to support reefs throughout the region.
Emirates Draw was recently distributed AED 682,003 to 339 winners during his last draw round. Along with the seven guaranteed winners of the raffle1 Main draw participant matches 5 out of 7 numbers to win AED 77,777 and 2 Participants who matched 4 out of 7 numbers won AED7,777. Furthermore, 27 Participants match 3 out of 7 numbers to win AED 777 each, 302 The contestants matched 2 out of 7 numbers and each won AED 77 and eventually about 10% of all participants match 1 of 7 numbers to become an instant AED 7 winner.
The AED100 million grand prize, the largest in the region, can still be claimed by a single person or group of people who match all seven numbers from right to left. At that point, the grand prize will be reset to AED77 million. Optimistic entrants have another chance to compete for the life-changing prize during the next drawing round, which will be broadcast live on Sunday 31 July 2022 at 21:00 UAE time.
How to play?
Participants can choose to enter the weekly drawing by purchasing a pencil worth AED50, part of which will go towards helping the environment by planting coral polyps along the UAE coast and as part of the flagship social responsibility programme by Emirates Draw in support of the UAE Government’s vision. After registering online at www.emiratesdraw.com or via the mobile application, participants can choose their seven-digit number or let the system randomly select their number.
With their purchase, entrants will be entered into two separate draws, the first being a raffle where seven lucky entrants are guaranteed AED 77,777 each each week. In addition, all participants have the opportunity to enter a second drawing with 7 prize categories starting at AED 7 and including the top prize of AED 100 million if all seven numbers are matched.
The next drawing will be streamed live via the digital platforms YouTube and Facebook. Be the next lucky winner and book your numbers early!
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Across the nation, many Republicans are campaigning on the lie that the 2020 election was stolen and promising to change the way elections are run in the future.
Credit: Illustration by Molly Mendoza
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More than a year after the 2020 election, roughly a third of Americans continue to believe, without evidence, that the results of the election were illegitimate. And now, GOP candidates are tapping into the “Big Lie,” campaigning for office on the promise to change how future elections are run.
We zero in on Michigan, a key swing state where Republicans are aiming to shape the future of elections. Reporter Byard Duncan talks with the Antrim County clerk, who was flooded with ugly calls and threats after her office accidentally assigned votes meant for Donald Trump to Joe Biden. While the error was quickly fixed, many in the GOP, including Trump, have used the county to sow doubt about the entire election’s results. Duncan reports on the race for secretary of state, Michigan’s top election official, and how the leading GOP candidate has repeatedly referenced Antrim County to question the integrity of elections. The Trump-endorsed candidate has outraised her Republican opponents by at least tenfold.
There was no meaningful election fraud in Michigan in 2020. But some local election officials who voted to certify the election have paid a price. Reporter Trey Bundy tells the story of Wayne County official Monica Palmer, a Republican who was kicked off the local canvassing board after certifying the election. And she’s just one of many: Republicans have now placed new election officials on boards in eight of Michigan’s largest counties. At least half of them have cast doubt on the integrity of the 2020 election.
Finally, looking to the future, Republicans in Michigan are making it harder to vote. Since the 2020 election, the Michigan Senate, led by Republicans, has introduced nearly 40 bills to change its election laws, all of which propose new barriers to voting. Guest host Shereen Marisol Meraji talks with Branden Snyder, co-executive director of Detroit Action, a local activist group that organizes working-class Detroiters, about how his group is mobilizing against efforts to undermine the vote.
Read: A March 2022 Brennan Center for Justice survey of how local election officials are feeling. (PDF)
Special thanks to J. Alex Halderman at the University of Michigan, Christopher Thomas at the Bipartisan Policy Center and Candice Fortman and Sarah Alvarez of Outlier Media. Thanks also to Queena Kim.
Support for Reveal is provided by the Reva and David Logan Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Heising-Simons Foundation, the Hellman Foundation, Democracy Fund, and the Inasmuch Foundation.
Reveal transcripts are produced by a third-party transcription service and may contain errors. Please be aware that the official record for Reveal’s radio stories is the audio.
Aura Bogado: Hi, I’m Aura Bogado, a senior reporter at Reveal. My work focuses on migrant children confined in federal custody. I’ve investigated abuse, forced drugging, even tasing in government sponsored shelters. The stories I work on are told from the perspective of the people experiencing the policies and practices I’m investigating, in this case, migrant children. Support rigorous, ethical, investigative reporting. Donate today at revealnews.org/donate.
Shereen Marisol…: From the Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, this is Reveal. I’m Shereen Marisol Meraji, in for Al Letson. I’m taking you back to January 2nd of last year to a phone call between then President Donald Trump and Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger.
Donald Trump: You should want to have an accurate election. And you’re a Republican.
Brad Raffensper…: We believe that we do have an accurate election.
Shereen Marisol…: This call went down four days before the rioter stormed the Capitol. And in the week since the election, Raffensperger had already overseen two recounts, one by hand, another by machine, and both confirmed that Trump lost Georgia, but Donald Trump wasn’t having it.
Donald Trump: So look, all I want to do is this, I just want to find 11,780 votes.
Shereen Marisol…: The exact number of votes Trump needed to beat Joe Biden in Georgia.
Donald Trump: Brad, what are we going to do? We won the election and it’s not fair to take it away from us like this.
Shereen Marisol…: Raffensperger holds his ground. Biden wins Georgia and democracy prevails. That’s the short story. But the long story is that it’s not over. Across the country, candidates are running for office campaigning on the myth that the election was stolen, and they’re pushing to change the way elections are run in the future. On today’s show, we’re going to look at one swing state where all this is happening. A state where big lie backers are running for office from the county level, all the way up to the secretary of state. I’m talking about Michigan, a state that made headlines for political mayhem in 2020.
Shereen Marisol…: A lot has happened in the world since then. So let me refresh your memory. There was the plot to kidnap the governor, protesters disrupted the presidential vote count in Detroit, and a group of lawyers allied with Trump filed a lawsuit attempting to decertify the state’s election results. And like I said earlier, the story is not over. Reporter Byard Duncan picks it up in Michigan’s Antrim County.
Byard Duncan: The morning after the 2020 election, Sheryl Guy was at a McDonald’s when she first realized something had gone terribly, terribly wrong.
Sheryl Guy: I was at the drive through bringing breakfast back to the staff.
Byard Duncan: When she saw an email on her phone.
Sheryl Guy: That said our numbers looked odd.
Byard Duncan: Sheryl is the county clerk in Antrim County, about 250 miles Northwest of Detroit. She and her team had been up all night finalizing the local voting results. She left work only two hours earlier just to run home and take a shower. When she got the email, it was around 7:00 AM.
Sheryl Guy: I just went, oh no. What I did is I rushed in back to work and immediately I’m like, we got a problem.
Byard Duncan: The problem specifically was that Antrim County seemed to have swung wildly to the left.
Speaker 8: Antrim County, the Northern Michigan GOP stronghold became part of the 2020 election controversy after unofficial results showed Antrim had flipped from a traditional red county to blue.
Byard Duncan: The county is so reliably Republican that it didn’t seem possible Joe Biden could win there. Something must have gone wrong with the vote count. And so Sheryl, who’d worked for the county for more than 40 years suddenly found herself sitting on top of a political powder keg.
Sheryl Guy: It just blew. The prosecutor was calling, because of course somebody wanted to file a criminal claim against us because we committed fraud.
Byard Duncan: Before we get our britches and stitches, let’s take a moment to be very clear here. What happened was not fraud. It was human error. See, there was a last minute ballot revision, and Sheryl and her team should have updated the ballot scanners to account for it, but they didn’t. So when the results came in, a spreadsheet row was essentially pushed over into the wrong place. Meaning that Trump votes got slotted under Biden. Multiple expert reports later proved this. Sheryl’s team ultimately fixed these issues and Donald Trump won Antrim County as expected.
Byard Duncan: But for some Republicans, the incident looked like an outrage, a sinister plot, an opportunity. Trump’s legal team led by Rudy Giuliani made repeated references to Antrim County in a memo aimed at overturning the election. And on January 6th, minutes before an angry mob stormed the Capitol, Trump used Antrim to sow doubt about the results.
Donald Trump: In one Michigan county alone, 6,000 votes were switched from Trump to Biden, and the same systems are used in the majority of states in our country.
Byard Duncan: This suggestion, if this happened in Antrim County, couldn’t it happen anywhere? It doesn’t hold water. It only would if the same specific human error had occurred with clerks all across the country. And there’s just no evidence of that. Regardless, Antrim was under a national microscope, and Sheryl who by the way voted for Trump, she says she got flooded with voicemails, emails, and threats.
Sheryl Guy: I mean, it was ugly. I started parking by requests of HR in a different location.
Byard Duncan: People were accusing Sheryl of subverting the election in favor of Biden. There was all kinds of misinformation flying around.
Sheryl Guy: I’m going to jail, because I’m a criminal. Sheriff’s looking for me now.
Byard Duncan: Do you know the sheriff? You must.
Sheryl Guy: Yeah. Yes. I’ve known him for probably 40 years.
Byard Duncan: And what’s your relationship like? Is he looking for you?
Byard Duncan: Why do people think you would do this as a Republican and as somebody who’s served in this role for like 40 years, why suddenly would you want to cheat?
Sheryl Guy: Because they did not win. And their goal is to ruin anybody who steps in their way. They don’t care. They’ll ruin anybody to get somebody to listen to them.
Byard Duncan: When a mistake like this ripples out into a tsunami of misinformation, there are often people who get crushed, like Sheryl. But then there are others who catch the wave and use its momentum in their favor. People like Kristina Karamo.
Kristina Karamo: In Antrim County, 6,000 votes were switched from President Trump to Joe Biden from Dominion software. Dominion software is in 47 counties. I’ve done my math. That’s over 200,000 votes that have been potentially compromised. And Joe Biden claimed to have won Michigan by like 150,000 votes.
Byard Duncan: Karamo is an educator and self-described proud Christian patriot. On election day, she served as a poll challenger at the TCF Center in Detroit, where she says she witnessed evidence of widespread fraud. Claims like hers were later debunked in court. By March of 2021, Karamo turned election security from a talking point into a full on campaign strategy.
Kristina Karamo: Secure elections is not a partisan issue. It’s an American issue.
Byard Duncan: Karamo went from a relative unknown to announcing her candidacy for secretary of state, Michigan’s top elections official. She earned Trump’s endorsement and received a $5,000 donation straight from his Save America pack. She’s outraised both her Republican opponents by at least tenfold. And Karamo is not alone. Across the country, there are around 20 candidates for secretary of state who are casting doubt on the integrity of our elections. In October, several of them got together at, of all places, a QAnon conference in Las Vegas to share their plans. Among them was Jim Marchant.
Jim Marchant: I can’t stress enough how important the secretary of state offices are. I think they are the most important election in our country in 2022. And why is that?
Speaker 11: Election.
Jim Marchant: We control the election system.
Byard Duncan: Marchant is a former Nevada state assembly person who in 2020, lost a congressional race there. He blamed fraud and sued and lost in court. After that, Marchant says Trump’s allies came to him with a new idea.
Jim Marchant: They asked me, “Would you instead of running for Congress again, would you run for secretary of state of Nevada?” Not only did they ask me to run, they asked me to put together a coalition of other like-minded secretary of state candidates.
Byard Duncan: They named it, The America First Secretary of State Coalition. Marchant says their first meeting included Mike Lindell, the CEO of My Pillow, and a leading supporter of Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election. Today, there are seven candidates in the coalition. Most are in swing states and they have clear goals.
Jim Marchant: When we’re secretary of state of our respective states, what do we intend to do? Number one, how about voter ID? How about get rid of mail-in ballots?
Byard Duncan: Karamo also spoke at that QAnon conference, by the way.
Kristina Karamo: Our secretary of state, she loves to put on the soccer mom act. So she gets on TV, like she’s just a nice mom in the neighborhood that wants to bake cookies for everybody, but she’s a evil woman. She’s a very evil, evil, evil woman.
Byard Duncan: Karamo’s message is crystal clear. The 2020 election was riddled with fraud. The crowd gobbles it right up. But again, it’s not true. In Michigan, a bipartisan Senate oversight committee led by Republican, Ed McBroom spent months investigating. They heard more than two dozen hours of testimony and reviewed thousands of pages of documents. And they came to a clear conclusion, no evidence of widespread voter fraud. Theories about Antrim County, they wrote, are a “complete waste of time.”
Byard Duncan: Jocelyn Benson, that soccer mom Karamo mentioned, her office scrutinized the 2020 election, overseeing more than 250 post-election audits, 250 of them with bipartisan participation from around 1,300 local clerks. They did find some evidence of fraud and last year charged three people out of more than five million votes cast. But at that conference, Karamo brushes all of this aside. She frames the next election as a life or death fight for the soul of the country. She concludes her speech with a call to action, get involved in election day operations. Become a precinct delegate.
Kristina Karamo: We cannot sit back and expect somebody else to protect our freedom. It’s our job. It is our responsibility to protect our freedom. And if we don’t do it, who will?
Jeff Timmer: They’ve been able to infiltrate the Republican party right down to the precinct level in a way that I’ve been astounded by.
Byard Duncan: This is Jeff Timmer. He’s worked in Republican politics for 30 years, and ran the Michigan GOP from 2005 to 2009. Now he’s with the Lincoln Project, a coalition of anti-Trump Republicans. When he looks at the party today, he’s alarmed by what he sees.
Jeff Timmer: They have paid attention to those very obscure, small party positions, precinct delegates, getting their people in place to chair county Republican parties all of across the country, not just in Michigan. There was nobody that supported Donald Trump in the Republican party before 2015. And now virtually everyone in positions of power is not just reluctantly supporting Trump, but enthusiastically a disciple.
Byard Duncan: A disciple, he says, like Karamo.
Jeff Timmer: Why Donald Trump would care to endorse a candidate like this? Why would the president of the United States care about the secretary of state nominee in Michigan? Well, it’s because having somebody in that position in 2024 will give him something he lacked in 2020.
Byard Duncan: So here’s where it’s useful to know how exactly a Trump loyalist might put their thumb on the scale during the next election. Jeff and a few other experts I spoke to said there are a bunch of ways. They can make life hell for local election officials, creating court battles and mucking up the certification process. They can push for never ending audits, and they can wage a war of public opinion, casting doubt on the count.
Jeff Timmer: We’ve never had to worry about who counts the vote. We’ve had this joint belief that, okay, we fight the good fight as partisans, election day comes, they count the votes, and we abide by the results. It never dawned on anybody to say, “Hey, we’re just going to contest the results of that last election. We’re never going to concede it. And we’re going to sow as much doubt as we can. We’re going to try to change laws.” The result has been this sustained attack on the foundations, the administration of democracy, something that’s just simple arithmetic.
Byard Duncan: I reached out a dozen times to Kristina Karamo. She wouldn’t agree to talk to us. When I approached her at an online fundraiser in late March, she continued using Antrim County as evidence of potential wider fraud. And she said, Ed McBroom’s report was flawed. Eventually, her team muted my microphone and ended the event. But she’s not the only GOP candidate who refuses to say Joe Biden won. On a cold morning, I drive to Lansing to chat with one of her challengers.
Beau LaFave: My name is Beau LaFave. I’m a member of the Michigan house of representatives. Have been since 2017. And I serve in the Republican house majority.
Byard Duncan: Beau is from the upper peninsula. His platform is a bit more conventional than Karamo’s. He’s primarily concerned with improving public access to the secretary of state’s offices. And talking to him, you get the sense he’d rather not get too deep on the issue of a stolen election.
Beau LaFave: I take each issue as it comes to me.
Byard Duncan: When the claim that the election was stolen comes to you, how do you take that?
Beau LaFave: Well, the election was stolen. The election was stolen through four years of fake news coverage, of lies and propaganda propagated by the Democrat party and their allies in the media. They stole it before they started counting ballots.
Byard Duncan: I ask Beau about specifics. Does he believe Antrim County represents some grand conspiracy?
Beau LaFave: The machines didn’t screw up in Antrim, the clerk did.
Byard Duncan: So you don’t believe there was fraud in Antrim.
Beau LaFave: I’m sure there was fraud in Antrim. I’m sure there was fraud all over the state of Michigan.
Byard Duncan: Why?
Beau LaFave: When you send unsolicited absentee ballot applications to a million people that don’t exist, the opportunity for fraud is there. Now, can I-
Byard Duncan: Well, you just said two things. There’s the opportunity for fraud and then there’s actually proven fraud. So where are the instances of proven fraud?
Beau LaFave: Well, I mean, even the secretary of state said that there was. There was a couple of votes that-
Byard Duncan: Right. I read about a couple, but we’re talking… Sorry. I should have said widespread fraud. Where’s the evidence of widespread fraud?
Beau LaFave: Well, I guess you have to quibble with what the word widespread is. One disenfranchised voter is unacceptable. How much fraud is acceptable? I don’t think any is.
Byard Duncan: The so-called big lie is now so entrenched in the GOP that it’s morphed into a sort of loyalty test. Dismissing it is politically risky. In fact, a recent poll shows three quarters of Republicans in the US believe Trump’s claims that fraud altered the outcome of the 2020 election. I think I’ve asked you several times, if you feel like the election was stolen in Michigan. And I don’t think I’ve gotten a yes or no from you.
Beau LaFave: Ask me the question again.
Byard Duncan: Do you believe that the election was stolen or fraudulent in Michigan in 2020?
Beau LaFave: Again, it was stolen through four years.
Byard Duncan: Respectfully, you just said that and that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about specifically the concerns raised in the Ed McBroom report, Antrim County, TCF Center.
Beau LaFave: Which specific allegation?
Byard Duncan: That there was widespread voter fraud brought before, again and again, by person after person, brought before the oversight committee and addressed sort of point by point. I know you’ve read the McBroom report, right?
Beau LaFave: I have read the McBroom report.
Byard Duncan: Okay. So I want to just nail this down. Do you believe that or not? Yes or no.
Byard Duncan: The conclusion that McBroom disagreed with that there was widespread fraud that occurred in Michigan during the 2020 election.
Beau LaFave: I guess, what is the definition of widespread? How many fraudulent votes are an acceptable amount of fraud? My answer is zero.
Byard Duncan: In elections, there inevitably is some minuscule amount of fraud that often gets caught and prosecuted. A recent analysis by the associated press found that potentially fraudulent ballots for Biden and for Trump accounted for less than two tenths of a percent of all votes cast in key battleground states in 2020. Nowhere near enough to swing the results. Administering elections is hard. It takes people with patience and experience. People who spend decades in drab offices, pushing papers and answering phone calls. People like Sheryl Guy in Antrim County. Just walk me around what you got here from over the years.
Sheryl Guy: Well, last week I was awarded my 40 year recognition.
Sheryl Guy: My girls got this for me. Yep. Whack.
Byard Duncan: You take it down and just slam it on your desk. Sheryl is retiring after this term, and she no longer considers herself part of the Republican party. Says she didn’t renew her membership. She worries about the GOP’s future. And she says, people who believe in the big lie are infiltrating systems all across the state.
Sheryl Guy: Whether it’s local clerks, whether it’s board of canvasers, whether it’s county clerks, state reps, attorney generals, I think that these people are trying to work their way in. And what’s happening is those people that have worked really hard to follow the rules, to follow the law, they’re getting tired.
Byard Duncan: The thing Sheryl wanted me to understand about all of this, the scrutiny, the abuse from strangers and people she was once friendly with, it takes a toll. It wears you down.
Sheryl Guy: I think it’s a disgrace, what is happening to our country, our democracy, and the people that you put in office, to be honest, fair, and do what is right.
Byard Duncan: It’s hard enough to be a public servant for decades, Sheryl says, but to get thrust under a hostile microscope by people who don’t understand how you keep their democracy humming, it’s too much.
Shereen Marisol…: That’s reporter, Byard Duncan. After nearly seven years at Reveal, Byard recently moved to ProPublica where he works as an engagement reporter. The people who certify elections used to have one of the most mundane and bureaucratic positions in politics. Not anymore.
Speaker 14: It’s just totally bizarre, nuts, crazy. People are losing their minds.
Shereen Marisol…: No election office is too small for the big lie. That’s next on Reveal.
Jim Briggs: From the Center for Investigative Reporting, this is Jim Briggs-
Fernando Aruta: Each week, we create an album of regional music for every single episode.
Jim Briggs: We like to think thematically and create music that will help listeners understand the story.
Shereen Marisol…: From the center for investigative reporting and PRX, this is Reveal. I’m Shereen Marisol Meraji in for Al Letson.
Speaker 18: We begin with another breaking news story in the fight over votes in Wayne county. President Trump has just withdrawn his-
Shereen Marisol…: It’s November of 2020, the day after the presidential election, and dozens of people, most of them Republicans are trying to get into Detroit’s TCF Convention Center. They’re shouting. They’re banging on the glass walls, and they are upset by false rumors that poll watchers are being illegally turned away. All the while, poll workers inside are still counting absentee ballots
Branden Snyder: People banging on the doors, causing havoc, creating distractions to stop the process.
Shereen Marisol…: Branden Snyder is a local community organizer, and he’d been at the TCF Center earlier. He was keeping an eye on the situation. A majority of Detroiters vote Democrat. The city is almost 80% black, but the protestors.
Branden Snyder: These were mostly white folks who were coming in to the city, who were inspecting the votes of black voters. And these were mostly people who weren’t Detroiters.
Shereen Marisol…: At this moment, Biden’s on pace to win Michigan, but he won’t win it without Wayne County. The drama in Detroit drags on for two weeks, then it shifts to what’s called the board of canvasers. There’s a board like this for every county in Michigan. Each one is made up of two Republicans and two Democrats. It’s usually this bureaucratic formality, they review voter rolls and ballot counts. They sign off on the results. But Trump is trying to sow doubt about the vote. So the board becomes this huge national story. And when they finally meet, the Republican members say, they still aren’t sure the results in some precincts are accurate. So they vote not to certify the election. And that unleashes a barrage of outrage from the public who say, Republicans are disenfranchising the county’s black voters.
Speaker 18: You are a disgrace as it relates to the ability to have a free and impartial election in this nation.
Speaker 20: I’m a sixth generation Michigander. It is my house you have trashed today. This is a shameful moment in our history.
Shereen Marisol…: One of the Republicans who votes not to certify is Monica Palmer. As the public hearing continues, a Democrat pulls Palmer aside and says, state democratic officials have agreed to an audit of the precincts that she has questions about. So when they come back to the meeting, they’ve got a deal. The Republicans will agree to certify the election and the Democrats will agree to an audit of the results.
Speaker 22: We begin with a stunning reversal. The Wayne County board of canvasers voting to certify this month’s election results after a long and-
Shereen Marisol…: There was no meaningful fraud in Michigan, but some Republicans who voted to certify the 2020 election, they paid a price. For Monica Palmer, the clock started ticking the moment she voted, yes. Reveals, Trey Bundy, has the story.
Trey Bundy: Five months after she certifies the election, Monica Palmer walks into The Token Lounge. It’s a rock and roll bar just outside of Detroit. She’s there for a meeting of local Republicans. A guy named David Dudenhoefer asked her to come.
David Dudenhoef…: That was one of our bigger meetings. I think we had close to 75, 80, somewhere in there.
Trey Bundy: At the time, Dudenhoefer was the chair of his local GOP committee. He was one of the people who put Palmer on the canvasing board in the first place. He says he can’t prove it, but he thinks the 2020 election was rigged. He tells me that Palmer failed Republicans by bowing to pressure from Democrats.
David Dudenhoef…: Saying a derelict of duty is really harsh if there’s a, I don’t want to say a nicer way to put that, but I mean, it’s like, this is what we put you there for.
Trey Bundy: I watched a video of this meeting.
Trey Bundy: Picture tall bar chairs and round tables on a black and white checkerboard dance floor in a dark empty stage at the back. Dudenhoefer starts things off with a prayer.
David Dudenhoef…: [inaudible] bless our deliberations tonight that they may get glory to you. We ask this in Jesus name.
Trey Bundy: Then a call to action.
David Dudenhoef…: We’re so focused. And we’re hearing from so many leaders, “Regroup. Let’s get focused on 2022. Hey, if we don’t focus on what happened in 2020 and straighten that out, you can forget 2022 or 2028, 2030, because right now, tens of millions of Americans feel like these elections are rigged.”
Trey Bundy: She’s in a green summer dress and flip flops. And she gets right to the point.
Monica Palmer: I didn’t vote yes because they were terrorizing me on a Zoom chat. That yes vote was because I believed that we would get the audit to get the right answers.
Trey Bundy: As she speaks, she’s scanning the room for eye contact. Along with David Dudenhoefer, there’s another committee chair in the room, Shane Trejo. Palmer knows he’s not happy with her. The day after she certified the election, he texted her to say she should stay out of Republican politics. Dudenhoefer and Trejo have the power to take her off the board of canvasers.
Monica Palmer: Now, I will take the heat. I was a little off focus because of the pressure that was coming on the Zoom call.
Trey Bundy: She says she didn’t want to certify the election, but that legally, she had no choice.
Monica Palmer: The only thing that the board of canvasers has the authority to do is to compare the statement of voters, the number of ballots that were received versus the number of ballots that were tallied, and to make any mathematical corrections.
Trey Bundy: Of the 174,000 absentee ballots cast in Detroit, only 17 were found to be questionable. But Palmer tells the group that when it was time to certify, the results look like, in her words, “a bag of crap.” She says the law needs to change, so that canvasers don’t have to sign off on elections they have questions about, and she addresses Shane Trejo directly.
Monica Palmer: And Shane, as you guys are moving forward legislation, does it make sense that I have to certify something that I don’t… If I get a bag of crap, I have to say, it’s a good bag of crap. My hands are bound by the law.
Trey Bundy: Dudenhoefer told me her explanation wasn’t enough.
David Dudenhoef…: You were willing to compromise your beliefs, your principles, and your standards for a promise of something down the road when that should have been done right there. That should have been done before you change any vote. If you had issues and you could point to those issues, it was your responsibility to see that those issues were worked out and changed to your satisfaction before you change your vote, not after.
Trey Bundy: When it comes time for Dudenhoefer, Trejo and their colleagues to renominate Monica Palmer, they decline, effectively kicking her off the board of canvasers. I spoke to Monica Palmer, but she chose not to go on the record. So everything you’re hearing from her today is from public appearances she made after the election. A few weeks after she’s kicked off the board, Palmer goes on the Paul W. Smith Show, a Detroit radio program to tell her side of the story.
Paul W. Smith: Were you surprised that you were not reappointed?
Monica Palmer: Highly surprised. I’ve made it publicly clear many times that I intended to continue serving on the board of canvasers if given that opportunity.
Trey Bundy: She describes a Republican party that turned on her for certifying Joe Biden’s victory.
Monica Palmer: This is exactly what it looks like. There are people within the state party who are getting rid of any canvaser that isn’t pulling the line of we need to stop everything. What other motive would there be?
Trey Bundy: Guys like David Dudenhoefer and Shane Trejo don’t usually get a lot of attention, but as heads of their local Republican committees, they get to shape the election board in Wayne County. Dudenhoefer was a casino card dealer and managed bars before he got into political activism 15 years ago. He ran for Congress in 2020, but he didn’t win. Shane Trejo used to host a podcast called Blood Soil and Liberty with a member of a white nationalist group. Just for context, Blood and Soil was a Nazi slogan during the Third Reich. Then there’s another guy, William Rowerdink. He was convicted of one of the largest financial fraud schemes in Michigan’s history. These are the people who kicked Monica Palmer off the board of canvasers, Her replacement, Robert Boyd. He says he believes the 2020 election results were not accurate and that he would not have certified the election. He fits a profile of new Republican election officials in other counties.
Trey Bundy: So the question is who can protect the integrity of these boards? Under Michigan law, when it’s time to appoint board members, local party leaders, like Dudenhoefer submit three names to the county commission. Then the commission decides which one gets on the board. I thought the commissioners of Wayne County would reject someone like Robert Boyd, since all but one of them are Democrats.
Speaker 28: There are two items listed, dated September 9th from the Wayne County clerk, Kathy M. Garrett, requesting commission approval of one of three Republican nominees to the Wayne County board of canvasers.
Trey Bundy: In September, 2021, the Wayne County commission meets to vote on board’s appointment. Alicia Bell chairs the meeting. The lone Republican commissioner, Terry Marecki makes the nomination.
Terry Marecki: So with that being said, I will put forward the name of Rob Boyd.
Trey Bundy: Now it’s the Democrats turn. Remember, this is a public meeting, a chance for voters to better understand who administers their elections, how they get that power, and what their motives are. But instead.
Alicia Bell: Thank you, commissioner. That was the motion. Is their a second? Is there a second? Hearing none, the motion dies for lack of a second. Thank you, commissioner. Next item please.
Trey Bundy: Nothing. No statements, no debate. The whole thing is over in minutes. You could look at this and think, okay, the Democrats don’t like this candidate, probably because he doesn’t believe Joe Biden won the election, so they don’t even bring his name to a vote, and are effectively killing his chances of being appointed. But that’s not how the system works. By law, if the commission doesn’t appoint someone, the county clerk can go ahead and do it herself, and that’s what happened.
Speaker 14: It’s just totally bizarre, nuts, crazy. People are losing their minds, the big lie.
Trey Bundy: Tim Killeen has been a Wayne County commissioner for 15 years. And he’s the only one of the 15 commissioners who would talk to me. He says he regrets not speaking up during the meeting and grilling Robert Boyd in public.
Tim Killeen: I wanted an opportunity to extract a few pounds of flesh, put the name in nomination, go after the individual. Do you understand what your oath of office is? Do you understand what your job is? Do you intend to violate your oath of office in this position? And really trot him through that.
Trey Bundy: Killeen says he was resigned to the fact that the commission can’t just reject nominees and ask for new ones they like better.
Tim Killeen: We do our thing. The name comes forward. I can walk out of that meeting going, “That person’s a moron,” but I have a magisterio duty too under the law, but I really can’t stop it. We as a commission can’t stop it.
Trey Bundy: So now, Robert Boyd is a Wayne County canvaser, and will help administer the next election. I spoke to him briefly, but he declined to be interviewed. So what’s at stake here? If the GOP is packing canvasing boards with people who might refuse to certify any election they lose, where does that leave our democracy? I asked David Dudenhoefer about this, and whether he believes in a democracy where the majority rules.
David Dudenhoef…: If we got 300 million Americans and the majority of them decide to make cannibalization legal, and now we can just start eating each other, I mean, does that make it right?
Trey Bundy: I guess the question is, is democracy what we want? Because if we do, then that means every person has an equal voice, every vote is equal, and whoever gets the most votes leads the country. Now, is that the type of democracy that you’re interested in?
David Dudenhoef…: Well, the type of democracy I’m interested in is where the individual liberties are protected always, and under a straight democracy, that would come into question. So I’d have to say no.
Trey Bundy: Republicans have now placed new election officials on canvasing boards in eight of Michigan’s largest counties. At least half of them have cast doubt on the 2020 election.
Shereen Marisol…: That’s Reveal’s, Trey Bundy, and he joins me now. Hi Trey.
Shereen Marisol…: All right. So clearly, there’s this purge going on. And the attempt to overthrow the presidential election, that did not end in 2020. So how worried do we need to be about the integrity of the next election, 2024?
Trey Bundy: That’s been on my mind too. So we talked with a guy named Lawrence Norden about it. He’s an elections expert at the Brennan Center at NYU. He spent the last 17 years looking at election security in the US.
Lawrence Norden: I would say in some ways, we are in unchartered territory, certainly in modern history when it comes to election administration.
Trey Bundy: So one of his key points gets right to what we’ve been talking about today, that these sort of mundane duties that we’re always just quietly carried out by public servants aren’t so mundane anymore. And that that could create real problems.
Lawrence Norden: These races that we normally don’t pay a lot of attention to are more important than usual, and it’s really critical that the public understands how important they may be.
Trey Bundy: On top of that, long time election officials are leaving their jobs because of stress and threats of violence.
Lawrence Norden: This is happening all over the country, and I think it’s very dangerous for American democracy.
Shereen Marisol…: And I hear all of that, but the thing that I’m really trying to wrap my head around is could one or two local officials in a small county in Michigan, could one or two people really overturn a national election?
Trey Bundy: Not by themselves, no, but they can help. Can I walk you through a hypothetical?
Trey Bundy: Okay. Again, just a hypothetical. Let’s say the 2024 presidential election plays out like 2020 did.
Shereen Marisol…: So we’ve got Biden versus Trump again. Election night, Joe Biden looks like he’s about to win.
Trey Bundy: Yep. But it’s close. And in swing states, Biden’s vote margin depends on the votes in the biggest counties.
Shereen Marisol…: Like Wayne County, which is overwhelmingly democratic. It also has a lot of black voters.
Trey Bundy: Right. And Republican canvasers could use false allegations of election fraud as an excuse not to certify the election.
Shereen Marisol…: But what I want to know is what happens next. This is really the key question for me. Where do we go from excuses to overturning elections, or the possibility of that happening?
Trey Bundy: Okay. So we asked the Michigan secretary of state’s office about it. If the county fails to certify an election, then it goes to the state election board. If the state board refuses to certify, the courts would get involved and compel them to certify the election. And that’s their duty by law. But the process can take weeks, and if that happens, Norden says he sees a real danger.
Lawrence Norden: It provides an opportunity to muddy the waters on what really happened in an election, provides the opportunity for more time for litigation to try to encourage state legislatures to step in to try to prevent a certification of results that that side doesn’t like.
Trey Bundy: So he’s describing a scenario where disputes over county election results can create enough chaos and enough confusion that the election is actually taken out of the hands of voters and a partisan legislature decides the outcome.
Shereen Marisol…: All right, Trey. Last question. How do we avoid this chaos next time around? Is it possible?
Trey Bundy: The integrity of our elections has all always depended in part on officials who respect the norms, who respect the will of the voters, no matter what the outcome. And Lawrence Norden, he actually has faith that if the voters stay engaged and hold their officials accountable, then democracy will prevail, but that needs to be happening right now. And he gave a warning.
Lawrence Norden: 2022 is going to determine to a very large extent who’s running our elections in 2024.
Shereen Marisol…: Well, I hope everybody listening is paying very close attention.
Trey Bundy: I do too.
Shereen Marisol…: Thank you so much for your reporting, Trey.
Branden Snyder: These are the people who care about throwing out your votes for their personal and political gain.
Speaker 33: I know. I know it’s hard. You wait all week for this podcast and then it’s over, and you find yourself wanting more. Let me make a recommendation. The Reveal newsletter. It goes behind the scenes into how we make and report these stories. Subscribe now at revealnews.org/newsletter.
Speaker 34: Senate bill 294, a bill to amend Michigan election law. 298, a bill to amend Michigan election law. 300, a bill to amend Michigan election law.
Shereen Marisol…: Since the 2020 election, the Michigan state Senate led by Republicans has introduced nearly 40 bills to change its election laws. All of the bills throw up new barriers to voting in advance of the 2024 election, things like scaling back on the use of absentee ballots and introducing stricter voter ID requirements. And the handful of bills that have made it to the governor’s desk have all experienced the same fate.
Speaker 35: This week, Governor Whitmer vetoed another set of election bills. The bills were another attempt by Republican lawmakers to change Michigan’s elections.
Shereen Marisol…: So Republicans have been looking for a workaround.
Speaker 36: Petition to tighten voting requirements, secure my vote needs to collect about 340,000 valid voter signatures over the next six months to certify their piece of legislation.
Shereen Marisol…: Conservative groups are using this petition process because it allows lawmakers to pass a bill without the governor’s approval. If they gather all of the signatures they need from voters, the petition goes to the Republican led legislature for a vote. Between the false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, the number of big lie supporters in key positions at the local and state level, and the petition drive to push restrictions on voting, it can all start to feel like a game of Whac-A-Mole for those who want to make elections more accessible and ensure that everyone’s vote is counted.
Branden Snyder: The slow erosion is real, where people are like, well, why bother voting?
Shereen Marisol…: That’s Branden Snyder again. We heard from him earlier in the show. He’s the co-executive director of Detroit Action, which is a local community activist group that focuses on economic and social justice for working-class Detroiters. After 2020, Branden added one more thing to that list, elections.
Branden Snyder: If we didn’t do that, then our people wouldn’t be aware of like when, how the system operates and how power operates in the arena. And then two, how do we respond?
Shereen Marisol…: When I spoke to Branden, he was inside a warm car on a snowy Detroit afternoon. Hey Branden.
Branden Snyder: Hey, what up do, as we say in Detroit. Thanks for having me.
Shereen Marisol…: So there’s just a lot going on in Michigan. What is that like for you as an organizer?
Branden Snyder: It’s a challenge because the work that Trump has done and the work that the right has done to delegitimize voting isn’t just something that is to appeal to his base. It’s also chipping away at the trust and the integrity from our base as well. We organize people who have been burned by the system, people who are formally incarcerated, young people, people who are tenants and people who’ve been evicted or foreclosed on. And we use elections as an opportunity to one, hold people accountable, hold our elected officials accountable, but two, to offer up what could be for our community to imagine that another world is possible through this process.
Branden Snyder: So for us, what we’ve had to do is take more steps to make sure that our people are aware that this process is happening, are aware that there are these inside players and how they engage in a system. And then also, connected back to our housing and jobs fights, that these are the people who stand in the way of us having tenant protections. These are the people who care about throwing out your votes for their personal and political gain. And so having to illustrate that takes a lot of work. And it also means that we have to do more and be more vigilant, because the right is a step ahead of us knowing that they’re building candidate pipelines to recruit and place people in these, what used to be traditionally ceremonial seats.
Shereen Marisol…: Branden, what did you learn from 2020 that you’re now applying to 2024?
Branden Snyder: 2020 just taught me all these things are connected. It’s not a coincidence that January 6th popped off and it had a bunch of Michigan folks at the Capitol. It’s not a coincidence that these sort of right wing Michigan folks were at the TCF Center, and that was sort of a highlight of the stop the steal sort of movement during that week. And it’s not a coincidence that all that stuff happened just a few months after folks tried to storm Michigan’s Capitol and kidnap our governor. So thinking about all those things and knowing that they’re not unrelated also reminds us that our movement has to be vigilant and it also has to be mindful that it’s bigger than just one election.
Shereen Marisol…: Is this defense on a chess board? Are they playing chess? Are they playing by chess rules, and you’re just a couple of moves behind, or is this just some other sport all together where there are no rules and they’re just being made up on the fly?
Branden Snyder: Yeah. Terrible analogies. But it’s like, we’re playing pick up basketball and they’re not even responding to any of the actual files, or like we got the rules out there and it’s like, whatever, we don’t actually need to follow any of those.
Shereen Marisol…: We’re going to travel. We’re going to throw elbows in people’s faces. Flagrantly fouling people.
Branden Snyder: If you win, it doesn’t matter. You score more points than us, it doesn’t even matter.
Shereen Marisol…: Well, I’m sure that everybody listening to this is feeling so positive about the future and hopeful. I know that this conversation scared me a little bit, so.
Branden Snyder: It shouldn’t scare folks. It should just get us… I hope that it doesn’t scare folks. I hope that it actually gets us aligned and thinking about this stuff is happening. Our people are resilient. Our people are resilient. Our people are strong. And then I think what it takes is also making sure that people don’t see themselves as isolated individual actors. If it’s up to you solo to solve this and hold it all in one hand, then no, that’s a lot. But if it’s up to you as a part of a community, then you know that you ain’t got to do everything. There are people who got your back.
Shereen Marisol…: Branden, thank you so much for taking the time, sitting in your car in the cold, in Detroit, to do this with me, to have this conversation. I really appreciate it.
Branden Snyder: No. I appreciate you having me. This has been really a really dope conversation. Thank you.
Shereen Marisol…: Democracy is under threat all over the world, and the United States is definitely not immune. Here at Reveal, we’re going to keep following this story, because unfortunately, it’s not going away.
Shereen Marisol…: Our lead producer this week is Najib Aminy, Byard Duncan, and Trey Bundy also produced this show. It was edited by Brett Myers, Andy Donahue, and Casey Miner. Thanks to Jay Alex Halderman at the University of Michigan, Christopher Thomas at the Bipartisan Policy Center, and Candace Fortman and Sarah Alvarez of Outlier Media. Thanks also to Queena Kim. Victoria Baranski is our general counsel. Our production manager is Amy Mostafa. Score and sound design by Jim Briggs and Fernando Arruda. Our post-production team this week also includes Jess Alvarenga, Steven Rascon, and Catherine Styer Martinez. Our digital producer is Sarah Mirk. Our CEO is Kaizar Campwala. Sumi Aggarwal is our editor in chief. And our executive producer is Kevin Sullivan. Our theme music is by Camerado Lightning.
Shereen Marisol…: Support for Reveal is provided by the Reva and David Logan Foundation, the John D and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Heising-Simons Foundation, the Hellman Foundation, the Democracy Fund, and the Inasmuch Foundation. Reveal is a co-production of the Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX. I’m Shereen Marisol Meraji. It’s been a really great time hanging with you all. I hope they invite me back. And remember, there’s always more to the story.
Speaker 37: If you like what we do and you want to help, well, it’s pretty simple. Just write us a review on Apple Podcast. It’s easy and only takes a few seconds. Just open the Apple Podcast app on your phone, search for reveal, then scroll down to where you see write a review. And there, tell them how much you love the host. Your review makes it easier for listeners to find us, and well, it really does make a difference. And if you do it, you will get a personal thank you from me right now. Not him. You. Yes, you, thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Right.
Speaker 38: From PRX.
Najib Aminy is a producer for Reveal. Previously, he was an editor at Flipboard, a news aggregation startup, and helped guide the company’s editorial and curation practices and policies. Before that, he spent time reporting for newspapers such as Newsday and The Indianapolis Star. He is the host and producer of an independent podcast, "Some Noise," which is based out of Oakland, California, and was featured by Apple, The Guardian and The Paris Review. He is a lifelong New York Knicks fan, has a soon-to-be-named kitten and is a product of Stony Brook University’s School of Journalism. Aminy is based in Reveal’s Emeryville, California, office.
Byard Duncan is a reporter and producer for engagement and collaborations for Reveal. He manages Reveal’s Reporting Networks, which provide more than 1,000 local journalists across the U.S. with resources and training to continue Reveal investigations in their communities. He also helps lead audience engagement initiatives around Reveal’s stories and assists local reporters in elevating their work to a national platform. In addition to Reveal, Duncan’s work has appeared in GQ, Esquire, The California Sunday Magazine and Columbia Journalism Review, among other outlets. He was part of Reveal’s Behind the Smiles project team, which was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2019. He is the recipient of two Edward R. Murrow Awards, a National Headliner Award, an Al Neuharth Innovation in Investigative Journalism Award, and two first-place awards for feature storytelling from the Society of Professional Journalists and Best of the West. Duncan is based in Reveal's Emeryville, California, office.
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Trey Bundy is a former reporter for Reveal, covering youth. After beginning his career at the San Francisco Chronicle, he joined The Bay Citizen, where he covered child welfare, juvenile justice, education and crime. His work also has appeared in The New York Times, SF Weekly, The Huffington Post, the PBS NewsHour, Planet magazine and other news outlets. He has won three awards from the Society of Professional Journalists. In 2009, he won the national Hearst Journalism Award for article of the year. Bundy has a bachelor's degree in journalism from San Francisco State University. He is based in Reveal's Emeryville, California, office.
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Brett Myers is an interim executive producer for Reveal. His work has received more than 20 national honors, including a George Foster Peabody Award, four nationalEdward R. Murrow Awards and multipleThird Coast/Richard H. Driehaus Competition awards. Before joining Reveal, he was a senior producer at Youth Radio, where he collaborated with teenage reporters to file stories for "Morning Edition," "All Things Considered" and "Marketplace."
Prior to becoming an audio producer, Myers trained as a documentary photographer and was named one of the 25 best American photographers under the age of 25. He loves bikes, California and his family. Before that, he was an independent radio producer and worked with StoryCorps, Sound Portraits and The Kitchen Sisters. Myers is based in Reveal's Emeryville, California, office.
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Andy Donohue is the executive editor for projects for Reveal. He’s edited Reveal’s investigations into the treatment of migrant children in government care, Amazon’s labor practices, rehab work camps and sexual abuse in the janitorial industry. He’s been on teams that have twice been Pulitzer Prize finalists and have won Investigative Reporters and Editors, Edward R. Murrow, Online News Association, Third Coast International Audio Festival, Gerald Loeb, Sidney Hillman Foundation and Emmy awards. He previously helped build and lead Voice of San Diego, served on the IRE board for eight years and is an alumnus of the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowship at Stanford University. Donohue is based in Reveal’s Emeryville, California, office.
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Casey Miner is an award-winning narrative audio editor, producer, and writer who's worked with outlets including Wondery, Reveal, 70 Million, The Stoop, NPR, Slate, Pop-Up Magazine, and Mother Jones. She has led creative teams for Al Jazeera and KALW; taught audio production and narrative structure at the University of California, Berkeley; and launched and hosted The Specialist, a podcast about work we don't think about and the people who do it. Projects she's worked on have been recognized by the Peabody Awards, the Emmy Awards, the National Association of Black Journalists, and the Society of Professional Journalists, among others. She is also a founding member of the Editors Collective, where she trains new editors and connect them with others in the audio storytelling industry.
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Amy Mostafa (she/they) is the production manager for Reveal. She is a UC Berkeley School of Journalism alum, where she focused on audio and data journalism as a Dean's Merit Fellow and an ISF Scholar. She has reported on science, health and the environment in Anchorage for Alaska Public Media and on city government in Berkeley and San Francisco for KQED. Her work also has appeared on NPR, KALW and KALX. Mostafa holds a bachelor's degree in English literature and public policy. She has most recently reported on housing and aging in the Bay Area. She is based in Reveal’s Emeryville, California, office.
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Nikki Frick is the associate editor for research and copy for Reveal. She previously worked as a copy editor at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and held internships at The Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times and Washingtonpost.com. She has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was an American Copy Editors Society Aubespin scholar. Frick is based in Milwaukee.
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Jim Briggs III is the senior sound designer, engineer and composer for Reveal. He supervises post-production and composes original music for the public radio show and podcast. He also leads Reveal's efforts in composition for data sonification and live performances.
Prior to joining Reveal in 2014, Briggs mixed and recorded for clients such as WNYC Studios, NPR, the CBC and American Public Media. Credits include “Marketplace,” “Selected Shorts,” “Death, Sex & Money,” “The Longest Shortest Time,” NPR’s “Ask Me Another,” “Radiolab,” “Freakonomics Radio” and “Soundcheck.” He also was the sound re-recording mixer and sound editor for several PBS television documentaries, including “American Experience: Walt Whitman,” the 2012 Tea Party documentary "Town Hall" and “The Supreme Court” miniseries. His music credits include albums by R.E.M., Paul Simon and Kelly Clarkson.
Briggs' work with Reveal has been recognized with an Emmy Award (2016) and two Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards (2018, 2019). Previously, he was part of the team that won the Dart Award for Excellence in Coverage of Trauma for its work on WNYC’s hourlong documentary special “Living 9/11.” He has taught sound, radio and music production at The New School and Eugene Lang College and has a master's degree in media studies from The New School. Briggs is based in Reveal's Emeryville, California, office.
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Fernando Arruda is a sound designer, engineer and composer for Reveal. As a multi-instrumentalist, he contributes to the original music, editing and mixing of the weekly public radio show and podcast. He has held four O-1 visas for individuals with extraordinary abilities. His work has been recognized with Peabody, duPont-Columbia, Edward R. Murrow, Gerald Loeb, Third Coast and Association of Music Producers awards, as well as Emmy and Pulitzer nominations. Prior to joining Reveal, Arruda toured as an international DJ and taught music technology at Dubspot and ESRA International Film School. He worked at Antfood, a creative audio studio for media and TV ads, and co-founded a film-scoring boutique called the Manhattan Composers Collective. He worked with clients such as Marvel, MasterClass and Samsung and ad agencies such as Framestore, Trollbäck+Company, BUCK and Vice. Arruda releases experimental music under the alias FJAZZ and has performed with many jazz, classical and pop ensembles, such as SFJAZZ Monday Night Band, Art&Sax quartet, Krychek, Dark Inc. and the New York Arabic Orchestra. His credits in the podcast and radio world include NPR’s “51 Percent,” WNYC’s “Bad Feminist Happy Hour” and its live broadcast of Orson Welles’ “The Hitchhiker,” Wondery’s “Detective Trapp,” MSNBC’s “Why Is This Happening?” and NBC’s “Born to Rule,” to name a few. Arruda also has a wide catalog of composed music for theatrical, orchestral and chamber music formats, some of which has premiered worldwide. He holds a master’s degree in film scoring and composition from NYU Steinhardt. The original music he makes with Jim Briggs for Reveal can be found on Bandcamp.
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Jess Alvarenga (they/she) is a former associate producer for Reveal. They are an audio producer and documentary filmmaker from the American South. Meeting at the intersection of art and journalism, they use storytelling as a way to document and reimagine immigrant narratives, particularly those of the Central American diaspora. In 2017, Alvarenga was awarded an individual artist grant from the Houston Arts Alliance and the City of Houston for their work on the city’s Central American population. They have a master’s degree in journalism from UC Berkeley.
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Steven Rascón (he/they) is a production assistant for Reveal. He is pursuing a master's degree at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism with a Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy Fellowship. His focus is investigative reporting and audio documentary. He has written for online, magazines and radio. His reporting on underreported fentanyl overdoses in Los Angeles' LGBTQ community aired on KCRW and KQED. Rascón is passionate about telling diverse stories for radio through community engagement. He holds a bachelor of fine arts degree in theater arts and creative writing.
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Kathryn Styer Martínez (she/ella) is a production assistant for Reveal. She studies audio and photojournalism at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She is also a Greater Good Science Center reporting fellow, focusing on Latino well-being.
Martínez was the 2020-21 Toni Randolph reporting fellow at Minnesota Public Radio, the 2019-20 New Economy Reporting Project fellow and the former director of KGPC-LP FM, Peralta Community Radio. Her work has appeared in El Tecolote, The Oaklandside, MPR News, National Public Radio, Outside Online, Talk Poverty, New Life Quarterly and Making Contact.
She earned bachelor’s degrees in Raza studies and political science from San Francisco State University.
Kevin Sullivan is a former executive producer of Reveal’s public radio show and podcast. He joined Reveal from the daily news magazine show “Here & Now,” where he was senior managing editor. There, he helped lead the expansion of the show as part of a unique partnership between NPR and WBUR. Prior to radio, Sullivan worked as a documentary film producer. That work took him around the world, with stories ranging from reconciliation in Northern Ireland to the refugee crisis during the war in Kosovo.
Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Sullivan launched an investigative unit for CBS in Baltimore, where he spearheaded investigations on bioterrorism and the U.S. government’s ability to respond to future threats. He also dug into local issues. His exposé of local judges found widespread lax sentencing of repeat-offender drunken drivers. Other investigations included sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests, and doctors who sold OxyContin for cash. Sullivan has won multiple journalism awards, including several Edward R. Murrow awards, a Third Coast / Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition award and an Emmy. He has an MBA from Boston University.
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Shereen Marisol Meraji is an audio producer and reporter who has told stories with sound for twenty years. Meraji helped create NPR’s critically acclaimed Code Switch podcast, which she also co-hosted. In 2020, Apple Podcasts named Code Switch its first-ever show of the year. As a founding member the Code Switch team, Meraji has reported on race, racism and racial identity formation since 2013 with a particular focus on Latino issues. She’s currently a Nieman Fellow working alongside a cohort of 21 brilliant journalists spending an academic year at Harvard focusing on, “some of the most urgent issues facing the industry, ranging from racial justice to disinformation.” In July 2022 Meraji heads to the University of California, Berkeley where she’ll be a professor of race in journalism, teaching the next generation of audio journalists while continuing to publish her own work. When she’s not telling stories that help us better understand the people we share the planet with, Shereen Marisol Meraji is dancing to salsa music, baking brownies or kicking around a soccer ball.
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Could there be anything more cruel than telling a mother who couldn’t or didn’t want to breastfeed her child that SHE is barely adequate?
[pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]It often seems that for lactation professionals, the cruelty is the point. They find fellowship in contempt for women who don’t breastfeed.[/pullquote]
The Fed Is Best Foundation was started to protect infants from dehydration, severe jaundice, brain damage and death, all of which have been rising alarmingly since the advent of the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative.
While infant health remains the primary focus, the Foundation also provides support to all women regardless of how they feed their babies. As anyone who is part of their many groups can see, that support comforts women who are struggling with deep emotional pain, depression and self-hatred.
Is there anything more vile than when faced with that pain, lactation professionals responded NOT with compassion, but with cruelty?
Prof. Amy Brown, in her subtly titled piece Why Fed Will Never Be Best, writes:
…Fed is therefore not best, because best implies that there are other acceptable alternatives.
Secondly, at what other point in our lives do we believe that fed is best? With older children do we accept that any food at all is best? No. We campaign for children to receive optimal nutrition. As adults we know that diet can play a major role in our health and wellbeing so why would this be any different for those whose sole nutrition comes from their milk?
Cruella de Vil could not have said it better!
Amy Brown is hardly alone among lactation professionals in her viciousness. Dr. Jack Newman famously had this to say about formula feeding:
Dr. Jack Newman, author of The Ultimate Breastfeeding Book of Answers, contends that “no close holding of the bottle-fed baby can duplicate the nursing relationship.” We asked whether there are any studies that support his thesis. “Feeding a baby with a bottle is akin to making love with a condom,” replied Dr. Newman, who founded the Newman Breastfeeding Clinic and Institute in Toronto. “Ask the men. They’ll tell you direct contact is different.”
Kathy Dettwyler wrote TO a mother who had left a positive review of Courtney Jung’s book Lactivism on Amazon:
Your children may or may not be “inferior” to breastfed kids … But formula-fed children definitely WILL BE INFERIOR to how those same individuals would have turned out if they had been breastfed.
Not to be outdone, Kimberly Seals Allers counsels women to ignore pediatricians when they warn about the dangers of exclusive breastfeeding, now the single largest risk factor for newborn hospital readmission accounting for tens of thousands of readmission each year.
No one would accept a nutritionist trained at a’McDonalds Health Institute’ but every day mamas face pediatricians only trained in breastfeeding by infant formula industry. The ones who financially benefit from failure of breastfeeding. We deserve better!
What proof does she offer for this slander? None of course.
These statements, and others like them, constitute a clear pattern of emotional abuse. They involve many of the behaviors commonly associated with abuse:
Denying something you know is true. An abuser will deny that an argument or even an agreement took place. This is called gaslighting. It’s meant to make you question your own memory and sanity.
Denying their abuse. When you complain about their attacks, abusers will deny it, seemingly bewildered at the very thought of it.
Accusing you of abuse. They say you’re the one who has anger and control issues and they’re the helpless victim.
Trivializing. When you want to talk about your hurt feelings, they accuse you of overreacting and making mountains out of molehills.
Saying you have no sense of humor… If you object [to vicious accusations], they’ll tell you to lighten up.
If you want to see the emotional abuse in real time, check out the Twitter feeds/Facebook pages of the lactation professionals mentioned above and those of their colleagues.
Over and over again, I have been astounded to see the obvious pain of new mothers met with a wall of derision, gaslighting, dismissal and contempt. Twitter in particular is the mean girls’ equivalent of the lunch room table. Lactation professionals won’t let anyone who is not a part of their clique sit near them; you can almost see the eye rolling and hear the cruel laughter. Lactation professionals often freeze suffering women out altogether by blocking them completely.
It often seems as if the unifying factor among lactation professionals — the concept around which they bond with each other — is not support for breastfeeding; it is contempt for women who don’t breastfeed. They appear to find fellowship in exacerbating and then celebrating the suffering of women whom they condemn as “minimal” mothers for not breastfeeding.
That’s why it’s so hard to stop their cruel behavior; it has become a social ritual for lactation professionals. Like all bullying, it isn’t just about tormenting someone else; it’s about impressing one’s peers by jointly tormenting others.
Fed is minimal? Only if the cruelty is the point.
View all posts by Amy Tuteur, MD →
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Lactation professionals, you are no longer David; you’ve become Goliath. →
49 Responses to “Breastfeeding “support” served with a side of cruelty”
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January 20, 2020 at 11:03 pm #
In a sense, yes, fed is “minimal”. An infant also needs affection, security and physical comfort to grow up secure and healthy, whatever they eat. No amount of breast milk sparkles will ensure a healthy human being without the many other factors.
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January 20, 2020 at 8:15 pm #
I had forgotten Jack Newman and his outrageous condom remark. I was happy having forgotten about him.
Then again, my experience as the owner of a pair of breasts kind of proves that breasts are a thing both men and hungry babies want. Amazing Niece, (almost) fully EBF (at some point the relationship between her mum and the breast pump deteriorated so when the kid was with other people, formula it was) and my friend’s quite premature baby (almost 3 pounds at birth and EFF) both tried to use my breasts when hungry. So much about the unique relationship between baby and their mom’s lactating boob. Amazing Niece didn’t recognize that this was not the boob she was looking for. She even tried to latch every minute or so to check if the situation had not changed and the boob had become miraculously full. So much about nipple confusion as well. Miss Prematurity knew what boobs were for, even if she had never tasted one in her mouth.
These people are cray-cray.
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Amy Tuteur, MD
March 1, 2019 at 5:34 pm #
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rational thinker
March 1, 2019 at 7:36 pm #
“problem children” Are babies who cant breastfeed really being called problem children? Oh I forgot babies always “know how to be born” and “how to breastfeed”. Am I the only one who wants to slap this condescending bitch in the face right now?
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March 1, 2019 at 8:36 pm #
I think the “some will die” part deserves a highlight
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Amy Tuteur, MD
March 1, 2019 at 5:33 pm #
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February 27, 2019 at 6:56 am #
“Feeding a baby with a bottle is akin to making love with a condom,”
That sentence is so hilariously pre-AIDS crisis, but I’m afraid to find out when it was actually said.
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February 26, 2019 at 8:21 am #
Ugh, Jack Newman. A lot of women don’t particularly get a lot out of PIV sex and would be rather okay with leaving it out altogether. I bet there are heterosexual men who don’t particularly like it either! My personal experience tells me a lot of men are fine with an alternative to PIV sex. Bottle feeding is simply an alternative to breastfeeding, an alternative that my baby preferred.
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rational thinker
February 26, 2019 at 7:37 am #
I guess in Jack Newmans world feminism never happened and womens bodies are only here for men to use and abuse.
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February 25, 2019 at 8:52 pm #
Is it just me, or is Jack Newman equating infant feeding with sex more than a little creepy? It’s nice to know he’s shown his true colors, though. Feeding method has jack the f shit to do with what the baby actually consumes and everything to do with putting women in their place as sex objects.
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February 25, 2019 at 9:06 pm #
“everything to do with putting women in their place as sex objects”
Exactly. A good wife will never deny her husband unhindered direct access to her vagina. A good mother will never deny her baby unhindered direct access to her breast.
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February 25, 2019 at 9:06 pm #
“everything to do with putting women in their place as sex objects”
Exactly. A good wife will never deny her husband unhindered direct access to her vagina. A good mother will never deny her baby unhindered direct access to her breast.
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February 25, 2019 at 7:02 pm #
Lactivists are always insisting that more women would choose to breastfeed if only our society didn’t “inappropriately sexualize” the breast. And then Dr. Newman tells us that bottle vs breastfeeding is like condom vs barebacking. OK then.
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February 26, 2019 at 3:10 pm #
“You thought this was about breastfeeding? Oh, no! This is really about my penis. Just ask any man. Or ask my penis. My penis prefers breastfeeding. You should listen to my penis. Did you know it wrote a book? You should read that book. It’s called My Penis’s Guide to Breastfeeding.”
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February 25, 2019 at 1:07 pm #
What.
That’s horrid. I don’t have the words for how fleeping horrid that is.
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February 25, 2019 at 3:45 pm #
That’s nearly as horrible a thought as IMG and her nipple tweaking, button-flicking assaults.
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rational thinker
February 25, 2019 at 12:18 pm #
How would a male doctor even know if it feels differently between holding a bottle or breastfeeding has he tried it? I think not.
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February 25, 2019 at 12:24 pm #
In what world is this parent thinking about the mom? I read his statement as saying “You might think you are feeding and bonding but your baby knows the difference and HATES IT and by extension HATES YOU just like your husband if you make him wrap it up.
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February 25, 2019 at 2:47 pm #
Yeah, no sympathy from me for the man whining about wearing a condom. NONE. If bare skin is his thing, what’s wrong with his hands? He’s got two of them.
And why are (some) men so obsessed with their penises?
Really, Jack Newman, what does breastfeeding (or not) have to do with your dick? Oh, NOTHING. Your ego can’t take that, can it?
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February 25, 2019 at 2:52 pm #
It really doesn’t compare well with his breastfeeding stance either. Slightly less good sex is apparently a loveless human rights violation while breastfeeding pain and inconvenience is not even something to be considered.
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February 25, 2019 at 2:55 pm #
Who cares that condoms can have textures or lubricants that can make it a fun/different experience that a woman might enjoy. Or that it can help sex last longer. Or that some times maybe I don’t want to have to worry and deal with all the mess that comes with sex.
February 25, 2019 at 3:17 pm #
From a guy’s perspective: what Azuran said
Heck, my wife and I have used condoms just for something different (by my suggestion).
My response to guys who whine about condoms in general is just an eyeroll. This takes it beyond that.
Seriously. Different does not necessarily mean worse. It’s like I figure with any guy and sex: are you really complaining? If it’s really that bad, just don’t do it….
“It’s like taking a shower in a rain coat.”
No, it’s not. Because no one ever takes a shower in a rain coat. But guys won’t turn down the opportunity to have sex even if they have to wear a condom. They will whine and complain about it, but when it comes to wear a condom or no sex, that choice is easy. If it were a question of take a shower with a rain coat or no shower, you’d skip the shower.
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February 25, 2019 at 11:24 am #
I’m not on twitter (although I occasionally read the posts), but I met one of the more prominent midwifery ‘leaders’ at a conference a few years ago. It was about stillbirth, bereavement and coping mechanisms (my bit was about the value of post mortem examination and how this could answer some of the questions the family might have and help in managing any subsequent pregnancy). One of her suggestions was that mothers who had a stillbirth should be encouraged to pump and donate their breast milk, because that would make them feel like they were contributing something, and feeding someone else’s baby would give them meaning. I wasn’t impressed.
Edit-her comment was in reply to a panel discussion about a post-stillbirth pathway- offering footprints, locks of hair, a naming ceremony/blessing, photography etc. She didn’t think milk suppression was a good idea.
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February 25, 2019 at 11:58 am #
I know of a midwife who runs a milk-bank with milk from her clients who lost babies under her care. It’s SICK. She sells it as “Even though you lost your baby, at least you can provide magical milk to some other woman’s baby.” Sick. Sick. Sick.
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rational thinker
February 25, 2019 at 12:15 pm #
That is sick. Taking advantage off a loss mother is one of the most horrible things you can do. Is she making money off these moms and does she screen the milk for disease?
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February 25, 2019 at 12:42 pm #
I don’t think it’s a profitable business – but more of an emotionally manipulative one.
It is not exclusively a loss-mother milk sharing organization, but they’ll take loss-mothers’ milk and donate it to others.
I believe there is some sort of testing.
February 25, 2019 at 3:42 pm #
As I said above, if it was the mother herself asked about it, and asked if donation was possible, then that might be the way that particular woman needs to go to deal with her loss, but to think that bringing it in as a universal step in a bereavement pathway for all loss mothers is a reasonable suggestion just beggars belief
February 25, 2019 at 5:16 pm #
I’m cynical. I think it’s a way for the midwife to keep the grieving mother from questioning the care she received. It’s probably somewhat sub-conscious on the part of the midwife – because the whole philosophical underpinning of midwifery is natural birth and lactation. But I find it disturbing. How ever conscious or unconscious the intention is.
There are nefarious patterns of bonding in relationships between midwives and their clients. And when I found out there was more than one loss mother participating in this particular milk-sharing group, I became pretty disgusted by it.
February 26, 2019 at 12:03 pm #
To me, I got the impression that the person making the suggestion placed more value on the mother’s breasts and what they produced than they did on the person-like the benefit of obtaining this magical elixir of life outweighed the trauma and emotional impact this would have on the woman. But that’s fairly typical of lactivists-breast milk trumps everything, no matter what.
In my role, I’m always humbled by the sheer altruism of loss parents-the overwhelming majority of parents who consent to an autopsy examination also consent to the use of their data and their baby’s tissues in medical education, training and research. But I think expecting them to automatically accept being used as a filling station is a step too far.
February 26, 2019 at 3:03 pm #
It’s why I’m skeptical of the motivations of the midwife who runs this milk sharing service.
The parents are feeling devastated, and they want the loss of their baby to not be completely meaningless. So if mom can make some milk and nurture someone else’s child, then it doesn’t feel like a complete waste. Altruistic, yes.
What is the midwife’s motivation? Is she making lemonade out of lemons? How many ‘tragic losses’ need to happen in her homebirth practice before she questions the quality of care she is providing?
rational thinker
February 25, 2019 at 5:30 pm #
Do you know if they still give loss mothers or moms that request it the shot to stop milk from coming and what was it called?
February 25, 2019 at 5:34 pm #
Last I heard it was not approved in the US due to some dangerous side effects. You can get it in other countries though.
February 26, 2019 at 3:14 pm #
rational thinker
February 26, 2019 at 3:29 pm #
When I was younger my mom used to tell me that if you weren’t going to breastfeed they would give you a shot, but by the time I got pregnant they did not do it anymore you just had to dry up on your own.
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rational thinker
February 25, 2019 at 12:23 pm #
Should report her to board of health.
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February 25, 2019 at 12:58 pm #
I’m just trying to imagine….the woman is sobbing as she’s pumping milk, reminding her how her baby is not going to get it….
Talk about PTSD and triggering and all that.
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February 26, 2019 at 6:06 am #
Wetnurses in the past were often women whose own babies had died.
rational thinker
February 26, 2019 at 7:54 am #
Yes but in the past it was it was so common for the baby or mom to die that It may not have hit a woman as hard emotionally. Today it is rare for the baby not to make it (because of modern medicine and obstetrics). Today I think women don’t really consider that possibility of the baby dying so when it does happen it is devastating. In the past they saw it happen all the time so maybe they were more emotionally prepared for it, and if you were poor and lost the baby it is an opportunity to have some financial security as a wet nurse.
February 26, 2019 at 3:25 pm #
Weren’t wetnurses paid of some sort?
For these women, it’s “do it because you will be doing something good for others”
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February 25, 2019 at 3:37 pm #
That was my immediate response. I could understand if it a bereaved mother asked if it was a possibility, and it was led by her, but to suggest that women who lost a baby should be asked this as part of a standard bereavement pathway?? Unfortunately, the person suggesting it wasn’t forcefully opposed, just a lot of mumbling and the topic was quickly dropped.
Edit-she argued that it was more natural, she didn’t approve of treating loss mothers with milk suppression medication and suggested this as a natural alternative and meant the mum wasn’t being given unnecessary drugs.
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February 25, 2019 at 6:57 pm #
I cant think of much worse than stimulating the hormones after loss. I remember sobbing my heart out in the shower looking at my full breasts. I suppressed milk and it took about a week after coming in late due to shock I suppose. I do know some bereaved women that have donated milk and it gave them some sense of satisfaction but it was totallly their idea.
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February 25, 2019 at 4:50 pm #
I could see a bereaved woman offering, especially if the other baby’s mother is a close friend/relative, but the so-called professional bringing it up is just f’ing cruel.
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February 25, 2019 at 11:07 am #
I sometimes wonder what might have been different if I hadn’t been starved as a newborn. I certainly wouldn’t have heard my entire life how I was such a miserable baby and had that been used as an excuse to tell me I was just a foul person and blow me off every time I was upset about something growing up.
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February 25, 2019 at 4:54 pm #
I’m not sure that -they- wouldn’t have found some other pseudo reason. Please pardon my cynacism
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February 25, 2019 at 10:39 am #
People do the same thing to obese people. I have heard people say that having a gastric bypass or a gastric band is “cheating” to lose weight. I’m sorry but if you will tell someone who is trying to save or improve their life they are “cheating”, you are a jerk who is missing the point.
And I have special contempt for someone who would tell a vulnerable new mother that “fed is minimal”. I’m pretty sure, that our fore mothers, who struggled to keep their kids alive in cliff dwellings, teepees, caves, etc would have wholeheartedly embraced formula. It reeks of ugly privilege and abelism to pretend like formula is anything other than a miracle food for babies.
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February 25, 2019 at 10:38 am #
Their whole perspective is so incredibly privileged that it disgusts me.
Being fed with breast milk or formula to satisfaction is best. Because it’s better than suffering hunger and slow growth because breast milk supply is insufficient, or becoming dangerously dehydrated because there’s almost no milk at all. It’s better than getting food poisoning or malnutrition from the stuff that people used instead of formula for thousands of years.
And yet they call formula feeding the “bare minimum.”
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February 25, 2019 at 10:43 am #
What pisses me off too is that whether or not you make enough milk is nothing more than genetics and chance. If you had an easy time with breastfeeding and are ugly to other women that had problems, its like you were born on third base but you act as if you hit a triple.
I have lots of friends that EBF for a long time and none of them are jerks to me because I supplemented. Normal people understand that just because someone else does things differently doesn’t mean that they are doing it wrong.
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February 25, 2019 at 12:15 pm #
For all the world it reminds me of the pretty girls in highschool/life. Beauty care is a joy filled game because their bodies and faces comply and they think that if you opt out it is just laziness or a lack of self love rather than a rational choice to invest in the talents and gifts that bring you fulfillment.
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February 25, 2019 at 10:20 am #
As a lactation consultant, I 100% agree with this post. While some of my colleagues are truly compassionate and nonjudgmental, there is a true cruel streak in many, which is especially evident when they’re talking behind mothers’ backs. Mothers sense this even if the consultant’s mouth is saying the right words. When someone has contempt for you, you know it.
Moms, trust your instincts, and never accept shaming about how you feed your baby. Your love is more important than the kind of milk you feed your baby.
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Amy Tuteur, MD
Dr. Amy Tuteur is an obstetrician gynecologist. She received her undergraduate degree from Harvard College in 1979 and her medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine in 1984. Dr. Tuteur is a former clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School. She left the practice of medicine to raise her four children. Her book, Push Back: Guilt in the Age of Natural Parenting (HarperCollins) was published in 2016. She can be reached at DrAmy5 at aol dot com... More
PUSH BACK
Read an excerpt from the book!
Thinking about homebirth? Watch this video!
The Doubtful Father's Guide to Homebirth
why does MANA's own data show a death rate 450% higher than hospital birth?
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Bio: Raised in Lorton, Virginia, Sullivan was ranked as the top college recruit by Top Drawer Soccer. She played soccer at Stanford University from 2014 to 2017 where she was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year. During her senior year, she led the team to their second national championship and was awarded the Hermann Trophy for being the top female college soccer player.
Sullivan was selected as the number one overall draft pick by the Washington Spirit during the 2018 NWSL College Draft. She was named as a finalist for the 2018 NWSL Rookie of the Year award and finished second behind winner, Imani Dorsey. Sullivan has represented the United States at the une-15, under-17, under-20 and under-23 levels. She was first called up to the USWNT in 2016 and was on the roster when the team won the 2018 and 2020 SheBelieves Cup.
Career Stats:
Games Played: 46
Goals: 2
2019 Season Stats:
Games Played: 23
Goals: 2
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Aquaman is an American superhero film based on DC Comics. It stars Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry aka Aquaman. The movie emphasizes the journey of how Arthur Curry stops his half-brother, King Orm, from destroying the surface world. Here are the best kickass quotes from the Aquaman movie which will give you a dose of inspiration-
1. My parents were of two different worlds, and I was a product of the love that they shared. A son of land, and a son of the seas. ~Arthur Curry
2. You cannot judge a place before you’ve even seen it. ~Arthur Curry
3. Sometimes, you have to do what’s right, even if your heartaches against it. ~Mera
4. Life, like the sea, has a way of bringing people together. ~Arthur Curry
5. I’m not trying to start a war. The war has already begun. ~Orm Marius
7. Atlanteans are many wonderful things, but forgiving is not one of them. ~Mera
8. Permission to come aboard. ~Aquaman
9. You think you’re unworthy to lead because you’re of two different worlds. But that is exactly why you are worthy. You are the bridge between land and sea. I can see that now. The only question is, can you? ~Mera
10. I’m no leader. I came because I have no choice. I came to save my home and the people that I love. ~Arthur Curry
These were the best quotes from the Aquaman movie. The movie was full of action. Hope you liked this article and make sure to share it with die-hard fans of the DC Franchise.
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About ten years ago we spent a few glorious weeks in the Basque Country. We were staying with friends, who were Basque, and who knew all the best places to go and the best things to eat. We had a ball. One of the things I remember well from that trip, however, is sitting and watching everyone else eat. I am coeliac, and cannot eat gluten. I also don’t eat meat. (Fish yes, meat no.) Of course, there were lovely things to eat on that trip. I remember beautiful fresh fish, and salads, and lovely wine, and at one fantastic little farmstead B&B up in the hills we sat outside at breakfast and ate the best scrambled eggs we’ve ever had. (Doug has tried to re-create them many times. I think they must be eaten on a farm to be appreciated.)
I also remember stopping in a tiny town that was famous for its Iberico ham. (Iberico ham is a local specialty: the pigs are free-range and roam in forested areas, eating acorns. The meat is cured for 36 months. I am told that it is to ham what a Lamborghini is to my Vauxhaul.) We stopped in a little bar which served only four things: wine, bread, Iberico ham, and Gernika peppers, which are small green peppers that are fried and served sprinkled with coarse salt. Everyone else enjoyed the bread and Iberico ham, ordering extra platters, while I sat and ate fried peppers and drank wine. That night I was spectacularly ill. (The peppers, by the way, are amazing, but should be accompanied by other food, especially when drinking wine.)
I had a similar “watching others eat” experience when we would go out in Bilbao and eat pintxos (small finger foods served in bars). Pintxos and wine is a meal in and of itself, but even with a Basque native ordering for me and interacting with the chef, there were only a few things I could eat. Most pintxos are served on bread or are otherwise gluten-contaminated. I ate many portions of tortilla (a type of omelette cooked with eggs and potato) and consoled myself with good local wine.
So, when Doug and I went back to the Basque country earlier this month, I was a little bit concerned about food. What I learned is that ten years makes a huge difference!
We travelled around a bit on this trip, spending a few days in San Sebastian, and then travelling south to Rioja for a few days (where we stayed in the Marqués de Riscal, the magnificent Frank Gehry-designed hotel in Elciego) then over to Burgos, and then north to Santillana del Mar in Cantabria before heading back to Bilbao for the flight home. We ate in a few very high end restaurants, including the three Michelin star Akelarre in San Sebastian. (This is a fantastic restaurant with a glorious view. The hotel is amazing; if I were to win the lottery, I would stay there for three days – Akellare has three different tasting menus – and eat there every night.) They did not even blink over making the necessary substitutions so that my meal – all 11 courses – would be both gluten- and meat-free.
Of course, one would expect this in such a high end restaurant, but I found that most restaurants could accomodate me. One of the best meals we had was in a small neighbourhood bar in San Sebastian, called Kapela. We happened across this bar by happenstance one evening while exploring the area around our hotel. It is in a quiet, residential area across from a park, and the place was buzzing and filled with locals. One look and I immediately wanted to eat there. I told the lovely proprietess (that’s her on the webpage) that I could not eat gluten or meat, and we placed an order. She brought Doug a basket full of bread, brought us a bottle of local wine, and a plate full of anchovies (and another of Iberico ham, for Doug, of course). Just as I reached out to grab an anchovie and pop it in my mouth, she placed a steaming hot baguette in front of me. “Gluten-free”, she said. Oh my, heaven! I tore off hot pieces of bread, drizzled it with olive oil, plopped an anchovie on top (gorgeous, fresh anchovies – the best in the world), and ate like a king. She then brought me an Ensalda de Bacalao – this is traditionally Basque, a salad made from slices of warm potato, topped with roasted peppers, and then with freshly cooked Bacalao (cod). It may sound simple but this one was fantastic! The best I’ve ever had. In fact, I don’t think I ever had cod as fresh and perfectly cooked. (Later in the trip, Doug and I considered driving two hours back to San Sebastian just to eat here again. It was that good.)
We had another great meal in San Sebastian at Xarma, a funky kind of place with a bar upstairs and restaurant downstairs serving excellent modern interpretations of traditional foods. On their website they say “Fusion and evolution in our cooking. We put a piece of ourselves in every dish. History, tradition and the avent-garde.” We ordered a bunch of dishes for the table, and they carefully prepared a gluten-free version of each, which they presented beautifully. The chef himself came to the table to deliver freshly-baked gluten-free bread and to make sure that I was being well served. They do recommend that you call in advance and let them know you have dietary restrictions, which I would suggest generally for restaurants.
One of the things that really struck me in Donostia/San Sebastian (the Basque name for the city is Donostia, but it is more well-known outside of the Basque country as San Sebastian) was when Doug and I went into a grocery store to buy some fruit for our drive. We stopped at a large, local grocery store in a residential neighbourhood, and while there, I went to check out the gluten-free section. (As one does.) Wow! Their gluten-free section was three times the size of the one at my local Waitrose here in the UK. They had so much on offer. Much of it was by Schar, the German company that specialises in GF foods. If you don’t know it, you can trust it. Schar is a good brand and they have lots of variety.
We had excellent food at the Marques de Riscal – we ate in both of their restaurants (one of which has a Michelin star) and in their bar. The fancy restaurant served a 21 course taster menu, and they seamlessly made mine gluten- and meat-free. I ended up eating an awful lot of fish courses – because of the no meat thing, and well, 21 courses – but they were all delicious. (By the way, we found their second restaurant to be more relaxed – especially on the patio – and the food was excellent. The kitchen is the same though the menu is more traditional and less experimental.) For lunch in the bar I had a lovely salad with warm goat cheese. The entire experience at the Marques de Riscal was great – they have a beautiful spa, and the rooms are lovely. We especially enjoyed a really well-designed tour of the vineyard and wine production facilities. They have been producing wine since 1862.
Wine ageing in oak barrels in the cellar at Marques de Riscal.
The historical cellar, also called “The Cathedral”, was very impressive.
The historical cellar, called the botelleria historica, aka “The Cathedral”, at Marques de Riscal. It holds bottles from every vintage since the first harvest in 1862.
We had an excellent old vintage at dinner, but not this old.
Probably the most difficult experience in menus I had was in Burgos. For lunch, I had a tortilla (my old stand-by) as there was not much choice available. In the evening, we wanted to eat in our hotel, and were too tired that night to sit for a meal in the restaurant. In the bar, the menu was mostly pintxos – heavy on the bread and meat. I had a long chat with the bartender, going through each item on the menu only to be told “No, this one is served on bread; no, this one has meat.”. I found two things I could eat: cheese, and roasted peppers. Both of which I like but it didn’t sound like a meal. And then, almost on an afterthought, he said “Of course, we have gluten-free bread.” Problem solved! I ordered the cheese, which came baked – a beautiful, creamy, warm, locally-produced cheese – and the peppers. They brought me out a piping hot bag, with two small loaves of bread in it. I was served this identical bag of bread in two different restaurants in two different provinces while there, so this is clearly a thing. The restaurant keeps them in the freezer and pops them in the oven when needed, and serve them hot, still in the bag. One loaf was seeded, and the other had walnuts and apricots. They were good – especially when slathered with cheese and peppers!
The end of our trip, however, held a real find: the small medieval town of Santillana del Mar has a gluten-free restaurant! It is called Pasaje de los Nobles. It is a wonderful restaurant, which is always full (call in advance if you can). Note that this is not a restaurant which is great for a gluten-free restaurant, but rather a fantastic restaurant which also happens to be gluten-free. We ate there two days in a row, it was that good, and the experience of being able to eat everything on the menu was not to be missed. It has very traditional dishes as well as more modern dishes, and it is all beautifully cooked. The best thing we had there was the black rice with mussels and aioli, but the mango and langoustine ceviche and the tuna tartar were also excellent. I had a piece of Bacalao in green sauce which was delicate and lovely. The cheesecake was so good, it brought back memories of cheesecake from 30 years ago in my gluten eating days. (Actually, this one was probably better.) The pumpkin flan and lemon mousse were also great. I was so happy to have dessert choices!
One of the difficult things when travelling gluten-free is breakfast. We didn’t eat any breakfast while we were there, so I am afraid I have no insights to offer. We had lunch every day at 2pm and dinner at 10pm, and that suited us quite well. When you spend a few hours enjoying a late dinner, you aren’t hungry when you wake up! On our trip, we stayed in hotels with a range of price tags, from standard to luxury, and ate in a range of restaurants, from local bars to trendy eateries to Michelin-starred restaurants. I was able to find delicious, fresh, gluten-free meals everywhere I went. What a difference ten years has made!
For those of you asking where the knitting content is, here is a photo of me knitting in San Sebastian. Doug thought this permanent sculpture installation was called “Knitting the Wind”, so he insisted on getting a photo of me knitting in front of it. It turns out he translated it wrong; it is called “The comb of the wind”. (Basque: Haizearen Orrazia XV, Spanish: Peine del Viento XV. Sculptures by Eduardo Chillida, installed as an architectural work by the Basque architect Luis Peña Ganchegui.) The five minutes I knitted while taking this shot is the sum total of all of the knitting I did on this holiday!
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VOTERS SHOULD prioritise “real local democracy” in the first council elections in five years tomorrow [Thursday 4 May], according to the Scottish Greens.
With all parties putting forward their platforms ahead of the vote, a swathe of political material has focused on Scotland or UK wide constitutional issues – and was then further compounded by the announcement of a snap UK General Election in the middle of the campaign.
However, MSP Andy Wightman, meeting activists in Edinburgh, encouraged all voters to focus on revitalising local decision making and improving local services when they cast their ballots.
Wightman, a local democracy spokesperson, said: “Scotland needs a revitalised local democracy where citizens can play a full part in matters affecting their communities. Green councillors will ensure neighbourhoods can make real choices about the services they want and how to pay for them.
“After decades of centralisation, local democracy hangs in the balance. More Green councillors are sorely needed to help return power to local level.” He called for voters to “elect advocates of real local democracy, people who understand that local services and accountability matter.”
SNP: ‘Back us for better community services’
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon positioned her party against the threatened rise of the Tories and long-held Labour councils: “Councils have a key role in driving our economy, building and protecting our communities and providing vital local services.
“Tomorrow’s vote is about choosing who is best placed to take decisions about the future of our communities. We know that Labour have for far too long put their own interests before those of the people they represent, while the Tories are intent on a damaging cuts agenda, while proposing no positive policies in this election.”
The three unionist parties have all – to different degrees – claimed the local election is a vote on a future referendum on Scottish independence. Conservatives have made the issue the top concern on its election material, with some letters to voters mentioning the issue over a dozen times.
Labour: Reject “two opposing nationalist forces”
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale has said the vote is an opportunity to elect “a local champion” and reject SNP and Tory plans.
“On Thursday, every Labour councillor elected will fight to make their local community stronger,” she said. “A local champion who will protect local services from the Tory and SNP cuts. A local champion who will be the last line of defence between the services people value, and the narrow-minded dogma of two opposing nationalist forces.”
Meanwhile, LibDem leader Willie Rennie said party councillors would back the public interest as well as opposing independence and Brexit: “Every Liberal Democrat Councillor will be a local champion that communities deserve. They will work all year round, not just at election time. Despite the Greens and the SNP wanting to put independence back to the top of the agenda, Liberal Democrats will serve to deliver the improvements to local services that we need.
“Our plan for a strong economy and a fair society contrasts with the reckless hard-Brexit of the Conservatives and the divisive approach of the nationalists.”
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We have provided you on this webpage, the best AirTran phone number and additional contact for AirTran. If you wish to send mail to AirTran the full address is 9955 AirTran Boulevard, Orlando, Florida, 32827, USA. According to our comprehensive database, this is currently the updated AirTran phone number that you can reach out during normal business hours.
What is AirTran Phone Number?
Want to send us a message? Please feel free to write with your comment or inquiry, using the comments form below. We thrive to provide you with the best and most up-to-date information and appreciate any input you might have for us.
Using this AirTran phone number will take you to the main phone system and from there it will direct you to the different divisions including the CEO, management, customer service, human resources, finance, billing, marketing and sales. This is the updated AirTran phone number and is provided for free for you to enjoy as well as other corporates. AirTran phone number is connected to the main operator of the company, simply follow the instructions you hear, once you dial.
What is AirTran Address?
Here is AirTran address that you can use as official mail address or the location of AirTran head office:
State/Zip Code: FL 32827
The COVID-19 pandemic made work from home as a standard and changed many companies working and open hours. Though many companies changed their hours, this AirTran phone number is currently operational on a regular bases and is available during the same regular working hours. AirTran phone number is the quickest way for you to reach out the right department and speak to the right professional person you want. AirTran is working with the health guidelines provided by the local authorities of Orlando, as well as the state and health authorities of USA to make sure the safety and health of employees customers is kept.
This AirTran phone number we provide on this page is free though be aware that your phone provider might charge you, according to the written calling rates you have within your phone operator service agreement/contract. Calling this AirTran phone number, will take you to the main menu and from there you can get to the right person you are looking for in the company, during normal day working hours (might change on holidays and weekends).
10 Most Valuable Companies In The World
2048 was a huge year for some of the world’s biggest corporations. I’m certainly thankful that I made some wise investments before the stock market exploded. But exactly which companies succeeded, and which ones suffered? Watch this video to learn who are the 10 most valuable companies in the world.
We are always happy to serve other people and help them with what they need and this is why we’ve created this website that is providing, completely free, the most updated AirTran phone number as well as phone numbers for other corporations. We are putting attention to have the information as accurate as possible but if you do have new information of AirTran phone number or other details, we will appreciate you to take the time and write us here on the below comments form in this page.
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“Innovation over the long haul is superfluous”. That is everything a client of mine said to me when I made a show to him about another item. I had been discussing the item’s elements and advantages and recorded “cutting edge innovation” or something like that, as one of them. That is the point at which he offered his expression. I understood later that he was right, inside caseearn.com the setting of how I utilized “Innovation” in my show. However, I started pondering whether he could be right in different settings also.
What is Technology?
: the specific parts of a specific field of try <educational technology>
Innovation (from Greek τîχνη, techne, “workmanship, expertise, crafty of hand”; and – λογî¯α, – logia[1]) is the making, change, use, and information on devices, machines, procedures, specialties, frameworks, and techniques for association, to take care of an issue, work on a previous answer for an issue, accomplish an objective, handle an applied information/yield connection or carry out a particular role. It can likewise allude to the assortment of such apparatuses, including hardware, alterations, courses of action and methodology. Advancements fundamentally influence human as well as other creature species’ capacity to control and adjust to their regular habitats. The term can either be applied by and large or to explicit regions: models incorporate development innovation, clinical innovation, and data innovation.
The two definitions spin around exactly the same thing – application and use.
Innovation is an empowering influence
Many individuals erroneously accept it is innovation which drives advancement. However from the definitions over, that is plainly not the situation. It is opportunity which characterizes development and innovation which empowers advancement. Consider the work of art “Fabricate a superior mousetrap” model showed in many business colleges. You could have the innovation to fabricate a superior mousetrap, yet on the off chance that you have no mice or the old mousetrap functions admirably, there is no a valuable open door and afterward the innovation to construct a superior one becomes insignificant. Then again, on the off chance that you are overwhelmed with mice, the open door exists to develop an item utilizing your innovation.
Another model, one with which I am personally recognizable, are buyer hardware new businesses. I’ve been related with both those that succeeded and those that fizzled. Each had remarkable driving edge innovations. The thing that matters was an open door. Those that fizzled couldn’t track down the chance to foster a significant development utilizing their innovation. As a matter of fact to make due, these organizations needed to transform customarily into something else entirely and on the off chance that they were fortunate they could make the most of subordinates of their unique innovation. Generally, the first innovation ended up in the garbage dump. Innovation, hence, is an empowering agent whose extreme incentive is to make upgrades to our lives. To be applicable, it should be utilized to make developments that are driven by a valuable open door.
Innovation as an upper hand?
Many organizations list an innovation as one of their upper hands. Is this substantial? At times indeed, however In many cases no.
Innovation creates along two ways – a transformative way and a progressive way.
A progressive innovation is one which empowers new enterprises or empowers answers for issues that were beforehand impractical. Semiconductor innovation is a genuine model. In addition to the fact that it generated new ventures and items, yet it produced other progressive advancements – semiconductor innovation, coordinated circuit innovation, chip innovation. All which give a considerable lot of the items and administrations we consume today. Yet, is semiconductor innovation an upper hand? Taking a gander at the quantity of semiconductor organizations that exist today (with new ones framing consistently), I’d say not. What about chip innovation? Once more, no. Loads of chip organizations out there. Could quad center chip innovation? Not as many organizations, but rather you have Intel, AMD, ARM, and a large group of organizations building custom quad center processors (Apple, Samsung, Qualcomm, and so on). So once more, not a very remarkable upper hand. Contest from contending innovations and simple admittance to IP mitigates the apparent upper hand of a specific innovation. Android versus iOS is a genuine illustration of how this functions. Both working frameworks are subsidiaries of UNIX. Apple utilized their innovation to present iOS and acquired an early market advantage. Nonetheless, Google, using their variation of Unix (a contending innovation), got up to speed somewhat rapidly. The purposes behind this falsehood not in the hidden innovation, but rather in how the items made conceivable by those advances were brought to showcase (free versus walled garden, and so forth) and the distinctions in the essential dreams of each organization.
Transformative innovation is one which gradually expands upon the base progressive innovation. Be that as it may, by it’s actual nature, the steady change is more straightforward for a contender to match or jump. Take for instance remote cellphone innovation. Organization V acquainted 4G items earlier with Company An and keeping in mind that it might have had a momentary benefit, when Company A presented their 4G items, the benefit because of innovation vanished. The customer returned to picking Company An or Company V in light of cost, administration, inclusion, whatever, however not in light of innovation. Subsequently innovation could have been pertinent temporarily, however in the long haul, became superfluous.
In this day and age, advances will generally immediately become commoditized, and inside a specific innovation lies the seeds of its own demise.
This article was composed from the planned of an end client. From an engineer/creator stance things get murkier. The further one is eliminated from the innovation, the less significant it becomes. To an engineer, the innovation can seem to be an item. An empowering item, yet an item in any case, and consequently it is profoundly significant. Bose utilizes an exclusive sign handling innovation to empower items that meet a bunch of market prerequisites and subsequently the innovation and what it empowers is pertinent to them. Their clients are more worried about how it sounds, what’s the value, what’s the quality, and so forth, and not such a great amount with the way things are accomplished, in this way the innovation utilized is substantially less pertinent to them.
As of late, I was engaged with a conversation on Google+ about the new Motorola X telephone. A great deal of individuals on those posts hammered the telephone in light of multiple factors – cost, locked boot loader, and so forth. There were additionally a lot of thumps on the way that it didn’t have a quad-center processor like the S4 or HTC One which were valued in much the same way. What they neglected to get a handle on is that whether the producer utilized 1, 2, 4, or 8 centers in the end has no effect as long as the telephone can convey a cutthroat (or even best of class) highlight set, usefulness, cost, and client experience. The iPhone is one of the best telephones at any point delivered, but it runs on a double center processor. It actually conveys one of the most incredible client encounters available. The highlights that are empowered by the innovation are pertinent to the purchaser, not the actual innovation.
The significance of innovation in this manner, is as an empowering influence, not as an item highlight or an upper hand, or any bunch of different things – an empowering influence. Taking a gander at the Android working framework, it is a noteworthy piece of programming innovation, but Google parts with it. Why? Since independent, it fails to help Google. Offering it permits different organizations to utilize their aptitude to construct items and administrations which then go about as empowering influences for Google’s items and administrations. To Google, that is where the genuine worth is.
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Another quick one for you to juice up your day. This isn’t an episode for someone who needs to make income quickly, it’s for those that may have some extra time or have the ability to plant some seeds for long term success with your creative business.
What can you do right now for free? Today? I really believe in the power of giving and that the more you give the more you receive in life. Lately I have been really energized by finally finishing the Go Giver book and have seen some great success from personal and friend stories of giving away your best things in life and in return receiving the best things in life. Let’s talk
In This Episode We Cover
Changes in conversation & approach
Everyone is in the same boat, human mood
What are you offering? What do they have?
Economy facts and what can be done
Prepping for the boom to follow
What can you offer for free that doesn’t feel like work?
Build, build, build
Entertainment v. Education which one?
“I really believe right now is a seed planting time” - Host Dave Swillum
“People are more available right now, they are more down to earth and into what they care about and are focused on.” - Host Dave Swillum
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Top advisor to Pope Francis faces multiple charges of ‘historical sexual assault offenses’ – Crime Online
Top advisor to Pope Francis faces multiple charges of ‘historical sexual assault offenses’
by Associated Press
June 29, 2017
Cardinal George Pell: “I repeat that I am innocent of these charges. They are false.”
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Cardinal George Pell, one of Pope Francis’ top advisers, took a leave of absence as the Vatican’s financial czar on Thursday to fight multiple criminal charges in his native Australia that allege he committed sexual assault years ago.
Pell appeared before reporters in the Vatican press office to forcefully deny the accusations, denounce what he called a “relentless character assassination” in the media and announce he would return to Australia to clear his name.
“I repeat that I am innocent of these charges. They are false. The whole idea of sexual abuse is abhorrent to me,” Pell said.
Clouds hang over St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican, Thursday, June 29, 2017. The Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney says Vatican Cardinal George Pell will return to Australia to fight sexual assault charges as soon as possible. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
The Vatican said the leave takes effect immediately and that Pell will not participate in any public liturgical event while it is in place. Pell said he intends to eventually return to Rome to resume his work as prefect of the Vatican’s economy ministry.
Pell, 76, is the highest-ranking Vatican official ever to be charged in the church’s long-running sexual abuse scandal, and the developments pose a major and immediate new obstacle for Francis as he works to reform the Vatican.
Victoria state Police Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton announced the charges Thursday, saying police had summonsed Pell to appear in court to face multiple counts of “historical sexual assault offenses,” meaning offenses that generally occurred some time ago. Patton said there are multiple complainants against Pell, but gave no other details on the allegations against the cardinal.
Pell was ordered to appear in Melbourne Magistrates Court on July 18.
Cardinal George Pell arrives to make a statement, at the Vatican, Thursday, June 29, 2017. The Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney says Vatican Cardinal George Pell will return to Australia to fight sexual assault charges as soon as possible. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said the Holy See had learned with “regret” of the charges and that the work of Pell’s office would continue in his absence, albeit only its “ordinary” affairs.
In a statement he read to reporters while sitting beside Pell, Burke said the Vatican respected Australia’s justice system but recalled that the cardinal had “openly and repeatedly condemned as immoral and intolerable” acts of sexual abuse against minors.
He noted that Pell had cooperated with Australia’s Royal Commission investigation into sex abuse and that as a bishop in Australia, he worked to protect children and compensate victims.
“The Holy Father, who has appreciated Cardinal Pell’s honesty during his three years of work in the Roman Curia, is grateful for his collaboration,” Burke added.
The charges were announced on a major Catholic feast day, when many of the world’s cardinals were already in Rome for a ceremony Wednesday to elevate five new cardinals. As Pell spoke to reporters, preparations were underway in St. Peter’s Square for a huge Mass that Pell had been expected to jointly celebrate, but he stood down after the charges were announced.
Cardinal George Pell meets the media, at the Vatican, Thursday, June 29, 2017. The Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney says Vatican Cardinal George Pell will return to Australia to fight sexual assault charges as soon as possible. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
For years, Pell has faced allegations that he mishandled cases of clergy abuse when he was archbishop of Melbourne and, later, Sydney. But more recently, Pell himself became the focus of a clergy sex abuse investigation, with Victoria detectives flying to the Vatican last year to interview the cardinal. It is unclear what allegations the charges announced Thursday relate to, but two men, now in their 40s, have said previously that Pell touched them inappropriately at a swimming pool in the late 1970s, when Pell was a senior priest in Melbourne.
Patton told reporters in Melbourne that none of the allegations against Pell has been tested in any court, adding: “Cardinal Pell, like any other defendant, has a right to due process.”
The charges are a new and serious blow to Pope Francis, who has already suffered several credibility setbacks in his promised “zero tolerance” policy about sex abuse.
They will also further complicate Francis’ financial reform efforts at the Vatican, which were already strained by Pell’s repeated clashes with the Italian-dominated bureaucracy. Just last week, one of Pell’s top allies, the Vatican’s auditor general, resigned without explanation two years into a five-year term, immediately raising questions about whether the reform effort was doomed.
In his statement, Burke said Pell’s economy secretariat would continue working in his absence until other provisions are decided.
A prolonged absence, however, would require Francis to make other provisions, since it is unclear if the office could, for example, issue the Holy See’s annual financial statement without Pell’s imprimateur.
Cardinal George Pell, left, is flanked by Vatican spokesman Greg Burke as he arrives to meet the media, at the Vatican, Thursday, June 29, 2017. The Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney says Vatican Cardinal George Pell will return to Australia to fight sexual assault charges as soon as possible. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pell’s actions as archbishop came under intense scrutiny in recent years by a government-authorized investigation into how the Catholic Church and other institutions have responded to the sexual abuse of children. Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse — the nation’s highest form of inquiry — has found shocking levels of abuse in Australia’s Catholic Church, revealing earlier this year that 7 percent of Catholic priests were accused of sexually abusing children over the past several decades.
Last year, Pell acknowledged during his testimony to the commission that the Catholic Church had made “enormous mistakes” in allowing thousands of children to be raped and molested by priests. He conceded that he, too, had erred by often believing the priests over victims who alleged abuse. And he vowed to help end a rash of suicides that has plagued church abuse victims in his Australian hometown of Ballarat.
But he nevertheless became something of a scapegoat in Australia for all that went wrong with the Catholic Church in its mishandling of the sex abuse scandal. His flight to Rome to head Francis’ reform effort had been viewed by many of his critics as an attempt to avoid justice.
The Australian public has been riveted by the investigation, and news of his charges sparked a media frenzy. Both the police announcement and Pell’s statement from the Vatican were carried live across the country.
Australia has no extradition treaty with the Vatican. But in a statement from the Sydney Archdiocese, Pell said he would return to Australia “as soon as possible,” following advice and approval by his doctors. Last year, Pell declined to return to Australia to testify for the third time before the Royal Commission, saying he was too ill to fly. He instead testified via video conference from Rome.
The Blue Knot Foundation, an Australian support group for adult survivors of childhood abuse, said the decision to charge Pell sent a powerful message to both abuse survivors and society as a whole.
“It upholds that no one is above the law, no matter how high their office, qualifications, or standing,” the group’s head of research, Pam Stavropoulos, said in a statement.
But actually proving the charges may be difficult. The prosecution must prove that the sex offenses occurred beyond a reasonable doubt, which can be difficult when so much time has passed, said Lisa Flynn, national manager of Shine Lawyers’ abuse law practice in Australia.
The charges put the pope in a thorny position. In 2014, Francis won cautious praise from victims’ advocacy groups when he created a commission of outside experts to advise him and the broader church about “best practices” to fight abuse and protect children.
But the commission has since lost much of its credibility after its two members who were survivors of abuse left. Francis also scrapped the commission’s signature proposal — a tribunal section to hear cases of bishops who covered up for abuse — after Vatican officials objected.
In addition, Francis drew heated criticism for his 2015 appointment of a Chilean bishop accused by victims of helping cover up for Chile’s most notorious pedophile. The pope was later caught on videotape labeling the parishioners who opposed the nomination “leftists” and “stupid.”
Asked last year about the accusations against Pell, Francis said he would wait for Australian justice to take its course before speaking or casting judgment himself.
It remained unclear if Pell would face a church trial stemming from the accusations. The Vatican has clear-cut guidelines about initiating a canonical investigation if there is a semblance of truth to sex abuse accusations against a cleric. In the case of a cardinal, it would fall to Francis himself to judge. Penalties for a guilty verdict in a church trial include defrocking.
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Gujarat Assembly Elections 2022: First phase of voting on 89 seats begins; PM Modi urges voters to exercise franchiseSouth star Vijay Deverakonda questioned for 12 hours by ED over Liger fundingDaily horoscope 1 December 2022: Fruitful day for Gemini on financial front, know how your day will be for ThursdayFarmers face police cane during protest outside Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann's residence in SangrurHazel Keech, husband Yuvraj Singh celebrating their 6 years of togetherness; Shares pic with son Orion
Scammer posing as friend defrauds 52-year-old of Rs 18 lakh in Nagpur
Nagpur: A 52-year-old man from Nagpur, Maharashtra, was allegedly cheated out of Rs 18.5 lakh by a scammer who posed as the victim’s close friend, according to police. Earlier this month, the victim received a call on his phone from Canada, and the caller pretended to be one of his
Maharashtra: Man kills 16-year-old daughter by pretending to write suicide note, names relatives, arrested in Nagpur
Nagpur: A shocking incident came to fore from Nagpur, Maharashtra. Here the police have arrested a father. He is accused of killing his own daughter. According to police, 40-year-old man got the daughter to write a suicide note, asked her to pretend to be hanged and clicked pictures from mobile.
Over financial crisis, Nagpur businessman, 58, set fire with family inside the car, dies
Nagpur: In yet another heart-wrenching incident came into light from Maharashtra, In Nagpur, Maharashtra, a 63-year-old businessman set himself and his family on fire by spraying petrol inside the car. In this incident, the businessman was burnt to death while the wife and son somehow managed to save themselves. The
Gujarat Assembly Elections 2022: First phase of voting on 89 seats begins; PM Modi urges voters to exercise franchise
South star Vijay Deverakonda questioned for 12 hours by ED over Liger funding
Daily horoscope 1 December 2022: Fruitful day for Gemini on financial front, know how your day will be for Thursday
Farmers face police cane during protest outside Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann's residence in Sangrur
Hazel Keech, husband Yuvraj Singh celebrating their 6 years of togetherness; Shares pic with son Orion
India breaks jinx with 4-3 victory over Australia in third hockey Test, its first victory against Kookaburras in 13 years
Suicide attack in Pakistan's Quetta city, 3 including 1 police officer killed, 23 injured
Russia suffers huge military casualties, losing 160 generals and colonels in its quest to invade Ukraine
Varun Dhawan: I want to concentrate on such films that draw audiences to watch movies in theaters
Bilkis Bano files a review petition in Supreme Court against early release of her rapists
Bihar man ties knot with six women in four different states; one of wives' brothers caught him red-handed
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When applying for a job, you will be required to submit a resume as part of the application. A resume is often short, one or two page, and list your work experience, education, skills, and key achievements.
A resume is the first thing employer will see before they meet you. If they like it, you are almost assured of getting an interview.
It is, therefore, prudent to make sure it is catchy enough to grab the attention of potential recruiters at first glance. The good thing is that it is possible to create an appealing resume.
With that in mind, let’s see what a complete resume looks like.
What to include in your resume?
Include your full name and contact information, such as your email address and phone number.
Career objective/summary
A career objective or summary is a section at the top of your resume that helps you pitch yourself. If you have work experience, begin with a career summary and describe your experience as well as where you project to be in the coming years.
If you recently graduated and have no experience, start with a career objective and make sure to outline your skills and work ambitions.
Note: when including your work experience and education, start with whichever is more recent
Work experience
List your most recent jobs in chronological order, starting with the latest job. Make sure to include the title of your position, the name and location of the company or organization, and the dates you worked there.
You can also mention relevant volunteer work and internships in this section.
Under each job, use bullet points to give a brief overview of your responsibilities and achievements, including the skills you used
Education
List your education in chronological order, starting with the most recent education experience. Under each experience, name the institution, the qualification you received, and when you started and finished if you have not finished, including the expected date.
Remember also to include any areas of study, awards, and other achievements.
Include your high school education less than five years ago.
Skills, strengths, or interests
For each topic, list information that is relevant to the job you are applying for.
Often you will be required to reference people who know you professionally. If you list them, for example, your former employers, academic advisors, or managers, make sure to add their contact information, including their titles. Alternatively, it is ok to write “references available on request.”
How long should your resume be?
Always keep your resume short, one or two pages. Short resumes are appealing and considering recruiters spend a few seconds on a resume before deciding whether to consider it further or trash it, it makes sense to keep your resume short.
If you have less than ten years of experience, try to keep your resume under two pages. For senior executives or academics, resumes may be longer as they have a lot to include.
What should it look like?
It is crucial to make sure your resume is well designed. Make sure it is easy to read by using bullet points and paragraphs to split the text. Also, use resume fonts and heading appropriately, and finally, remember to proofread.
What to leave out
As a rule of thumb, a resume is a short document that only captures the most relevant information. It is, therefore, ok to leave out some information such as:
Personal information such as age, marital status, sex, and religion
Irrelevant work experience. Only add experience that is most relevant to the job you are applying for.
Your salary expectation or previous salary unless asked to list them.
With the above in mind, you can design a professional resume that will grab the attention of recruiters at first glance. Need extra support to create a professional resume? We are here to help.
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As your broker, we are well-versed in the pros and cons of bundling your insurance and we’re here to help you decide if it is the right choice for you! This topic can be confusing and very time-consuming if you typically shop around for your own insurance, and we want to be able to take that burden off your hands. We love shopping your insurance for you and we’re here to answer all of your questions so it can be as simple as possible for you.
What is ‘bundling’?
Bundling means that you are purchasing multiple insurance policies from the same insurance company. For example, if you purchase an insurance policy for your home, car and motorcycle from one insurance company, instead of mixing your various policies between providers, you would be bundling your policies.
By bundling your insurance through a single insurance company, you receive a range of benefits otherwise not available to you. It is highly encouraged by insurance companies because they want your loyalty and your business. Hence, you are typically rewarded for this with loyalty discounts.
Is bundling insurance worth it? How do I know if it’s right for me?
This is where we come in!
We know exactly which companies are going to provide you with the coverage that you need, the customer service that you want and the assistance with claims that you may require. We’re always so excited to get to know our clients so we can share our expertise with you and find you the right provider. If one provider does not meet all of your needs, it’s an opportunity to figure out which ones do!
Bundling is a great option for you if you want:
Simplicity at Renewal – Since you’ve gone with a single provider, your policies renew at the same time instead of multiple times throughout the year. Your broker will assess your policies and make sure it is still the best choice for you. If they are, then you’re all done for the whole year!
Loyalty Discounts – As we’ve mentioned, a big appeal to bundling is the loyalty discounts. You receive these for purchasing more than one policy with the same company. So if you require insurance for your home, auto, trailer, motorcycle etc., it is always worth it to see if bundling can save you some money. Sometimes there can even be savings for multiple policyholders within the same household!
Better Understanding by your Broker – Bundling your insurance means your broker will have a better understanding of your unique needs and will be able to effectively find you the best coverage. Staying with one provider allows your broker to seamlessly bridge any potential gaps in your coverage between policies.
Simplicity with Claims – Big claims that affect multiple assets can be stressful enough. Only needing to make one call to one insurance company after a tree just fell onto your garage destroying your car and motorcycle, can be a big stress reliever. If all of these policies were with different providers, that can be a lot of separate phone calls with many different claims processes.
Want to find out if bundling is right for you? Chat with a broker and find out!
At McConville Omni, your London & St. Thomas insurance company, we take the time to get to know you – so that we are fully confident that we are bringing you the very best insurance coverage for you, your family and your business.
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At HobbyNerds, we specialize in researching hobbies and creating thorough tutorials to help people discover a new pastime.
These guides are intended to assist people to live more fulfilling lives. There’s nothing more rewarding than helping someone figure out a new passion.
Whether that’s helping an elderly individual learn a new card game to play with their grandchildren. Or helping a young married couple find the perfect party game to entertain their guests.
In the beginning, we’re really focusing on researching party games. But, as our site evolves, and we listen to our audience, we intend on broadening our focus. This means that we will cover a broad assortment of different hobbies in different niches.
For example, down the line, we anticipate writing about hobbies like learning musical instruments, playing outdoor sports, and even woodworking activities.
One of our founders, Ryan Nelson, has had a lot of success online. That means that he doesn’t need to work a 9-5 job. While an amazing accomplishment, it also means he has more time to fill in his day to day life.
A lot of people that work a 40 hour work week, their lives are jam-packed with commuting back and forth from work, doing their shifts in their cubicles, and even answering work emails on their down time.
This means that, in a lot of cases, they don’t have much time to pursue a hobby, or perhaps develop a new one.
In Ryan’s case, since he has a lot of free time, he’s actively researched hobbies, as a personal development exercise. And to fill his time with something engaging and personally fulfilling.
This website represents a public effort to research hobbies, discovering all their facets, helping him determine the best one for his life, while also helping others discover their own passions.
When Ryan first began searching for a hobby, he was overwhelmed by all of the different options. There were things like martial arts- but so many different disciplines! There was even the hobby of studying body language- another fascinating field. Already an accomplished pianist, he decided to begin studying Krav Maga, the Israeli self-defense, martial art.
But he’s always looking for a new, engaging hobby- which is really the genesis of this site.
You can contact him by emailing our site here.
Our authors come from varied backgrounds- many of them specialize in the hobby. But others merely do the internet research and write up the tutorials to help novices learn the basic skills required to begin the hobby.
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The Chesapeake Bay Program at Old Dominion University (ODU) collects data to support the objectives of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to restore the environmental health of the Chesapeake Bay. The Chesapeake Bay Monitoring Program, initiated in 1985, is a multi-purpose program that includes long-term studies conducted by ODU.
Chair's Welcome
Welcome! The year 2007 was significant for our department. Our enrollment remains high, new courses have been added, research productivity continues, and for the first time in more than two decades we are getting additional space.
Name of the Chair, Chair, Department
Following are the upcoming events........
Announcements
Nov 08
Water quality July/August data added.
Aug 25
Elizabeth River Report 2005 added to Reports Section
Questions?
This will be updated with the contact id's of people who should be contacted in the different departments. For example:
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The strange case of the “suspicious” Georgia mail-in ballots under court-ordered review, and a break-in at the warehouse storing them | Sharyl Attkisson
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The strange case of the "suspicious" Georgia mail-in ballots under court-ordered review, and a break-in at the warehouse storing them
Dated: June 10, 2021 by Sharyl Attkisson 2 Comments
Regardless of how it all turns out, the information reported in a RealClearInvestigations article would be major international news in a neutral news environment.
According to the article:
A Democrat-donor judge in Georgia has sided with plaintiffs in agreeing to unseal 147,000 2020 election mail-in ballots for inspection.
Four poll workers have filed sworn affidavits about anomalies they said they observed on absentee ballots, from their abnormal "pristine" unfolded condition, to the paper being of different stock than other ballots, to voting bubbles that appeared to be filled in by ink from toner in a printer.
Joe Biden won the state by just 12,000 vote after a surge of tens of thousands of mail-in ballots counted after some election monitors were "shoo'd" from the venue due to false reports of a major water pipe break.
The judge, Brian Amero, ordered a May 28 meeting at the warehouse where the ballots are stored to come to agreement on the process for inspection.
The meeting was postponed after Fulton County filed legal objections to the inspections.
Judge Amero requested around the clock guards of the warehouse until the inspection.
However, on May 29, sheriff's deputies guarding the warehouse left it unattended for several hours.
A motion-detection alarm was triggered shortly after the deputies left.
County officials say the ballots were not breached.
The plaintiffs are asking for security camera video to confirm.
The following is an authorized reprint of a RealClearInvestigations article by Paul Sperry.
When Fulton County, Ga., poll manager Suzi Voyles sorted through a large stack of mail-in ballots last November, she noticed an alarmingly odd pattern of uniformity in the markings for Joseph R. Biden. One after another, the absentee votes contained perfectly filled-in ovals for Biden — except that each of the darkened bubbles featured an identical white void inside them in the shape of a tiny crescent, indicating they'd been marked with toner ink instead of a pen or pencil.
Brian Amero: The judge, a donor to Democrats, ordered ballots unsealed for inspection after poll workers swore under oath Biden votes looked fake.
Adding to suspicions, she noticed that all of the ballots were printed on different stock paper than the others she handled as part of a statewide hand recount of the razor-thin Nov. 3 presidential election. And none was folded or creased, as she typically observed in mail-in ballots that had been removed from envelopes.
In short, the Biden votes looked like they’d been duplicated by a copying machine.
“All of them were strangely pristine," said Voyles, who said she’d never seen anything like it in her 20 years monitoring elections in Fulton County, which includes much of Atlanta.
She wasn’t alone. At least three other poll workers observed the same thing in stacks of absentee ballots for Biden processed by the county, and they have joined Voyles in swearing under penalty of perjury that they looked fake.
Now election watchdogs have used their affidavits to help convince a state judge to unseal all of the 147,000 mail-in ballots counted in Fulton and allow a closer inspection of the suspicious Biden ballots for evidence of counterfeiting. They argue that potentially tens of thousands may have been manufactured in a race that Biden won by just 12,000 votes thanks to a late surge of mail-in ballots counted after election monitors were shooed from State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
Garland Favorito, vote-integrity advocate: “We have what is almost surely major absentee-ballot fraud in Fulton County involving 10,000 to 20,000 probably false ballots.”LinkedIn
“We have what is almost surely major absentee-ballot fraud in Fulton County involving 10,000 to 20,000 probably false ballots,” said Garland Favorito, the lead petitioner in the case and a certified poll watcher who runs VoterGa.org, one of the leading advocates for election integrity in the state.
He said the suspect ballots remain in the custody of the election officials and inaccessible from public view.
“We have confirmed that there are five pallets of shrink-wrapped ballots in a county warehouse,” Favorito said in an interview with RealClearInvestigations.
He and other petitioners were ordered to meet at the warehouse May 28 to settle the terms of the inspection of the absentee ballots. But the day before the scheduled meeting, the county filed a flurry of motions to dismiss the case, delaying the inspection indefinitely.
“We will be in court on June 21 to resolve these motions,” said Favorito, calling them another “roadblock” the county has tried to throw in their way. He expects talks over the logistics of the inspection to resume after the Fourth of July holiday.
As part of his May 21 order, Superior Court Judge Brian Amero requested officials guard the warehouse around the clock until an inspection date can be set. But just eight days later, a breach in security was reported after sheriff’s deputies left their post for a couple of hours.
“The front door was [found] unlocked and wide open in violation of the court order,” Favorito said.
Former President Trump: After deputies interrupted their watch on the ballots on May 29, he implied election officials in the Democratic-controlled county are trying to hide evidence of fraud.(AP Photo/John Raoux)
County officials confirmed that a motion-detection alarm was triggered Saturday, May 29, shortly after the deputies drove away from the building in their patrol cars around 4 p.m. But they said a locked room where the ballots are kept “was never breached or compromised.”
Favorito is not convinced, and his lawyer is seeking to obtain the video footage from building security cameras. “How do we know for certain there was no tampering with the ballots?” asked Favorito, who said he did not vote for Donald Trump.
News of the security lapse caught the attention of the former President, who has claimed his loss to Biden was marred by fraud. In a statement, he implied election officials in the Democratic-controlled county are trying to hide evidence of fraud. "They are afraid of what might be found,” he asserted.
Trump is also closely monitoring the ongoing election audit in Arizona, another red state that turned blue in 2020. If evidence of fraud is found in these key swing states, it might help confirm suspicions the election was “stolen" from Trump and the 74 million who voted for him -- as a recent poll found 61% of Republicans believe -- as well as provide the proof of voter fraud that Democrats and major media have long claimed doesn’t exist.
The 38 drop boxes Fulton distributed throughout the county in the November election will be cut to eight in the future. The boxes had been largely unregulated and unattended.Georgia Voter Guide
The cases could potentially give other battleground states incentive to take steps to tighten election security and root out fraud, including passing legislation to limit the use of controversial mail-in drop boxes and require the verification of signatures on such ballots. In Georgia, relatively few mail-in ballots were rejected for invalid signatures in the November general election, even though several thousand had been disqualified for signature issues in the primary election.
In a move that inspired national boycotts alleging voter "suppression," Georgia recently passed a law limiting, but not removing, the drop boxes. The state had installed them for the first time in 2020 under pressure from Democratic groups, who argued officials needed to make voting easier for minorities who didn’t trust the mail and feared going to the polls during the COVID scare.
The 38 drop boxes Fulton distributed throughout the county in the November election will be cut to eight in the future. The boxes had been largely unregulated and unattended — located outdoors, open 24 hours a day and available for drop-offs until the evening of Election Day, prompting complaints of ballot stuffing and double voting. But now they have to be located inside election offices or early voting locations, and can only be available during the hours when early voting is permitted. The new law also requires ballots be printed on special security paper.
Voting by mail traditionally was limited to voters who had clearly defined and well-documented reasons to be absent from the polls. But Democrats in key swing states lobbied to relax the rules in the middle of the election and amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Mail-in or drop-off ballots create opportunities for voter error and fraud. In a typical election, one in 20 mailed ballots are rejected, according to recent studies. More than 534,000 mail-in ballots were rejected during the 2020 Democratic primaries alone.
Robb Pitts, Democratic chairman of Fulton County commissioners: “This is nothing more than a circus that’s being put on by those who promote the ‘big lie’ ” that Trump won the election.(AP Photo/Ron Harris)
Still, both Republican and Democratic officials in Georgia say they have found no credible evidence of widespread fraud in the general election. Democrats, as well as many major media outlets, have written off Favorito’s group's allegations of fraud as “conspiracy theories.”
“This is nothing more than a circus that’s being put on by those who promote the ‘big lie’ ” that Trump won the election, said Robb Pitts, the Democratic chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners. “Where does it end? The votes have been counted. The elections have been certified. It’s over."
Pitts effectively controls the county elections board through his Democratic appointee Mary Carole Cooney, who runs the board. They are in charge of securing the pallets of disputed Biden mail-in ballots awaiting inspection in the county warehouse.
But Judge Amero, who federal elections records show is a Democratic donor, felt compelled to unseal the ballots for a forensics review after reading the sworn affidavits submitted by election monitors. Here are key witnesses in the case:
Suzi Voyles, a veteran Fulton poll manager who audited the Nov. 14 recount at Georgia World Congress Center, testified she examined several stacks of ballots of about 100 ballots each from a cardboard box marked “Box No. 5 — Absentee — Batch Numbers 28-36.” She said these ballots “came from the ballot [drop] boxes that had been placed throughout Fulton County.”
Suzi Voyles, poll manager: "One batch stood out. It was pristine." LinkedIn“Most of the ballots had already been handled; they had been written on by people, and the edges were worn. They showed obvious use,” she wrote in her Nov. 17 affidavit. "However, one batch stood out. It was pristine. There was a difference in the texture of the paper,” and these mail-in ballots hadn’t been folded even though they ostensibly had been removed from envelopes.
All but three of the 110 ballots in the bundle — which had been labeled “State Farm Arena” — were marked for Biden and appeared to be “identical ballots."
The most “alarming peculiarity” was the identically marked ovals next to Biden’s name. In every ballot, “The bubble next to ‘Joseph R. Biden’ had a slight white eclipse in the bubble,” she said, leading her to believe that the batch of 107 Biden ballots had been “copied" from a single ballot.
Voyles speculated that “additional absentee ballots had been added [for Biden] in a fraudulent manner” at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta on election night.
The void she and other auditors witnessed in the exact same spot of the oval filled in on 107 ballots for Biden “was alarming to us,” Voyles said in an RCI interview. “Every single bubble was precisely alike. I had never seen that before in 20 years” of election monitoring.
But when she and other recount workers raised concerns with county election officials, “we were told not to worry about it,” she said. “They seemed uninterested in the [integrity of the] ballots.”
After Voyles later blew the whistle in affidavits and state election hearings, she was fired as a poll manager by the Fulton County Department of Elections. “I got the boot for speaking the truth,” she told RCI.
Robin Hall, a certified Fulton County recount observer, also testified she witnessed a number of boxes of absentee ballots marked “100% for Biden” that appeared to be “perfectly filled out as if they were pre-printed with the presidential candidate selected.” She stated: “They did not look like a person had filled this out at home. All of them looked alike."
Judy Aube also worked at the World Congress Center on Nov. 14 where she observed the same thing: “suspicious batches" of mail-in ballots for Biden whose markings appeared identical, as if they had been duplicated by a machine and not filled out by a voter at home.
Barbara Hartman, another election official auditor, also doubted the authenticity of absentee ballots she handled that she said were never folded, as would normally be the case for ballots returned in an envelope by mail or dropped in a box. “The absentee ballots looked as though they had just come from a fresh stack,” she swore in her affidavit. "I could not observe any creases in the ballots and [it] did not seem like they were folded and put into envelopes or mailed out.” Also, “The majority of the mail-in ballots that I reviewed contained suspicious black perfectly bubbled markings for Biden,” Hartman stated, adding that “they looked as if they were stamped."
However, election officials have offered an explanation for why the mail-in ballots examined in the stacks did not have folds or creases. They say ballots are sometimes copied onto other paper when they are too damaged to be fed through one of the scanning machines during tabulation. The mailed ballots can be torn or crumpled by postal workers during delivery or by poll workers while opening them and removing them from envelopes, which could prevent the machines from reading them.
From controversial video at State Farm Arena, Atlanta, showing ballots being pulled from under tables.WSB-TV/YouTube
But Favorito suspects the hundreds, if not thousands, of allegedly duplicate absentee ballots for Biden might be connected to spikes in votes for Biden he observed late on election night in Fulton County after election officials cleared monitors from State Farm Arena and pulled cases full of ballots out from under tables and began scanning them.
“There’s always the chance it was an inside job,” said Favorito, a career IT professional who's been a leading advocate for Georgia election integrity over the past two decades.
On Nov. 3, Fulton County elections officials informed monitors that they were shutting down the State Farm tabulation center before midnight, only to continue counting throughout the night while no one was watching.
“Election workers don’t bring ballots in after the supervisor has delayed processing until the morning, hide them under a table and then bring them out for scanning and tabulation after the supervisor tells [monitors] they are done scanning for the evening and they go home,” Favorito said.
“Once scanning [was] completed, an election line feed showed an unprecedented vote spike that turned the election in favor of Biden,” he added. In fact, “just over a half hour after workers scanned the potentially fraudulent ballots, an election line feed showed a 100,000-plus vote spike for Biden.”
“Where did those ballots come from and why did they handle them so suspiciously?” Favorito asked.
Voyles noted that the county elections supervisor who oversaw the secret scanning of the cases full of ballots also helps run the warehouse where the suspect ballots are being stored.
Phone calls and emails to Fulton County went unanswered.
Similar Anomalies, Other Counties
Favorito pointed out that the potential for counterfeit ballots exists in other Georgia counties, not just Fulton.
In fact, two Democrat poll workers blew the whistle on similar anomalies they witnessed in neighboring DeKalb and Cobb counties, where the election process also is controlled by Democrats.
Carlos E. Silva, for one, declared in a Nov. 17 affidavit that he observed a similar "perfect black bubble” in absentee ballots for Biden during the recount he worked in DeKalb County. And while overseeing the Cobb County recount, he swore he “observed absentee ballots being reviewed with the same perfect bubble that I had seen the night before in DeKalb. All of these ballots had the same characteristics: they were all for Biden and had the same perfect bubble.”
Added Silva, a registered Democrat: “There were thousands of [mail-in] ballots that just had the perfect bubble marked for Biden and no other markings in the rest of the ballot.”
Another registered Democrat, Mayra Romera, testified that while monitoring the Cobb County recount, she noticed that “hundreds of these ballots seemed impeccable, with no folds or creases. The bubble selections were perfectly made ... and all happened to be selections for Biden."
In a recent article pooh-poohing complaints of fraud in Georgia, as well as Arizona, the New York Times portrayed Favorito as “a known conspiracy theorist” and suggested he was a 9/11 truther. As evidence, it cited a 2002 book he published “questioning the origin of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.”
Asked about it, Favorito responded: “My book did not propose any theories on what happened on 9/11. I don’t mention anything about explosives” planted in the World Trade Center, as truthers have baselessly speculated. Rather, he said, he questioned Bush family business connections with the bin Laden family and other wealthy Saudis, and argued that the war on terror benefited the Bushes. He also faulted the Bush administration for “obstructing" FBI investigations into the attacks.
Favorito says he is a “constitutionalist” and neither a Republican nor a Trump supporter.
Comments
Ernest Sire says
April 5, 2022 at 5:45 pm
My question concerns the Dominion system's "adjudication" process. I watched a video, that I can no longer find, that was done in one of the smaller Georgia counties that demonstrated how a vote can be changed after being flagged by the vote-counting machine. It seems that a ballot has a computer image made and just by using a mouse and a couple clicks you can erase the mark and put in the other candidate's bubble. I'm unclear as to whether or not a new "corrected" ballot is then printed up. Can anyone confirm this?
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When we ride on planes, we rarely think about how difficult a landing can be. After all, these giant craft need to land on specific spots and park in specific destinations, all in a tight schedule.
One such plane in Phoenix, Arizona had a hard time finding its place in a busy airport. VASaviation brought us the pilot's conversation with the air traffic controller at the Gateway tower who was there to guide him to his final destination.
The conversation is interesting because despite having much support, the pilot misses his landing opportunity. This does not deter the air traffic controller from being kind and supportive and finding a new location for the student pilot to land.
The pilot expresses many times that it's his first time landing on that particular runway and that he is very nervous. "You're completely safe," says the air traffic controller in a soothing note. "I am not going to let anything happen to you."
The air traffic controller even finds a new plan that involves moving everyone for the student pilot to land. What a complication!
In the end, all is well that ends well and the student pilot successfully lands where he is supposed to. Kudos to the air traffic controller at the Gateway tower for keeping his cool.
Transportation
A 23-year-old product designer invents a new kind of table that generates electricity
Ashutosh Vashishtha has created a study desk that can generate electricity, based on the simple principle of electromagnetism.
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NUSA DUA, Indonesia — President Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping took a small but significant step toward stabilizing what has become an increasingly fraught relationship when they met for over three hours of talks on Monday.
The two leaders "were very blunt with one another" on a range of topics where they do not see eye to eye, Biden told reporters after the meeting. But he said the they had agreed to further discussions among key officials, and to a visit to China by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, set to take place sometime early next year.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, who was in the meeting, said on Twitter the two leaders "instructed their teams to promptly follow up and implement common understandings reached between them, and take concrete actions to put China-U.S. relations back on the track of steady development."
While Biden and Xi have met several times over the years, this was their first face-to-face meeting since Biden became president. Both leaders had expressed hope ahead that the long-awaited in-person meeting would help stabilized the relationship, which has seen trust evaporate and disputes fester across a range of issues, from trade and technology to Taiwan.
Biden said he believe that "there need not be a new Cold War" between the U.S. and China. According to a read-out from China's state news agency, Xi appeared to agree, saying "China-U.S. relations should not be a zero-sum game where you lose and I win, and you rise and I fall."
The two sides have considerable disagreements
Despite agreeing to hold further discussions, a good portion of the meeting appeared to be a series of exchanges of viewpoints on areas where the two disagree.
On Taiwan, Biden reassured Xi that U.S. policy has not changed, and that the United States does not support changes to the status quo from either side.
"I'm convinced that he understood exactly what I was saying. I understood what he was saying," Biden told reporters.
Beijing considers Taiwan a part of China, and hopes to unite the island politically with the mainland. Xi has said he hopes to do so peacefully, but Beijing cannot rule out the possible use of force.
Biden told reporters he did not believe there would be any imminent attempt by China to invade Taiwan.
Xi told Biden the Taiwan issue was "the number one un-crossable red line" in China-U.S. relations. He said it's an issue for the people of China to resolve, and he hoped the U.S. would live up to its commitments and words.
On North Korea, which has been testing ballistic missiles and may be preparing for a fresh nuclear test, Biden said he was unsure if China was able to control Pyongyang. But he thought Beijing had an obligation to attempt to dissuade North Korea.
If they do conduct a test, Biden said he told Xi the U.S. would "do what we need" to defend itself and its allies — and that could mean "we'd be more up in the face of China." Administration officials have said the U.S. could respond to more provocations from North Korea by boosting the U.S. military presence in the region.
Both Biden and Xi came into the meeting with domestic political winds at their backs
Biden said that the midterm elections had sent a message around the world that the U.S. would remain fully engaged in global affairs. Xi, for his part, cemented his power last month when he got a third term as head of the ruling Communist Party and was able to stack the leadership with allies and loyalists.
Biden said he found Xi neither more confrontational nor conciliatory than in the past. And he added: "Do I think he's willing to compromise on various issuse? Yes."
But he struck a cautious tone about the road ahead.
"We're not going to be able to work everything out. I'm not suggesting this is kumbaya," Biden said.
The White House listed global issues like climate, debt relief, health security and food security as areas in which the two leaders "agreed to empower key senior officials to maintain communication and deepen constructive efforts."
The White House said Biden and Xi both "reiterated their agreement that a nuclear war should never be fought and can never be won and underscored their opposition to the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine."
Heading into the meeting, Biden had reiterated his call to responsibly manage the emerging competition between the two sides.
"As the leaders of our two nations, we share responsibility in my view to show that China and the U.S. can a mange our differences, prevent competition from becoming anything nearing conflict and to find ways to work together on urgent, global issues that require our mutual cooperation," Biden said to Xi at the start of the meeting.
Xi told Biden that the bilateral relationship currently "is not what the international community expects" and said the leaders need to "elevate the relationship."
See stories by Emily Feng
John Ruwitch is a correspondent with NPR's international desk. He covers Chinese affairs.
See stories by John Ruwitch
Franco Ordoñez is a White House Correspondent for NPR's Washington Desk. Before he came to NPR in 2019, Ordoñez covered the White House for McClatchy. He has also written about diplomatic affairs, foreign policy and immigration, and has been a correspondent in Cuba, Colombia, Mexico and Haiti.
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John Wood is the founder of Room to Read, an organization that believes World Change Starts with Educated Children.® Room to Read seeks to transform the lives of millions of children in developing countries by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education. Since 2000, Room to Read has impacted the lives of nearly nine million children by providing increased access to high-quality educational opportunities through its network of libraries and schools, local language children’s books and its girls’ education program. Read More >
At age 35, Wood left his position as Director of Business Development for Microsoft Greater China region to form Room to Read. The business acumen honed there, combined with his passion and an unparalleled track record at changing the world, makes Wood a unique and inspiring speaker with universal appeal.
Wood’s award-winning memoir, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur’s Odyssey to Educate the World’s Children (Harper Collins, 2006), tells how he raised over $350 million from a “standing start” to develop one of the fastest-growing nonprofits in history. The book was described by Publishers’ Weekly in a starred review as “an infectiously inspiring read.” Translated into 20 languages, it is popular with entrepreneurs, philanthropists and educators alike, and was selected by Amazon.com as one of the Top Ten Business Narratives of 2006 and voted a Top Ten Nonfiction title of 2006 by Hudson Booksellers. The book was also featured during Wood’s appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show and the resulting “Oprah’s Book Drive” with Room to Read raised over $3 million from viewers.
Wood’s follow up book, Creating Room to Read: A Story of Hope in the Battle for Global Literacy (Viking Penguin, 2013), tells the story of how the organization successfully tackled the next steps of scaling beyond his wildest dreams while maintaining integrity and raising money in a collapsing economy.
Wood has been named by Goldman Sachs as one of the world’s 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs, has been a three-time speaker at the Clinton Global Initiative and is a five-time winner of Fast Company Magazine’s Social Capitalist Award. He has been honored by Time Magazine’s “Asian Heroes” Award, selected as a “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum and is a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute. He was selected by Barron’s as one of the “25 Best Givers” in 2009 and 2010, ranking 11th and 9th on the list, respectively. In 2014, Wood won the World’s Children’s Honorary Award Laureate through the World’s Children’s Prize, the annual educational program for the rights of the child and democracy — often called the Children’s Nobel Prize. In recognition of his passion to open libraries for the most under-served populations, he was described by the San Francisco Chronicle as “the Andrew Carnegie of the developing world.”
John Wood holds a master’s degree in business administration from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Colorado, and honorary doctorates from McGill University and the University of San Francisco. He also serves on the advisory board of the Clinton Global Initiative and is a frequent lecturer at Harvard Business School and at NYU’s Wagner School of Public Policy. Read Less ^
Spreading Education
Re-Imagining Leadership
"John Wood was great, from beginning to end. His assistant was great and easy to work with; he was easy to work with, was great on our planning call. And of course, best of all, he was incredibly inspirational at the event. The next day at several high-level meetings, people were quoting him, which is what we want. We want people to be moved to take action, which I think they will. Our event theme was “What Do You Do with an Idea,” which was based on a children’s book where a child nurtures an idea through ups and downs and changes the world. We wanted to challenge our audience to find the courage to nurture big ideas like: What would it take to cut our child poverty rate in half in the next 10 years? What ideas do we have about what it would look like to ensure every child enters school ready to learn? How could we cut the college remediation rate in half in the next five years? John Wood himself is an example of nurturing a BIG idea. But he was also an incredible messenger. He said to our audience, “Bold goals attract bold people. Who do you want to surround yourself with?” It was another great event for us, one people are still talking about. So thank you!!"
- Colorado Children's Campaign
"John did an outstanding job. I can only imagine how difficult it is to fly into a community for a day and try to deliver a meaningful and personal commencement address. He did a great job and people are still talking about it."
"Wood was an absolutely fantastic speaker. I think his real magic was being able to tie some of the current events in our community (which we shared with him prior to his remarks) to his own experiences. He also appeals broadly to both the nonprofit and corporate worlds (which we find important when soliciting corporate sponsorships of the event), particularly when explaining how applying his business experience to building a successful nonprofit. Additionally, he and his staff are wonderful to work with, and he was fantastic one on one with our donors at a pre-luncheon meet-and-greet reception. He is unbelievable. Amazing."
"John spoke at our 500 person marketing conference and was an amazing inspiration to our global team. Here is someone who is literally changing the world, and he invites you to participate. He does so with humor, energy and no guilt. If you want to hear a story that will end with a standing ovation, invite John to speak (and then donate to his organization)!"
"John is a breath of fresh air to executives and professionals who are typically caught up in their busy lives. He connects with people’s natural desire to do good for society. John was a big hit at our Software 2004 conference, where he received a standing ovation from over 1,000 CEOs, VPs and VCs. He is an engaging speaker who is guaranteed to make people passionate about life."
"John was fantastic! Everyone loved him and we were extremely pleased with having him at our conference."
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I had picked up the Necrosphinx kit just before it was retired by Games Workshop a few months ago, and finally found the time over the last two weekends to do it some justice!
I wanted to create an aged bronze and gold feel overall. So started out by using layers of inks and washes to weather the bronze and gold.
Then the challenge was picking out which details to add color to, without the model starting to look to busy. I always associated rich, primary colors with Egyptian schemes, so I went for some red and bright blue detailing.
Once the colors were in I went back and used some more washes to blend the color details back in and weather them a little.
Since I wouldn't be using him to actually play with I decided to go to town a little, and craft a display base for him as well.
I think it all came together pretty well all things considered. I was happy with the final results!
Age of Sigmar painting
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Ten Books that aren't about Game Design ...
. . . that every game designer should read. In wrapping up my latest term teaching Game Design here in California I was reminded that virtually all of the texts I recommend to students aren't actually about Game Design. I feel that is because I genuinely believe that there are so many important things to learn that aren't specifically about our craft, but relate to our ability to operate within it. We learn about game design by making games, iterating, answering questions, facing challenges, and learning from our mistakes. We can of course also start to supplement that by reading some of the fledgling academic works looking at game design too, but to me, there are some vital elements that a game designer can learn from looking outside our field. Creative mediums have after all been around a very long time, and many of the lessons learnt in other spheres can provide valuable insights. It's about broadening your horizons. Asking what you can learn
Behold the Court of the Nurgling King
Some ideas start small. Other ideas start very small. Others start very small and end up large. This was one small idea that ended up very large. Behold the Court of the Nurgling King This was a very special project that started with a small, silly idea. It all started with this guy and an army of nurglings ... When I saw the caped Nurgling he looked all regal and confident to me. He looked in command. He looked like a King. Then I imagined what a Nurgling King might ride into battle ... I figured he might compensate.Then I just had to figure out how to make it! Then the Rotigus head from the Greater Unclean One kit was the final piece of the puzzle that launched me into this one! The conversion wasn't quite as straightforward as I hoped. I had to play with the arms quite a bit to re-use the Bell hand (also from the Greater Unclean One kit), and then modify the Battlecannon arm to allow for the 'Royal platform' Then I set about layering
I painted up a set of Trollblood Highwaymen earlier in the year, so it was about time I got around to their partner in crime, Braylen Wanderheart. I like the style of these Trollblood sculpts, and they fit the theme perfectly. I went with a beaten leather / forest style color scheme to fit in with my the rest of my horde. The red accents being a running theme throughout all my Trolls. I also got to try out the new Games Workshop gloss ink shades on her armor. The new gloss version of Nuln Oil does indeed give the shading a nice polished sheen. So pretty much 'as advertised' there. She worked out nicely enough for a single afternoon's work. That's actually me out of Trolls to paint at the moment. At least until I get tempted again. I have a sneaking suspicion that the new editions of Hordes and Warmachine will probably tempt me into something new!
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A well-ordered project management is an important base for successful development, construction, and production. At the Biersack company in Beilngries, experienced key-account managers are available to help you in the transaction of your projects and competently support every step of engineering.
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We understand co-engineering as supplement of knowledge and think that this form of cooperation has a big potential.
An experienced and qualified tool manufacture and fixture construction belongs to us. So we are able to build, especially our clamping tools in our own company. We use Solid Works to design our products and can easily keep track of your component data. Computer assisted construction is the modern way of work which helps us find the right solutions for you. We also realize the need for individual product and order relevant customer solutions
Our CAM-system is current. We take over and handle your data. We create process reliable NC-programs for prototype construction and serial production with Mastercam for our customers. We program components of various sizes and complexities on different vertical and horizontal (3-5) axis machines with one or more spindles.
To take care of the different material characteristics, the correct tool selection is critical to our success and one of our core components.
The chipping processes can be tested with previous extensive software simulations.
Fixture construction and tool making
With decades of experience, we are able to develop, construct, build tools and fixtures with modern CAD-systems. That’s why we may analyze and optimize components and the tension- or test-situation beforehand. Our in-house department is specialized in:
Measuring device
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Chose the Biersack company in Beilngries as a competent and flexible partner at your side for engineering all of your products. Not only do we provide our know how in modern processing software, we also help your plans grow and bring them to realization.
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There’s no shortage of idyllic islands to visit from Rhodes, Greece. Nope, once you’re done exploring the great crusader castles, the cobbled streets of Rhodes Town, the pulsating party places of Faliraki, and the blinding beaches of Lindos, you can simply hop on a boat to sample somewhere completely different. It’s that easy.
What’s great is that Rhodes acts as a sort of transport hub for the Dodecanese islands. That means there are loads of ferries heading out to all sorts of wonderful places, but also that Rhodes is a fantastic starting point for yacht charterers looking to whiz across the easternmost islands of Greece. Oh, and don’t expect to be twiddling your thumbs on the journey from A to B here – there are swimming coves and marine safaris and even views of the Turkish mountains to enjoy as you go.
This guide aims to focus in on seven of what we consider to be the crème-de-la-crème of islands to visit from Rhodes, Greece. It’s got the multicolored harbors of Symi and the wild hedonism of Kos, along with a few islands that don’t hit the headlines so much. Ready? Grab the passport and the sunscreen and let’s go…
Symi – one of the most popular islands to visit from Rhodes, Greece
Symi – one of the most popular islands to visit from Rhodes, Greece
Photo by Dimitris Kiriakakis/Unsplash
Symi has risen and risen in fame in recent years. It’s established itself as something of a go-to place for celebrity chefs and Instagram influencers, and has even been hailed as one of the most enchanting spots in the whole Mediterranean. That’s mainly thanks to the gorgeous appearance of its pastel-painted marina, a place where old Italian-styled homes cascade down a steep hill into a pearly blue Aegean Sea where boats jostle for room by the tavernas. Lovely.
Symi is very small. You could fit it into Rhodes more than 10 times over. Symi also attracts a noticeably more monied crowd than its compadre to the south. So, expect those family resort hotels to be replaced by chic B&Bs and boutique lodgings. Expect, too, for the pace to slow a little and the prices to increase, as fine-dining restaurants and exclusive cafés come into play. Mainly, though, you’ll be here for rest and relaxation, to wander the donkey-trodden streets of the Chorio village, sail to empty beaches like Saint George Bay, read, paint, sleep, and eat.
Getting to Symi from Rhodes is a cinch. There are oodles of day trip options that will pick you up right at the door of your hotel, pop you on a boat, and get you back by evening. But they will never be as cheap as the public ferry, which takes a mere hour from start to finish and runs at least twice daily in the main season months (May to September).
Photo by Shalev Cohen/Unsplash
The majority of travelers looking to explore this part of Greece will be deciding between Kos or Rhodes. They are the two most visited in this chain of islands, and both have loads going for them. The good news is that you don’t actually have to pick one over the other at all. They are close enough to be linked by regular ferry boat (a connection goes around three times daily from Rhodes Town in the main season) and there’s even a short-haul flight that takes just 30 minutes if you’re running out of time!
What Kos excels in is nightlife and beaches. The first of those is taken care of by the hedonistic enclave of Kardamaina on the south shoreline. It’s a true 18-30s resort in the style of Faliraki and Kavos, complete with gyros stalls and a strip of pubs and clubs that go on until sunup. You’ll also get a very lively nightlife scene in Kos Town, fueled by Scandinavian shot bars and beach clubs that bring a bit of Balinese cool into the mix.
When it comes to beaches, let’s put it this way: Lonely Planet doesn’t hesitate to proclaim them the “finest beaches in the Dodecanese”. In a land so rich in sands and coves, that’s saying something. We’ll let you make up your own mind as you hop from the blustery windsurfing mecca of Mastichari Beach to the warm-water snorkeling coves of Thermes Beach to remote Marmari and Tigaki. All are lovely; all are different in their own way.
Photo by Courtney Hall/Unsplash
Karpathos squiggles through the southeastern edge of the Aegean Sea roughly midway between the end of Crete and the end of Rhodes. That makes it a perfect steppingstone for those wanting to explore Greece’s largest island (Crete) after they’ve seen the medieval wonders of the hub of the Dodecanese (Rhodes). But this is also much more than just a pitstop on the way from one sun-splashed spot to another…
It’s much loved by those who like to go off the beaten path, because big hotel chains and holiday brochure editors have yet to swing on by. There’s a whiff of old times in the salty airs, especially as you clamber up to villages like little Menetes and Othos, which cling to precipitous ridges in lush mountain ranges, often plumed in mists and rainclouds. Hikers, especially, are sure to find loads to get stuck into in that inland region.
Down on the coast as you leave the highlands of Karpathos behind, there are some pretty darn jaw-dropping places to sunbathe, snorkel, and swim. Look to the white-rock cove of Kyra Panaghia. Or choose Apella Beach for somewhere that would almost look right at home in the Caribbean. Oh, and there’s Afiartis, which is one of the world’s best windsurfing locations.
Photo by Films42/Pixabay
When it comes to rest, relaxation, and experiencing the sleepy joys of the untrodden Dodecanese, Tilos has to be one of the best islands to visit from Rhodes, Greece. It awaits right next door, about 49 miles directly west of Rhodes Town. There, it slithers in a lazy S-bend through the Aegean Sea, rising in a series of honey-tinged ridges that billow with dust clouds.
The shorelines below are threaded with a couple of very handsome villages. They are where most visitors choose to bed down. You’ve got Livadia, a cluster of cafés and white-painted hotels that spills straight into a protected bay. Then there’s Antonios, where some haunting Orthodox shrines shoulder above a pure blue lagoon between the mountains. Up higher you can still see the remains of Byzantine churches, some still adorned with dazzling mosaics and frescos that date from the 1400s.
Travels on Tilos today are mainly about ecotourism and seeing the untouched Greek island flora and fauna. The airs here are thick with wild herbs – thyme, oregano, oleander – and you can hike the donkey paths from lookout to lookout to take in 360-degrees, watching for dolphins or monk seals in the sapphire waters below as you go. Talk about a rejuvenating trip!
Kalymnos has long been on the radar of avid climbers. Like Greece’s answer to Railay Beach in Thailand, it sports dagger-like turrets of stone that are a joy for those who come with the harness and the ropes in tow. But it’s not just for those looking to scramble up the limestone crags. It’s also a very convenient island to visit from Rhodes, Greece, mainly because there are several daily ferries that link it to both Kos and Rhodes throughout the height of the summer months.
You’ll come into Pothia on the south coast. That’s a maze-like town that’s everything you’d expect of a Greek island hub. Look one way and the colored dome of an Orthodox church shoulders high. Look another and there’s an open plaza riddled with coffee joints where the locals slap down dominos. The town is also the place to find the fascinating maritime museum, which chronicles the seafaring past of the sponge fishers of Kalymnos. Oh, and don’t leave town without heading up to the Chrysocheria Castle, an old citadel raised by the Knights Hospitaller.
Probably the most famous beach on Kalymnos is Therma Beach. It’s not much of a looker but does have an intriguing geothermal spring that keeps the tide pools balmy all year round. The sands of Platis Yialos and Palionnisos are better for lazing and snorkeling, but they can be a chore to get to if you’re not much of an ATV pilot.
Photo by Anastasia Dimitriadi/Unsplash
It can take up to six hours to swap Rhodes for Leros. The trip goes directly northwest through the very heart of the Dodecanese chain, so it’s a good option if you wanted to visit the tempting spots that are en route – Kos, Kalymnos, Symi. Alternatively, you can do the whole thing in a single sitting, taking one of the five-weekly boats that go from Rhodes Town direct.
When you arrive, prepare to step into a port town that’s arguably more Sicily than south Greece. It was actually inhabited by the Italians for much of the 20th century (31 years to be precise), and there was a determined campaign run by the Italian fascist powers to make it more like home. They raised Art Deco mansions and fortified a new port called Portolago, which now showcases a striking (yet barely attractive) architectural style all of its own.
That intriguing past runs side by side with a rocky, rugged backcountry of high hills and carved cliffs. As the island drops into the Aegean, it also offers some of the region’s lesser-known diving spots, so expect to find a nascent scuba scene in the offing too. We’d say look to base yourself in Agia Marina. It’s the prettier and more charming of the villages on Leros.
Photo by Andreas Strandman/Unsplash
Last but most certainly not least on our list of the most beautiful islands to visit from Rhodes, Greece, Kastellorizo is one of the region’s – nay, the whole country’s – most enchanting and enticing locations. So close to the Turkish coast that you could almost swing a shisha pipe across the strait, it’s got a strange fusion of Islamic, Ottoman, Italian, English, and homegrown Greek charm about it. That, coupled with the fact that it remains truly off the main tourist radar, means it’s one for the true intrepid globetrotters.
Officially called Megisti, this one’s rich in history. You can head out to explore the ancient dig site at Palaiokastro or see the Castle of the Knights, which is just another of the many crusader-era forts in this part of the Aegean. The main town hugs the eastern shoreline, delving just a few streets inland to zigzagging roads that host Italian-style homes and restaurants with views over to Turkey.
Exploring the island is a joy in itself. It’s basically void of cars, and there are some tree-fringed paths leading to old churches in the hills. You can also spend whole days on the shoreline. There aren’t many sandy beaches a la Rhodes there, but there are loads of rocky jump-off points with stepladders that let you descend straight into the sea.
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Joe has been a freelance travel writer for over nine years. His writing and roaming have taken him from the colonial towns of Mexico to the chowks of Mumbai to the Southern Alps of New Zealand. When he's not putting together the next epic blog on the best Greek islands or ski fields in France, you can usually find him surfing or hiking – his two top hobbies.
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A while back, I started running past Chirstmas letters because they often highlight the sharp differences between life in Alaska and life in Kentucky. The last one featured Kentucky, so this one returns (mostly) to Alaska.
"We were blessed with a lot of wildlife around our house this summer – parka squirrels, Steller’s jays, ptarmigan, spruce grouse, moose, bears, and no doubt others we can’t remember. They were a diverse group, but they all had one thing in common – they all resented us. They come here in early spring, settle in before we arrive, and never adjust to our being here. The fact that we own the property doesn’t weigh with them in the least. Any time we leave the house, two Steller’s jays hop along behind us screeching all the way, and a parka squirrel climbs to the top of the carport and curses us until it is exhausted.
The bears and moose are mostly indifferent so long as we stay out of their way. On 28 May, two baby calves were born in our backyard and we were able to watch them through their first few days as they learned to get up and, eventually, to walk in a straight line. Once up, they had a particularly difficult time getting back down. They would lurch around in a circle a couple of times and then, giving up any hope of getting down in an orderly fashion, just collapse, hitting the ground so hard they bounced. They became agile after a few days and wandered away following their mother, but they visited a couple of times
Another moose cow with a single calf came several days after her calf was born and just sort of took up there. She spent several days alternatively sleeping in the front and back yards. The two moose mothers had very different personalities. The younger one with the two calves was very wary when we came out and would either watch us carefully or retreat, but the older one with the single calf didn’t put up with that at all. If we stuck our head out the door, she’d make a blowing/snorting noise the way a horse sometimes does, and we’d retreat back inside. One Sunday we were pinned in our house all morning; it was noon before we could venture out to pick up our Sunday paper. In both families, the calves always studied us with great interest and would watch us over their shoulder as they were being led away.
Although we never saw it, we had a big grizzly living in our neighborhood and visiting the houses. One night, our neighbor Catherine woke to a noise and found it peering in her bedroom window. The noise was apparently from a garbage raid, because she later discovered the bear had been in her cans. After it left her place, it went next door to visit Ken and Katie’s garbage, and from there to a third house where it made a similar garbage raid and tore into a greenhouse. That was apparently the end of its forays for that night, but Paula, two cabins down, found bear prints in her yard one morning, and Mike Gould, a little further down, found his garbage can opened and flattened (or vice-versa). To me, the most surprising thing about all this was not that the bear was raiding
garbage – garbage is their favorite – but that so many neighbors had stored their garbage outside. Alaskans, even those in the big cities, generally know better than to do that. We keep our garbage in the basement, and try to make the trek to the transfer station before it becomes so smelly it drives us out of the house. We never put out bird feeders, either, because they are bear magnets.
We drove last week to Girdwood, a town about 60 miles from the cabin and about 40 from Anchorage. Although it’s very close to Anchorage, Girdwood’s climate is drastically different. While Anchorage gets maybe 60 inches of snow in a winter, Girdwood gets maybe 600 inches. As a result of the amount of moisture it gets, it hosts a world-class ski resort. Even in Alaska, where you can often ski into June, we were too late in the year for skiing (and don’t ski, anyway). Our purpose in going was to hike the Winner Creek trail, which winds through a lovely rain forest of Sitka spruce, ferns, and Devil’s Club. Sitka spruce trees grow mostly in the Southeastern Panhandle of Alaska and barely penetrate the Alaska mainland. We were hiking through the very northernmost edge of their range that day. Besides the ferns and Devil’s club, there were thousands of wild blueberry bushes, offering a berry picker an orgy of picking once they
ripened. The trail reminded us of walking in the redwood forests of northern California. There are no under-story trees, just the ground cover of ferns, blueberries and Devil’s Club, and these tall straight trunks rising from that low ground cover. The trunks are branchless for a large part of the tree’s height, giving that cathedral look and deep, sun-speckled shade of northern California's forests. The trail leads to the Winner Creek gorge, a spectacular and beautiful narrow gorge with high rock walls that compress Winner Creek down to as narrow as five feet in places as it thunders over the boulders in the gorge. We stopped at the beginning of the gorge, although some other hikers tried to entice us a mile further by describing a hand tram that you can use to pull yourself across the top of the gorge and back. As a special inducement, they promised we could stop the hand tram above the middle of the gorge and take pictures of the river way below. I didn’t tell them what I was thinking, which was “Wild horses couldn’t….”, and “When pigs....” We just wished them good luck and waved them
on.
We had a really good summer – much cooler than the last 4-5 years and with a lot more rain, which we like a lot. Lots of times when we came back from fishing, we'd turn the heat on and it would be really cozy and pleasant. We ran into several people from Kentucky this year, one from Pikeville, one from Lexington, and a couple from Richmond, one of whom grew up in Letcher County on Pert Creek and went to Whitesburg High School. In every case, they had good fishing and lucked into seeing several animals, including bears.
With all the animals, we accumulated some good video. Some of it is on this web site, or at the web site http://www.ecooutpost.org. Any that isn't, we'll be glad to share with anyone who is interested."
Update:
No neighbors were attacked by bears, nor have we been so lucky as to have resident moose again, much less calves born in our yard. On the plus side, two years after this letter was written we made friends with our Stellar's jay by satisfying his insatiable appetite for peanuts, and now he shows up the minute we open the cabin and stridently demands his peanuts. He eats more than we do, so we are thinking about filling coolers with peanuts to take up with us. That way, we'll have a paying crop of peanuts on the way up, and of salmon on the way down, so we won't have to deadhead either way.
Author
Nina Cornett is presently at work on a memoir, is pulling together a concept for a mystery novel set in Alaska, and is keeping a log of the Cornetts' efforts to bring attention to timber theft in Kentucky with the thought that it might be the germ of a future book.
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The British US Open champion says she is “leaving no stone unturned” after an abdominal injury saw her withdraw from her first round match against Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic in Nottingham last week.
Raducanu, 19, took painkillers in an attempt to continue, but eventually had to admit defeat.
“Something didn’t feel right,” she said in her post match interview.
Raducanu then revealed that she had been diagnosed with a side strain and a further scan showed there was no long-term damage.
She took to Instagram in Thursday to share a photo of herself inside an oxygen chamber with the caption: ‘We’re trying, no stone left unturned”.
It is hoped the oxygen treatment will accelerate her recovery.
While she will miss next week’s WTA event in Birmingham, she is likely to enter the Rothesay International in Eastbourne – the traditional warm-up event for SW19 – the following week.
TENNIS legend Chris Evert offered her thoughts on Amelie Mauresmo’s first year as French Open tournament director last week, saying she thought she did a pretty good job, with one exception.
Evert said the lack of women’s matches scheduled for the night session was a mistake.
Only one women’s match was scheduled for the night session during the Open with Mauresmo criticised for that call.
“I think one big mistake was the night match,” Every said.
“It was all men. I think there was one women’s match, it was all men. That’s not right. We have equal prize money, we should have equal time. I wish she would have gone to the rubric of the US Open and looked at what they do.”
Mauresmo had said the men were getting more night sessions because their matches were more appealing.
And the commercial facts are there … men’s tennis does attract more viewers.
WIMBLEDON has announced that prize money for this year’s tournament will be a record £40.3 million.
The winners of both the men’s and women’s singles tournaments will each be awarded £2m, which is less than the 2019 prize of £2.35m.
But the Covid lockdowns, the cancellation of the 2020 edition and the fact 2021 operated with a reduced number of spectators, has undoubtably had an impact.
Looking at be total amount offered, well, that’s about five per cent more than in 2019.
There has also been a 40 per cent increase in prize money awarded to wheelchair tennis.
First round winners will now receive £50,000 and £62,000 will be given to those who get past three qualifying rounds.
STICKING with Wimbledon and the host broadcaster the BBC, anchor presenter Sue Barker has announced she is to retire from their Wimbledon coverage after this year’s event.
The BBC said: “What a wonderful time I’ve had working on some of the biggest sporting events around the world. I will miss it terribly but after 30 years I feel the time is right for me. I’ve worked with the best of the best.”
Great job Sue and best of luck in your retirement.
As one commentator put it: Wimbledon without Sue Barker is like strawberries without cream.
After an incredible 30 years at the helm of live sports broadcasting for the BBC, Sue Barker has taken the decision to step down from her role at the end of this year’s Wimbledon tournament
— BBC Press Office (@bbcpress) June 9, 2022
RAFA Nadal is still very hopeful he will play Wimbledon in two weeks as he recovers at home in Mallorca after treatment on his injured left foot.
Nadal said last week his foot was “asleep” due to injections during his win over Casper Ruud in the final at Roland Garros.
The Spaniard went to Barcelona for “pulsed radio frequency stimulation” treatment, a spokesman for tNadal told the media.
The treatment apparently means the nerves around the area of Nadal’s injury will be “temporarily numb”.
“Rafa is already at home and will spend three or four days doing normal, maintaining, physical activity. Depending on the effect of the treatment, and as long as it’s positive, he will later return to training on the court,” the spokesman said.
“We don’t rule out a second treatment being carried out in the next week.”
Nadal has suffered from a problem in his foot, called Muller-Weiss syndrome, for some time.
NADAL was defended by the World Anti Doping Agency last week after receiving criticism from French cyclist Thibaut Pinot, who said the use of drugs to combat the foot injury were banned in other sports.
“The methods used by Nadal are simply prohibited in my sport, which is unfortunately so decried. Here is a little more precision on the sadness of my tweet,” Pinot wrote.
But WADA’s Olivier Niggli told Swiss channel RTS the injections used “are not on the list of prohibited products (by AMA), since it is estimated that they do not improve sports performance and that they are not harmful.”
PICTURE OF THE WEEK: When Iga met Robert… French Open champion Iga Swiatek’s face when she realises Polish football legend Robert Lewandowski has just watched her win the tournament.
BRITISH player Tara Moore took to Twitter on Friday to insist she had never knowingly taken a banned substance and added she is looking forward to proving that she is a “clean athlete.”
The International Tennis Integrity Agency had earlier announced Moore tested for positive for nandrolone metabolites and Boldenone.
Wile competing at a WTA event in Bogota in April Moore provided samples that were found to contain banned substances.
“I have never knowingly taken a banned substance in my career. I’m investigating how the positive result could have occurred and look forward to proving that I’m a clean athlete.
I’m deeply saddened by the provisional suspension and hope to be back on the court as soon as possible,” Moore said in a statement on Twitter.
— Tara Moore (@TaraMoore92) June 8, 2022
Andy Murray showed he is still a force on grass with a stunning g 7-6(4), 6-3 win over Stefanos Tsitsipas in Stuttgart last week.
Murray praised the crowd for giving him a bit of extra energy in the match.
“It was an amazing atmosphere,” Murray said in his on-court interview.
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) June 10, 2022
“Almost full crowd. Beautiful weather today, really nice conditions to play tennis… I thought I did well. He served unbelievably in the first set.
“I felt like I had very few chances, but when he was creating chances on my serve, I stayed strong. I played a really solid tie-break and in the second set, once I was in the rallies, I felt like I was dictating a lot of the points. It was a good performance.”
Murray, now 35, has jumped to No. 53 on the ATP’s Live Rankings.
The last time he was ranked inside the top 50 was in May 2018.
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