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Yes, today is the day you have been waiting for. I am sure you, like I, have been waiting expectantly for this wonderful day to arrive. I have been following an amazing blog and she is way into bundts. And when I say way, I mean WAY. She has been making bundt cakes everyday for the past 30 days! Beautiful pictures so please go and visit her. And if you want to mention my name, that’s OK with me. I made a Chocolate Coffee Bundt cake with Peppermint Mocha icing. It has chunks of chocolate chips in it as well as instant coffee so it should taste somewhat coffee-ish. The icing is just peppermint mocha coffee creamer and powdered sugar. Unfortunately for the hard core bakers who are reading this- this is from a mix. Why? Because of a combination of no time, laziness and limited ingredients. I can’t wait to eat it- yummy! You can come over and have some with me. I just require that you bring many compliments and smiles. Thanks for visiting! I'm a happy mom and wife who loves the smell of books, traveling and food. I like dreaming about alter egos, snuggling with Emma and going on dates with hubby,Travis. Pretty much anything creative I'm into. I hope you enjoy my rants and raves and come back soon. Oh, and I love comments so please feel free to let me know what you think! Similar Posts food librarian November 15, 2009 What a great looking Bundt. The flavors sound perfect. Happy National Bundt Day!!! I’m going to do a round up later this week. – mary the food librarian	1,548
Podcast: Play in new window \| Download \| Embed Wendy Heard is a thriller author with two novels out from Mira in the US. Hunting Anabelle, a serial killer thriller, and The Kill Club. She co-hosts the Unlikeable Female Characters Podcast in which feminist thriller authors discuss female characters who don’t care whether you like them or not. For more on Wendy Heard and her work, head to wendyheard.com or find her on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. As ever, huge thanks to everyone supporting the show on Patreon. Thank you so much! Join our growing Patreon community at The Worried Writer on Patreon. I love creating the podcast but it takes a significant amount of time (and money) to produce. If you want to help to keep the show going, please consider becoming a patron. You can support the show for just $1 a month! If you pledge $2 or more, you also receive an exclusive mini-episode that I put out in the middle of every month, plus instant access to the back list of twenty-four audio extras. I offer words of empathy and encouragement to everyone at this scary time, and remind you to be kind to yourself. It’s quite possible that your brain won’t be able to be creative at the moment, and that’s okay. I also give a writing update. I wrote ‘The End’ on the fourth book in my Crow Investigations series, The Pearl King, and worked on my forthcoming non-fiction book Stop Worrying; Start Selling. If you have any questions about writing, process, procrastination or the business side of things such as marketing or publishing options, email me, leave a comment on this post, or find me on Twitter. The full transcript is copied below. If you can spare a few minutes to leave the show a review on Apple Podcasts (or whichever podcast app you use) that would be really helpful. Ratings raise the visibility of the podcast and make it more likely to be discovered by new listeners and included in the charts. The Worried Writer on Apple Podcasts [Click here for step-by-step instructions on how to rate a podcast on your device] Also, if you have a question or a suggestion for the show – or just want to get in touch – I would love to hear from you! Email me or find me on Twitter or Facebook. Sarah: Wendy Heard is a thriller author with two novels out from MIRA in the U S Hunting Annabelle, a serial killer thriller, and The Kill Club. She co-hosts the Unlikable Female Characters podcast in which feminist thriller authors discuss female characters who don’t care whether you like them or not. Which sounds amazing! Welcome to the show, Wendy. Wendy: Thank you so much for having me. I’m so excited. Sarah: Well, I’d love first, if you don’t mind, to hear a wee bit more about your podcast, unlikable female characters. What can listeners expect from that? Wendy: Yeah, so we’ve been at it for just over a year. It’s three authors, it’s Layne Fargo, Kristen Lepionka, and me, and we talk about just how feminism or a lack thereof shows up in fiction and in popular media, we talk a lot about different characters that are in the mainstream and some that aren’t. Right now we’re exploring different tropes. Like the archetypes of different types of women. Like for example, one that everyone knows is the femme fatale. Um, and we’re exploring… We just… Actually our one that went live today, it’s called the hysterical woman. And we did a little dive into like, hysteria in antiquity and the archetype of the hysterical woman. So we tend to just kind of dive into that in fiction, Sarah: That’s fantastic. And how did the show come about? Wendy: Well, we, we were mad about something! Wendy: We were mad about something. Um, it was like when we started emailing each other and then one thing led to another and we thought it would be fun and it’s something that women authors get asked about a lot is the likability of their female characters. I don’t know if you’ve ever been asked about that. Sarah: Um, it’s certainly something that author acquaintances have been asked about. And also I have had an editorial comment occasionally along the lines of ‘she doesn’t seem very likable here’. And that makes my hackles rise. Wendy: Yeah. And it’s, it’s such an interesting thing, likability, like what is that? And so we kind of wanted to explore that. Like, what is it to be likable and unlikable? Um, and also, you know, it’s that thing where you want to reclaim a word a little bit. Like, is it so bad to be unlikable? Like what is unlikable anyway? Does it just mean. Autonomous. Does it just mean with agency? Does it just mean like a person who has a consistent personality that doesn’t change their personality to adapt to those around them, which is something that women have been taught to do. So is it someone who’s unhelpful to the men around her. She doesn’t help them feel better about themselves all the time, you know, what is it? So we’ve been ex… we thought we’d be exploring it for a little while and we’re still exploring it about a year later. So there’s a lot to unpack there. Sarah: And as you said, as you alluded to at the beginning, an awful lot of material as well. Wendy: Well, and it’s this thing where, you know, we have, I mean, there’s so much, but it’s, do male characters, do male authors get asked about the likability of their characters? Like is Jack Bauer likable? Right? Like, did he have to worry about that? Like he has a mission to accomplish, but like is he likable? Is he nice? Like, is that something that male authors get asked about their male lead characters, right? Gosh. Yeah. And is there some like thing with men where they’re like, ‘she’s not likable. She’s a bad ass assassin!’ you know, ‘she kills men’. Like, okay, well settle down. You know, what else is there? Sarah: Absolutely. It’s a wee bit like the strong female character thing. That can be a bit of a trap in that. You know what again, what does strength mean? And if you’re kicking ass, that’s fine. You’re a strong female character, but it seems quite a narrow. Wendy: It’s coded. Right? It’s like when men say like, ‘I love strong women, but I just don’t think blah, blah, blah’. You know? It’s like, it becomes a sort of like first part of a nasty sentence, right? Sarah: Yeah, absolutely. Oh, fascinating. Well, I am definitely going to be listening and I will obviously put a link in the show notes. Wendy: Oh, well, thank you. Sarah: So let’s go back to the beginning. I’m going to ask the usual question, I’m afraid. You’ll be glad to hear it’s not about likable female characters. Did you always want to write? Wendy: Yeah, I have. Um, I have always gone back and forth between writing, visual art and music. I have a degree in painting. I thought I was going to be like a a fine artist and I had also started out writing books like right out of college. I took a gap year and I was like, I’m going to write my first book. So awful, but I was like, I was hoping to be like a female Kerouac is what I was hoping. Like I went on like these awful road trips and like wrote these terrible, painful, novellas. That shockingly, nobody wanted to publish. I can’t imagine why. and then, yeah, and then I was in college. I got a, I got an art degree, so I kind of stopped writing and I’ve been playing the guitar since I was seven. I started playing classical guitar as a kid. So I never really was sure which of those three art forms I would sort of land on as my permanent this is what I will hope to do professionally, but it just kind of worked out to writing. And I do miss painting a lot. I haven’t had as much time for it. I definitely don’t mean to like set that aside completely. Sarah: Well, I’m sure. I’m sure you haven’t. That’s the great thing about writing and I imagine painting is that it is something that you can do… It’s not an Olympic sport. You can do it, which is great. And what led you into writing serial killer thrillers and am I, am I sort of characterizing them correctly? Wendy: No worries. Yeah. I definitely did not intend to write these kinds of books. I thought I would write literary fiction when I first started writing. And, you know, it’s actually kinda, it was actually kind of a hard decision because I have a lot of English teachers and professors in my family who are quite… I did not feel necessarily very supported, writing genre fiction, and I don’t have that situation where I have like a super proud family. You know, some authors have that, like family. I have a friend whose family comments on all of her author posts on Facebook and they’re like, you know, ‘go get ’em honey!’ you know? I think they, they think it’s cool that I’ve published, but I definitely feel self conscious about the type of books that I’ve ended up writing. It’s just. I don’t know. It’s like sometimes, no matter what you try and sit down to write, a certain type of book comes out. And I have a real love for like commercial pacing and I love mystery and danger and like all those dark things. And so. It’s just the type of story that I enjoy figuring out. It’s almost like, writing mystery, it’s like you’re playing chess against yourself, you know? Cause you have to set up what’s gonna trap your hero and then you have to try to get them out of it. And I have this thing I love to do, where I’ll write my main character into a corner, but I won’t plot out act three so that I’ve truly lost as the main character and I really have to figure out how to get out. And I honestly don’t know how they will. That’s really fun, you know? And I kind of fell in love with it. But yeah, I definitely didn’t intend to. And I find things about the genre a bit limiting and frustrating sometimes. So it’s definitely not the only genre I ever want to write in. Sarah: Mm. Well, that’s fascinating. And I’m nodding away, because I very much had the same sort of, um, I hope you won’t mind me saying hangups about I wanted to write, you know, I thought I was going to write literary fiction. I kept trying to, and I did a masters and I realized that I was really trying to please everybody else. And it was when I sat down and wrote something just for me that I wrote a readable book. And so, yeah, sorry, just nodding away, total agreement. But I, I also think. Have you, you know, you said you have always enjoyed sort of mysteries and so on, and I did wonder about you picking the sort of darker side of fiction. And I think that reading dark or scary fiction can give us a sort of catharsis and also lets us explore maybe our fears, but in a safe way. And I just wondered whether you think that’s true of writing it as well, or if that’s true for you. Wendy: Wow. So I’m, so this is one thing I really wanted to talk about with you because this is something I’ve really enjoyed about your podcast, is being able to unpack these types of emotional components to writing and like, why we do this. So I wanted to tell you this. So when I was researching Hunting Annabelle, which is a very psychological, like the main character has a neurologist for a mom, a neurosurgeon, and sees a psychiatrist. And the book is, it was a lot of psychological, and psychiatric research because he has some very specific mental illnesses that I had to research to get right. Anyway, so I was interviewing a clinical psychologist, and she started talking about anxiety and dark fiction and she said one treatment she recommends for anxiety is to either go on a roller coaster or watch something really scary or read something really scary because she said, what happens is your body gets stuck in the first part of a stress cycle, like of a running away from the enemy stress cycle, and you have, it really helps your body if you help it finish the stress cycle. So watch something where there’s a resolution. Let your body go through the whole cycle of anxiety, and then at the end you’re done. And so she said, here’s some things I suggest. And then she said, for writers of it, she always thinks, and she said this, and I’ll never forget it, she said it’s the familiar darkness, but this time I’m in control. And so she said it’s.. For writers it’s going into a place, an emotional place that feels like a familiar, scary place for whatever reason, but taking control back and now you get to write the story, which I found really kind of like, I was like, can’t wait to tell you this! Sarah: Oh, that’s amazing. And that really, really resonates as well. Thank you for sharing that. That’s really interesting. And I also, I’ve never heard, I haven’t heard the completing the kind of fight or flight reaction in that way, which again, that makes so much sense. Yeah, that’s really interesting. Wendy: Yeah. Shae said it’s like you start spinning and you’re that person, you have a brain that doesn’t know how to stop on its own. Whereas most people can feel anxious about something, and then their brain knows how to, once that threat has passed, that anxious moment has passed, they know how to just move on. They don’t need help finishing that cycle. Sarah: Oh gosh. And so is, did it resonate with you when you were, when you heard that, is that something that you’ve kind of experienced with exploring the darker side? Wendy: Actually, yes, because I realized… I have a real problem, like I don’t like to sit down and write a scene unless I can finish the scene. It makes me really unhappy to like leave a scene halfway. I know people who can do that. They can just drop pieces in and then like I’ll come back to it. But I really can’t. I have to finish the scene. And when she said that, I was like, that makes sense. That’s probably why I really hate, I find it really uncomfortable. Like, I don’t know about you, but if I start a book, I’ll just read it straight through. I will binge the book until it’s done. I don’t like to feel like it makes me feel uncomfortable to leave partway through and I have anxiety, you know? And so that really made a lot of sense to me cause I’m like, yeah, that’s probably why I will obsessively watch a whole season or read a whole book or listen to the whole audio book while I’m doing everything, right. Cause I need to finish that cycle. I don’t know how to finish it on my own. Sarah: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense, absolutely. Another thing that I was thinking about in terms of of writing darker things is something that a lot of us struggle with is a kind of fear of judgment when we’re writing. And you know, you can have that feeling of, Oh, is this a bit too far, or is this a bit too emotional? Or, you know, is this too soppy or whatever? And I, I, it occurred to me that maybe writing in this sort of darker genre, did you ever have a fear of judgment of, that’s too much, that’s too horrid, that’s too, uh, too revealing. You know, that kind of, Oh, everyone’s going to think I’m a sick puppy. Is that something that you’ve ever struggled with? Wendy: I still struggle with it. I mean, I still wish that I had a different name at work than I do in writing. I didn’t, you know, I didn’t really think about this like, I did not think this through. But yeah. You know, it’s not, it’s not my favorite thing when people find out that I write books that I know in person, because then the next thing is, Oh, what is it called? And I’m like, it’s called The Kill Club. You know? I don’t love, I don’t love that. It’s embarrassing, a little bit, like I do feel a bit ashamed sometimes, but I mean, at the same time, anyone who knows me, it makes perfect sense. So it’s really just that like out and about. I don’t know about you, but like, it’s already hard trying to reconcile your various identities. You know, you’re a mom, you’re a, you know, a worker, you’re a writer. And it’s like those are all parts of you and it’s hard to sometimes reconcile them with each other. So yeah, it is. It is difficult. I do feel embarrassed about it, and I do feel. I didn’t feel with Hunting Annabelle totally free to like unpack the full darkness of that story until I got it agented and my agent was like, we’re going into act three and you’re going to go all in. You’ve got to stop worrying and just go in. And so I actually did like rewrite the last third of that book. Because she did feel like I was censoring it a little bit. Yeah. So I’ve had to be told like, you’ve got to go. And then after that I learned how to just like stop worrying as I’m writing and be like little more punk rock. With The Kill Club, I kept having to tell myself, you’re going to have to be a little more punk rock if you’re going to write this book well. Like you’re going to have to just stop caring what people think and just write the story. But it’s not easy. I don’t know if it’s easy for you. It’s not easy for me. Sarah: No, not at all. Not at all. I was going to say I think, I imagine whatever the genre is cause we write in different genres, I think there is that fear of judgment. There’s that fear of embarrassment. And the first couple of years or the first year after being published and meeting really lovely, supportive, kind folk at the playground gates picking up my children from primary school or whatever, and then chatting, and then they would say something about, Oh, you’ve written a book, or I’ve heard you’ve published a book. And, and the full body cringe of just embarrassment and shame and, there’s no real logical reason for that, you know. Wendy: I try to like, it’s like emotional nudes. It’s like if you have naked photos out in the world that were taken of you when you were like 20 and those photos are just everywhere, and you know the second someone Googles you, they’re going to see you naked. That’s kind of what it feels like. Sarah: So right! They are a snapshot of a, of a moment in time as well. You know, the book that I wrote in 2012 I wouldn’t necessarily, well I wouldn’t write it the same way because I’m a different person and it’s a different time. So it is also like say a sort of snapshot. That’s a really, really good way of putting it. So your debut came out in 2018 I believe? So all of this kind of exposure, if you’ll forgive the term, it’s still quite new. It’s still early days really. I’d love to hear about your path to publication and kind of how that, how that all went for you. Wendy: Yes. Well, you already know about my terrible early writing. Writing these awful, very self-congratulatory, novellas. Like I used to write them on trains. I just can’t, uh, but that was like 20 years ago. Right? So Sarah: You were allowed! Wendy: Yeah, it took a long time. I mean, I did set it aside a few times. I’d write something, set it aside. I really picked it up back again in earnest in 2010 after having put it aside for like a good five years. And then I really was like, we’re doing this. Like, we’re doing this, we’re doing this. And I wrote, I just started writing. And I think I wrote, from 2010 to 2016, wrote four books. They didn’t get published and then Hunting Annabelle was the fifth that I had written since I had been back. So I’ve written a total, I think Hunting Annabelle is like my seventh book that I’ve ever written. I submitted it to agents for a while and it didn’t get picked up, and then I broke, this is kind of interesting, I broke a lot of bones. This sounds weird. I took a fall and then I took another fall, so I ended up with a broken wrist and a broken hip on the same side of my body, so I could not use the left side of my body for three months. So like, if you could imagine I couldn’t wheel a wheelchair because of my broken wrist, but I couldn’t use crutches because of my broken hip. And I was like stuck in the house alone for like three months. And I rewrote Hunting Annabelle. And I put it back out to agents and then it got picked up. So that was the version when I was like… So that’s what you said, it’s like a snapshot, like there’s a reason it was a dark story. I was in a really dark place when I was re-writing that book. Like that was a very hard time. I was stuck alone inside for months, and I could only use one hand. So I actually like rebroke my wrist writing Hunting Annabelle. I had it in a cast and I, they gave me like a soft cast and I told them, you’re going to want to put a hard cast on this cause I can still type with this thing on. They said, just be careful, you’re fine. But I have this weird pain thing where I don’t feel things. I have like a very strange pain tolerance thing. And I did a rebroke my wrist writing Hunting Annabelle and had to have it reset and now there’s a plate in it. Sarah: Oh my goodness. Well, that’s full on. I was going to say, you are very rock and roll. You definitely win the Worried Writer punk rock writer award, but ouch! My goodness. Wendy: After all that, when Hunting Annabelle finally got a book deal, I got the largest tattoo I can’t explain to you, my whole back is like covered with this tattoo that I got. Cause I was just like, we’re going to get a, we’re going to do a very punk rock celebration of this extremely punk rock thing that happened. Sarah: Oh well when you, when you were sharing that you’d written a few books before you got your, got your agent and got your deal, I was thinking wonderful, again, thank you for sharing that cause I always want people to know it’s completely normal to have to write a few books and seven is like the average number. So I was thinking, Oh, look at that, Wendy’s bang on average in her number of books, and then you went all punk rock and broke your wrist and your hip and rebroke your wrist and not average at all. So Wendy: I should tell people that every time they send me a bad review of Hunting Annabelle, it’d be like, do you know what I did for this book? Sarah: Oh, absolutely. Oh my goodness. So you got your agent, you worked on it editorially with her and rewrote it, and then you got the deal with MIRA. So that must have felt amazing. Wendy: Yeah, that was really great. It was very surreal and you know, it was, it was awesome. It was a very, like, I don’t know if you’ve ever had those moments where it’s such a big thing that you can’t react. And my agent was like, this is a really good thing. This is a big five book deal. This is exciting. And I was like, yes, it is. I know. But it was just at the end of such a long road that I think the most overarching emotion was just relief. Like, because for so long it was like, Oh, she’s trying to be a writer. I wonder when she’ll give up, you know, kind of a feeling. So I was like, thank God, at least this happened, you know? Sarah: Absolutely. No, I totally relate to that. So it was a two book deal or..? Wendy: Yeah, it was a two book deal. I’m off it now, so I’m going back back out on submissions. So it’s like starting over, right? I mean, I think people think that once you publish once, it’s just like a dominoes, right? No. Like you finish your book deal and, you’re back out on submission like the first time, right? I have a third book coming out. It’s a young adult, so I’m starting a new young adult brand, and that’s with a different publisher, so like, I’m not, you know, I’m not saying like it’s, nothing’s going well, but I’m just, I think people should know that like, just because you’ve published one or two, I mean, each time it’s like being freelance, who knows if you’ll sell another one. Sarah: Oh, absolutely. And I coped with that reality very poorly. How are you coping with that? Wendy: Not too good. Actually. Yeah. Cause we see these like success stories of people who just seem like: it is dominoes, right? It just, it looks like that from the outside. Sarah: Absolutely it does. And there’s no sort of set career path. There’s nothing, there’s an awful lot of smoke and mirrors. And so all you can do is compare the outside of other people’s success and generally only a handful of successes because those are the ones that we hear about. So it really skews it. But I, I definitely found the uncertainty and the knowledge that my, my writing career was in other people’s hands, and that I was going to have to go through the whole submission, rejection, and I could write a book, I could spend a year writing a book, and then… Sarah: Nothing. So yeah, I, I coped poorly, so much empathy. Wendy: How are you doing now? How do you handle it now? Sarah: Well, what I did, which I know isn’t for everybody, but I put my business brain on and I went hybrid. So I do independent publishing, alongside it, alongside traditional, and it changed my life. I am now a very happy, very happy writer, and I can also support my family. So for me it was absolutely the right decision. Wendy: I think that’s a really interesting, yes, I love that because I think you’re right. Like I was talking about this with my, actually my friend Layne who, we do our podcast together. We both talk about this like. We’re both career women. You know, we, we’re, we’re type a, like, we like to get stuff done and it is really frustrating to think about writing a book for a whole year. It doesn’t go because that’s not what publishing is looking for. Is there something else we can do with these lost books? Like, or is that just too much time spent marketing to be worth the return? I mean, that’s because I have a lot of friends who self publish and it is like many, many hours. That’s like, I have a friend who it’s like she has a full on degree in marketing, I mean, right? Sarah: I, yeah, I’m, I’m definitely still figuring marketing out, but I don’t spend any, I don’t spend a great deal more time marketing for my independent books than I do for my trad books. Cause there’s still a certain amount of marketing you have to do. You know, unless you, again, unless you’re one of the real headline success stories, lead titles for a publisher. So, but yeah, I mean, I’m fully aware that it might be skewed for me now because I’ve got used to doing it. So what I really like is that you can do the marketing that works. When you’re doing marketing for your trad published books, there’s lots of sort of raising awareness, there’s lots of things that you can do, but you’re not really sure how effective they are and so on. Whereas with the books that I control myself, that I published through my own imprint, I can put an advert on those and I can see that that advert is converting and that I’m making sales from it. And so, funnily enough, I don’t really mind spending the time to set that up because I know it works. Sarah: And I see the results. So that’s how I kind of see it really is that now I’m in control. Wendy: I think we’re all really interested in… I think it’s important to talk to people who want to be authors about the different models, you know? You don’t have to choose between self-published and traditionally published. You can, you can, like, I have always thought that I have a thing where I want to write speculative stuff and I want to write like weird, speculative stuff. You know what I mean? Like I have just like the desire to write about like historical vampires sometimes. Stuff that it’s not going to get picked up by anybody. Right? Like, so I have always thought, eventually I’d love to do a second brand. Either under a different name or same name, different brand, like you know, maybe it’s find a little tiny imprint who would be willing to let me do my, my weird ones. Sarah: Or start your own imprint as we were just saying, because that’s, I mean, that is the other thing about it that’s really helped me is that freedom that I don’t have to wait for permission from anybody to write whatever I want. Yes, I know, I know that if I write something really off brand and maybe more niche, I’m not going to make much money doing it, but no one gets to tell me that it doesn’t get out in the world? That I’m not allowed, that it doesn’t go out in the world. And that has been very, I mean, just hugely empowering. So yeah, I love it. Anyway, I won’t derail this. You got me started, and I’ll go on like this! Wendy: No I think that’s good, and I think it is like, I think, I don’t know about you, but there’s a reality check moment in publishing traditional books where, so like behind the scenes if it’s okay for me to like quickly… but like, let’s say I want to go on submission for a book and I have to send my agent a number of ideas and she’ll pick the one that’s the most, that’s the most viable, you know, for example, I just as an example, a podcast thriller has kind of hit really hard: Sadie, and there were a couple of big ones. Yeah, so anyway, there’s like a, there were like three big ones that came out in the space of a year and a half. So if I had been wanting to write a podcast thriller, unfortunately that space is a bit crowded, right? So not that there’s any, not that your agent is sitting here, uh, censoring you and policing you, but your agent’s job is to try to sell your books. And so he or she is going to take a look at the ideas you have. You’re going to run ideas by them. What should I write next? You know, and they’re going to say, okay, how about, why don’t you write up a pitch for like these three? I’d like to see a little bit more info on these three. So you put going to put a pitch together and they’re going to say, okay, I think this one’s your best bet and you know you’re going to send it out and like she’s going to find, try to find an editor that is interested in books like that, and then that editor might be like, yeah, I am interested in books like that, but I’d actually really need it to be like this. The idea that you’re just writing a book and selling it is not the reality of being a working writer. You’re really, or if you’re writing a book on like a two book deal, and you already have a book deal, but they have to hear your proposal. I have a friend who went through seven, seven proposals before they picked one for her book two. Wendy: You know, I mean, it’s just like you don’t, you got to tailor it to your editor’s taste, to what your imprint is looking for. If they have another book similar coming out that same season, you’re going to have to pick another project. It’s not just I write the book I want and I put it out there. So as you’re saying, I think having an outlet for that freedom of creativity, it sounds really appealing. Sarah: And you can also move more quickly as well, because as you say, with the traditional route, like say you’ve got your agent, and then it goes into submission, and then if it gets picked up, the lead time, as you know, in traditional publishing is very, very… it’s quite long, you know. Wendy: Forever! My young adult book comes out in about a year and I got that book deal like over a year ago. It’s like a two and a half year lead time on that book. It’s fine. It’s just how it is. Sarah: And that’s why it’s not generally viable to, you know, to make a full time living with trad only. Even if you make it, you know, even if you have a really good advance because of all that time lag. So, yeah, so I definitely, well I highly recommend it! And in terms of writing the second book, again, sort of, we’ve talked a wee bit about that kind of pressure, realizing that there’s still more rejection and submission to go and so on. How did you find writing the dreaded second book? Wendy: The second book is really tough, so you’re writing it and you’re marketing your first book, and you do not know what the hell you are doing. Marketing your first book. I mean, you’re doing everything and nothing at the same time. Like you’re doing all the stupid things you shouldn’t be doing, wasting your time, and you’re not doing the things you should have been doing in retrospect. You know, it’s not, there isn’t a blueprint for how to market a book. Yeah. Everyone has, you have to try on a couple of different books and publishing as very little like leeway for failure. If your first book doesn’t hit, it’s very difficult to get people on board with similar books coming out after. So there’s a lot of pressure on that first book to hit and to do pretty well. So that pressure you’re feeling on your first book, while that panic you’re feeling of not knowing what you’re doing, especially for somebody who likes to know what you’re doing, and then trying to be creative and write the second book, that’s the right followup, that’s in a similar world, but something really fresh and exciting and to do it in like six months, right, is a whole hell of a thing. I thought writing The Kill Club was going to actually kill me, but I had my aforementioned tattoo artist tell me something that I never forgot, which was, he said, sometimes I do my best work when I’m under pressure though, because I can’t overthink it. And I was like, all right. All right. And that did help me get through it. Actually, just remembering that line, I was like, all right. All right. All right. Because I kept thinking, I’m not going to do good work right now. I’m too stressed. Sarah: And also sometimes, I mean, people work on their book that gets them a deal, a lot, and usually for at least a year. And then if you’ve got a short, a shorter time to write your second book, there is also that anxiety that you just don’t have enough time to properly percolate and do a good job, but it’s not true. You know? Writing under pressure, writing quickly does not equate to writing poorly. Wendy: In some ways it does. Like there’s a lot of stuff, like at the line level in The Kill Club, there’s a lot of things at the line level I wish I had more, had more time to change. It was my first time writing under deadline and I think, I think it’s, it’s like I wrote a total of eight books at that point. Only one of them got published, so I kept thinking. What if the one I’m working on right now is like one of the former eight do you know what I’m saying? Like maybe I could only do it once. Maybe I don’t have another good book in me. Maybe that was like a fluke. I think I hear people think that a lot. Sarah: Oh yeah, no, definitely. That’s very familiar. For some reason we don’t equate writing those books beforehand with practice, as we would perhaps when you were learning to paint or learning the guitar as a, as a child. You know, it would be like playing a guitar piece really well for the first time and saying, well, that’s it then. I will never be able to play like that again. That was the one time. But somehow with writing, that’s what we do. It’s, it’s very odd. But yes, you’re definitely, you’re definitely not alone! Next off, I really wanted to delve into the kind of nitty gritty of your writing process and your kind of how you fit writing in around work and all of that. But, we chatted about this a wee bit before we came on air, but I am aware that we are currently, we’re chatting during a global pandemic. Sarah: Everything’s fine. So. I don’t mind at all if you want to share your usual process for writing and getting writing done, or if you want to chat about how it’s affecting you now I don’t mind. But I just wanted to acknowledge for the listeners that this is when we’re recording it. So if we sound slightly manic… Wendy: Yes. Well, okay. So. I have, I feel like we need to hear more authors say this, but I have a full time job. Most people, it’s like, it’s almost a matter of, admitting failure to say I have a full time job because it makes you seem like you’re not a real writer or you’re not one of the chosen few or something like that. But I have a mortgage and I live in Los Angeles. So unless I’m about to start selling four books a year and someone’s going to bestow free healthcare upon me, I’m going to continue having to have a full time job. So I have this full time job and I have a kid. And so writing is something that has been fit into the crevices of that. So anytime my daughter is in, she does competitive gymnastics, which is kind of a new thing, but she does that, and I’ll write in the parking lot while she’s doing that, or on the weekends, I usually wake up at five or six and write for a couple hours before she’s up and she needs me. If she’s on a play date or if she has like a friend over or a sleepover, I’ll take advantage of those hours to write. So writing has become sort of the thing I do instead of hobbies and instead of social life, that’s just the reality of it. You know, you can’t do everything and you have to choose what’s most important to you. So I try to have chosen writing as the thing that’s most important to me right now. Although I can sometimes go too hard. I forget that it’s also work and that my brain needs breaks and that I, I do tend to work really hard and burn myself out. So my new goal is to like allow myself to not burn out. And if that means I have to sleep in until 6.30 on the weekends! That sounds crazy, but like for a long time, I’m waking up at five o’clock on the weekends cause I’m like, that’s valuable work time I could be doing. And eventually you kind of run, you kind of wring yourself out and you start losing some of the love for it. So I’m trying to, I just released a book a few months ago, so I’m trying to now, I dunno, reclaim a little bit or let this be a season where I’m just writing and being creative and I’m not as hard going so hard with promo. So it’s like cyclical, I guess seasonal few months before your book comes out, all you’re doing is promo. I mean, you’re just, there’s no creativity. There’s just all promo, right? Sarah: Oh yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Were MIRA very good and supportive with that? Wendy: Yes. They’ve been great. I have a publicist that I absolutely love working with. My editor has been amazing. I’ve had two editors and they’ve both been wonderful, so I’ve had nothing but good experiences and I’ve met a lot of really awesome writer colleagues through that imprint, and I’ll be really sad if we don’t get to keep working together as colleagues, you know, just because I think I might end up on submission elsewhere. We’ll see. But I still feel like there’s so much that you have to do as the writer. I mean, if you’re that mid-list author who’s… Unless you’re, like you said, in the top 1% 5% right, where they give a, they give a huge, a huge advance, they’ve got a lot of money invested in this, and they’re going to make sure it hits list. Unless you’re that person, you’re doing a lot of your own promo. You know you’ve got to hustle. You’re getting out there talking to book bloggers, you’re on Bookstagram. You’re trying to maintain your social media presence in three different places. You’re having an author newsletter. You’re, I mean, you’re doing interviews, you’re doing like little think pieces. I mean, everything, right? Sarah: Yeah, it is. It’s a lot. It’s very overwhelming. And I don’t know if you found this, but I find it quite hard to write when I’m very outward facing. Wendy: Absolutely. Sarah: Kind of, I need to feel like everything’s safe and private when I’m writing because I’m pretending no one will ever read it. Wendy: And then release season, I think there was one month where I had like seven essays, that I wrote in one month. Right. So it’s just like, when am I going to write? Like I’m writing, you know? Right. Sarah: Yeah. No, that’s really tricky. But I’m, I’m glad that you had a positive experience with MIRA. That’s really great to hear. Again, not everybody does have a positive experience, regardless of the publisher for various reasons. So, that does sound positive overall, but there’s still something about… it’s something you want for so long, and then you step through that doorway to the magical land of the published, and it’s another set of steps. It’s another… Sarah: But it’s very hard to come to terms… I found that emotionally difficult to come to terms with a wee bit. I still didn’t feel like a real writer and that was a struggle. Wendy: Yeah, what’s up with that? I still don’t feel like a real writer. Sarah: Imposter syndrome. It’s so hard – just kicks us. Wendy: You think if I just can do this, and I think that’s what keeps… What keeps killing us because once you’ve published and then you’re like, well, I didn’t get a starred review. I didn’t get into, I didn’t get a review on the New York Times, or I didn’t get, I didn’t hit the list, or I didn’t hit this list, or I didn’t get the Amazon orange banner or whatever. I’ve heard all the things that people hold themselves to, right? Like, I didn’t get invited to this conference or I haven’t been invited to this thing, like a goodreads choice, like whatever. I didn’t get this award. Like there’s such… Wendy: Yes. I can’t imagine a world in which I could ever accomplish the things I would need in order to feel like a quote real writer. Wendy: Again, unless you’re that unicorn. Who, that one person who like for example, Casey McQuiston who wrote Red White and Royal Blue. Did you read that one? Sarah: I heard of ii, but I haven’t read it. Wendy: Okay. It’s like, that’s like a perfect example. Like she hit every list. She did everything. I mean, you know. Sarah: Mmm, but I mean, I think one thing about doing this podcast that’s been very healthy for me is that I’ve spoken to people who I consider unicorns and they still are filled with self doubt and imposter syndrome. Yeah. That has really helped, but that’s it. Nothing else. Wendy: That’s true. I have friends who have had all those things. I have a good friend. She’s like the, so successful, I mean. She’s just like huge. And if you talk to her, she’s like, well, I’ve never gotten a starred review. I’ve never, you know what I’m saying? Like, I haven’t hit the New York Times, but you’re selling crazy. Like your books are everywhere, like you have a book deal every time you want it. You know? It was like, you think you think that it would be, but no, you’re right, still. Sarah: So from imposter syndrome to just our old, our old friend self doubt. So obviously title of the podcast is Worried Writer. Do you ever have sort of struggles or creative block when you’re actually writing? And if so, what do you do to keep going? Wendy: Very much so. Extreme so. I like. This last one, this debate of like, what am I going to write next for my adult book to go on submission? You know, it really has to be perfect. Do I want to pivot at all and change my brand up a little? It’s a good time to do that if I’m going to, cause I had a two book deal with Mira and now I can change it up if I want to a little bit. And so, um, then at the same time, that self doubt that comes with not already having something promised. I have found that it’s been very difficult to write, and it’s not the first time I’ve dealt with that. I’ve dealt with writer’s block a lot. I don’t know anyone who’s struggled with it more actually. Um, it’s a real problem for me. I think sometimes it takes me a long time to be able to just sit down and to get up enough confidence to even just sit down and start writing is very difficult. Unless, unless someone has me on a deadline, in which case I’m just like, it’s like homework. I’ll force myself to do it. But if I’m not, if I don’t have a deadline, if I don’t have a book deal with a deadline, I can get inside my own head and I’ll really struggle to write at all. Everything seems wrong. I keep hearing all the criticisms that people might have or that might cut like, I don’t know, just get in my own head so bad with it. How do I get out of it? What is my solution? You know what? I think sometimes I just have to be patient with myself and just like give myself space and time to feel excited about the project again because once I start feeling excited about writing something, then I’ll do it whether I’m upset or not, you know? If I’m excited about it and I can picture it in my head and then I start getting sucked in, then self doubt won’t get me, you know? So I try to like use playlists a lot. I’ll try to listen to songs and be like, okay. What’s the perfect song for the scene? What’s the perfect song for this character? And I’ll listen to it and that will help me get excited about it again and be like, okay, I can really picture this. Okay, I can write this and I’ll start feeling a little more confident again. Sarah: Oh, that’s fantastic advice and thank you for sharing that as well. I don’t wish it on you, but it’s always very reassuring to hear that we’re not alone in our self doubt. Wendy: That’s very true. It sucks. I feel bad for all of us that are struggling. I can’t…, and it’s funny, I hear my friend Layne’s voice in my head being like. How many mediocre men are out there just writing because they’re like, this is amazing. I’m going to do this. You know? Be like that guy. Just believe in it. Believe in yourself. Sarah: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, absolutely, and another thing that I’ve been, that I’ve been working on is I, I’m not going to say what I actually say because I tend not to swear on this podcast, but I say it’s just a … book. It’s just a swear word book. And I, I mean obviously that, you know, I enjoy a bit of swearing for stress relief, so apologies if that offends you. But, for me, I just… Just that, that thing of it, it just, that really helps. So it’s not a very evolved mantra, but it kind of helps me to remember that it is just, it is just a book and it’s not life or death. It’s just a story. That’s it. You know? And if I wrote a really bad story, if I wrote a bad book, the sky isn’t going to fall in, you know, it’s fine. I’m not hurting anybody. It’s fine. And so that’s been my recent thing of just trying to you know, leaven the weight of it a wee bit because as you say, when we get in our own heads, it can really feel like the most important thing, because it’s important to us. But nobody else cares! Wendy: I used to write really bad poetry and like little stories when I was a teenager and I never worried about if they were bad because I wasn’t ever going to show them to anybody. So it was just like, and that energy is the energy that you really have to take into a first draft and just write the thing that makes you happy or that makes you feel something and then clean it up later, fix it later, and make it, make it friendly for public consumption later. But I think, I don’t know if you’ve experienced this being on deadline, but when you’re writing on proposal, there really isn’t a first draft. There’s no time for that raw first draft, and then to totally rewrite it, I mean, you’re in four months deadline for a whole book, you know? So you’re like. There is no like write for a few months, take a step aside, consider it, then rewrite it. There’s none of that. There’s like your, your editor’s going to see your first draft and that is a totally different reality that can really get to people. Sarah: Oh, absolutely. And that reminds me, I meant to ask you earlier about your writing process. Sarah: So you mentioned the third act there, which made me think that maybe you do some outlining or some, some structural work. How do you, how do you write? Wendy: Okay. I’ll try not to geek out on this too hard, but I write in four acts. I’m really fascinated by acts and by chunks in a book and like their function. I started out writing with Save The Cat, which I still use quite heavily. It’s a screenwriting outlining tool in case, I’m not sure how widely in use Save The Cat is in the UK. Sarah: Yeah, it’s, yeah, it’s, it’s pretty well known. Well, certainly the people I’ve spoken to, it’s pretty well known and the Save The Cat Writes a Novel came out not so long ago, which is great. Yeah. Wendy: Jessica Brody, she has classes you can take on a platform called udemy udemy.com. She has a save the cat outlining class you can take for like 20 bucks or less. It’s like a self paced course. Really recommend it if you, if, if you’re a writer interested and just curious to like kind of see what this, how this works. So I do that. I like to use those story beats and I started using some other tools where, so like the mid point of the story, there’s act 2a, and there’s act 2b, and in traditional outlining, you outline all of act two, but you kind of consider that those two have slightly different functions, but in a four act structure, you really consider them like two really different pieces. And so breaking the book up into four equal parts, like ish, I’m not, I’m not super, you know… give or take, but just like considering that the book has four parts, there’s the setup in act one where you’re kind of laying all your tracks for your train. I think of it as like a rollercoaster, and then an act 2a the first half of act two to the mid point. You’re kind of climbing up the hill to that midpoint. And then the second half of act two, you’re going down the hill and it’s like a crazy rollercoaster. Everything’s falling apart. And then act three it’s of course like the big climax where all the stuff that you’ve, all the little clues and character flaws and all these things you’ve laid in kind of all come together to have a new and surprising conclusion. So I really like that. It helps me when I feel stuck because I know what kind of thing needs to happen now. I can go back to my outline and be like, this is the time like I know what the next plot point I’m working toward. And this is the time when we should see these types of things happening. So it’s, it’s almost like writing a haiku where if you’re saying, I only have five syllables to work with, instead of I can do anything I want, it kind of helps me focus and that helps me a lot. Sarah: That makes a lot of sense. Yeah, and I’ll, I’ll put the link in the show notes to the book and to the course as well. That’s a great tip. Thank you. I cannot believe how quick the time has gone. So before we finish, I’d love to hear what are you working on at the moment, or what’s next for you? Wendy: Oh, this is exciting. So I just turned in my final copy edits, everything, for my young adult book She’s Too Pretty To Burn. That comes out at the end of March, 2021, I think it’s March 30th. And I am now working on… I have an option with that contract. So I’m working on an option book for my young adult. Right now I’ve got a project where it’s a teenage girl who’s faking her own death and going on the run. It’s really fun. And then I have an adult book in the works that I’m playing with that’s like a airbnb locked in the woods, bad things happening, type of thriller. So I’ve got two projects. Who knows if those will ever become books, but those are my two current works in progress. Sarah: So you’re staying right there in the darkness is what you’re saying. Wendy: I know! I’ve always wanted to write about faking your own death. I just think that’s so fun. Imagining like how you would do it with passports. Like how would you do with bank accounts? But it’s a teenage girl. I’m so excited. I hope I get to write that book. Sarah: That does sound fantastic. And where can people find more about you and your books online? Sarah: Fantastic. Well, thank you so much for your time, Wendy. That was great. Wendy: Thank you so much for having me. This was really, really fun. This is maybe my favorite interview I’ve ever done. It was really enjoyable. 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Today, we’re gonna talk about reviews. Actually, find out all. We’re probably going to have to make this into two different videos. For now, I want to cover everything you probably need know. Let’s get into it. So right here, as you see, I have pulled up some of the initial things people pull up whenever they’re doing a generic presentation, like 97% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses. We get the point. Almost everybody is going to read some of your reviews especially if the job they’re trying to get is somewhat expensive. So a roof replacement is definitely up there. Right? Even for repairs. They’re going to read your reviews. They’re going to check you out before they make a decision. And homeowners nowadays will care about reviews. Generating reviews is a part of Search Engine optimization for Roofing contractor campaign. The only thing they’ll care about more than an online review is actually their neighbor telling that that yes, “this is the roofer for that I want”. So point taken, it is really important but still even knowing these kind of stats people don’t do something about it. They don’t make an effort to get reviews. So today, I put a little outline. Let’s get into it. Which is – going to talk about reviews. And you can see the first thing I said here in the outline, it’s almost like a step is get serious about your reviews. That’s the first thing. If you have to do anything to generate reviews, the first thing is gonna get serious. It is not that technique you saw, it is not buying a new CRM that is going to automatically get people to email them and all that stuff. It’s just get serious. And the best way to do that is have some kind of extension to your job experience, your work experience. Meaning, as soon as the job is done. This is what we do and what we recommend. As soon as the job is completed, you can ask something similar to this, “Hey ma’am! What would you rate us today out of five?” Or like first make sure that everything is happening. “Ma’am, did everything go exactly how you wanted it to? It is like setting them up and they know it. They’ll say, “Yes.” All right. Well, I’m glad you think so. Something blah, blah, blah. Something courteous, something courteous statement. Our business runs on your words. Something like that. What would you rate us today out of a 5? 5 being the best. One being the worst. If you are face to face, most likely they’ll give you a 5. Once they say that, “Alright ma’am. Well, here is something I want to send you.” This is what we are going to talk about, the technique next. Now, hear me out of this because I’ve talked about so many techniques and then I have clients who kill it, who get 8 to 10 reviews every month and then our clients we get nothing. There’s no change. Putting the Effort for Getting Reviews Getting reviews on your Google Maps listing is the first platform to prioritize. The biggest difference is that it’s not a technique that I pass to them. It is that they just didn’t take it seriously. So again that’s why it’s the first step. First, understand that yes, it’s just the time we live in. You might feel unfair. A lot of people they don’t even want to partake in it because it’s unfair. They’re saying that that guy is a better roofer than me. He just have all these reviews because he asked his friends and family. The homeowners don’t care. They can tell the difference even if it’s just the start out and they need your service, you are going to check them out. If its detailed, it’s great. Even if it’s not detailed, it’s just some short reviews that it looks like maybe your friends and family have put it, even that is better, a lot better than having no reviews. Alright. So if you are on that boat, like you feel it’s unfair that some other roofer who is there, than you actually in the past is getting more reviews than you, you just have to suck it up and be like all right. He’s playing the game. He’s not a better roofer and he’s playing his game with this online thing. I’m going to beat him on this. So that’s the thing. First to get serious and make it a ritual. Okay, from now on, whatever, whoever goes out, even if it is your crew member, customer representative, whatever it is, there is a way. You are going to set up something that is going to ask for reviews. Now, that we got that out of the way. Let’s get into review techniques. So there’s two main techniques we talk about. I’ve wrote about this in one of my blog posts. It is either the card or the link or you can use both obviously. The card looks like this. Let me see. Alright. Here we go. Card basically looks like this. Okay? So going back to our little scenario there. “Ma’am, what would you rate us out of five blah, blah, blah?” Well, here’s a card. They’ll show you step by step right now what to do. So as soon as I leave, you can just follow it and go leave us a review. It is something physical they can hold that you can print out, have a stack, having it in your car, have it in your truck, have it in your crew members truck. You should always have this handy. Back pocket. Here you go. Your business name will be there. They’ll be able to go down and basically, they leave a review following these steps. It is a great way. Take a look at how review generation plays a part of the holistic picture at our roofing marketing page. Even after you are gone, they will have something to feel guilty on if they don’t leave it. After sometime, they forget about it. They come back. It’s still on the table. So that’s one thing. The other thing which I like a bit more is the review link. So what I want to do is take the time and actually show you guys how to create this review link for your business right now. It’s a guaranteed five star link. Let’s get into it. If you go to, let’s say, I do roofing Bronx. I’ll just pick a company. C&R Construction, that’s it. I click on them. Now, I want to leave them a review. Okay. Write a review. You see how it comes? I first put the stars and then I put a description. So choosing the stars is not an option anymore. That’s what we’re gonna get to it. How you get this is, you go Google review generator. The third link support. Open this as a new tab. Take this code. Open the top, open that code, hope you’re following me. We took the code from here and we put it in a new tab. It’s open right there. Now, I am going to type in, C&R Construction. There we go. Renovation. This is the place ID. Copy it and put it in there. Enter. It brings us to their review page. Once we are here, we wanna take the whole thing. You can see it says 3. Put a comma and change the U. R. L. code to a 5. I’ll guarantee five stars. Take that new code and you can shortlink it. Google URL shortener. Put in here, shortened. We have it. This is the end link we have. You can see. If I was to put this in a new, imagine this, the homeowner, you say, “Ma’am, I just sent you a link on your phone. As soon as you open it, just type up your experience. Just write us what your experience was.” They click open. It’s going to open with guarantee 5 stars compared to here where they choose for five stars. It will come up guaranteed there and they will just type up there what their experience was. A lot of times I recommend, just stand there. Say, “Hey! Did you get it or make sure or that’s fine.” Just like be there on their face. Make sure they leave it because all they have to do is just type up the experience real quick and then boom. You just guaranteed your review. This is an easy way to get 10, 15, almost every job you walk into unless a big disaster happens, which for most people doesn’t. You should be getting a link from that house. Almost every single house we step into turn into a good statement for us online. All right. So hopefully, you got something out of that and if you’re having trouble getting this review, go down. Shoot me an email. Tell me your business name. I’ll send you back the review link and with a card already made so you can print another card and you can have the link. You can have both. We do that for you guys at no additional cost whatsoever. Just like roofing keyword traffic, review generation is also a numbers game. In some ways I feel it is more important than your roofing website design. The next part is emailing for links. Now this is the part I was thinking about to make a new video on because it is a bit more complicated obviously. But basically, this is what you want to do. Any time, like this is good for past customers. Let us say you have a good book of business. Now you are getting into getting all the reviews that you should have gotten before. And what would we do is you have a book of business and we email them. So, try saying that – hey what would you rate us. It they click 5, it takes them to leave a review. Click 4, takes them to leave a review. Clicks 3, it takes them to your email so they can write to you what they were upset about so you can have a chance to fix it. It’s a great way. Now, the thing with this is that you need to get their emails. This adds one more step in this ritual of things so I always recommend first, mastering this. First make sure that you have a system that can get new reviews whenever you go to new houses. Once you have that, then you can get into this. You don’t have to do all at once. But once it is short, it is not difficult. All you have to do whenever the homeowner is done at the end of this is like, “Ma’am we send our receipts to email.” So you can kind of put that right here or you can fill this up right here. It is a very easy way, a nonchalant way to ask for their email. Because you’re going to send them receipt. If you ask them for it normally, they get a bit defensive. Why do you need my email? But if you ask them, hey, that is how the company sends the receipt. They will be glad. They will not think twice. What will happen is you’ll grow a book of business. Like we said, book of business, email marketing emails are the same thing in the online version. Whether you are doing it or not, it’s a very good habit to just get an excel list. And if you use a receptionist or whatever to get them in the habit to write the person’s name, address and their email or time what’s going to happen one day when you want to reach out to everybody who trusts you, likes you, already bought from you, and you want to ask them something, it becomes this easy and it’s free. That being said, check out the Youtube Video for this article to better follow along. If you liked your article, please leave Shibga Media a review! Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Get Free Tips from Shibga Media to grow your business. Get easily accessible marketing tips you can apply to your business today! Recent Posts November 27, 2020 November 27, 2020 November 26, 2020 Roofing School: How to Become a Roofer November 26, 2020 November 26, 2020 If you like what you see and did like to know more then please select one of the options below and let’s get you started down the right path! Success is straight ahead so whatever you do don’t look back!	11,616
Paterson man, woman ran drug production facility out of North 7th Street attic, police say - November 20, 2022 Totowa man hurt in Paterson shooting - November 15, 2022 Man charged with attempted murder for Paterson triple shooting - November 15, 2022 Jury finds Paterson man guilty of sexually abusing 10-year-old girl - November 15, 2022 Three people, including 15-year-old, wounded in Paterson shooting - November 12, 2022 Two women charged in Paterson shooting - November 7, 2022 Paterson man wanted on warrant caught with 288 bags of heroin March 18, 2018 by Jonathan Greene A city man wanted for allegedly dealing drugs while out on parole was arrested on Friday afternoon with an assortment of drugs, according to Passaic County Sheriff Richard Berdnik. Jermaine Tinsley, 29-year-old, was allegedly hiding out at the second-floor of 220 17th Avenue, when authorities were tipped off. Detectives recovered a large bag in Tinsley’s front pants pocket that contained 288 glassine envelopes of heroin stamped “Take Over” in purple ink, 29 orange vials of crack cocaine, and 3 grams of “Molly.” Authorities said drugs seized is valued at $2,000. He was charged with six drug offenses, authorities said. Tinsley had other outstanding warrants out of Hudson County, Teaneck, and Paterson, authorities said.	1,329
The tether. That thing that binds us to our families of origin, not by any desire of our own, but through the mere act of existence. We spend our lives exploring the roots of this connection, be it to an unending wellspring of love or the heavy, unshakeable burden of pain. In its healthiest form, the tether is meant to eternally connect us to a place of love and acceptance. It ties us to the hearts of those who know our deepest flaws and greatest mistakes and yet love us anyway. It is the place we can always return to and the greatest security life can offer us. The very existence of an umbilical cord, that first biological connection in utero, suggests the importance of this tie between humans. A broken tether leaves us in freefall. It exposes us to the greatest anxiety a human can know- the potential of being detached and alone in the world. To be deemed unloveable by the humans we need most to love us, or the person who committed to do so until death do part, shifts something in our interior life that we can never fully regain. It is antithetical to the existence of humans, the deepest pain one can experience. And yet, almost all of us will experience it at some point in our lives. Like so many others, my life has known a series of these breaks. I carry the frayed cords with me and finger the scars where they once attached. For a long time, I stared at the empty space where someone once existed, screaming my pain into the void and trying to call them back. There is a sort of blind madness that eventually settles in- the push and pull between the self-destruction of unlovability- and the desire to be better, to be lovable. It is a tension that consumed the early years of my adulthood, that even now I wrestle with. As I grew older, I skirted the great abyss of that pain with whatever resources I could find. There are days of my early twenties that I can’t recall and can’t account for. When you’re misbehaving, no one asks you about the pain you’re in. They only demand that you be better, that you figure it out… and quick. Fingers point, and you feel the shame. But you don’t change. You can’t just yet. Not for lack of desire but for lack of nohow and the unrelenting conviction that you deserve nothing more than the chaos you’ve created for yourself. The world confirms what you already know- you belong on the outskirts- you are screwed up, immoral, wrong, bad, unwanted, unloved- you don’t belong at all. When I was 23, unwed, and pregnant, a well meaning friend asked if I loved the father of my child, a man with whom I’d had only a casual relationship. When I responded in the negative, she asked, “why did you sleep with him, then?” The question floored me, not for the directness of it but for its naivety. Not only was it weighted with disapproval and disappointment, but it seemed to lack an essential understanding of human need. Love was a luxury I had yet to attain in my 23 years of life. Sex was the closest substitute I had found. The why was not a question worth asking. Nor was it one I could answer. How could I have said that I simply wanted to be known, that I wanted to be seen, held, and desired, for whatever span of time was available to me? I wanted a reprieve from the constant ache and the exhausting anxiety of aloneness. I could not afford to contemplate the rightness or wrongness of a thing. The human soul requires sustenance and when deprived, it will beg, borrow, or steal to be fed. There were many in my life who viewed my pregnancy and decision to keep my daughter as an unpardonable sin. And so, what is goodness? Even then, it was something I believed in, something I aspired to. I once believed in the absolute value of right and wrong, in every moral platitude that had been thrown my way since I was a small child. In righteousness and fervor and good intentions. I had been raised in a church that marked the path to heaven by good behavior, and I had tried with every fiber of my being to walk it. But somewhere between 13 and 23, I had come to believe that I was innately and irrevocably on the wrong side of it. I could see the same unanimous consensus reflected in the eyes of teachers, parents, and pastors alike. I was the unwelcome guest at their table- too much to manage, too far gone for hope. All of my strivings could not save me. I wish I had understood then that that was the point. The best I could do was assemble a sense of connection and belonging among the other misfits and miscreants whose spheres I orbited. I found myself most comfortable in the craggy, shaded cracks of existence, where there was little expected and no one to disappoint. I eschewed those who professed to believe in my potential. I wounded those who got too close. Still, I desired so much. I desired to know the dappled, laughter-ridden love I caught glimpses of in passing. I desired to give voice to the being inside of me who felt good and kind and smart and capable. I desired to understand the presence I felt when I whispered passionate prayers to the being who had been so tangible since childhood. I desired wholeness. I desired love. And most of all, I desired a reprieve from the unidentifiable, aching pain that had defined so much of my life. I am trying to articulate something here, something I barely understand now. I follow the path from where I am today back to that weary, broken place of my youth and try to understand it all. It was desire that propelled me… but not that sustained me. Several things mark that path. The love of my daughter lines each twist and turn since I was 23 and stands as the greatest gift I have ever known. And too, there are friends and mentors, voices who spoke without expectation and outlined the shape of love in their simple presence. But there is something more. It turns out that the goodness I had tried to embody in my youth was irrelevant. Christianity taught me to behave a particular way. The church as I knew it was not a place of unrelenting love but rather of judgement and condemnation. It set expectations unrealistic for a child who had already known trauma and pain and despair. The emphasis was on the behavior… not on the grace. It wasn’t until motherhood that I discovered the reality of grace (grace, that element so crucial to our survival). I would have otherwise been consumed by my own fallibility. At certain points, I almost was; at certain points I became convinced that my flaws were too great to parent the being that I loved so entirely. And this was my entry point to the truth of the God that I sought. I will pause here to clarify something. It is difficult for me to use the term “God.” That name has been usurped and mistreated for so long that it does harm to some who hear it. Many who have been wounded by the church, or who have their own ideas of what that name holds, cringe when they hear it. And so, as I write, I use the term “Elohim” in its stead, one of the traditional Hebraic names for God. Names are inventions of man after all, but they should encapsulate and communicate the essence of that which we refer to. My favorite name for God is actually Ruach Elohim, the term used in the third line of Genesis. Ruach means breath, wind, mind, spirit… all of these things at once. We often reduce Elohim to such a finite idea- few names allow for his bigness. And while Elohim is not human, and therefore neither male nor female, I refer to him in the masculine, because that is most comfortable to me. Substitute whichever word best connects you. And so, where every other tether was broken, the one between myself and Elohim remained intact. I know, because I had tried to sever it on a multitude of occasions. But just as my daughter did not need me to be perfect, neither did Elohim. More to the point, I was humanly incapable of the perfection I yearned for, even perhaps of the goodness. It was precisely this that allowed me to meet my maker. In my lowest place of despair, I was profoundly overwhelmed by the ugly pieces of myself. I was convinced I was detrimental to my own daughter, that she would be better off without me in her life. I was certain Elohim could never love me as he did those “blessed” individuals that lined the pews of my church, the place where I often wanted to hide my hands in shame. I knew that change, to the degree that I desired, simply was not possible. And then I was made to understand. In this place of despair, I encountered someone who already understood the mystery. There will be things you cannot change, he said. It is true. That is the grace of God. Your own goodness is of little value. It is the Holy Spirit within you that provides goodness. Without our brokenness, there is little room for Christ, for others, for grace. I came to understand this in that season: it is by grace that we measure empathy. And it is through empathy that we gain the ability to connect to others. Our brokenness is not the end point. It is the starting point. It is the place where we meet Elohim, where we learn the truth of love, where we are vulnerable enough to connect with others. I think of Rumi- the wound is the place where the light enters you. These wounds are fundamental to our existence as humans, as fundamental as the joy and happiness that we also strive for. We must hold these things in tandem. Which leads me back to the broken tethers. I have gathered the broken tethers of my life and held them as evidence of the ways in which I have been unlovable. But I was wrong. Each of those tethers left a gaping hole in me. But each of those holes provided space by which the Light can enter. They are not my broken places. They are the places that stand to become the strongest and most whole. These essays are an exploration of the frayed and broken tethers in my life. There are many that I seek to understand and even some that I seek to repair. I invite you to join me in this exploration. Posted byuntethered82 July 30, 2020 July 18, 2022 Posted inGrief Journal Next Post Next post: July 30, 2020 at 4:04 pm This was one of the most heartwrenching work of art I’ve seen in a long time. You are a brilliant writer, and the world should definitely see that. Keep posting! Never stop writing (though I don’t think you ever will) Judy says: July 30, 2020 at 4:15 pm Your ability to bare your soul is the gift of a lifetime, Dana! Thank you for sharing it with all of us. You are very loved! July 30, 2020 at 9:20 pm Oh. Refreshing. So glad you exist. August 13, 2020 at 11:56 am “So many of those around me firmly believed that they had earned their station in life…” Thank you for saying what is socially unacceptable to say out loud. It’s a thousand tiny cuts to have failure and then have everyone around you ‘advise’ you and critique you and question you so that you have to work even harder to keep yourself buoyant, to remember what is positive about you. Being poor doesn’t mean you don’t know how to handle money or know how much money is worth. It is a circumstance of being paid low wages for good work. It is a circumstance of age-ism. Or of having a special needs child. I have cut and pasted your words, printed them out and taped them to my wall. I need to know that I am not alone. That there is someone who can relate to being a single mother who worked her way through school, yes I have a master’s degree too. And yet, I am un/under employed, temporarily housed until not-sure-when? by a sister who I had previously been out of touch. My belongings sit in a storage space. And I see privilege all around me. All the ‘lucky breaks’, all the ‘I just ended up in this job’, the jobs that make a life, give an identity, credibility and social standing. Jobs that raise a family, that buy a car, that give a person the ability to be a part of the world, to contribute to something that people respect. “But I also did not imagine that it would be this relentlessly hard for this relentlessly long.” My daughters remember me as a stressed out person. They don’t want to think about the poverty as a result of a deadbeat father, or my lack of biological relatives as a result of extreme family dysfunction, or the fact that I chose to divorce their father to create a stable environment for my girls. Maybe they will one day. Maybe they will see me with a good job, maybe even a home. Anyway. Thank you very much for your writing. Emma says: August 13, 2020 at 5:11 pm Your story in the Huffington Post touched me deeply! May I suggest you investigate whether your area has the following programs: some counties have programs that hire people to be caregivers and assist the elderly with their day to day routines, and they are always in need of people (there’s also a private company where I am, Visiting Angels, which I think is national, that does the same thing). Organizations that provide respite care for children with special needs also are usually looking for employees.This is my Plan B for if I ever lose my job. Also, your county may have programs to help you, and provide supplemental funds and/or food. My county has an Affordable Housing organization, although the llist is long. Best of luck to you! I’ll be sending positive thoughts! dainsworth says: August 14, 2020 at 11:53 am August 14, 2020 at 2:37 pm Dana, you are an amazing individual and you have a special gift for communicating through your writings! The world is blessed by your presence. Drew says: August 15, 2020 at 10:28 am Well, you sure can write. As somebody who has long wondered if I have the talent to write professionally, the depth of your struggle to make a living despite your obvious talent is discouraging. But beyond my wholly unimportant musings about a career I’ve never had, your story does yet again lay bare some fundamental flaws in our little capitalist society. If hard work and talent aren’t enough to keep one housed in Virginia, much less in NYC or Los Angeles, it’s less a means to broad based prosperity and more a threat to the basic survival of the vast majority of Americans. This wouldn’t happen in Western Europe. Keep going, that’s all you can do, and know one can absolutely be successful in their work, even if a cruel and brutal system doesn’t always allow one to make even a basic living doing it. It’s not you, it’s the system. August 18, 2020 at 3:28 pm As an American living in Ireland? I know of only support & opportunity being extended to Needy or Vulnerable Women in Crisis. Many Craftspeople, Writers, Civil Servants, and, Teachers, were once “rescued” by The Irish State, aka “welfare”, in order to become educated, trained, and, qualified in a discipline for which they showed “potential”. These Women, then go on to become, quietly, some of the greatest ” Champions” for Opportunity to Ireland’s Needy, and, Immigrants. In America? We refer to this as: “Paying it Forward”. Unlike Right Wing Republicans, across America? I cannot accept that ” Support” and “Opportunity” should be reserved only for the privileged, the wealthy, and, those whose families have employment, property, and, political connections. America NEEDS return of the “Safety Net” programs designed during The 1960’s Presidency of Democrat Lyndon Johnson. That Administration envisaged opportunity for ALL Americans under “Great Society” Job Training, Education, Housing, Health Care, and, Disability Services. The BEST part of those programs? They WORKED! Americans who would’ve been cast in dead end jobs, or, become homeless? Such individuals were given Grants, Work Study & Internships so they could complete College, affordably: NOT crippled by Bank Loan Debt, which Millions of College Students, across The USA, have been, since the 1980’s (when Republican Leadership in Congress & White House Restructured the majority of Student Aid Packages from Grants to Loans). It IS possible for The United States to remain a Capitalist Society, while still re instating “Safety Net” Education and Social Welfare Programs. How? Simply put, as Johnson & Nixon Administrations did:–by raising Wealth and, Property Taxes. Perhaps what The Majority of Ameeicans, and, indeed, The Global Community, are Crying Out For, IS: September 4, 2020 at 4:49 pm Drew, there is something terribly flawed with our North American system of capitalism, when 10% of the population does well, while 90% have such a struggle to survive. Some of those 10% are born into their privilege; the rest have “sold their soul”, or given ownership of their soul over to whatever power it is that rules the world and is responsible for this imbalance. Solutions have been proposed; unfortunately again in our N.A. system, they’re squashed before they have a chance to bring about reform. Hope is not dead though; as dainsworth wrote, it’s the areas of brokenness that allow the Light to get into our souls. Jenna Pepper says: August 15, 2020 at 11:04 am I too was Unhoused, with my 14 yo daughter. Your work has touched my soul deeply during a challenging time your extraordinary Soul voice echo, found us. Reading you is like visiting with my own heart. Shabbat Shalom and Namaste. Jenna August 18, 2020 at 2:50 pm Your Honesty; Self Awareness, and, Refusal to allow your the Light of Your I Spirit to be either Subdued, or, Quenched… These flavor your Writing with SOUL. The Fact that YOU, above so many other, “established” writers, had Courage to Write about America’s Dark Under belly, namely, Homelessness, enriches your Writing. As a formerly homeless person (2.5 years); I’m so pleased I stumbled, today, upon your writing (on Ariana Huffington’s Site). I asked to join your WordPress Site, today. I look forward to accessing your Work! Charity says: August 19, 2020 at 4:30 pm Oh my heart! I found your writing through Kelly, and I am so moved. You cut straight to the marrow of things, and I feel so grateful to know I am not alone. I am also a single parent, with that feeling of perpetual, long term struggle, and no breaks in sight. I also come from a history of church and religion and intense family situation as an oppressive influence in my life. You take pain and transform it into something beautiful. Your raw vulnerability and honesty is so clear and fluid. I am so grateful you exist in the world. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Email (required) (Address never made public) Name (required) Connecting to %s Notify me of new comments via email. Δ	19,280
Hit Google or any place on earth that has any document stating his timeline and you’ll find- Ayrton Senna da Silva- 1961-1994. That is what is believed, universally. But, Senna isn’t dead. Somebody bluffed you. It was a bad joke, repulsive even. It was selling the world’s greatest dummy. And we fell for it. All of us. Senna can’t be dead. Senna’s don’t die. Senna’s can’t die. Senna’s weren’t born to die. Senna stands for immortality. And dying is tantamount to leaving. It signals going away. It is not hardwired in the DNA of a man who represents to this day, the sheer atomisation of Formula 1. The putting of life at stake, in fact, forgetting there was a life outside racing- that is Senna. The cold-blooded stare at another great of the sport- Prost and the mildly irate tone at back answering Sir Jackie Stewart, representing the same ostentatiousness one saw when the Brazilian went flat out in races- that is Senna. Confounded by a deeply intrinsic desire- a perplexing one- in his search for meaning through racing- that is Senna. Perhaps desperately finding himself standing at the end of the Monaco tunnel or at around the hairpin bend at Donington Park, thinking how could he have bettered a lap- that’s Senna. Even as in flesh and blood- he is gone, in spirit he continues to permeate his magic everywhere. Regardless of where, whether the Principality of Monaco or the exuberance of Spa Francorchamps. How on earth could Senna ever leave Formula 1? For in his ballsy standards of perfection-the journey he was on- there was such thing as stopping. It was ill-advised. It’s the madness ahead of the curve that few have the sights on that Ayrton Senna was interested. It defined his desire to live. And depending on how you see it, an accident or a fatality, Senna seems just lost in a happy transit in finding his line of infinity. But what he did leave behind for us besotted and constantly fidgety mortals is every tiny remnant of a memory that sparkles with the quintessential madness of F1’s most consummate talent. No driver before him- appreciation for Bruce McLaren, regards to Fangio, salutation to Jim Clarke, tip of the hat to Sir Jackie Stewart, a warmly hug to the late Jim Surtees, a clap for Nelson Piquet- and none since have defined F1 as much as Ayrton Senna. He isn’t a great. He is the pantheon that defines greats. Senna was both lightening bolt and the entire sky. He was the heady cocktail prepared by mixing daring, daredevilry and an incessant desire to win. It was whacky, it was wicked and it was absolute adrenaline inspiring. We drank it time and again- all of us. And my word, our greed? Perhaps, there are some thirsts that may never be quenched. seekrs He was on this maddening path to perfection- which was fundamentally a flawed trajectory (or subject) to tame. Because, we are told there ain’t no thing as perfection. It’s the ultimate yardstick against which he better ourselves in the present. Like tomorrow- who none have seen- perfection never arrives. It’s endless. Logic presses upon us to understand rationality. But who says Senna was rational? He wanted to go for every gap there existed else he wouldn’t have called himself a ‘racing driver’. He wanted to tamper with the unknown. How else could you have programmed your mind to consume all that happened at Donington Park in 1993? Could there have been any other on walking limbs who could’ve produced from being fourth on the grid- 3 back-to-back passes and in the opening lap, within seconds of the five lights going off? Where other struggled for grips and traction, Senna in the wets found his balance. Was this proof he was from some place else? What worried you as fans about Senna’s boundless desire for learning was what if he’d injure himself or hurt others? But he was unstoppable- both in a race on the circuit and off it. Racing was his drug, his hurt as also his cure. He couldn’t do without it. And in the end- lest it be forgotten that close friend Sid Watkins told him at the back of Ratzenberger’s demise that Senna could chose to walk away- that he chose otherwise. nemzetisport.hu To this day, two and a half decades after the carnage at the Tamburello corner at Imola, the mind cannot stop asking: what if Senna would’ve walked away? Instead, he chose to sit in that recalcitrant machine of his; arguably the most reviled Williams car ever and decided to master doubt, confound uncertainty. And unleashed himself as an evil bogeyman on his subject- F1- that he’d so unabashedly mastered many a times. Was it in this inexhaustible lust for taming it one more time, that he fell for it completely? Some say the fault was in the steering column that broke. Some point to the faulty wheel base of the Williams. All we know is the heavens collided with earth in snatching back on of their own. Perhaps the lease had expired without a scope for renewal. Perhaps the giving nature of mother earth came in way of not holding back one of its dearest sons. Born in Brazil, dying in Italy, respected world-over- Aryton Senna was the love child of carefree brashness and imperturbable concentration. A racing carnivore and a familiar ring-master- loved as much as he was chided, Senna was both- man, messiah, freak and a somewhat flawed human being. There’s this amazing profundity with which fans have snuggled up to the quote, “I am not designed to come second”. The ordinary human mind that understands fragility and uncertainty is so much of a reality in life would knock it down for being a sign of hubris. But then again- legends, there’ve been many but icons- there’re only a few. And Senna was emblematic to F1 in the very core of the sport’s being. He’s the national postage stamp for the republic of motor-racing. It doesn’t get any better or grander. Yet, he was also a deeply devoted man. As you skin down the racing suit from the bare chested body of heart and soul- you see a man drawn to suffering of the weak and impoverished, moved by compassion and united by a passion to work for upliftment of the poor. That is why every square inch of a brick immersed in Graffiti-devotion of Aryton is soaked in gratitude of a sincere man. But as with all great men, Senna excites us with the possibility of fathoming what “could’ve been”, us craving for all he could’ve attained. And he also leaves us silently to ponder: whether there can be a full-stop for any passion pursued in life. Senna added to the grandeur of F1 through 19 fastest laps, 65 pole positions, 41 wins, 80 podiums. But would you call him contented? Did he find his peace? May 1, 2018 Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. 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Covering Ag since 1981. The faces, places, markets and issues of dairy and livestock production. Hard-hitting topics, market updates and inspirational stories from the notebook of a veteran ag journalist. Contributing reporter for Farmshine since 1987; Editor of former Livestock Reporter 1981-1998; Before that I milked cows. @Agmoos on Twitter, @AgmoosInsight on FB #MilkMarketMoos Posted on October 15, 2021 by Agmoos By Sherry Bunting, Farmshine, October 8, 2021 MADISON, Wis. – “It is impossible to overstate the impact Dieter Krieg and Farmshine have had on the dairy industry in 42 years visiting dairy farms and dairy events across the United States. His interviews with top dairymen and dairy leaders have implanted ideas of change to almost all his readers at one time or another over the years,” writes Carl Brown of F.M. Brown Sons, who nominated Dieter for the National Dairy Shrine Hall of Fame Pioneer Leader award. On Sept. 30 at the National Dairy Shrine (NDS) dinner, Dieter was one of four 2021 Pioneers to be recognized. “Dieter has been a trailblazer in dairy journalism and occupies a special place in supporting and educating dairy producers and youth. I personally realized the impact that Farmshine was having during one of our Dairy Science Club spring trips,” writes Dale Oliver, Penn State Dairy and Animal Science assistant teaching professor in a letter of recommendation. “Our group traveled to Arizona to visit some of the leading dairies in that state. One producer wanted to know (the students’) opinions about a recent article published in Farmshine. It was at that point that our students gained a perspective that this publication was not just reaching dairy producers in Pennsylvania but had begun to develop a much broader following,” Oliver said. Yes, Dieter is known for thought-provoking editorials. A free press is not something he takes for granted, having left Communist East Germany with his family at the age of 10 for freedom in the United States. Oliver notes that, “Dieter is a humble, caring man who does not seek attention, although he readily provides publicity to others.” Surprise! There are more pictures and publicity on these two pages than Dieter may be comfortable with, but each one illustrates a connection that can be multiplied many times over — stretching far beyond the few examples here from the NDS awards dinner. In fact, if you ask him what he has enjoyed most as a publisher, Dieter will tell you it’s the people. Ever since the June NDS announcement of the 2021 Pioneer recognition, we have been hearing from some of those people — readers, producers, advertisers, colleagues, and former interns who credit Dieter as a mentor, “taking a chance” on them, “giving them a start” that blossomed into careers today that continue that network, touching the lives of others in the dairy industry. The response has been so overwhelming, we can only capture the essence of so many responses. Whether the first Farmshine off the press in September 1979 (right) or one of the most recent ‘favorite covers’ 42 years later in September 2021 (left), Dieter Krieg has been publishing the dairy news to Farmshine subscribers across Pennsylvania, across the United States and even in other countries 51 weeks a year. That’s 2,142 weeks, and it doesn’t get old. In that time, he has touched the lives of many as they have touched his. From the chronicles of Rudolph, his famed Oldsmobile driven over 730,000 miles to the most memorable April Fools’, and from the big stories and thought-provoking editorials to the weekly DHIA’s and announcements, Dieter has established a relationship with thousands of readers who look forward to Farmshine every week. The staff and contributors to Farmshine each week are grateful, and we echo what Dieter said in his award acceptance speech that the readers are to be thanked for helping make Farmshine what it is. After all, it’s about cows and farming, but it’s really about the people. From the paper paste-up and wax-board days to the digital era, Dieter continues Farmshine’s mission of rising each week to cover farming and agribusiness as the first and likely only weekly dairy-focused newspaper with over 13,000 subscribers nationwide. In his letter of recommendation, former Pennsylvania Holstein Association executive director Ken Raney explains that, “Dieter has ‘done it all’ for Farmshine, he is the editor, feature writer, advertising manager, layout, etc., as the paper has grown. His personal approach to stories has created friendships all over the world. Farmshine not only has current dairy information but features successful dairymen of all types, so readers can garner new ideas.” Ken also describes Dieter as we know him, “an unassuming enthusiast who welcomes ideas, looks for innovative ways to share the dairy industry story and has been a leader in print media, before many publications of this type were available.” Writes Stephanie Meyers of Merck, “I was Dieter’s first Farmshine intern in 1989. I stopped by the NDS reception to congratulate him and thank him for giving me my start in dairy journalism, communications and marketing. I’m so thankful he hired me and for teaching me the ropes of dairy journalism and encouraging me to pursue my dreams of a career in dairy communications and marketing. It’s a joy to see him recognized for his many contributions to the dairy industry and for his commitment to telling the stories of dairy farmers.” Josh Hushon of Cargill writes of what it meant to also be an intern with the paper. “This award is so well deserved. Dieter took a chance on me as a summer intern before anyone else was willing. I was 19 at the time, didn’t really know what I was going to do in life, and had a minuscule portfolio of writing. Despite what I didn’t have, Dieter saw what I did have, which was a passion for the dairy industry and work ethic developed on our farm. He opened the first door for me and I am eternally grateful for that.” Giving back what he learned, Josh seeks to mentor others and wrote a blog a couple years ago after looking back on his own career path and pointing out moments when the right mentor came along with the right opportunity at the right time. “One of those mentors is Dieter Krieg, who I recently reconnected with through the Holstein Foundation. He was a huge mentor early in my career as I was learning how to be a storyteller and communicator,” writes Josh. Andrea Haines echoes these sentiments. Today she operates her own business, ALH Word and Image, and she also looks back on her pivotal internship with Dieter at Farmshine. “I am forever thankful for Dieter and the opportunity he and his family provided me early on in my career. Finding an ‘internship’ within Farmshine for two summers really taught me how to write, edit, piece together a newspaper (wax-adhered layouts), and most importantly, how to network with people of the dairy industry. I will never forget the many rides in Rudolph (the famed 730,000-plus mile Oldsmobile) and long nights putting together the newspaper,” Andrea recalls. Karen Wheatley, another intern with a career in the dairy industry notes “Dieter was my mentor too, and the man who got me interested in ‘really’ writing!” Former Lancaster Farming editor Andy Andrews notes that, “Dieter has been the voice of dairy agribusiness for four decades! He is the publisher and editor the industry has come to rely on; great reporting and fearless with his observations. Dairy farmers have been blessed with his hard work and ‘udder’ devotion.” Dairy producers also express their appreciation, and friends recount stories. Dave Bitler of Berks County, Pa., notes that he has always been very proud to call Dieter a friend. Recalling the summer of 1973, Dave writes: “We milked together at Dr. Carl Troop’s south of Quarryville. I always enjoyed Dieter’s company and his sharing about his family’s history in Germany and their coming to the United States. Looking back on my life back then as a new high school graduate, I was probably annoying, but Dieter was always kind.” John and Linda Kisner of northern Pennsylvania write their thoughts as Farmshine readers. Linda recalls Dieter driving through a local town and stopping for gas, seeing the paper that had pictures of their triplet calves on the cover. “He looked us up, came out and took pictures (in Rudolph). Dad loved it.” “Sometimes it just takes someone in a position to shine a light on certain issues,” adds John. “I think being independent with his own publication has allowed him the opportunity to do that a few times over the years. Where would we be without that sort of initiative?” Another Pennsylvania farmer, Jeremy Meck, recalls being in 4-H with Dieter as one of the CowsRus 4-H leaders. “I remember learning that he had a small barn and milked a few cows. Even though he was the editor of a great farming newspaper, he still woke up every morning to milk cows before work,” writes Jeremy. “He is a role model for the industry.” So many more thoughts have been written, but this one brings us back full circle. You see, Dieter wanted to be a dairy farmer, to follow in his father’s footsteps. As his father and brother moved the dairy from Pennsylvania to Florida and grew it to over 500 cows in the 1970s, Dieter wanted to find a farmer to work for in Pennsylvania and maybe find a transition situation where he could work toward having a smaller farm of his own. He confesses that was the reason he took that first newspaper job as editor of the farm page in the Pennsylvania Mirror. What better way to meet farmers and build connections? In his last semester at Penn State in Dairy and Animal Science, Dieter had taken a creative writing course because he did enjoy writing letters to family still in Germany, and he enjoyed writing about life on the farm (which later became a popular Farmshine column). Right off the bat, he innovated that farm page in the Pennsylvania Mirror using a photo of a barn and placing various ag news stories on the side of that barn. “I was told it wasn’t normal newspaper style, but my goal was that people would not overlook the farm page,” Dieter recalls. To this day, Dieter loves creating page layouts and using big pictures. It was a hit, and he was a natural, and he found that he loved the job. So the job that was taken originally to meet and connect with more farmers to potentially work into a farm management position turned out to be the calling he was born to follow, which led him to blaze a trail for a weekly all-dairy newspaper in 1979 — no small feat. After 42 years, what has he loved most? You guessed it: the people. While there is satisfaction in writing the stories and putting the finished product together, for Dieter, it’s really all about the people. Like agriculture, the newspaper business has its ups and downs, and getting started meant many years of long hours putting the paper together and much travel gathering news and stories. When he looks back, even those early 100-hour weeks, though trying, were enjoyable. Sitting at a banquet, for instance, isn’t really work when you enjoy it, he says. The mission of Farmshine, he says, always was and still is to get the word out, to tell the story, to cover the issues. When he looks back at how it all came together, Dieter told the NDS awards dinner crowd, it is obvious God’s hand was working through it because all the pieces came together even before he realized Farmshine would be born. He expressed sincere gratitude for all who had a hand in it, including those who saw something in him to encourage along the way. In her letter, Mary Shenk Creek of Palmyra Farms notes that, “Dieter and his staff address all aspects of the dairy industry from commercially producing milk to the purebred sector and including alternative niche market opportunities. They do a wonderful job of highlighting individuals and unique accomplishments to shine a light on the personal side of our industry. Dieter is not afraid to tackle controversial issues and takes great effort to show an unbiased report while allowing editorials that stimulate thought.” She sums up what so many feel, including me, having worked with Dieter on staff and in the later years as a freelance Farmshine contributor… Mary says it so well: “The things I admire most about Dieter are his energy, enthusiasm and dedication. He is relentless in his commitment to serving agriculture and the dairy industry.” Thank you Dieter for being a dairy journalism trailblazer, for starting Farmshine, the unique weekly all dairy newspaper 42 years ago, for shining a light, telling the stories, building connections, and touching the lives of others through the news, and so much more. Posted in agriculture, Dairy, Uncategorized \| Tagged dairy, dairy farming, dairy journalism, Farmshine, Farmshine newspaper, National Dairy Shrine, NDS Hall of Fame Pioneer, trailblazer \| Leave a reply Recent Posts COW TALK: Thoughts inspired by cows’ breath on cold morning Biden, Vilsack pledge “whole of government approach” in scripted White House Nutrition Conference that converged with Tufts ‘Food Compass’ and FDA’s ‘healthy labeling’ rule; Fed. 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Email Address: Our farmers are the thin green line between us and a 'Holodomor' - Let's not forget it! Supply and demand are the real story behind chaos in cream markets Biden, Vilsack pledge "whole of government approach" in scripted White House Nutrition Conference that converged with Tufts 'Food Compass' and FDA's 'healthy labeling' rule; Fed. Reg. comments due Dec. 28, 2022 Dairyman sees Wagyu as ideal beef cross Flashback: two NY/NJ dairy plant owners shift assets from regulated 'commodity' dairy milk to freedom of branded non-dairy 'milk' New face, new position, ties 'Undeniably Dairy' to 'milk without cows' A protest everyone should care about -- Dutch government: 'Not all farmers can continue'; Dutch farmers: 'We Stay'	16,078
Purdue HHS researcher: Less 'sludge,' more 'nudge' to combat diabetes in Indiana – News \| College of Health and Human Sciences Purdue HHS researcher: Less ‘sludge,’ more ‘nudge’ to combat diabetes in Indiana November 14, 2022 Ody Ekwonwa, standing and left, leads a Food as Medicine program in Greene County, Indiana. It’s one of multiple programs Purdue University College of Health and Human Sciences Extension leads around the state that aims at reducing type 2 diabetes rates in Indiana.Photo provided When it comes to fighting diabetes in Indiana, Hoosiers need more “nudge” than “sludge.” The sludge consists of barriers to healthy lifestyles, according to Dennis Savaiano, Purdue University Virginia Claypool Meredith Professor of Nutrition Policy in the Department of Nutrition Science. This comes in the form of food deserts that deny residents of healthy nutrition, overworked families where fast food is too often the go-to option and lack of access to health clinics to monitor their lifestyle. Conversely, nudges toward healthy lifestyles come in the form of a new bike path in your neighborhood; universities, such as Purdue, where most staff, students and faculty must walk on a typical day; convenient health centers; or access to community programs and organizations that educate stakeholders. Even the month of November is an annual nudge, as it is also National Diabetes Month. “The easier we make it, the more we’re likely to be successful,” said Savaiano, who also serves as director of the Purdue Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute and Connections IN Health. “One of the key issues is raising health awareness in communities and in society in general. One of the things I think we really try to teach our students is how important (individual) health is to the overall health of the society. Physical and mental health are essential to a healthy society.” Purdue College of Health and Human Sciences (HHS) faculty like Savaiano research diabetes’ effects, but Savaiano believes engaging with the community is crucial when it comes to preventing and treating Type 2 diabetes. According to Healthline, about 1.4 million Americans are diagnosed with the disease every year. More than 37 million Americans currently suffer from diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Savaiano considers Type 2 diabetes a public health matter. Exercise and a healthy diet dominated by fresh fruit and vegetables are the most effective ways to keep the disease at bay. But preaching that from an ivory tower or government agency is not going to reach everyone. With help from HHS Extension and health coalitions that have been established, intervention must be more direct. Rural counties in Indiana often have high rates of diabetes, Savaiano said. One cause is geography — employment far away from the home and the lack of cities of some size. The town of Newport, for example, rests between Terre Haute, Indiana, and Danville, Illinois. This means, if someone in Newport, which had a population of 416 in 2020, wants fresh produce, they must drive 33 minutes to Terre Haute or 30 minutes to Danville. Mix in work and family schedules, stopping at the fast-food drive-thru down the road is tempting. “We want to make healthy choices the easy choices, but for many people, the healthy choices are the hard choices,” Savaiano said. The same challenges exist for rural Hoosiers keeping up with physician exams. If there are no healthcare clinics nearby, driving 30-plus minutes and then 30 minutes back could be difficult or even impossible if their jobs don’t allow them time off without docking pay. “You’re looking at a half a day’s work missed,” Savaiano said. “It’s a real disincentive to not have easy access. People who live in rural Indiana, on average, drive an hour to an hour and a half back and forth to work every day because they have to commute. So, you end up with a commute problem. The commute problem exacerbates the health access and the food access.” Dining with Diabetes HHS Extension nudges Hoosiers toward a healthier life in every Indiana county. Dining with Diabetes is just one program implemented in numerous locations to improve the health of Hoosiers. The events invite community members affected by Type 2 diabetes to learn the benefits of a healthy diet, cooking tips and recipes. In 2018, 12.5% of Indiana’s population was diagnosed with diabetes compared to the national average of 10.9%, according to the Indiana Department of Health. Jamie Jo Lowder, HHS Extension educator based in Owen County, works in one of the areas with the highest diabetes rates in Indiana. Owen County has the seventh-highest prevalence of diabetes at 17.2%. Switzerland County is the highest at 21.3%, according to Data USA. Lowder presented two Dining with Diabetes programs this fall, which consisted of four weekly classes. Each session focuses on a topic relevant to people with diabetes: the basics of diabetes, carbohydrates and sweeteners, fats and sodium, and physical activity. The content from the session is then applied to food demonstrations that are part of the program. Participants learn how to make small changes to various dishes by reducing the carbohydrates, lowering the fat and sodium, or practicing different food preparation techniques for desserts, main dishes, side dishes, and snacks and appetizers. After the presentation, diners get to sample dishes like lemon mousse, parmesan-crusted chicken and white chocolate orange pudding, which are prepared using healthier cooking options. They are given recipes to take home and try out for themselves. “We really promote that it’s your choice. It’s your choice to make those decisions to be healthier,” Lowder said. “Nobody’s going to be able to make you do it. It’s all about your choice and doing what your (healthcare) provider says and things like that.” Three months after the last session, Diners attend a reunion to share stories and results of healthier eating and more active living. But Lowder didn’t have to wait 90 days to hear positive enthusiasm from clients. A woman was ecstatic to lose two pounds between Dining with Diabetes’ first session and its third. “She was feeling the best that she’s felt in a long time and her blood sugar levels were lower than what they had been in a while,” Lowder beamed. “It was a good success story.” Lisa Graves, HHS Extension assistant program leader, announced a new Extension initiative to promote healthy habits that challenges Hoosiers to keep diabetes at bay. Just in time for Thanksgiving, an email campaign went to thousands of Hoosiers with Type 2 diabetes or their caregivers. The content of the blast extols the virtues of healthy living as a treatment to manage and shield against Type 2 diabetes. It’s yet another nudge from Purdue HHS to Hoosiers all over. “It has a call to action where we work with the participants to set a goal for themselves over four weeks,” Graves said. “Sometimes short-term goals can be very impactful for people in terms of making small changes that can help them manage their diabetes.”	7,246
The Rivoli Theatre opened in 1927. It closed in 1984 but has since reopened. Around 2019, the marquee sign was painted blue. The readerboard on the right was replaced with a flat panel with stars on it. For more, see these websites: 1, 2, and 3. [map] World Theatre Kearney, NE The World Theatre was designed by James T. Allen and opened in 1927. The theatre closed in 2008 but reopened in 2012. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [map] Fort Theatre Kearney, NE The Fort Theatre opened in 1914 as the Empress Theatre. The name was changed to the Fort Theatre in 1941. The theatre closed in 1993. In 1999, the building and sign were adapted for Fort Theatre Dentistry. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [map] Majestic Theatre [map] Goodhand Theatre The Goodhand Theatre opened in 1954 and closed in 2011. It reopened in 2016. The sign's neon has been replaced with LED rope. For more, see this website. [map] Joyo Theatre The Joyo Theatre opened around 1928 as the Lyric Theatre. It was renamed the Joyo Theatre in 1937. Since 1988, the theatre has been offering movies, live performances, and community events. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [map] State Theatre The State Theatre was built in 1931 as the Kiva Theatre. It was the State Theatre by the 1940s. The theatre closed in 1992 and housed several nightclubs. It reopened in 2009 as the Bourbon Theatre which features movies and live entertainment. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [map] Lynn Theatre Lynch, NE The quonset hut Lynn Theatre opened in 1954 and is still operating. For more, see this website. Fox Theatre The Fox Theatre opened in 1927 as the World Theatre. By 1941, it had been renamed the Fox Theatre. In 1955, the current facade and marquee were installed. The theatre closed in 1987. The theatre is now used for live performances and special events. In 2022, the marquee was removed. It will be replaced with a new one with LED lighting and graphic displays. For more, see these websites: 1, 2, and 3. [map] Nile Theatre The Nile Theatre opened in 1939 and is still in operation. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [map] Main Page Copyright. All photos at this website are copyrighted and may only be used with my consent. This includes posting them at Facebook, Pinterest, blogs, other websites, personal use, etc. Tips & Updates. If you have suggestions about places that I haven't covered, historical info, or updates about places/things that have been remodeled or removed, I'd love to hear from you: [email protected].	2,665
The Irish harp of the eighteenth century, large, difcult to make and play, expensive and hard to keep in order, was yet, apart from its musical attributes, a certain mark of status and a decoration to a house, an instrument of sufficient worth to engage the attention of a company. In an age of frequent domestic musical performance, it was an instrument of the superior professional itinerant musician and of the better–off musical amateur. Contemporary writings give evidence that there were some hundreds of harps in the country during the century. ‘In every [gentleman’s] house was one or two harps...I do not conne this custom to ancient times; it was observed forty years ago, and still subsists in many parts of the kingdom,’ wrote the Limerick historian Dr. Sylvester O’Halloran for one, in 1772.[1] O’Halloran, born in 1728, was himself the owner of an old and interesting harp. After his death, it was burnt as firewood by a servant.[2] Fire, damp, woodworm and neglect, the self–destruction inherent in an instrument tuned at a terrific tension, the gradual ruin of the Irish country house, and other causes, have so reduced the number of lrish harps that only a handful have survived to the present day. In her monograph The Irish Harp (3rd ed. l984) Joan Rimmer lists just seven extant pre–twentieth century specimens of the traditional form. Two hitherto unnoticed examples have gone on exhibition in Malahide Castle, Co. Dublin, in recent years, and are described and illustrated below. The castle was formerly the home of the Talbot family and is now in public ownership, administered by Dublin Tourism and Ireland East Tourism, but the harps in question have no intrinsic connection with the castle. They were loaned for exhibition there by their owner, Mr. William Kearney. Although both instruments are of the high–headed type, their very different personalities imply distinctly different origins, and suggest that a great range of differences would be seen in the Irish high–headed harp if more examples had survived. Paint and varnish have made visual identification of the woods and metals difficult, and for lack of objective evidence on the age of the instruments, dating must rely on subjective comparison with other surviving specimens and illustrations. I am grateful to Liam McNulty for photographing the harps, to Ted Colgan for identifying their materials, to Mr. William Kearney for information and permission to photograph, and to Ms. Ann Chambers, administrator of Malahide Castle, and her staff for their help and courtesy. Probably of the eighteenth century and clearly the older of the two, is a large functional instrument, of journeyman construction and with perfunctory decoration, but with a strength and character given by the distinctive soundbox. It is now unstrung but is likely to have had a loud strong sound. Measurements[3] from apex to apex are in g. l. The belly and sides of the soundbox, the neck and the forepillar are pine; the back of the soundbox seems to be beech. The harp has been partly grained with dark brown paint and varnished, and there is yellow paint along the top of the neck and the front of the forepillar. Joins are made by nails with the exceptions noted below. The tapering built–up soundbox, 37 cm wide and 6 cm deep at the side of the straight bottom, and 10 cm wide and 14 cm deep at the top, is made of five or possibly six pieces forming belly and at sides, three pieces forming the back, a squared ush block at the top and another, larger but with a small projecting foot, at the bottom. The pieces are about 1½ cm thick. The box is bound with three copper bands, and a copper strip, with 40 perforations to take the strings, runs down the centre of the chamfered curving belly. The perforations are each 2 cm apart. Woodworm has affected the mortise–and–tenon joint of the bottom block and forepillar, and they are now held together by metal braces. The flat back has two circular sound holes 10 cm in diameter. Photograph of Harp no. 1 Inside the soundbox a perforated wooden lath runs down the back of the belly behind the copper strip. The ends of a few strings, badly corroded steel above or rigid brass of about 1/16 inch guage below, are held in this, and show how the strings were fastened. Each has been wrapped once or twice around a short hardwood toggle, 2 cm long, possibly beech, and bound to it with hemp or ax. The neck, bevelled along the top, is 3½ cm thick and from 7 to 11 cm in breadth, with a turned boss nailed to the finial and another to the mid-neck crest. It is screwed to the top block of the soundbox and mortised underneath to take the tenon of the forepillar. Neck and forepillar are warped to the left.[4] The inset neckbands seem to be of some ferrous material. That on the right is made of three butted pieces, that on the left of two. There are 36 peg–holes and 36 tuning pegs, squared on the right and rounded with perforation on the left. On the bass side l5 are steel, on the treble, 21 are brass. The vibrating length of the longest string would have been 115 cm, of the shortest, 8 cm. The almost straight forepillar, 3½ cm thick and narrowing in breadth as it descends from 12 to 9 cm, is bevelled along the back and has a strip of wood attached along the front. The harp is permanently supported in a wooden pedestal which is clearly not contemporary with it. The instrument was bought at auction in 1975 in Ardee. Co. Louth, and had come from a country house in the immediate vicinity. Possibly of the eighteenth century, possibly later, is also large but more carefully crafted and with more expensive material, and has little of the medieval character of the other instrument. Its maker could believably have turned his hand to high-quality cabinet making or violin making. The visual effect is more delicate than that of harp l, and the remaining 22 strings, all steel and on the treble side but badly corroded and slack, suggest that it had a fairly light ringing sound. Measurements from apex to apex are in fig. 2. The forepillar and soundbox blocks are of pitch pine, and the remainder of the soundbox and neck seem to be sycamore. The finish is french polish and light brown varnish, and the soundbox belly is wreathed with dark green painted shamrocks and gilded on its perimeter. Joins are made by nails with the exceptions noted below. Photograph of Harp no. 2 The tapering built–up soundbox, 29 cm wide across the rounded bottom and 8½ cm deep at its side, l2 cm wide and 10½ cm deep at the top, is made of a single–piece inset gently curving belly, a single–piece inset at back with two oval sound–holes 9 cm in horizontal diameter, two at sides holding in belly and back, a decoratively shaped projecting block at the top and another larger one at the bottom, rounded on each side with a projecting squared foot. The top block is mortised to take the tenon of the neck. Both blocks are rebated to take the other parts of the box which are about l cm thick. A brass strip with 37 perforations runs down the centre of the belly, backed by a wooden lath. The perforations are each 2½ cm apart. Inside the soundbox the ends of the strings are xed with thread around short hardwood toggles, each l cm long, possibly laburnum. The neck is 4 cm thick and from 6 to 8 cm in breadth with a carved rosette dowelled in to the left of the finial. Another was on the right but is now missing. There is a decorative gouge on each side above the brass single–piece inset neck bands which have 36 peg–holes and 35 brass tuning pegs. squared on the right and rounded with perforations on the left. A tenon brings it to the forepillar. Neck and forepillar are warped to the left. The vibrating length of the longest string would have been 110 cm, of the shortest is 4 cm. The curving forepillar, 3½ cm thick and from 8 to 6 cm in breadth as it tapers downwards, is bevelled along the back and decoratively rebated along the front. A mortise at the top takes the tenon of the neck, a tenon at the bottom fits into a mortise in the foot. The centre of the belly has lifted out of position and the instrument could not be played in its present state. The harp was bought at auction in 1967 in Belfast but nothing is known of its origins. [3] Measurements are approximate and are given for their acoustic implications rather than for construction. Where applicable, they are outside measurements. [4] Right and left are from the viewpoint of the playing harper. © 1984 and 2011 by Nicholas Carolan, all rights reserved.	8,862
Train schedules will shift to allow Metro-North workers to start on the project that is expected to take three years. Passport takes over mobile payments at Metro-North N.Y. lots Ryan Deffenbaugh - February 2, 2018 North Carolina tech company Passport took over in December as the official mobile payment app for 34 New York Metro-North lots operated by LAZ Parking. Fairfield Metro-North ridership up, Grand Central Terminal celebrated Mary Shustack - February 7, 2013 Just in time for the Centennial celebration of Grand Central Terminal, MTA Metro-North Railroad announced ridership increased in 2012.	618
Calm has mostly returned to the streets of Minneapolis after days of protests following George Floyd's death in police custody. But after days of looting, rioting and buildings set on fire, residents in that city are now taking stock of the damage. NPR's Adrian Florido reports. ADRIAN FLORIDO, BYLINE: One of the street's hardest hit by the rioting is south Minneapolis' Lake Street. Last week, Krystal Bradley watched neighbors putting out a fire at one of the shops. On Thursday, she came out again. KRYSTAL BRADLEY: This is my first time actually getting a look at everything. I'm a little emotional, so forgive me. FLORIDO: The smashed windows, looted storefronts and scorched ruins go on for miles - family-run markets, beauty salons, the nearest gas station. BRADLEY: Everywhere that I normally shop at is gone. Every - I have to go outside the city, go out of our neighborhood just to get gas or food. I can't tell you where to even go grocery shopping at. FLORIDO: Many people have said the images of rioting and destruction are the reason people around the globe have finally paid attention to injustices faced by black Americans. Bradley supports the protests. She says the police slammed her 14-year-old son to the ground. Still, this is her neighborhood, so she's conflicted. BRADLEY: I look at it as - it's going to hurt our community more because we're already, in my personal opinion, impoverished. Now you done took away everything that we have. It's just - it's hard and hurtful. FLORIDO: Across the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, about 500 businesses were damaged or looted; nearly 70 of them burned to the ground. Talk of rebuilding is just beginning. No one knows what that will look like. But slowly, very slowly, cleanup is starting. FLORIDO: Olivia McNichols and two colleagues were boarding up the smashed-out windows at a cellphone store nearby. They work for a company that some business owners have hired to help with cleanup. OLIVIA MCNICHOLS: The store got completely ransacked. So we're just making sure nobody else gets in it for now and that the property is secured. FLORIDO: Store owners whose businesses were only partially damaged are trying to figure out what is next. Across the street, Julian Ocampo and his sister, Galilea Ocampo, were selling tacos out of a truck. Their family's taco shop, a few steps away, was vandalized. Julian said it's hard to see all of this because so many of these businesses are owned by African Americans and immigrants. JULIAN OCAMPO: Ten, 20, 30 years of change on Lake Street, you know, it's kind of like... J OCAMPO: ...In one weekend, like, now it's - hopefully, it's not gone because we're not going anywhere. We're going to rebuild and open up. Hopefully, a lot of the other businesses that were broken are going to do the same. But the ones that are burned down, that's up in the air. FLORIDO: But like many people, both he and his sister said look at what the demonstrations achieved - the arrest of all four officers involved in George Floyd's death. G OCAMPO: Which is great, and I feel like they wouldn't have done that if none of the riots ever occurred. So, honestly, I think it's OK because justice is coming. JAMES BADUE: That's a lot better than... FLORIDO: In an empty parking lot a block away, Anthony McMorris and James Badue were unloading donated construction materials from a truck. The driver handed them gloves to unload the plywood. ANTHONY MCMORRIS: Oh, yeah. It definitely made a difference. BADUE: ...Allowed us not to get so many splinters (laughter). MCMORRIS: We were scared most of splinters. Out of everything that happened... BADUE: Yup. MCMORRIS: ...Splinters - was like, nah, we can't have no splinters. FLORIDO: Badue said these donations came from people in north Minneapolis. BADUE: We always wanted things to burn down, metaphorically, right? Like, the institutions. FLORIDO: Institutions, he says, have rarely supported black Americans. Now that their businesses have burned, he thinks neighbors will have to depend on each other to rebuild. BADUE: And so anything that we need, we're just supplying it to ourselves, instead of going back to the old same systems that never supported us in the first place.	4,325
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 players buy a weapon on eBay because it’s easier than unlocking it in game The Salvation Army is short of volunteers and struggles to meet its donation goal Analysis: In emerging markets, the bulls are back South Kilkenny Civil War Conference on the Power of Sport Can Colombia secure peace with the last leftist guerrilla group? Sikorsky Successfully Demonstrates Autonomously Flying Unmanned Black Hawk to U.S. Army What about debt cancellation to help prevent future pandemics? Army Spanish war Terms and Conditions Extreme poverty and debt force Afghans to sell their kidneys to feed their families By Gertrude Wallace on February 28, 2022 War debt Facing starvation amid Afghanistan’s protracted humanitarian crisis and resulting economic collapse, some people in the country are being forced to sell their kidneys to feed their families, AFP news agency reported. Jobless, debt-ridden and struggling to feed his family, Nooruddin, one of many Afghans willing to sacrifice an organ to support their family, had no choice but to sell a kidney. The practice has become so common in the western city of Herat that a nearby area is infamously referred to as a “one-kidney village”. “I had to do it for the sake of my children,” Nooruddin told AFP in the town, near the border with Iran. “I had no other option.” Afghanistan is in the throes of a severe financial crisis after the Taliban took power six months ago, worsening an already vulnerable humanitarian situation after years of war. The foreign aid that once supported the war-torn country has been slow to return, with radical Islamists also being cut off from Afghan assets held abroad. The ripple effect has particularly worsened the situation for Afghans like Nooruddin, 32, who quit his factory job when his salary was cut to 3,000 Afghans (about $30) after the Taliban returned, believing wrongly that he would find something better. But, with thousands out of work across the country, nothing else was available. In desperation, he sold a kidney as a short-term solution. “I regret it now,” he said. “I can’t work anymore. I’m in pain and I can’t lift anything heavy.” Her family now depends on their 12-year-old son for money, who shines shoes for 70 cents a day. A kidney for $1,500 – Noorudin was among eight people AFP spoke to who resorted to selling kidneys to feed their children or pay off debts, some for as little as $1,500. It is illegal to sell or buy organs in most developed countries, where donors are usually related to the recipient or are people acting out of compassion. Under Afghan law, the sale of organs or body parts is also illegal, however, the practice here is unregulated. “There is no law (…) to control how organs can be donated or sold, but the donor’s consent is required,” said Professor Mohammad Wakil Matin, a prominent former surgeon at a hospital in the city of Mazar, in the north of the country. i-Sharif. Mohamad Bassir Osmani, a doctor at one of the two hospitals where the majority of transplants in Herat take place, confirmed that “consent” was key. “We take their written consent and video recording from them, especially the donor,” he said, adding that hundreds of surgeries had been performed in Herat over the past five years. “We never investigated where the patient or donor came from, or how. That’s not our job.” The Taliban did not respond to AFP’s requests for comment on the practice, but Osmani said the country’s new leaders were considering cracking down on the trade and forming a committee to regulate it. Afghans in dire need of money are usually contacted by brokers with wealthy patients, who travel to Herat from all over the country – and sometimes even from neighboring countries like India and Pakistan. The recipient pays both the hospital costs and the donor. Azyta’s home had so little food that two of her three children were recently treated for malnutrition. She felt she had no choice but to sell an organ and openly met a broker who put her in touch with a recipient from the southern province of Nimroz. “I sold my kidney for 250,000 Afghans (about $2,500),” she said. “I had to. My husband doesn’t work, we have debts,” she added. Today, her husband, a day laborer, plans to do the same. “People have become poorer,” he said. “A lot of people sell their kidneys out of desperation.” On the outskirts of Herat is Sayshanba Bazaar, a village that is home to hundreds of people displaced by years of war and conflict. Dubbed “the Kidney Village”, dozens of locals sold their organs after word spread among disadvantaged families for money to be made. From one family, five brothers have sold a kidney each for the past four years, thinking it would save them from poverty. “We are still in debt and as poor as before,” said Ghulam Nebi, showing his scar. In developed countries, donors and recipients generally continue to lead full and normal lives, but their health after surgery is often scrutinized – and also relies on a balanced lifestyle and diet. This privilege is often not available to poor Afghans who sell a kidney and still find themselves poverty stricken – and sometimes in poor health. Professor Matin said only some donors had organized follow-up checks. “There are no public health facilities to register kidney vendors and donors for regular examinations to check the implications for their health,” he added. Shakila, already a mother of two at 19, underwent the procedure shortly before the Taliban took over, bypassing a broker while searching for a patient at a hospital in Herat. “We had no choice because of hunger,” she said. She sold her kidney for $1,500, most of which was used to pay off the family’s debt. Meanwhile, Aziza, a mother of three, waits for her opportunity after meeting a hospital staff member who is trying to connect her with a donor. “My children roam the streets begging,” she told AFP, tears in her eyes. “If I don’t sell my kidney, I will have to sell my one-year-old daughter.” Posted: Monday, February 28, 2022, 10:37 a.m. IST Related posts: Monetary climate change and its implications for investors – Interview – Eurasia Review IMF presents plan to help poor countries during pandemic About Author Comments are closed. Army Spanish war Recent Posts Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 players buy a weapon on eBay because it’s easier than unlocking it in game	6,775
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Location. The University of Edinburgh is a public institution that was founded in 1583. Qualification MA (Hons) Duration 4 Years. All Locations. We offer three MSc programmes that provide you with a high-quality and thorough training in economics. Edinburgh is known to have the best Computer Science Department in the UK so you will have access to many smart colleagues and people there. Alumni include Charles Darwin, David Hume, Alexander Graham Bell and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, among many others. Mathematical Studies is not accepted for any of our Economics degrees. GCSEs: English at C or 4. For more information on how much it will cost to study with us and the financial support available see our fees and funding information. The peer assisted learning scheme, EconPALS, aims to help first year students develop their learning and study strategies. To give you an idea of what to expect from this programme, we publish the latest available information. However, please note this may not be for your year of entry, but for a different academic year. Teaching takes place across the Central Area campus. We are delivering hybrid teaching for on-campus students during the 2020-2021 academic year. Cambridge English: Advanced or Proficiency overall 176 with 162 in each component. Showing 1 - 48 of 51. We will provide you with regular updates on what to expect throughout the application process. The University of Edinburgh is one of the world's top universities, consistently ranked in the world top 50, and placed 20th in the 2020 QS World University Rankings. If you like what you're reading online, why not take advantage of our subscription and get unlimited access to all of Times Higher Education's content? The minimum entry requirement for widening access applicants is: More information for widening access applicants. Our entrepreneurial and cross-disciplinary culture attracts students and staff from across the globe, creating a unique Edinburgh experience. All three MSc programme degrees are awarded by the University of Edinburgh and are taught in Edinburgh by Economics faculty from the associated Scottish universities who belong to the SGPE. We are the School of Economics at the University of Edinburgh College: Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences. All three MSc programme degrees are awarded by the University of Edinburgh and are taught in Edinburgh by Economics faculty from the associated Scottish universities who belong to the SGPE. While comprising a small school, the subject economics at the University has a long history. We welcome applications from mature students and accept a range of qualifications. Back to results. Economics 2; Statistical Methods of Economics; and two further courses. If you like what you're reading online, why not take advantage of our subscription and get unlimited access to all of Times Higher Education's content?. On StuDocu you find all the study guides, past exams and lecture notes for this module The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336, VAT Registration Number GB 592 9507 00, and is acknowledged by the UK authorities as a “Recognised body” which has been granted degree awarding powers. Discipline. Please note that some programmes do not have Discover Uni data available. Textbooks are required, which cost about £100. It is spread across five campuses in Edinburgh, Scotland – the capital and one of the country's largest cities. 28 were here. All three MSc programme degrees are awarded by the University of Edinburgh and are taught in Edinburgh by Economics faculty from the associated Scottish universities who belong to the SGPE. The University of Edinburgh Business School (known as the University of Edinburgh Management School until 2008; abbreviated as UEBS) is the business school of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.The university has offered business education since 1918, and the MBA degree since 1980. Economics is the study of the incentives that shape and reconcile the decisions that individuals, businesses, governments and societies make, and the macroeconomic outcomes such as economic fluctuations, growth, unemployment and crises, which may arise from those decisions. The University of Edinburgh University rank #20 (QS) Edinburgh , United Kingdom In addition to covering the core of the economics programme, this Economics with Finance programme at The University of Edinburgh will introduce the basic principles of finance and move onto more advanced topics such as investments and securities and corporate finance. You can apply to this scholarship here.The deadline for the sending your application is Deadline varies.This scholarship is provided by University of Edinburgh and … Economics - University of Edinburgh. Find out more here. The University of Edinburgh is one of the world's top universities. A dissertation in economics and four economics honours option courses. Our teaching model for 2021-2022 will depend on Covid-19 restrictions at the time. These include winners of Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Peace, Literature and the Memorial Prize in Economic Science. The Economics Help Desk offers students help and support throughout their programme. Courses related to Economics Economics. You will also take two economics honours option courses. Subscribe. 2 765.00$ lower tuition required? Unless explicitly stated otherwise, all material is copyright © The University of Edinburgh 2020. Studying ECNM08013 Economics 1 at The University of Edinburgh? The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city of Edinburgh, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university. Clear Search. Two centuries later, economics at the University of Edinburgh is a growing, vibrant department with strengths in several areas of modern economic research. In Year 4 you will complete an honours dissertation. Details about Economics Research and Teaching Scholarships at University of Edinburgh 2020. The University of Edinburgh (abbreviated as Edin. In 1800 the University of Edinburgh was the first Anglophone university in the world to teach economics as an independent subject. Economics PhD with Integrated Study. Economics Research and Teaching Scholarships at University of Edinburgh 2020 is offered for PhD degree in the field of Economics . UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH. University of Edinburgh Economics Society, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. If you are an international student and your school qualifications are not accepted for direct entry to the University you may be eligible for admission to this degree programme through our International Foundation Programme. The School of Economics at the University of Edinburgh is a division of the University's College of Humanities and Social Science in Edinburgh. Old College, South Bridge, Edinburgh, EH8 9YL, United Kingdom, Master of Arts (with Honours) - MA (Hons), Bachelor of Engineering (with Honours) - BEng (Hon), Bachelor of Science (with Honours) - BSc (Hons), International Foundation Programme (1 Year), College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Artificial Intelligence & Computer Science, St Petersburg Electrotechnical University (LETI), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Why is London School of Economics better than University of Edinburgh? in post-nominals), founded in 1582, is the sixth oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's ancient universities.The university has five main campuses in the city of Edinburgh, which include many buildings of historical and architectural significance such as those in Old Town. All Disciplines. You'll get full access to our website, print and digital editions. A Levels: Mathematics at B, or AS Mathematics at A (if A Level not taken). granted degree awarding powers. Search our detailed list for course fees, entry requirements & student reviews. You will be assessed by exams and coursework, including problems sets, essays, and project reports, and presentations. United Kingdom. The PhD programme is principally a research degree, but modern economics requires substantial training that exceeds the level of an MSc or other masters study. Study mode Full-time. Economics is the study of the incentives that shape and reconcile the decisions that individuals, businesses, governments and societies make, and the macroeconomic outcomes such as economic fluctuations, growth, unemployment and crises, which may arise from those decisions. We create academic opportunities and insight by hosting speakers, discussions and debates— not otherwise available through the University Careers Our society aims to prepare our members by giving them information about, and experiment with, companies and indsutries related to their field of interest. The business school is tied to the University of Edinburgh, which received its royal charter … In post-nominal), founded in 1582, is the sixth oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of the former universities of Scotland. For SQA, GCSE and IB students, unless a higher level is specified in the stated entry requirements, a pass is required in English at the following grades or higher: We accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified: We also accept a wider range of international qualifications and tests. University of Edinburgh. Economics with Environmental Studies (MA) L1F9, Economics with Management Science (MA) L1N2, Business with Strategic Economics (MA) N1L1, Politics, Philosophy and Economics (MA) L251, Economics with Environmental Studies (MA), Freedom of information publication scheme. University of Edinburgh – An overview. Plus, view full entry requirements, average graduate salary and prospects, tuition fees you’ll pay, funding available and more. Agricultural Economics Agricultural Geography (1) Agricultural Sciences (3) Agricultural Biochemistry (1) Agricultural Biology (1) Agricultural Botany The School of Economics exchange programme offers opportunities to study in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, USA, Canada, Argentina, Mexico and within Europe. The peer assisted learning scheme, EconPALS, aims to help first year students develop their learning and study strategies. Students who have not previously studied economics may find it useful to take Economic Principles and Applications alongside Economics 1. Filter Results . The Economics Help Desk offers students help and support throughout their programme. Course description This calculus-based course is intended to develop a rigorous understanding of core economic models and analysis, together with an ability to apply the analysis in a variety of contexts. Institution. The University of Edinburgh (abbreviated as Edin. We attract the world's best, from Nobel Prize winning laureates Plus, view full entry requirements, average graduate salary and prospects, tuition fees you’ll pay, funding available and more. Our entrepreneurial and cross-disciplinary culture attracts students and staff from across the globe, creating a unique Edinburgh experience. The University of Edinburgh . We offer three MSc programmes that provide you with a high-quality and thorough training in economics. Most and least competitive courses at Edinburgh. Courses are taught through a combination of lectures, seminars, tutorials, workshops and web-based learning. This information is part of a government initiative to enhance the material that higher education institutions provide about their degree programmes. The University of Edinburgh (abbreviated as Edin. See how students rated Business and Economics at The University of Edinburgh. 4K likes. The University of Edinburgh is research-intensive… With an impressive history of invention, discovery … Programme duration and exit awards The programmes last one year, or two years if taken part-time). You'll get full access to our website, print and digital editions. Find Economics Undergraduate courses at University of Edinburgh. University of Edinburgh. Each route leads to the award of any of the following: University of Edinburgh School of Mathematics The MSc in Computational Mathematical Finance (CMF) is a dynamic new programme with the aim to deliver high quality training in the theory of Mathematical Finance with strong emphasis on computational methods. A total of 20 Nobel laureates are affiliated with the University of Edinburgh. Central area campus, Edinburgh. The grades used to meet our entry requirements must include: We welcome applications from students studying a wide range of international qualifications. “Recognised body” which has been Coordinates. Many graduates have entered the finance sector and some large financial firms actively recruit Edinburgh graduates. Our postgraduate degree programme is run in collaboration with Scotland’s Rural College and focuses on making sustainability and environmental management work in practice by applying economic principles. We have 395 University of Edinburgh Masters Degrees. English language qualifications must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the degree you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS, TOEFL, or Trinity ISE, in which case it must be no more than two years old. University of Edinburgh. The skills you develop will equip you for careers in accountancy, business, management and consultancy, or for work in aid agencies, not-for-profit organisations or government departments. The University of Edinburgh. Our graduates are highly regarded by employers. The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number It is one of many sources of information which will enable you to make an informed decision on what and where to study. See how students rated Economics at The University of Edinburgh. University of Edinburgh undergraduate and postgraduate acceptance rates, statistics and applications for BA, BSc, Masters and PhD programs for years 2012 through 2020. 11 199.00$ vs 13964$ Find out more about this programme's aims, what you will learn, how you will be assessed and what skills and knowledge you will develop. *(Revised 27 April 2020 to include TOEFL-iBT Special Home Edition.). It also has a solid Economics Department but definitely not top 5 (maybe top 10-15 depending on what you’re looking for). SC005336, VAT Registration Number GB 592 9507 00, and is acknowledged by the UK authorities as a You must demonstrate a level of English language competency at a level that will enable you to succeed in your studies, regardless of your nationality or country of residence. You will have access to all the University’s libraries and computer labs. in post-nominals), founded in 1582, is the sixth oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's ancient universities. Top tips and course advice on studying a course in Economics / Economics (Econometrics) / Economics (Finance) at School of Economics, University of Edinburgh. Economics PhD with Integrated Study. The University of Edinburgh; Economics courses; Back. We provide a stimulating working, learning and teaching environment with access to excellent facilities. 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Four Economics honours option courses our entrepreneurial and cross-disciplinary culture attracts students and from. Route Planner Google, Carpet To Tile Transition On Concrete, Vulpes Inculta Card, Creekside Nevada Land For Sale, Used Pizza Trailer For Sale, Panama Airport Coronavirus, Village Of Fishkill - Town Hall, Groom Room Brislington, 3 Kings Charcoal Wholesale, Acties	26,276
Thinking about where to tour next has occupied a lot of my time recently. I really fancy the Mediterranean coast, but then this pops up on my blog feed, and thus duly added to the list of possible destinations. Might need to recruit some buddies as looks like rough terrain. Cycling Dutch Girl It has been a while but I’ve been very busy gaining cash & kilo’s in Ireland. Those last ones weren’t exactly necessary but it’s one of the side-effects of Guinness. Anyway, they might be of some use keeping me warm… right? I had the time to put together a little video of my previous time in Iceland. I flew back for one last bicycle-trip, through the highlands this time. As the whole area closes for about 10 months a year due to bad weather and snow there’s just this small window of opportunity to explore this crazy part of the country. And even more of the country is closed already as there was a volcano about to blow. I’ve been watching the news anxiously as I wouldn’t mind getting stuck in Iceland, but I needed to get there first. Lucky there was no problem with the flights and the whole thing only started to… This entry was posted in Uncategorized on September 16, 2014 by SelfPropelled. 15 June 2013 It was still raining when I woke up, and pretty hard judging by the sound of water hitting the canvas, so I decided to stay in my tent a bit longer and work on a blog post. The rain surely had to stop at some point, and I wanted a dry patch to pack up in, plus to check my rear wheel. I decided I’d definitely find a campsite tonight, to hopefully dry some stuff out. In the meantime there was no point in getting more stuff wet, so I’d wear my still damp kit which I reasoned might act a bit like a wetsuit (didn’t entirely work out as planned). It didn’t stop raining, so I packed up about 10.00 rapidly getting wet again in the process. My tent was soaked, although it had been dry inside; I’d need to dry it out somehow in the evening as there was no way it was getting any dryer in the hills above Southend. I did a quick check of my bike wheels and spokes, adjusting a few, before loading up and setting off down the hill. Everywhere was waterlogged, including the short track I’d walked down yesterday evening. I had to hop about a bit trying to stay on non-submerged areas to get back to the road, which had streams of water running down it. I’m not sure why I bothered trying to keep my feet out of the water, my shoes were still soaked from yesterday. Damp but still smiling I rode around the coast towards Campbeltown, in the rain and attempting to dodge the worst of the waterlogged potholes – you can’t see how bad they are when they’re full of water. At least I had a tailwind which helped up some of the hills. I was a bit concerned a couple of times that the road was going to be underwater at the bottom of some of the descents, or simply washed away. The streams that had yesterday been small babbling brooks were now raging torrents, angrily rushing down the hills and crashing into the sea. Amazing how the landscape can change so quickly and violently. Rain still coming down on the road to Campbeltown Is it a road or a river? I rode up another hill past a field full of bullocks standing stoically in the rain. They spotted me and did their usual trick of following alongside for a bit on the other side of the fence, at quite a pace. Have any other cyclists encountered this phenomenon or is it just me? Maybe I have panniers that are particularly attractive, or offensive, in the bovine world; I don’t want to find out which it is. I rode around the point and into Campbeltown after about an hours ‘paddling’, thoroughly soaked, past Davaar Island. Dripping everywhere I stopped in at the Bluebell Cafe and had their breakfast special, which improved matters considerably – bacon, eggs, Lorne sausage, black pudding, beams, potato pancake and toast! Friendly staff, hot food, and a chat with a few other breakfasters all helped, plus I rang my gloves and sleeves out in the bathroom, not for the first time, and I was sure it wouldn’t be the last. Fry up at Bluebell Cafe improves matters Post the Bluebell Cafe it was still chucking it down so I adjourned to the Black Sheep Pub around the corner for a decaf coffee, in the vague hope the weather might improve and that I might dry off a bit. Slowly drying, or at least not getting any wetter, I stayed in the pub for about an hour chatting to the barman James, who with the weather as it was didn’t have a lot of tourists to serve. James was about to emigrate to the USA with his American wife, and in fact will be there now so hope it’s going well. It sounded like a pretty exciting lifestyle change, and the weather will certainly be a bit different, although we both reckoned it could be a bit of a culture shock to begin with. To move to the US he’d had to be sponsored by someone, in this case his father-in-law, and had to visit the US embassy to do all the paperwork; sounded like a bit of a trial but sure it’ll be worth it. It was good to relax for a bit and chat post my wild time in the hills, and the rain even stopped about 13.00. Slightly drier I got back on my bike and left Campbeltown, keen to head back up the peninsula. I took the B842 up the east side, towards Carradale Point, as unfortunately the rain started again which made for pretty unpleasant riding. There was a lot of spray and mud on the road, and I was very glad of my mudguards having passed a couple riders grimly going the other way coated in muck. On a sunny day the scenery would have been great, and even in today’s conditions was impressive…and hilly…there weren’t really any flat bits, and there were lots of chevrons indicating steep sections, marked on my map. One of several rivers I passed over, all swollen Sun coming out over another river Damp sheep, that’ll learn them At one juncture I passed through a cattle farm and rounding a corner encountered a cow in the road, which had a steep bank on one side and vegetation on the other. It was either stop or run into it, so I ground to a halt as we regarded one another with suspicion. On reflection I think it was probably a bullock and not a cow, and it started frisking about a bit and pawing the ground. At this point of the day I really wasn’t in a retreating mood, and there was certainly no easy way around without backtracking for miles, so I tried to make myself bigger and edge forward, which has worked in the past…they usually back off. A bit of a stand-off ensued however eventually, after some more melodramatics on both of our parts, the bullock backed off into the bushes, leaving me somewhat relieved. I’m really not sure what I’d have done if it had charged or not moved, probably just kept the bike in between me and it, and maybe brandish a lobster in it’s general direction; or climb up a tree quick, which could have been tricky given the rain. With the sun starting to come out, but it still raining, I rode on through Saddell and up to Carradale, over continuous hills. At least there was no chance of dehydration or overheating, and bananas were keeping me fuelled for the climbs. After Grogdale and Crossaig the rain finally stopped leaving me with just the hills to contend with, but I could deal with them, especially with the wind mostly behind me; mostly aside from when it’s a bit fickle and flows down off the hills swirling about a bit. I met a group of 3 other cycle tourers at Crossaig, who were out for a weekend’s riding from Kilmarnock and on their way to Arran, intending to take the ferry from Claonaig. They’d set off from Campbeltown earlier only to have a chain break which had to be mended on the roadside. Luckily they’d had the tool for the job and were able to fix it – I was just glad that hadn’t happened to me, yet, however it reinforced the importance of checking your chain regularly and replacing it if it’s stretched too much. It was good to have a chat with fellow tourers, and I felt my spirits raised by the encounter. With miles left to cover I bid them goodbye and cycled on, drying off a bit in the sunshine, and fervently petitioning the weather gods to keep the rain at bay. Dry but still threatening At Claonaig I turned inland and rode over the top to Whitehouse and a familiar road, joining the A83 towards Tarbert. I passed a police radar gun speed trap and asked if I was in the clear after they aimed the device at me. They waved and encouraged me on which was nice. Tarbert was a welcome and somewhat unexpected sight, being a lovely little harbour town, with lots of yachts moored up, and a yacht club, plus several cafes, pubs, shops and and hotels. I decided to stop for a break and raided my panniers for bread and cheese, and bought some tomatoes from the Co-op, having a nice conversation with an interested seagull and a few passing tourists wondering how far I was going. Seagull friend, but he only wanted me for my cheese, so a short lived relationship Tarbert harbour, large motor cruiser The sun came out properly in Tarbert and I started steaming gently, a bit odd but it made a pleasant change to have water going the other way. Somewhat reluctantly I left the town pedalling up the hill, and being passed by the police from earlier, who reliably informed me I was going very slowly at 7mph, thanks guys. Blue skies at last After a few initial ups and downs the road flattened out and I had a nice ride up to Ardrishaig, being able to engage my ‘mile eating’ pace for once, in a high gear with no interruptions. Enjoying the sunshine I stopped for a break at the end of the Crinan Canal, had a wander about and made a couple of phone calls. I walked out to the end of the pier, watching a fisherman cast for mackerel. He didn’t seem to be having much luck, but I spotted 3 gannets diving for fish who were having a better time of it. It was amazing to see them dive, and something I’d wanted to witness for ages. Pushing on I rode up to Lochgilphead and found the campsite, relieved to see they accepted tents as well as caravans. Whilst I was happy to wild camp again if need be, it was really nice to have the prospect of a warm shower, and to dry some stuff off. Post checking-in I pitched my tent as the midges started to arrive, homing in like heat seeking nano-missiles. I applied Avon Skin so Soft and lit some incense, but neither seemed to make much difference, I just smelt a bit hippyish and my skin was more tender for the midges. I retreated to the shower and spent a while washing away the day’s grime, before arranging a few things to dry and heading into town to explore. It being a Saturday evening it was fairly lively on the streets of Lochgilphead, with a lot of excitable youngsters out, and I have to admit I kept fairly quiet to avoid attracting attention to my Sassenach accent, although I’m sure it would have been fine. I located the Argyll Arms which looked promising, and spent the evening their amongst a lot of lively locals, many of whom seemed intent on downing as many shots as possible, with varying results. I chatted to quite a few of them, and got a pint bought for me so all good. The jukebox was pumping out some classic rock tunes, as well as a few dodgy numbers that got several groups singing rather discordantly, but it was all entertaining and a friendly atmosphere. After several pints I retreated back to the campsite, not noticing midges anymore, and funnily enough slept very well post the day’s 60 mile hilly leg. With any luck the weather would be better again tomorrow, for the ride around to Inveraray and beyond. Edited with BlogPad Pro This entry was posted in Bike around Britain 2013, Uncategorized and tagged adventure, bicycle, bike, Bike around Britain, Campbeltown, countryside, cycle, cycle touring, cycling, expedition, Lochgilphead, outdoors on July 15, 2013 by SelfPropelled. Leg 37 – to Uig This is my second attempt at writing this blog post, having somehow deleted the first draft; a rather vexing experience when I’m already behind! 06 June 2013 With my tent getting uncomfortably warm in the morning sunshine I guessed the weather was going to be good. Upon extricating myself from by sleeping bag and tent I discovered a cloudless sky, so decided against a rest day and to press on around Skye. A few facts about Skye: – It’s had people on it since the Mesolithic era – It has some big hills called the Cuillens on it – Norse folk lived here for a while, post there usual being a Viking antics – Clan Macleod and Clan Donald controlled the island for a while – There are lots of whisky distilleries – Quite a lot of the residents speak Gaelic – It’s very pretty, and home to lots of interesting animals and birds, including eagles and deer. Home to lots of sheep too but they’re not very interesting, and are stupid I consumed a sizeable breakfast, showered and packed up, before bidding goodbye to Mal and the lone English motorbike tourer, setting off up the A87 towards Portree. I wanted to visit the bike shop there, the only one within a considerable distance, the next closest being in Fort William. From Breakish I rode up to and through Dunan and Luib, with the Isles of Scalpay and Raasay just off the coast. With the isles to my right and mountains on my left, some still with snow on, the scenery was pretty fantastic. Skye looking good, with Raasay off the coast The mild northerly wind made a few of the hills tough going around Luib and Sligachan, but I couldn’t complain about the weather. The Cuillins looked pretty impressive, dominating the centre of the island; I was glad the road mostly went around their edges. View of Cuillins from Sligachan I passed Skye’s only golf course, but was more interested in the Highland Cattle posing for photographs next to the road at one point. Loads of tourists had pulled over to take photos, so I joined them briefly. Whoever placed the cattle there could have made a pretty penny, and I was half expecting them to break into a routine, to be proceeded with a man coming round with a hat. This one reminded me of Ludo from Labyrinth Post Sligachan I entered Glen Varrigall, and pedalled along the slightly undulating road, zoning out a bit thinking about movies including Black Hawk Down, V for Vendetta, and prompted by the Ludo-like cattle Labyrinth. I was interrupted from my musings my the roar of two Tornados flying over, practising some low level flying, which looked like fun as long as they didn’t hit any of the mountains. I guess they don’t have to contend with sheep lying in the road which must be a bonus. Road to Portree – through Glen Varragill The A87 isn’t that pleasant a road to cycle down, despite the scenery, due to the large amounts of traffic a lot of which is heavy. You’re somewhat limited on road choice though, so I rode on, passing a Sea Eagle centre on the outskirts of Portree, as well as a meadow covered in Bluebells which looked quite striking. The Sea Eagle centre may well be worth a visit, however I was keen to get to the bike shop, and would far rather see eagles in the wild; not that they had any in the centre as far as I’m aware. I reached Portree after about 2.5 hours cycling, covering 27 miles. I thought this was alright considering the hills and stops for photos. Entrance to Portree Bay After a bit of cycling about I found the bike shop, hidden down some stairs, however luckily there’s another way in from the coastal side which doesn’t mean you have to lift your bike up and down awkward steps. Island Cycles took a look at my back wheel, and agreed it wasn’t ideal for the bike and load I was carrying. Given I’d paid quite a bit for it, not that I had much choice given I’d been on Orkney at the time, I was determined to get some more miles out if the damned thing. Stuart managed to straighten the S buckle out of the wheel, giving it a temporary reprieve, however I’d need to keep an eye on it still. He also found a new grub screw for my rear brake pad, which would stop it slipping out if I rolled backwards with the brake on, win! So big thank you to Island Cycles. Post the bike shop I had a quick look around Portree, and grabbed some lunch at the Granary Cafe in the town square. I must have looked a bit of a state with my oily and battered shins, grimy hands (which I proceeded to wash thorougly), plus slightly unkempt appearance, however I managed to get a seat for a bit and watched the multitude of tourists wandering about. From what I could hear there were people from France, Germany, Holland, maybe Russia, Japan and China, with regular coaches arriving to deposit more, or ferry folks away. Portree High Street Lunch consisted of a nice chicken and bacon salad, however it was a little on the small side for a cycle tourer, with the advertised crusty bread consisting of an artfully sliced small piece of soft bread, nice but not filling. This got me thinking about opening a cycling themed bar/cafe again, with appropriately sized portions available, however it might be a bit niche. I had an emergency pork pie and snickers bar to provide additional sustenance before pedalling on. The A87 continued up to Uig, 15 or so miles away. Despite the headwind it was an easier ride than the morning’s, with gentler hills, and I got my head down pedalling through Borve, and latterly Earlish, making Uig by 16.20. The 15 miles had taken about and hour and fifteen minutes, which again I was pleased with, legs must be getting stronger. The campsite is right down by the ferry port, and suited me just fine being fairly quiet, and with a picnic table right next to my pitch – really nice to be able to sit down somewhere other than the floor sometimes. The Bakur Bar is only 200 yards down the road, and it was altogether a nice spot in the sunshine, so I started thinking about spending an extra day there. I needed a day off, having not had a totally cycle free day since setting off over a month ago. It would be good to rest and refuel, as well as catch up on my blog which was starting to fall behind (it’s still several days behind). I had a chat with Martin the campsite owner, passing on greetings from Island Cycles whom they knew. Unaccustomed to finishing this early I set up, grabbed a shower, and got changed into ‘civvies’. It felt a bit odd wearing my other shoes again, but I was glad to justify having lugged them all this way. I normally just wear my Shimano cycling shoes, which are fine for walking around in too, the cleat being inset, but my trainers are more comfy. Dressed and equipped with iPad, iPhone, journal and chargers, I set off for the Bakur Bar, where I spent the rest of the day catching up on emails, eating, my blog, chatting to the bar staff, and enjoying a few pints from the Skye Brewery just across the road – not many food miles on this ale, and very tasty. The bar serves good food, in decent portion sizes, has great views, and has free wifi, perfect. Bakur Bar view 1 Bakur Bar view 2 Bakur Bar view 3 I had buy some more space on the iCloud to upload my photos, didn’t want to lose any accidentally, and it’s quite cheap. Ended the day thinking this would definitely do for a day off, and slept very well. This entry was posted in Bike around Britain 2013, Uncategorized and tagged adventure, ale, bicycle, bicycle shop, bike, Bike around Britain, countryside, cycle, cycle touring, cycling, expedition, outdoors, Portree, Uig on June 13, 2013 by SelfPropelled. Leg 35 – to Applecross 04 June 2013 I awoke to a beautiful morning in Big Sand, with the sun chasing away the last of the overnight cloud. It looked like it was going to be a hot one so I made a mental note not to forget to put on sun cream. The cuckoo had kept going practically all night – I’d woken up at 1.30 and it was still being vocal, unless I dreamt it. The campsite has excellent and fairly new looking facilities which I took a advantage of, having a shower post breakfast, then packing up. There’s also an onsite cafe which served breakfast, but I’d forgotten about that and already eaten by the time I passed it leaving. Before departure I had a quick walk down to the beach again, and checked on my back wheel which seemed fit for purpose. Nice view in the morning across Loch Gairloch From the campsite I rode back down the rode to Gairloch, stopping in the village for second breakfast, despite having only done 3 miles – I’d smelled bacon. I met the German biker couple coming out of the village shop armed with bacon rolls, as I went in to purchase the same – said goodbye and wished when well on their trip up North. I munched on a great bacon and egg roll, before going across the road to the Mountain Cafe for a decaf coffee, it was going to be a slow start to the day apparently. The Mountain Coffee Company, using its proper name, is a great little Indie cafe with a bookshop attached to it. It has lots of interesting nooks and crannies filled with curious books, including some on cycle touring, expeditions etc, as well as lots of Bhuddas dotted around the place. I spent an hour there writing my blog and relaxing, before cycling off down the road to a nearby restaurant which the cafe owner informed me had a wifi hotspot I could use to upload a post. Post a quick lemonade at the restaurant, I prepared to get back on my bike but realised I was missing a rear brake pad, my temporary fix having broken. I had to cycle back to the the coffee shop scanning the road in an attempt to find it, figuring it had probably fallen out when I manoeuvred my heavy bike in the car park there. I was lucky to find it there, with the help of the keen eyed cafe owner, and duly slotted it back in. It won’t fall out unless I apply the brakes whilst rolling backwards, at which point it slides out because the grub screw is missing; another thing to keep an eye on until I can get a new screw. Whilst reinserting it I did a quick spoke check again, all good. I finally got on the road properly about 12.30, and cycled down the A832 through Charlestown to Loch Maree, up quite a long climb before a nice flattish ride alongside the loch. Harbour at Charlestown The road alongside the loch stretches on for several miles, ending in the Beinn Eighe National Park. It was a lovely ride through more forest consisting of silver birch, ash, beech, pine and a few oaks, amongst no doubt lots of other species I didn’t identify immediately. As usual the sound of cuckoos accompanied me down the road, and I even spotted one sitting on a telephone line. Loch Maree I stopped for a break in the National Park and chatted to another cycle tourer who’d been on the road since mid March, after quitting his job. In his early 60’s he was touring around the UK stopping whenever he saw something interesting, sounded like a nice plan, although he’d had some pretty bad weather back in the earlier months. He was averaging about 35 miles a day rather than my 65 so got to see a lot more, but I had to get back to Norwich by the end of July so didn’t have that luxury. Beinn Eighe National Park and Loch Maree It was a bit strange at the national park, with a coach load of Japanese tourists hovering about, and lots of cars and minibus tours, with people taking pictures. It felt like I was heading back into civilisation and busy roads, and I wasn’t sure I liked it, despite the allure of more shops and pubs! A least the weather was getting warmer which was a good trade off. I rode on to Kinlochewe where I turned right on to the A896 to Torridon, riding down Glen Torridon and making good time on the gently undulating road. The road runs roughly alongside the river, though some impressive mountains, and is single track for the most part so there was a bit of stop-starting in passing places as camper vans and lorries trundled towards or past me. It was quite a busy road with lots of motorbike tourers again, as well as quite a few hikers and fishermen about. Thankfully drivers were still being careful around me and my wide load; I aught to get a wide load sticker somewhere! I met a Hungarian cycle tourer riding down to Torridon too. She had a penant flying off the back of her bike which I was slightly jealous of. She was cycling around the Highlands for a couple of weeks raising money for Cancer Research, and we had a quick chat whilst riding along – apparently Hungary is a lot flatter, and she’d covered a lot of the same bits of the North Coast I had so we compared notes before I pushed on to Torridon. I had a quick look around Torridon and a toilet break, before taking the road to Shieldaig and nearly getting flattened by an impatient delivery truck driver at one point, my first case of dubious driving in a while. View of Upper Loch Torridon, from Torridon As I rode around the coast to Shieldaig the territory got progressively more hilly and leg taxing, but I’d had a fairly easy day up until then so didn’t feel too tired. Shieldaig is a lovely village and very picturesque. I stopped at the hotel bar for a drink and hopefully some food. They weren’t serving food until 18.00, so I settled for bag of crisps alongside a pint of cider, the warm day making me want something cold to drink. Shieldaig village The bar was being run by a New Zealand medical student on a gap year, touring around Europe. I think it’s a universal constant that wherever you go they’ll generally be a Kiwi bar person in the vicinity. I did a quick mental check to see if I had any injuries I needed advice on, but everything was working correctly, although my shins still looked a bit battered from pedal hits. He’s from Christchurch where an Uncle of Lu’s lives, so we talked about the recent earthquake there, sinking houses and cardboard cathedrals, as well as travelling. He warned me about the danger of ticks, his brother having picked one up the day before in the area – he was touring too but working elsewhere. A couple of Australians turned up shortly after I’d arrived and joined our conversation. They were touring down the West Coast by car, and flying back to Oz via Bangkok in a few days time, which sounded like an attractive proposition. I left after 45 minutes needing to push on, and as the conversation turned to sport, rugby and Aussie rules football, with associated New Zealand v’s Australia rivalry emerging. A nice stop and weird running into more antipodian people than natives in a remote Sottish village. The road definitely got steeper after Shieldaig, with some challenging hills but fantastic views on the way to Ardheslaig. The Kiwi barman/medical student had told me there were sea eagles in the area so I kept an eye out, but didn’t see any. I broke into song a few times to help get up the hills, mostly Queen tracks today, which are quite vocally challenging incidentally. I’m sure the sheep appreciated my efforts although Barcelona may have left something to be desired, and probably kept the sea eagles away. With slightly aching legs I rode past Kenmore, Arina and Fearnmore, on a road that wasn’t built until the 1970’s, before turning south and leaving Loch Torridon behind. The gradients got a little less steep as I rode alongside the Inner Sound between the mainland and Raasay and the Isle of Skye, although there were still plenty of ups and downs. The sun came out again giving a great view over to the Inner Hebrides, somewhere I hoped of be in a couple of days time. As I rode, and prompted by the earlier conversation in Shieldaig, I pondered what an adventure it would be to cycle all the way to New Zealand, through Europe, Turkey, the Middle East, India and Asia. I’d have to rent my house out and work out a way to fund it, writing maybe, or sponsorship, or stopping to work along the way, but it would be amazing to cycle all that way through such a diverse range of cultures and landscapes. One to ponder some more; one thing for sure is that I’d need a new back wheel before embarking on such a journey! View across Inner Sound towards Skye Another great view Sand dune running up to cliff I finally turned the corner after one last significant ascent, heading East into Applecross Bay, with Applecross’ white buildings gleaming in the sunshine at its far end. As I rode down the hill towards the village, a large bird of prey flew over and landed in the grass further up the mountain. It had the right wing shape and was the right colour to be a golden eagle, but didn’t look big enough, so I thought it was probably a buzzard. I later learned that there were some juvenile eagles in the area, so maybe that’s what I saw. I arrived at the campsite at about 19.30, having covered around 67 miles which I was pleased with, and that doesn’t include going backwards and forwards at one point. I’d got into the zone more today, so the miles had seemed to pass more quickly despite some long climbs with fairly steep gradients, thinking about expeditions in foreign climes, books and movies, and wondering what was going on in Norwich, and very briefly at work. The climbs were all good practice for tomorrow and the dreaded Bealach-Na-Ba, which was going to take some effort. I was glad my back wheel had held out, with no more loose spokes I could find, although it was a bit wonky. Me looking pretty hot – sweaty that is Applecross campsite is great, with an on site restaurant called the Flower Tunnel where I had chilli and nachos, followed by a large pizza; I was mega hungry and needed to carb load for tomorrow. The staff are really friendly and helpful, and let me charge up my mobile and Power Monkey battery pack that I still need to get a new lead for, to connect to the solar panel. I planned to order one online and get it delivered to Loch Melfort, where my parents have a time share, although I might just be able to find one in Fort William. There was no mobile reception to speak of at the campsite, so I decided to try buying Internet access via the Highland wifi network. It’s a bit expensive so not something I want to do very often, but it worked fairly well, despite logging me off the network frequently and then not letting me back on until I reset my browser. It allowed me to catch up on emails and do some planning, as well as have a quick FaceTime call with my brother and sister-in-law, but it wouldn’t let me transfer photos off my phone onto my iPad as I could only have one device logged in at a time – I can see why but it was a bit irritating. Given the superb weather and location I considered having a day off and resting up. I’d ridden over 2,000 miles so was nearly halfway, and hadn’t had a day of absolutely no cycling since setting off from Norwich over a month ago. I start to feel slightly anxious if I don’t progress even a small way each day, so I put off a decision until the morning, retreating to my tent to get away from the midges which were starting to appear now. I realised I’d have to careful of sunburn as well as insect bites, having noticed a few slightly burned patches on my legs – sock line. Itchy insect bites and sunburn would be a pretty bad combination to endure. I’d received an email from a friend at work, with a poem I thought I’d include to finish today. As always great to receive encouragement and know that people are finding my blog interesting, or even inspiring to a degree, so thanks Dave. What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare. And stare as long as sheep or cows. No time to see, when woods we pass, Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass. No time to see, in broad daylight, Streams full of stars, like skies at night. And watch her feet, how they can dance. No time to wait till her mouth can Enrich that smile her eyes began. A poor life this if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare. Edited with BlogPad Pro This entry was posted in Bike around Britain 2013, Uncategorized and tagged adventure, Applecross, bicycle, bike, Bike around Britain, cycle, cycle touring, cycling, expedition, Gairloch, outdoors on June 9, 2013 by SelfPropelled. 09 May 2013 After a sound night’s sleep courtesy of Lynne and John, woke up feeling a little dehydrated. Think I need to make sure I drink enough even when it’s cold and I’m not sweating much. It was a beautiful morning with bright sunshine and only the odd fluffy white cloud, however the forecast was for rain later. It often seems to do this in Northumbria, starts off lovely then deteriorates as the day goes on. I made sure I had my waterproof handy after jinxing the weather by applying sun cream. After a superb and hearty breakfast (full English) I bid goodbye to John, Lynne having left for the office early, thanks again for putting me up guys, recommend no.28 for all touring cyclists! First I cycled back up the hill for a quick look at Warkworth Castle, the first of many I was to see today. I then headed back through Warkworth and over the bridge, turning right on to route 1, intending to follow it for a bit before turning inland to visit Alnwick, a short detour down memory lane and to restock with supplies. Reached it in good time after a couple of invigorating hill climbs, and stopped in at Barter Books, the UK’s biggest second hand bookshop and well worth a nosy around. Unfortunately I had no spare room in my panniers, could have spent hours there looking over the dusty shelves of venerable tomes and interesting books of all genres. Feel certain there must be a few magic grimoires hidden amongst the collection, some scenes from the Harry Potter films having been filmed in Alnwick. Barter Books, Alnwick, well worth a nosy I meandered around the town some more and past the castle, but didn’t enter – too expensive at £14 to justify a flying visit and I’d been there before. The castle was used for some of the Hogwarts scenes. After restocking with supplies (pasta, sauces, fruit, chocolate and lunch), but forgetting breakfast ingredients, d’oh, I left Alnwick and made my way back to the coast, down to Howick, along to Craster (wondered if there was a Keep there aka Game of Thrones), and on to Embleton. Bike with banana attachment Alnwick Castle 1 Alnwick Castle 2 Passed a lot of sheep and lambs lying about in the sunshine. Do sheep lying down mean the same thing as cows lying down, that it’s going to rain? My Gran always said that about cows apparently. It did start to rain about an hour later so reckon so. Northumbria is littered with castles, a testament to it being on the border with Scotland and more warlike days. I passed several more including Dunstanburgh, right on the coast. The below is the view from route 1 which passes right by it. I did divert from route 1 briefly as it seemed to leave the coastline and I want to stick to it for the most part, but rejoined it at Seahouses, where you can get a boat a out out to the Farne Islands to visit the seals, colonies of sea birds, and St Cuthbert’s pad; he spent his later life there as a hermit. He was also prior of Lindisfarne (Holy Island) which was somewhere I wanted to visit later, but the tides were wrong to get across the causeway, would have to wait for another visit. Seahouses 1 I didn’t have time for a trip out to the Farne Islands today, and besides I’d been there before, plus it was getting pretty wet and cold. After having lunch (again) I chatted to a fellow Ridgeback Panorama tourer for a bit, always nice, before moving on up the coast past Bamburgh Castle which is very impressive, standing tall and imposing. Think Bernard Cornnwall used this location as inspiration for Bebbanburgh, in his Uhtred books which are a great read, set in the period of Alfred the Great with battling Saxons, Normans, Christians and Pagans. If memory serves it was restored by the same person who built Cragside, Lord Armstrong, a great industrialist and inventor. Both places well worth a visit – Cragside especially but was somewhat off route. I had to leave the coast post Budle Bay to avoid the A1, so moved inland on route 1, and up and down a few more hills. Met a couple from over the pond on heavily laden tourers on their way from Glasgow to Amsterdam, on their first visit to the UK. Nice to chat for a bit and they said how friendly and helpful they had found everyone so far, very encouraging. They started on the 01 May too, and were cycling into the headwind today which I didn’t envy them. Recommended a trip to Norwich on their way down to Harwich to get the boat. They were somewhat surprised I was in in shorts – said I was acclimatising for Scotland! Continued on to Beal in the drizzle, and stopped at the Beal Barn Cafe for a hot chocolate, followed by a beer as it was still raining – got to keep hydrated after all. Beal is at the head of the causeway to Holy Island, but as mentioned the tide was in so it would have to wait for another visit. This is the second time this has happened to me, poor planning, maybe third time lucky. The Cafe has free wifi and was nice and warm so spent a good hour there sheltering from the rain, and downloaded a new WordPress app for my iPad, hence the photos now. Friendly staff too who gave me marshmallows for my hot chocolate, must have taken pity on my somewhat bedraggled state. Holy Island in the drizzle From Beal I headed towards Berwick-upon-Tweed. Had to travel on the A1 for a bit to make up some time, and I wanted to get to the campsite to get out of the wind and rain. The A1 was surprisingly okay, despite the big trucks – probably hit it at a quiet point. After an 8 mile stretch I turned off into Scremerston and headed into Berwick looking for the Pot-a-Doodle campsite – they have wigwams which I thought sounded cool. I doubled back through Wittal in a big circle, on a very bumpy route 1 along the cliffs which I was glad it’d avoided earlier. Eventually found the campsite back in Scremerston, but it was closed. Rode back to Berwick and found a different campsite – East Ord House Park, which accepts tents and had a cosy spot for me next to a monkey puzzle tree. Quickly set up the tent and got a very welcome hot shower, before retreating to the on site bar for a huge plate of liver and bacon, side salad and onion rings. Really nice and very much needed. This was to be my last night in England for a while being only a stones throw from the border, so I had a couple of pints from the Belhaven Brewery, as recommended by the friendly clientele, to mark the occasion, whilst writing up my blog from the comfort of the bar. All in all a great day at around 70 miles, and trip down memory lane, if a little tough at a couple of points; I did resort to playing some Pantera and Disturbed off my phone at a couple of points to get me up a few hills! Then Coldplay came on which slowed me down somewhat – this was on speaker by the way as don’t agree with cycling in earphones, but there was no one else to annoy apart from the odd bemused looking cow. Off into Scotland tomorrow, and round to Edinburgh which I hope to reach in time to visit the office in St Andrew’s Square, should be doable depending on the weather. Looking forward to seeing Hugh and Meredith who have offered to put me up for the night. Bike and body still doing well, although one unpredicted side effect of lots of cycling is a very dry nose, and think I might have burst a few capillaries therein. Will visit a chemist in Edinburgh but probably just needs to acclimatise to lots of outdoor activity! Edited with BlogPad Pro This entry was posted in Bike around Britain 2013, Uncategorized and tagged adventure, bicycle, bike, castles, cycle, cycle touring, cycling, expedition, fundraising, Northumbria, outdoors, photos, Real ale on May 11, 2013 by SelfPropelled.	40,988
Chinese Student Associations Enforce Communist Party Line on American Campuses - AMAC - The Association of Mature American Citizens Advocacy AMAC in the Media Benefits Chinese Student Associations Enforce Communist Party Line on American Campuses Posted Wednesday, August 31, 2022 Aug 31, 2022 \| By Outside Contributor \| 6 Comments 6 When Cornell University student Kinen Kao decided to bring attention to the human-rights violations perpetrated against his countrymen back home in Hong Kong, he found that most of his classmates were supportive and even appreciative of his efforts. Most, but not all. Even in bucolic Ithaca, N.Y., the long arm of the Chinese Communist Party was reaching for him — employing its repressive playbook of physical intimidation, social ostracization, and propaganda on the Ivy League campus — even as it tightened its grip on his homeland. Kao, whose family is still in Hong Kong, helped found the Cornell Society for the Promotion of East Asian Liberty (SPEAL) amid the turmoil in his homeland in 2019 because he saw “young people, students like me going on the streets fighting for freedom and sacrificing their future, their bodies, and even their lives on the front line.” “I realized I have to do something for Hong Kong, since I am also a Hong Konger,” he told National Review. After founding SPEAL, Kao began decorating campus with posters advertising protests and advocating on behalf of Hong Kongers, Uyghurs, and Tibetans. Like clockwork, they were torn down by students from mainland China. On a few occasions, Kao found himself involved in verbal altercations with the vandals, but for the most part he just doggedly replaced the stolen materials. “I just wanted to keep putting them up, keep replacing those getting torn,” he said. Tensions between Kao and the Chinese student community came to a head this summer after graduation, when Kao was assaulted by a student who was following him around downtown Ithaca, N.Y., as he put up posters. “I took out my phone to record what he was doing, and then he pushed me onto the floor and tried to snatch away my phone,” recalled Kao. “Fortunately, some stranger stopped him, just like, came by and told him to stop attacking me.” The attack on Kao, while an escalation, represents a continuation of, rather than a break from the typical tactics of CCP allies at American universities. Although campus conflicts between CCP sympathizers and regime-skeptics are rarely physical, intimidation of one sort or another is exceedingly common. In a recent contribution to the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, University of North Carolina undergraduate Harrington Shaw took notice of the Chinese Student and Scholars Association (CSSA), a CCP-sponsored collegiate organization found on approximately 150 different campuses across the country. According to Shaw, those chapters may warrant special scrutiny after the near expulsion of Confucius Institutes — which were designated as foreign missions by the State Department in 2020 — from the university system. Since the State Department’s formal acknowledgment of their true purpose, 108 of the 118 existing institutes in the United States have either been shuttered or are in the process of being shut down. While their ostensible mission was to promote Chinese language and culture, critics — including the State Department — alleged that the institutes also demanded that their host universities abide by terms that shielded them from scrutiny, censored academics, and acted as mouthpieces of the CCP. CSSA’s stated purpose is similarly cultural. A key difference, however, is that their marks are not unwitting Americans but Chinese students studying in the U.S. Propaganda remains the means, but the retention of Chinese nationals, rather than the recruitment of Americans, is the end. According to one recent Chinese graduate of Cornell University who spoke to National Review on the condition of anonymity, CSSA — which boasts about its formal relationship with the CCP — provides a refuge for homesick students, keeping them immersed in Chinese culture even while they remain on American soil. No one could object to a group that makes foreign students feel at home by providing them with a community where they can enjoy traditional dishes and celebrate holidays, but CSSA’s influence also effectively silos those students off from the rest of campus and keeps them immersed in a repressive political environment. “I think among Chinese students, at least at Cornell, there’s the awareness that if you were in CSSA, you’re more inclined to be the Party guy,” said the ex-Cornell student, who observed a shift in CSSA’s objectives over the years, as tensions between the U.S. and China escalated after the election of Donald Trump. “People who joined CSSA in 2016 didn’t necessarily consider themselves the little red type of people, you know, the more nationalistic, patriotic, pro-party type of people,” he explained, before calling Hong Kong a “turning point.” After the CCP cracked down on Hong Kongers objecting to its increased involvement in the city-state’s affairs, student leaders in the organization became increasingly militant and began participating in “open confrontational action on campus,” ripping up stickers and posters expressing support for protests in Hong Kong against increased Chinese interference in the city’s affairs. Last October 1, the “National Day of the People’s Republic of China,” they even staged a counterprotest against student activists advocating for freedom in Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as against those protesting against the Uyghur genocide in China’s Xinjiang region. The student newspaper described the atmosphere as “tense” and included quotes from counterprotesters, including CSSA’s president, charging the protesters with hypocrisy and unfairly targeting Chinese students. CSSA’s activity — on Cornell and other campuses around the country — dates back years. In 2017, signs depicting Tibetans self-immolating disappeared overnight after being posted on Cornell’s Arts and Sciences Quad. One Chinese student wrote to the student newspaper to justify the act of vandalism, explaining that “what seems to be a campaign for human rights could possibly be considered a public endorsement to a known separatist and traitor by some members of the Cornell community.” According to the recent graduate who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal from the CCP, it was an “open secret” among the Chinese community at Cornell that CSSA members were involved. He also argued that the fact that this never became public was demonstrative of the organization’s influence on campus. “If you asked me in 2019, or even last year when I was at Cornell, whether or not that happened, . . . I would still probably say ‘no,’ but not necessarily because I fear CSSA,” he said. “It’s hard to explain, but it’s kind of like ‘I’m in the Chinese community at Cornell and I don’t want to do that.’” Still, he acknowledged, there exist examples that would suggest that Chinese students who dare to cross the party line on campus might have much more to fear than social ostracism. “There’s too much news these days in China — from 2019, 2020, 2021, this year — of some Chinese kids posting on Twitter and then they get a call from home, or the parents are in the police station, telling them to delete,” he said. Linking the phenomenon to the consequence of CSSA’s presence on campus, he said that “the very fact that” the CSSA are “connected with CCP makes me aware of the fact that it’s a percentage game, right? Like if it was normal people, I have a 2 percent chance of them ratting me out. People in CSSA, given their opinions on things, 30 percent chance.” The university did not respond to a request for comment. And recent history at Cornell is just the tip of the iceberg. As Shaw notes in his article for the Martin Center, examples of CSSA’s destructive impact on campus culture and Chinese students’ lives more generally date back years and can be found on campuses around the country. In 2008, at Duke University, a Chinese student was labeled a “traitor” and had her parents’ state ID numbers posted on the CSSA chapter’s website after she attempted to foster dialogue between Chinese and Tibetan students. Her parents even received death threats. At Columbia University, a 2019 event focused on human-rights abuses in China was canceled after the CSSA chapter worked feverishly toward that end. UC San Diego’s CSSA chapter received an award in 2017 for applying pressure to the university to stop the Dalai Lama from making political statements during his commencement address. In another instance from that same spring, the University of Maryland’s CSSA chapter posted a video singling out a Chinese student for criticizing the Chinese government during her commencement address. The chapter received plaudits from a Chinese embassy official, who told other area chapters to follow their example, per Foreign Policy. It’s no wonder, then, that a Chinese student attending Georgetown told Voice of America in 2020 that he “wouldn’t feel safe to speak publicly or under recording.” “If I say something sensitive about Hong Kong, I worry that the Chinese government will know something about my opinion and that will influence my work or my future in China,” he continued. Even in the face of the unencumbered operations of CSSA on campuses, some young activists press on in spite of the danger to themselves and their families. “I won’t be able to return home in the foreseeable future,” said Kao, who also made note of the danger his speech represents to his family. “I’m still going to do whatever I can to speak up for Hong Kong.” Reprinted with Permission from - National Review by - Isaac Schorr and Download the AMAC News App Share This Article by Outside Contributor new follow-up comments new replies to my comments Label Label Oldest Most Voted View all comments Anybody that has attended any of the universities mentioned since the 1960’s is nothing but a COMMUNIST. Sad part, they were too stupid to realize they were being brainwashed. PaulE President Trump had gone after all these CCP college campus groups and was putting them out of business. Then Biden was installed as President and he immediately started reversing every single action President Trump did to “make nice” with China. Today, all the CCP college campus groups are back in force and hunting down anyone from China who dares speak out against the CCP. So yeah, this article accurately outlines where we are today because of Joe Biden’s appeasement of the CCP. It is what it is. Reply to PaulE No longer working for America but for China for very policy thus far has emboldened China and weakened America. China # 1 producer of EV batteries and solar panels precious farmland sold to China, Fentanyl coming out of China targeting our military age group of 18-45, China release of COVID on America and not one shot fired! etc. Need one say more for America to wake up? He is a loser for America! Follow the money! PaulE Reply to ops My bigger concern is NOT that Biden is a loser. Half the country realizes that at this point based on 20 months of one man-made crisis after another man-made crisis. My concern is that somehow the American people have decided, despite all the obvious man-made crisis created by him and the Democrats in Congress that he is somehow allowed to still be sitting in the White House and playing at pretending to be President. My concern is not so much with Biden, but the absolutely pathetic response from the vast majority of Americans to the damage he has been allowed to do. Are we that apathetic a nation? That was a rhetorical question, because the obvious answer is yes. Reply to PaulE With rigged elections, you no longer have a Constitutional Democracy … and the Biden Presidency is making that crystal clear.	12,503
Join the SALT team and the rest of the SALT Community in Nashville, TN for a three-day conference geared toward to those that work in the creative and technical arts in the church. SALT19 is geared toward those that make Sunday happen. Please be aware that tickets are not refundable but can be transferred or exchanged. Out of stock #SALT19 is for those that make Sundays happen. This includes, storytellers, creative team leaders, worship leaders, audio engineers, designers and anyone that creates content for their church. More details can be found here. Long Hollow Baptist Church © 2022 SALT Community. The Creative Community for the Church. X Elevation Worship Elevation Worship began as the musical arm of the Elevation Church, a multi-site church based in Charlotte, North Carolina, that was founded in 2006 by pastor Steven Furtick. The group was originally formed around the musical core of Chris Brown, Mack Brock, and Wade Joye, all of whom sang and played guitar, while Furtick contributed to their songwriting. While a shifting cast of instrumentalists worked with Elevation Worship, singers, Brown and Brock would become two of their on-stage focal points and a number of other vocalists were featured, including Jenna Barrientes, Jonsal Barrientes, London Gatch, Anna Sailors, and Jane Williams. The multi-generational family band—consisting of brothers Ed Cash and Scott Cash, Ed’s daughter Franni, his son Martin and dear friend Andrew Bergthold—grew roots when the Cash brothers were just kids. Their dad played guitar, and their mom played piano, resulting in a home filled with music. Despite there being an eleven year age gap between them, as both Ed and Scott entered their teens and early 20s, they embarked on similar individual journeys as touring artists and had the opportunity to be deeply involved in the ministry of Young Life. However, when they each became fathers, the dream of being an artist was relegated to put on the back burner. Instead, behind the scenes, Ed went on to become an award-winning songwriter and producer, steering records for artists like Chris Tomlin, Crowder and Bethel Music and co-writing timeless songs like “How Great Is Our God,”“Amen (Because He Lives)” and “All My Hope,” among other hits. After stepping off of the road to spend more time with his growing family, Scott began working with Ed writing and producing, and the brothers have written many songs together including “Whom Shall I Fear (God of Angel Armies)”. Though no longer pursuing careers as artists, both brothers continued to lead worship and remained involved in playing music at Young Life camps. They never could have imagined how, years later, God would bring their artist dreams full circle in the form of a family band. “I think many producers are, in some way, closet artists,” Ed attests. Andrew, Franni and Martin were also aspiring musicians, passionate about sharing their gifts through songs and stories. Worship Leader, singer and songwriter Tim Timmons is a man of faith whose principles were tested by hard luck and mortal challenges before he produced his first album of praise & worship music. Coming back from a dramatic cancer diagnosis, Timmons forged a career as an inspirational recording artist with albums like 2013’s Cast My Cares and 2015’s Awake Our Souls, later venturing into children’s music with 2017’s Who I Am. Timmons was born in Irvine, California on February 9, 1976, and he developed an interest in music as a child, taking up the drums when he was seven years old, learning to play guitar and write songs when he was 11, and teaching himself to play piano. Timmons developed a knack for songwriting, and in his early twenties, he began turning professional, eventually co-writing with the likes of Mike Doheney of the group Tenth Avenue North, Michael Farren of Pocket Full of Rocks, Dove Award-nominated singer/songwriter Jason Walker, and LaRue frontman Phillip LaRue, while also serving as a worship leader at Mariners Church in Irvine. However, in 2001, Timmons began re-examining his life when he was diagnosed with inoperable cancer. Originally told he had only five years to live, Timmons devoted himself to his wife, his growing family, and his work as a worship leader. After he’d more than doubled his initial survival expectancy, Timmons felt a new calling to use his music as a tool to bring people to a greater understanding of what it truly means to follow Jesus. Declaring that “Following Jesus versus being a believer in Him is revolutionary,” Timmons put a new emphasis on music and songwriting, and in 2013, he landed a record deal with the Christian music label Reunion Records. Cast My Cares, Timmons’ first album of worship music, was produced by Paul Mabury, and was released in the summer of 2013 and reached number 13 on Billboard’s Christian chart. He followed up in 2015 with Awake Our Souls and toured in support of the release with MercyMe and Phil Wickham. Timmons’ next project was the 2017 children’s album, Who I Am, which he co-produced with Christian Hale and released independently. That same year, he offered his first holiday release with the five-song Mighty Christmas EP. Written during a church retreat, Timmons next offered up the anthemic single, “I Belong,” which featured an appearance from CCM legend, Amy Grant. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi Homeschooled preacher’s kids with finance degrees don’t usually quit their Budget Analyst jobs that provide health insurance to pursue stand-up comedy, but Andrew Stanley did, and he hasn’t looked back. He is now touring all over the country (as well as internationally) performing at clubs, festivals, fundraisers, churches, corporate events, bars with 4 people in them that “didn’t know there would be comedy tonight”…. Andrew possesses a unique perspective that pairs well with his dry delivery and observational nature. He was the winner of the 2017 Search for the South’s Funniest Accountant and in 2019, he was selected as a New Face of Comedy at Montreal’s prestigious Just For Laughs Comedy Festival. Andrew’s parents are still alive so he works clean. Jeff started his career in the studio as an independent music producer and engineer, and from 2007 to 2016, was the Front of House engineer for Chris Tomlin. Jeff circled the globe several times, both with Chris and with Passion Conferences. He was a part of North Point Community Church in Atlanta since its beginning and has partnered with North Point, as well as other churches over the years, helping them train production excellence and engagement, both on the platform and off. Jeff’s heart for helping churches excel led to the development of Sonnet House, a ministry designed to provide church production teams resources for technical training, creative communication, and spiritual connection to God and each other. Jeff has brought that calling to the founding of MxU, as they partner together to provide world-class resources to church teams so they can get better at what they do while getting better at who they are. He is also bringing those skills to bear as he leads the commissioning and training of new systems for WAVE, an AVL integrator based in Charlotte, NC. Jeff lives in Greenville, South Carolina with his beautiful wife Elizabeth (who is far superior to him in all respects), their even more superior daughter, Stella, and Lula the dog. Jim Yakabuski is a live concert audio engineer who mixes FOH for Gwen Stefani, Peter Frampton, Matchbox 20, Van Halen and many more. Jim is also a co-founder and instructor at The MIX Institute, a live audio school focused on helping House of Worship audio engineers become better mixers of music. He is also a contributing writer for Church Sound Magazine and Live Sound International. He has been mixing live audio for 40 years. Samantha Potter is an audio engineer and an editor for ProSoundWeb with a passion for writing and educating. Additionally, she serves as the “Install Empress” for Allen & Heath USA, helping to merge the live sound solutions we all love into the commercial and install space. Growing up as a musician, Samantha found her way to live sound by way of the studio, proving that bassists make the best sound engineers. The host of Church Sound Podcast and a co-director and lead instructor for Church Sound University, Samantha can often be found teaching, writing, and hosting discussions on various live-sound topics. For the last 20 years, James has been working in multiple aspects of the audio industry. On arriving in the USA from Australia, James took up a house engineer position at Henson studios in LA while also embarking on world tours with multiple bands, most notably Hillsong United in the FOH position. He now resides in Nashville TN and while not on the road, mixes records from his home studio and consults for LAcoustics. Kem is a brand therapist who has spent three decades working at the intersection of techs and creatives. Known for her ability to eliminate complexity and information overload, she helps people clear the organizational hurdles that sabotage effective work. Kem’s book, “Less Chaos. Less Noise” is a go-to communications resource for top churches and not-for-profits. In 2007, Brad Sitton left his dream job as Director of Creative Media at Passion Conferences to start Blister Studios, an innovative motion graphic design studio creating video content for DC Shoes, Chick-Fil-A, Passion Conferences, Golden Corral, North American Mission Board, Youth Specialties, BigStuf, Orange Conference, North Point Community Church, just to name a few. In recent years, Brad and his twin brother Brian started CrowdControlGames.com to craft games for any size crowd. Over the past several year’s they’ve had an opportunity to impact countless churches as well as create custom games for Chick-Fil-A, Walmart, Norwegian Cruise Lines, and more! Brad currently lives in Atlanta with his smoke’n hot wife, 3 kids and is learning to sail. He is a two time winner of the RedBull Flugtag competition and surprisingly good at building sandcastles. Patrick McEwen has worked in church production and event production for over 15 years. He managed environments for Youth Ministries and Sunday Services across Metro Atlanta before becoming a full-time Production Manager. He founded McEwen.Co in 2018 and has helped design, implement, and manage systems for events across the nation. He’s the lead Stage Manager for Catalyst Conference, Leadercast, and Q Conference. He has also been the Crew Lead and Stage Manager for SALT Conference for the past 2 years. He and his wife Jenn live in Atlanta, Georgia with their two daughters. Timmy is the Lead Audio Engineer and Audio Specialist at Long Hollow Baptist Church in Hendersonville, TN. As Long Hollow continues to launch satellite campuses, the need for skilled supervision in audio and visual areas continues to increase. Starting in 2011, Tim has provided this much-needed leadership and expertise to make our satellite campus worship experiences the best they can be. He also is a sought-after freelance audio engineer working with the CMT Awards, CMA Festival and countless CCM artists and tours as a consultant. Jeremy Bagwell is the Business Development Manager at Ross Video for the House of Worship industry. His passion for live production was fueled by a long history of work in and out of the local church. He loves creating well engineered systems that fuel people and churches to do what they do best. Formerly, Jeremy was the Live Video Director and Production Director for North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, GA. Before North Point, he serves for 4 years at 12stone Church as Production Director for two different campuses. Jeremy is a prolific video director and systems engineer and wants to help push the church into innovative technology with purpose. Tyler Hirth is the Production Manager at Long Hollow Baptist Church and oversees the entire production environment, equipment and teams at Long Hollow for all of their campuses and buildings. He has been at Long Hollow since 2007 and oversees the recruitment and training of production volunteers, designs and oversees A/V technical installations, and technical directs a majority of weekends services and events. Aside from his leadership at Long Hollow, he is also the technical director for The Huckabee Show on TBN, shot in Gallatin, TN. He and his Wife Andrea love being part of the Hendersonville, TN area and are proud to call Long Hollow home. Rocket, as he is known among friends, is the Central Production Manager for Cross Point Church in Nashville, TN. Through his role, he serves on the creative team as part of programming and production. Through the use of audio, video and lighting, he strives to create engaging and distraction free moments where people can fully experience God’s presence. When he’s not at the church, he can be found spending time building something in his home woodworking shop, recreating Pinterest finds, or hanging out with his beautiful wife Molly in the great outdoors of Nashville, TN. Christina is the Creative Arts Volunteer Coordinator for Cross Point Church in Nashville, TN. She leads the music team auditions as well as orchestrates the Sunday scheduling for their worship volunteer teams. Christina is passionate about music, the local church, and how worship can engage a community! She desires to bring this passion to others through the music of Cross Point. She is also a recently new mother and finding it to be her greatest joy! Chad Hall Chad Hall is the Founder and President of United Production Services, Inc; the parent company to Take One Film, BOLD Distribution, BOLD Bags and Nashville Production Rentals. As a seasoned video production specialist and an expert camera shader, Chad Hall has had the opportunity to work on countless television broadcasts including the CMT Awards, Dove Awards, and countless sporting events. He also has credits as a chief engineer on the television series “four”. He and his wife are active members of the local church in Hendersonville, TN. Mark MacDonald is Church Brand Strategist for BeKnownForSomething.com, a national church communication and branding agency, coaching pastors and churches to become relevant in their community. He’s the bestselling author of “Be Known For Something” (beknownbook.com), has written 800+ magazine articles, and is the Exec Director of Center for Church Communication (Church Marketing Sucks, Courageous Storytellers). Over 30+ years, Mark has served as Pastor, Marketing VP, Creative Director, and Strategist; in one of Eastern Canada’s largest agencies, his own agency, for the 3000+ Florida Baptists, and most recently at one of the largest church consulting groups (Generis). He and Tammy, his wife of 30 years, have 2 grown sons in Calgary and Chicago. Follow him: @markmac1023 Gloria Umana is the founder and executive director of the Ex-Nihilo Collective and an internationally known and sought after communicator and spoken word artist based out of Atlanta, Georgia! In 2016 Gloria turned down a dream opportunity of working with the Federal Bureau of Investigations and instead surrendered to the calling of God upon her life, which led to a life of purpose. Gloria has worked alongside and has spoken on various platforms such as, Liberty University Convocation, Life Way, Ravi Zacharias Ministries, Passion City Church, Fresh Life Church, and more. While Gloria started as a spoken word artist only a little less than three years ago, her ministry has quickly evolved as she has been given opportunities to teach on a multitude of platforms all over the globe. Gloria Umanah is not JUST a spoken word artist or a communicator. She is a daughter, co-creating with The Creator, passionate about seeing a people walk into the calling of holiness — a generation who doesn’t see holiness as legalism, but as a standard and calling. Jacob Boyles is a prolific graphic designer who has worked with reputable brands including Bloomingdales, Chick-Fil-A, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and countless others. Currently, he is Elevation Worship Graphic Designer at Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC. He brings a fresh perspective to the graphic design space and is pushing the envelope for the global church through his creative eye and innovative approach. Adrian Varner is the audio lead for SALT Conferences, having lead our main sessions audio team for the past 6 years! Through his leadership, he has pushed the envelope for the church through sonic atmosphere’s, while also leading and shepherding from the shadows. In his day job, Adrian is a system design engineer for Diversified Audio. He and his wife are based in Atlanta, GA and love serving the local church and helping equip them to reach their local communities with quality environments and engaging atmospheres. Jason Morris serves Westside as our Global Innovation Pastor, overseeing the church online, global church planting, and bringing new ideas and creativity to expand God’s Kingdom for Westside. Jason is experienced as a missionary to Paraguay, South America for almost 9 years where he helped churches grow healthy with new ideas. He received his B.A. in Missions and M.A. in Biblical Exposition from Pensacola Christian College in Pensacola, Florida. He and his wife Maria have been married since 1993 and have 2 amazing kids: Isaac and Brianna. Jason loves new tech gadgets, sci-fi, yerba mate, and speaking spanish. Josh serves as L-Acoustics’ primary frontline contact for House of Worship clients. From 2005 to 2016, he worked as a freelance audio engineer and production manager for Christ In Youth. In his career, Josh has been a FOH and monitor engineer, production manager, and tour manager for a wide variety of clients, including some of the nation’s largest churches and congregations. He mixed FOH for the first L-ISA Immersive system deployment at SALT 2019. Last year Josh also designed, commissioned and trained on the world’s first L-ISA install in a HOW environment. Josh’s background and expertise allow him to provide the best care and dedicated solutions for churches everywhere. Suzette Allen has been a portrait photographer for 35 years, and teaching Photography/Photoshop for 20 years. Her passion for creativity and people has served her well, as she encourages and inspires photographers to go after their visions and creativity! Suzette is also a Global Ambassador for Panasonic Lumix Cameras and Adobe Influencer. She is a Photographic Craftsman and Certified Professional Photographer, as well as an Approved Photographic Instructor with Professional Photographers of America. She has served her industry in education, as a school director (West Coast School of Photography) and also served on the Board of Directors of both West Coast School and California Photographic Workshops. Now as an instructor, she has had the immense honor of teaching at over a dozen of the Affiliated Photographic Schools across the country! Dr. Jerome is a functional neurologist and founder of Thrive Neuro Health in Atlanta, GA. He is also a diplomate of the American Board of Chiropractic Neurology, a Fellow of the American Board of Brain Injury and Rehabilitation, a Fellow of the American Board of Childhood Development Disorders, and the former Executive Director & Atlanta Clinic Director for Cerebrum Health Centers. Above and beyond he is a disciple of Jesus Christ and believes that neuroplasticity with biblical teaching can teach us a lot about mental health, our purpose and connect the dots between many unanswered questions! Dex Alexander is the founder and Creative Director of Legible Strategy and Creative, a branding and communications firm in Southern California. Legible ensures churches, non-profits and civic groups communicate with clarity so they can best serve the community they are so vital to. To date, they have helped dozens of organizations, large and small, engage and influence the world around them. Kierre is a renowned worship leader, Kennedy Center performer, off-broadway cast member and passionate about seeing walls and barriers torn down that separate the body of Christ. He has toured with artists like Tasha Cobbs, Vashawn Mitchell and more. He joined United Pursuit and is part of the collective, Common Hymnal. He has served on staff at Daystar Church as the Next Generation Worship Director since 2013. Kierre is married to Marika Lindsay and together they are missionaries who travel domestically and internationally to serve and spread the message of Jesus Christ to all who will listen. Bio coming soon. Jacob Padgett is the Set and Lighting Designer at Long Hollow Baptist Church in Hendersonville, Tennessee. He joined the creative team in their main Hendersonville campus to oversee the work of design and build future sets for Sunday services, maintain lighting equipment, consoles and volunteer training at the various campuses of Long Hollow and provide support of the visual lighting atmospheres for weekly services. Brad Weston is founder and president of Renewed Vision, makers of ProPresenter, ProVideoPlayer, and ProVideoServer. He has been a volunteer video director for North Point Community Church for 15 years and has worked with productions worldwide both in consulting, as well as in live production. Nathan Williams serves as the Technical Director at Victory World Church in Atlanta, GA. Having been on staff for over 10 years, he has had a front-row seat as the church has grown to over 10,000 weekly attendees across multiple campuses, representing more than 110 nationalities, making it one of the largest multicultural congregations in the United States. He overseas sound, lighting, stage design and live video production as he leads a team of engineers and volunteers of over 300 every week. Nathan and his wife Ashley recently celebrated 10 years of marriage and are proud parents of four children. Ezra Cohen is a filmmaker and creative director specializing in creating unique visual environments in films, commercials, and live concert environments. He has created unique visual textures and experiences for commercial brands like Musicbed, Express, Adidas and Sony as well as music artists including Hillsong Young & Free, Justin Bieber, Tha Chainsmokers, Kari Jobe, Cody Carnes, Hillsong United and more. Recently, he’s been featured as a teacher and online course instructor by some of the most renown publications in the world, including Forbes and more. Joey currently serves at Christ’s Church, Mason OH. He is the Online Pastor and also oversees Worship & Arts, Communications and Production teams. Growing up in Brazil as a preacher’s kid, he has a keen eye for multi-generational ministry, as well as the ability to see innovation and change as a society and culture shift. He’s an ordained minister and has been serving in various capacities in America since 2002. He regularly blogs and contributes to the conversation of online church at joeysantos.blog. Alex Fuller is a seasoned lighting professional who is passionate about using the technical arts as an extension of worship. He started sweeping floors as a kid in a local production house, and completed his first coast to coast tour of the US by age 20. He has over 15 years experience as the lighting and scenic designer for several churches, touring events, and conferences including Bethel, Saddleback Church, Jesus Culture, Hillsong United and more. His experience in the Christian market affords him a unique understanding of the challenges that many production teams face. His goal is to partner with you as you define your vision, overcome obstacles, and create the environment that you desire. Phil Bowdle got his start in creative ministry back in 2004. Today, Bowdle is the author of “Rethink Communication: A Playbook to Clarify and Communicate Everything in Your Church” and works as the Creative Arts pastor at West Ridge Church in Northwest Atlanta. On a day-to-day basis, Bowdle leads teams who work in communication, media, worship, and production. He also speaks, blogs, and offers coaching about communication, leadership, and the creative church. Will Doggett is an Ableton Live Certified Trainer and the Founder of From Studio to Stage, an online resource dedicated to teaching people how to learn to perform with Ableton Live on stage. He’s passionate about making complex things simple and has been teaching others to use Ableton Live as a tool for Leading Worship since 2008. He has served the church in many roles as Worship Leader, Music Director, Creative Director, and Production Director. Justin Firesheets has been the Production Director at Church of the Highlands in Birmingham, Ala., since Feb. 2009 after having spent the previous six years working in the sports broadcasting industry. He is responsible for the management of the production systems, volunteer teams, and equipment at all 23 campuses of Highlands, which has grown to become one of the largest churches in the United States. Stephen Brewster has more than 15 years in professional creative environments including music marketing and management, artist development, creative team leading and art directing. Currently a leadership and creative coach in Nashville, Tennessee, Stephen previously led the creative team in dreaming, creating and executing experiences, communications, music and more for all areas of ministry at Freedom House Church in Charlotte,N.C.; Life Church in Orlando, Florida and Cross Point Church in Nashville. He loves to spend time with his wife, Jackie, and their four children. Katie Allred runs ChurchCommunications.com, where she has helped over 23,000 people who work in churches with their marketing and communication strategies. Katie is also an assistant professor of marketing and software development at the University of Mobile. Katie is also a Certified StoryBrand Guide and would love to help your church or business communicate more clearly Kenny Jahng is the founder and CEO of Big Click Syndicate, a strategic communications agency that works with nonprofit and Christian ministries. The Company’s clients includes American Bible Society, Princeton Theological Seminary, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, and The United Methodist Church. He also co-leads the Church Communications Facebook Group community with 22,000+ communicators. Kenny runs ChurchButler.com, a daily social media content service. He is also StoryBrand Certified. Connect with him at KennyJahng.com or follow his #DailyKJTV vlog on LinkedIn Grant Norsworthy is not another singer who talks too much. He’s a speaker who sings songs. An Aussie who was based in Nashville from 2002 to 2018, Grant Norsworthy achieved considerable success as a professional musician including a Grammy® nomination, a Dove Award, extensive touring, recording and radio hits with bands like Paul Colman Trio and Sonicflood. Now conducting global ministry work from his Nelson, New Zealand home base, Grant uses his musicianship, freewheeling wit and uncommon candor to encourage audiences to deeper faith in Christ and good works. As the founder, content developer and principal instructor for More Than Music Mentor, he provides high quality online and onsite training for the heart and the art of worshiping musicians everywhere. At 13 years old, David began his journey in church production when he found out that he could skip the main church service to serve in the youth group AV booth. Fast forward a few years, and David has worked as a professional lighting designer and teacher in the church, corporate, and live music worlds. Today, David runs LearnStageLighting.com, teaching lighting to beginner and intermediate-level lighting enthusiasts, and is a volunteer tech director at a medium-sized church in Nashville, TN. Shannon is a writer, speaker, and Associate Executive Pastor at Church of the City in Franklin, Tennessee. She has also been a pastor to women and children and sits on the Executive Leadership Team of the church. She’s been in ministry for over 25 years and has experience in many facets of church leadership, from leading high performing teams, to volunteer recruitment and engagement, service programming, communication, and production. A trusted voice on a wide range of topics, Shannon is grateful to spend time writing for ministry and leadership blogs, training leaders, and speaking at conferences and churches. Over her tenure of ministry, she’s had the honor to work with North Point Community Church, Passion Conferences, Rethink group and more. Shannon and her husband Jeffrey have been married since 1999 and have three teenage children, Maggie (18), Jack (15), and Ali (14) and two dogs, Nash and Loretta. Nathan is a gifted speaker with 20 years experience in pastoral leadership including lead pastoring, urban church planting, international missions and worship/creative ministries. Demonstrating great aptitude in counseling, discipleship and spiritual formation with a concentration in the development of christian leaders. Prior to being a pastor, Nathan spent many years as a song-writer and signed artist to the Integrity Music label where he has credits for Don Moen, Glenn Packiam and more. Most recently, Nathan and his wife Tricia have started fundraising for their newest call in ministry, Refreshing the Refreshers, a ministry seeking to serve those on the edge of burnout in ministry under as a partner of LifeImpact Ministries. Gary Molander is an Author, Pastor, Filmmaker and Artist who has served the church and the greater creative community for over a decade! Gary served as a pastor for seventeen years, and has a Masters Degree in Creative Arts. He is also the author of, Pursuing Christ. Creating Art., a powerful book on creativity and the church. He is also the co-owner of Floodgate Creative, and has worked with Pro Athletes Outreach, Credera Inc., and Chick Fil-A to help promote their stories and events, using video and film. Gary has been a part of SALT Conferences since the first gathering in 2013, and regularly shepherds the creative leaders and technical teams that are a part of the SALT Community. He and his wife Angela live in Nashville, Tennessee. Known by most as “Dr J”, he holds degrees in Interpersonal Communication and Literature from Wheaton College; Counseling Psychology from Auburn University; Higher Education Leadership & Policy from the University of Tennessee; and has additional education in leadership & organizational change from Harvard University. Most recently, Dr. J has been a consultant working with current and future leaders through his leadership coaching, being a faculty member of Vanderbilt University and as an author of his recent book, Fired Up: Kindling and Keeping The Spark in Creative Teams. Nikki spent over 20 years leading and building a successful multicultural creative department of over 150 people in an organization of 4000+ through her ministry in Baltimore, MD. With a degree in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy, she is a brilliant vocalist and worship leader with over 20 years of songwriting, worship and music experience. Currently, she serves as a coach and consultant to churches across the world helping them go from mono-cultural to multi-cultural with their organizations. Brady Shearer is the CEO and Founder of Pro Church Tools. Brady’s work centers upon helping churches seize the 167 hours beyond their Sunday services and navigating their ministries through the single biggest communication shift we’ve seen in the last 500 years. Through his leadership at Pro Church Tools, they’ve launched countless incredible resources for the local church including Nucelus, RebelGive, StoryTape and more. He regularly posts on the Pro Church Tool’s with Brady Shearer YouTube channel which has over 83,000 subscribers and currently resides in Ontario, Canada. Samer Massad is one of the dynamic communicators at Woodstock City Church in Woodstock, GA. Woodstock City Church is one of the campuses of North Point Community Church under the leadership and direction of Andy Stanley. Samer received his Masters in Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary prior to moving to Georgia. He has had the opportunity to speak to leaders, students and audiences around the nation by being a top-hailed speaker at Orange Conference, Youth Specialties, North Point Church and more. Luke McElroy is the founder and visionary of SALT Conferences. Author of four books including most recently released Creative Potential: Principles for Unleashing Your God-Given Calling, Luke was hailed as one of the “top innovators for worship” by Worship Leader Magazine. Luke’s leadership has helped create powerful live environments for thousands around the world. He and his wife Tricia are proud to call Nashville, Tennessee home. Joseph grew up in Akron, OH, and eventually made his way to Atlanta, GA as a hip-hop artist. There he connected with the team from North Point Community Church and Big Stuf Camps where he served as creative director, communicator and emcee of Catalyst Conference for many years. As the founder of Two Cents Creative, he and his team use art, media, film and interactive experiences to share story in a way that captivates audiences attention, while communicating in a compelling manner. He has had the opportunity to shape moments and create content for Passion Conferences, Chick-Fil-A Leadership Seminars, NBC’s Your Move with Andy Stanley, Elevation Church, SALT Conferences, Big Stuf Camps and many more! Currently, Joseph is serving as a Shephard of creative filmmakers in Fayetteville, GA with Pinewood Studios. Glenn Packiam is the associate senior pastor at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He is also the author of 5 books including his most recent: Blessed Broken Given: How Your Story Becomes Sacred in the Hands of Jesus. Glenn earned a Doctorate in Theology and Ministry from Durham University in the UK and is an ordained priest with the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA). Prior to becoming a pastor, Glenn was one of the founding leaders and songwriters of the Desperation Band. As a signed songwriter, he has had the honor of writing and co-writing over 65 worship songs, including several well-loved songs, like “Your Name” and “My Savior Lives.” Glenn has been a SALT keynote speaker many times and currently lives with his wife, Holly, and their four children in the shadow of the mighty Rocky Mountains. Andy Mineo is a New York City-based hip hop recording artist signed to Reach Records. His album, Uncomfortable, became the No. 1 independent record in the country and delivered a No. 3 and No.10 position on Billboard’s Hip Hop and Top 200 album charts, respectively. He has appeared on Sirius XM’s Sway In The Morning, MTV, and his colossal hit “You Can’t Stop Me” won an ESPN Whammy Award for MLB’s Top Walk Up Song. Andy Mineo carries his music beyond through scripting, producing and directing many of his own music videos. He also is the founder of the podcast “work in progress” and most recently collaborated with rapper Wordsplayed for the release of their mixtape, Andy Mineo and Wordsplayed present Magic & Bird.	36,282
Sunday, October 09, 2022 Last week troubled NFL free agent Antonio Brown was caught on video exposing himself to female hotel guests in Dubai [click here if you missed that]. This week Antonio is being accused of fraud for selling a fake Richard Mille watch... From TMZ In the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ Sports, Ryan Kane says Brown assured him the watch -- allegedly an RM 011 model -- was real ... and said it had a value "in excess of $400,000." Kane says he bought it based on Brown's claims -- wiring the $160,000 to Brown's company -- but he learned a few weeks later the thing was a fake. Kane says in the suit that he took it to a watch appraiser to have it authenticated and appraised for insurance purposes -- but claims the guy delivered him some bad news while he was there ... it was worth only a couple hundred bucks. Kane says after he asked around, he learned that Brown had bought the fake watch -- and three others like it -- from a dealer in Dubai earlier this year for less than $500 apiece. Kane is suing Brown for fraud and more ... seeking to get his money back plus interest. Posted by Rhymes With Snitch at 10:14 AM 11 comments: Anonymous said... If he had $100k to drop on a watch then he should've had $100 for an appraisal before he bought it. AB ain't shyt but people kill me crying foul after the fact when they knew they was too star struck to do a little research before the fact. 11:57 AM Anonymous said... AB a weirdo… is that a used coffee filter on his head, or young thug’s blouse? Anonymous said... @12:30 Before I even saw your comment, I was wondering why does he have a coffee filter on his head? Oh well. Anonymous said... Wearing a muffin cup as a hat. I guess times are tough for everyone Anonymous said... Y'all with the hat comments LMAO Anonymous said... That's really a Tea Pot Doily. It keeps the hot water kettle hot for your next cup of tea. R in NYC said... Anonymous said... One big chocolate cupcake. Me said... Anonymous said... so this guy thought he was getting a $400K watch for less than half the value of it? lol, he was asking to get hustled. this sounds like the trick where the guy sells you an macbook for $200 and you get it home and open it and discover it's a brick. moral of the story, if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is. Anonymous said... I bet the Kardashians don't want any parts of Antonio. I have never watched those heaux but I'd be a #1 fan if they brought him into the fold. New Commenting Rules: Please watch your language. Disguise curse words if you must use them and do not threaten or attack other commenters. Comments violating the rules will be deleted. 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If your bath tub is worn or it does not look excellent, our company will certainly assist you to restore its appearance. Any inquiry concerning your tub will be managed by our deserving experts. Your bathtub will certainly have the exact same shine and the exact same look when you first bought it. The efficacy of our bathtub services is ensured and also you ‘ve knocked on the right door if you are searching for the best services in the area. Why waste a lot time and effort in total improvement which will trigger total demolition of your entire restroom when you can refinish it in a fraction of the price and also conserve hundreds of bucks?. You should most definitely take into consideration the solutions of adept as well as seasoned experts for your bathtub refinishing. Our bathtub services are the very best around as well as they are highly efficient. You will not be let down by the work our experts will certainly carry out in a span of couple of hrs. – Restoring chipped, broke bathtubs – Blemished as well as stained bathtubs – killing microrganisms in the tubs. eliminating polluting swarms of microbes from tubs. – Total restoration is not a much better choice when you can do resurfacing. – tubs constructed from fiberglass which cause leakage repairment. – terrazo’s and also ceramic tile shower frying pans mending. – Restoring the surface of the tub that needs prompt interest. – Making the bathroom shower safeguard for senior and the damaged by making improvements in it. The provision of reducing side reglazing solutions is just one of the best things about us. Our experts can brilliantly take care of to provide you a tub that emphasizes the color of your walls or sink in a short time. We ensure you that ours is the most effective material on the market when it involves sturdiness and dependability and also we take complete fledge ownership of it. In order to support our case further we likewise offer a complete fledge life time warranty to our priceless customers We have actually offered appropriate proficient training to our professionals. These specialists specialize in refurnishing, reglazing, restoration and all other kinds of comparable services. They function effectively despite the sort of the surface area of the bathtub. You can check our customer endorsements if you desire better evidence of our expert reliability. Our consumers count on exactly what we do right here at the business. What makes us attract attention among the other refurbishing tub firms is not just our adequate services yet is likewise the idea our consumers have in our job. The expectation of your washroom will certainly be reinvented in an incredible way after we are maded with the makeover. To give a shiny as well as smooth want to your bath tub we polish it each time after the completion of our job. Your renovated bath tub will look just as good as brand-new. No person will certainly be able to inform that your tub is newly restored rather they will take it for a new one. That is the entire elegance of our job and that is why we do it! Our craftsmanship is unmatched and also lots of companies may declare to offer solutions of our caliber however not many live up to their cases. The life of your bathtub will certainly increased by several years. After the refinishing, you will be delighted with the face-lift of your shower room. We assure a rise in the life time of your bathtub after our work by 10-15 years. In order to ensure that our work does not go to waste it is your responsibility to keep up the maintenance of your tub inning accordance with the standards provided by the firm producers. We always make use of environment-friendly cleaners that are not just great for the atmosphere however are also far more efficient compared to unpleasant cleansers as well as are perfect for the work. Your bathroom can be refurnished in a reasonable rate as opposed to wasting hundreds of dollars and encounter the discomfort of deconstruction as well as repair. Attempt us! We take care of our customer’s financial as well as time-wise needs and supply them with the most effective customizable services. Attempt us! We look after our client’s financial in addition to time-wise requirements as well as provide them with the best customizable solutions. It is our obligation as a person to protect the atmosphere as well as if you team up with us, we can both interact to attain an environmentally friendly remedy by saving the resources as well as power which will certainly be made use of in the full improvement of your shower room which will certainly later on come to be a part of landfills as well as damage the atmosphere. If you opt for refinishing instead of remodelling, you are potentially conserving the environment. Expert recommendations and also remedies to inquiries by our bathtub experts are just a call away.	5,028
I think the memory card sent with my phone is a dud and maybe the usb cable also. My computer will recognize the memory then it will disappear. Also the battery seems to be discharging rather quickly. I guess that happens when u leave the bluetooth on? I did transfer all my contacts from my LG 600 to my new phone via Bluetooth. That was quite handy. I haven't been able to send files from my computer to my phone, but I can sent from phone to computer. I am listening to the FM right now, but i don't believe that would last long if I wasn't charging at the same time. I really would like to load mp3's though. This phone isn't everything I had hoped for. Great Phone but included SD Card in non-functional by Edward Virtually For the price this phone is unbelievably useful. Fully enabled Bluetooth: you can use it to load backgrounds, MP3s, ringers, etc. into the phone, and it supports stereo playback. It also has many other useful features like caller groups and rings you can set per those groups. The key problem with this phone isn't the phone itself, it's the worthless free SD card that Net10 bundles with it. It does not work properly and can easily make you think the phone is defective (as some other reviews demonstrate). As the manual itself states, the phone requires a Sandisk SD card to work properly -- a 2gb Sandisk card is very cheap these days and it's rather sad Net10 didn't just include one vs. sabotaging its own product with a worthless free junk card. Average Rating Click here to add your own comments Rating by: admin Thanks for your comments! Sounds like the microSD card might be the problem. This reader seems to have had the same problem:	1,771
Elon Musk says he has lined up $46.5 billion in funding to buy Twitter, and is trying to broker a deal with the company. Last week, Musk announced an offer to buy the social media company for $54.20 per share, or about $43 billion. At the time, he did not specify how he would finance the acquisition. The Tesla CEO said in filings with U.S. securities regulators on Thursday that he was exploring what’s called a tender offer to buy all of the social media platform’s common stock for $54,000. $20 per share in cash. In a takeover bid, Musk, who owns about 9% of Twitter shares, would present his offer directly to other shareholders, bypassing the board of directors. But Musk has not yet decided to do so. Documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission indicate that San Francisco-based Twitter Inc. did not respond to Musk’s proposal. Twitter said in a statement Thursday that it had received Musk’s updated proposal and its “new information on potential funding.” The company said its board of directors is “committed to conducting a careful, complete and deliberate review to determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interests of the company and all Twitter shareholders.” Last week, Twitter’s board adopted a “poison pill” defense that could make a takeover attempt prohibitively expensive. Funding would come from Morgan Stanley and other financial institutions. Other banks involved include Barclays, Bank of America, Societe Generale, Mizuho Bank, BNP Paribas and MUFG. Morgan Stanley is one of Twitter’s largest shareholders, behind Vanguard Group and Musk. Musk said $13 billion in funding would come from Morgan Stanley and the other banks, up to $12.5 billion would be loans secured by his Tesla stock, and committed $21 billion in equity, “directly or indirectly” on his part, although he did not. say what the source of those funds would be. The filing indicates that the equity commitment could be reduced by contributions from others or by additional debt incurred. Musk is the richest man in the world, according to Forbes, with a fortune of nearly $279 billion. But much of his money is tied up in shares of Tesla — he owns about 17% of the company, according to FactSet, which is valued at more than $1 trillion — and SpaceX, his private space company. It’s unclear how much money Musk has. Electric car and solar panel maker Tesla allows executives to use shares as collateral for loans, but limits borrowing to 25% of the value of the pledged shares. Musk owns 172.6 million shares worth $176.47 billion. Just over 51% of its stake is already pledged, according to a Tesla proxy statement. That means Musk could use the remaining stake to borrow around $21.5 billion. Securing funding from major banks brings a lot of credibility to Musk’s offer, said Daniel Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities. “It’s not just Musk antics,” Ives said. “The banks were going to line up for this richest person in the world deal. The fact that they put it together so quickly shows that Musk means business. It’s a real offer. » Ives said the takeover bid puts more pressure on Twitter’s board to find a second bidder or come to the negotiating table with Musk. “It’s a way to circumvent the poison pill and let the shareholders do the talking,” he said. A Delaware corporation named X Holdings 1 has been formed at the direction of Musk and certain affiliates which intends “to acquire, directly or indirectly, all outstanding interests of, or merge directly or indirectly with Twitter Inc.”, according to a funding commitment letter submitted by the company. Shares of Twitter fell slightly to $46.57 in Thursday midday trading after the funding became public. The stock price is $7.63 below Musk’s offer. Musk “seeks to negotiate a definitive agreement to acquire Twitter…and is prepared to enter into such negotiations immediately,” the documents state. With a takeover bid, Musk would try to get other shareholders to pledge their shares to him at a certain price on a certain date. If enough shareholders agree, Musk could use that as leverage to get the board to drop the poison pill defense. Experts say the poison pill would essentially mean the end of Twitter if Musk or another investor acquires 15% or more of the company. Under the poison pill, shareholders would have the right to buy preferred stock at $210. If someone acquires a 15% stake, shareholders would get $420 in Twitter stock or assets, more than Twitter could afford to pay. Musk flagged the possibility of a takeover bid several times this week in tweets using the word “offer.” Related posts: Groups line up on both sides of Upper Arlington Community Center Number 2 This week’s Houston offer sheet (April 4, 2021) Shake Shack Stock a buy? About Author Related Posts November 24, 2022 0 Facilitating access to finance for SMEs in the Gulf November 21, 2022 0 Domino’s will deploy more than 800 electric vehicles to improve its delivery fleet November 19, 2022 0 Holiday shoppers go from restaurant to home Comments are closed. business administration business owners covid pandemic credit card long term paycheck protection protection program real estate restaurant industry restaurant revitalization restaurants bars revitalization fund small businesses start pandemic united states	5,508
We have reached peak nostalgia as a culture. The '80s have been back in a big, bad way for the last few years, particularly in genre cinema, because we as a fan base are more susceptible to it than most. Your average movie fan doesn't give a shit about a synthesizer score, but horror nerds immediately remember watching John Carpenter movies as a kid and are suddenly more endeared to the nostalgia trafficking than they might otherwise be. I am aware of this at the same time that I am completely guilty of falling for it. Last year's Turbo Kid was one of my favorite movies of 2015, and that's a movie almost entirely rooted in remembering the kinds of movies on which so many of us were raised. Netflix's Stranger Things is all anyone can talk or write self-important thinkpieces about for the last month and a half, and it's not entirely because the show is a masterpiece of storytelling and character development. I mean, that stuff is in there -- and it's good! -- but what people keep coming back to again and again in their discussions of the show is that it "feels like Spielberg" and "feels like Stephen King" and has that "Amblin vibe" and that the opening credits are cool and the soundtrack kicks fucking ass. I am not disagreeing with any of that, nor am I wagging a finger at anyone who enjoys the show for those reasons. I enjoy those things too. But we also need to take a step back and ask ourselves if we've gotten to the point at which a bunch of signifiers pasted together are being given a pass because we like those signifiers, or if we should be demanding more from even our '80s throwbacks? Along comes Beyond the Gates, the debut feature from director Jackson Stewart (written by Stewart and Stephen Scarlata), to answer that question. The movie isn't good because it has a cool synth score or because it deals heavily with VHS tapes or because it features '80s scream queen Barbara Crampton in a prominent role (this besides the fact that Barbara Crampton is associated with much more than just the '80s, because she has done much of her best work in recent years and because Barbara Crampton is and always will be timeless because Barbara Crampton). The movie is good because it is built on a foundation of character, of relationships, of genuine dramatic stakes, of resonant themes of loss and abuse and familial love. The '80s signifiers Stewart includes are just the dressing. So yes, we should be demanding more from our '80s throwbacks. Beyond the Gates proves it by giving us so much more than just an '80s throwback. Graham Skipper and Chase Williamson play brothers Gordon and John, estranged for years but reunited to clean out the family video store after their father goes missing. Gordon is the more uptight of the two, having fled his hometown as soon as we was able and has spent a lifetime running from demons by attempting to find as much control and order as much as he possibly can, even starting a life with girlfriend Margo (Brea Grant, welcome in anything). John is the fuckup: no savings, no real job, not even a home to call his own, but he's also the one who stuck it out and looked after the family when Gordon took off. Having brothers is complicated. While cleaning out the video store one day, the boys come across a VHS board game called Beyond the Gates locked away in their dad's private office. Curious as to why their father was hiding the game, they pop the tape in the VCR and press play. The face of a woman (Crampton, who also acts as producer on the film) appears and tells them that they must collect four keys and finish the game if they want to save their father. Unsure if this is some kind of joke or if the game really is sentient and/or haunted, Gordon and John continue to play. And that's when things start to get really weird. And bloody. There are three moments of physical contact shared between the brothers in Beyond the Gates, and more than any gore gag or jump scare or special effect it is each of these that are key to the movie's success. As the story unfolds, more is revealed about the trauma in their past both shared and separately; it is trauma that has divided them for years and which is the basis of what they're working through in the course of the movie (like Joe Dante's The Hole from several years back, this is a story about surviving abuse disguised as a supernatural horror movie). Each high five/handshake/hug represents where Gordon and John are at in their lives and in their relationship -- the relationship that provides the emotional spine of the film and the thing in which we are most invested. By the time the story is resolved, it is done so in a way that is so honest and so well-earned that I was nearly moved to tears -- not bad for a goofy movie about a haunted videotape. But it is the seriousness with which Stewart treats the emotional arcs of the characters that gives Beyond the Gates its lasting power; the movie understands that our favorite horror films are those with characters with whom we want to spend time. I like spending time with Gordon and John in no small part because of the performances of Skipper and Williamson, who both find different and unique ways to play traditional familial archetypes. Skipper gives a different kind of performance than he's delivered in recent genre films: he's harder to read, more internal. He's the uptight brother without just becoming a caricature of the uptight brother. Williamson finds a completely new way to play the fuckup -- he's sweet and utterly sincere, the heart to Gordon's head (and when you compare it to Williamson's leading man work in the upcoming Siren, it's hard to believe it's the same actor in both roles). Rounding out the triptych is Brea Grant's Margot -- the soul of the trio -- and one of the many things I love about Stewart and Scarlata's screenplay is that it doesn't just relegate Margot to being the put-upon girlfriend in need of rescuing. It is Margot who snaps the family out of their years-long funk. It is Margot who makes the big moves to complete the game. It is Margot who acts as our audience conduit, finding her footing within a situation that dates back to years before she arrived into the mix. I love that she's a strong character, given agency, but who still has made mistakes and put up with things that the movie does not attempt to excuse or justify. These people are works in progress. They're trying to be better, and their greatest appeal is that we love them for their believable flaws, not in spite of them. This probably all makes Beyond the Gates some heavy character study that's no fun, which couldn't be further from the truth. The major sense of fun in the movie is what makes it so enjoyable to hang out with these characters, just as it's the well-written characters who make it so that we can have fun. Just because the movie is not pure frosting doesn't mean it doesn't have a shit ton of frosting. Stewart understands that a big part of what endears us genre fans to the kinds of supernatural '80s adventure horror to which he's paying tribute is the characters, yes, but it's also a giddy willingness to go to crazy places. Beyond the Gates does that. The moments of outrageous bloodshed are all the more entertaining because the movie spends its time building up to them, lulling us into a false sense of security that "this isn't going to be one of those movies" before OH SHIT intestines. The dark magic elements are funny because no one -- not us, not the characters on screen -- seems to really have any idea how the haunted VHS game is played. Maybe most fun of all is Barbara Crampton, who, as the game's host, may not have much of a character to play but who scores big laughs with just an extended, dead-eyed stare. She's a patient host. I'll give her that. I could keep talking about everything I find special about Beyond the Gates, a movie exploding with affection for the kinds of movies that inspired it, but I also know that the degree to which it does or does not connect with audiences ultimately comes down to taste. The film is objectively well written and acted, but some of the technical flourishes like Brian Sowell's photography, soaked as it is in thick blues and pinks, or Wojciech Golczewski's terrific score, help Beyond the Gates add up to a movie that feels like it was made just for me. There is a big difference between understanding that '80s horror is special and understanding why '80s horror is special. Jackson Stewart gets the latter. Most horror films we see these days pay off when the monster is killed. This one pays off with a hug. Given my own tremendous affection for the movie, that seems totally appropriate. Beyond the Gates will receive a limited theatrical and VOD release from IFC Midnight beginning December 9th. Posted by Patrick Bromley at 5:00 AM 7 comments: Chaybee August 26, 2016 at 6:44 AM I can't wait to see this film! My Grandmother use to have those VHS Agatha Christie Murder Mystery Games. They were kind of fascinating at the time with awful acting and I believe they were worthless cause you could only play them once. ReplyDelete Replies Sol August 26, 2016 at 9:23 AM This sounds awesome - I remember a friend brought the "Nightmare" VHS game (is that maybe the most famous one - stars "The Gatekeeper"?) to one of my birthday parties and talked up how scary it was and we just made fun of it the whole time. They were so dumb - sounds like the movie isn't! ReplyDelete Replies Chaybee August 26, 2016 at 9:29 AM Nice! Oh yeah, and does anyone remember Action Max?! I had one of these pieces of crap - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzJWMYfnj84 Delete Replies Rob DiCristino August 26, 2016 at 9:32 AM My friends and I played Nightmare, too. Our version was called "Atmosfear." Delete Replies Lindsay Wilkins August 26, 2016 at 5:27 PM I remember playing Nightmare a lot. This movie sounds amazing will definitely be keeping an eye out for this, it sounds amazing!!!! Delete Replies AJ Muller August 26, 2016 at 11:52 AM I've been waiting for this for what feels like a year (probably just 4 months or so but still) and I'm damned glad to hear it's as good as I hoped. Now I want it even MORE! Get in my eyeballs, Beyond the Gates! ReplyDelete Replies Meredith November 16, 2016 at 4:21 PM Oh so this hasn't even come out yet in most theaters. Well, blah. So much for downloading it this week. Alright it's queued for NY. 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Payday cash loans usually carry very high interest rates, and ought to simply be utilized for emergencies. Even though interest rates are high, these loans can be quite a lifesaver, if you discover yourself in a bind. These loans are specifically beneficial whenever a car reduces, or perhaps an appliance tears up. Require a payday loan only if you wish to cover certain expenses immediately this ought to mostly include bills or medical expenses. Usually do not enter into the habit of smoking of taking payday loans. The high interest rates could really cripple your money around the long term, and you need to figure out how to adhere to a financial budget rather than borrowing money. Since you are completing your application for payday loans, you are sending your own information over the internet to a unknown destination. Being conscious of this may assist you to protect your information, just like your social security number. Shop around about the lender you are thinking about before, you send anything over the Internet. If you require a payday loan for any bill that you may have not been able to pay due to deficiency of money, talk to people you owe the amount of money first. They could allow you to pay late as opposed to take out an increased-interest payday loan. Typically, they will allow you to make your payments in the foreseeable future. When you are resorting to payday loans to acquire by, you may get buried in debt quickly. Understand that you are able to reason with your creditors. Once you learn more about payday loans, you are able to confidently apply for one. These guidelines can help you have a tad bit more information regarding your money in order that you usually do not enter into more trouble than you are already in. Suggestions Regarding Your Student Loans Education loans have the potential being the two a good thing as well as a curse. It is important that you learn everything you can about financial loans. Continue reading for important information you ought to know ahead of receiving a loan. Look at the fine print on education loans. You must see what your equilibrium is, who the loan originator you're using is, and precisely what the settlement standing currently is using financial loans. It can help you in getting your financial loans cared for properly. This is certainly required so you can budget. In relation to education loans, be sure you only obtain what exactly you need. Think about the amount you need by examining your total bills. Element in things like the fee for residing, the fee for school, your school funding honours, your family's contributions, and so on. You're not essential to take a loan's complete amount. Usually do not think twice to "retail outlet" before taking out each student loan.\|Before you take out each student loan, will not think twice to "retail outlet".} Just as you would in other parts of life, shopping will assist you to get the best bargain. Some loan providers fee a absurd interest rate, while some are much a lot more reasonable. Research prices and evaluate prices for the best bargain. Focus on the loan settlement timetable by interest rate. The greatest price loan ought to be compensated initially. Making use of any other money accessible might help be worthwhile education loans faster. You simply will not be penalized for accelerating your settlement. For those having difficulty with paying off their education loans, IBR may be a choice. This can be a federal government program known as Income-Centered Payment. It may enable borrowers pay off federal government financial loans depending on how very much they can pay for as an alternative to what's because of. The cover is approximately 15 % in their discretionary cash flow. Try obtaining your education loans paid off inside a 10-12 months time. Here is the traditional settlement time that you must be able to accomplish following graduating. In the event you struggle with monthly payments, there are 20 and 30-12 months settlement periods.\|There are 20 and 30-12 months settlement periods in the event you struggle with monthly payments disadvantage to the is because they forces you to pay a lot more in attention.\|They forces you to pay a lot more in attention. Which is the downside to the When calculating how much you can afford to pay on your own financial loans every month, consider your annual cash flow. In case your starting up wage exceeds your total student loan debts at graduating, aim to pay off your financial loans within a decade.\|Make an effort to pay off your financial loans within a decade when your starting up wage exceeds your total student loan debts at graduating In case your loan debts is higher than your wage, consider a long settlement use of 10 to 2 decades.\|Think about a long settlement use of 10 to 2 decades when your loan debts is higher than your wage To get the most out of your student loan $ $ $ $, be sure that you do your garments shopping in affordable merchants. In the event you always retail outlet at department shops and pay full cost, you will possess less money to contribute to your instructional bills, generating the loan main larger as well as your settlement more costly.\|You will have less money to contribute to your instructional bills, generating the loan main larger as well as your settlement more costly, in the event you always retail outlet at department shops and pay full cost Prepare your lessons to make the most of your student loan dollars. In case your school charges a level, for every semester charge, handle a lot more lessons to get additional for your money.\|Per semester charge, handle a lot more lessons to get additional for your money, when your school charges a level In case your school charges less from the summertime, be sure to visit summer time institution.\|Make sure to visit summer time institution when your school charges less from the summertime.} Receiving the most worth for the dollar is the best way to extend your education loans. Instead of based upon only on your own education loans while in institution, you should pull in additional money having a in your free time task. This will help to make a ding in your bills. Remember to keep your loan company aware of your own tackle and mobile phone\|mobile phone and tackle variety. Which may mean the need to send out them a notice and after that pursuing with a phone phone to make certain that they may have your own information about submit. You might miss out on essential notices should they are not able to contact you.\|If they are not able to contact you, you may miss out on essential notices Go with a loan that gives you options on settlement. personal education loans are often less forgiving and fewer likely to offer possibilities. Government financial loans normally have possibilities based on your revenue. It is possible to normally change the repayment schedule when your conditions change but it really helps to know your options before you must make a choice.\|In case your conditions change but it really helps to know your options before you must make a choice, it is possible to normally change the repayment schedule To maintain your student loan expenses only possible, consider keeping away from banking institutions whenever you can. Their interest levels are increased, in addition to their credit expenses are also commonly beyond general public money possibilities. Which means that you possess less to pay back within the life of the loan. There are several things you have to think about if you are receiving a loan.\|Should you be receiving a loan, there are numerous things you have to think about The decisions you will make now will affect you a long time after graduating. By being smart, you can find a great loan in an affordable price.\|You can get a great loan in an affordable price, because they are smart A great way to save cash on credit cards is always to spend the time needed to evaluation go shopping for charge cards offering probably the most advantageous phrases. In case you have a decent credit history, it really is highly likely that one could acquire charge cards with no annual charge, very low interest levels and perhaps, even benefits for example flight a long way. If you are obtaining your initially bank card, or any greeting card as an example, be sure you pay close attention to the transaction timetable, interest rate, and all sorts of conditions and terms\|circumstances and phrases. A lot of people fail to check this out info, however it is absolutely in your reward in the event you spend some time to read it.\|It can be absolutely in your reward in the event you spend some time to read it, even though many individuals fail to check this out info Payday Loans Produced Simple By means of A Few Tips At times even the most challenging staff need some economic assist. Should you be inside a economic combine, and you need a tiny extra money, a cash advance could be a good answer to your issue.\|And you need a tiny extra money, a cash advance could be a good answer to your issue, if you are inside a economic combine Payday advance organizations often get a poor rap, however they basically supply a useful services.\|They really supply a useful services, although cash advance organizations often get a poor rap.} Uncover more concerning the nuances of online payday loans by reading through on. One particular factor to bear in mind about online payday loans is definitely the attention it is usually very high. In many instances, the successful APR will likely be countless percent. There are legal loopholes hired to fee these excessive prices. By taking out a cash advance, be sure that you is able to afford to cover it again within one to two weeks.\|Make certain you is able to afford to cover it again within one to two weeks if you take out a cash advance Pay day loans ought to be applied only in emergencies, if you really have no other alternatives. Once you take out a cash advance, and are not able to pay it again straight away, 2 things occur. Initially, you have to pay a charge to hold re-stretching out the loan before you can pay it off. Second, you keep receiving billed more and more attention. Opt for your references smartly. {Some cash advance organizations expect you to name two, or about three references.\|Some cash advance organizations expect you to name two. Alternatively, about three references These are the basic men and women that they may phone, when there is an issue and you also cannot be attained.\|When there is an issue and you also cannot be attained, they are the men and women that they may phone Ensure your references can be attained. In addition, be sure that you warn your references, that you will be utilizing them. This helps those to count on any cell phone calls. The majority of the payday loan providers make their customers signal complicated contracts that offers the loan originator security just in case you will find a dispute. Pay day loans usually are not released because of individual bankruptcy. Moreover, the customer must signal a record agreeing to not sue the loan originator when there is a dispute.\|When there is a dispute, additionally, the customer must signal a record agreeing to not sue the loan originator Prior to getting a cash advance, it is crucial that you learn of your different kinds of accessible so you know, which are the good for you. Certain online payday loans have diverse insurance policies or demands as opposed to others, so appearance on the web to understand what type is right for you. When you get a good cash advance firm, stay with them. Ensure it is your primary goal to develop a history of profitable financial loans, and repayments. As a result, you may grow to be qualified to receive larger financial loans in the foreseeable future using this firm.\|You might grow to be qualified to receive larger financial loans in the foreseeable future using this firm, in this way They may be a lot more eager to work with you, whenever you have true battle. Even individuals with poor credit could get online payday loans. A lot of people may benefit from these financial loans, however they don't due to their poor credit.\|They don't due to their poor credit, although many men and women may benefit from these financial loans In reality, most payday loan providers work along with you, so long as you will have a task. You will probably incur several costs if you take out a cash advance. It might expense 30 $ $ $ $ in costs or more to obtain 200 $ $ $ $. This interest levels ends up charging close to 400Per cent annually. In the event you don't spend the money for loan off of straight away your costs will undoubtedly get increased. Use payday financial loans and money\|money and financial loans advance financial loans, well under possible. Should you be in trouble, think about looking for the aid of a credit rating consultant.\|Think of looking for the aid of a credit rating consultant if you are in trouble Bankruptcy might result if you take out too many online payday loans.\|By taking out too many online payday loans, individual bankruptcy might result This may be avoided by steering away from them completely. Examine your credit history prior to choose a cash advance.\|Before you choose a cash advance, verify your credit history Customers having a healthier credit history should be able to get more favorable attention prices and phrases\|phrases and prices of settlement. {If your credit history is in very poor condition, you can expect to pay interest levels which can be increased, and you could not be eligible for an extended loan expression.\|You can expect to pay interest levels which can be increased, and you could not be eligible for an extended loan expression, if your credit history is in very poor condition In relation to online payday loans, do some looking all around. There may be tremendous variation in costs and attention\|attention and costs prices from one loan company to another. Probably you locate a website that shows up reliable, only to discover a greater 1 does really exist. Don't go with 1 firm until finally they are completely explored. Since you now are much better knowledgeable as to what a cash advance entails, you might be better equipped to make a decision about buying one. A lot of have considered receiving a cash advance, but have not done so simply because they aren't positive that they are a assist or possibly a problem.\|Have not done so simply because they aren't positive that they are a assist or possibly a problem, even though many have considered receiving a cash advance With proper planning and usage\|usage and planning, online payday loans may be beneficial and take away any anxieties relevant to negatively affecting your credit rating. Getting A Great Level Over A Education Loan A great way to save cash on credit cards is always to spend the time needed to evaluation go shopping for charge cards offering probably the most advantageous phrases. In case you have a decent credit history, it really is highly likely that one could acquire charge cards with no annual charge, very low interest levels and perhaps, even benefits for example flight a long way.	39,905
SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake City Police Department receives hundreds of calls for service each day. Not all calls result in a report or arrest. Compiled by Watch Commanders in the field, the Watch Log is a summary of events that stand out to them in a given 24-hour period. Call times listed are approximate and typically reflect the first call received by SLC911 (Dispatch) for a given case. Items contained herein are based on information available at the time of its release and should not be interpreted as an admission or finding of guilt. Arrest information may differ from formal charges filed by the prosecuting agency. To see a list of completed calls for service in the last 48 hours, visit slcpd.com/policecallsforservice. 9:05 p.m. The clerk was working the front counter when the suspect walked in and ordered a pizza, when asked for payment the suspect asked for the money from the register. The suspect indicated that he had a weapon. The clerk complied and the suspect fled the store in an unknown direction. The suspect was described as having a raspy voice, about 5’11” in his 20’s with a tattoo on the left side of his neck. He was wearing a blue or black jacket, black hat, dark pants and white tennis shoes. 12:57 a.m. The clerk was stocking merchandise when three male Polynesian teenagers entered the store. One of the suspects was holding a knife and demanded money. The clerk fled to a backroom and locked himself inside for his safety. The three males then stole the entire cash register and two cases of beer. The suspects were last seen leaving on foot from the area. To share information about this or other criminal activity with the Salt Lake City Police Department, please call (801) 799-3000. To remain anonymous, text us your crime tips to 274637. Start the text with the keyword TIPSLCPD (which routes it to SLCPD), then a space, followed by the relevant information or photos. 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There’s a song the surf sings…but even though Dakota Trask lives on the shore of the Pacific, she’s just discovering how to hear it. One poor choice, made the summer before her senior year in high school, set in motion events that have haunted her ever since. But she’s only now learning how far the consequences spread, and how many people have been impacted. Justus Teague has given the past eight years of his life to serving delinquent boys. For most of that time he would have unequivocally stated that his work made a difference and changed lives. But now one of his boys has altered all that. Justus is no longer sure his ministry matters. What he is sure of is the woman with soft blue eyes and a haunted soul who makes him feel alive and whole. The woman who makes him want to protect her with every fiber of his being. And for that very reason, the woman he can never have. "I have enjoyed all the books! They have a good Biblical message along with a good story. They are also hard to put down." "If you enjoy reading an excellent romance this one is outstanding." "Song of the Surf is up there on my gotta-read-again list. My only complaint is that it had to end." People ask, "How does the purchase process work?" 1. Choose the titles you want, checkout, and pay. 2. A download link is immediately available. The download process is very simple and easy, but if you run into trouble, we have an excellent technical team that will be right on task to help you get your wonderful books.	1,552
The EU and UK are exploring how to best structure their future trading relationship, especially in the area of regulatory cooperation and ‘mutual recognition’. There have been suggestions to build on the model provided by the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, better known by its acronym TTIP. David Henig, who was involved in the TTIP negotiations, explains why the way negotiators had started approaching regulations there isn’t likely be replicable in an EU-UK setting. The date was December 2015, the place a room in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office that bizarrely looked like a film recreation of 19th century literary boudoir, the principals the US Trade Representative and the UK Minister for Trade, and the subject ‘conformity assessment’. For two and a half years the UK government had sought to cajole US and EU TTIP negotiators to deliver an ambitious regulatory cooperation package, to the point where the outlines of an agreement were starting to fall into place. But the US were particularly dissatisfied with what they saw as discriminatory rules on product testing, and asked the UK to sort the matter out. For the next few months UK government ministers and senior officials found conversations with US counterparts dominated by what to them was an arcane subject which they never wanted to hear about again. As the UK faces life outside the EU there have been many people saying we should build on what was proposed in TTIP, without knowing much more about the detail. Given that TTIP negotiations were halted in November 2016 and would seem to be in long term cold storage, it’s reassuring to think all of the work could find a new home. The reality is that the structures envisaged in TTIP were specifically answers to problems that the US and EU had identified over many years, and would be unlikely to be suitable for the very different Brexit scenario. Add to that the reluctance of both sides to make significant concessions during the process, and the reality becomes that regulatory cooperation modelled on TTIP is not the answer to fixing the future EU-UK trade relationship. Why regulatory cooperation in TTIP? According to some economic estimates 90% of the gains from TTIP were going to come from tackling regulatory differences between the EU and US. From the car models that may look virtually identical but are essentially completely different cars under the hood, to testing regimes that mean you have to be based in a country to have your product tested, to duplications such as having to fire test the same product twice, there is a lot of potential to reduce costs and ease trade across the Atlantic without putting in jeopardy safety or consumer standards. So the aim was to find ways to cut down on unnecessary work for companies through tackling these issues. Negotiators approached regulatory cooperation across-the-board and in nine specific sectors. As well as opportunities there were equally many constraints which explained at least in part why this had never been done before. US and EU legal processes couldn’t allow for a new transatlantic body which would automatically implement new regulations. Regulatory agencies are frequently independent and guard this carefully. They are independent often because of the fraught politics around regulations, which has led to suspicions of government’s role in the process. Regulations themselves are deeply technical and politicians often lack the will to continue pushing reforms. In the case of TTIP there were also several separate chapters looking at the area, most notably those covering regulatory cooperation and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT). Note that the area of financial services was always treated in a slightly different manner and is not covered in this article. Talking about regulations The US and the EU had different ambitions when thinking about regulatory cooperation. For the US the main priority was the EU’s approach to consultation on regulations, where they wanted the EU to move closer to their own system of allowing stakeholders to comment on an actual proposal, rather than just carrying out general consultations. For the EU the main priority was early discussions with US regulators considering new regulatory measures. The fact that both wanted something achievable encouraged the belief that there could be a deal in this area, though on both sides there was institutional resistance to change. However these asks looked someway short of the ambition to use regulatory cooperation as a way of aligning existing regulations where there was no particular reason for the difference. As an initial step to aligning existing regulations it was hoped that there would be sectoral annexes in the nine areas where specific steps would be listed. To take a couple of examples, in pharmaceuticals there was quickly agreement on recognising certain inspections as equivalent, but despite significant work in automotive, progress was disappointing. This only showed the difficulties that would be faced in operation. To tackle what looked to be a potential shortfall against ambition, and borrowing from the US system of petitions, a proposal was put forward for a mechanism where proposals for regulatory alignment could be put forward to a joint US-EU committee of regulators, which would then consider these and reply as to whether they were feasible. Importantly this approach would have brought regulatory discussions into public view, to allay fears of key regulations being set behind the scenes with no input. Certainly such a system would not have been uncontroversial, particularly in the EU, but it felt like something that could deliver economic results in a transparent fashion. The chapter was however never agreed before talks halted in late 2016. But based on the description above it is hard to see a direct read across to the different situation the UK and EU will face. Addressing standards and conformity assessment Traditionally issues around differing regulations, standards and testing are covered in the TBT chapter of trade agreements. These chapters follow and deepen WTO principles of ensuring these ‘do not create unnecessary obstacles to trade.’ Ambitions in TTIP were higher in two ways, one shared, and one typical in US free trade agreements. The shared ambition was to eliminate dual testing of products where possible. The US also requested that the EU recognised US voluntary standards as international. This the EU refused to do so as this was seen a threat to the single market model, which is based on producing harmonised single product standards across the whole EU market. Testing, or conformity assessment, thus became the prime focus of attention. Both sides claimed problems on the other side. The EU had qualms about the US’ Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), also with various state level regulatory requirements. The US has problems with the fact their businesses had to have products tested in the EU to be put on sale there. The EU had previously made concessions on this to Canada to allow some products to be tested there for the EU market, but a dispute broke out over the US Government having to provide certain oversight functions to receive similar treatment. This is where the UK government were asked to help. Ultimately a solution along the lines of the Canada model could have been expected, which covers a number of sectors, but not for example cars. TTIP regulatory cooperation and the future UK-EU relationship Ultimately the regulatory cooperation and TBT chapters of TTIP should be considered as part of a package. When thinking about the relevance for a future UK / EU relationship, this means good news and bad. In terms of conformity assessment testing the EU has shown a willingness to let this be carried out outside of the EU. As dual testing is often a major complaint of business this should be some reassurance to UK business. But it is notable that as the CETA trade deal currently stands this excludes key areas like vehicles, so important to the UK automotive industry. In terms of regulatory cooperation and mutual recognition there is no such good news for Britain. The systems envisaged within TTIP were not agreed, there was no expectation of widespread mutual recognition being delivered quickly; limited mutual recognition was proposed initially despite great efforts by industry. Most notably the model was specifically designed to seek alignment over time of two competing regulatory superpowers. Further, if the UK are aiming for a Free Trade Agreement with the US we will run the risk of having to accept a position on voluntary standards which will take us out of the EU standards model – and the influence we currently have there. In a future FTA with Britain, a more limited regulatory cooperation involving dialogue between regulators is likely to be on offer from the EU. And in any case these regulators meet regularly when discussing international approaches. This approach has not in the past delivered significant results, in achieving mutual recognition of standards nor significant reduction of dual testing requirements. The proposed regulatory cooperation within TTIP evolved over three years of intense discussion between the parties, strongly supported by the UK government. The challenge of TTIP was however very different to that the UK may face, not least as the UK is not a regulatory superpower like the US. The UK and EU will need to go through the same process of negotiation based on the interests and red lines of both parties. There is no obvious shortcut, given that regulatory cooperation within trade agreements even outside TTIP remains relatively untested. It is likely that some dialogue could be on offer for the future UK-EU trade agreement. But this would fall way short of the idea that the TTIP discussions opened the way to widespread mutual recognition outside of the single market structures. There was hope that over time dialogue between EU and US could head in this direction, but it was not expected to happen quickly. What was achieved in TTIP over three years was bringing together two regulatory superpowers and designing the kind of mechanisms that could have seem them cooperating, and in turn creating efficiency. For a UK unsure of a future trading relationship with either of these powers there are more fundamental questions to be answered before solutions can start to be offered. David Henig is UK Director at the European Centre for Internaitonal Political Economy and a founding member of the UK Trade Forum Related Previous Post: Foreign investment screening: the new kid on the block in Europe Next Post: What can the Commonwealth deliver on trade? Leave a Reply Cancel reply Email (required) (Address never made public) Name (required) Connecting to %s Notify me of new comments via email. Δ This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Email Address: Who we are We are an independent and non-partisan group of trade policy experts from various backgrounds – law, civil service, journalism, academia, civil society – committed to improving the quality of public debate about international trade and investment policy in the United Kingdom. Recent Posts The UK’s regulatory sovereignty vs. free trade dilemma July 28, 2020 Of drams and disputes – the United States’ Airbus tariffs and its implication for British trade policy July 22, 2020	12,347
Have you ever pondered, why the 5K run is called the “Fun Run”? When I began my journey, this was a question which I always felt wierd about. I would pant and faint before I would reach the 5K mark. Fun Run – Really? A 0-5K journey can really be fun if you decide to plan and structure it well. In the last couple of years marathon running has become a craze in India. For almost 4-5 years now, I have been seeing social media handles of various family, friends, colleagues and acquantainces; carrying photos of running a marathon. Most, individuals begin their journey with a run of 3-5 kms. This would either be because they are representing their corporate setup or company, or seriously want to give it a try. But how many of us really sustain after the marathon or are able to run the next one? Running a marathon is about testing your physical and mental fitness. But the problem is we do not concentrate on the fitness, but follow the glamour in it. It is important to have a proper training plan to run a marathon, so that you can really sustain your fitness levels. This post today is for those individuals who have identified running as a fitness companion in their journey and want to progress physically and mentally. The “Couch to 5K” is a concept not really new to many. We must have seen and heard many fitness enthusiasts using this term. The crux really is “How to begin the long distance running journey”. How to push yourself out of the couch and run that 5K milestone. So today let us look at some tips on starting this journey. Focus on the Pre- and Post-Run Routines Warmup and Cool downs need to be an integral part of every workout. During the warmups focus on dynamic stretching and slow increase in Heart Rate. You can use exercises like walking lunges, butt kicks, high knees, high jumps, on-spot jumps, jumping jacks etc. Focus on streching and activating the hamstrings, legs and torso. These are the muscles that you need to be stronger while you run. Dynamic stretching helps improve flexibility and activates the muscles which helps prevent injuries. Post-Run, it is important to relax and recover your muscles and Heart Rate. Focus on stretching each of the muscles that you feel are tight. While stretching, dont just focus on the lower body but also stretch the core and the shoulders. We do not realise, but running is more or less a whole body exercise which overworks muscles and contracts them. Relaxing them via stretching also helps reduce injury and cramps. An ideal warmup schedule for running should be something like Dynamic Stretching –> A brisk walk (5 mins at least) –> Slow transition to run with Run + Walk. This will gradually activate muscles and adjust the body temp and HR, thus making you ready to run. Similarly, an ideal cool down schedule should be Slow trainsition to Run + Walk –> A brisk walk (5 mins at least) –> Static Stretching. This will gradually relax and recover your muscles. Try to end with 1 minute of meditation as it will bring your HR to normal and you feel really fresh. Start Slow. Dont Focus on Pace. Our target is to run those 5 kms. But should you run those on day 1? No! An ideal training plan should be small intervals of run and more intervals of walking. Running puts a lot of stress on your body. So, there is a good chance that your body will give up too soon. Thus, you need to slowly train your body to manage this stress. Try running shorter intervals and walking more, and then slowly transitioning to larger time intervals of running. An ideal training plan would be, to not focus on distance but to focus on time. Something like a 10 min run, and then slowly progressing it to 20, 30, 40 mins. As a beginner, do not exceed 45 mins of running or walking. The other biggest error that we make is focusing on the pace. We do not like the idea that a fellow runner or may be a walker crosses us while we run. Frankly, it hardly matters. It is important to run slow. How slow? As slow as you can have a conversation with another runner. If you are a solo runner, you should be able to sing if possible. That is the slowest pace. The focus should be on the breathing and not the pace. Breathe through the nose, and once in a while through the mouth is okay. Starting Fast or running at a higher pace, tires the body fast. In this case the chances that you will be inconsistent with your runs is very high. Pains and Injury are highly demotivating and completely push you away from running. Slower start and lower pace, makes the runs more relaxed while helping your body adapt to the stress it will go through. This way you will enjoy the running journey. The running form is unique for every individual. But with proper training you can really improve on it. Take a step back and think about these aspects: Run Tall with a slight lean. Keep your shoulders and back straight with free movements of hands. Do not clinch or fist your hands. Don’t look at your shoes while running. Ideally, focus your look on the road about 100-200 mts ahead. This will give you a slight lean and also keep your head high. Don’t stomp your legs. They should land lightly on the ground. Learn to manage your weight and not put it on your legs. The best way to manage this is to have shorter strides to begin with and when you have got a hang of it, then increase the strides slowly. While going uphill, shortern your strides. Improve hand movements. Balance yourself properly and ease the effort. Keep in mind that effort is more important that pace. It is okay to run slower. While going downhill, lean ahead a little and let the gravity do the rest. If needed, the strides can be increased, but again pace needs to be controlled. An increase in pace can only add to higher HR. Importance of Rest and Recovery Resting is an important part of the workout regime. The body needs time to recover from the stress you have put on it due to running. When I say resting, it does not mean sleeping the whole day or doing nothing. It means that the workout needs to be less intense. If you ask a pro-runner, he/she will tell you that rest days are really important. Never run every day. 3-4 days a week of running is quite enough. The other 2-3 days either brisk walk or cross train. Running helps us loose a lot of muscle. Recovering this muscle is also important. Muscles help us with our day to day functions. Functions like walking, climbing stairs, picking up a bucket of water, carrying the groceries from the store, sitting down and much more. As we age, especially after about 35-40, the bones start loosing their density. During this phase, they need support from the muscles. Some studies say that working out also delays the aging process. All in all, functional or weight training, yoga or agility and flexibility training all help in better muscle recovery and improvement. While you take up running, also plan some time in a week for such type of trainings. You will realise that your runs become stronger and it reduces fatigue as well. When a coach says Diet, it brings a frown on everyones face. Diet is a taboo word for everyone, because everyone thinks that this is more or less tough and we will not able to follow it. Correct! Non-sustainable diets are tough to follow. Mind you, none of the nutritionist or dietician will every tell you to eat less. They always ask you to improve your nutrition. This means that the basic macros like protein, carbohydrates and fats need to be balanced. When you have appropriate nutrition you will realise that you have managed your hunger. Make your diet plan sustainable. Learn to identify the right things to eat. Also you will realise, that as your training intensity increases, you may need to consume more food or calories. Speak to an expert and take advise on how you should plan your diet. Everyone is different and each one of us have our own tastes. A copy and paste of someones diet will never be sustainable. But an informed individual will go a long way. Stay away from supplements. I believe the food we eat has enough macros to provide you with the nutrition that you need. Training for 5K as a beginner, is not an easy task. Every individual is different and so there is no fix plan for all. You need to plan, measure and listen to your body; and slowly but gradually take those additional steps. There are people who have trained within days or weeks. It took me 3-4 months to actually convert myself from 0 to 5 kms at a stretch. But since then, my journey has just moved ahead and I haven’t looked back. So, when you talk to any professional runner, he/she would tell you, that the proverb “Slow and Steady wins the race”, is really apt for every long distance runner. Related Published by Kedar Murdeshwar As a kid I was a very active individual participating in various sports and activities. At the age of 16, I underwent a surgery wherein I was advised to lead a sedentary life. Till recently, up to say 2017, I was leading this unhealthy lifestyle. I weighed almost 100 kgs, with a lot of health problems. My fitness journey began in 2018 when I discovered my love for running. I ran my first fun run (5kms) in late 2018 and my first 10 kms in 2019. Since then I have been working on my endurance and strength and training for the long term. In this fitness journey, I have encountered quite a few mentors and friends who have actually bulldozed the myths and unhealthy traditions that I was following. They actually helped me overcome my failures in my fitness journey. View all posts by Kedar Murdeshwar	9,695
It was a chilly Saturday when I drove up the long driveway to the Zimmerman's country home, with their 2 black dogs heralding my arrival. I was about to deliver their wedding film which I had wrapped up like a gift. This is one of my favourite parts about my job - to see the joy on their faces when they finally get to see their wedding film and to give them a hug one final time. You see, I love my clients like I love my friends - I care for them and want to serve them in the best way possible. Filming their weddings is not just a job for me, it's a journey of discovery, friendship, and creativity. I remarked to my husband after we left, "I hope that's not the last time I get to see them". Mike & Megan's wedding was a meaningful and memorable experience for all of their friends and family. I loved their attention to detail in every aspect, from their tree-planting ceremony to the fact that they held their ceremony on the front lawn of their forever home. Surrounded by their favourite people (and their 2 doggos), they embarked on the greatest journey of their lives, and I felt so honoured to be there to capture their first moments and memories as husband and wife. Did you work on this wedding? Join as Pro Watch, Get Inspired, Book. Mike and Megan in Oil Springs, Ontario, Canada Videographer: Amanda May Films Sep 7 2019 Likes Contact Videographer Rustic It was a chilly Saturday when I drove up the long driveway to the Zimmerman's country home, with their 2 black dogs heralding my arrival. I was about to deliver their wedding film which I had wrapped up like a gift. This is one of my favourite parts about my job - to see the joy on their faces when they finally get to see their wedding film and to give them a hug one final time. You see, I love my clients like I love my friends - I care for them and want to serve them in the best way possible. Filming their weddings is not just a job for me, it's a journey of discovery, friendship, and creativity. I remarked to my husband after we left, "I hope that's not the last time I get to see them". Mike & Megan's wedding was a meaningful and memorable experience for all of their friends and family. I loved their attention to detail in every aspect, from their tree-planting ceremony to the fact that they held their ceremony on the front lawn of their forever home. Surrounded by their favourite people (and their 2 doggos), they embarked on the greatest journey of their lives, and I felt so honoured to be there to capture their first moments and memories as husband and wife.	2,638
Out of respect for my husband, that last post is really all I plan to say about the divorce, except to add that there was no infidelity in our marriage. Like ANY couple, married or divorced, we had plenty of problems, but that was never one of them. Posted at 11:01 AM \| Permalink Comments You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post. Very good for you! That is the best way to handle this situation Posted by: Teri \| June 28, 2010 at 11:04 AM Hang in there, Amanda. Hug your kids and know that trusting yourself is a wonderful lesson to teach them. Posted by: J \| June 28, 2010 at 11:13 AM Honestly, I am disappointed that you're closing the subject. After dishing out martial/relationship advice for so many years, I would like to know more about what you think you got right and where you were wrong. Of course, for the sake of your family, it's the right decision. Posted by: Rosetta \| June 28, 2010 at 11:19 AM In all honesty? I think people jump to the infidelity conclusion because it's the easiest one. "Someone cheated" is easily explained, understandable, and strangely acceptable to people. Unfulfilled, grown-apart, and irreparably broken are harder for people to comprehend. I've come to two conclusions about marriage through the years. One: no one ever understands the relationship between two people except the two people themselves. And sometimes not even then. Two: no one should throw stones at another person's marriage. There isn't a glass house strong enough to hide in. Posted by: Alias Mother \| June 28, 2010 at 11:28 AM > I think people jump to the infidelity conclusion because it's the easiest one. Actually, I think the easiest conclusion to come to is that she is ending her marriage and splitting up her family because she loves her husband but is not "in"love with him, as she originally posted. But that seems very selfish & 100% self centered - which would be fine for a person with no children but is pretty reprehensible for a parent of two young children who are about to be thrust into the ugly world known as "kids of divorced parents". My wife is a teacher, and I can fill this blog with nothing but the horror stories of divorced kid problems, trust me. I think some of us were postulating that surely there was "more" to the story than Amanda just not being "in love" with Dave anymore as it was amazingly contrary to all her posting over the years. Like someone hacked her account and made the divorce story up. But yes, it is her life and her marriage and if I added to any stress, I am sorry for that. Posted by: Stephen \| June 28, 2010 at 11:51 AM It's very easy to judge when we're not involved. Thanks for sharing, Amanda! And please keep the blog going - I adore you! Posted by: Tree Wines \| June 28, 2010 at 12:02 PM Alias Mother got it right, no one knows what happens in your house but you! Divorce sucks, especially for kids! So my wish and hope for you is that you and Dave can raise those precious ones with all of the love and support in the world. (((hugs))) Posted by: LizP \| June 28, 2010 at 12:15 PM Wow, I agree with Stephen. I don't know you and I don't comment much but I REALLY hope you know what you are doing to your family and those kids. My marriage has been 14 years of hard work and not a whole lot of "in" love, but you know what? It's what is best for my family, not just ME. Sorry to be the bitch, but you need to hear it. Posted by: Carrie \| June 28, 2010 at 12:20 PM I feel like Han Solo - out of it for a little while frozen in carbonite and bam! The busy past month has kept me off the blogs and wow, was I shocked to see this! It's crazy - I don't know you, never met you, only started reading your blog a few months ago...but feel like I KNOW you. I have two friends struggling with the possibility of divorce - each for very different reasons...and my sister is considering it for the EXACT reason you have mentioned. You are living through so much right now...I hope you can find some solace in writing and your blog, achieve happiness and balance in your life - and do what is right for YOU and YOUR family. Posted by: The Original Drama Mama \| June 28, 2010 at 12:31 PM As someone who had parents who stayed together "for the kid" I've always felt I'd have been happier if they'd have been happier. Divorce isn't the worst thing in the world to happen to a kid. It's not great, sure, but what's important is that the children still have two loving parents who are actively involved in their lives. Posted by: Jamie \| June 28, 2010 at 12:49 PM Whoa. I seriously was shocked to high hell when reading all of this because you have seemed over the past few years like you were in a solid relationship. But the truth is, I only know smidgeons of your life based on what you post; I do not know you in real life. However, when Dave lost his job and you've been in sort of a "funk" and things have been rough - I can't say that I'm exactly surprised. You have dealt with so much this past year. And I'm sure that this is not a decision you made lightly. I think while people may cast stones and complain about you being "selfish" because of your children, I would like to comend you for NOT being selfish. You don't have to teach your children that staying where you are unhappy is a way of life - you are a strong woman, and that is a good thing. I don't know if it's been tense or harsh in your home life, but if it has - then removing the children from a situation like that is NOT selfish. I wish you the best. I'm sorry you are going through this; I imagine it is very very tough and heart breaking. But this too shall pass and I have a feeling that it will all be ok in time. Posted by: Liana (Suburban Mom) \| June 28, 2010 at 12:56 PM I do not know you besides this blog but I found the your last blog to be very respectful towards your family. Wishing you all of the best. Marriage takes alot of work and divorce I can only imagine adds more stress. Hugs a million times over for all of you. Posted by: laura \| June 28, 2010 at 01:55 PM You've shared some intimate stuff about your sex life, so I'm surprised that you are closing the subject on your marriage. I respect your decision though, blogging can be risky business. If you're not happy, move on for the sake of your kids. Nothing would be worse than to lose yourself in a loveless marriage just so the kids don't have to deal with divorce. Divorce is not a decision anyone would take lightly, especially someone who's been married more than a few years and has children. Ignore the haters! Posted by: Sarah \| June 28, 2010 at 02:07 PM Amanda my dear....I have no words for you..other than...We love your whole family regardless of if you are married or divorced....and will always! I love you kiddo! Posted by: Lori Harrison \| June 28, 2010 at 07:48 PM My in-laws can not stand each other, but they are still married. My husband swears that he and his younger brother used to talk about how their parents should just get divorced and stop making each other miserable from time he was Alex's age and his brother was Genoa's age. Sometimes two happy parents in two separate homes is the greatest gift a person can give their child. Keep calm and carry on, Amanda. Everything in its own time. Posted by: Angie \| June 28, 2010 at 08:07 PM Sorry to hear the news of your divorce. I hope you and Dave can get through this as friendly as possible. Posted by: Grace \| June 28, 2010 at 09:56 PM Just wanted to send love and best wishes my dear. I just went thru this and probably didn't handle it as gracefully as you are:) I know you will make a great life for you and your children. Posted by: Carrie \| June 29, 2010 at 08:14 AM I come from a family of divorce. To the best of my knowledge, those same two letters broke my parents up. You know what the title of my college application essay was, "Why my parents breaking up was the best thing that ever happened to me." I'm just saying that anyone who claims you need to stay together for the children doesn't really understand that sometimes it is in fact, the best thing FOR the children. I may not know you, but I know what your kids are going through. And you know what, they'll be just fine. -a PhD with a husband and child of her own who likes to think she turned out just fine. Posted by: Melissa \| June 29, 2010 at 08:51 AM Wow - sending you all lots of positive thoughts for this tough time. I fall into the category of "my parents should have divorced years ago" but I think only you know what is best for you and your family. Posted by: Therese \| June 29, 2010 at 02:12 PM I just dont know what else to say! Posted by: kheather \| June 30, 2010 at 12:21 PM i'm so sorry amanda that this year has just been one shitty one for you. here's to hoping that you find the strength to make it through all this and whatever comes your way. i don't know whether it's worse for the kids to live in a house without love or to live in a house without 2 parents, but that's your choice and not ours to make. here's wishing you all the best. Posted by: denise \| June 30, 2010 at 02:06 PM OK, here are my final words about this.. (In case you care, heh.) I've been thinking about you and your divorce for a couple of days now and something has been bothering me. When you were talking about he whole saying yes thing, you made me feel (a little) insecure, as a wife. I thought maybe I wasn't as dedicated, that maybe I was good but not good enough. It's not like I've been dwelling on it, but when you wrote it it made an impression on me. And now, I feel really deflated. My first thought was that if the two of you can't make it, then what about the rest of us? But that isn't how it is, is it? Maybe you haven't been lying on your blog, but you sure have been omitting a lot, in between waxing on about happy marriages and what it takes to stay together. I don't know you personally, I only read your blog and I've enjoyed it for a long time (I LOVE your chicken cashew recipe!) but now I don't know how much of what I've read has been truthful, or just plain wishful. As a reader I feel betrayed, or something close to it. And as a reader you have no obligations to please me with details of your life. But betrayed is still how I feel. I still wish you much happiness in your life, for both you and the kids and Dave. Posted by: Gry \| July 01, 2010 at 12:53 AM My father has been married three times. He had a child with each wife. My oldest brother turned out remarkebly well, considering the hatred his mother put on him, the times she took my father to court because he wasn't giving her enough money (despite the fact she married a very wealthy attorney and my father, at the time, was a government worker making very little). He worked so hard to bein my brother's life, yet it was never enough. Despite this, Rick grew up to be a sucessful, charming, responsible man...now going through a divorce. But that's a whole other story. My brother from my dad's second marriage...he's living in someone's storage unit and is 33 years old. He has never held a job longer than 6 months. He nearly died 5 years ago when his car wrapped around a tree after a night of drinking. Despite my father getting custody, ensuring he did everything right with this one, despite money, shrinks, tutors,a childhood filled with family vacations and a safe home, and a mother in figure in my saint of a mother, he turned out this way. My mother and father are still together after 30 years and while they have had their ups and downs ( I begged my mother to divorce him when I was 14. He got on zoloft and our lives changed shortly after) they get each other. No one else can put up with my dad quite like Mom, and I think she is happy to do so. They just fit. I guess my point is, no one can tell you how your kids lives will change, how they will end up as a result of this. My brother would probably be getting a divorce even if his parents had not. My other brother might be very well just be a lazy guy who doesn't know when to grow up. It seems that you and Dave will be amicable about this, and always friends, so you all stand a good chance of being just fine. I really hope you will be. Posted by: Jessica \| July 03, 2010 at 07:38 AM Thinking of you, of course. I've figured out that no one knows ANYTHING about anyone else's marriage, ever. And if one person is unhappy, both people are unhappy. Someone said that to me when I was first separated and it made perfect sense, and made me feel better. Posted by: irretrievably broken \| July 07, 2010 at 08:54 AM I just love you. That is all. And as you well know, you don't owe anyone an explanation about the ins and outs of your marriage and now divorce. Not a single person. Posted by: Kerri Anne \| July 09, 2010 at 03:11 PM Posted by: \| This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted. Your comment could not be posted. Error type: Your comment has been saved. Comments are moderated and will not appear until approved by the author. Post another comment The letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. Please try again. 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Napa brake pads are manufactured by a variety of companies, including but not limited to NapaAutoCare, Bendix, Akebono, and Raybestos. While the manufacturing process may vary slightly between brands, all reputable companies use similar materials and adhere to strict quality standards. Napa Brake Pads are sold by napa online and in stores. They are made by a variety of manufacturers, but the vast majority are made by NapaAutoCare, Akebono, Bendix, and Raybestos. The brake pads are made of steel and other metals, with a friction material bonded to the metal backing plate. The type of friction material used can vary, but most brake pads use either semi-metallic or ceramic materials. Which company manufactures Napa Brake Pads? Who owns Akebono? How are Napa Brake Pads Made? What are the Materials in Napa Brake Pads? What is the Cost of Napa Brake Pads? Where to buy Napa Brake Pads? Which country makes Napa Brake Pads? What is the warranty on Napa Brake Pads? When did Napa Brake Pads Manufacturing start? Who are some of the other Napa Brake Pad Manufacturers? Which company manufactures Napa Brake Pads? NapaAutoCare, Akebono, Bendix, and Raybestos all adhere to strict quality standards, so you can be sure that whichever brand of Napa Brake Pads you choose, they will be of the highest quality. NapaAutoCare is a subsidiary of Genuine Parts Company (GPC), which is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. GPC has over $13 billion in annual revenue and employs over 83,000 people worldwide. Who owns Akebono? Akebono is a Japanese company that manufactures brake pads and other automotive parts. It is one of the largest brake pad manufacturers in the world, and it produces products for a number of different brands. For more than 60 years, Akebono has been developing brake pads and is a worldwide leader in braking pad innovation. Napa Brake Pads are a great choice for your car, and Akebono brake pads offer the best performance. If you’re looking for new brake pads, consider Napa Brake Pads from Akebono. How are Napa Brake Pads Made? The manufacturing process of Napa Brake Pads varies depending on the company. However, all brake pads must go through a few steps in order to be completed. The first step is to create the mold for the pad. Next, the materials that will make up the pad are mixed together and then poured into the mold. The pad is then left to cure, which takes anywhere from a few hours to a few days. After it has cured, the brake pad is inspected for quality control and then packaged for sale. What are the Materials in Napa Brake Pads? The materials used in Napa Brake Pads vary depending on the manufacturer, but the vast majority of pads are made of asbestos, steel, and copper. Asbestos is a natural fiber that is heat resistant and has great strength. It is used in brake pads because it helps to dissipate heat, which is created when the brakes are applied The materials in Napa Brake Pads also include steel and copper. These materials are used because they are strong and durable. They help to keep the pad in one piece, even under high temperatures and heavy use. What is the Cost of Napa Brake Pads? The cost of Napa Brake Pads varies depending on the manufacturer, but most pads fall within the $10 to $30 range. This is a relatively affordable option for brake pads, and it is why they are so popular. Yes, Akebono does make Napa Brake Pads. In fact, it is one of the largest manufacturers of these pads. Akebono produces a wide variety of brake pads for different vehicles, and it offers a number of different options for each type of pad. Where to buy Napa Brake Pads? Napa Brake Pads are available for purchase at Napa Auto Parts stores and online at the Napa website. They can also be found at a number of other retailers, including Amazon.com. Which country makes Napa Brake Pads? The majority of Napa Brake Pads are made in the USA. However, a few brands are made in other countries, including Japan and China. What is the warranty on Napa Brake Pads? Napa Brake Pads come with a standard warranty of one year from the date of purchase. This warranty covers defects in materials and workmanship. If you have a problem with your brake pads, you can return them to the place of purchase for a refund or exchange. When did Napa Brake Pads Manufacturing start? The first Napa Brake Pads were manufactured in the early 1900s. However, the company has gone through a number of changes over the years, and the current incarnation was founded in 1984. Who are some of the other Napa Brake Pad Manufacturers? Some of the other manufacturers of Napa Brake Pads include Bosch, PBR, and TRW. All of these companies produce high-quality brake pads that are designed to meet the needs of drivers. Napa Brake Pads are made mostly by NapaAutoCare, Akebeno, and other top brake pad manufacturers. These pads are made of asbestos, steel, and copper to ensure durability and safety. With a one-year warranty, these pads are an affordable and reliable option for your car. You can find Napa Brake Pads at most auto parts stores or online retailers.	5,322
While covering the Illinois cannabis industry, we at Illinois News Joint have made a concerted effort to collaborate with likeminded folks. Since legalization, we have collaborated with cultivators, dispensaries, small businesses, large companies, headshops, chefs, artists, entrepreneur, and more. Earlier in the year when I noticed a podcast called the Chillinois Podcast, I was extremely interested to see what it was all about. Cole, who produces the Chillinois Podcast (@chillinoispodcast), describes his show as “chill” and “super mellow” with a “professional format” and “plenty of cannabis to go around.” He credits his co-host, Justine, as the one who truly makes this podcast what it is. Submitted photo “Her work with CannaKweens is ultimately what inspired me to make this show a platform for anybody and everybody in the industry,” he said. On his podcast, Cole covers new developments in the cannabis market and features industry insiders. He finds the Illinois cannabis laws to be super interesting and is looking forward to seeing how it all plays out. “I have always been a big fan of podcasts,” he said. “The idea (for Chillinois Podcast) came from a void that I saw. I help moderate a community on Reddit and Discord called Illinois Trees…We wanted to give a voice to social-equity applicants, licensed cultivators, dispensary owners, and entrepreneurs within this new and rapidly expanding industry.” Cole started with the podcast in April of this year as a way to directly reach out to the Illinois cannabis community he had started after adult-use cannabis became legalized. “I felt like it was a watershed moment in the sense that people were starting to come around to the idea that cannabis legalization was not going to lead society into end-times,” Cole said. “I felt comfortable enough to put my voice out there to speak about a substance that has helped me change for the better.” After adult-use legalized, he finally felt comfortable enough to advocate openly for products derived from the plant. “At the time, we were also giving away merch for a licensed cannabis cultivator in the state of Illinois,” Cole said. “I felt like it was another way to reach out to the Illinois cannabis community that we had started. So far, I’ve received great feedback.” To prepare for his podcast guest, he enjoys smoking a joint and researching information about his guest. He starts by researching shows or podcasts in which his guest may have previously appeared. At times, he will go into his interviews with a set of questions ready to go, but he also welcomes a conversational format to spark more discussion. “I try to ask questions that come up during my independent research,” he said. “Sometimes, we go into a show without pre-written questions depending on the main topic of discussion. As time goes on, we have found ourselves in ‘a groove’ and no longer rely on scripts or prepared questions as much.” Submitted photo Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chillinois Podcast currently does not have a recording studio. Guests and hosts join remotely via different mediums, such as Skype, Zoom, and more. “We love the idea of having a recording studio, but we have hesitated due to concerns related to the logistics of social distancing,” he said. The Chillinois Podcast’s first guest was Michael Malcolm (@MikeGDaGod and WeedTravelFood.com). Cole started following Malcolm on Instagram in the early days of the Illinois Medical Cannabis program when Malcolm started reviewing products. “When I heard that Michael was applying for a cannabis license in Illinois, I felt like he would be our perfect guest,” Cole said. “He has since become a recurring feature on the Chillinois Podcast.” His second guest, Justine, discussed CannaKweens, a collective of kweens from across the cannabis industry who have come to make an impact and empower women to empower other women. The podcast has also been joined by licensed physicians, the Illinois Hemp Growers Association, the Pot Brothers at Law (as seen on Tosh.O), Mike Fourcher from GrownIn.com, the MiCannaCast (a cannabis podcast based out of Michigan), Cole Eastman from Justice Grown (a licensed cultivator in the state of Illinois), Cannabis Coach Haley (CBD Dosage Specialists and former cannabis industry professional), Daniel Corral (former industry professional who is working with coworkers to form a union in the Illinois cannabis industry), Jonah Rapino (from NuEra, a licensed cultivator and owner of three dispensaries in the state of Illinois), and more. “It’s really interesting to learn how the cannabis industry actually works,” he said. “We have had a lot of industry insiders on, and it’s pretty eye-opening, for better or for worse, to see how the gears really turn in this budding industry.” Cole would love to have an honest conversation with a politician, public figure, or ‘average joe’ that happens to be anti-cannabis. “I’m not sure why, but the idea of being against cannabis is just fascinating to me,” Cole said. “I find that engaging those types of people in debate can always be informative. Often times, their opinions are based on anecdotes and conjecture that hardly reflect the reality, which is that simple use or possession of cannabis should not be considered a crime.” Of course, he would also love to host some of the staples of the celebrity cannabis community, such as Cheech, Chong, Willie Nelson, or Woody Harrelson. “My dreams were made when we were joined by Marc Wasserman from the Pot Brothers at Law,” he said. “I never expected that he would accept the invitation.” Cole’s ultimate goal would be to make the cannabis movement focus on the idea of sustainability again. “When I first started learning about the cannabis plant,” he said, “I read about the multiple uses of the plant, including but not limited to bio-fuels, biodegradable plastic made from hemp, paper made from hemp instead of trees, buildings made by hemp, hemp-create, etc. It is disheartening to see the sheer amount of plastic, paper, and other waste that is created by the cannabis market as it stands today.” Another goal for the Chillinois Podcast is to give people a platform to discuss cannabis and anything else related to Illinois. “If you are out there reading this right now and you want to come onto the Chillinois Podcast go to Chillinois.net/Podcast and scroll down, click the ‘Be Heard’ button,” he said. “From there, you can write us an email, send us a voicemail, or a text message. We can play the voicemail on the show, or you can come on our show. All we ask is that you reach out, and we will find a time on our calendar that works for us.” The Chillinois Podcast also can be found on Soundcloud, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Play, TuneIn Radio, and more. Related posts: GroUp “Grow Off” submissions near deadline Illinois medical cannabis sales continue to drop J. L. Brown is Publisher of Illinois News Joint. He was born, raised, and educated in Illinois. He has worked in the news industry for more than two decades.	7,320
This is Mrs. Mills' first year teaching at CASA. She is from Marysville, Pennsylvania. Her family includes her husband, Jason, and son, Brighton. In her free time, Mrs. Mills enjoys reading/writing, playing the piano, interior design, and event planning. What brought you to CASA? I enjoy the beauty of creative writing, music, design, and the arts. I appreciate that CASA is an innovate school that nurture's a student's creativity. I feel like my personal creativity will be fostered at CASA as not only an educator, but also as a writer and artist. Where did you work and what was your role prior to coming to CASA? Prior to coming to CASA, I taught in Cumberland Valley School District from 2007-2022 and also at a public charter school in South Carolina from 2004-2007. I had been teaching English, designing the curriculum, mentoring other teachers, and hosting student teachers. Since graduating from Grove City College in 2004, I taught World Literature, American Literature, Advanced Composition, and Language Arts. I also started and advised a Creative Writing Club and a school newspaper while continuing to design the curriculum. Many of my students from Cumberland Valley School District were winners of the Scholastic Writing Competition and received other writing awards. What is your favorite part of working at CASA? Being able to serve talented writing students in a small class size is truly a blessing I don't take for granted since I can give the students the writing feedback they deserve. I can create a much stronger creative learning environment at CASA so my students can find their voice as a creative writer. What is your connection to the arts? How are you an artist? I am a pianist, and my husband and I have written music together. I have also designed multiple curriculum books for English Language Arts, and I have written two nonfiction inspirational books and a poetry collection book. I also enjoy interior design and making things beautiful. What do you feel is your impact on our school community, students, and culture? I want to make a lasting impact on my students by inspiring them to find their writing voice. I hope that my students will feel motivated and empowered to pursue their dreams and passions. What advice do you have for our students? Right when you want to give up in the shifting sands of life, choose to rest in the waves of creativity. Mrs. Mills will be advising the CASA Chronicles Newspaper club this school year for interested students.	2,536
Sound is a fascinating phenomenon. When something vibrates in the atmosphere, the air particles move around it. These air particles, in turn, move the air particles around them, carrying the pulse of the vibration through the air. Our ears pick up these fluctuations in air pressure and translate them into electrical signals that the brain can process. The task of an audio amplifier is to take a small signal and make it bigger without making any other changes in it. This is a demanding task because a musical sound usually contains several frequencies, all of which must be amplified by the same factor to avoid changing the waveform and hence the quality of the sound. An amplifier which multiplies the amplitudes of all frequencies by the same element is said to be linear. Departures from linearity lead to various types of distortions. The operational details of amplifiers are buried in the field of electronics. Still, for audio purposes, it is usually safe to say that current commercial audio amplifiers are so good that a normally operating amplifier is seldom the limitation on the fidelity of a sound reproduction system. One must be sure that the amplifier can provide enough power to drive the existing loudspeakers. Still, otherwise, amplifiers are typically one of the most trouble-free elements of a sound system. Class A/B, as one might deduce, combines the best of Class A and Class B to create an amplifier without any drawbacks. Thanks to this combination of strengths, Class A/B amplifiers have primarily dominated the consumer market. So how did they do that? The solution is quite simple in concept: where Class B uses a push/pull arrangement with each half of the output stage running at 180 degrees, Class A/B amplifiers bump up to ~181-200 degrees. By doing so, there is far less potential for a "gap" to occur in the cycle, and as a result, crossover distortion is pushed down to the point where it is of no consequence. Class D Often incorrectly referred to as digital amplification,' Class D amplifiers represent a zenith of amplifier efficiency, with rates exceeding 90% achieved in the real world. First things first: why is it referred to in Class D if "digital amplification" is a misnomer? It was merely the next letter in the alphabet, Class C being used for non-audio applications. More importantly, how is 90% + efficiency possible? While all of the previously mentioned amplifier classes have one or more output devices active all the time, even when the amplifier is virtually idle, Class D amplifiers quickly switch output devices between off and off; as an example, The complexity of Class D has its rewards: efficiency and as a result, less weight. As relatively little energy is wasted as heat, much less heat is needed. Note that many Class D amplifiers are used in conjunction with the switch mode (SMPS) power supply. Like the output stage, the power supply itself can be quickly switched on and off to control the voltage, resulting in additional efficiency gains and a relative weight loss of the traditional analogue/linear power supply. Taken together even high-powered Class D amplifiers can weigh just a few pounds. Vivid Racing carries mostly Class D amplifiers from Hifonics, MB Quart and Rockford Fostgate. This little amplifiers pack a punch so you can enjoy your tunes. But they are also small enough not to impede with your car's performance and useable cargo space. Vivid Racing carries high-performance parts for almost any need. Click these links to choose from our selection of Body Kits, Big Brake Kits, Seats, Custom Wheels and Tires, Engine Parts, Exhaust Parts, Intakes, Suspension, and Transmission Parts. Buying from Vivid Racing is the best choice you can make. We back every part we sell with our guarantee of satisfaction. Buy online or give one of our world-class sales professionals a call at 1-480-966-3040 If you don't see what you are looking for. We can help. Vivid Racing was voted #1 in customer service nationwide! Hands-On Experience and Professionalism is what makes us the best. LOOKING FOR OEM PARTS? We can help. Are you tired of paying overly inflated prices that the dealers charge for their parts? Vivid Racing can save you up to 60% off the dealers' prices. Click here to visit our OEM PARTS STORE.	4,344
I just converted my Count Dooku Galaxy's Edge saber with a CFX and this BT909. This was a MUST for the way I chose to do the conversion because I will never be able to access my SD card again after I sealed it back up. With this, I can do anything I need to do remotely, and it works flawlessly. The custom saber shop has this pre-programmed so its ready to go! Just don't forget that Tx from the BT909 goes to RX on the board, and Rx goes to TX. Its mentioned in the CFX manual but I missed that part. Amazing product to have! by Andrew from TACOMA BT ENABLED BT on the saber is awesome. This module manages to send a decent signal through the steel body of my saber. There was no programming required (aside from name and password), as TCSS had it programmed at the manufacturer. Just wire it in and go! I love having full control of the saber so easily accessible.	881
Alpha Kappa Psi was founded on October 5, 1904 at New York University. Its founders, Fredrick Leach, Howard Jefferson, Nathan Lane, Jr., and George Bergen set forth a plan to perpetuate the business education and sense of brotherhood that had formed during their years at NYU. The nation's first professional business fraternity, AKPsi developed and expanded rapidly in its early years, becoming an international organization on April 18, 1931. Over its 107-year history, AKPsi has grown to be the largest business fraternity in the world, with 332 chapters and over 225,000 initiated members across three countries. AKPsi alumni include presidents, chief executives, and federal judges. Our members are involved in dozens of organizations on campus and study in numerous different majors. Our 200+ alumni currently work at top banks, consulting firms, and Fortune 500 companies and study in some of the nation's most competitive graduate programs. The Omicron Upsilon chapter's recruitment process is strictly governed by the procedures and policies of its national charter. However, as members of the Cornell community, we are strongly committed to recruiting and retaining the best talent on campus from a variety of diverse backgrounds and academic interests. Our Brothers engage in service, from our community to beyond. We aim to foster a strong professional environment from our campus to beyond. At the core of our organization are the deep friendships of our brothers. Mike Pittore "There is no other organization that I was involved with at Cornell whose members I am more regularly in touch with on both a personal and business level than I am with the bright and motivated individuals from my years in AKPsi. I would not have the job or the professional network I have today without joining, hands down." "AKPsi gave me the opportunity to not only meet, but form lasting relationships, with some of the most diverse and intelligent people on campus who I would have never had the opportunity to come in contact with beforehand.." "Very simply put, I would not be where I am without AKPsi. For me, AKPsi was and is a bond between individuals who want to go on a different life trajectory than the norm. I had drive, but did not have the direction or the peer support to know where to channel the drive in a productive, career-focused way. Being surrounded and mentored by the caliber of people AKPsi attracts allowed me to raise my expectations to achieve goals I would not have previously considered possible. Hands down, it was the best overall experience of my collegiate career socially and professionally. Professionally, AKPsi facilitates the sharing of ideas, experiences, and best practices through a natural mentorship program that allows one to grow in all aspects - this dynamic put me and, I'm sure, many others, at a tremendous advantage when it came to navigating the myriad of challenges involved with transitioning from a student to a successful professional. On a personal level, I instantly made deep, life-lasting friendships with individuals I would have otherwise never been close with. I currently live with an AKPsi brother here in NYC, I have travelled the world with brothers in AKPsi, and we now work alongside and do business with each other. When faced with important decisions personally and professionally, I continue to first turn to my AKPsi brothers for advice. " As Cornell's first professional fraternity chartered in 1998, we have cultivated a large and incredibly successful network of brothers and alumni who continue to give back to our community. Our Brothers come from diverse backgrounds. A source of pride of AKPsi here at Cornell is the diversity of our brotherhood - in background, interest, and identity. Our 60 current brothers come from 16 U.S. states, 11 different countries, and study 17 different majors here on campus. Our Alumni Network spans across industries. In over 20 years, we have cultivated a large and incredibly successful network of over 500 alumni who maintain contact with our chapter and actively look for ways to give back to support our professional ambitions. We use cookies to ensure a smooth browsing experience. By continuing we assume you accept the use of cookies.	4,471
Anyone who held tentative, naïve, hope that the 2015 F1 season would compared with what we?ve got used to in recent years be more about the racing on the track and less about rancour away from it may well have had it dashed even before a wheel had been turned in anger. Indeed the matter in question had been coming for a while. Back to the Brazilian Grand Prix late last year and when Sauber announced that its drivers for this season would be Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson. It was a surprise to plenty; not least two other drivers, one of whom was Giedo van der Garde, who believed that they had contracts for the race seats themselves. Four into two doesn?t go, of course. And van der Garde didn?t let the matter rest there. In December of the off-season he brought a complaint to the Swiss Chambers? Arbitration Institution, which agreed with the Dutchman?s case and as a result ordered Sauber to not deprive van der Garde of his entitlement to participate in the 2015 championship as one of its two race drivers. Sauber didn?t show outward sign of complying however, and thus van der Garde and his lawyers cranked the matter up a notch by mere days before the start of practice for Melbourne?s season-opener travelling to Australia and getting a hearing in the Victorian Supreme Court, to get the Swiss decision upheld. And it was ? van der Garde won the initial case and subsequent appeal, then on the day of opening practice his lawyers launched a contempt of court action against Sauber, intended to force the team to comply with the order. Come the day of Friday running no one seemed sure what would happen. Who would be taking the Saubers out? That?s if anyone would? Van der Garde had to drive said the law, but the team had no desire to let him, plus apparently he didn?t have a superlicence required to compete. It looked an impasse. Many eyes burned holes in the Swiss team?s pit and team area. Various reporters tried chasing team principal Monisha Kaltenborn, and then when he appeared himself van der Garde, around the place Benny Hill style expect with Dictaphones, cameras and microphones. And it got yet more intense, as on that Friday too van der Garde?s lawyers had argued that Kaltenborn should be arrested for the contempt of court if the Dutchman didn?t get to drive. The prospect of Sauber?s assets being impounded was real too, to the point that bailiffs lingered outside the track?s front gate. F1?s ability to enter territory you?d never thought it would never can be underestimated. Next day, the day of qualifying, van der Garde apparently conceded. But the devil in the detail is that van der Garde?s ceding of ground was for the Australian weekend only, when it seemed in any case his not yet having a superlicence (a process which normally requires 14 days) forced everyone?s hand. His original Swiss judgement on the matter from December stands, and there seems no reason to think yet that exactly the same thing cannot happen in future rounds. It is impossible to conclude that we?ve heard the last of this. In sports as we know strange practices can develop within their peculiar existences, that later and suddenly fizzle to nothing once tested in a court in the real world. So it was in football for decades in many parts of Europe wherein players even after their contracts expired could be retained by their clubs, and not allowed to move unless the club agreed to a transfer fee. This was so until a little-known Belgian footballer called Jean-Marc Bosman took it to court; and as a result of that football never was the same again. In baseball a similar system was quashed largely by the Seitz decision in 1975. But as we know even among other sports few do strange practices quite like F1. And one of its own strange practices has been often to willingly enter into contracts then later act like they didn?t exist. Admittedly it happened in all directions, including drivers doing the dirty on teams ? there have been high profile cases such as Alain Prost walking out on McLaren in 1980 and Ayrton Senna on Toleman in 1984 despite inked contracts being in place for either. Eventually such cases totalling up and then Benetton ditching the signed up Roberto Moreno to make way for Michael Schumacher in late 1991 led to the Contracts Recognition Board (CRB) being established to arbitrate on such disputes. It?s made itself felt too, such as when it required David Coulthard to stay at Williams for 1995 rather than move to McLaren, as well as Jenson Button to stay at BAR for 2005 rather than move to Williams. Yet even so there remained something of the Wild West about F1, particularly it its handling of drivers. Routinely they have been dropped despite having contracts in place. Often the matter has been settled on the quiet, with a payoff presumably. But sometimes too the wronged driver simply hasn?t pursed the matter, in part because they concluded that there was no point trying to force your way into a team that didn?t want you. In part too perhaps that they didn?t want to establish the reputation with potential employers that they were a ?trouble-maker?. Thus the strange practice chuntered on. It surprised a few that van der Garde didn?t use the CRB avenue in his case, though one thing that emerged from the court proceedings in Australia was that Sauber had told the CRB in February that van der Garde?s contract had been terminated. After the Swiss arbitration case in other words. That the CRB apparently had such a lack of curiosity as to why it had been (supposedly) terminated ? and presumably didn?t check out van der Garde?s side of things – doesn?t reflect well on them. Especially given that there were known reasons to suspect Sauber of, um, a vested interest. Unlike the previous CRB cases mentioned this wasn?t two teams having a tug of live, it was a driver versus a team and the driver?s view mysteriously was missed altogether. It suggests a body more minded to protect teams? rights than those of drivers. And whatever has gone on with this it should be remembered that ultimately this is Sauber?s own doing. This is a team that entered a contract with a driver and then decided to ignore it, thus breaking a fundamental of justice, that of doing what you solemnly agree to do. As well as that van der Garde in the sense of justice at least is absolutely in the right. And Sauber is the villain. As for exactly how Sauber got into this predicament, well you won?t be surprised to hear that it all can be traced back to money. And that teams in the F1 midfield and back are desperate for it in order to survive. As is often the case for teams of its type, Sauber?s driver selection owed much to how it would help balance the books. The Plan A for 2015 apparently was to go with van der Garde and Jules Bianchi ? the Ferrari protégée coming with cheap Ferrari power units. But sadly of course Bianchi?s Suzuka crash rendered him unavailable, and the situation was made more critical by Russian investment and attempts to get finance via Simona de Silvestro falling through too. Reportedly this created a cash flow crisis in the team. Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr offered more money than van der Garde, and critically offered it up front. For Sauber a desperate time brought desperate measures and in order to create space for them it seems it took its chances of ditching two contracted drivers for 2015 (the other being Adrian Sutil, who has been conspicuously quiet while all of this is going on) in its attempts to survive. Perhaps gambling that the pair would do the common thing of deciding to let the thing lie, however grudgingly. There was no money around to pay them off. But while we can sympathise simply ignoring contacts willingly entered into surely cannot be part of any solution. It amounts to anarchy. It feels a real pity too as for most of its existence Sauber has been a byword for honour and fastidiousness in F1, or at least by far the closest as this sport gets to them. That it is playing so fast and loose, going against very basic principles of fairness and then seeking to blag their way out of it with lines of defence that insult the intelligence, is galling. This from a squad which its founder and former team principal Peter Sauber once emptied his own pockets in order to keep the team going and therefore save jobs after BMW pulled out. Sauber?s lines of defence offered in the Australian courtroom were risible, claiming among other things that it would take two weeks to get a moulded seat for van der Garde plus that running him without testing would be a safety risk. Yeah right. We?ve seen plenty of times before ? including from Sauber ? drivers being replaced within hours if necessary; I?d venture that had Nasr or Ericsson fallen over getting out of the bath in the week and been ruled out Sauber would have had no qualms at all in running someone else. Then to top it off the team?s lawyer off started to argue that van der Garde lacked a superlicence, when it seems his not having one was down to lack of action on the team?s part. Given that this matter continues we can infer this last point is indeed so; as Joe Saward pointed out if his not having a superlicence was down to an oversight by van der Garde himself then Sauber could resolved the whole nasty situation by pointing out that he had breached his contract by not ensuring he was ready for every round. Among the current F1 drivers in Melbourne Nico Hulkenberg was the most frank about the situation: ?Giedo wants what he was promised and what he was signed for and paid for and that is his right? he said. And in a statement that heavily hinted at his own not being paid for his 2013 employ there, he added ?I am not surprised because I know the people, I know how it has been there in the past. ?They were desperate for some money to survive, which is maybe a general problem of F1. But still that is not a way to do business and to screw people like this.? The vast majority of current and former drivers who?ve commented have also done so to express solidarity with van der Garde. Some former drivers such as Martin Brundle and Allan McNish have hinted they?d have done the same in that situation. But perhaps history shows us that it?s easier said than done. If van der Garde?s case legally and morally is watertight, pragmatically it is a lot less so. It doesn?t seem that he had nothing to lose, as with his financial backing he?d still have been of interest to team towards the back. He had been loosely linked with Manor. Such is the sport?s warped ways you?d imagine that team bosses that had been considering him will now be reconsidering. Part of it too is that, as Adam Cooper noted: ?It?s common knowledge that his sponsors paid ?8m for him to be a third driver last year as a lead in to a race seat in 2015?. You?d have thought that at least he?s looking to recoup that. Paddock gossip has gone further and suggested that this is all in fact a grand prelude to van der Garde?s father-in-law Marcel Boekhoorn ? he of the McGregor clothing company among many other things and not short of a bob or two ? buying into the Sauber concern. For a while it?s been thought he?s been looking to claim a stake in an F1 team. But James Allen for one wondered that given the bitterness of this episode whether Sauber would deal with him, however desperate matters get. With this about the only credible endgame is for van der Garde to get his money back, perhaps with damages and the like added, via a payoff. But as mentioned Sauber?s hardly big on spare cash right now. Really, as so often seems the case in F1 these days, no one wins. It?s hard to see where van der Garde can go now, other than getting sympathy. Sauber meanwhile comes out of the matter considerably tarnished. You wonder too what Ericsson and Nasr?s backers will have made of it all. And of course the manifestations of the sport?s ills as well as its apparently amoral ways are laid bare yet again. But it also feels important. This almost certainly won?t be an F1 equivalent of the Bosman ruling, not in terms of its scope at any stretch. Yet as Allen noted it seems unprecedented. And therefore it will likely set a precedent. In future you suspect that F1 bosses, if minded to drop a driver, will be a lot more wary of how sits their contract. Their room to act improperly will be more limited. This is because the prospect of impounded cars and the team principal being led away in handcuffs concentrates the mind beautifully. And as far as I am concerned, that is not at all a bad thing. Want to be a guest writer on VitalF1.com?	12,811
I failed to find the origins of these handy garments. Here’s what that says about society’s perception of the female body. Updated: July 14, 2022 Originally Published: June 15, 2022 It all started with a seemingly simple question: Who invented those marvelous mesh hospital panties that L&D nurses give you post-delivery? You know, the ones your mom friends advised you steal by the stack, that don’t bind at the belly and that hold that focaccia-sized maxi pad snug to your tender labia? The ones you’ll go through like paper. The ones moms have rhapsodized about for years. (OK, not everyone loves them—but most do.) I felt it was a worthy and fascinating question, and I wanted to know the answer. Well, guess what: That was three months ago, and I still don’t. Believe me, it’s not for lack of trying. In attempting to learn the mesh panty origin story, I hit more reportorial dead-ends than I have in all my multi-decade journalism career. I sent queries to four hospital supply companies, one of which replied: a guy who inexplicably told me that he was sorry, but they don’t have a paper catalog. OK? I hit up the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses; scads of medical historians, like the Society for the Social History of Medicine, The Medical History Society of New Jersey, and Sacramento’s Museum of Medical History; and the Department of the History of Medicine at Johns Hopkins. No dice. However, a Yale professor, Rene Almeling, whose academic interests include gender, medicine, and sociology, kindly said, “Great question. I have no idea.” Then she suggested asking the historians at Nursing Clio… who didn’t return my email. I contacted dozens of prominent hospitals and medical schools, including the Cleveland Clinic, UCLA, UCSF, UNC, and the University of Michigan. Because I am a lady I won’t name institutions, but only one of these replied: a guy who asked me a series of nakedly suspicious questions, then ghosted once I answered them. I contacted the hospital where I was born, U.C. Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, California. “We have used a brand called Tytex at least since 2018,” was all they could tell me. I contacted the New York City hospital in which I gave birth four years ago, NYU Langone. A man named Ryan said that if someone from maternal-fetal medicine had any answers for me, they’d reach out (they never did), but warned me in advance that the hospital couldn’t promote any specific products because it was against policy. Yes, OK, but these “products” are evidently mystery garments that materialize from the ether whenever a fetus starts crowning — what does your policy say about those, Ryan? A representative from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists sent a thorough and thoughtful answer: They knew a librarian they had hoped might have thoughts on the matter, but she was retired so she didn’t have any of her old resources handy; I should try the Countway Library at Harvard Medical School’s Center for the History of Medicine. It turned out to be the best lead I got. A librarian there, Jessica Murphy, said, “Great question! It doesn’t seem that anyone has written on their history.” She suggested I reach out to the Center for Baby and Adult Hygiene Products (BAHP), which I did. They have yet to return my email. Sigh. However, Jessica also mentioned in passing that she had an inkling of the mesh panty’s provenance: “I suspect that these may have come about from post-genitourinary/lower GI surgical care.” In other words, patients who had, say, a hysterectomy or a bowel resection were likely given these stretchy undies to aid in their recovery — and someone, somewhere, whose name and genius may never be known, had the idea to apply these panties to the gnarly, bloody, achy, burn-y postpartum experience. The rest is history. But it seems not to be a history anyone ever bothered to write down. I suppose that shouldn’t be surprising, given the general indifference, disdain, disgust, and ignorance with which western medicine has long approached women’s healthcare — a field dominated by men for thousands of years — particularly when it involves female genitalia. This has been a real problem since at least Aristotle’s era, when he proclaimed that only fair-skinned women could have orgasms and women, in general, were just penis-less men who cried more. You think anything’s changed? Nope. There are boys out there who believe women wear maxi pads and tampons because they’re too lazy to simply pee out their periods. There are grown men out there who think all women lactate all the time and labor contractions feel like orgasms. (Side note: Teach your boys better than this, for goodness’ sake. Moms, don’t let your babies grow up to be menstrual mansplainers.) And it’s not as though this sort of thinking exists only among especially dumb laypeople. Actual doctors are susceptible to similar forms of ignorance, resulting in biases that can cause all kinds of horrific fallout for their patients. Take autoimmune disorders, for example: While they affect only 8% of the human population, 78% of those who suffer from them are women. Thousands of these patients describe long, brutal years of being dismissed and ignored by male doctors before they finally obtain a diagnosis, writes Maya Dusenbery in her landmark book Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick. Or how about heart attacks, which can affect women differently — they’re slightly more likely to experience nausea, back pain, difficulty breathing, fainting, indigestion, or pain in the jaw during a cardiac episode. Yet what’s the first symptom that comes to mind when you think heart attack? Chest pain, which is more likely to occur in men. In countless ways, medicine is a field created by men and designed to cater to them. (Without going on a rage-filled tangent, this hasn’t been a more salient subject of discussion since a certain Supreme Court case was decided in 1973.) In a 2018 paper published in the journal Feminism & Psychology, Dr. Kate Young, an Australian researcher of public health issues, discusses the cavalier attitude that women often encounter when suffering gynecological ailments such as endometriosis. She writes that the male medical mind tends to view these patients solely as “reproductive bodies,” not much different from men beyond their genitals — echoes of Aristotle! — except, of course, for their pesky “hysterical tendencies,” in her words. And except for their uninteresting postpartum underwear, it would seem, based on how little anyone has written about its provenance. By comparison, do you know how easy it was for me to learn the history of the jock strap? There are literally dozens of links on the subject — I found them all within a fraction of a second. I must admit, I’m slightly worried that someone will read this article, scoff, and send me a link to a thorough mesh-panty history that I stupidly just never found. So let’s just take minute and acknowledge how awesome this invention is. Besides being the perfect pair of undies to keep your pad in place, it's also cool and lightweight. New mothers usually experience hormonal changes that cause an increase in sweat everywhere. Some mesh underwear even comes with a pocket in the vaginal area where you can place frozen gel insets. This cold compress is an excellent form of comfort used to soothe your vaginal area post-labor. But frankly, at this point I’d weather the shame just to know the answer. I know, you’re probably thinking this is a silly thing, frivolous and small. But what we do, what women live through, our history — it has meaning. And I want to know it.	7,747
The waitress at the empty diner in Sanderson had fake nails on her fingers and a gun on her hip. I sat alone and ate a hamburger and when I finished I got back in my car and drove south for another 120 miles. It was October when I moved to southwest Texas, the edge of Texas so close to Mexico that my friends and I would come to spend our evenings down by the Rio Grande watching Border Patrol agents chase somber-faced men back into their country. Brewster County, the largest county in Texas, more than three times the size of the state of Delaware. Population less than 10,000. You’ve heard that everything is bigger in Texas but what no one tells you is how small it makes you feel. The wide, pale sky above, the bleached plains stretched out before you, the empty, endless highway. The static as the radio fades from Tejano music to born-again Christians shouting about hellfire to nothing at all. Texas takes up pages in the atlas and once you’re in it—and I mean, really in it—it crushes you. West Texas is a beautiful, punishing desert landscape and I arrived alone. It was a land of men. Men who knew how to hold their liquor, men who owned trucks, men who watched you from beneath cowboy hats, men who turned to look at you in your green dress because you weren’t just the prettiest girl in the bar, you were the only girl in the bar. Unsmiling men who called you little lady. When I stepped out of my car and into the trailer park that I would come to call home, I could feel their eyes on me. The last of the afternoon sun disappeared behind the Chisos Mountains. The desert wind flattened the grass. Everything was quiet. Why was I there? Why were any of us there? The desert isn’t a place that everyone agrees is beautiful. It’s not a family vacation. It’s not a relaxing getaway. There are no museums, no shops, no high rise hotels. It doesn’t invite you to play like some sunny beach in California or call to you like the mountains in Colorado. The desert is quick to kill you and slow to reward you. The desert heat can dry you out, leaving you gasping with thirst and shriveled up like a discarded corn husk. The desert can drown you with flash floods that come roaring down canyons like thunder. The desert is not your friend. I moved to far west Texas for the same reason that a lot of people do. Part of me believed that it was some kind of final frontier, but mostly I was just running away. Running from a string of failed romances, a long trail of drunken nights, violence and sex that had been taking me from place to place for years. The first thing I did when I got to that trailer park in Texas was decide to tell everyone that I had a boyfriend somewhere else. I wasn’t looking for trouble this time. The desert is a lot of things, but it isn’t some golden dream like New York City that inspires young ingénues to chase their dreams. Everyone has their reasons for being there but you’re better off not asking. Teresa was my first friend in Texas. She wasn’t like the few hard, local women with their rough hands, bright eyes and tales of alcoholic ex-husbands. Teresa was soft, meek, small. She worked at the general store where everyone stopped to buy overpriced beer and salty snacks. She was too quiet to work at the cash register. She winced when the big men with oil money who passed through town shouted and laughed, so she was relegated to stocking the shelves and monitoring the expiration dates on the products. We became friends when she offered me a few boxes of expired Rice-a-Roni. “They’re still good,” she said. “I’m pretty sure they’re still good.” We came to pass the time by talking. We sat outside in folding chairs and sipped red wine out of mugs. She nursed hers while I drank quickly, an old habit left over from high school, that tendency to get too drunk too fast. I’ve always felt nervous around other people, especially women. I find myself suspecting that they hate me the second I introduce myself and after that I usually end up talking too much, drinking too much or not talking enough and standing there like an idiot wondering what I should do with my hands. Years ago, before she stopped talking to me, I was at a bar in Rhode Island with Caroline when some skinhead looking guy approached us, jerked his thumb towards me and said, “What is wrong with you?” I was fidgeting, gulping down gin, wishing someone would turn down the music. “Yeah,” Caroline said to me. “What is wrong with you?” I was so used to the cycle of latching onto people and pleading for their approval only to be relegated to the bottom of the pack that Teresa’s admiration took me by surprise. She acted like she was lucky to be friends with me. It was a rare situation in which I was the authority, the leader, the alpha. Whatever I said, she agreed with. She treated me like I was some kind of beautiful, vibrant, powerful creature and when I spoke about my life she listened and made me feel like my stories were special and therefore, I in fact, was special. I had never had that before and I was drunk with the feeling. If only I could have warned her. One hot afternoon, Teresa and I drove 30 miles to Terlingua, an actual ghost town littered with a few bars. We pulled up to a little hovel of a place, a bar that was made out of desert clay and what looked to be sticks. It looked like a cave. A group of men stood outside drinking beers and smoking cigarettes. I could tell when we got out of the car that they had been watching us drive in and wondering about the car that they had never seen before. One of them, a short, sunburned man, looked directly at us and then spit on the ground. “This place scares me a little,” Teresa said. We were both in dresses and cowboy boots. We had gotten dressed at her place. I was already a little bit wasted because there were no cops on the roads so I didn’t care about driving drunk. “It’ll be fine,” I said. “Let’s go inside.” We got out and walked across the parking lot, feeling their gaze on us. The desert light was white, bleaching the parking lot and bleaching their faces, but their eyes were black. They didn’t say a thing to us as we stepped into the bar, but as soon as we were inside we could hear their laughter. The bartender turned to us and smiled. He had no teeth and his mouth stretched into a wide, dark gap. His tongue jutted in and out of his lips like it was operating separately from his body, an animal emerging from a hole in the ground. He said nothing, just gestured to the bottles behind him and looked at us, his eyes darting back and forth, waiting. My trailer was full of spiders. Huge, wolf spiders with convulsing legs and wide, flat bodies. When I opened the cabinet above the sink and saw them for the first time, they didn’t scuttle and fold themselves into cracks in the wall. They looked at me. Wolf spiders have good eyesight. If you shine a flashlight on them at night their eyes glow. The windows were covered with tin foil. The couch was stained and sticky. Everything smelled like mold and propane. One of the two bedrooms was full of used mattresses. The first time I showered, a lizard crawled up from the drain and looked at me. When I tried to catch him with a cup I sliced his tail off clean and the stub twitched at the bottom of the tub while the dirty water ran over it. I drove three hours to the nearest Wal-Mart in Fort Stockton, a stark, sun-beaten town on the way to nowhere, and bought all the pesticide they had, which amounted to two rusty cans. Then I drove back to the trailer and killed everything that was living inside of it. When I sprayed the spiders, they were violent, angry, scared and smart. They ran. They moved like they were filled with electricity. The only way to kill them was to get within an inch of them, unleash a long, steady spray of poison and drown them in it. When I was done, the cabinets were so soaked in pesticide that I knew I could never put my dishes inside of them, which was good because I didn’t have any. They were full of puddles and dead wolf spiders. The whole thing took eight hours. The last one staggered across the floor towards my bedroom. Before realizing that I was barefoot, I stomped it out. It felt brittle and then wet beneath my heel. I stepped out of the trailer, lit a cigarette and there he was. “Hi,” he said, smiling. “I’m Mike.” It seemed like he would just appear. It would be late and I’d be alone in my trailer and suddenly there’d be this loud knock on the back door, the one no one ever used. Usually when someone came around I’d hear footsteps in the dirt outside but Mike was quiet. He was always just a little bit drunk but never slurred his words or spoke too loud. Mostly we drank beer. Sometimes we drank tequila or moonshine. We sat at my wobbly kitchen table and talked or stood outside and smoked and looked at the stars. Like with Teresa it was a fast, easy intimacy and I was grateful for it. Mike was 30 but he had a boyish quality that made him seem much younger. He always wore a baseball cap because he was self-conscious about his receding hairline. He was still handsome, sexy even, especially for west Texas and the trailer park. But he had a nervous way of smiling that betrayed the confidence of a man who had been with a lot of women. He had nice eyes but almost never made eye contact. His laughter always sounded like it was physically being pulled out of his body. It was startling. The first time I opened the door and saw his shadowed figure and the glow from his cigarette he seemed momentarily sinister, and I had to remind myself that he was a friend. We talked about sex mostly. Almost exclusively. He believed the boyfriend lie, so I figured it was okay and we were just talking about sex like girlfriends talk about sex. He told me about girls he’d been with, a drunken threesome, how much he loved the taste of pussy. He couldn’t stop talking about it. I listened. “There are no girls here,” he said, eyeing me. “No single girls.” “I know,” I said. “It’s hard. You have no idea how hard it is.” “I think I have some idea of how hard it is,” I said. “I haven’t seen my boyfriend in a while.” Mike shook his head. Even when we were drinking, which was most of the time, when he talked about sex he seemed alert, like it made him sober. His body tensed. “You don’t know.” I laughed. I got up to refill my drink. I had run out of lime juice and was drinking straight tequila without ice, the clear kind. Someone had told me once that the only difference between gold and silver tequila was the caramel coloring. Either way I didn’t like the taste; I was just used to it. Even with my back turned, I could feel him studying me. I turned and sat back down. The light in the trailer was yellow and flickering. My one lamp was full of dead bugs. He told me about a local girl he had tried to sleep with. “I brought took her to that Italian place in Alpine that has the really good prickly pear margaritas and then I got us a hotel room but she wouldn’t do anything. She was completely weird. I kept trying to kiss her and I don’t know, she wasn’t into it. I was touching her on the bed, you know and just…nothing.” I already knew the story he was telling because I had heard it from the girl he was talking about. She had described him as “in heat.” She had shuddered, angry and then moved out of town. He looked down at the table. “She gave me a hand job like she didn’t even want to.” I didn’t say anything. At some point I knew he would try to fuck me. “Let’s go outside and smoke,” I said, standing up. Mike looked at me hard. At first I thought he was angry but then I realized he was actually scared. “I need to get laid soon,” he said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen if I don’t. I need to get laid.” He didn’t need to say it. I knew the words that came next: The Chihuahuan Desert is full of strange creatures. Tarantulas skitter across open roads like detached hands. Coyotes sidle up to parked cars, carefully inspecting what’s inside. Mountain lions hide in the sagebrush beside parking lots studying children. Sometime in the 80’s, black bears wandered through the Mexican desert, crossed the Rio Grande, traveled through the Chisos Mountains and reintroduced themselves to west Texas. And so it went with us. Somehow, we were all down there, so we had to become friends. We had to adapt. Like the black bears, no one really knows how or why. On the day I finally moved every last thing from the trunk of my car into the trailer, I threw a party. I was happy, I thought, or maybe just drunk. “Look at this sweet little thing,” Jessie, the roughneck from the trailer a few blocks over said, throwing his arm around me. It was a warm night and we were all standing outside on the rough patch of dirt I called my lawn. Someone handed me a beer. “The fire is great,” I said. “I don’t even know how to build one.” “Good thing Mike does.” “Yeah. Where is he, anyway?” “I don’t know,” Jessie said. “He’s been hanging out with Teresa all night.” I took a swig of the warm beer. Teresa had been the first to arrive, before it was even dark out. I’d been sitting in my yard watching the dust-colored desert bunnies hop around, chain smoking and wondering if anyone would come to the party. Of course she had showed up first. “Teresa is a virgin,” I said. “Yeah, right. I think they went in your trailer.” The other bedroom. The one with all the gross old mattresses. “Excuse me,” I said to Jessie and headed for the trailer. It was empty and quiet when I stepped inside but I could still hear the laughter from the party outside. The kitchen table was sticky with spilled beer and the counters were strewn with half-empty bags of chips. The door to my bedroom was open. The door to the other bedroom was closed like it always was, like it had been since the one time I’d looked in it and seen the filth inside. I knocked. And then I knocked a few more times just to be sure. When I opened it there was only darkness. There was no response so I turned on the light. Just mattresses and no sign that anyone had been there. I sighed and thought, like they would really have disrespected me by fucking in my trailer. I wanted to go back to the party and forget about it but something wasn’t right. And then I saw it. The back door to the trailer was hanging open. It faced away from the trailer park and opened up to the desert, rather than to the neighbors. You had to step over sage and rocks to get in and out of it. I didn’t even have a key for it. It wasn’t a practical entrance or exit, just a way to slip into the shadows without being seen. No one ever used it except for the one person who always used it. Mike. When the cops pulled me out of work the next day I knew for sure. I went to her house, I went to her work, but the truth is, I never saw Teresa again after that night. Teresa was a virgin from a very religious family and she went home to them, or she went somewhere anyway. All I know is that a co-worker drove her to Midland-Odessa where she got on a bus or a train and disappeared. For all I know, what happened fucking killed her. She had been very drunk by anyone’s standards of whatever it is that constitutes levels of drunkenness. Fall-down drunk. According to everyone in the trailer park, she had been flirting with him all night. No one saw them leave. He brought her back to his place. I imagined him carrying her out that back door across the dirt road to his trailer, setting her down on his bed and taking off her pants. That’s not what happened, everyone said. She had sex with him and then regretted it, everyone said. His bed was creaking so that meant she was into it, his roommate said. He’s too good looking to have to rape anyone, the guy at the gas station said. You’re just jealous that he didn’t rape you, my boss said. And then everyone found out what I had told the cops. The man with the silver mustache who drank cheap beer in his trailer all day came out and looked at me. He shook his head. “I’ll tell you what,” he said, licking his lips, “I sure wouldn’t want to be a lady down here.” I said nothing. “And I sure as hell wouldn’t want to be liar down here either.” “What do you mean?” “Come on girlie. Everybody knows you don’t have a man.” He put his head down, chuckled and went back inside. I found out later that Teresa had woken up that morning and gone straight to the cops who had driven her to Alpine for a rape kit. When she didn’t come to the door I sat down and wrote her a note telling her that I was on her side. I slid it underneath, wondering if she was tucked in her bed, crying. I hoped that she would see the piece of paper and know that someone, even if it was only one person, believed her. I imagined her picking it up and feeling some sense of relief. But what I didn’t know was that she was already gone. That night I lay in bed and listened to the party outside of Mike’s trailer. They were all laughing, drunk. These were my friends. Chanting his name. They were celebrating the fact that they had run her out of Texas. Things had changed quickly. I kept hearing my own name followed by laughter. That night no one knocked on my door, but I could hear them outside. At 3am my phone rang and no one was on the other end. Again at 4am. I didn’t know the number. I could hear breathing. The party was still going strong. “Teresa?” I whispered. She hung up. In the morning I saw Mike through the open door of his trailer, lying on the couch staring up at the ceiling. He sat up, met my eyes, extended his hand and pointed right at me. He mouthed the words, “Stupid bitch.” He grinned. One by one, the few women who lived in the trailer park left until it was only me. I stopped going to work. I locked my doors and stayed inside. It rained and the water on the roof of the trailer sounded like fingers drumming on a countertop. The spiders found their way back inside. At night, I could hear footsteps in the dirt outside. I packed fast, faster than I ever have. I tore apart my trailer and threw all my shit into my car. I knew that they were watching me from their windows. I could feel his eyes on me. I could hear that laugh, punctuating the air. I had a hammer in the back pocket of my jeans the whole time, just in case anyone wanted to fuck with me. Somewhere on I-10 on that stretch of desolate highway before the desert meets the hill country my phone lit up. Somewhere amongst the patches of no cell service and shitty cell service I’d missed a call from that same number that had rang me twice the night of the party. I pulled over to listen. The voicemail from Teresa was brief. She was beyond crying. She was in that space that an animal is in when it’s been attacked. One summer night as a kid I’d woken up to the scream of an animal in the woods, killing something or being killed by something. I couldn’t tell the difference. Her voice was like that. She told me that she knew that I knew how drunk she had been. She knew that I knew her. Really knew her. She knew that I was running away. She thought I was on his side. She asked how I could have let this happen. Her last words: “This was your fault.” On the side of the highway there was a sign advertising the Caverns of Sonora. I tried to focus on that, tried to think of all the people in the darkness under the ground holding hands together. It was big and it was scary but they were safe. I opened the door of my car and vomited. And then I got out and took off. I ran. My feet pounded the earth and my fingers brushed the tall Chihuahuan Desert grass that I didn’t know the name of. I ran until the burning sun sank beneath the horizon and the ground turned from green to brown to black. I ran until I had no idea where I was. I ran until I collapsed. I could barely make out the lights of the highway in the distance. I could hear the snorts of javelinas around me. I could smell them. You can always smell them. They look like dark, angry pigs and they smell like skunks. At night I used to hear them beneath my trailer, scratching at the floor and trying to get in. They travel in packs like men circling parking lots at night beneath a stagnant gas station light, men on streets leaning against brick walls searching the sidewalks for lone figures, men in the shadows of basement house parties who smirk as girls are dragged up to silent bedrooms, men who prey, fuck, escape and repeat. The javelinas pawed the ground and between their snorts and shrieks I could hear something—someone—breathing. I couldn’t see them, but they were all around me. About the Author: Krista Diamond is a serial vagabond who graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a BA in English. Her work has appeared in Every Day Fiction and is forthcoming in Spry Literary Journal. In addition to writing fiction, she also writes about the Mojave Desert for various web publications. She currently resides in Las Vegas with her fiancé and her dog, Presley.	21,157
Firstly, I’d like to apologise for the lack of updates across the blog lately. The reason for this is due to travelling. Just over a week ago I was contacted by my father to head over to India on a holiday with him and the rest of my family to help shoot a wedding for one of his cousins. It was quite a swift decision to apply for an Indian visa and jump on a plane half way across the world, however, it was an eye-opening experience to say the least. As there is still plenty of images from my last trip to Japan back in 2011 the updates will continue to roll on. In saying that, I’m hoping to head over within the next 8 weeks or so hoping to travel around the country for 2-4 weeks. Its almost coming up to 12 months since I left Australia to Osaka for my second trip which is mind-blowing how fast time has passed. These two photos above were taken on our first night in Japan in Sakai just outside of Osaka. The day was spent picking up cars from the docks and the night was spent fixing and preparing the cars for a heavy 2 weeks of drifting across half a dozen circuits throughout Kansai. In the photos are Shane’s pickup, Honda, TJ’s RPS13 and Nathan’s PS13. I really miss Japan and seriously can’t wait to get back there shooting x Posted by CaseyD 2 Responses to “Sakai City, Osaka-shi” oli s. Says: February 28th, 2012 at 3:26 am April 7th, 2012 at 2:30 pm do you have any more pictures of that sunny truck, even just a link to its build thread or the website it is featured on?	1,574
U.S. Helsinki Commission: Conviction of former Prime Minister Tymoshenko a Serious Setback for Ukrainian Democracy \| CSCE Staff Commissioners Leadership Frequently Asked Questions Public Law Establishing the Commission Parliamentary Diplomacy Fellowships Leadership Commissioners Staff Events Press and Media In the News Digests By Country Participating States Azerbaijan Belgium Canada Czech Republic Denmark France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Italy Latvia Lithuania Netherlands Norway Poland Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey United States of America By Issue Citizenship and Political Rights Conflict Prevention/Rehabilitation Elections Energy and Environment Freedom of Association and Assembly Freedom of Movement Freedom of Speech and Expression Genocide, Crimes against Humanity, and War Crimes Good Governance and the Rule of Law Military Aspects of Security Tolerance and Non-Discrimination Title U.S. Helsinki Commission: Conviction of former Prime Minister Tymoshenko a Serious Setback for Ukrainian Democracy Tuesday, October 11, 2011 WASHINGTON — U.S. Helsinki Commission leadership today expressed dismay and alarm over the selective and politically motivated prosecution and conviction of Yuliya Tymoshenko. Today, she was sentenced to 7 years in prison for executive decisions she made in 2009 when she was prime minister. “The politically motivated conviction of Ms. Tymoshenko starkly illustrates the undoing of democracy in Ukraine,” stated Chairman Rep. Christopher H. Smith (NJ-04). “Right after the Orange Revolution Ukraine was a beacon for hope for other post-Soviet states; now this beacon is almost extinguished. The prosecution and verdict in the Tymoshenko case call into grave question Ukraine’s commitment to OSCE human rights, democracy and rule of law standards. Her conviction bans her from office for the next three years, which raises serious doubts about whether Ukraine’s 2012 elections can meet OSCE standards for democratic elections, and calls into serious question Ukraine’s suitability to assume the Chairmanship of the OSCE in 2013.” “This is a serious blow to democracy in Ukraine,” declared Co-Chairman Benjamin L. Cardin, (MD). “The highly selective prosecutions of ranking members of the previous government, most notably today’s politically motivated conviction of former prime minister Yuliya Tymoshenko, fly in the face of Ukraine’s often-asserted aspirations and efforts to integrate into the European Union. The Helsinki Commission and United States have strongly and consistently supported Ukraine’s European aspirations, which offer the best assurance of Ukraine’s future as an independent, democratic and flourishing state. Unfortunately, the Tymoshenko conviction only jeopardizes these efforts.” According to U.S. State Department and various NGO reports, the state of democracy and human rights in Ukraine has deteriorated since Viktor Yanukovych was elected President in February 2010. Worrisome trends include consolidation of power in the presidency; weakening of checks and balances; backpedaling on freedoms of expression and assembly; various forms of pressure on media and civil society groups (including the recent closure of three opposition television channels in Kharkiv); and seriously flawed local elections. Endemic corruption continues unabated, with weak rule of law and lack of an independent judiciary. Of immediate concern are selective prosecutions of high ranking members of the previous government. On October 11, Yulia Tymoshenko received a sentence of 7 years on charges of exceeding her authority as prime minister by agreeing to a 2009 gas deal with Russia that prosecutors say harmed Ukraine’s economy. Both the European Union and U.S. (including the Helsinki Commission) have repeatedly criticized the trial as contravening European values, in effect criminalizing a political decision, which has harmed Kyiv’s efforts at closer integration with the EU, specifically Ukraine-EU Free Trade and Association agreements. Elections Good Governance and the Rule of Law Leadership: Sort by NewestOldest Article In the News Azerbaijan Belgium Canada Czech Republic Denmark France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Italy Latvia Lithuania Netherlands Norway Participating States Poland Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey United States of America Issue Citizenship and Political Rights Conflict Prevention/Rehabilitation Elections Energy and Environment Freedom of Association and Assembly Freedom of Movement Freedom of Speech and Expression Genocide, Crimes against Humanity, and War Crimes Good Governance and the Rule of Law Military Aspects of Security Tolerance and Non-Discrimination Date toggle-list Monday, June 22, 2020 WASHINGTON—Ahead of a 57-nation OSCE meeting on freedom of expression, media, and information, Helsinki Commission Chairman Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (FL-20) released the following statement: “In the United States, we have witnessed a devastating series of attacks by authorities against journalists covering the nationwide protests calling for racial justice following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. In many cases, reporters have been injured, harassed, or arrested even after explicitly identifying themselves as members of the press. “If the United States wants to remain a credible voice in the promotion of human rights abroad, we must fiercely protect them at home. This Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting on the critical topic of freedom of expression, media, and information represents an important opportunity to take an honest and critical look at America’s own record in recent weeks on protecting journalists and safeguarding press freedom.” According to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, as of June 15, there have been more than 430 reported press freedom violations since the beginning of the national Black Lives Matter protests on May 26. This includes at least 59 arrests; 268 assaults (including the use of tear gas, pepper spray, and rubber bullets and projectiles); and 57 cases of equipment/newsroom damage. OSCE Supplementary Human Dimension Meetings (SHDM) are convened three times annually on topics chosen by the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office. The first SHDM organized by the Albanian chairmanship, “Addressing All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination,” took place May 25-26, 2020. The June meeting on freedom of expression, media and information includes participation by non-governmental civil society organizations, the U.S. Helsinki Commission, and representatives from OSCE participating States. Chairman Hastings Demands Release of Paul Whelan Wednesday, June 17, 2020 WASHINGTON—Following the sentencing of U.S. citizen Paul Whelan to 16 years in a maximum-security prison by a Russian court, Helsinki Commission Chairman Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (FL-20) issued the following statement: “In clear violation of Russia’s OSCE commitments, Paul Whelan was denied his right to due process. His long and harsh pre-trial detention, and the secretive nature of Paul’s trial and the spurious ‘evidence’ against him, show that Russia’s authorities are not concerned about justice. This is nothing more than a politically-motivated stunt that has inflicted serious damage on an American citizen. Paul Whelan must be released.” Paul Whelan was arrested in Moscow in December 2018, where he planned to attend a wedding. FSB agents broke into his hotel room and found a flash drive that Whelan’s Russian friend had told him contained photos from a recent trip. Authorities claimed that the flash drive contained classified information. Whelan has been detained in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, unable to contact his family and friends, alleging abuse from guards, and suffering from health problems. OSCE Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting Examines Intolerance and Discrimination during Pandemic Monday, June 01, 2020 On May 25-26, 2020, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) held the year’s first Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting (SHDIM). The event, which attracted more than 950 participants from 57 countries, focused on addressing intolerance and discrimination and was the OSCE’s first public event hosted in an entirely virtual format. During the event, representatives of governments, civil society, and OSCE institutions discussed the importance of immediate, robust, and coordinated responses to acts of scapegoating, racism, xenophobia, and anti-Semitism, especially during times of crisis. Participants underscored the need to reject hate speech both online and off, and shared best practices to prevent its escalation into violence. Recommendations centered on the shared goals of building inclusive and resilient societies that guarantee human rights for all. In her closing remarks, Shannon Simrell, the U.S. Helsinki Commission Representative to the U.S. Mission to the OSCE in Vienna, highlighted recent commission engagement on combating intolerance and discrimination. Under the leadership of Chairman Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (FL-20), the Helsinki Commission's ongoing commitment to building safe, equitable, and inclusive societies has been embodied by “On the Road to Inclusion,” a new interethnic, multicultural, inter-religious, and intergenerational initiative designed to build broad-based coalitions and crafts durable solutions, based on respect and meaningful engagement of all members of society. In addition, Helsinki Commission Ranking Member Senator Ben Cardin (MD), who also serves as the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Special Representative for Anti-Semitism, Racism, and Intolerance, has directed funding to support OSCE’s comprehensive and multi-year Words into Action project, which develops inclusion handbooks for governments and communities. The second Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting of 2020, scheduled for June 22-23, will focus on freedom of expression, press freedom, and access to information. Closing Remarks by Shannon Simrell, U.S. Helsinki Commission Representative to the U.S. Mission to the OSCE On behalf of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, I wish to congratulate the Chair in Office for organizing this historic event, thank the speakers for sharing your expertise, and recognize my colleagues and civil society representatives for your thoughtful engagement on these issues. In the past two days, we have heard not only about the importance of immediate and definitive responses to acts of hate and intolerance, but also the importance of a comprehensive and long-term approach to dismantle the social, economic, legislative, and technological roots of discrimination. Crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic lay bare the significant work that still needs to be done across the OSCE region to address prejudice, racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, and all forms of discrimination. Helsinki commitments must be equally realized by everyone among us. Without exception. To ODIHR colleagues, thank you for your comprehensive approach to addressing hate crimes and intolerance while recognizing also the specific and varied challenges faced by various vulnerable groups, including Roma/Sinti, people of African descent, disabled, youth, women, and migrants and refugees. In support of ODIHR’s vital role, I note that U.S. Senator Ben Cardin, in addition to his role as OSCEPA Special Representative for Anti-Semitism, Racism, and Intolerance, is proud to have directed funding to support phase two of the Words into Action project. In addition, the Commission's commitment to building safe, equitable, and inclusive societies is further underscored by an initiative under the leadership of U.S. Helsinki Chairman Alcee Hastings, called “On the Road to Inclusion.” This interethnic, multicultural, inter-religious, and intergenerational initiative builds broad-based coalitions and crafts durable solutions, based on respect and meaningful engagement of all members of society. I look forward to future events where we can continue not only our exploration of the hurdles, but an update on ways we are working to guarantee human rights for all. Thursday, May 21, 2020 Listen to audio of the briefing on Facebook. Free and fair elections are one of the most fundamental measures of a democratic society. During the 2016 presidential elections, many Americans became aware for the first time that disinformation can be easily coupled with technology by state and nonstate actors to disrupt and muddy the information space in the months, weeks, and days leading up to an election. The use of disinformation to influence elections has since become a pervasive and persistent threat in all 57 OSCE participating States, one which many still struggle to adequately address. With presidential, parliamentary, or local elections scheduled in 15 OSCE participating States before the end of 2020, the stakes could not be higher. The COVID-19 pandemic has added another level of complexity, as Russia, China, and Iran are all attempting to use the crisis to drive a wedge between the United States and Europe. Governments in the region are struggling to respond, with some enacting measures that further restrict the free flow of information and threaten press freedom. This briefing featured three expert panelists who each examined the implications of this emerging threat to the electoral process and explored opportunities for nations, state and local governments, the private sector, and civil society to collaborate to identify and mitigate disinformation’s corrosive effects. Some of the more urgent concerns they noted were the increased politicization of the information space and the rise of nonstate actors. Heather Conley, Senior Vice President for Europe, Eurasia, and the Arctic at the Center for Strategic International Studies, noted, “Russia does not create the weaknesses; they simply exploit them. And this is where I think it’s very important to understand that in the U.S. system they’re exploiting, obviously, our partisanship. So we are offering them the weakness, and then they use it wherever they can.” Nina Jankowicz, Disinformation Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center Science and Technology Information Program and author of the upcoming book How to Lose the Information War, said the goal is often simply to bombard the information space with so much conflicting information, the voter loses interest: “They want people to consume less news and to feel like participation at all stages of the process is futile, whether that means communicating with our elected representatives, participated in civil society, or even the act of voting itself.” She added that partisanship cannot be permitted to frame the response to disinformation. “Disinformation is not a partisan issue,” she said. “If we’re to make any progress in protecting our democracies, we need to not only clearly recognize the threat that disinformation poses but reject its tactics whole cloth. Any government that uses disinformation cannot hope to fight it.” Chatham House’s Sophia Ignatidou called for a US-EU approach to combatting disinformation that was rooted in international human rights. She noted, “The reason for doing that is that international human rights law is suitable to deal with an issue that doesn’t respect any physical boundaries. And it can provide a more holistic view of the issue of disinformation which we are lacking sometimes.” Ignatidou also challenged one of the primary arguments that some of the big tech companies use to push back against regulation – freedom of expression – as misleading, because “the problem with disinformation is dissemination patterns and scale, not content, per se. And freedom of speech does not equate [with] freedom of reach.” Other questions centered on the importance of OSCE election monitoring missions paying more attention to how disinformation impacts the atmosphere surrounding an election in the months leading up to it. The discussion ended on a positive note as all three panelists, when asked to cite examples of successful efforts to mitigate disinformation, spoke about the importance of using trusted, credible voices at the grass-roots level and of building resilience among voters in a nonpartisan fashion. Related Information Panelist Biographies Podcast: Helsinki on the Hill \| Defending against Disinformation A Global Pandemic: Disinformation Hearing: The Scourge of Russian Disinformation Briefing: Lies, Bots, and Social Media Monday, May 18, 2020 WASHINGTON—The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, today announced the following briefing: DISINFORMATION, COVID-19, AND THE ELECTORAL PROCESS Thursday, May 21, 2020 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Register to attend. Free and fair elections are one of the most fundamental measures of a democratic society. During the 2016 presidential elections, many Americans became aware for the first time that disinformation can be easily coupled with technology by state and nonstate actors to disrupt and muddy the information space in the months, weeks, and days leading up to an election. The use of disinformation to influence elections has since become a pervasive and persistent threat in all 57 OSCE participating States, one which many countries still struggle to adequately address. With presidential, parliamentary, or local elections scheduled in 15 OSCE participating States before the end of the year, the stakes cannot be higher. The COVID-19 pandemic has added another level of complexity, as Russia, China, and Iran are all attempting to use the crisis to drive a wedge between the United States and Europe. Governments in the region are struggling to respond, with some enacting measures that further restrict the free flow of information and threaten press freedom. This briefing will examine the implications of this emerging threat to the electoral process and explore opportunities for nations, state and local governments, the private sector, and civil society to collaborate to identify and mitigate disinformation’s corrosive effects. Expert panelists scheduled to participate include: Heather Conley, Senior Vice President for Europe, Eurasia, and the Arctic, The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Nina Jankowicz, Disinformation Fellow, Woodrow Wilson Center Science and Technology Information Program; author of “How to Lose the Information War” Sophia Ignatidou, Academy Associate, International Security Programme, Chatham House Human Rights and Democracy in a Time of Pandemic Tuesday, May 12, 2020 The outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic has prompted governments around the world to take extraordinary measures in the interest of public health and safety. As of early April, nearly two-thirds of the 57 participating States of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe had declared “states of emergency” or invoked similar legal measures in response to the crisis. Often such measures have enabled governments to enact large-scale social distancing policies and suspend economic activity to save lives and preserve the capacity of national public health infrastructure to respond to the spread of infections. At the same time, human rights organizations and civil society activists have expressed concern regarding the breadth of some emergency measures and recalled the long history of government abuse of emergency powers to trample civil liberties. Exactly three decades ago, OSCE participating States unanimously endorsed a set of basic principles governing the imposition of states of emergency, including the protection of fundamental freedoms in such times of crisis. In 1990 in Copenhagen, OSCE countries affirmed that states of emergency must be enacted by public law and that any curtailment of human rights and civil liberties must be “limited to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation.” According to the Copenhagen Document, emergency measures furthermore should never discriminate based on certain group characteristics or be used to justify torture. Building on these commitments a year later in Moscow, participating States underscored that states of emergency should not “subvert the democratic constitutional order, nor aim at the destruction of internationally recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms.” The Moscow Document stresses the role of legislatures in imposing and lifting such declarations, the preservation of the rule of law, and the value of guaranteeing “freedom of expression and freedom of information…with a view to enabling public discussion on the observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms as well as on the lifting of the state of public emergency.” In some corners of the OSCE region, however, national authorities are violating these and other OSCE commitments in the name of combatting coronavirus. While many extraordinary responses are justified in the face of this crisis, government overreach threatens the well-being of democracy and the resilience of society at a critical time. Download the full report to learn more. speech Respecting Human Rights and Maintaining Democratic Control during States of Emergency Friday, May 08, 2020 Statement at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Webinar: Respecting Human Rights and Maintaining Democratic Control during States of Emergency President Tsereteli, Secretary General Montella, it is good hear from you. I am pleased to see that this Assembly has found ways to communicate, cooperate and collaborate — in spite of the distances that keep us apart, and as an expression of our shared commitments to our roles as legislators. At last year’s annual session, I was the lead sponsor of a supplementary item on “the role of civil society — individuals and non-governmental organizations — in realizing the aims and aspirations of the OSCE.” The resolution we adopted in Luxembourg acknowledges the critical role civil society plays in enhancing security and cooperation across all OSCE dimensions. I appreciate President Tsereteli appointing our colleague, the Honorable Pia Kauma, as the Assembly’s Special Representative to be an advocate for civil society engagement and she has done a great job so far. I am sorry, but not surprised that some governments have taken the need for emergency measures as an opportunity for repressive measures. Hungary is the only OSCE participating State that does not have a sunset clause for the expiration of its emergency measures, or requiring parliamentary approval for an extension. Parliamentary oversight is absolutely essential, especially when governments seek to exercise extraordinary powers. I believe we must also pay particular attention to those measures that relate to freedoms of assembly, association, and expression. I am also troubled by the heavy-handed disciplinary and punitive approach utilized in some areas, which exacerbates existing discriminatory and unconstitutional policing. I want to thank you, Director Gisladottir, for your attention to this and speaking out against the hate crimes and scapegoating of minorities, refugees and migrants. In the next legislation that will come before the U.S. Congress, I will support provisions to address hate crimes and other forms of discrimination in our societies recently highlighted by the pandemic. The February 25 profiling murder of Ahmaud Aubrey by his neighbors in the state of Georgia demonstrates the urgency of our fight for equity and justice for all beyond our current crisis. But I would like to pause here for a moment, to reflect on violations of fundamental freedoms that some governments had already imposed even before now. If a law or practice violated OSCE human rights and democracy norms before the pandemic, circumstances now will surely not cure that violation. Threats against journalists, restrictions on academic freedom, imprisoning people for their political views, and impeding or even criminalizing NGOs’ access to and communication within and outside their own countries — all of that is still inconsistent with OSCE commitments, and the pandemic does not change that. Principle VII of the Helsinki Final Act still holds: individuals still have the right to know and act upon their rights. I therefore add my voice to the international calls from OSCE institutional bodies and others around the world for the release of all prisoners of conscience given this pandemic. Prison populations are particularly susceptible to community spread. To address dangerous overcrowding, governments should work first and foremost to release those imprisoned for exercising their internationally recognized rights or those wrongly imprisoned contrary to international commitments. I regret Turkey's decision in particular to approve a plan to release 90,000 prisoners that excluded relief for any of the thousands of political prisoners, including opposition politicians, civil society activists, employees of U.S. diplomatic missions, and many more. Which brings me back to the important work of Special Representative Kauma. Civil society is not a luxury, it is essential. If anything, it becomes even more important during an emergency when governments may legitimately exercise powers, but those powers may not be unlimited, unchecked, or unending. A vibrant civil society plays a critical role in holding governments to account, particularly at times of great social stress. Those human rights groups, the parent-teacher organizations, book clubs, or food banks— all enrich our societies. Colleagues, this pandemic has upended elections across the OSCE region. According to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s factsheet, forty OSCE participating States — including my own — have elections scheduled for this year. As we all rise to meet the challenge of conducting elections safely, we must maintain transparency regarding the entire electoral process, especially any changes to the timing of elections, methods of voting, or measures that impact campaigning. The United States is already debating these issues in preparation for November. Even in a pandemic, international and domestic election observation remains vital. We must find a solution to ensure that they are engaged and included even now. speech Friday, May 08, 2020 OSCE PA Webinar: Respecting Human Rights And Maintaining Democratic Control During States of Emergency Thank you, Mr. President Tsereteli and Secretary General Montella, for organizing this dialogue. Director Gisladottir and Mr. Abramowitz, thank you for the work each of you is doing to shine a light on the human rights and democracy implications of emergency measures introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the implications of other government actions taken during this public health crisis that may threaten the health of our democracies. As parliamentarians, we have a responsibility to ensure that the measures we introduce and which our governments implement are consistent with OSCE standards on human rights and democracy, including the 1991 Moscow Document’s commitments regarding states of emergency. Those actions must be necessary, proportional, transparent, and temporary. Emergency provisions which restrict freedom of speech or freedom of the media are especially concerning and may actually undermine our efforts to address this health emergency. We need to ensure that journalists, medical professionals, scientists and others can provide the public with information we need to battle covid. Muzzling independent voices undermines public confidence in government at a time when that confidence and public cooperation is critical to the success of the safety measures we need. And yes, sometimes this means governments are going to hear they they’re not getting it right and sometimes governments will need to make course corrections. But there’s a big difference between addressing bad news and suppressing bad news. A robust civil society is a critical partner to each of our governments and will strengthen our resilience. Unfortunately, just this virus exploits vulnerabilities of pre-existing conditions, some governments may exploit the human rights limitations already in place before this pandemic, including laws or practices that unduly restrict civil society, or limit the freedoms of expression, association, or assembly. President Tseretelli, your appointment of a Special Representative on Civil Society last August could not have come at a more important time. I hope members of this assembly will advance efforts to protect the core fundamental freedoms that are essential for civil society voices to be heard and support the work of my colleague, Special Representative Pia Kauma. We also need to ensure that civil society voices continue to be heard within the OSCE. As we look ahead to how the participating States organize human dimension activities this year, and particularly the annual Human Dimension Implementation Meeting, it is critical that we preserve the access and openness that have made the OSCE such an important forum for human right defenders. Whether OSCE meetings are in person or online, those standards of access should be preserved. Finally, democratic institutions, including as the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary, and free elections, must be preserved even during states of emergency. I think this is really one of the most important contributions of the 1991 Moscow Document — it speaks to these exact points: “A state of public emergency may not be used to subvert the democratic constitutional order.” “The participating States will endeavor to ensure that the normal functioning of the legislative bodies will be guaranteed to the highest possible extent during a state of public emergency.” “The participating States will endeavor to ensure that the legal guarantees necessary to uphold the rule of law will remain in force during a state of public emergency.” We may need to make changes in how our courts hear cases or the mechanics of our elections. But a health emergency does not diminish our commitment to ensure the integrity of our democratic institutions. The United States will proceed with our elections in a manner that ensures the public’s safety and respects the rights of voters, and consistent with our OSCE commitments. Thank you. Chairman Hastings and Co-Chairman Wicker Commemorate World Press Freedom Day Friday, May 01, 2020 WASHINGTON—Ahead of World Press Freedom Day on May 3, Helsinki Commission Chairman Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (FL-20) and Co-Chairman Sen. Roger Wicker (MS) issued the following statements: "Given these uncertain and unprecedented times, it is more important than ever that journalists and media professionals are able to work freely and without retribution," said Chairman Hastings. "Unfortunately, journalists remain in jail throughout the OSCE region, while states like Russia, Azerbaijan, and Hungary criminalize providing essential information and transparency about the COVID-19 pandemic. Independent media continues to be assaulted under the pretense of punishing allegedly 'false,' 'misleading,' or unofficial information. This is unacceptable." Read Chairman Hastings' full Congressional Record statement. “Journalists across the globe risk their safety, and some even their lives, to report the truth," said Co-Chairman Wicker. "On World Press Freedom Day, we honor a freedom that is a cornerstone of democracy and should always be protected in any healthy society. During this pandemic, good journalism and unflinching investigative reporting are essential as we work to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus and get our economies started again. Now more than ever, I urge all OSCE states to uphold this fundamental freedom." According to the latest reports from the Committee to Protect Journalists, 250 journalists are imprisoned worldwide for their work, 64 journalists are missing, and 1,369 journalists have been killed since 1992. Additionally, Reporters Without Borders' 2020 World Press Freedom Index found that global press freedom has deteriorated by 12 percent since 2013. Ahead of World Press Freedom Day, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir, along with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression and the Organization of American States Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, issued a joint declaration on freedom of expression and elections in the digital age, particularly noting challenges to press freedom during the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 17, Chairman Hastings and Co-Chairman Wicker released a statement expressing concern with the latest attacks on press freedom in Russia amid the coronavirus pandemic, including death threats to Russian journalist Yelena Milashina by Chechnya’s leader Ramzan Kadyrov. Earlier in April, Chairman Hastings also denounced the unchecked power granted to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban following his request to rule by decree in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. speech Statement at the Meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Bureau Monday, April 27, 2020 Mr. President, Secretary General Montella, thank you for giving me the opportunity to participate in this Bureau meeting. I commend you for your efforts to ensure that the work of the Assembly continues and that this body responds to the urgent challenges all of our countries face. I particularly welcome the information you have put online about the participating States’ responses to the covid-19 pandemic and the role of legislative bodies in formulating those responses. Parliamentary oversight is essential, not expendable, in an emergency. Since my last report in Luxembourg, I have focused on the profound threat of rising and increasingly deadly intolerance. Anti-Semitic, racist and xenophobic attacks in my own country, at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh and the targeted killings of Latin Americans in El Paso, Texas, underscore the urgency of this threat. Obviously, the pandemic creates new and additional challenges. But it is precisely at this moment that we cannot afford to lower our guard against discrimination and bigotry, when pandemic fears may fan the flames of intolerance. Minority and immigrant communities are already more vulnerable to the impact of the pandemic because of past inequalities. Those disparities may be compounded without appropriately targeted healthcare and economic responses. Covid-caused disruptions in education may also have long-term disproportionate consequences for those already impacted by discriminatory schooling. As parliamentarians, we have a responsibility to ensure that the measures we introduce and which our governments implement are consistent with OSCE standards on human rights and democracy, including the 1991 Moscow Document’s commitments regarding states of emergency. It is also vital that our parliamentary oversight extends to the use of military authorities and policing, which may have the potential to exacerbate relations with minority communities and erode public confidence in government at a time when that trust is critical for the effective implementation of responses to this virus. Disciplinary and punitive policies by national or local authorities run the risk of backfiring. As this body’s special representative on anti-Semitism and racism, I am alarmed by attacks on people who are being scapegoated for this virus. Parliamentarians should lead by example in countering disinformation, conspiracy theories, and other propaganda that stokes anti-Asian bigotry, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, and other forms of racism. In the face of an extraordinary threat, people may feel that ordinary constraints on governments do not apply. But too often, temporary changes introduced for emergencies have a way of becoming permanent. I welcome the statements by my Third Committee colleagues that have called for the participating States’ responses to meet the basic tests of necessity, transparency, and proportionality. It is also crucial that they include sunset provisions and subject to periodic review. When democratic norms erode, protections against hate crimes do too. Mr. President, I will be reporting more fully on my activities later this year at a more opportune time, when we will all be able to assess the very fluid, unfolding challenges. Covid-19 will undoubtedly lead to profound changes in all our countries for a long time to come. I thank you and my colleagues here today for the work you are doing to ensure that we meet a global crisis with global cooperation faithful to the commitments we have undertaken in the OSCE. Thursday, April 23, 2020 WASHINGTON—Three years after the death of Joseph Stone, a U.S. paramedic serving with the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) in Ukraine, Helsinki Commission Chairman Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (FL-20) recalled Stone’s tragic death in the Russia-driven conflict and lamented the suffering of civilians who remain the chief victims of Kremlin aggression. Stone was killed on April 23, 2017, when his vehicle struck a landmine in Russian-controlled territory in eastern Ukraine. “Another year has passed since Joseph Stone lost his life, and still Moscow’s war in eastern Ukraine rages on,” said Chairman Hastings. “Stone was killed as he helped document the senseless human suffering inflicted by the Kremlin’s assault on Ukraine. Even amidst a global pandemic, we must not forget the civilians with courage like Stone, who remain on the frontlines of conflict zones globally.” Helsinki Commission Co-Chairman Sen. Roger Wicker (MS) underlined the Russian Government’s responsibility for the war’s ongoing toll and affirmed that the Kremlin would continue to face consequences for its aggression. “The Kremlin continues to fuel this war while denying its direct involvement,” said Co-Chairman Wicker. “Joseph Stone’s death three years ago was a direct result of Russian aggression, which is only part of Vladimir Putin’s broader campaign against Ukraine. Our sanctions will remain in place until Moscow changes course and Ukraine’s territorial integrity is restored.” Helsinki Commissioner Rep. Gwen Moore (WI-04) celebrated Stone’s contributions to regional security and condemned the threats OSCE monitors continue to face in the field. “Born in my district in Milwaukee, Joseph Stone was a courageous young man whose life tragically ended much too soon. All OSCE states, including Russia, must do everything possible to support the OSCE monitors who, to this day, face unacceptable threats and restrictions as they shine a light on the daily cost of this needless war,” said Rep. Moore. Helsinki Commissioner Rep. Richard Hudson (NC-08), who also chairs the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Committee on Political Affairs and Security, called for the immediate lifting of new, baseless restrictions imposed by Russian-led forces under the pretext of COVID-19. “Even as OSCE monitors seek to report on the COVID-19 outbreak’s impact on vulnerable populations, Russian-controlled forces are using so-called quarantine restrictions to deny them access,” Rep. Hudson said. “The increasing limitations by Moscow-led forces also stall crucial humanitarian shipments and services by international organizations. This obstruction and harassment must cease immediately.” The SMM was established in 2014 to monitor implementation of the Minsk agreements, which were designed to bring peace to eastern Ukraine. It is an unarmed, civilian mission that serves as the international community’s eyes and ears on the security and humanitarian situation in the conflict zone. The SMM operates under a mandate adopted by consensus among the 57 OSCE participating States, including the United States, Russia, and Ukraine. It currently fields roughly 750 monitors, approximately 600 of whom are in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine. The United States supports the SMM by providing 54 monitors (the largest contingent) and has contributed more than $140 million to the mission since its inception. Ongoing Transatlantic Engagement through the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Friday, April 17, 2020 Madam SPEAKER, I rise to today to update my Congressional colleagues on continued discussions between members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly. I would also like to share the desire of our international friends and allies to remain engaged with the United States during these challenging times. My colleagues who serve with me on the U.S. Helsinki Commission and remain active include Representative Alcee Hastings of Florida, Representative Joe Wilson of South Carolina, Representative Steve Cohen of Tennessee, Representative Robert Aderholt of Alabama, Representative Gwen Moore of Wisconsin, Representative Chris Smith of New Jersey, as well as Senator Wicker of Mississippi and Senator Cardin of Maryland. As the United States Delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, we recognize the importance of building partnerships with our counterparts from other countries especially during such unprecedented times. As the Chairman of the Committee on Security, I recognize multilateral diplomacy works to U.S. interests when we take the initiative. Parliamentarians have a special role to play as elected officials in this process, showing the depth of each of our country’s commitment to security and cooperation not only in Europe, but around the globe. During our most recent video conference, Italian Minister for European Affairs, Vincenzo Amendola, joined to update us on Italy’s response to COVID-19. He stressed the need for continued cooperation in response not only to the health threat but also to the economic havoc the pandemic has caused. Shortly after our video conference concluded, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the United States will provide an additional $225 million in health, humanitarian and economic assistance to boost response efforts worldwide. This is in addition to the $274 million already deployed to fight COVID-19. In the past two decades, the Secretary noted, the United States has provided $140 billion in health assistance globally, helping to make us an undisputed leader in health and humanitarian aid. Some of this aide has been to countries in Europe, including Italy. I would add that this is not only a reflection of our country’s unmatched generosity over the decades, but our national interest as well. Many of the health threats we have faced come from beyond our borders, including COVID-19, and we have an interest in trying to respond effectively to those threats where they first develop, before they reach our shores. A final outcome of the recent video conference was endorsement of United Nation Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ recent call for a ceasefire regarding conflicts around the globe at this time when countries need to face a common pandemic threat. The Helsinki Commission provides Members of Congress with the opportunity to work with our friends and allies around the globe to promote our shared democratic values and work in a bipartisan fashion on core foreign policy issues. While our calls have been focused on fighting COVID-19 we are still tracking other international conflicts. For example, during the video conference I, along with other parliamentarians, raised the issue of the unwarranted Russian aggression in Ukraine and Georgia. I am encouraged by the level of engagement from my OSCE Parliamentary Assembly colleagues and will continue to work with them through this global pandemic. Madam SPEAKER, please join me today recognizing the importance of these discussions with our European allies and friends. Expressing the United States’ Solidarity with Friends and Allies in Europe Tuesday, April 07, 2020 Madam SPEAKER, I rise to report discussions I had last week during a video conference with members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly, and their response to COVID-19. Let me stress at the outset that our country has not only treaty-bound allies in Europe, but genuine friends. Our friends and colleagues abroad welcomed Senator Roger Wicker and my participation on behalf of the United States to discuss how we will continue our important duties amidst the dire situation facing the globe. I reported on the increasingly dire situation here in the United States and the efforts of the U.S. Congress to provide relief to our citizens. We all expressed solidarity with each other and a determination to move forward. Every country in Europe is affected by this pandemic, Madam Speaker, just as every state in the United States is affected. The President of the Lombardy in Italy spoke about the particularly critical situation his region is facing. In a crisis like this, while we have our primary responsibilities here at home, it is imperative we continue to help our international friends and partners. I assured our partners that the United States will continue to support our allies and provide considerable assistance to public health worldwide. Such expressions of transatlantic unity, in my view, are important in times like these. They give our European friends and allies the confidence they need to move forward. It also helps to counter the considerable amount of misinformation and misperception currently spreading and dispel the malign influence attached to offers of help and friendship from elsewhere around the globe. We cannot let ulterior motives divide and weaken our ties at this time of vulnerability. In spite of this crisis, other threats to European security have not gone away. Russian aggression against its neighbors, terrorist threats, and protracted conflicts in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus all still exist, requiring our continued attention. Much of our parliamentary conversation focused on how we can address these continual challenges we face while we are unable to meet and deliberate in person as scheduled. Despite the uncertainty, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly will find a way and with a little creativity, will continue having these important discussions. A final point made in the video conference is the need to defend our democratic principles and human rights in a time where restrictions and limits are imposed that could be abused. Our country defended Europe from tyranny last century, so it is rewarding to see our friends and allies determined to preserve those gains moving forward into this century. Madam Speaker, we have the capacity to address the ongoing threats to our security even as we address this unprecedented public health crisis amidst an economic downturn. The bicameral group of legislators who serve on the U.S. Helsinki Commission do so in a bipartisan way, and when we participate in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, we do so with our European friends and allies in this effort. I concluded from my discussions last week that more difficult times may lie ahead, but by working together, we will persevere. Madam SPEAKER, please join me today recognizing the importance of these discussions with our European allies and friends. Thank you, Madam SPEAKER. I yield back the balance of my time. Chairman Hastings Denounces Unchecked Power Granted To Hungary’s Prime Minister Orban Thursday, April 02, 2020 WASHINGTON—Following the Hungarian Parliament’s decision on Monday to accept Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s request for unlimited power to rule by decree in response to the coronavirus pandemic, Helsinki Commission Chairman Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (FL-20) issued the following statement: “Prime Minister Orban has taken gross advantage of the fear and uncertainty brought on by a global pandemic to secure the power to rule by decree in perpetuity. Instead of focusing on the well-being of Hungarian citizens likely to suffer from the coronavirus, he has chosen to prioritize preserving his parliamentary majority and permanently consolidating his control of the Hungarian Government. “At both the global and national levels, defeating the coronavirus will require extraordinary social solidarity, not unchecked executive power. The further concentration of powers in Hungary will only pave the way for the further concentration of corruption.” Among other provisions, the new law allows for up to a five-year prison sentence for spreading false or distorted information regarding the fight against the coronavirus, which could be used against journalists reporting on the state of Hungary’s hospitals or health care delivery. The law also suspends elections. Hungary has recently completed a cycle of elections (parliamentary, European Parliament, and municipal) with no other major elections scheduled until 2022. In the meantime, by-elections and referenda are prohibited. The law, which lacks a sunset clause, may only be repealed by a two-thirds vote of parliament, or terminated by the Prime Minister himself. In 1991, Hungary—along with all other OSCE participating States—adopted the Moscow Document in the aftermath of a coup attempt in Russia. The agreement includes specific provisions on states of emergency. In particular, the OSCE participating States agreed to “in conformity with international standards regarding the freedom of expression, take no measures aimed at barring journalists from the legitimate exercise of their profession other than those strictly required by the exigencies of the situation.” On March 30, OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Director Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir warned that emergency legislation being adopted by governments across the OSCE region, including Hungary, must include a time limit and guarantee parliamentary oversight. Since 2010, Viktor Orban has systematically dismantled a system of checks and balances, facilitating the consolidation of control by the Fidesz government. In April 2019, the Helsinki Commission hosted a briefing to explore developments in Hungary, including issues related to the rule of law and corruption. in the news Tuesday, March 31, 2020 European leaders were reluctant to pick a fight with Prime Minister Viktor Orban a day after he secured powers to rule by decree indefinitely. BRUSSELS — The European Union’s written response to Hungary’s effective suspension of democracy omitted one important word: Hungary. A day after the Hungarian Parliament passed sweeping emergency measures allowing the far-right populist leader Viktor Orban to rule by decree indefinitely, ostensibly as part of the country’s response to the coronavirus, the European Commission on Tuesday reminded its members to respect rights. But it was a muted first response from the one institution that can take on Mr. Orban, and it appeared aimed at balancing the political imperative of cooperation in the era of the coronavirus with the risk of emboldening him. “It’s of utmost importance that emergency measures are not at the expense of our fundamental principles and values,” Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said in a statement that made no mention of Mr. Orban or Hungary. The European Commission is the European Union’s executive branch, and it often describes itself as “the guardian of the treaty” that created the bloc of 27 democracies. But Mr. Orban has long been in an open struggle with parts of that treaty. He has said frankly that he does not believe in liberal democracy — which the European Commission says is fundamental to the European Union’s values. The severe measures adopted Monday in Budapest may dramatically ratchet up the confrontation between the Orban government and European Union institutions in Brussels. Hungary’s new legislation suspends elections and also allows the prime minister to suspend existing laws and rule by decree. One vaguely worded section also says that people found to be spreading “falsehoods” or “distorted truths” that obstruct the authorities from protecting the public may be punished with prison sentences of up to five years. That new tool that may allow Mr. Orban to further curb the press freedoms long in his cross hairs. To be sure, in the face of the epidemic, European countries have all to lesser or greater extent adopted emergency measures curbing liberties, including measures that require citizens to register any movement and observe curfews. But Hungary’s new rules are the most far reaching. And rights experts, political analysts and academics say that, given Mr. Orban’s track record and espousal of “illiberal democracy,” the measures he says he is taking to fight the virus could become fixtures in Hungarian public life, used to crack down on opposition well after the threat of the virus passes. European Union officials believe that the statement issued Tuesday, which came from Ms. von der Leyen personally, sent a clear message to Mr. Orban — even without naming him. European Commission lawyers are now closely watching how he enforces Hungary’s new measures, the officials said. But they said that now — as Europe battles to stem the spread of the virus and mitigate its catastrophic economic damage, and with many nations suspending some liberties — was not the moment to pick a fight with just one member. That measured approach surprised some observers, despite the fact that the commission often takes a conciliatory stance toward wayward members in a bid to entice them to reform voluntarily. (That has never worked with Hungary.) “It is bizarre,” Daniel Freund, a member of the European Parliament who belongs to the German Greens political party, said of Ms. von der Leyen’s statement. “The decision that the Hungarian Parliament took yesterday is a watershed moment,” Mr. Freund said. “Now you have to do something, or we really lose democracies.” Mr. Freund and other members of the European Parliament believe that even before the European Commission opens a formal investigation into Hungary’s new law, which would take months, it should use existing rules to put pressure on Mr. Orban. “If we end up after the crisis with a virus well fought but democracy lost in several member states, that’s an unacceptable situation,” Mr. Freund said. Daniel Kelemen, a professor European Union politics and law at Rutgers University, said the epidemic could prove an opportunity for the Hungarian leader. “Throughout his consolidation of power, Orban has counted on the European Union to be distracted with other crises,” he said. “But now,” Mr. Kelemen said, “the scale of this crisis does call for consolidation of power for the executive, so it gives him more effective cover for this next stage of escalation.” Mr. Orban’s hold on power was unparalleled by European Union standards well before Monday’s vote authorizing him to rule by decree. In practical terms, Mr. Orban and his allies already controlled the legislative and executives branches of government, and had stacked the Constitutional Court. With Mr. Orban’s parliamentary opposition unable to slow his political machine, the European Union has shown itself to be the only entity capable of curbing his power, but the results have been mixed. Lengthy and cumbersome European Union legal proceedings could not stop Mr. Orban and his allies from taking over the Hungarian media landscape, weakening the independence of the judiciary, levying a special tax on nongovernmental organizations receiving foreign funding, or ejecting the Central European University from the country. In the end it may be Mr. Orban’s love for European financial aid, not freedoms, that acts as a brake on his government. “Aware that the European Union is watching, Orban is likely to tread modestly at first,” said Mujtaba Rahman, the head of Europe at Eurasia Group consultancy. “He will not wish to put at risk the €5.6 billion windfall granted to Hungary by the European Parliament last week as its portion in the union’s efforts to battle the coronavirus." President Trump has warmly embraced Mr. Orban. Mr. Trump’s ambassador in Hungary has spoken glowingly about Mr. Orban’s grip on power and said that Mr. Trump would love to have the powers of his Hungarian counterpart. But Mr. Orban’s autocratic tendencies have long alarmed others in Washington, particularly lawmakers who serve on the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, known as the Helsinki Commission. A congressional delegation visited Hungary last year to investigate democratic backsliding. Friday, March 13, 2020 WASHINGTON—After a March 8 announcement that Georgia’s political leadership reached a deal paving the way for the adoption of compromise electoral reforms ahead of the October 2020 parliamentary election, Helsinki Commission Chairman Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (FL-20) and Co-Chairman Sen. Roger Wicker (MS) released the following statements: “Debate and compromise, two hallmarks of democracy, have rebuilt hope that Georgia’s leaders can bridge divisions and meet the demands of the people for accountability in electoral processes and outcomes,” Chairman Hastings said. “Having led an international election observation mission to Georgia, I commend the hard work it took to reach this agreement and the role of international ambassadors, particularly U.S. Ambassador Kelly Degnan, in facilitating it. As the agreement’s implementation proceeds, I hope to see prioritization of the parties’ joint commitment to address perceptions of politically-motivated criminal charges in recent months.” During the January 2008 presidential election in Georgia, Chairman Hastings served as head of the OSCE PA election observation mission and was appointed by the OSCE Chairman-in-Office as the Special Coordinator leading all OSCE short-term observers. “As a longtime champion of the United States’ strategic partnership with Georgia, I am glad to see Georgia’s political leaders take the path of dialogue to resolve this months-long crisis,” said Co-Chairman Wicker. “The coming months should serve as an opportunity for the Georgian people to regain confidence in the ability of their democratic institutions to represent their voices and render independent justice.” In December 2019, Co-Chairman Wicker sent a letter to Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia urging the ruling Georgian Dream party to address growing public discontent with preparations for the 2020 national election and a string of decisions that undermined public confidence in the rule of law. Since November, Georgia has been embroiled in a political crisis sparked by the surprise defeat in parliament of constitutional amendments that would have transitioned the country to a fully proportional electoral system for 2020 parliamentary elections. In response to a political crisis last summer, Georgian Dream Party Chairman Bidzina Ivanishvili pledged his party would pass the amendments, which enjoyed broad support from Georgian political factions and international democracy advocates. Despite this pledge, a group of Georgian Dream parliamentarians voted last month to scuttle the proposal, prompting angry reactions across the Georgian political spectrum. This political controversy coincided with criminal prosecutions against several prominent opposition figures that created the appearance of selective enforcement of the law. Georgian Dream parliamentarians also disregarded an opposition boycott last week to approve 14 justices to lifetime appointments on the Supreme Court despite serious questions about some of their legal qualifications. hearing Tuesday, March 10, 2020 Presidential elections in Moldova are quickly approaching. However, the country’s self-proclaimed “technocratic” government has yet to demonstrate a departure from the country’s post-Soviet history of grand kleptocracy and political strife. Moldovans have demanded greater access to the global economy through European integration, yet some political leaders are pivoting East with substantial security implications for the enduring frozen conflict in the breakaway territory of Transnistria. To this day, Moldovans demand accountability for the more than $1 billion siphoned from Moldova’s biggest banks between 2012 and 2014. However, key former political leaders implicated in this and other crimes are alleged to have escaped international sanctions, notably, ousted oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc, who is allegedly at large in the United States. The U.S. Helsinki Commission convened the hearing to explore the societal fissures, security implications, and governance challenges at stake in the Republic of Moldova. Commission Chairman Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (FL-20) chaired the hearing and was joined by Commissioner Rep. Robert Aderholt (AL-04) and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18), a member of the U.S. delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. Chairman Hastings’ opening remarks addressed the existing conditions in Moldova under pro-Russian president Igor Dodon and affirmed U.S. support for stability and democracy in Moldova. “We hope to see Moldova reach its potential as a European nation of prosperity and the rule of law, rather than just another post-Soviet country under the thumb of Moscow,” he stated. The hearing exposed Moldova’s existing struggles with corruption and Russian influence and highlighted opportunities for the United States to support Moldova’s democratic aspirations. Ambassador William H. Hill, Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Studies and former Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova, emphasized continuing problems of corruption in Moldovan institutions, security issues regarding Russia and Transdniestria, and the role of the U.S. and the EU in supporting Moldova. Although he explained that Moldova has “strayed into a familiar pattern of cronyism, political reprisals, and geopolitical posturing,” Ambassador Hill expressed hope for progress. Tatyana Margolin, Regional Director of the Eurasia Program at Open Society Foundations, highlighted the resilience of Moldova’s civil society and the lack of public trust in the government. She also called for free and fair elections, for criminal justice reform, and on the U.S. to find Plahotniuc and bring him to justice. Valeriu Pașa, Program Manager at WatchDog.MD, testified to the problems of corruption and the absence of justice in Dodon’s administration. “Judges, prosecutors, as well as other officials are easily drawn into supporting illegalities,” leading the government to be highly incompetent, he explained. Pașa voiced his support existing U.S. sanctions under the Magnitsky Act and asked that the U.S. impose tougher sanctions on corrupt low-profile Moldovan officials. Moldovan Governance and Accountability to be Discussed at Helsinki Commission Hearing Thursday, March 05, 2020 WASHINGTON—The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, today announced the following hearing: MOLDOVA Access and Accountability Tuesday, March 10, 2020 12:30 p.m. Rayburn House Office Building Room 2200 Live Webcast: www.youtube.com/HelsinkiCommission Presidential elections in Moldova are quickly approaching. However, the country’s self-proclaimed “technocratic” government has yet to demonstrate a departure from the country’s post-Soviet history of grand kleptocracy and political strife. Moldovans have demanded greater access to the global economy through European integration, yet some political leaders are pivoting East with substantial security implications for the enduring frozen conflict in the breakaway territory of Transnistria. To this day, Moldovans demand accountability for the more than $1 billion siphoned from Moldova’s biggest banks between 2012 and 2014. However, key former political leaders implicated in this and other crimes are alleged to have escaped international sanctions. Witnesses at the hearing will explore the societal fissures, security implications, and governance challenges at stake in the Republic of Moldova. Can a country marred by deep corruption reverse its trajectory, and is there even any will to do so in this government? What role will civil society play in Moldova’s reconstruction? Will Socialist president Igor Dodon prioritize relations with Russia over the West, or manage to navigate between the two? This hearing will explore these questions and more. The following witnesses are scheduled to participate: Ambassador William H. Hill, Global Fellow, Woodrow Wilson Center for International Studies & former Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova Tatyana Margolin, Regional Director – Eurasia Program, Open Society Foundations Valeriu Pașa, Program Manager, WatchDog.MD Restrictions on Civil Society in Hungary Friday, February 28, 2020 Since returning to power in 2010, Viktor Orban has systematically dismantled a system of checks and balances, facilitating the consolidation of control by the Fidesz government, which is now in its fourth (third consecutive) term. This has included introducing significant changes to the legal framework for parliamentary elections; stripping hundreds of faiths of their state recognition in 2011 and then channeling money to religious groups that do not challenge government positions (increasing dependence of those groups on the state); overseeing the consolidation of most Hungarian media, first into the hands of government-tied oligarchy and then into a single foundation exempt from anti-trust regulation; and eroding judicial independence by, for example, expanding and packing the constitutional court. In light of restrictions imposed on political opposition, faith organizations, the media and the judiciary, the role of Hungarian civil society in holding the government to account (by, for example, suing the government for non-compliance with the Hungarian constitution or Hungary’s international legal commitments) has taken on heightened importance. At the same time, civil society organizations have become the targets of escalating rhetorical attacks and legislative restrictions, including laws that significantly lower the bar for what it takes to jail people who seek to exercise their freedoms of speech, assembly, and association. Download the full report to learn more. Contributors: Erika Schlager, Counsel for International Law and Daniela Ondraskova, Max Kampelman Fellow Congressional Delegation Led by Chairman Hastings Champions U.S. Leadership in Transatlantic Security, Human Rights Tuesday, February 25, 2020 WASHINGTON—Helsinki Commission Chairman Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (FL-20) last week led a bicameral, bipartisan congressional delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s (OSCE PA) 19th Winter Meeting in Vienna, Austria. At the meeting, Chairman Hastings and other members of the delegation engaged with OSCE officials, delegations from other OSCE participating States, and diplomats to advance U.S. interests while assuring friends, allies, and potential adversaries of the U.S. commitment to security and cooperation in Europe. The 11-member delegation was among the largest U.S. delegations ever to attend the annual gathering, which attracted more than 300 parliamentarians from 53 OSCE participating States. Chairman Hastings, a former president of the OSCE PA, was joined in Austria by Helsinki Commission Co-Chairman Sen. Roger Wicker (MS), Ranking Member Rep. Joe Wilson (SC-02), and Helsinki Commissioners Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05), Rep. Gwen Moore (WI-04), Rep. Steve Cohen (TN-09), Rep. Robert Aderholt (AL-04), and Rep. Richard Hudson (NC-08). Rep. Gregory Meeks (NY-05), Rep. Lloyd Doggett (TX-35), and Rep. Andy Harris (MD-01) also joined the delegation, which benefited from the active support of Ambassador James Gilmore, the U.S. Representative to the OSCE. In the Standing Committee, which oversees the OSCE PA’s work, Chairman Hastings highlighted recommendations resulting from a seminar for young parliamentarians on “Future Leadership for Political Inclusion in the OSCE Region,” hosted in Washington in early February by the Helsinki Commission and the OSCE PA. “We brought together some 35 young parliamentarians from 19 OSCE participating States and three partner States to learn from each other and incubate the solutions of the future,” Chairman Hastings said. “As I called on all of you at our last meeting in Marrakech, we must counter the economic and social despair afflicting our youth and we all have a role.” At the same committee, Co-Chairman Wicker, who serves as a vice president of the assembly, shared his recent experience at the Munich Security Conference. The committee also reviewed a written report submitted by former Helsinki Commissioner Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), OSCE PA Special Representative on Human Trafficking Issues. In the committee focused on security issues, Rep. Hudson condemned Russia’s violations of Helsinki principles related to its aggression against Ukraine, while in the committee focusing on economic issues Rep. Harris cautioned Europe regarding the growing Chinese presence in the region. During a special debate on confronting anti-Semitism and other forms of intolerance in the OSCE region, Helsinki Commission Ranking Member Sen. Ben Cardin (MD), who serves as the OSCE PA Special Representative on Anti-Semitism, Racism and Intolerance, delivered introductory remarks by video. “It is our responsibility to safeguard our democracies by speaking out and using our tools and voices as legislators against those who would divide our societies,” Sen. Cardin said. Later in the debate, Rep. Cohen urged participating States “to teach Holocaust history, which a fourth of the people in Europe or more don't understand or remember, and teach it so that the most horrific crime against humanity will be remembered so that it will not be repeated.” Rep. Cleaver linked anti-Semitism to broader trends of intolerance in society, and called OSCE participating States to action, stating, “There are many scary things in our world, but there is nothing quite able to generate fright like prejudice inspired by ignorance and nationalism manufactured by fear.” Rep. Hudson chaired a meeting of the OSCE PA Ad Hoc Committee on Countering Terrorism, and Rep. Moore participated in a similar meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee on Migration. On the margins of the Winter Meeting’s official sessions, members of Congress met with the Ukrainian delegation to the OSCE PA to discuss U.S. support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty in the face of unrelenting Russian aggression. Delegation members also met with OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger, Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Director Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, Special Representative and Coordinator for Combatting Trafficking in Human Beings Valiant Richey, and High Commissioner for National Minorities Lamberto Zannier.	74,457
The current market has expressed that buyers have continuously dominated. David Childers from Keeping Current Matters recently shared, “We need more inventory. Buyers are in full force. But overall, it looks like a very, very good real estate market coming up in 2022.” The housing inventory of December 2020 compared to December 2021 is significantly less, with the East Coast showing drastic lows. More proof leading up to the latest buying trend is the November 2020 and November 2021 statistics comparisons, confirming a notable increase in property showings while signifying a surge in buyer intrigue. Both 2020 and 2021 have displayed a solid rise in property showings, spotlighting an astonishing increase in buyer interest compared to post-pandemic years. Additionally, 2019 and 2020 demonstrated high amounts of home sales with May 2020 as the most successful month among the last three years. Top mortgage lenders have projected a moderate start for mortgage rates with progressive escalation throughout 2022. As of now, the demand for property is evident as buyers are dictating the market. Despite a lack of properties, the market is looking up. With inventory the lowest to date, a persistent buyer demand, and interest rates presently moderate, the summer market is beaming with success. What to read next? Homeownership’s Economic Advantage Keys to Buying After weeks, maybe even months of shopping, you finally find a house you can envision yourself living in. Now you will need to make an offer to the seller. But, how do you go about making an offer on the... Get in touch! Email Address I had a wonderful experience as a first-time home buyer with Jess and Joe! They were both more than willing to help me along in the process and always made sure that I was comfortable with what was going on. They were prompt, responsive, and attentive towards what I was looking for in my first...	2,002
We have a language problem in the world of beer. I’m not talking about our over-use of four-letter words or an inability to speak after too many pints. Instead, we lack a cohesive and agreed upon central terms for discussing our shared are of passion. Let’s start with the term whose popularity continues to grow every day, namely craft beer. Brewers, distributors, writers, and industry insiders have been engaged in a long-standing battle over what to call the flavorful, colorful, characterful beers we all enjoy. As with defining pornography, we know it when we see it, or in the case of beer, also taste it. But we still don’t quite know what to call it. Do we define what constitutes a craft beer or just a craft brewer? Can a big brewer (macro? Behemoth? International conglomerate?) make a craft beer? In terms of flavor, is Blue Moon by Coors so different from dozens of other average witbiers made by smaller brewers? Should we instead use the term better beer, and if so, better than what? Anything brewed by the big brewers? Nowadays, even the Boston Beer Company is derided by many beer geeks as being too big, so that hardly seems appropriate. Having grown up with the term microbrew, many seem loathe to let go of this iconic word and the related imagery of beer made in tiny, handcrafted batches. While many small breweries still operate at least in part by hand, the days of handcrafted beer belong to a different, quickly disappearing era, having been supplanted by much welcomed automation and greater control. And with many once small breweries now producing tens or hundreds of thousands of barrels per year and distributing beer from Denmark to Japan, the micro designation is an anachronism if not a myth. Beyond these big picture terms, the creativity of brewers also continues to create new issues and areas of confusion. In the last two years, beer geeks and brewers from coast to coast have waged a nerdy battle over what to call dark beers that display strong hop characters without the bite and flavor of roasted malts. Depending upon which viewpoint you subscribe to, you might tend to call such beers Black IPA, India Black Ale, or Cascadian Dark Ale. With a somewhat murky history, either having first been made by the late Greg Noonan at the Vermont Pub & Brewery or somewhere in the Pacific Northwest or Britain, there is no agreement over what such beers should be called. It does, however, seem a bit ridiculous to call a dark beer with no connection to the sub-continent an India or pale ale. Perhaps the most troubling and recent example of our parlance problems comes with the American use of the British-based session beer moniker. As discussed in a recent issue, beer cultures are largely not transferable between countries and that’s a good thing. You shouldn’t expect to find a vibrant Belgian beer culture in Cleveland just as San Diego’s thriving beer scene can’t be recreated in Tokyo. While pursuing the goal of lower alcohol yet flavorful beers is a very worthy goal, trying to cross-apply the session label just doesn’t work in the states. Even the otherwise appropriately named nano-breweries have come under some scrutiny. Just how small does a brewery have to be to qualify as a nano? I’ve recently started seeing the term pico-brewery pop up, denoting something even smaller than a nano, if that was possible. I’m not sure if this involves beer made by boiling the mash in a microwave but it boggles the mind. As a beer writer, I’ve been struggling with these language issues for a long time, usually with little to no results to show for it. While we generally agree on what we’re discussing, defining these beer-related concepts remains a difficult task. Maybe you’ll figure out the whole craft beer language debate over your next pint. Then we can get started on gastropubs. -Article appeared in Issue 55 of BeerAdvocate Magazine. Should Beer Writers Stop Writing About History? Brian says: November 9, 2011 at 3:27 pm Can you elaborate more on the ‘Session’ beer topic? Are you saying a brewery such as Notch should not use the term in their beers? I may be misunderstanding your stance on the language usage. Andy says: November 9, 2011 at 3:30 pm Hi Brian- There is more here on that particular topic: Velky Al says: November 9, 2011 at 4:53 pm Perhaps I am taking the easy way out, but I starting to define beers as follows: Beers I do drink. In the former category are brews by the likes of Wells & Youngs, BrewDog, Anheuser Busch and SABMiller. In the latter category are brews by the likes of BrewDog, SABMiller, Anheuser Busch and Wells & Youngs. November 10, 2011 at 11:51 am I find the terms “good beer”, “nice beer” and “tasty beer” perfectly adequate. Brandon says: November 11, 2011 at 2:40 am I like this topic. However, this is how I read your article (respectfully): Goal 1: have a common terminology across different beer cultures (instead of Black IPA, India Black Ale, etc). Goal 2: create your own terminology and stop stealing from other beer cultures (“session” belongs to the Brits). These seem to conflict, though I may have simply misunderstood you. If I had to pick sides, I would go with the first goal. I can see how that would be useful. If a guy in Denver posts about his plans to open a nano-brewery, a writer in Boston knows the brewer will be using, say, a one barrel system with a specific annual output range. Good communication, good economy of language. Same with your beer example: before reading your article, I didn’t know those three terms referred to the same style. Standardization of terms would allow regular folks to have a better understanding of what they’re drinking. On the other hand, if I find out that the “nano-brew” I’m drinking was made by a guy who uses a three barrel system and had a slightly different understanding of that term, am I going to care? And who gets to come up with the terms everyone else has to use? Wouldn’t that tend to inhibit the innovation creativity that, to me, is the soul of the brewing world? One of the best (and, at times, most problematic) things about the English language is the ability to create new words or hijack old ones for new purposes. The brewing world is humming along at a good clip right now. Lots of new things are being created, and so lots of new terms are being created. Some are great fits and they stick. Others get pulled this way or that until they either find a home or get dropped. I’m like that system even if I find the imprecision a little frustrating at times. As far as whether MillerCoors, et al., can produce a craft beer: sure, why not? I’m not willing to kick anyone out of the Craft Beer Club because they also mass-produce awful beer. I have never cared for Sam Adams Boston Lager, but I would still consider it “craft beer,” no matter how much of it they sell every year. Maybe, in this case, it comes down to roots: when Boston Beer Co. invented the Boston Lager, they were certainly a craft brewery (or microbrewery, whatever). If it’s the same recipe as it was 20 years ago, shouldn’t it still be craft beer? Or has the definition of craft beer evolved to exclude them? That might be a good discussion for your next session.	7,486
Traveling on buses and trains is not only time-consuming but also an uncomfortable option. If the person plans to travel by car, they can reach their destination comfortably. However, if you need a car for a trip, you can easily rent one in Juffair. If you typed “rent a car Juffair” into the search bar […] Prima Car Rental \| October 28, 2022 \| Blog Many customers choose car rentals due to their convenience and comprehensive advantages. It has become preferable to rent a car as it saves the cost if you don’t use the car on a regular basis. But what is a car hire in Bahrain? What precisely is a car rental? Car rental companies in Bahrain commonly […] Prima Car Rental \| October 27, 2022 \| Blog Selecting the best car for rental at a cheap price is not a tough task if you know the best rental company. Reasonable rates on cheap rental cars in Bahrain are hard to find right now. Car rental companies were in trouble in 2020 since there was no travel. And while taxpayers repeatedly helped airlines, […] 4 Reasons to book a car rental in Manama Prima Car Rental \| May 27, 2022 \| Blog Today technology has eased our lives and provided many solutions, especially with the help of coding. Developing software and using the software as a service to cater to real-life problems has been the trend of businesses. It is pretty helpful when you are visiting any place to travel. New places, new rules, and systems can […] Explore the unexplored on a road trip with the best car rental service in Bahrain Prima Car Rental \| May 11, 2022 \| Blog Travelling is one of the most exhilarating and refreshing activities one can embark on. Visiting a new place, meeting with new people and exploring the unexplored is not only rewarding but also aids in self-development. While we take a lot of time to decide the destination, it is the journey that matters and road trips […]	1,980
Two weeks ago, Stas was known as his mother to say he turned into a bus coming into Donetsk town, within the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) in Ukraine’s gap. He becomes planning to visit her and his grandmother the subsequent morning. She turned excited. Stas was journeying for work for days in other parts of Ukraine, and he or she neglected him. However, Stas did not display up at her home that morning. He has lacked because that smartphone call on 2 June, feared forcibly disappeared through the separatist Donetsk government. I met Stas, 27, in Donetsk’s remaining year. A pro-Ukrainian blogger and a ordinary contributor to RFE/RL, he wrote under the call of Stanyslav Vasin. An underground reporter in an area controlled employing Russia-backed separatists, Stas posted compelling chronicles of lifestyles inside the DPR, from taking pictures and selling to local infrastructure and cultural activities. With the conflict in jap Ukraine dragging on for 3 years and no end in sight, his weblog has become a unique window into lifestyles on the opposite side of the “line of touch” for plenty of Ukrainians who’ve no access to separatist-controlled areas. Stas made no secret of his pro-Ukrainian views and hopes for the closing defeat of the Russia-subsidized separatists. I study his weblog sometimes, and on a work experience in Donetsk, I sent him a message introducing myself and suggesting we meet for a coffee. He asked me to name him Stas, short for Stanyslav; however, it never crossed my thoughts this was his actual name. After his disappearance, I found out from RFE/RL and other media that he had modified his surname for safety purposes but kept his first name as a part of his Internet identification. 10 Best Accounting Software for Churches and Nonprofits The Unquestionably Important Role of Computers in Education The Pros and Cons of Media Consolidation That are Worth Knowing Stanislav Vasin has lacked that June 2, 2017, feared forcibly disappeared using the separatist Donetsk government in gap Ukraine. EXPAND Stanislav Vasin has been missing because June 2, 2017, they feared forcibly disappeared with the aid of the separatist Donetsk authorities in gap Ukraine. Late inside the nighttime, we sat in an almost abandoned café for over an hour, speaking mainly approximately the climate of uncooked worry within the DPR. He described himself as “probably the best person in Donetsk who dares talk his mind freely [online].” He also knew some others in the broader separatist-controlled territory who spoke significantly of the de-facto authorities on social media; however he had in no way met them in man or woman. “When I say I realize those people, it’s no longer quite accurate,” he defined. “It’s instead that I understand them and that they recognize me. We don’t recognize real names. We don’t recognize how others live; besides that, we’re all on this facet of the road of touch. The prerequisite of survival is total anonymity. I maintain a terrific low profile, stay far from human beings. Even my mother has no idea what I in reality do and how I stay.” On three June, whilst Stas didn’t display up, his mom, overcome with worry, went to the condominium Stas rented in Donetsk. The door to the rental turned locked. She waited until overdue at night, to no avail. The subsequent day, the landlord opened the apartment for her. The place looked love; it has been ransacked. She rushed to the police and filed a missing person file. She went to the DPR’s Ministry of State Security to investigate if they had detained her son. However, they refused to let her in. The Ministry is the maximum feared company in the DPR because of its reputation of working without oversight, arbitrarily detaining humans, and holding them incommunicado. Two weeks later, the police nonetheless don’t have any statistics approximately Stas – or as a minimum, none, they’re inclined to proportion. Neither Stas’s mom nor editors understand where to turn. Stas’ role as a seasoned Ukrainian blogger and journalist, coupled with the DPR’s demanding report of detaining dissenters incommunicado for extended durations, supply robust grounds to be concerned that local protection officers have forcibly disappeared him. Human Rights Watch has documented numerous instances while DPR State Security Ministry officers have forcibly disappeared folks that were, or had been concept to be, seasoned-Ukraine, keeping them without acknowledging it for several weeks. If Stasis indeed in DPR custody, the de-facto government ought to right now give up his forcible disappearance via acknowledging his detention and release him. He also knew some others inside the broader separatist-controlled territory who spoke seriously of the de-facto government on social media. However, he had in no way met them in the individual. “When I say I recognize those people, it’s now not quite accurate,” he defined. “It’s rather that I recognize of them and they know me. We don’t recognize the actual names. We don’t recognize where the others live, except that we’re all on this aspect of the line of touch. The prerequisite of survival is general anonymity. I hold an extraordinary-low profile, live far from human beings. Even my mom has no idea what I certainly do and the way I stay.” Beeraholic. Zombie fan. Amateur web evangelist. Troublemaker. Travel practitioner. General coffee expert. What gets me going now is managing jump ropes in Africa. Had a brief career working with Magic 8-Balls in Libya. Garnered an industry award while analyzing banjos in Prescott, AZ. Had moderate success promoting action figures in Pensacola, FL. Prior to my current job I was merchandising fatback in the aftermarket. Practiced in the art of importing gravy for no pay. Previous Article Next Article Next Up Todd R. Brain September 22, 2022 MYGeneral is the best website where You can get daily update on internet stuff just like beauty, mobile and fashion also many more so subscribe our newsletter to never miss any update from us.	6,356
Happy Thursday. Your Protocol Climate team hopes you’re celebrating as you see fit. Us? We’re here with a helping of the day’s most important news. That includes a whole new way to think about what EVs actually cost and how to make hybrid work climate-friendly. What EVs actually cost Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but electric vehicles are expensive. Sticker shock, amirite? People are definitely interested in buying EVs, but upfront cost is one of the top reasons they don’t follow through. It makes sense except for one critical fact: Most people never pay cash for new vehicles. Instead, 85% of new cars are financed. A new report takes that reality into account to make the true cost of EV ownership — for most people, at least — a little clearer. Spoiler: Electric beats internal combustion, hands down. We really need to shift how we talk about EV costs. Many reports have shown EVs are cheaper over time. But most of those analyses look at cost spread out over years, a thing that no normal person does. (Sorry to the five people I have offended, but you know it’s true.) A new report from Energy Innovation, a climate research firm, treats car ownership like the vast majority of us: as a monthly expenditure. “We wanted to see what the cost difference is for someone who's going to a dealer and is looking at a comparable gas and EV car, not over the lifetime, not just the operating costs,” Robbie Orvis, its senior director of Energy Policy Design, told Protocol, “because what people actually care about is, 'OK, what's my bill going to be at the end of the month, once I leave the dealer, and I have a car?’” Robbie, let me just say thank you for having a normal personal brain. The report looks at six vehicles that come in electric and gas flavors, including the F-150, the most popular vehicle in the U.S. It assumes all are bought at MSRP — which, good luck in this economy, but whatever — and it factors in a 12% down payment for the gas-powered versions. It then applies that dollar amount to the electric models, creating a fairly conservative estimate considering EVs are more expensive upfront. The report also considers the cost of gas and electricity, maintenance and insurance as well as state and federal EV incentives. Divide that all over a standard six-year financing term and voila: the true cost of ownership. The math shows EVs are cheaper in almost every state. And it’s cheaper to own the electric versions of the F-150 and Hyundai Kona in every state. Yes, even Texas. Especially Texas! The F-150 Lightning is $139 cheaper per month than its gas-powered counterpart in the Lone Star State. It’s $207 cheaper in New Jersey, which Orvis said “might be the best state in the country to buy an EV, which was an unexpected finding.” Varying costs between states are due to different factors. Jersey, for example, has expensive gas, reasonable electricity prices and good rebates, the perfect storm for EV ownership. Texas, meanwhile, has really cheap electricity (sometimes to its detriment) and decent tax breaks. Some states with expensive electricity, such as Alaska, make an EV that’s not the F-150 or Kona a more iffy purchase. Some, like Georgia, offer no tax incentives, which also sucks for would-be EV owners. Other states: Do not be like Georgia. But this all rests on that federal tax credit. Uncle Sam will give you a tax credit up to $7,500 for buying an EV. That’s the secret sauce to making the cost of EV ownership work in the average person’s favor. Still, the recipe for the secret sauce is one that Orvis said should be tweaked so more people can enjoy it. EVs from automakers that have sold a total of more than 200,000 EVs don’t qualify. Tesla and GM are among those that have already blown by that, and Ford is among a slew of automakers likely to hit it this year. When it does, the F-150 Lightning value proposition will be turned on its head. Orvis said that the cap should be structured like clean energy credits, where the cap or credit comes down as EVs gain market share across the board. Making the credit more generous would also help. The Build Back Better Act proposed a $10,000 tax credit, with an additional $2,500 for union-made vehicles, something the report shows would “significantly improve EV ownership economics.” Sen. Joe Manchin, the main roadblock to any meaningful climate policy, recently called it “ludicrous” because there are waitlists for EVs. “Part of the reason there's a waitlist is that manufacturers have taken so damn long to build these and scale them,” Orvis said, while noting the supply chain crisis also means there’s a waitlist for everything. “That kind of tells us the tax credits are working to help stimulate the market, but now is not the time to pull back on them.” A 2021 memo from Evergreen Action found a $100 billion EV incentive program would help make more robust credits a reality. That’s pennies on the dollar compared to the climate damage if transportation — the biggest source of U.S. carbon pollution — continues to be gas-powered. Ramping up tax credits would help an ever-greater segment of the population take the EV plunge. And making them instant rebates at the point of purchase would further reduce sticker shock. But if there’s one thing to take from the report, Orvis said, it’s to “stop talking about how much more expensive [EVs] are in the purchase price, because that's not how 85% of people buy cars.” The emissions cost of our clumsy transition to hybrid work Since the pandemic began, there’s been a great debate about whether working from home or the office is better for the climate. As we head toward a hybrid-work world, the consensus seems to be: ¯\_()_/¯. To paraphrase the immortal Avril Lavigne, why'd we have to go and make things so complicated? But some companies are trying to figure out how to make the new status quo work for both their employees and the planet, as I and my Protocol Workplace colleague Michelle Ma learned this week. Leaders are still stuck in limbo. Businesses haven’t figured out how much office space their employees actually want and need, and as a result, many are running their offices as if they are operating at full capacity. That means keeping the lights on and the AC blowing, even if only a handful of people are coming in one or two times a week, said Kate Lister, the president of Global Workplace Analytics. “We’ve kind of been in triage mode the last two and a half years,” said Lister. That could mean doubling up on carbon emissions, as employees largely stay home and keep their own lights and AC on. Some tech giants, though — including Atlassian, Autodesk and Meta — seem to have figured it out. These companies have said that their pandemic move to remote and hybrid work decreased their overall emissions by at least 30%, as compared with the before times. Autodesk VP of Workplace and Travel Stephen Fukuhara told Protocol that employee commuting and remote work make up 4% of the software company’s total carbon footprint. Autodesk purchases corresponding amounts of renewable energy and carbon offsets, and plans to continue to do so, he said. Meanwhile, Google also offsets home office emissions via carbon credit purchases, the company told Reuters. That said, its goal of operating on solely carbon-free energy by 2030 does not apply to remote work. Hybrid work makes calculating emissions a headache. Whereas office emissions are easy to calculate by doing little more than looking at a power bill, Laura Tedeschi, who heads the U.K.-based Carbon Trust’s ICT sector work, said that “everything that is outside of the company’s direct control becomes hard to measure.” No standard exists across companies for quantifying the emissions from working from home. The Greenhouse Gas Protocol — one of the most widespread standards for calculating emissions — has historically devoted a single line in its commuting section to suggesting that companies include teleworking. To minimize emissions, Tedeschi said, this can’t remain the status quo. “Moving forward, companies need to move to more efficient buildings that are structured in a way to have, for example, certain teams going on certain days, so that they can keep a certain level of utilization across the week,” she said. This could ultimately translate to a 15% to 20% reduction in office space needs, according to Lister. Tech can help offices respond to shifting employee habits. These include sensors, carbon dioxide monitors and building energy management systems that self-adjust. In a decidedly sci-fi spin, some companies are using AI to better predict and respond to when employees are utilizing office space or not. But let’s not miss the forest for the trees. Hybrid work is a hot topic right now, but maybe not the most fruitful focus for companies trying to cut emissions. Tedeschi pointed out that “employee commuting” — which is where telework lives — accounts for roughly 1% of a company’s emissions. “The reality is that in order to really tackle your emission reductions, you need to focus on the hotspots of your value chain,” she added. Innovators across the country are unlocking new technological frontiers using AI, 5G, IoT and the cloud to create opportunities never before possible that fundamentally expand our ability to solve important problems —technologies that can improve health outcomes, cut greenhouse gasses and make factories more competitive. Arcadia — a smart meter energy data startup — raised $200 million in its latest funding round. That brings it to a whopping $1.5 billion valuation. J.P. Morgan Asset Management led the round. The carbon capture startup Carbon Clean, which focuses on heavy industry, raised $150 million in series C funding. Chevron led and was joined by other fossil fuel majors such as Saudi Aramco’s venture capital arm. 6k, which develops materials for lithium-ion batteries, raised $102 million in its Series D funding round, led by Koch Strategic Platforms. (Yes, that Koch. It's kind of a thing.) The nature-based carbon credit platform Pachama raised $55 million in its series B funding round, which was led by the venture capital firm Future Positive and counted Ellen Degeneres among its backers. Ellen loves trees, apparently. Leo loves vegan leather. DiCaprio and a slew of VC funds kicked $46 million in series A funding to VitroLabs, which plans to grow faux leather in the lab. Ambient Photonics, a firm that's working on developing technology to harvest energy in low light situations, raised $31 million in Series A funding, led by both Amazon and Ecosystem Integrity Fund. Tomorrow Farms is a food tech startup focused on sustainability that promises the “revolution will be delicious.” It received $8.5 million in seed funding, led by Lowercarbon Capital, to create said tasty revolution. Get your grid forecasts here, grid forecasts. Amperon uses AI to figure out energy demand, and it’s received $7 million in additional series A cash to help electricity markets keep up to speed. Hot links Rivian hops on the WAGMI bandwagon. No, the EV maker isn’t getting into crypto. But it thinks the supply chain could be untangling soon, allowing it to survive in an increasingly crowded EV market. Do California’s net metering woes keep you up at night? Or is that just me? Well, for the nerds among us, I present the news that the state’s Air Resources Board is going back to the drawing board after its December proposal — to cut money for new solar owners who put power into the grid — faced major backlash. Power lines are the next big climate fight. And they’re pitting environmentalists against each other. Blowin’ in the wind is both a song by my very favorite artist and the plan for the turbines that will be built off the coast of the Carolinas in the coming years. The Biden administration sold another $315 million in offshore wind leases this week. TotalEnergies won one, and Duke Energy won the second. Doom may be imminent. In a perverse spin on glass-half-empty, the World Meteorological Organization found that we have a 50-50 chance of hitting 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming within the next five years. Is oat milk climate technology? Obviously yes. Which means this is a perfect segue to talk about how “Succession” actor James Cromwell glued his hand to a Starbucks counter to protest the fact that plant-based milks cost more than dairy. Come for the climate activism, stay for the rhyme of Uncle Ewan and supergluin’. The most important element for building trust in the digital ecosystem is to have producers of products and services dedicate themselves to infusing trust into the lifecycle of their products and services. Only with trust can we maintain a global information infrastructure and obtain the full benefits of technology into the future. Thanks for reading! As ever, you can send any and all feedback to [email protected]. See you next week! Climate tech could provide laid-off engineers with a soft landing November 15, 2022 The data set that could change UN climate talks November 10, 2022 November 08, 2022 What tech expects from next week’s COP27 climate conference November 03, 2022 The data center climate reckoning is here November 01, 2022 October 27, 2022 To give you the best possible experience, this site uses cookies. If you continue browsing. you accept our use of cookies. You can review our privacy policy to find out more about the cookies we use.	13,892
There is a Russian joke about a little dinosaur who ate his parents. And so the little dinosaur goes to court, and when the judge asks him whether he really ate his parents, the little dinosaur confirms. Disgusted, the judge goes: “And what kind of person are you after that?” “I am an orphan, an orphan, I am a poor orphan!!” cries out the little dinosaur in despair, and bursts into tears. I thought of this joke as I was thinking about our society, how it likes to murder all things that make us happy naturally—and then lament that we are such a broken, joyless mess. So this story is in part about the traps of the Great Reset, but mainly it’s about life’s trajectories, clarity, confusion, self-betrayal, balls, and opportunities to right the wrongs and get smarter in the process—which, I believe, is the entire point of creating messes (although that probably wouldn’t help the little dinosaur, some things are permanent, alas). It is my belief that our life is a creative (or stifled) dance of choices, with each choice changing the trajectory of the world a little bit, for better or for worse. The dance is subjective, it can be beautiful, ugly, happy, painful, any of those things—but what is certain is that as we dance, we do ourselves a great disservice when we mistake our ghosts for ourselves, or when we let anybody or anything block our senses and sway our choices away from our well-being—and that’s a truth that many of us discover the hardest way. I have been thinking about the consequences of self-betrayal all my life. It so happens that as a child, I hung out a lot with the people from my grandparents’ generation. I was born observant, and so I was observing their condition, with my senses, with my brain, and with my heart. I saw a lot of unhappy people. In fact, off the top of my head. I don’t remember coming across one happy adult of any age until I was a young adult myself. They were mostly good people, strong people, hard-working people, just extremely unhappy. I saw old people who stuck together as a couple without liking each other much, occupying themselves with petty quarrels, sharing the everyday but also feeling like they have been let down by each other. They didn’t deal with each other properly, just accused each other and then shut their ears. They were not happy. I saw the unsatisfied romantic desire of being loved in women and the desire to just be left the fck alone in men. They were not happy, either, none of them. I saw elders escaping into books or films about pure and beautiful relationships—while being strangely attached to “realistic” martyrdom in real life. I saw a lot of people refusing, absolutely refusing to consider joy as a possibility—and getting resentful and defensive at the idea that anyone would treat joy like a real thing, worth fighting for. Like “Come on, look at how hard life is, this is what real life is like!” I saw a lot of people feeling such respect for suffering and hardship and dogma that I wanted to scream, scream again—and run away. I saw, heartbreakingly—although I didn’t understand it until much later—how unhealed emotional wounds, especially the feeling of being unjustly wronged at a younger age, transformed into physical sickness over time. I saw how unfought-for joy and unfought-against perception of martyrdom of a younger person transformed into all-consuming negativity of an older person. I saw the emotional suffering of the people whom I loved, the suffering they were distracting from with a million fusses that annoyed me because, in my opinion, they were inventing the fusses so as not to deal with the fact that they weren’t happy. I felt love for everyone, I wanted to get through with my feeling of love and harmony, I wanted them to get along with each other and I wanted to help them solve issues from the heart—but they just straight out refused to deal with their hearts or my desire of harmony, or anything of joy. They liked their ghosts more. And I suffered, too, because I tried and tried to talk to them, and they rejected me and my proposition of fighting for joy and love, and no one won. Everyone remained alone and consumed with fuss. Who really won was the ghost of martyrdom and the ghost of the hamster wheel. It sucked. It all just sucked. I wondered why it had to be this way. I didn’t know why—but I knew I didn’t want to end up like that so I really zoomed in on the feeling of joy, as well as on trying to understand what leads to what in life. (Since dancing with joy in our society means going against the grain of the Machine, it should be noted that I’ve fcked up a lot as I dared, then didn’t dare, and self-betrayed, and course-corrected. I have no idea if any of the messes could have been avoided but it is what it is. I am here now.) What I figured out with great clarity is that self-betrayal inevitably leads to misery, and sometimes to dramatic misery, then healing. I also figured out that the emotional choices that people make have long-term consequences, although sometimes those consequences are not visible until years later. And then there are ideas… it was very sad to see how the ideas that the generation of my grandparents believed in were one day just laughed out of the room, together with their ideals. I mean, it’s good that those ideas were laughed out of the room because they were lies—but it was also painful to see the disappointment and how the society just decided to not care about the generation anymore. They had held those lies sacred and made many sacrifices for those lies, their lives were hard, they defeated Hitler… and yet the society just tossed their sacred symbols out like a clown nose, and… What does it all have to do with the Great Reset and the Fourth Industrial Revolution? Well, everything, because life happens in our bodies and in our relationships, not in the television. The Fourth Industrial Revolution (which, by the way, is an official goal of western governments at the moment, as per many official documents and contracts) is predicated upon our spiritual and physical self-betrayal, and I mean it literally. We are asked to dance along the carrot and the whip of their biosecurity-state-impact-investment-gene-therapy-total-surviellance reform but they don’t tell us how it all ends for us. Nor do they care about minds or bodies. Speaking of bodies, the theological premise of the reform is that “scientists” (which really means those who pay the scientists) will be re-assembling us, formerly sovereign citizens, like we are mechanical dolls, inserting parts into us that redirect our biological processes, editing our genetic function and actual genes, etc. etc. The theological premise is that there is no difference between biological life and mechanical things, and they will be bringing those two closer and closer together, by desanctifying life, by mechanizing us—while simultaneously utilizing biological bits like DNA for mechanical tasks, such physical storage of data, etc. etc. Then the bodies get plugged in the internet (what it does to our fine and mysterious cellular processes, nobody cares), and then, frankly, we all just live in hell, like headless chicken or half-roaches. Oh, and energy. Energy mining from people is on the menu as well—as are many other dystopian things. And this is what they think is for real!!! Now, I think they are crazy, and their insane theological premise will fall on its head… but it doesn’t preclude them from trying—and the novel medical product, for instance, is more than a novel medial product and whatever is in it. It is a battle field for this paradigm, for our bodies, for assigning digital IDs to us for efficient tracking, and for moving us closer to this state of a perpetual disconnection from ourselves and moving around on autopilot, like those half-roaches. Actually this is much worse than the Soviet Union because it also involves a literal colonization of our bodies by various robots, against our will. (The technology is very much there, alas, and not a conspiracy theory.) The reform— a nepotistic money waterfall for the few but actually completely half-assed on a deeper look—requires that we don’t think, that we abandon our standards and our self-preservation instincts, and just blindly accept the “innovation,” however unnatural, whether it has to do with supporting their new, unnatural but profitable food systems by giving up real meat—or with supporting their sci-fi medical models by accepting recurring prophylactic experimental gene therapies and hoping for the best (“if he dies, he dies”), just because allegedly “everybody is doing it” (which is not even true because a lot of people are specifically not doing it, which is why they are going after kids without parental consent now, luring kids into “consenting” to treatment with ice cream, WTF). The idea is that life can be expressed in terms of bio-digital building blocks. DNA can be used as storage, people will be merged with electronics, energy and digital money can be obtained by mining our physical bodies (yes, the technology exists, and so do Microsoft patents), and we must submit our biological functions, our feelings, and our immediate well-being to their patented nano-robots, DNA tricks, and half-ass gene editing experiments. As if we don’t exist. As if we don’t matter, other than as their building blocks. The Fourth Industrial Revolution aims, insanely, to turn us, free human beings with a great potential for joy, into digitally managed meatpacks, and this is not even a metaphor. Remember the story of consequences? That old age—and the younger age as well—is going to get a lot more miserable if they get their way, and their sales brochure about sustainability, children’s drawings, racial and climate justice, curing rare diseases, and miraculous gene therapy is merely a well-crafted marketing brochure for the busy, the stressed, and the tired. And what actually happened to the children and to the elders in 2020 is a telltale sign of where this is going. I weep when I think about the people who died on ventilators, given medications that have likely contributed to their passing—and not given the medications that could have saved their lives. (A conversation about the medical abuse of elders in nursing homes is a separate conversation, and it’s a dark one.) I feel like screaming when I think about all the trauma that today’s kids will have to shovel through with a giant shovel when they grow up and start trying to figure out why they are so anxious, or afraid to get close to other people, or why it feels that everybody and everything is invading them, from sounds to words to touch. It’s telling how the most sacred parts of human life have been attacked and desecrated openly last year, as if to intentionally disrupt our inner compass: death—with so many people dying alone, abandoned, without touch; birth—with mothers forced to mask during birthing or separated from their babies immediately, based on bogus tests or quarantine requirements; and love—with all the attacks on intimacy. Do you remember how a year ago, for several months, people were afraid to touch their loved ones, assuming there was no cure for the disease—which was untrue? How parents force-isolated their children? Do you think it left no trace? Or that it’s a coincidence that some have lost their marbles so completely that logic has no power over them at all? (Like, for example, how can a person who took the novel product based on sincere faith in it, be terrified of anyone who didn’t, while the entire purpose of the getting it, at least in theory, is to be protected?) But there’s more, and more, and more. The well of self-betrayal is bottomless. The latest trick of psychological bullying and coercion is medical segregation. Not only is it a measure of coercion—it is also a way to break one’s spirit regardless of one’s status because, deep down, everybody knows that segregation is not a good sign. And if one complies, then one becomes complicit—and then one really has to defend the Machine in one’s head so as to mute the alarm on the inside. This is how slaves are made. This is how the Soviet commissars broke the spirits of otherwise non-compliant and skeptical peasants (not through the medical products, of course, but though forcing them to participate in collective abusive actions). Tony Blair has said it is 'time to distinguish' between people who have and haven't had a coronavirus vaccine trib.alCOVID-19: ‘Time to distinguish’ between those who have and have not had a vaccine, Tony Blair saysSky News is an unrivalled, world class breaking news service with a spirit of innovation and a fresh approach to news broadcasting. As the UK’s first dedicated 24-hour news channel, Sky News has built a deserved reputation for being the first to break major news as well as offering insight and analy… Okay, what if you are upper middle class and can afford some spiritual freedom under this new normal? Well, can you, really? Imagine, you are a business owner, and you are getting pressured into mandating the novel medical product (whose clinical trials end in 2023 but who cares) at your workplace. Imagine that it is framed as “worker safety” or “social justice" or any of those things, and you know it is kind of BS but unless you make it mandatory for your employees, you can’t get a loan you need (and you may need it because Schwab’s highly advertised cyberpandemic could be coming), or you have to pay additional insurance, etc… what do you do? You then make a choice: either go with your instincts or turn them off because, well, you are an honest person and you wouldn’t do a bad thing, so you have to convince yourself that it is good. But if it is so good, why are doctors starting to come out of the woods and saying that it’s so bad that they just can’t stay silent anymore? On a side note, since I mentioned the cyberpandemic, let me go on a quick tangent. Schwab has been promoting an upcoming cyberpanemic (the kind that will make COVID look like a walk in the garden) since at least last year (see the snippet below). And it just so happened that recently, the biggest meat producer was hacked (meat… don’t think about meat, we are ending meat soon anyway, right?). And now the NYC Law Department system? What’s next? BREAKING: NYC Law Department system inaccessible to city lawyers due to ‘connectivity issue’ nydailynews.com/news/politics/… w/ @ClaytonGuse and @PPVSRB nydailynews.comHack of NYC Law Dept. causes problems accessing legal documents, possibly exposed personal employee infoA hack of the city’s Law Department has left government lawyers unable to access documents and may have made sensitive personnel info about thousands of employees vulnerable, the Daily News has learned. But wait. There is also money-printing, a looming crash, and the restructuring of business frameworks and the workforce at large. One can spend hours talking about stakeholder capitalism but check out just these two proposals here and here, read between the lines, and please keep in mind that these paradigms have a lot of money backing them. For example, the other day, I was at a doctor’s office and, as I waited, I watched the screensaver on their monitor. From that screensaver I learned that the hospital had instituted a social justice taskforce etc. etc. When I saw it, I remembered a Soviet saying, “When people start chanting slogans instead of working, we know it’s going down.” That is a known popular wisdom from my old homeland’s culture. When people start accepting empty talk—and it is empty talk except the distracting part—and things that don’t make sense, it sinks, and then it takes a long time to swim out of there. And here we are. The ideology and the theology of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (which, let me repeat, is an official goal as per many official government documents and contracts) is based on the assumption that there is no soul and no mystery, that we are mechanical soldiers to be exploited for their money, and that joy can be produced in a manner of a Pavlov’s dog. (“Here is your allowed entertainment. Love to travel? Gotta get the shot. And the passport. And the booster. And another booster. What, after the second booster your friend turned blue and had a heart attack and died? But he loved traveling, didn’t he? AND YOU LOVE TRAVELING. THAT’S FOR YOUR SAFETY? NEXT.”). And if it sounds cynical, I would like to add that I strongly want to be wrong about it but so far it doesn’t look like it because the trajectory is only making sense from the standpoint of this reform, and doesn’t make any sense otherwise. The Great Reset is all about eating life and turning it into money for them, mercilessly. And if we keep betraying our senses, disconnecting from one another, and siding with our ghosts, we’ll get deeper into this, and the healing process may take centuries. The world will be much better much quicker if we confront our ghosts and embrace the possibility of joy—and fight for it with our tooth and claw—before it becomes unbearable. We have the power… Share this post Create your profile Skip for now Only paid subscribers can comment on this post Already a paid subscriber? Sign in For your security, we need to re-authenticate you. Click the link we sent to , or click here to sign in. Jun 8, 2021Liked by Tessa Lena The DISLIKES to likes on Schwab's opening remarks - are 8 to 1 - and youtube SHUT OFF THE COMMENTS - which is quite telling. His carefully crafted propaganda was universally DESPISED - and the more the WEF ( and the W.H.O and the U.N) are in the public eye - the more power they LOSE - because people see thru all the lies of these psychotic despots. Jun 8, 2021Liked by Tessa Lena Love, love, love this essay, Tessa. You write with such a beautiful visceral heartfelt intensity. Keep up the great work. Your thought leadership will help us all Shift the Vibration.	18,467
Over 12 months, the Parisian real estate market has attained around 20 billion euro in sales, of which around 4.5 billion were for assets at prices exceeding 1 million euro. The latter represents about 3,000 sales in Paris out of a total of 37,000 sales, or some 8% of the market. Assets priced at above 2 million euro represent less than 500 transactions.The Paris luxury market is therefore a relatively narrow market. The average price per square meter in Paris has tripled in 20 years and, according... Read more Ravaged by Hurricane Irma in 2017, the island has bounced back and by the end of the year the island’s finest hotels should have reopened. A great opportunity for a holiday, or perhaps to purchase a delightful property. By Eric JansenDoes St. Barts really need any presentation? This jewel of the Caribbean, with its omnipresent nature, its twenty or so sandy beaches, it’s harbour where the most beautiful yachts are moored, and its luxurious and yet relaxed atmosphere that makes it so charming? Unquestionably,... Read more Recreating the past From Place de la Concorde to the Auvergne via the Marais, these decorators undertake projects in which history is the major player. By Eric JansenFor many years they worked in the utmost discretion with only a privileged few knowing where to actually find them. In 2000, Joseph Achkar and Michel Charrière embarked upon on a colossal project: reviving the historic Hôtel de Gesvres which had become a bank’s head office... Today, the seventeenth century building seems to have survived the passing of... Read more A woman at the head of Christie's After ten years at Sotheby's, she has just taken over the management of Christie's France. An appointment announcing a new era. By Eric JansenWe remember her blushing with pleasure as Jacques Grange heaped effusive praise on her. It was November 2017 and the decorator had a good reason to be delighted: the sale of his collection which had been estimated at around 10 million had achieved over 28 million euro. A remarkable success which he naturally attributed to a large extent to Cécile Verdier. For... Read more Buying in Lisbon It has often been said that the Portuguese capital oozes with charm and offers some exceptional real estate, and as a result prices have rocketed! There is still time to invest, but time is of the essence... By Eric Jansen For decades Lisbon seemed like a slightly faded city forgotten by the modern world, much like the trams that trundle along its cobblestone streets, its authentic buildings (often a little too authentic), and its churches and palaces decked with “azulejo” glazed ceramic tiles. A perfect destination for a romantic weekend no doubt, but a place to live? Surely not… However in 2013, a new government measure was applied allowing European citizens tax exemption on their income from abroad for 10 years,... Read more The art of discretion With their contemporary, elegant and cosy style, Damien Langlois-Meurinne’s interiors are increasingly acclaimed by an international clientele. Decoration that appeals and inspires. By Eric Jansen. Although some six months ago he moved into a superb building located near Madeleine, there is no plate indicating his name. The intercom simply bears the anonymous mention "3rd floor". Although Damien Langlois-Meurinne explains that he simply hasn’t have time to deal with details, it would seem that he... Read more Since joining the jewellery department as manager in April 2018, her joy has been evident. With her passion for jewellery and their past history, sales in Paris are sure to scintillate. By Eric JansenWhen Christie's offered her the position she had not turned thirty. A tender age to take charge of a department, and especially the jewellery department. François Curiel had however rapidly assessed Violaine d'Astorg’s potential and didn’t hesitate to poach her from Osenat where she had been working... Read more Located Rue de Tournon in the 6th district of Paris, this cut stone listed building had famous celebrities as guests and owners, including the renowned French writer, Honoré de Balzac. Balzac lived here from 1827 until 1830, staying at his friend’s, Henri de Latouche, a journalist/writer/poet who briefly managed Le Figaro newspaper. Balzac’s masterpieces, including Les Chouans and La Comédie Humaine, were written during that period. Poet Victor de Laprade, who followed Alfred de Musset at the Académie... Read more Parisian luxury real estate is in great shape: France’s luxury real estate market has seen a noticeable turnaround. The activity is dynamic; thus sales times are reduced and prices are rising. PARISIAN LUXURY ESTATE’S MARKET IS BOOMING According to Charles-Marie Jottras, the President of Parisian high-end property agent Daniel Féau, luxury real estate market in Paris is recovering in 2018. "The shift in France’s image abroad and the rising confidence of buyers are bringing sales volumes to... Read more Parisian luxury real estate is doing well: the activity is dynamic, thus sales times are reduced and prices are rising. Update on the situation.FRENCH PROPERTY MARKET REVIVESThe Parisian luxury real estate market is booming since the beginning of the year, which pushes prices to new levels. The Parisian high-end property agent Daniel Féau recorded an increase in sales volumes of 32% between January and May 2018 compared to the same period in 2017. Moreover, the average selling time is shortened and...	5,832
It is with great sadness that we report that Reverend Dr. Kenneth R. Cracknell, a Methodist Christian scholar, theologian, professor, and friend of ISKCON passed away on October 26, 2022. Kenneth was a was a British specialist in interfaith dialogue and the Christian theology of religions. His career included pioneering the interfaith relations work of the British Council of Churches, teaching at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, and at Brite Divinity School, Texas, from where he retired in 2007 as Distinguished Professor of Theology and Global Studies. Appointed the first head of Interfaith Relations for the British Council of Churches in 1978, Dr. Cracknell traveled around the world facilitating conversations and collaborative work between religious groups, some that had histories of animosity toward one another. Among his many books and articles are “Justice, Courtesy and Love: Theologians and Missionaries Encountering World Religions, 1846-1914,” Epworth, 1995; “In Good and Generous Faith--Christian Response to Religious Pluralism,” Peterborough: Epworth, 2005; and “An Introduction to World Methodism,” Cambridge University Press, 2005, co-authored with his wife, Dr. Susan J. White. Dr. Cracknell first spent time with Hare Krishna devotees in 1987, when he met Shaunaka Rishi dasa, who was then ISKCON Ireland's Public Relations Officer. Shaunaka invited Kenneth to visit the ISKCON temple on Inis Rath, a small island in Ireland. Staying for a week, Cracknell both learned of the history and depth of Gaudiya Vaishnava teachings, yet challenged ISKCON, and Shaunaka, to move out of its isolationist tendencies and enter more firmly into the world of interfaith dialogue and exchange. Shaunaka Rishi: “Kenneth was my mentor, my guru in interfaith. He was thoughtful, compassionate, bright, sensitive, and kind in all his dealings. A gentleman, a scholar, and a devotee. He did so much to help other devotees, in Europe and the US, that Krishna, also being kind, is no doubt, offering him more service and love—and always will.” Dr. Cracknell’s first article written for ISKCON was published in the June 1996 (Volume 4) of the ISKCON Communications Journal (ICJ), entitled “The Four Principles of Interfaith Dialogue and the Future Of Religion.” Therein he described: “My involvement with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness stems first of all from dealing with issues of religious freedom. Some proposals being put before the European Parliament in Strasbourg in 1984 were designed to limit the powers of so-called sects and new religious movements to make and keep converts in Western Europe. These proposals, clearly inspired by the anti-cult movement, were so half-baked as to be ludicrous…..As a servant of the British Council of Churches at that time, I wrote a position document for our Executive Committee. The church leaders who composed that Executive saw immediately the threat to religious freedom…and supported the stand I was about to take. Thus I became the friend of all new religious movements whose only offence was to want to proclaim their message and to gather communities of believers.” (To read the full article go to https://www.iskconcommunications.org/iskcon-journal/vol-4/the-four-principles) In Volume 8 of the ICJ, June 2002, Dr. Cracknell wrote of his growing appreciation for the contributions of ISKCON, and its bhakti tradition: “Could it really be that our best partners in Christian-Hindu dialogue are those of the bhakti traditions? Could we not, from our Christian point of view, deem it as providential that Srila Prabhupada so brilliantly preached among Westerners? Might we not say that God has, through this man's teaching, raised up a new generation of interpreters of bhakti devotionalism? Could this not even be a new kairos, or turning point, in the long and chequered history of Christian-Hindu relations?” he wrote. (https://www.iskconcommunications.org/iskcon-journal/vol-8/iskcon-and-interfaith-dialogue) Kenneth and his wife, Susan White, herself a professor emerita of Brite Divinity School where she taught worship and spirituality, participated as senior scholars and faith leaders in several of the annual meetings of the Vaishnava-Christian Dialogue in Washington, D.C. There Kenneth spoke of Protestant writers in India who first met Vaishnava sadhus and appreciated their devotional commitment and realizations; as well as urging participants to benefit with open hearts from each other’s theological insights. In his later years, Kenneth and Susan both retired from university teaching and moved to Vermont, USA, where they established Sutton Books, an online book selling company that housed, as of 2022, 40,000 titles. There, in the small village of Norwich, Vermont, Kenneth and Susan hosted ISKCON’s Communications Director, Anuttama dasa, and his wife Rukmini devi dasi, for several days each summer. “It’s been our great honor and pleasure to know Kenneth and Susan and to have them as close friends,” said Anuttama dasa. “I loved to hear Kenneth speak of his own deep spiritual insights and love of God, and his great appreciation of other faiths. He was a genuine teacher, mentor, and sadhu. We learned immensely from him. I will miss him dearly,” said Anuttama. “Kenneth was a gracious and godly man,” said Rukmini devi dasi. “It was a delight to hear him speak. He told me that his first profound experience of religious diversity was when he went to Africa as a young missionary to bring God to the African people, but instead discovered that ‘God was already there at work;’ he was amazed at the sophisticated theological understandings the local people held. That experience, he explained, changed the trajectory of his life,” said Rukmini. The last academic conference that Professor Cracknell attended was “The Worldwide Krishna Movement: Half a Century of Growth, Impact, and Challenge,” held at the Harvard University’s Center for Study of World Religions in 2016. The conference marked the 50th Anniversary of ISKCON and was hosted by one of the world’s preeminent forums for religious study and dialogue. In an interview during the conference with film maker Krishna lila devi dasi, of Karuna Productions, the good professor spoke of his appreciation for ISKCON, and the contributions of Srila Prabhupada. To watch that interview and learn more about the deep affection of this important scholar held for ISKCON, devotees of Krishna, and interfaith dialogue in general, go to https://www.iskconcommunications.org/resources/photos-gallery/videos-gallery Oct 17, 2022 The Child Protection Office has an excellent service that you can engage in whether you live in, near, or far from a temple community. This much-needed Seva is one that you can do on your own or with others, such as your family or a reading group. Together we will compile a repository of all quotes and references from the teachings of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada related to the protection of children. The quotes may directly reference children or the duty to protect others. Reference may be contextual such as the pastime of Lord Nrsimhadeva - the original child protector, or Putana who appeared to be a trustworthy person but had ill intentions to harm the child. You may also include references about Vaisnava aparadha. Here’s how you can help with this easy and inspiring service: 1. Choose one of Srila Prabhupada’s books that you commit to reading for references. It can be a chapter, a canto, or the whole book. 2. Sign up for your chosen book/section, by either: * Commenting or private messaging Pages for Protection; * Commenting on the line that corresponds to your chosen reading on this spreadsheet https://tinyurl.com/mr25crjt; * Emailing - [email protected]. 3. When you have found something relevant, submit excerpts from your chosen book/section, by either: Emailing - [email protected] or Private messaging Pages for Protection The results of this project will help devotees understand the value of protecting children in Krishna conscious culture. This repository of references will support discussions on the subject matter and guide future decisions. Having easy-to-access selections will enable devotees to speak confidently on the topic of child protection. Our goal is to have references from Srila Prabhupada’s books collected by the end of 2022. So go ahead, pick a selection and let us know what you find. Sep 25, 2022 Archbishop Visits Prabhupada’s House- Argentina This past Sunday I had the opportunity to visit the ISKCON temple in Buenos Aires, needless to say, it was a very nice experience. I had read many books of His Divine Grace Abhay Caranaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda “The man who built a house that everyone can live in”. I must say that it is very true. Although we were few visitors, we were received with all the love and appreciation from the community. His Grace Baladeva das, with whom I share interreligious dialogues, had invited us. He was coming from Mendoza to visit the devotees in Buenos Aires and we took advantage of this opportunity to see each other. When I passed through the gate of the temple I was transported to mystical India, the colors and the smell of incense bathed the place, there were devotees of Krishna consciousness at the entrance who received us with great joy... they spread peace. Songs and many voices were heard in the air, I could also appreciate the books that they had at the entrance with many teachings, their covers invited us to open them. Archbishop Eric Escala, Continuing Anglican Church Sep 06, 2022 It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Her Grace Kalindi Devi Dasi. In her absence, our heart is burning by the constant raining fire. Her loyalty; her dedication was as firm as the stars and faith in Guru and Krishna was as firm as the mountains. Words fail to describe her glorification; her greatness. This great Vaishnavi mother's presence means the presence of Guru and Krishna's majesty. She always strived to fulfill her vows under the orders of her spiritual master, His Holiness Subhag Swami Maharaj, how to please Gurudev more, and more mightily. She was always active at any service to please her spiritual master. She always did the most delicate work with utmost perfection. Kalindi Devi's heart blossomed with a wonderful, soft tenderness of a flower. She was always carrying this beauty in her demeanor in her every word. From the youngest devotee to the great Vaishnavas were honoured by her with a gentle aura, mixed with dignity. Her home was indeed a beautiful temple. Anyone who entered that home temple would never come back hungry. She would spontaneously look at the door, waiting for a devotee to arrive. Kalindi Devi Dasi used to discuss her spiritual master and God with a very humble heart, in a simple humble voice. Sometimes she used to shed tears while talking about the glories of her Guru Maharaj. She spent the rest of her life in complete Krishna Consciousness. She spontaneously took all risks and continued the preaching activities till the last breath of her life. Kalindi Mataji's preaching activities were so perfect that she made many devotees, and helped guide them to becoming initiated devotees. Kalindi Devi Dasi's presence was so active, lively and so pure that it can bring about a radical change in the life of many. She was truly a precious gem. There was no trace of anger in her behavior. This legendary Vaishnavi dedicated her life to serving Guru and Krishna. With the prayers of all Vaisnavas who knew her, we bid farewell to Kalindi Devi Dasi. Aug 11, 2022 The Passing of His Holiness Bhakti Nityananda Swami At 8:33 am on August 11th in Sri Mayapur, the beloved disciple of His Holiness Jayapataka Maharaja and servant of Srila Prabhupada, His Holiness Bhakti Nityananda Swami, left his body. It is with great sadness that we announce this news, as he has been very dear and important to all of us in our Mayapur community. He has given many years of tireless and steadfast service to ISKCON Mayapur, and the amount of people he was able to bring to Krishna Consciousness has made him truly a leader in Mahaprabhu’s preaching mission. Update on Anadi Prabhu’s Health Condition in Ukraine On July 16, 2022, we reported on Anadi Das is Ukraine, a senior devotee of the Kherson Yatra in Ukraine, and his desperate need to support due to his health. On August 6th, 2002 Share Your Care reported: We express our special gratitude to the compassion you show to the Vaishnavas, who under such extremely challenging circumstances are forced to deal with severe diseases, have to undergo complex surgeries, etc. We have raised 2 times more than initially required for Anadi Prabhu’s treatment! We wired hiM $2,250. The funds remaining after the hospital bills have been paid will be directed at paying for rehabilitation. My name is Yuliia Mudrak, I am 25 years old, and I am from Ukraine. Before the war, I lived in Kyiv and worked as a certified preschool teacher. Unfortunately, many devotees had to leave their normal life in Ukraine due to the war. But at the same time, we’ve been able to see wonderful examples of devotees in other countries, who show great concern for us Ukrainian devotees. For the first two days of the war, I stayed in my apartment close to the temple. However when it became too unsafe, I, like many other devotees who lived near the temple, went to live there. There is a very large temple in Kyiv, so it was a good idea to move there at that time. We lived there as a big family for several days, and every time the air raid siren went off, we went down into the basement until it was safe to emerge again. Very often during those times, we would have kirtana, so with the company of devotees, even war has its bright side. Krishna Bhava Das, from ISKCON Punjabi Bagh community in Delhi, is 68 years old, strongly built, having a sharp gaze of determination yet having an air of humility around him. He is the eldest in his family of 30 members, untouched by modern flare, who prefers to keep to his village roots and culture. He is strong businessman and has also been one of the most enthusiastic devotees when it comes to book distribution. Over the last ten years, he has distributed lakhs (hundred thousand) of Srila Prabhupada's books and contributed to various projects of ISKCON. He was introduced to devotees by one of his relatives approx 14 years ago and his life took a different turn at that point. He was initiated in 2010 and heard through devotees how much Srila Prabhupada and his spiritual master, H.H Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaja, love book distribution. Taking inspiration and gathering courage he started going door to door with his study class for three years during the December book marathons and they would distribute a total of 250 Bhagavad-gitas as a group. Jul 23, 2022 Urvasi devi dasi passed away last week in Ojai California and will be cremated. She was a beloved member of the ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) movement, worldwide. Below is a compilation of memories and tributes to Urvasi devi dasi. In her honor, a Vanipedia page was created of the letter Srila Prabhupada wrote to her parents, the Kimmels. From Giriraj Swami Urvasi Dasi was Srila Prabhupada’s beloved disciple and my dear godsister. His Divine Grace said that when a Vaishnava departs, we feel simultaneously happy and sad—sad because we will miss the Vaishnava’s association, and happy because we know they have gone to serve Krishna. In the last few months, I have had several programs at my ashram in Carpinteria, and Urvasi attended—and enjoyed—all of them. Her presence—her humanity and divinity—uplifted our spirits and consciousness. She was always pleased to attend our programs, and we were happy to attend hers. Complied by Rukmini devi dasi for ISKCON News AD Nov 30, 2022 Professor Kenneth Cracknell, Friend of ISKCON and Champion of Religious Pluralism, Passes Away Nov 27, 2022 Nov 27, 2022 Nov 27, 2022 Nov 26, 2022	17,113
There's some very disturbing news out of Yemen today: A suicide bomber dressed in military uniform detonated explosives in the middle of a parade rehearsal, and according to reports killed at least 96 and wounded at least 300. Al Qaeda has claimed responsibility. May 21, 2012 This article is from the archive of our partner . There's some very disturbing news out of Yemen today: a suicide bomber dressed in military uniform detonated his explosives in the middle of a parade rehearsal, and according to reports killed at least 96 and wounded at least 300. Al Qaeda has claimed responsibility. Reports and details of the attack are still breaking and the death toll seems to be rising. The AFP has reported the figure at 96, while the BBC reports that 63 have died. What we do know is that the attack occurred during a parade rehearsal for Yemen's National Unity Day, which marks the unification of North and South Yemen. "We were in a parade, suddenly there was a huge explosion. Dozens of our men were killed. We tried to help them," Colonel Amin al-Alghabati told Reuters. "The suicide bomber was dressed in a military uniform. He had a belt of explosives underneath." The Telegraph has video of the attack:	1,242
In the New Testament, Chapters 14-17 of the Gospel of John are known as the Farewell Discourse given by Jesus to eleven of his disciples immediately after the conclusion of the Last Supper in Jerusalem, the night before his crucifixion. The discourse is generally seen as having distinct components. First, Jesus tells the disciples that he will be going away to the Father, that he will send the Holy Spirit to guide the disciples. Jesus bestows peace on the disciples and commands them to love one another. The expression of the unity of love between Jesus and his Father, in the Spirit, as it applies to his disciples in the love of Christ, is a key theme in the discourse, manifested by several reiterations of the New Commandment: “love one another as I have loved you“. Stained glass window with a quote from the Farewell Discourse: “In the world ye shall have tribulation.“ The next part of the discourse contains the allegory of The Vine which positions Jesus as the vine (the source of life for the world) and the disciples as the branches, building on the pattern of discipleship in the gospels. The Vine again emphasizes the love among the disciples, but Jesus then warns the disciples of upcoming persecutions: “If the world hates you, remember that they hated me before you”. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 In the final part of the discourse (John 17:1-26) Jesus prays for his followers and the coming Church. This is the longest prayer of Jesus in any of the gospels, and is known as the Farewell Prayer or the High Priestly Prayer. The key themes of the prayer are the glorification of the Father and petitions for the unity of the disciples through love. Jesus prays to the Father that his followers “may all be one as we are one” and that “the love with which you love me may be in them, and I in them”. Papyrus 108 (second or third century) containing John 17:23–24 from the end of the Farewell discourse Although chapters 13 to 17 of John may be viewed as a larger, monolithic unit, most of chapter 13 may be viewed as a preparation for the farewell, and the farewell prayer in chapter 17 as its conclusion. The discourse is preceded by 13:31-38 (just after Judas leaves the last supper), in which Jesus gives the remaining eleven disciples the New Commandment to “love one another” and predicts Peter’s denial of knowing him during his upcoming crucifixion. The discourse starts after the literal cleansing (washing of feet) and the figurative cleansing of the community of disciples via the departure of Judas. The discourse may be separated into four components: First discourse: 14:1-31, The theme of this part is departure and return; peace and joy, and is similar to the third discourse. Jesus states that he will be going to the Father, but will send the “Comforter” for the disciples Second discourse: 15:1-17. This part is also called the Vine and deals with Jesus’ love and how Jesus is the source of life for the community. At the end of this, it leads to the discussion of the world’s hatred in the next section. Third discourse: 15:18-16:33. This section again deals with Jesus’ departure and the Comforter which will come to the disciples; and contrasts Jesus’ love with the world’s hatred. The “Farewell Prayer“: 17:1-26. Here Jesus submits five specific petitions to the Father as he prays for his disciples and the community of followers. However, this four part structure is not subject to universal agreement among scholars, and at times, the third part is assumed to start at beginning of chapter 16 of John. Some scholars use a three part structure in which chapters 15 and 16 form one unit. The statement “these things I have spoken to you” occurs several times throughout the discourse, and emphasizes that the words of farewell spoken by Jesus are not to be forgotten. The statement “while I am still with you” then also underscores the importance of the final instructions given. This discourse is rich with Christological content, e.g. it reiterates the Pre-existence of Christ in John 17:5 when Jesus refers to the glory which he had with the Father “before the world was”. Jesus giving the Farewell Discourse to his eleven remaining disciples after the Last Supper, from the Maesta by Duccio, c. 1310. The three components here are: Jesus says that he will go to the Father and reasserts his divine relationship with him (14:1-14) Commandment of love, and the arrival of the Holy Spirit (14:15-24) At the start of this part Jesus tells the disciples that he will go to the Father, causing them to be nervous about his departure. Yet he assures them that he will “go to prepare a place” for them in his Father’s house and that they know that the way there is through him. The statement in John 14:6: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me.” which identifies Jesus as the only path to the Father then formed part of the teachings in the early Christian community, with Apostle Peter stating in Acts 4:12: “And in none other is there salvation: for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be saved.” to identify Jesus as the only path to salvation. Jesus then asserts his unity with the Father in John 14:7-9: “If you know me, then you will also know my Father” and “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father”. “I am in the Father, and the Father in me” further asserts the special relationship of Jesus and the father. The statement in John 14:26: “the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name” is within the framework of the “sending relationships” in John’s gospel. In John 9:4 (and also 14:24) Jesus refers to the father as “him that sent me”, and in John 20:21 states “as the Father hath sent me, even so send I you” where he sends the disciples. In John 15:26 Jesus also sends the Spirit: “whom I will send unto you from the Father, [even] the Spirit of truth… shall bear witness of me” In John’s gospel, the Father is never sent, he is “the sender” of both Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Jesus also sends the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is never the sender, but is sent by both the Father and Jesus. The bestowing of peace by Jesus in 14:27 specifically contrasts it with political “worldly peace” by stating: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.” Koestenberger states that this was likely to contrast the “Heavenly peace” of Jesus with attempts at worldly peace at the time such as the Pax Romana instituted by Emperor Augustus. The use of the word peace (eleos in Greek) is rare in John’s Gospel and apart from one other case in the Farewell Discourse (16:33) it is only used by the resurrected Jesus in John 20:19-26. Part 2: I am the vine, you the branches Main article: The Vine This part is a meditation on Jesus as the source of life for the community and builds on the pattern of discipleship in the gospels. In the beginning Jesus states: “I am the true vine”, leading to the use of the term The Vine to refer to this teaching. The disciples (and hence the community) are then referred to as the branches that depend on the vine: “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for apart from me ye can do nothing.” – John 15:5 The passages in John 15:9-10 then draw parallels between the relationship between Jesus and the disciples with that of The Father and Jesus: “as the Father hath loved me, I also have loved you” “keep my commandments … as I have kept my Father’s commandments”. Later in the discourse, this pattern is repeated in John 17:18 in which Jesus “sends the disciples to the world”, just as the Father had sent him to the world. This pattern of discipleship reemphasizes the Good Shepherd teachings in John 10:1-21 in which one “lays down his life” in obedience. The theme of the instruction then emphasizes that abiding in Jesus results in fruitfulness, and is way in withering away. And Jesus now refers to his disciples as friends: “Ye are my friends, if ye do the things which I command you.”- John 15:14 This component of the discourse again ends in 15:17 by reiterating the importance of love: “These things I command you, that ye may love one another.” In John 15:18-16:33 Jesus prepares his disciples for conflict and hatred by the world, reminding them he had also faced adversity: “If the world hateth you, ye know that it hath hated me before [it hated] you.” … “They hated me without a cause.” Warning the disciples of coming persecutions he says: “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” This again draws parallels between Jesus and his disciples, as had been drawn earlier in the discourse. In the First Epistle of John (3:13) the brethren are reminded of this again: “Marvel not, brethren, if the world hateth you”. Drawing parallels again, Jesus states in John 15:23: But Jesus comforts the disciples by assuring them that he will send the “Spirit of Truth” to bear his witness: “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, [even] the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall bear witness of me” And Jesus adds that unless he departs the Holy Spirit will not arrive, and indicates that the continuation of his work in the world will be carried out by the Holy Spirit. Jesus also assures the disciples of the love of the Father for them, again drawing parallels: “Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came forth from the Father.” “In the world ye have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” After these statements, Jesus begins a series of prayers for the disciples. See also: That they may all be one John 17:1-26 is generally known as the Farewell Prayer or the High Priestly Prayer, given that it is an intercession for the coming Church. It is by far the longest prayer of Jesus in any of the gospels. While the earlier parts of the discourse are addressed to the disciples, this final part addresses the Father, as Jesus turns his eyes to heaven and prays. The prayer takes place at a unique time in the ministry of Jesus, at the end of his final instructions to his followers, and at the start of his Passion. Once the prayer has ended, the events of Jesus’ Passion and the end of his earthly life unfold rather quickly. In the prayer, for one last time Jesus gives an account of his earthly ministry to the Father and by praying to him reiterates his total dependence on the Father. The prayer begins with Jesus’ petition for his glorification by the Father, given that completion of his work and continues to an intercession for the success of the works of his disciples and the community of his followers. A key theme of the prayer is the glorification of the Father. In the first part Jesus talks with the Father about their relationship, thus indirectly reiterating that to the disciples. Then reflecting the nature of their relationship, Jesus asks the Father to glorify him as he has glorified the Father, as he had in his earthly ministry – referring to the theme of eternal life, stating in John 17:3: “And this is life eternal, that they should know thee the only true God” The Farewell Prayer consists of the following five petitions: 17:1-5: Petition for glorification based on the completion of his work 17:6-10: Petitions for his disciples 17:11-19: Petition for the preservation and sanctification of “his own” in the world 17:20-23: Petition for unity of “his own” 17:24-26: Petition for the union of “his own” with himself The last two petitions are for unity, as characterized by: “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one.” – John 17:22 “I made known unto them thy name, and will make it known; that the love with which thou loves me may be in them, and I in them.” – John 17:26 with the final petition being for the eternal unity of Jesus with his followers. The references to “thy name” in John 17:6 and John 17:26 emphasize the importance of the name of God in Christianity, which in Christian teachings (e.g. by Cyril of Alexandria) has been seen as a representation of the entire system of “divine truth” revealed to the faithful “that believe on his name” as in John 1:12. The Jesus Seminar has argued that verses John 14:30-31 represent a conclusion, and that the next three chapters have been inserted into the text later. This argument considers the farewell discourse not to be authentic, and postulates that it was constructed after the death of Jesus. Similarly, Stephen Harris has questioned the authenticity of the discourse because it appears only in the Gospel of John, and not in the Synoptic gospels.However, scholars such as Herman Ridderbos see John 14:30-31 as a “provisional ending” just to that part of the discourse and not an ending to the entire discourse. Fernando Segovia has argued that the discourse originally consisted of just chapter 14, and the other chapters were added later, but Gary M. Burge opposes that argument given the overall theological and literary unity of the work and that the discourse has much in common with the gospel as a whole, e.g. the themes of Jesus death and resurrection and his care for his own. In 2004 Scott Kellum published a detailed analysis of the literary unity of the entire farewell discourse and stated that it shows that it was written by a single author, and that its structure and placement within the Gospel of John is consistent with the rest of that gospel.	13,952
WASHINGTON — Following the January tax law changes made by Congress under the American Taxpayer Relief Act (ATRA), the Internal Revenue Service announced today it plans to open the 2013 filing season and begin processing individual income tax returns on Jan. 30. The IRS will begin accepting tax returns on that date after updating forms and completing programming and testing of its processing systems. This will reflect the bulk of the late tax law changes enacted Jan. 2. The announcement means that the vast majority of tax filers — more than 120 million households — should be able to start filing tax returns starting Jan 30. The IRS estimates that remaining households will be able to start filing in late February or into March because of the need for more extensive form and processing systems changes. This group includes people claiming residential energy credits, depreciation of property or general business credits. Most of those in this group file more complex tax returns and typically file closer to the April 15 deadline or obtain an extension. “We have worked hard to open tax season as soon as possible,” IRS Acting Commissioner Steven T. Miller said. “This date ensures we have the time we need to update and test our processing systems.” The IRS will not process paper tax returns before the anticipated Jan. 30 opening date. There is no advantage to filing on paper before the opening date, and taxpayers will receive their tax refunds much faster by using e-file with direct deposit. “The best option for taxpayers is to file electronically,” Miller said. The opening of the filing season follows passage by Congress of an extensive set of tax changes in ATRA on Jan. 1, 2013, with many affecting tax returns for 2012. While the IRS worked to anticipate the late tax law changes as much as possible, the final law required that the IRS update forms and instructions as well as make critical processing system adjustments before it can begin accepting tax returns. The IRS originally planned to open electronic filing this year on Jan. 22; more than 80 percent of taxpayers filed electronically last year. The IRS anticipates that the vast majority of all taxpayers can file starting Jan. 30, regardless of whether they file electronically or on paper. The IRS will be able to accept tax returns affected by the late Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) patch as well as the three major “extender” provisions for people claiming the state and local sales tax deduction, higher education tuition and fees deduction and educator expenses deduction. There are several forms affected by the late legislation that require more extensive programming and testing of IRS systems. The IRS hopes to begin accepting tax returns including these tax forms between late February and into March; a specific date will be announced in the near future. The key forms that require more extensive programming changes include Form 5695 (Residential Energy Credits), Form 4562 (Depreciation and Amortization) and Form 3800 (General Business Credit). A full listing of the forms that won’t be accepted until later is available on IRS.gov. As part of this effort, the IRS will be working closely with the tax software industry and tax professional community to minimize delays and ensure as smooth a tax season as possible under the circumstances. Subscribe to IRS Newswire This page is designated as historical and is no longer updated. Page Last Reviewed or Updated: 04-Mar-2020	3,609
I seem to be going on lots of quests recently. I guess I get bored unless there is something driving me forward. As a child, I was always enamoured by the legend of King Arthur and his knights of the round table, always honourable and totally committed to the cause. Well, that's what I am, a knight of the dinner table and totally committed to the cause, eating my way round London so you don't have to. My current search for the best roast pork and duck rice in Chinatown is going well. Five destinations down and we have some good entries whereas others have fared less favourably. After a recent discussion with Carla from Can be bribed with food, the focus veered away from pork (sacrilege!) and focused on duck. Where can we get the best Peking duck in London? Aromatic duck is a firm favourite of mine and I always gravitate towards Mandarin Kitchen for my fix, but Peking duck has never really been on my radar. I was lucky enough to sample the Peking duck at China Club in Hong Kong and that exemplary version has become my benchmark. So, I was tasked with finding "the best" and after a few tweet related calls for help, I settled on a reservation at Min Jiang. As restaurants go, Min Jiang has everything going for it. The interior is stunning, heavily influenced by wood, ceramics and the colour red (lucky in Chinese folklore) with some of the friendliest staff I have had the pleasure to be served by. Located on the 10th floor of the Royal Garden Hotel, it has a quite amazing view to boot, it's vista taking in most of London, including the London Eye and the BT Tower. On the edge of Kensington Palace gardens, I already want to come back for lunch, just so I can see the view during daylight hours. So far, so very good. Onto the main event. Peking (or Beijing) duck is a specially prepared roast duck (wiki is your friend, check here for more details) which is traditionally prepared in three stages. Firstly, slices of skin from the neck of the duck are carved and served with some sugar. An odd combination, but I was informed that the sugar is meant to balance out the taste of the fat. I know, an even odder explanation. Either way, eating cooked skin is rarely going to be an unpleasant experience and although this was lacking flavour, it was definitely a pleasurable experience. The second duck "course" are thin slices of the duck breast served with pancakes and an assortment of fillings. Firstly, we were presented the pancakes in a "traditional" style, with thinly sliced spring onions, some cucumbers and some hoisin, fillings that I am used to with aromatic duck. Slightly boring, and unfortunately exposed the fairly one dimensional flavour of the duck. We were then served the pancakes Min Jiang style, filled with garlic paste, radish and tientsin cabbage. Whilst the previous pancakes seemed devoid of flavour, this variation really brought out the flavours of the duck and the more "traditional fillings" were relatively ignored for the rest of the meal. The third and final part to this long drawn out affair involves using up the rest of the duck in a dish of your choice. We opted for some fried noodles and although most of the rest of the duck seems to have waddled elsewhere, the noodles were still delicious and peppery. A fine end to an enjoyable meal. Alongside the duck, we ordered a few other miscellaneous items. Some tasty and well made Xiao Long bau (if a little on the small side), a rather large vat of Ma Po Tofu and some excellent deep fried squid (light and grease free). I was really impressed with Min Jiang. The surroundings and service were spot on, and the food was good without necessarily sparking off fireworks. Mind you, with the view, fireworks were not required. I know there is a popular adage that any restaurant with a view is often making up for inadequacies in the kitchen, but with a certain Pierre Koffman embarking on a project up the BT tower and Galvin at Windows (located on the 28th floor of the Hilton) having just earned its first Michelin star, I think it is places like this that are making this adage redundant. Great view, great food, I can't wait to come back and visit during the day when I can peer out the window in daylight. Posted by tehbus at February 08, 2010 11 comments: I wanted to go to Min Jiang for their Burns Night dinner, but couldn't. Sounds as though it's well worth a visit anyway. Particularly liking the sound of the Min Jiang-style pancakes and your final course... February 8, 2010 at 11:55 AM Greedy Diva said... Such a worthy quest. I wish you well. Report back. February 8, 2010 at 1:43 PM Jonathan said... It's such a good idea to serve one animal in a variety of ways throughout the meal. I've seen it done with lobster and grouse. I wonder what other versions there are... February 8, 2010 at 1:54 PM Hollow Legs said... I think my mouth actually watered reading your post. I need roasted duck. February 8, 2010 at 5:46 PM @aforkful - I definitely want to go back and test drive other stuff that they do. And the bar is pretty good too. @GreedyDiva - Any recs are gladly received! @Jonathan - If a pig isn't served multiple ways, I will be totally shocked. @Lizzie - I've stopped reading peoples blogs during the day as it makes me too hungry! February 8, 2010 at 6:12 PM Helen said... Never shy away from the quests! I am a quester myself - just look at the burger buns as an example. Jeffrey Steingarten is my hero and always will be in this respect. February 8, 2010 at 8:11 PM LexEat! said... just so so selfless Euwen! Forcing yourself to eat at all these places, so that the rest of us may stay in the warmth and comfort of our homes and read your posts over our baked beans on toast! King Arthur of Peking Duck we salute you (or would we just bow?)! February 8, 2010 at 10:48 PM London Chow said... Thanks for the post! Was at Min Jiang for the Peking Duck a couple of weeks back. Though the duck was fantastic, I thought the rest of the dishes were below expectations. Have you tried the dim sum over there? February 10, 2010 at 11:01 PM @Helen - Any noble endeavour is worth pursuing. Buns and Duck, 2 perfect examples. @Lex - I believe this knight is looking for fellow knights of the realm. Please enquire for more details ;) @London Chow - Funny how our experiences are so contrasting! I haven't tried the dim sum (other than the XLB) but have heard that it is quite good. Bit hard to stray from my local Dim Sum joints though. February 11, 2010 at 10:23 AM catty said... DUDE. that duck skin. even though you say it lacks flavour HOLY CRAP that looks amazing. My stomach just growled in approval. February 11, 2010 at 3:49 PM Have always wanted to try Min Jiang but have not heard too much about it. duck looks good...can't wait to see what other quests that you're upto!	7,020
At least 13 people are confirmed dead after a mass shooting in Washington, D.C., this morning. One gunman is among the dead. The incident began around 8:20 in Building 197 of the Washington Navy Yard - that's a military installation about a mile and a half from the U.S. Capitol. About 3,000 people, both naval and civilian employees, work in the building which houses the Naval Sea Systems Command. SIEGEL: The FBI has confirmed that the dead gunman is 34-year-old Aaron Alexis, a former naval reservist, at one time, stationed in Fort Worth, Texas. And D.C. police chief, Cathy Lanier, said based on preliminary information that police engaged in a gun battle with the shooter. CATHY LANIER: It certainly was one of the worst things we've seen in Washington, D.C. As officers entered the building and moved through the building, they were, you know, making transmissions and keeping command informed as what they were coming across as they went through. Multiple victims. There was gunfire still going on. This is what we trained for. We were able to pull active shooter teams together. And compliments to the partners here in the National Capitol Region, we were able to pull disparate officers from different agencies, put them in a single team and get them into the building within seven minutes. SIEGEL: Three weapons were recovered from the scene of this morning's shooting. And authorities are still seeking another man for questioning. NPR's Brian Naylor joins us now from near the Washington Navy Yard. And, Brian, now what's the latest from the authorities? BRIAN NAYLOR, BYLINE: Robert, we just got out of a briefing in which you just heard Washington Police Chief Cathy Lanier described a really chaotic scene, multiple gun battles involving the metropolitan police. That's the Washington, D.C., police force. And the suspect - she said the suspect is believed to have been killed in the gun battle. Officials say they still don't know the motive. Washington, D.C., mayor, Vincent Gray, said there does not seemed to be any reason to suspect an act of terrorism but, he said, they haven't ruled it out yet. The FBI is clearly trying to learn more about the suspect. They've issued a photograph, and they're asking people to call in if they have any information about the suspect. SIEGEL: Well, Brian, describe the scene for us throughout the day near and at the Navy Yard. NAYLOR: Yeah. The streets were closed off, as you might imagine. This afternoon, metropolitan D.C. transit buses started to bus some of the workers out of the Navy Yard over to a parking lot at National Stadium, which is just a few blocks away, so that they might reunite with their families. I talked to one of the witnesses who described being in his office, hearing shots, hearing a fire alarm. Everyone then evacuated the building, and he was standing outside, talking to another person who had evacuated when that person fell to the ground, had been shot standing outside, shot in the head. And so it was obviously a very scary and chaotic scene. SIEGEL: And what kind of security precautions are being taken now? NAYLOR: Well, it's - things are starting to ease up a little bit. The Department of Transportation Building had engaged in a lockdown. It's about a block or two from the Navy Yard. The Senate side of the U.S. Capitol Building was in lockdown for a brief time this afternoon. Several schools were closed. Streets remained closed, although they've opened up some of the freeways. But they're telling residents to stay away from the area right now because they still don't know. There may be a second suspect. And so things are still tight, and they also announced the cancelation of tonight's baseball game with the Washington Nationals, just a few blocks away. SIEGEL: That's NPR's Brian Naylor from near the Washington Navy Yard. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. NPR News' Brian Naylor is a correspondent on the Washington Desk. In this role, he covers politics and federal agencies. See stories by Brian Naylor Robert Siegel is senior host of NPR's award-winning evening newsmagazine All Things Considered. With 40 years of experience working in radio news, Siegel is still at it hosting the country's most-listened-to, afternoon-drive-time news radio program and reporting on stories and happenings all over the globe. As a host, Siegel has reported from a variety of locations across Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and Asia. What you need to know to prepare and stay informed during a storm. Read more FAMU announces a campus safety review following a shooting that left one dead and four injured Health News Florida When malpractice occurs at community health centers, taxpayers pay Education Student's attorney asks justices to reject USF's appeal in fees dispute from COVID shutdown A teary Will Smith opens up to Trevor Noah about the 'rage' behind his Oscar slap A journalist's plea to the West: 'Pay attention to Ukraine and its fate' The mystery of rising prices. Are greedy corporations to blame for inflation? WUSF 89.7 depends on donors for the funding it takes to provide you the most trusted source of news and information here in town, across our state, and around the world. Support WUSF now by giving monthly, or make a one-time donation online.	5,606
The markets are fighting against headwinds of increased uncertainty about the virus. Meanwhile, a stronger Euro is making imports more attractive. European polymer markets failed to live up to expectations in September. Most players were anticipating rebounds after the holidays. But instead there are early signs that demand remains weak. The mood is underpinned by the recent slump in crude oil prices. Polycarbonate (PC) sellers are pushing for increases amid an overall persistent weak market. However, healthy demand for protective sheets and an ongoing recovery in demand in China should continue to prevent a retreat in prices. For now, a strong rebound in prices is unlikely in September and possibly even October. Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA) demand for protective sheets is strong. But this demand seems to have slowed down from the peak seen a few months ago. Some producers noted that the ease in demand for protective sheets has been substantial in August. However, the recent increases in costs and better market balance appears to be giving momentum to producers to implement increases in Q4. Nylon 6 (PA6) sellers are looking to increase prices in September. Most likely this is to compensate for the recent rises in raw material costs. However, there is still plenty of availability, which will significantly limit the magnitude of the increases. Also, it should not come as a surprise if prices will roll over again in September. There is still plenty of supply in Europe. Nylon 66 (PA66) prices are failing to find support. There is plenty of availability, margins are still relatively healthy and its most important sector, automotive, is not rebounding. The spot market remains active, which is a further indication of good availability. But demand is nevertheless improving, albeit at a slow pace and not as strong as expected. Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) demand is healthy, mainly on the back of a retreat in Asian imports. The rebound in demand in China supported prices in the region. This in turn reduced their competitiveness in Europe. A stronger Euro has so far failed to revert this trend. Styrene Acrylonitrile (SAN) prices, as expected, will likely move sideways in September, in line with raw material costs. The recovery seen during the past few months seems to have abated. However, market feedback suggests ongoing gradual improvements. Polystyrene (PS) showed better market balance in August which appears to be continuing in September. Some producers are asking for higher prices. But the recent increases in infections and a retreat in oil prices means buyers are probably not in a hurry to fill stocks. Price increases are possible but will be difficult to achieve on all accounts. While most markets are are getting better, the process is slow. There was hope that in September activity would increase. But it seems the virus is keeping up the pressure. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Related GC Intelligence Limited is a company registered in England and Wales with company number 11364935 whose registered office address is Kings Parade, Lower Coombe Street, Croydon, London, United Kingdom, CR0 1AA.	3,321
The decision to feature Beyoncé Knowles-Carter on the cover of the latest issue of Ms. magazine ignited controversy among its feminist readership, and as the author of that cover story I’m not all that surprised. Indeed, my article is precisely about the “debates” over such a high-profile celebrity and sex symbol identifying as a feminist. Still, what is surprising to me is the level of vitriol and mean-girl over-the-top outrage that accompanied the news of Beyoncé’s cover on the Ms. Facebook page. Whatever one may feel about Beyoncé as a feminist icon, when did it become acceptable to call this married mother of a toddler daughter a “stripper” and a “whore”? I’m the first to admit that Beyoncé’s “fierce feminism” often seems contradictory in its public delivery. But after the heated response to her Ms. cover, I wish I had delved further into our queasiness over her “sexiness.” This isn’t simply a rejection of a sexy-image-as-defined-by-patriarchy: This is in the vein of pearl-clutching, although the opposite of sexiness—modesty—is hardly viewed as women’s salvation since it represents a different policing of women’s bodies. Indeed, just back in April, when the mostly white Ukraine-based group Femen staged a “Topless Jihad Day” across Europe in solidarity with Tunisian Femen member Amina Tyler (who was penalized for posting topless photos of herself on Facebook), some took that opportunity of “solidarity” to exhibit their Islamophobia by marching topless in immigrant Muslim neighborhoods and demanding their Muslim sisters to “get naked.” Of course this did not sit well with some Muslim women in the West, who responded in kind with their own “Muslimah Pride Day,” reminding non-Muslim women that they don’t need saving nor do they want to discard their hijabs. So, what’s going on in the sphere of Western feminism? In one area of the world they’re condemning women of color such as Beyoncé for “not covering up,” while in another part of the world they want Muslim women to “get naked.” There is an uncanny pattern here between the condemnation of Beyoncé’s booty (how she displays it and how she shakes it) and Muslim women’s hijabs (how, when and where they wear it). What certain feminists clearly want is to regulate the bodies of women of color in order to eradicate difference. Since when did feminism reinforce dress codes instead of women’s autonomy and solidarity with other women, in which we support all of our choices while also recognizing how those choices are sometimes limited by intersectional oppressions (and no one is immune from this)? And let’s not forget context. An Amina Tyler mounting a naked protest is about her autonomous right to her own body in a conservative society that would sooner punish her for “not covering,” while getting naked in Western culture could lead to slut-shaming and pornographic ogling. On the flip side, “covering up” in the West, especially in a hijab, could lead to hate-crime targeting, as had occurred with some Muslim women in the wake of the Boston bombings. As Jada Pinkett-Smith aptly questioned on Facebook, in defense of Beyoncé’s choices: “Whose body is this anyway?” It seems some of us in feminist movements need a not-so-subtle reminder: Our bodies are our own! If feminism becomes yet another space for the regulation of our differences, rather than an embrace of our differences, then we have impeded our progressive move forward in our collective political consciousness. Sure, we may ask, in the vein of Barbara Smith: “How does this free us?” (This in reference to Beyonce’s sexiness or Muslim women’s hijabs). But, if feminism looks like Beyoncé and a Muslim woman who covers and a Middle Eastern woman who engages in naked protest and a white woman who questions her power and privilege in relation to her sisters of color, then the message becomes loud and clear: Feminism is about politics, not a one-size-fits-all uniform. And the story doesn’t end there. This is just the beginning. What more could be accomplished when we build on our differences, complicate our perspectives, and come together in solidarity? All I know is this: When my students try to creatively engage feminist consciousness and use symbols from pop culture, Beyoncé is their go-to-person. When one of my graduate students worked with middle-schoolers on a dance performance raising awareness about sexual violence, whose music did these girls choose? Beyoncé and Destiny’s Child. I’ve learned a long time ago that our pop icons have been a gateway for young women and girls in the articulation of their feminist consciousness. Music is so ubiquitous, and exists in the most intimate spaces of their everyday lives, that it’s counter-productive to call a woman they admire a “stripper” and a “whore.” Beyoncé might very well lead them to other feminists existing beyond commercial boundaries. The widespread condemnation of her (interpreted as “feminist critique”) could stop them in their search. Let’s stop fearing our differences. In the words of bell hooks, Feminism is for everybody! The latest issue of Ms. magazine, featuring Janell Hobson’s cover story on Beyoncé, is available for your mobile devices or in the traditional print version. Find out how to download the Ms. app and get a year’s worth of Ms.! Photo of Beyoncé performing in Central Park in 2011 by Flickr user asterix611 under license from Creative Commons 2.0 Janell Hobson is professor of women's, gender and sexuality studies at the University at Albany. She is the author of When God Lost Her Tongue: Historical Consciousness and the Black Feminist Imagination. She is also the editor of Tubman 200: The Harriet Tubman Bicentennial Project. Midterm elections deliver major victories for abortion rights New Survey: Concern Over Abortion and Equal Rights Top Inflationby 22 Points as Main Drivers of Young Women’s Vote in Battleground States	5,999
KINSHASA, CONGO (May 23, 2007) – For as long as anyone can remember, the Covenant Church of Congo (CEUM), has held regional “Big Sunday” celebrations. These festive events are held several times a year, drawing thousands of Congolese Covenanters for worship. This past weekend, a Big Sunday ended in tragedy, when members of the CEUM youth choir drowned while on their way back home. “Today we grieve with tears and heartfelt prayers over news of the tragic loss of 18 lives in the drowning accident near Wasolo, Congo,” says Curt Peterson, executive minister of Covenant World Mission. “Our sympathy and love is extended to all the families and villages that suffer the pain and heartache of the death of their precious children and family members. A “Big Sunday” celebration “is filled with joy and praise to God,” says Peterson, “and this choir was undoubtedly an inspiration to all who gathered on Sunday—their voices in harmony, their dance in rhythm to the glory of God. Precious in his sight, Jesus loves the children of the world—may God’s peace, comfort and grace surround this community of faith in Congo.” A benevolent fund will be set up by World Mission to assist the families of choir members, who along with their grieving face the hardship of paying for funeral expenses. For more information, contact Byron Amundsen at Covenant World Mission, 5101 N. Francisco, Avenue, Chicago, IL 60625; 773-907-3317, [email protected]. This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007 and is filed under News. Click here to cancel reply. Name (required) Mail (will not be published) (required) Δ News stories found here were originally published on CovChurch.org. We apologize for any broken links you may encounter, as the posts have been moved from their original domain. Newswire Archive Select Month December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 December 2004 November 2004 December 2003 November 2003 December 2002 December 2001 December 2000 February 2000 December 1999 December 1998	2,664
In this week’s Tech News Tuesday #TNT episode, we discuss a recent Pew Research study on who is online and how often they’re online. We discuss what it means to be online constantly and how it affects your business practices. Links in this episode: About Three-in-Ten U.S. Adults Say They are ‘Almost Constantly’ Online Welcome to the Get Digital Marketing Results podcast where we give you information and actionable tips to grow your organization. When a large proportion of your audience say they are “constantly online” how does that impact your local business? In this Tech News Tuesday episode we’re going to look at a recent Pew Research study on who is online and how often they go online. Bob: Basically they found out that we are online a lot. The study was conducted earlier this year found that 81% of Americans said they go online on a daily basis. For comparison, in 2015, this same study found only 73% of Americans went online every day. Donna: I think this tracks pretty well with more people increasingly having smart phones as their mobile device, and even maybe their main connected device to the internet. The study found that mobile users spend more time online – almost a third of that group say they are “constantly online” Bob: So what does that constantly online mean? Donna: I think it is a change in how we perceive the technology. Google has a quote that I like to use – we don’t go online anymore, we live online. And I think that is what this constantly online refers to. It’s not a separate activity we do anymore, but is part of our everyday life – from GPS, to researching products, sharing pictures and videos, to finding out anything that comes up in conversation – like, what was the score of that game last night? Who starred in that movie? What time does a restaurant close? Or ya know, every morning I hear one of my kids asking our device, will it rain today? We spend a lot of time with our phones. I have an iPhone and I know when Apple first came out with the Screen Time feature (which has a weekly report that tells you how much time per day you spend on your phone) I know I wasn’t the only one horrified by the results. You’re an Android user Bob; Do they have the same sort of thing? Bob: Well Donna, I think there’s an app for that, yes. Donna: And while we are starting to see some push back – have you seen that game where a group of people at dinner or the bar put their phones in the middle of the table and the first one to get a notification has to pay the check for the next round? Donna: No, I’m not buying you another beer. [Laughs] So this trend – and I think a digital detox is another one, I think is a little bit of reaction or push back to being always connected. However, for businesses I think the important point to consider is when people talk about spending less time with their devices they are usually referring to mindless scrolling on social media or video watching. Things that you usually consider an unproductive use of your time. I don’t really see anyone saying I’m not going to research products or services online or I’m going to give up finding out online about events in my community or I’m not going to order anything online anymore. You know it seems like when people want to stop using their phones as much, it’s really about the mindless activities we’re going to do, would you agree? Bob: I agree. Donna: So, in order to catch that use of the mobile devices in particular, businesses and nonprofits need to figure out how do they integrate what they do in real life with their online presence. One simple example of that is making sure that your hours and contact information is accurate on your website and Google. It still amazes me how often you still have to search a bunch of pages on a site just to find someone’s phone number or address. Then beyond that you need to pretend you are a prospective or current customer and use your own website on a mobile device to try and do business with you. Is all the information you need there, are your questions answered, is it simple to take the next step? Today there seems to be a lot more loyalty to convenience than a particular brand. You need to figure out how that works for you. So we know we are on line a lot, especially mobile users. Who else is constantly online? Bob: For younger people (the 18 to 29ers), about half are constantly online. The study also found that college-educated adults, Hispanics, higher income households and non-rural residents report going online more frequently. You should note if any of these groups match your target audience and act accordingly. Donna: While those groups report high usage, even among older adults who they consider 50-64 years old, almost 20% are online constantly. And this number has skyrocketed over the past few years. So it’s definitely something we can’t ignore. Bob: You can find a link to the study in our show notes at delosinc.com/102 and don’t forget to subscribe to get actionable news and digital marketing tips to grow your organization.	5,230
PZMed announces the launch of a new website and promises to keep customers at the forefront of industry innovation with top quality beauty equipment and machines Grooming Expenditure Terms and Conditions Ex-Chelsea youngster Ike Ugbo wants to shine against Hammers when he returns to London By Rachel R. Beaty on October 22, 2021 Grooming Expenditure Ike Ugbo thinks he’s in the perfect place to shine – and is ready to prove it against West Ham. The Genk striker is confident his decision to leave boyhood club Chelsea will pay off. He made the decision to leave Stamford Bridge this summer, moving to the Cegeka Arena for around five million euros, having been European champions since the age of nine. Now Ugbo returns to London for the first time since leaving the Blues for Genk’s Europa League clash with the Hammers on Thursday to show what he’s made of. “Genk is the perfect place, people will know exactly what you are capable of, especially if you score a lot of goals,” he told the PA news agency. “Being in Belgium is a good path to get to the top because it’s not always easy to get into the top five leagues and be a main striker. It’s tricky. “It’s a great game to show exactly what I’ve learned over the past few years, all the loans I’ve been on, and that I’m not the same player I was when I was 18 anymore. “You don’t know what can happen next, it’s a big game, personally, to be in London. The whole family will be there for sure. West Ham will probably be our toughest challenge. Being in Belgium is a good way to reach the top because it’s not always easy to get into the top five leagues and be a main striker. “I watched the Premier League every weekend, I grew up watching it and West Ham are a great team. It’s a special game.” The 23-year-old was interested in Besiktas and Feyenoord but the lure of returning to Belgium, having scored 16 goals for Cercle Brugge last season, proved too strong. Two goals from two starts and eight substitute appearances is a good start, although Genk sit sixth in the Jupiler League after Saturday’s 2-0 loss at Charleroi, where Ugbo was a late substitute. “I want a better season than last, especially to develop my game because now I’m in a better team than last year,” said the striker, who scored the winning goal against Anderlecht on his debut in August. . “I’m in a top team, so maybe here I’ll have more chances, clearer chances, when I have to score. “Then at the end of the season I can see if I’ve done better, not just by the number of goals, but by the number of starts I get and what I’ve done for the team. “ At Chelsea, Ugbo won successive FA Youth Cups in 2016 and 2017 and was part of an impressive treadmill of talent at Stamford Bridge. He counts Reece James, Mason Mount, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Trevoh Chalobah, Tammy Abraham, Marc Guehi, Fikayo Tomori and Conor Gallagher as former teammates. Ugbo, right, has spent time on loan at Barnsley, MK Dons and Scunthorpe4. (Jonathan Brady/AP) (PA Archive) Still, both Ugbo and Abraham moved to Europe this summer, with Abraham joining Roma, to add to the growing number of young English players abroad, including Jude Bellingham at Borussia Dortmund and Noni Madueke at PSV. “When I first went overseas I had been in three English teams in the Championship and League One. I felt like I had to change something and start over,” Ugbo said, after having spent time in Barnsley, MK Dons and Scunthorpe. “That’s why I went to Roda in the Dutch second division (on loan in 2019-20). I needed to gain confidence and have a platform to take my steps. “After it worked, I didn’t want to change it. I wanted to take a step forward so I went to Cercle last year. Barnsley (loan) MK Dons (loan) Scunthorpe (loan) Roda (loan) Circle Bruges (loan) “If it’s still working and I’m making progress then why change it?” “After the loan spells, I wanted to stay somewhere longer than a year, so I decided this was my last loan. I felt like it was better for me to call somewhere home . “You just continue the cycle of going back on loan and after a while it’s not a great feeling, especially when you would like to play in the Chelsea first team – but you just come back on loan. “But that was the best thing at Chelsea, winning trophies and playing with the best players. That’s where I learned my basics, they taught me a lot, I was there for nine years so I will always have a lot of love for Chelsea. It was a privilege to be there.” Ugbo has also pledged his international future in Nigeria – he qualifies through his father Edwin – with the paperwork ongoing. He won the Toulon Tournament with England in 2017 but believes the Super Eagles will give him a better chance of realizing his ambitions. “I know I could wait but I felt that when there are big competitions coming up I want to make a name for myself,” he said. “Who knows, I might end up at the World Cup next year. “Dad always wanted me to play for Nigeria because that’s where he was born and raised. That’s something he would love.	5,100
This being my 85th birthday and my children having requested that I give them for a scrap-book purposes and as a family memorial a sketch of my ancestors, as well as of my own life, also the lives of various people of pioneer days. I have decided to do so, or at least do the best I can in this regard. I was born in Decatur County, Tennessee, in the year 1845. My father, Asa Rushing, was born in Anson County, North Carolina, December 25, 1801. Grandfather Jason Rushing was born also in North Carolina, but the date is forgotten. My Great-Grandfather came from England in colonial days to a free country where he could worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, and where there was none to molest and or make afraid under their own vine and fig tree, so to speak. There were two brothers, Mark and Solomon. One of them was my paternal ancestor, but I don’t know which one. I will first give a sketch of the early life of my father. He was married to Nancy G. Hendricks in 1825 and at that date Tennessee was considered a new country. It was way out west, so to speak, and so they decided to move there and build up with the country. My father had a good horse and a one-horse wagon. So the couple put all their earthly possessions in that wagon, hitched up and moved. It is a part of our family history that my mother did most of the driving, because the roads were very rough, thus through the vast wilderness they made their way to their new home. Others who traveled with them traveled in a similar way. In fact, in that day and time, there were very few wagons. The country was thinly settled and land was cheap. Arriving in the locality where they decided to locate, they stopped, pitched camp and went to work. My father and mother were charter members of New Hope church, the first Baptist church organized in that part of the country. My father died in 1850, leaving mother to care for the children. Her main thoughts were to plant in their hearts a Christian spirit and this she did by precept and example. A few years after the death of my father, my oldest brother, Green Rushing, married and moved to Texas. He was so well pleased with the new country that he at once got busy writing us in Tennessee what a delightful place it was and that all that a home would cost would be just to file on 160 acres of land, have it surveyed and then send the field notes to Austin and get a patent to it. The total cost would be seven dollars and fifty cents, and the best land could be bought for fifty cents an acre. So it just seemed to us that the honey pond and fritter tree was surely in Texas. We loaded our household effects on a wagon and moved to Texas in 1857. We came down the Mississippi river in a steamboat, having traveled the same way down the Tennessee and Ohio rivers to get to the Mississippi river. We came down the Mississippi river to the mouth of Red river, and then up that river to Shreveport, then on ox wagons to Texas. This being the only way of transportation in pioneer days. We crossed the Sabine river at Logansport into Shelby county, and that country was my home until the Civil War. After crossing the Sabine river, and getting into the promised land, our attention was first attracted to the thinly settled condition of the country, it being several miles from one settlement to another. When we came to a house, it was just a small log house, often not having but one door, a stick and dirt chimney, and more often a dirt floor. The house was covered with long boards having rib poles to keep the wind from blowing them off. Wild animals and birds were in abundance. One could often count fifteen to twenty deer in a bunch. There was always plenty of meat, but no cans in which to place the lard. We raised large gourds. Some of these gourds would hold half a bushel of shelled corn. We let these great gourds dry, then cleaned them, and used them for various purposes. We used smaller gourds for money. The school houses were few and far apart, and when you came to one, it was just a plain little log house, like those in which people lived. There were no penpoints or pencils. We wrote with goose quill pens and the teacher was supposed to know how to make these pens. The teacher always carried his chair with him, and if any of the pupils wanted to know about a word or anything, they would have to walk across the house and ask him. Most teachers had a long switch handy, and if the pupils did not obey him, he would not hesitate to use it. If he caught any of them acting contrary to the rules, he would pitch the switch to them and make them bring it to him, and they either got a good lecture or a licking. The women wore cotton homespun dresses and home-made bonnets. The men wore dark dyed pants and straw or wool hats. The rich men had beegum hats, but the girls in their homespun dresses looked just as sweet as they do now with all the artificial work and paint, and starch and powder that they can put on. We all wore homemade shoes. We tanned our leather in troughs and made the shoes at home. One pair a year was all the shoes a child got. When we went to church, we rode horseback, went in ox-carts, or walked. I can say with all my heart that the old pioneer preacher always had a message worthwhile, for his congregation. As a rule, he always had good attention. There was not a cook stove in all the country. Our mothers used the old pot rack that hung in the chimney. Mother hung the pot on it and then built the fire under it. The old skillet, the oven and the frying pan were the main cooking utensils. We now come to my early manhood and the war between the states. The war started in 1861 and the boys began to enlist in several of the companies. So I was enthused and desired to join the army of the Confederacy. On the 28th day of January, 1862, I enlisted as a volunteer at old Buena Vista, in Shelby county, in Captain Amersons company, and was sworn into service by O.M. Roberts, he being our colonel. We were sworn in for twelve months, but in July we were re-organized and sworn in for three years, or during the war. We were known as the “Walkers Greyhounds” on account of the many long marches we had to take. Our military service was confined to the territory west of the Mississippi river. We had many hardships of various kinds. We had no tents for shelter. We just had to take all kinds of weather as it came, rain, hail, sleet or snow, storm or sunshine. Our only house was called a ‘doghouse’, just tie strings to the four corners of, and the middle of a blanket, stretch it over a pole, tuck it to the ground, then dig a ditch around it with a butcher knife. Two men could get on their knees, crawl in and sleep as snug as two rats. Our battles in the Civil War, west of Mississippi, were all fought in the open field. Our mothers and sisters at home furnished us with clothes and blankets we used. The sutler, as we called him, would make trips at different times in a wagon from our homes to where we were camped and it might be in Louisiana, or Arkansas, or even in Missouri, he would come to us just the same. We were always glad to see him, for in addition to the blankets and clothes he also brought dear, sweet letters from home and the loved ones. During all these hardships I was not sick a single day, and never took a dose of medicine during the war. One of my brothers was severely wounded at the battle of Pleasant Hill, and I was detailed to go to the hospital at Mansfield and nurse and wait on him, and other wounded soldiers. I stayed there forty-seven days. The only time I was absent from command during the war. After Lee surrendered on April 9, 1865, we were marched to Texas and were disbanded at Hempstead, about May 20, 1865. We then returned to our dilapidated homes to meet our loved ones. We had lost the cause for which we had fought and suffered so much. We were an overpowered people, and had to submit to the victors. However, in the face of all this, we were glad the war was over and we were at home again. So we just started life over again as from the start. Everything was torn up and run down. There was no money in the country. Foodstuff and plow tools were awfully scarce. We had to patch old implements and get along the best we could. Many of us would plow all day, then bell or hobble our horse, or horses, and turn them out to grass. Next morning, we would listen to hear the bell, then go and drive the horse up, hitch him to the plow and work all day again as before. I used to work for the blacksmith in order to get my plow fixed, and for the shoemaker to get my shoes. From the time I came home until my crop was harvested in the autumn, I had only $1.50, and my mother gave me the money I had. I made a good crop. Cotton brought a good price and when I sold it, the man who bought it paid me in gold. It was the prettiest money I have ever seen, or ever expect to see again. It was all my own, for I had done without the things that I had needed so badly and I want to say just here that my experience that year taught me a great lesson, and that was to do without things until I was able to pay for them in the autumn, and through my long life, I have never contracted for anything more that I could pay for at harvest time. Everybody seemed to be happy after so many hardships, from a religious and neighborly point of view, but from a political viewpoint everything was hard and disagreeable. Those were reconstruction days just after the Civil War. At that time, there was trouble and confusion concerning the Carpetbaggers and Scalawags, we were not considered citizens. We were disenfranchised and placed under military law. A company of federal soldiers were stationed at each county seat to keep order. At one time, there was but one citizen officer in Nacogdoches county. Nobody was able to qualify for a long time. Young people wanting to get married had to go to some other county that was fortunate enough to have a man to get qualified for county clerk. Reconstruction days were so hard, we could not vote and elect our officers. The federal government appointed them for us, out of what we called ‘scalawags’ and ‘carpetbaggers’. It was to relieve this intolerable situation that the Ku Klux sprang into existence and ultimately put the scalawags and carpetbaggers out of the country, even to our governor, who was E. J. Davis. In order to become a citizen again, we began to take certain oaths. The last one was called the ironclad, or amnesty oath. I did not see how we could swallow such a big one, but the others swallowed it and so did I. After this, we were allowed to vote again, but at the same time, federal officers stood at the polls with six-shooters and shotguns to watch us vote and disqualify us if we had not fully complied with all the ironclad requirements. During these trying times our schools had run down for want of money. Teachers were scarce and salaries small. I decided to be a farmer and in order to do this, I must have a home. So I began to look around and hunt for a girl that would accept my proposition. I was lucky enough, for it seemed to me that I found this identical girl for which I was looking, and to her I made known my plans and proposition. She accepted them, and so on December 4, 1867 was happily married to Miss Sallie Stack at Shady Grove in Nacogdoches county, Texas. The first meal in our new house was dinner. I was busy in the yard when wife came and said dinner was ready. She had prepared the best dinner she could for the occasion. The table cloth was as white as snow. The knives, forks and spoons were perfectly bright. My plate was at one end of the table and her plate was at the other end. We took our seats and now comes the first step in a Christian home. She looked across the table with a reverential and godly smile and said, “Please return thanks.”. I asked to be excused for I was not a professed Christian. She was. I did feel so thankful for her and the home, and the meal she prepared with her own sweet hands. So it put new thoughts in my mind and heart. I remembered my mother’s faithfulness as a Christian soldier and how the preacher would lay his hand on my head and speak kind, good words to me, hoping I would grow up to manhood and make a good and useful man, like bread cast upon water, to be gathered up after many days. So these thoughts and many others came to me and seemed to say “Yes, now is the time” and the harvest is ripe. So I began to yield. So home building was our first thought. We began to read the Bible a great deal, and to talk about religion and go to church, and think and pray. So I waited and waited for more than a year trying to get good, but all my efforts were failures. At last all hope seemed to be lost. So one day, I took my old shotgun and told my wife I was going down to the creek, hunting. But my mind was bent on more serious business. I was hunting for the Lord. At last, when far down in the creek bottom, I just stopped and submitted my case to the Lord, saying: ‘yes, Lord, I am lost. And it is just but lost or saved, live or die, sink or swim. Take me just as I am. I give to thee my heart, my life, my soul, my mind and strength, as a living sacrifice to thee. I will serve thee and thee alone, the balance of my life.’ So sweet peace came to my soul and I arose from the place with a new life, a new heart and a new tongue with peace and joy ringing in my soul and from that moment to this, my life has been given to the Lord. So on the following Saturday, I went to the old Honewall Church at Cross Roads, which was the fourth day of December, 1870, told the story of the cross and was received for baptism, and was baptized on Sunday, the 5th. So the real Christian home was set up and a family altar erected. We thought of Abraham when he first came to the Promised Land. His first step was to erect an altar to the Lord. Our early life and pioneer days now comes to a close. Related Products BIG Book of Homeschooling An Unexpected Road to Success The Early Life of John Rushing Art of Child Training Bible Teaching Español Featured Health Homeschool Toddlers Do you get our FREE Magazine? Leave a Reply Cancel reply You must be logged in to post a comment. 3 comments on “The Early Life of John Rushing” April 20, 2021 at 10:51 am Great article! I hope it is continued, as I would love to hear more of the story. Log in to Reply Julie says: May 2, 2021 at 8:25 am I loved reading this! Thank you so much for sharing it! Log in to Reply May 5, 2021 at 3:24 pm I love this. If there is more, I hope you publish it. Log in to Reply Business-in-a-Box I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. 3 John 4	15,751
The COVID-19 pandemic has made people more aware of the importance of sanitizing spaces to limit contact with germs that can be harmful to our health. This, too, has shown us the many ways that germs can travel into our bodies. Usually, we’ve been told that you can catch germs and diseases if someone coughs or sneezes and the contagious droplets enter your nose or mouth. Recently, science has shown that you might be able to catch germs and diseases through your eyes! But, how? Up next, we’ll explain how and why germs can travel through your eyes and into your body! You’ve probably been told that touching your eyes, nose, and mouth is something you should avoid to dodge germs and lead a healthy life. This recommendation has become very popular after the highly contagious COVID-19 virus became a part of our daily lives. Being alert of your surroundings and avoiding contact with germs is crucial in this new reality we’re dealing with. But why is it so crucial to protect your eyes? They have something with your nose and mouth: they’re mucus membranes. These membranes contain cells that work like sponges that suck up particles and bring them into your lungs and other systems of your body. What Is There to Do Right now, you might be freaking out, thinking there’s not much you can do to avoid getting an infection but don’t worry! Your eyes are actually doing more heavy lifting than you think. Actually, they’re pretty good at defending themselves from outside agents that might put your health in jeopardy. From your eyelashes that keep out debris and irritants when you blink to your eyelids that completely shut down the entrance to any germs! But they can’t do it all by themselves. You must try to avoid coming into contact with bacteria and germs by continuously washing your hands and, please, do not rub your eyes that often! When it comes to eye health, there is a lot that can be done by yourself to remain healthy. But, every now and then, a checkup with a medical professional is the best way to go. At Nicholas Rutkowski, O.D. & Associates, you get top-quality eye care services. Suppose you’re looking for a medical professional that has dedicated their career to eye diseases and eye care. In that case, Nicholas Rutkowski is your best bet for optometry in Montecito, CA. Book an appointment and see the difference! At Nicholas Rutkowski, O.D. and Associates, we provide you with top-quality eye care services at either of our two locations. Fill in the form below, and we will get in touch with you to schedule an appointment.	2,632
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Relative Athletic Scores grade a player's measurements on a 0 to 10 scale compared to their peer group. ABOUT ME By: March 29, 2020 Niklas Gorny is an international prospect in the 2020 NFL Draft. All metrics that have been recorded are unofficial if the metric is highlighted in yellow. Once the NFL Draft has concluded, player scores will be finalized and the prospect card will be replaced with an official card. Some or all of the player’s metrics were recorded from an unofficial source such as local media, were unable to be verified from an official source, or were projected based on given trends. These situations will be called out. He recorded a Relative Athletic Score of 0.06, out of a possible 10.0. RAS is a composite metric on a 0 to 10 scale based on the average of all of the percentile for each of the metrics the player completed either at the Combine or pro day. He had a recorded height of 6010 that season, recorded as XYYZ where X is feet, YY is inches, and Z is eighths of an inch. That correlates to 6 feet, 1 and 0/8 of an inch or 73.0 inches, or 185.42000000000002 centimeters. This correlates to a 2.4 score out of 10.0. He recorded a weight of 196 in pounds, which is approximately 89 kilograms. This correlates to a 0.87 score out of 10.0. Based on his weight, he has a projected 40 yard dash time of 4.52. This is calculated by taking 0.00554 multiplied by his weight and then adding 3.433. At the Combine, he recorded a 40 yard dash of 5.12 seconds. This was a difference of 0.6 seconds from his projected time. This forty time correlates to a 1.01 score out of 10.0. Using Bill Barnwell’s calculation, this Combine 40 time gave him a Speed Score of 57.04. The time traveled between the 20 and 40 yard lines is known as the Flying Twenty. As the distance is also known, we can calculate the player’s speed over that distance. The time he traveled the last twenty yards at the Combine was 2.17 seconds. Over 20 yards, we can calculate his speed in yards per second to 9.22. Taking into account the distance in feet (60 feet), we can calculate his speed in feet per second to 27.65. Breaking it down further, we can calculate his speed in inches per second to 331.8. Knowing the feet per second of 27.65, we can calculate the approximate miles per hour by multiplying that value by 0.681818 to give us a calculated MPH of 18.9 in the last 20 yards of his run. At the Combine, he recorded a PROJECTED 20 yard split of 2.95 seconds. This correlates to a 1.24 score out of 10.0. We can calculate the speed traveled over the second ten yards of the 40 yard dash easily, as the distance and time are both known. The time he traveled the second ten yards at the Combine was 1.18 seconds. Over 10 yards, we can calculate his speed in yards per second to 8.47. Taking into account the distance in feet (30 feet), we can calculate his speed in feet per second to 25.42. Breaking it down further, we can calculate his speed in inches per second to 305.08. Knowing the feet per second of 25.42, we can calculate the approximate miles per hour by multiplying that value by 0.681818 to give us a calculated MPH of 17.3 in the second ten yards of his run. At the Combine, he recorded a PROJECTED 10 yard split of 1.77 seconds. This correlates to a 1.66 score out of 10.0. The time he traveled the first ten yards at the Combine was 1.77 seconds. Over 10 yards, we can calculate his speed in yards per second to 6.0. Taking into account the distance in feet (30 feet), we can calculate his speed in feet per second to 17.0. Breaking it down further, we can calculate his speed in inches per second to 203.0. Knowing the feet per second of 17.0, we can calculate the approximate miles per hour by multiplying that value by 0.681818 to give us a calculated MPH of 11.6 in the first ten yards of his run. At the Combine, he recorded a bench press of 1 repetitions of 225 pounds. This correlates to a 0.31 score out of 10.0. At the Combine, he recorded a vertical jump of 23.5 inches. This correlates to a 0.22 score out of 10.0. At the Combine, he recorded a broad jump of 804, which is recorded as FII or FFII . where F is feet and I is inches. This correlates to a 0.97 score out of 10.0. At the Combine, he recorded a 5-10-5 or 20 yard short shuttle of 4.57 seconds. This correlates to a 1.74 score out of 10.0. At the Combine, he recorded a 3 cone L drill of 7.71 seconds. This correlates to a 0.58 score out of 10.0. This player did not record any measurements at their pro day that we were able to find. If they recorded Combine measurements, they stood on them.	4,724
Timna Zemel is a systems integration analyst who works out of our Denver office. She loves diving deeply into the details of where and why SimpliPhi batteries work best, building financial models and calculators that capture the true costs associated with differing battery solutions and generation sources, particularly in the C&I markets. Of growing importance are the often hidden but very real costs of lithium cobalt-based batteries (NMC & NCA) that require ancillary equipment, such as thermal monitoring, ambient air-conditioning and fire suppression systems. Timna can most often be found crunching numbers and helping customers understand the best use cases and economic advantages for SimpliPhi products. Tell us a bit about your route to SimpliPhi—how did you get to a battery company, specifically this one? I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area; discussion about the Earth’s limited resources and the environmental impact of our actions was all around me from a young age. My dad originally worked making printed circuit boards in Silicon Valley and from there transitioned to work in solar panel manufacturing at SunPower. He got me an internship there while I was in college. My work in the solar photovoltaic industry continued at Sunrun, where I became acquainted with the importance of policy in the industry and the hurdles faced when simultaneously relying on and competing with the same entity: the utility company. I was intrigued by solar and battery systems as the technological solution to many of these issues, but at that time many colleagues dismissed batteries as expensive and impractical. Moving to Colorado presented me with a less urban environment, and I took the opportunity to venture into off-grid solar and battery systems. I appreciated the independence these systems afforded their owners. The systems were also interesting to me because of the added complexity in the system design (as compared with grid-tie solar photovoltaic systems). I spent a few years working at a very small battery company, selling, supporting and occasionally going on-site to install solar + battery systems. After that, I needed to take a breather. After some time off, I was happy to re-focus my energy, taking the job at SimpliPhi. Can you share some details on your average day and how you spend most of your time? I get up at the crack of dawn and run five miles every other day. I’ve gotten my time down to 45 minutes in the past half year, and I’ve set my goal for five in 35 before the end of 2019. When I get back home from my run, I eat an egg on toast, then it’s a blur of coffee, phone calls and emails… Every company needs some numbers geeks and we know that’s your sweet spot—where does this come from and what do you love about this part of your work? Every year the average consumer sees an increase in electricity pricing from the grid. The population is increasing, each individual within the population is consuming more, and all the while the grid is becoming more antiquated. Not too long ago, a contractor called SimpliPhi with an off-grid solar + battery project that the utility company had hired him to install. To the utility company, the repairs and maintenance that they would have had to perform on their own infrastructure to power this particular residence was not worth the expense, compared with the cost of a brand new off-grid system at the site. The economic argument for Distributed Energy Resources is already all around us. I get excited about helping the average consumer get in on this opportunity too. Every day there is an increasing number of scenarios where the financials for DERs pencil out. I can help folks figure out whether or not they’re in that situation. The utility companies have already done the math, shouldn’t we too? What did you major in college and did it prepare you for what you do now? I have an Environmental Economics degree from UC Berkeley and now I do economic analyses for renewable energy systems, so my education definitely provided me with the fundamentals in the focus of my work with SimpliPhi Power. How do you live the SimpliPhi life outside work? SimpliPhi batteries are a solid, reliable product. And moving forward into the age of de-centralized power systems, I think that products like the batteries that SimpliPhi provides are going to become increasingly important in people’s daily lives. I want to make sure that these products and new implementations work and don’t leave people in the dark. SimpliPhi’s non-toxic lithium ferro phosphate batteries allow people to be secure about their energy, on grid or off, without taking on the risk of toxicity or thermal runaway, which undermines the whole idea of security. What’s your key strength, and if you even have one, a weakness? My key strength is that I am driven to make the energy infrastructure of the American population work. My key weakness is getting stressed. What is the most commonly asked question your hear from SimpliPhi customers? Is this normal? It takes time to learn the ins and outs of new technology, so customers frequently ask if what they’re observing in their power systems is aligned with what they should expect to see. Use your crystal ball—where do you see the energy storage market in five years? We can already see that there will be a widespread adoption of distributed energy storage within the next five years. I predict a significant increase in battery production, creating more jobs within the United States as well as abroad (the two don’t need to be mutually exclusive). Economic growth within the sustainable energy sector is critical to the future of the planet and the global economy. Batteries + renewable generation make greater adoption of clean energy more prevalent since storage removes the intermittency associated with wind and solar. But batteries also remove the increasing intermittency of our grid. In California alone, utilities have announced planned “Public Safety Shutdowns” in areas ravaged by drought and high-winds, which equates to approximately 11 million people. Batteries can provide energy security and resilience for customers that are grid-tied, whether or not they have solar on their roofs. So energy storage is going to grow exponentially – it optimizes any generation source. What is something most people would be surprised to learn about you? Getting into batteries and solar has fueled my interest in space exploration. Colorado is a beautiful place where it is still affordable for working class people to live. I like to ride my bicycle. ASSOCIATIONS Terms and Conditions Technical Support Residential General Inquiries: © SimpliPhi Power. All Rights Reserved. with SimpliPhi Elite IQ trainings and more. First Last This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. We respect your privacy. We want you to know how we use cookies on our website. Cookies help us to better understand what content, products and services are most useful to you. Read our Privacy Policy for more details. By clicking “Accept Cookies” you agree to share information that will help improve your browsing experience on our site. Manage consent This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. 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While psychology is still a relatively young field, it’s also a flourishing one. From clinics and rehabilitation centers to major companies and city councils, career opportunities in psychology abound and new and exciting applications for psychological knowledge are being developed every day, making this a dynamic and fascinating field to work in. An understanding of human nature and behavior allows psychologists to: Help people to confront and manage their emotions Facilitate and enhance the academic and emotional growth and success of students in an educational setting Support returning veterans as they make the transition to civilian life Create marketing materials that effectively tap into the motivations and desires of intended audiences Serve as consultants to companies, bringing about a work environment that is more cooperative and conducive to success Positively affect the lives and interactions of people in a variety of ways A few questions for you to consider in your career planning… Do you enjoy working with others and having the opportunity to positively impact their lives? Do you find human behavior compelling? Have you always been fascinated by the motivations behind our actions? Are you seeking an exciting career path that offers opportunities for growth? If the answer to these questions is yes, a career in the field of psychology may be exactly what you’re looking for! This is a comprehensive guide to jobs in psychology, encompassing everything from a basic knowledge of the field of psychology to an understanding of the types of positions available in the field and a detailed overview of the job seeking process. We will be covering psychology’s past, as well as looking at its role in our world today. Careers in Psychology School psychology We’ll examine various avenues and methods of finding jobs in psychology that match your interests. In order to help you get the kind of psychology job you’re seeking, we’ll be: looking into online research Seeking leads at colleges and universities Working with recruiters Joining psychology-related groups in order to network Attending psychology-related events in order to expand your career prospects The Right Career Path The field of psychology offers you an interesting and deeply rewarding career path. Whether you seek a more traditional job in counseling or clinical psychology or are more interested in exploring novel and innovative ways to use your psychology knowledge, there are many opportunities to pursue in this fast-growing industry! History of Psychology as an Industry Career Paths in Psychology History of Psychology as an Industry Let’s begin with an overview of the field of psychology. Its historical progression Its emergence as a broad and multi-faceted field The many ways in which it has influenced and molded our modern world The science of psychology can trace its origins back to the philosophies of ancient thinkers like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Its predecessor, the Philosophy of Mind, was focused on attempting to understand thought and consciousness by answering various questions, such as: Can the mind be distinguished from the brain? How can consciousness be defined? The Philosophy of Mind was preoccupied with how human beings saw and experienced things, as well as our thoughts, emotions and other mental processes. Although these matters were not tangible or visible, they featured heavily in the lives of all humans. Because of this, the ideas brought forth by Philosophy of Mind sparked a growing interest in psychology. During the Middle Ages, physicians sought to understand how the mind and body were connected. In this environment, psychology began to be seen less as a purely philosophical matter and was increasingly viewed as a subdivision of medicine. Doctors became aware that a person’s mood was often strongly linked to their ability to recover from an illness or injury and maintain health. There was also a growing realization that many forms of mental instability, whose origins were formerly shrouded in mystery, were directly affected by a patient’s physical state. These observations drove physicians to study the link between physical and mental well-being and led to the emergence of the idea of “mental health”. Physicians sought to understand: Why insanity appeared permanent in some cases and transient in others? What caused certain people to experience long term depression following tragedies, while others failed to react in the same way? Why spiritual rituals proved effective in certain cases and not in others? These and other questions regarding the mind and its reactions absorbed medical practitioners of the time and drove them to seek answers through experimentation and observation. This move towards using formal methods to make sense of the mind and its often mysterious workings would eventually lead to the birth of psychology as we know it today. Psychology as a Science In 1879, German physician and physiologist Wilhelm Wundt established the first formal laboratory solely for research and experimental psychology. This marked the dawn of the modern era of psychology and Wundt, who was also the founder of the first scholarly journal of psychology, introduced several new concepts to the field. Among Wundt’s legacies are the introduction of a theory of psychology that laid stress on the mind-body connection and teachings emphasizing the use of a scientific approach in studying psychology. Wundt espoused a theory of consciousness called Structuralism. Structuralism stated that the nature of a thing could be understood through the study of its parts and the interaction of these parts. His method of studying psychology focused on investigating how the various parts making up the brain produced the mind and its effects. His theories, which met with both acceptance and refutation, were extremely influential in the scientific development of psychology and led to his reputation as “The Father of Psychology”. No discussion of the history of psychology would be complete without mention of the Austrian neurologist now known as the “Father of Psychoanalysis”, Sigmund Freud. Freud remains an important name in the history of clinical psychology, counseling and developmental psychology. Freud influenced child psychology in particular with his theories on the effects of childhood development on the psyche and the part it plays in different psychological disorders. He was also an early practitioner of a type of therapy known as the “talking cure”, which allowed patients to manage the psychological effects of traumatic experiences by talking about them to a therapist. Premised on the theory of the repression of desires and memories, this type of therapy gave birth to modern psychoanalysis and the theory of the unconscious, both of which would exert considerable influence on the field of psychology’s further development. Freud’s development of psychoanalysis led to the creation of many sub-fields within the broader field of psychology which are still widely practiced, including: Developmental psychology including child psychology Freud’s theories, like those of Wundt and other pioneers in the field of psychology, attracted their share of opposition. Those who disagreed with Freud, Wundt and other early theorists carried out their own experiments and research, adding their observations and theories to the field of psychology. In this way, dissenting opinions further enriched the understanding of mental processes and behavior within psychology and spurred on the field’s progress. Behaviorism, one of the major psychological movements established by opponents of Freud’s theories and those of other foundational psychologists, focused on external, observable events. This school of thought stated that cognition could be understood through analysis of an individual’s observable behavior rather than through discussion of invisible concepts such as the unconscious mind. Proponents of behaviorism held that, because such hypothetical forces could not be observed directly and were only perceivable through the actions they elicited or the emotions described by those being observed, Freud and others were wrong in trying to asses and interpret these forces. B.F. Skinner, one of the most prominent Behaviorists, originated a scientific methodology to assess the link between events and behaviors. In doing so, he attempted to replace abstract theories of the structure of the mind with externally observable principles that detailed behavioral patterns. Behaviorists’ emphasis on testing and scientifically measurable information led them to perform many experiments in order to understand the learning process and the nature of conditioning. These experiments involved teaching laboratory animals to react to various kinds of stimuli and caused some opponents of Behaviorism to dub Behaviorists “rat-runners”. Nevertheless, this school of thought‘s contributions to psychology include advanced methods of research and important observations on the behavior of organisms, as well as a deeper understanding of how outside forces affect behavior. Attempts to prove or disprove theories on cognition through laboratory tests and observation of the behavior of subjects still feature prominently in the work of many in the field of psychology today. As psychology developed further, emerging schools of thought took influence from aspects of Behaviorism as well as the approaches of earlier theorists to gain greater knowledge of cognition and behavior. Although the Behaviorists of the 1920’s and 30’s had veered away from internal concepts of mind and thought in favor of externally observable behavior, these internal concepts made a reappearance in the Humanistic Psychology of the 1950’s. Humanistic Psychology was concerned with understanding phenomena that played a major role in human existence but were largely ignored by Behaviorism, like freedom, creativity, meaning and identity. The emergence of cognitive psychology also re-emphasized the importance of internal states. Through its use of understanding gleaned from fields of study such as computer science and linguistics, cognitive psychology introduced a perspective of psychology that viewed thoughts and emotions as worthy of investigation. This shift occurred at a time when the field of psychology began to take on growing societal significance. Psychology progressed beyond being a discipline concerned solely with academic investigation and the treatment of disorders into a means of using knowledge of the human mind to enhance lives. Day-to-day activities that were of great importance in the lives of the masses including teaching, organization of work environments and the design and marketing of products began to benefit from the insights and observations provided through the study of psychology. This gave rise to many new and useful roles for psychological knowledge and a general awareness of psychology in popular culture that effectively brought this field out of the shadows and into each one of our homes and work environments. From careers in therapy and counseling to legal and forensic psychology, psychology jobs now run the gamut of interests, skills and experience. These careers are often pursued by driven individuals with an interest in human nature and a desire to positively affect the lives of others. Newer arenas for the practice of psychology have also opened up. One example of this is the rise of industrial organizational psychology or occupational psychology, which uses an understanding of human behavior in the workplace to create work environments that are more cooperative, productive, satisfying and conducive to success. In the following section, we’ll be examining some of the cultural roles of psychology and their significance and contributions to society. Psychology was once considered a remote and mysterious division of philosophy that was far removed from the lives of ordinary people. However, as the field progressed, so too did public awareness and understanding of it, and today, psychology clearly affects many aspects of our society. Its influence in modern culture can be seen in: The growing interest in the positive affirmations The popularity of self-help books stressing the importance of understanding human nature and behavior The burgeoning interest in applying insights about human nature in the worlds of business and marketing All of these are direct products of psychology’s importance in our modern lives. Let’s examine some of the effects that sub-divisions of psychology have exerted on our world view and social interactions. Clinical Psychology and Counseling In the relatively recent past, counseling and psychoanalysis were viewed negatively and the general public was wary of and uneasy with the idea of such treatments. This uneasiness was born of a lack of awareness about psychology in general and frequently led to the societal stigmatization of those who sought out these therapies. Today, the change of opinion is striking. As the public’s comfort level with psychological subjects increased, so too did the acceptance of, and indeed, interest in psychoanalysis and counseling. In our modern society, the popularity of psychology has led to unprecedented numbers of people receiving counseling and psychoanalysis to manage common stressors such as: Difficulties in family life or the work environment Highly distressing events Loss, illness and other harrowing aspects of human existence As more people sought out these types of therapy, help that was once difficult to access became an accepted and even normal part of daily life. This led to a rapid increase in the number of practitioners and the convenience of receiving treatment. Perhaps the greatest impact of this shift in public opinion can be seen in the changing views of the recipients of psychoanalysis and counseling. Where once it was widely believed that those who received these treatments were either suffering from conditions such as spiritual possession or madness, today it is generally understood that almost everyone can gain something from using psychoanalysis and counseling to deal with day-to-day challenges. This change has effectively tempered once hardened beliefs about the division between those deemed to be “normal” and “abnormal” or “sane” and “insane” and has made it easier for everyone to access the benefits of these therapies. Those with neurologically-based conditions generally met with the same stigmatization that faced those with psychological conditions. In recent times, however, this has largely changed. A greater understanding of both psychiatry and clinical psychology has altered public opinion and improved the lives of those with neurological and psychological disorders, by removing the shame previously attached to their conditions and offering them effective treatment paths. Psychiatry is a medical field concerned with preventing, diagnosing and treating mental and emotional disorders having their roots in problems with the functions or makeup of the mind. Psychiatry is usually practiced by: Physicians with a specialization in biochemistry or neuroscience Physicians who have studied both psychology and the human brain, as well as the interactions between the two Psychiatry’s progress has contributed to the growing awareness that certain mental and emotional disorders have their origins in problems with the functions of the physical brain. In doing so, this medical field has cleared away many long held prejudices and misconceptions about those suffering from these disorders and removed much of the blame attributed to them for their disorders. We now know that the brain, just like any other physical part of a person, is subject to improper functioning and illness. The results of this major shift in thinking include: The realization that the physical brain may require treatment in the same way that other organs do Increased awareness and understanding of mental conditions and growing support for those with such conditions Psychiatry’s progress has also fed into the debate surrounding the difference between personality traits and personality disorders. Many common disorders seen as potentially affecting sufferers professionally or academically have been intensively researched. These include: The development of various medications to manage and treat these disorders has sparked medical and public discussions regarding the role of these medications and has led many to question whether or not such drugs could, in effect, alter someone’s personality while treating personality disorders. Questions such as these are part of psychiatry’s contribution to the continued public discourse on and understanding of personality. Psychology at Work Today, psychology has also contributed greatly to the development of more productive and streamlined businesses and organizations, as well as helping to increase job satisfaction. Psychological concepts have been used to improve the workplace by increasing the efficiency and efficacy of: Methods of communication Workplace regulations Advertising and marketing campaigns Industrial organizational psychology’s focus on improving the ease and convenience of workplace processes means that you may have enjoyed the benefits of this branch of psychology’s work without even realizing it. Commonly used methods of enhancing and streamlining workplace processes and productivity, such as suggestion boxes and performance evaluations, are the direct results of the practice of industrial organizational psychology. This branch of psychology has substantially changed the way we work and the environments in which we work, by using an understanding of the mind and human behavior to surmount many of the challenges of the workplace. Whereas problems ranging from ineffective communication, improper management of personnel or uncomfortable, impractical work environments were once largely ignored, industrial organizational psychology’s rise has resulted in a widespread drive to examine and constantly enhance both business processes and employee’s job satisfaction. Career Paths in Psychology In previous sections, we’ve covered the historical and cultural background of psychology. Now, we’ll examine some of the careers available in psychology today. We will be looking at the kind of work done in various fields of psychology including: School psychology Social work We will also look at the typical work environments of each field as well as the educational background and licensing required to work in them. As the oldest career path in psychology, clinical psychology is perhaps the most widely known of all psychology careers. The responsibilities of those working in this field include: The diagnosis of those with psychological conditions The designing of therapy courses The prescription of treatments and medications designed to cure or improve the patient’s condition The management and treatment of a broad variety of mental and emotional disorders and behavioral issues A clinical psychologist may typically handle complaints ranging from stress to recurring or chronic clinical depression cases. Clinical psychology tends to be practiced in a medical setting, including doctor’s offices and hospitals, and clinical psychologists may work with physicians in prescribing medication or managing and treating physical issues that may accompany some psychological disorders. Clinical psychologists may also practice their profession: In institutions where psychological therapy and treatment are needed such as rehabilitation centers, addiction recovery clinics and correctional facilities In higher educational settings such as medical schools and universities, where they may provide students with training in psychology In order to become a licensed clinical psychologist, you must: Depending on the state you intend to practice in, you may also be required to complete one year or more of field work to gain state certification. It is important to note that licensing regulations differ from state to state. You can find state-specific requirements for clinical psychology licensing on the website of the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB). Checkout the requirements for practicing in your location and make sure that you have a good grip on them before moving further in the planning process. School Psychology Those working in the field of school psychology have a focus on counseling, advising and working with students in an educational setting. Careers in school psychology can include a wide variety of responsibilities, such as: Providing students with advice on selecting the most appropriate classes and courses of study to achieve their future goals Encouraging and assisting students who face various difficulties Working closely with at-risk or behaviorally challenged students Providing recommendations regarding teaching methods Helping teachers and principals to manage responses to behavioral and other issues that may arise within the school Meeting, discussing and working with parents on issues involving students’ academic, emotional and social well-being While school psychologists most frequently work within schools, they may also practice their profession by helping to craft educational policies and curricula with positions on education boards and other school-related bodies. Others may work as consultants to several schools or education-related bodies, providing their services from their own private offices. Educational Requirements to Practice School Psychology Regulations governing school psychology differ widely from state-to-state and among schools. While a bachelor’s degree may fulfill the requirements of certain schools, others will require a master’s degree at minimum and still others, a doctoral degree in psychology. Certain states may also impose other requirements for licensing, including the passing of licensing exams. To confuse matters even more, there are a variety of licensing agencies such as the Board of Psychology, the National Association of School Psychologists and the Department of Education. You’ll find the National Association of School Psychologist’s website to be a comprehensive and useful source of information. It pays to carefully study your options and to fully understand the licensing regulations and requirements of the state and school in which you wish to practice. Counseling places a greater emphasis on direct interaction between the practitioner and patient and as such, is particularly suited to those who seek a more hands-on psychology career. Counselors’ responsibilities include: Assisting others to learn methods of confronting and managing trauma and emotional problems Speaking to them Listening to them Encouraging the exploration of their issues in order to help them eventually surmount them Counselors provide their patients with guidance in more clearly understanding their own emotional states and the problems they face. Through a variety of methods such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, counseling assists patients in exploring and dealing with complicated thoughts and feelings. Unlike clinical psychologists, counselors do not usually prescribe or provide medical treatment. Instead, they help their patients work through emotional trauma with therapeutic activities such as discussion and writing. Their work frequently involves providing patients with help in dealing with complex matters such as: Emotionally distressing events Grief and loss Other issues Counselors often work in a variety of different environments including: Hospitals, clinics and other medical facilities Rehabilitation centers Educational institutions Many companies and organizations have begun to appreciate the need to provide employees with therapeutic counseling services. As the positive effects of such services on job performance and overall productivity have become apparent, counseling positions have also become increasingly available in corporate environments. This list of settings is by no means exhaustive because counseling can be practiced in any setting where discussing issues and learning coping techniques is desirable. Educational Requirements to Practice Counseling There are three main requirements to become a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC). These are: The completion of certain coursework requirements Certification through passing a licensing exam In recent years, a spate of popular television shows portraying the work of forensic psychologists has familiarized many with this once-lesser known field of psychology. Forensic psychology is concerned with the study of criminal behavior and the development of knowledge about factors such as life circumstances or mental and emotional disorders that can influence the likelihood of someone committing a criminal act. This knowledge is then put to use in solving and prosecuting criminal cases. Those practicing psychology in this field often do so by working with law enforcement agencies and the justice system. Forensic psychologists are often working at the scene of crimes, alongside law enforcement officials, where they play a part in examining evidence and are called upon to use their psychological knowledge to help investigators understand the motivations, identities and likely next moves of potential suspects. Not only are they involved in solving and prosecuting cases, but forensic psychologists also bring insights about human nature and behavior to proposing ways to help rehabilitate and reintegrate the prosecuted and even making recommendations regarding sentencing. These recommendations are frequently used to organize laws and sentencing with a view to discouraging criminal acts. Forensic psychology places an emphasis on understanding the motivations behind criminal acts in order to prevent, solve and prosecute these offences. Forensic psychologists often work in: Law enforcement settings where they may help members of law enforcement to solve crimes University classrooms where they provide training in crime prevention and prosecution to those studying to become investigators, members of police forces and members of the legal profession In court settings where they may provide assessments in insanity cases or evaluations in child custody cases In rehabilitation centers or local community centers where they may work with juvenile offenders and their families Forensic psychologists are usually required to hold a master’s degree in psychology, at minimum. Some employers may favor applicants with doctorates in the field. Forensic psychologists may also be trained in sub-disciplines of psychology such as research psychology, clinical psychology or experimental psychology. Those wishing to work in the field of forensic psychology can also benefit from going through certification programs provided through the American Board of Forensic Psychology. These certifications are not a requirement of all positions but can be very useful for jobseekers in the field. Social work provides an opportunity for those working in psychology to work closely with people and provide them with the help and resources they need. Jobs in social work are focused on working with individuals and families requiring assistance to help them to solve, overcome or prevent problems ranging from addiction to emotional issues. They do so by utilizing an understanding of problem-solving, positive interpersonal interactions and methods for supporting vulnerable families. The responsibilities of social workers may include: Supporting individuals through injury rehabilitation Providing assistance to those seeking to recover from addiction Helping patients understand and make complex healthcare choices Providing counseling and assistance to individuals after incarceration Offering child and family services, covering everything from adoption to domestic violence prevention Social work is frequently defined as providing assistance to individuals and families under the structure of non-profit organizations, government or other programs. Social workers are frequently engaged in offering support and therapy to those experiencing emotional or behavioral challenges. Social workers are often employed in: Hospitals, clinics and other medical facilities Schools Rehabilitation centers Addiction treatment facilities Family courts Governmental and non-governmental organizations Correctional facilities Requirements vary among states but a bachelor’s degree in social work is the usual prerequisite for obtaining a license to practice social work. Other certifications may also be required, depending on the location and position you intend to work in. Positions in social work may be available for those with degrees in clinical or developmental psychology as well as counseling. Social work certification is not clear-cut. There are many different boards of certification and the validity of certifications also differs in various locations. The Association of Social Work Boards and other resources can provide you with information specific to your needs. Industrial organizational psychologists are concerned with studying how humans behave and interact within work environments and utilizing psychological insights gained about human nature and behavior to improve the workplace. Industrial organizational psychology focuses on: Helping people to work together more effectively Streamlining business processes and regulations Creating a more pleasant workplace environment Improving management structures Strengthening workplace communication Because industrial organizational psychology is centered on the workplace, most practitioners of this sub-field can frequently be found working in: Human Resources departments Factories and plants Businesses and other organizations Private practices, as independent consultants While industrial organizational psychology jobs are available to those holding bachelor’s degrees in the field, particularly in Human Resources departments, these tend to be somewhat limited. It may be worth considering pursuing a master’s degree or doctorate in industrial organizational psychology discipline, in order to access a greater range of higher-level positions. Have you always been curious about the ways in which people grow and adapt through various stages of life? This may indicate that you would enjoy working in a developmental psychology position. Developmental psychology including child psychology is centered on understanding how human beings grow, change and mature throughout life. This sub-discipline of psychology focuses on gaining knowledge about the brain’s development and the way cognitive functions shift over time as well as using this knowledge to support adults and children through this process. Developmental psychologists in general and child psychologists in particular, place an emphasis on understanding childhood development and changes in the brain. Their work may be mainly research based or hands-on, covering the study and treatment of developmental disorders. Child psychologists may also work closely with children to ensure that disorders are managed and that children are able to reach their full potential. Developmental psychology also emphasizes understanding, preventing and dealing with cognitive disorders that may occur over the course of the aging process. Developmental psychologists may work in: Academic settings where they may engage in research or provide training In medical care facilities where they may work to prevent, diagnose and treat various developmental disorders In schools, private practices and other settings where child psychologists in particular may work closely with children to ensure a successful development process In governmental agencies where they may use insights about the human development and the brain to help craft policies and programs Doctoral degrees in developmental or child psychology are frequently required for those wishing to practice in these fields. The completion of an internship or at least one year of postgraduate work may also be required for certain developmental psychology positions where you will be working with medical professionals. Are you drawn to the idea of conducting in-depth studies of human behavior and the inner workings of the mind? Does the idea of adding to the body of psychological knowledge through experiments testing concepts in developmental, social or cognitive psychology appeal to you? If you find that you are most interested in conducting research and experiments that help you to gain a deeper understanding of topics such as cognition, perception, motivation and memory, the fields of research psychology and experimental psychology may appeal to you more than careers involving practically applied psychology. Positions in research psychology and experimental psychology often involve: In-depth study of the mind and behavior in both humans and animals Analysis of experiment results in order to form theories about the way the mind works Most sub-fields of psychology involve a certain amount of research but research psychology and experimental psychology are primarily research-based. Those working in these fields are often able to design and test out more abstract and less practical experiments than those working in fields of applied psychology. In the process of carrying out such experiments and analysis, they add a great deal of vital information and understanding of human cognition and behavior to the field of psychology. Research psychologists and experimental psychologists may not offer direct assistance to individuals in the same way as those practicing counseling or social work do. Nevertheless, their efforts in researching the mind provide all psychology professionals with valuable insights that can be used to treat disorders, manage behavioral problems and improve the lives of others in a variety of ways. Research psychologists and experimental psychologists often work in: Higher education settings such as universities and colleges where they carry out research or provide training Private businesses Non-profit foundations If you are interested in seeking jobs within the fields of research psychology and experimental psychology, it’s important to note that a master’s degree is commonly required. Doctoral degrees are also frequently required for many research psychology and experimental psychology positions In the preceding sections, we’ve examined the types of jobs available in psychology today. Now, let’s take a look at the steps necessary to land the position you desire. We’ll be covering everything from creating a successful resume and cover letter to tips and insights into the interview process and advice to help you achieve the salary level you have in mind. Creating an effective resume is the first step towards getting the psychology position you want. A successful resume is one that is well-organized and presents your qualifications and strengths in an accurate way. Your resume should also clearly highlight what differentiates you from other applicants. In order to get the very best out of your resume, you may want to consider retaining the services of professional resume writers. In particular, you may want to choose a professional resume writer who works predominantly or solely with psychology resumes. While professional resume preparation services can provide you with a clear, compelling and comprehensive record of your achievements, costs can approach $1000. Fortunately, with the following tips, you can put together your own polished, professional resume that sets you apart from others: First: Select the type of psychology job you intend to seek. As we discovered in previous sections, the requirements of psychology jobs can differ widely. Starting out with a clear idea of the kinds of jobs you intend to pursue can help to ensure that you prepare the specific type of resume required. For example, if you are seeking a position in developmental psychology and expect to be working closely with medical professionals, your resume should highlight any internships or postgraduate work in related fields. If you are looking for a research psychology-based teaching position, you’ll want your resume to emphasize your published or presented papers and works with a curriculum vitae. If you intend to apply for jobs in social work, a resume highlighting your previous experiences in providing advocacy and assistance can enhance your application. Second: Select great sample resumes to learn from. Whatever the category of psychology job you intend to apply for, you’ll find a wide selection of sample resumes to learn from online. Universities often offer excellent online collections of suitable sample resumes. Select several sample resumes that match your job category and examine them for similar features that you may want to include on your own resume. Third: Enter your own information. After reviewing several samples resumes and learning from them, you can then begin to prepare your own. It’s important that you remember to include all relevant, field-related jobs, internships, skills and achievements that can illustrate your suitability for the job and help your resume to stand out in a crowd. Fourth: Don’t forget to include all of your academic achievements. An emphasis on awards received as well as published or presented academic work can help you to catch the eye of potential employers and win the position you want. Fifth: Have it reviewed. Make sure your completed resume is as effective as possible by asking colleagues, teachers, mentors or others with some psychology career-related knowledge to look it over. If it isn’t possible to find someone with an understanding of jobs in psychology to review your resume, you can still eliminate any grammar, spelling or formatting slip-ups by asking a sharp-eyed friend or family member to help you with proofreading. An error-free, clear and well-written resume will definitely increase your chances of getting the position you want. Perhaps one of the most common mistakes people make when applying for jobs is investing a great deal of time and effort in preparing a fantastic resume while completely overlooking the need for a cover letter. Even worse, some simply attach a hurried, unconsidered letter that employers find impossible to take seriously. When writing your cover letter, keep its purpose in mind. Cover letters are written to introduce an applicant, provide information that doesn’t belong on a resume and help distinguish an applicant from the slew of others seeking the same position. Unlike your resume, you can inject a certain amount of personality into your cover letter, making it easier for potential employers to pay attention to your application. Include the purpose of your resume submission. Explaining who you are and why you’re sending in your resume ensures that your application will not be lost in a sea of mail and will reach your intended recipient. Explain where you learned about the available position. Including details like where you first learned about the position in a cover letter helps potential employers to see your submission as more than just another application in the pile. This is particularly true if you found out about the position from a member of the organization itself or a well-known authority in your chosen category of work. When applying to a large number of jobs, many people succumb to the temptation to just send in a default cover letter. Employers can often tell when your letter is a one-sized-fits-all piece sent automatically. This usually won’t produce the interest and attention you’d like your application to receive. Instead, try to write a new cover letter for each position you apply to or at the very least, add personalized details to your letter that fit each position you’re applying to. Use your letter as an opportunity to draw attention to a story that displays your training, education or experience. A strong academic or practical background related to your chosen field of work is sure to place you at the front of the pack. Let your attitude come through. A positive tone and interested attitude will give your cover letter and application a winning edge. Include all requested information. Requested information that can’t be added to your resume, such as your preferred start date, is usually best included within your cover letter. Signal your desire to follow up. Closing your cover letter by letting potential employers know that you intend to follow up within a reasonable period of time signals your respectful interest and your initiative. When you do follow up according to your letter, you are effectively demonstrating that you are also reliable and responsible. You should also look to sample cover letters for ideas on how to proceed with writing a good one and finish up by having a qualified or knowledgeable friend, family member or colleague review it for you. Because cover letters are essentially your introduction, even minor mistakes can negatively impact your image with employers and your chances of landing the job you want. Paying attention to details and following the tips above will help you produce a cover letter that gets you noticed for all the right reasons! Now that your qualifications have been shown off to maximum potential with a carefully crafted resume and cover letter, you can expect to be called for an interview. While this positive news is exciting and encouraging, it can also sometime be a daunting prospect. Many people struggle with the interview portion of applying for a job, out of nervousness or inexperience. That’s why proper preparation is essential. If you’ve received a call to interview, it’s important to begin to properly and thoroughly prepare, in order to ensure that you banish any nerves and present a pulled together, knowledgeable and reliable image to potential employers during the interview process. Being selected for the interview process is a sure sign that your resume and cover letter have effectively communicated your qualifications, interests and positive personality traits to potential employers, causing them to select you out of a pool of potentially hundreds of other applicants. Now, you have the chance to communicate these things in person by preparing thoroughly for your interview. Keep these useful tips in mind to ace your interview and land that dream job: Find out: Some background information on the company or organization that you are applying to. In particular, learn about the company or organization’s history and mission. Showing that you’ve taken the time to learn about the company conveys many positive messages to potential employers, showing them that you are keen, motivated and very interested in the job What the company or organization’s primary areas of concern or focus are A little helpful background information on some of the company or organization’s leadership, including names and fields of interest Working these details into your discussion when you are interviewed is a great way to communicate both your initiative and serious interest in working for that particular company or organization and is a move that is sure to favorably impress your interviewers. Nothing will hurt your chances of being selected for a job faster than arriving late to your interview. Plan ahead to avoid factors like traffic and give yourself a comfortable margin of error by starting out a little earlier than required. Sleep well the night before. A good night’s sleep will help to ensure that you show up to your interview alert and confident. Poor sleep can leave you looking nervous or unprepared when in fact, you’re simply tired. Avoid this and make sure that you present the best possible version of yourself to employers by getting the rest you need. Dress appropriately. No matter how casual the actual work environment seems to be, be sure to wear formal business-appropriate clothing to the interview. This communicates seriousness, attention to detail and respect for the company or organization and your interviewer. Have copies of all required materials on hand. Being able to produce a copy of application documents, including your CV, resume and references when asked, is a simple but effective way to come across as well-prepared and detail-oriented. While the nature of many of the questions asked at your interview will largely depend on the category of psychology jobs you are seeking to fill, you can give yourself a head start by preparing for common psychology job interview questions such as: What motivated you to pursue a career in psychology? What are some of your strengths and weaknesses in (insert field such as developmental psychology, social work, forensic psychology etc. here)? What theoretical orientation do you support? Tell us about your internship experience and what you feel you’ve learned from it. What areas of research in your field interest you most? What type of supervision do you seek? How do you stay abreast of new developments within your field? Which, if any, professional psychological organizations do you belong to and why do you belong to those particular organizations? Describe your goals and plans as a psychologist? Giving these and other potential interview questions some thought and preparing even further by researching likely questions specific to your field delivers many benefits. You will go into the interview more confident as a result of your preparations and will be able to give well-considered answers to a variety of questions posed by employers. Salary Expectations and Negotiations You’ve prepared ahead, arrived on time and impressed your interviewers with your thoughtful replies and professional appearance. You’d be forgiven for thinking there’s nothing left to do but in fact, one challenge remains: salary negotiations. Discussing money is never easy, even for those trained in psychology. You may find yourself caught between asking for a fair salary that accurately matches your knowledge and experience level and ensuring that your interviewer knows that you’re not only interested in the money. Fortunately as with all other parts of the job seeking process, negotiations can be made much easier with a little advance preparation. Keep these recommendations in mind for salary negotiation success: Know what others in similar positions earn. The easiest way to ascertain how much you should be asking for is to research the salaries of those working in similar psychology jobs. Utilize online sources such as job listings and salary comparison sites to get a clearer understanding of the average salary for those with similar experience, working in your field, specialty and location. Doing this will help to ensure that you aren’t simply quoting figures out of the air and will give you a strong sense of confidence, when you do begin salary discussion. Factor in your own uniqueness. While knowing the industry baseline for salaries in your jobs similar to yours is useful, every applicant is different and this does tend to affect the salary range. You can gain a still more accurate idea of what you should expect by factoring any aspects unique to your situation such as specialized skills or in-demand training not commonly found among the average applicant in your field. While salary ranges are not always set in stone, remember that they are included in job listings to give you an idea of the range your potential employer is most comfortable with offering for that specific position. No matter how highly trained or qualified you are for a position, don’t assume that the salary range listed doesn’t apply to you. If you seek a higher salary than the range specified, be prepared to back up your demands with reasonable justifications. Make sure you’re primarily pursuing jobs with salary ranges matching your own requirements as this will eliminate obstacles in negotiations and help you not to waste your time on pursuing positions you may end up not being able to accept. Remember that you are ultimately responsible for accepting an offered position and set yourself up for a negotiation outcome that you are truly happy with by clearly defining both the lowest salary you’d be willing to accept for the job and the ideal salary range you had in mind. This will help you to avoid any confusion and work towards your goals in negotiations. Don’t be the first to bring it up. Although the potential salary naturally plays a large role in helping you to decide whether to take a position or not, being the first to raise the issue can make it seem as if the salary and not the job itself, is your primary concern. Allow the interviewer to mention the salary first and wait to hear his/her initial offer. This clearly demonstrates your interest in the position itself and also helps you to negotiate more effectively by knowing what range they had in mind, before you mention a number yourself. Ask for the salary you feel you deserve. Don’t let awkwardness about discussing money deter you from making sure that you receive the compensation you believe to be fair for your qualifications and experience. Communicating the salary range you feel is appropriate will help potential employers understand your position and even if further negotiations are required, your justified salary preferences will be kept in mind. This makes it far more likely that you’ll receive a salary that better matches your own number. Salaries in psychology can vary greatly from sub-field to sub-field and specialization to specialization and also depend largely on the specifics of particular positions. The best way to find out the salary range most applicable to your own qualifications, specialty and location is to utilize valuable online resources such as: The website of the American Psychological Association The website of the Bureau of Labor Statistics com When it comes to negotiating a satisfactory salary, knowledge is definitely power. Gaining insights into the salary levels offered for positions similar to the ones you seek can help you to negotiate more effectively and successfully. In the last few sections, we’ve covered crafting an impressive cover letter and resume, preparing for the interview process and successful salary negotiations for potential positions, but what about finding those positions themselves? Mastering the job finding process is as essential as understanding the application, interview and negotiation process. In this section, we’ll be looking at some very useful ways to find great jobs in psychology to apply for. Never underestimate the human element in your job search. While an excellent cover letter and resume and winning interview are key to landing any position, personal recommendations from people that potential employers are familiar with are one of the best ways to get your foot in the door. This is because when an employer sees a recommendation from someone they know, even in passing, they often feel more confident about the qualifications stated in your resume. Personal networking has always been and continues to be a major part of the job hunting experience, and if paid attention to, can generate not only references but recommendations to apply for fantastic jobs that you may not have found through the usual job-searching routes. Colleges and Universities If you are just beginning to establish your psychology career, you’ll want to make sure that you develop strong, lead-generating relationships that can point you in the right job-seeking direction now and well into the future. This is often possible at colleges and universities where professors and administrators that you have made the effort to approach and get to know, may provide you with valuable references and fellow students may develop into useful contacts in the field of psychology, in the future. Psychology events in these settings can also offer opportunities to meet with recruiters in the field. Reaching out to Firms of Interest While recommendations and networking certainly play an important role in the job hunt, simply taking the initiative and reaching out to the organizations that you would be interested in working for can often yield results too. Contacting firms of interest to find out if jobs in your field and specialty are available can help to set you apart. When you contact an organization directly, you avoid being simply yet another applicant among the many whose resumes were sent in through the usual channels. Other benefits of this approach include: Taking the lead in the job search indicates to potential employers that you are the kind of candidate who will take the lead when it comes to work as well. Ensuring that you follow up your inquiries, without appearing too insistent or pushy, can help show off your responsible nature and tenacity, as well as demonstrate to employers that you are truly enthusiastic about working with them. Don’t overdo it though. Let them know you’ll be following up in a couple of months and stick to that statement. Don’t fall into the trap of going from “impressively motivated job seeker” to “regular annoyance” in the books of those responsible for hiring. By making the first move, so to speak, you’ve helped to ensure that your application really does stand out in the crowd. However, there are some crucial things to remember when using this approach: Your qualifications and initiative may impress potential employers but contacting them to inquire about a possible opening means there is no guarantee of an available position. Taking the process into your own hands means that you’ll need to remember to follow up every few months or so, for availability. Your cover letter will need to be an even better representation of your skills, qualifications and positive traits, since you’ll be sending it in to employers who haven’t initiated contact. This letter will be acting as a formal introduction of yourself, your skills and your qualifications. Make sure that its tone is assured but respectful and that your accompanying resume is well-formatted. Go over your cover letter and resume with an extra-critical eye to ensure both are effective enough to open doors for you and spark interest in your potential. Following these recommendations will help place you at the front of the line for consideration when an opening in your specialty becomes available at the organization you contacted. Associations abound within the field of psychology and include both academic and professional organizations with a focus on bringing together those working within similar sub-disciplines and sub-fields of psychology. These associations are often used to share new developments and information but can also provide a wide array of important career-building opportunities to their members. Associations structured around specific areas of practice within psychology who share similar careers, geographical locations and goals, making them prime choices for successful networking. Belonging to psychological associations focused on your area of practice or specialty also lets potential employers know that: You’re dedicated to your field You utilize channels like associations to stay up to date on any new developments in your field You’re interest in and engagement with psychology extends beyond the workplace. There are specific associations for all psychology sub-disciplines, including: Broader psychology sub-fields such as counseling and social psychology also maintain several associations. These associations may be grouped along doctrinal camps or sub-division within those sub-fields and as such, are good places to find other like-minded professionals within your field. Associations serve a variety of purposes such as: Record keeping Creating and enforcing standards with certain areas of professional psychology Providing support for scholarly journals Helping to disseminate knowledge of new developments within psychology as a whole and especially within the sub-fields and sub-disciplines they represent Serving as places where psychology professionals working in similar areas of the field can meet, exchange knowledge, share experience and establish networks. Involvement in these associations could represent a major boon to your career because certain companies and organizations may even maintain relationships with these associations for the purpose of recruitment. Associations often have private email lists or other forms of inter-association communication available for their members and very valuable knowledge of promising jobs within the specialties and areas they represent is frequently available within these lists. For all of these reasons, finding and becoming a member of an association relevant to your particular sub-field, sub-discipline or special area of practice may substantially help your career prospects. So how do you go about finding psychology associations that match your interests? The following websites offer comprehensive listings of psychology organizations and are an excellent way to track down the types of associations you may want join: The website of the American Psychological Association Events Psychology functions can provide the same career-boosting networking opportunities that psychology associations offer. They too are often organized along lines like: Specific disorders or areas of interest These events are often held by psychology organizations and serve as venues and forums for member interaction, dissemination of new methods, research and developments and as a way to publicize and garner public support for specific causes. In addition to these activities, psychology events may also include activities set up specifically to help job seekers. Recruiters and company representatives may attend these events, providing a chance for qualified candidates to make contacts and find out about promising openings. Because of this, attending psychology events that match your intended field of practice is a worthwhile addition to more traditional job-searching avenues. Working with Recruiters Working with recruiters is another tried and true method of finding psychology opportunities within your specialization. Recruiters have access to extensive job listings along with all of the relevant details and specifics of those jobs and are therefore able to help you to zero in on those openings that best match your interests and needs. Recruiters can help you with: Salary negotiations Completing the paperwork required to help you get your career off the ground However, it’s important to note that such services are provided in exchange for a fee. This fee is often paid from a percentage of your new salary. In some cases, the fee may be paid for by the company or organization that hires you and in others, it may come directly out of your salary. In cases where the fee will be paid from your salary for a certain period of time, this will obviously affect your decision regarding working with a recruiter to find a position. Even with these fees, however, working with a recruiter is still an option worth considering because it offers an especially time and effort-conserving way to find the specific type of position you seek and receive useful information through the job search process and beyond. You may be very successful in using online resources such as job sites and blogs to find psychology jobs. Online job searches can often turn up leads that would be difficult to find in other ways and the sheer volume of open psychology positions a quick internet search can turn up may provide you with motivation and hope when it seems like you’ve exhausted all other job searching methods. Great online resources to use in seeking out jobs in psychology include: Sites like PsychologyJobs.com, which gather links to available psychology jobs. In addition, such sites also provide links to job search resources and career advice for those looking to work in the field of psychology. These types of sites are particularly helpful because they provide field-specific resources, beating out larger and more general job search sites like Monster.com and others which are more likely to show you listings in fields and specialties that are unrelated to your own. Other valuable online resources include psychology-related sites and blogs that maintain job listings. Companies, academic institutions and other types of organizations seeking applicants for their open psychology jobs will often make sure to use such sites to obtain a wide and high quality pool of applicants. You can also utilize online resources to gain insight into the job seeking process, help with salary ranges, tips on negotiations and information on paperwork. Searching online is an excellent way to find essential information on conducting an effective job search as well as tracking down good job opportunities that match your skills, specialization and preferences. However, it’s always wise to confirm the validity and veracity of all information and job listings found online, before acting on any advice or pursuing any opportunities that you come across. Throughout history, human beings have always struggled to understand human nature, behavior and the inner workings of the mind and it was in this struggle that the seeds of modern psychology were first sown. Today, this field has developed almost beyond recognition, and has gone from near-total obscurity in the shadow of philosophy to being widely recognized in its own right and playing an important role in molding and influencing our culture and society. With its development, it has broken down once hardened attitudes and beliefs. Illnesses and disorders that were once so untreatable as to doom those suffering from them to a difficult and lonely life are now curable and the formal methods of studying the mind pioneered by early theorists continue to prove their usefulness and merit, as we continually learn more about cognition than we ever thought possible. As you stand at the threshold of future academic or professional endeavors in the psychology of today, it is fitting that you’ve begun this journey by looking back, noting just how far the field has come and remembering the work of all who contributed to its progress. What will tomorrow’s psychology look like? It’s a question those in the field have asked themselves almost from its inception and is as unanswerable today as it has always been. What we know for sure, however, is that the field of psychology will continue to grow, develop and branch out and will be used in amazing practical applications that we never imagined. Ongoing research is still yielding surprising discoveries about the treatment of various disorders and the very nature of the human mind. New realities made possible by technology are certain to have fascinating implications on the field of psychology and our lives alike. As you turn your natural interest in human nature and behavior into concrete steps towards working in the field of psychology, you are moving towards an inspiring and richly rewarding career path. This work will allow you to positively impact the lives of others and potentially add your own contributions to psychology’s vital and life-changing body of knowledge about the mysteries of the human mind.	66,352
Camille's blog about being a parent and a midwife and a human (with a little music and some other stuff thrown in!). Get new posts straight to your inbox. Email Address: Yes, please. Midwifery and Women's Health (9) Music and Playlists (6) Parenting and Homeschooling (24) Politics and Social Justice (17) Writing and Creativity (7) Are Women’s Birth Sounds Silenced in the Hospital? July 14, 2015 Camille Williams Attention birthing women: This will be the hardest work of your life. It will test you on every level. Childbirth education is very helpful, yet there’s no way to know how you will feel physically and emotionally until you’re in it. There are many schools of thought on how to cope, what to call the forces of labor (contractions or surges?), and how to label the feeling (pain or sensation?). I like to keep it simple: it’s really hard, and yeah, it hurts. And, you are stronger than you know, and you can do it. Whether or not you plan to use pain medication or epidural anesthesia, know that you have what it takes within you to get through however many contractions you choose to feel fully. Do your preparation, trust in the birth process, and believe in yourself. But once you get to the hospital, whatever you do, for God’s sake, maintain some decorum and do it quietly! And if you can’t do that on your own, we’ve got something for you that will fix that problem quite nicely. Then, we can ALL be comfortable. Is that the unspoken message women receive from hospital staff during labor? This recent article by Danielle Campoamor is one of the best I’ve read on birth culture from the maternity care consumer perspective. Fear-generating language about pain in labor like “torturous” and “splintering” notwithstanding, she reveres the “incredible capabilities of the female body” as “miraculous and devine.” And it’s a great read that illuminates a rarely recognized but very real hurdle women face when they walk into the hospital to birth their babies. That is, our culture is such that even the most outspoken, independent, confident women can feel silenced and self-conscious in labor—afraid to make noise, afraid to “take up space.” Campoamor points out that this feeling of inhibition is all the more significant since it is present at the very time when a woman should feel most free to do whatever is needed to handle her experience. A culture that holds laboring women more or less to the usual social norms and stifles their full expression during birth is one that limits women’s coping mechanisms. It limits women’s ability to feel powerful, strong and fully cared for as they journey into motherhood. It dishonors women. And it does a lot more than that–it is counterproductive to normal, physiologic birth. Feeling self-conscious and anxious about how the people around you might be judging your coping behaviors is stressful. Emotional stress triggers catecholamine release. Excess catecholamines exacerbate the experience of pain and inhibit oxytocin—the hormone that keeps contractions strong so labor can progress normally. As a culture, are we simply uncomfortable with the primal nature of birth? Susan Diamond, RN, writes in her compelling book Hard Labor, “When faced with the forces of labor…all the inhibitions and trappings of our social selves are peeled away as our bodies thrust and heave, vomit and grunt, cry and leak. The animal is there for all to see.” Modern humans are cut off from the natural world of which we are a part. Does the same disconnection that leads to destruction of our environment cause us to collectively recoil when faced with the human animal during childbirth? The epidural rate in the U.S. is around 60%, and is closer to 80% in some states. There are a lot of reasons for that, a full discussion of which is beyond the scope of this post. Midwives are not “against” epidurals—they can be a godsend and many of the women in our care use them with our full support. The problem is the indiscriminate promoting of epidurals as the first line answer to any woman’s need for any kind of help coping with labor. The problem is the lack of training and support for hospital staff to provide nonpharmaceutical forms of labor support. So why do women feel inhibited to make noise and otherwise “take up space” in labor, and what might that have to do with epidural rates? This inhibition can be due to the woman’s social conditioning, as discussed in Campoumor’s article. There is another factor as well. It’s one of the roots of the social conditioning the woman arrives with, and it can exacerbate her self-consciousness in the moment. I’m talking about the discomfort with, and sometimes utter disdain for, the sounds of normal, physiologic labor in hospital culture. What’s the surest bet to silence those moans, grunts, and cries quickly and completely? You guessed it—epidural. There are different qualities of vocalizations in labor. When women are panicking or otherwise having trouble coping, their sounds are anguished. When you hear noises that sound like suffering, the natural, compassionate tendency is to want to fix it for the woman. I wish there were more inclination in hospital culture to first help women reduce fear and anxiety and to provide other comfort measures like position changes, assistance with breathing techniques, massage, and hydrotherapy. (And I’m talking about belief in and enthusiastic initiative in providing this kind of care, as opposed to a half-hearted, “Um, wanna sit on the ball for a while, or do you want to just get the epidural now?”) Sadly, women are typically steered straight in the direction of anesthesia as soon as the going gets tough. All that said, I can appreciate the kind desire to alleviate what appears to be true suffering as quickly and completely as possible by bringing out the big guns from the get go. Even those caregivers who believe in and would like to provide more nonpharmaceutical labor support face obstacles. They may be busy caring for several women. Most receive little or no training in hands-on labor support and little or no encouragement from their institutions and peers to provide this kind of care. But there is another kind of labor and birth noise that also seems to trigger in many caregivers the unspoken reaction called “make it stop.” It often leads to overt or subtle pressure on the woman to get an epidural, even though she is doing just fine without it, thank you very much. Some women who are coping very well with labor are relatively quiet. Most need to make some noise. Some need to make a lot of noise. Here’s the thing: women who are in kick-ass labor AND are coping well AND are naturally vocal AND are “in the zone,” unconcerned with/unaware of how they sound or appear? They usually sound a lot like a woman having really great sex. People can get all twitchy and uptight around that. Outside those rooms, it is common to see raised eyebrows with comments like “What’s going on in there?” And yes, unfortunately, it is not uncommon for hospital staff to actually ridicule women who are vocal in this way (outside their earshot, of course—thank God). Those who snicker and eye-roll say more about their own sexual hang-ups than they do about the laboring woman. Mitigating these aspects of hospital culture is part of a hospital-based midwife’s job. Doula support helps, too, and should be available to every woman via insurance coverage (that’s another post!). And, it should be said that it’s also a consciously chosen part of the job for many physicians and nurses. Those doctors and nurses who maintain a commitment to woman-centered care and physiologic birth have my deepest admiration since they courageously swim upstream, often with little or no support from their peers. For midwives, it’s an explicit, integral part of our training. For most of us, it’s in our blood. We help women feel free to follow their own bodies’ directives, doing what they need to do and making whatever noise they need to make. We ensure that at the very least, women feel our heartfelt blessing to scrap social conventions and let the human animal lead. We create (and sometimes have to guard) an atmosphere that allows birth to be what it is—an instinctual, sacred, primal act. This is one of the many essential intangibles you won’t find on our CV’s or official job descriptions. We hold space for birthing women to take up all the space they need. Space for the full, free expression of raw feminine power and vulnerability. Related ← → 33 thoughts on “Are Women’s Birth Sounds Silenced in the Hospital?” I distinctly remember in my first labor how much I DID NOT WANT to make awful mooing noises, like my friend had warned me I would make. And then in transition, my one clear insight was that to do this labor, I was going to have to go to places I didn’t want to go — noise, and poop, and cesarean being my three trepidations. Luckily, the first two trumped the necessity for the third. And with my second birth, the only time my midwife put a foot wrong (except for not believing me when I called and told her that 1. I walked home from work and 2. I was in active labor) was when she walked into the house to me ooooooing through the last contraction of transition and first grunty pushy contraction and without watching me for a few minutes first, told me to ‘try being a little quieter…’ That still chaps my hide a little bit, and even in my labor fog, I was annoyed that she hadn’t been around to know that this coping mechanism was working beautifully and would presume to shush me. You do NOT shush the laboring woman! LikeLiked by 1 person July 14, 2015 at 5:16 pm Katherine–the compelling part is, even YOU felt that way–someone who later became a midwife herself! Similarly, I was amazed and dismayed at how nervous I felt nursing in public with my first baby. ME. Feminist, women’s health care provider, and breastfeeding advocate! These cultural taboos are ingrained even in us, those who consciously reject them. July 14, 2015 at 5:56 pm Your blog is beautiful and real! Thank you Camille! LikeLiked by 1 person July 14, 2015 at 5:30 pm July 14, 2015 at 5:37 pm This was wonderful! With my 2nd birth, things moved so quickly and I was pretty loud. I felt a little embarrassed about it after the fact, but during the intense labor, it was what got me though it. LikeLiked by 1 person July 14, 2015 at 7:10 pm It really can get you through it, crazymommy10 ! Swearing helps, too! July 14, 2015 at 8:21 pm Amy says: I was told by the on-call doc to watch my language. July 16, 2015 at 12:48 am I’m sorry to hear that, Amy. You were denied another effective coping technique! http://www.forbes.com/sites/frederickallen/2011/04/21/use-foul-language-to-relieve-stress-and-pain/ July 16, 2015 at 6:37 am Thank you for lending your powerful voice to this often ignored issue, Camille. There really ought to be some sort of campaign to educate hospital workers about the value of honoring and welcoming the primal sounds of birthing mothers. Thank God my wife birthed our babies at home with wise midwives who never inhibited the moaning and toning that helped her transform pain into power. LikeLiked by 1 person July 15, 2015 at 9:21 am Thanks you, Scott! Epidurals are so common now, partly because they are encouraged and in some cases pushed in the hospital as discussed, and also partly because so many women arrive at the hospital with longstanding plans (sometimes even before pregnancy!) to get one ASAP. Willingness to provide non pharmaceutical support aside, there is so little opportunity for hospital staff to even observe physiologic labor and normal coping behaviors. One reader commented on FB, “I have often thought that hospital staffs have become more uncomfrtable with women’s sounds as we see more and more epidurals. They sometimes have difficulty differentiating real pain and inability to cope with ‘noisy coping.’ ” I completely agree that this is part of the picture. July 15, 2015 at 1:13 pm Natasha Banoub says: As a young nursing student, I thought, “Why are these woman screaming. It seemed counter productive to the process. Well, that all changed when I labored quickly and without medication for my second baby. I screamed every time I went into a contraction,…which was most of the time. I was completely uninhibited and it felt wonderfully liberating and helpful. It was my way! I couldn’t have possibly wanted to tame myself. I felt like I was riding in a hurricane. But after my baby was born,….it was like still waters, an amazing calm after the storm. It was beautiful and I wouldn’t change a thing. July 15, 2015 at 4:47 pm Thank you for sharing your beautiful story, Natasha! July 15, 2015 at 9:45 pm Interesting article. I feel like I made more noise (Grrrr-ing the baby out I guess) with my 2nd and 3rd babies who were born at home (at least my husband seemed surprised after the birth of the second that I made “more noise”). I think the hospital encouraged me to push a certain way (OK, deep breath, hold it hold it, a little longer) and I ended up holding my breath a little too much. They ended up popping an oxygen mask on me towards the end, not a huge deal but I think it was kind of distracting. LikeLiked by 1 person July 15, 2015 at 11:35 pm That kind of directed pushing is often necessary with an epidural on board, but usually not when a woman can fully feel the pressure and urge to push. July 16, 2015 at 6:43 am When I am in labor, my noises sound like I’m doing singing vocal exercises. I’m still surprised when my neighbors didn’t wake up when I was having near precipitous labor with my second–our houses were a driveway apart from each other! And when I was at my midwife’s house for my third, I felt like the force of my birthing song could push off the roof! I never felt so grounded than when I was at the pinacle of each contraction and my voice was ringing. I don’t remember what my noises were so much with my first because I was so exhausted (I had dinner at about 10pm, went into labor at 6:30am, had part of a cereal bar around 8am and part of a corn muffin at about 9am, then had baby at 2:38am the next morning) but I wish I had been able to be more present at her birth. I do know that I couldn’t care less about how anyone felt about my noises. There’s a fabulous invention called ear plugs LikeLiked by 1 person July 16, 2015 at 12:00 am One of the first births I ever witnessed was one of the most amazing–a mom giving birth to twins. She was an opera singer and was beautifully vocal during labor, then sang to her babies as soon as they were born. July 16, 2015 at 6:40 am Michelle says: When I had my second baby, it was a VBAC, and I was forced to have an epidural. I didn’t want one, as the epidural in my first labor largely contributed to my c-section, but was told I had no choice. I asked for the medication to be kept as low as possible, but during the pushing stage, every time I would make a noise the nurse would freak out, demand to know if it was “pressure or pain,” and turn up the epidural – even while I was begging her not to! That birth was awful for so many reasons, and all of them were named Nurse. During my most recent birth (number 6), I kept loudly telling everyone that I couldn’t do it. My husband and the overwhelmed nurse attending me (who clearly had never seen an unmedicated birth) kept trying to reassure me that I could do it, that I was doing fine, and I remember thinking that of course I could, but I just needed to SAY that, and I couldn’t understand why they didn’t get it, LOL! I kept thinking, “Don’t they know? This is just what you say when it’s almost over!” Silly in retrospect, but it made sense to me at the time! That birth was lovely. July 16, 2015 at 8:47 am Michelle says: When I had my second baby, it was a VBAC, and I was forced to have an epidural. I didn’t want one, as the epidural in my first labor largely contributed to my c-section, but was told I had no choice. I asked for the medication to be kept as low as possible, but during the pushing stage, every time I would make a noise the nurse would freak out, demand to know if it was “pressure or pain,” and turn up the epidural – even while I was begging her not to! That birth was awful for so many reasons, and all of them were named Nurse. During my most recent birth (number 6), I kept loudly telling everyone that I couldn’t do it. My husband and the overwhelmed nurse attending me (who clearly had never seen an unmedicated birth) kept trying to reassure me that I could do it, that I was doing fine, and I remember thinking that of course I could, but I just needed to SAY that, and I couldn’t understand why they didn’t get it, LOL! I kept thinking, “Don’t they know? This is just what you say when it’s almost over!” Silly in retrospect, but it made sense to me at the time! That birth was lovely. July 16, 2015 at 8:48 am It sounds like the nurse in your second birth was well-meaning and trying to be supportive–I’m glad the birth was lovely for you even though you didn’t necessarily need all the verbal reassurance! Your story of those two births illustrates how powerful nurses are. Midwives and doctors are of course important, but the labor and delivery nurse really can make or break the birth experience in terms of the woman feeling supported and empowered. July 16, 2015 at 9:45 am Amanda says: I was the same way! I felt so empowered afterwards because I went all natural but a few months later my husband told me that him nor the midwife nor the student midwife really thought I would go through with going all natural because I screamed too much and kept saying that I couldn’t do it. Now I feel silly and embarrassed about the whole thing and I’m seriously thinking about not letting anyone other than my midwife in there with me for the next baby. July 16, 2015 at 11:30 pm Michelle says: Don’t be embarrassed! I have heard midwives say that they know a woman is almost there when she starts saying she can’t do it. Birth is hard work! You need people around you who get that, although I hope your husband can learn to be one of them! (And the midwife really should know better!) July 17, 2015 at 11:21 am Sheila from Birthing the Easy Way says: You’ve hit upon one of the HUGE problems with hospital birth. NORMAL birth sounds are and misinterpreted, misunderstood, and discouraged. Not only is being shushed inhibitive for the laboring mom, but if she is in early labor when admitted to the ward, hearing the screams of other laboring women can strongly influence her decision to accept an epidural asap. I’m a homebirth doula, and I love the different sounds laboring moms make. One woman stood in her kitchen, banging her head repeatedly on the kitchen cupboards, repeating “Fuck!”… over and over. She was coping beautifully! July 16, 2015 at 11:48 am Thanks for sharing it and for your comments! Is it Penny Simpkin who talks about women finding a coping “ritual?” Well, cupboard head banging is certainly not the most common one, but whatever works And as mentioned, I am a firm believer in swearing for those so inclined! July 16, 2015 at 4:09 pm Pingback: Would you go to the hospital to make love? » Freckled Gallery Photography Thanks for the shout-out–I love your post! Thank you for adding to the discussion from the labor and delivery nurse perspective. July 16, 2015 at 4:07 pm I decided to birth with a midwife (in Texas) and got a lot of flack from family. However, she was incredibly supportive and wonderful throughout labor. The only thing she ever told me regarding the noises I made was to try to make them lower in pitch so I wouldn’t hurt my throat. I didn’t feel in control of the noises I made. I did what helped me feel better. I was in the zone and so out of it that I didn’t even notice anyone else around me. I had a water birth for my first and only baby and I thought it was a painful but very positive experience. I support every woman having the birth she wants and needs. I think it is a shame that most women in hospitals don’t receive support to birth and manage their pain in other non-medicated ways. Women deserve options. LikeLiked by 1 person July 16, 2015 at 7:48 pm “Women deserve options.” That really says it all in 3 words, doesn’t it? July 16, 2015 at 8:05 pm Lovely post. About 20 years ago pain management became mandatory for hospitals. They had to make epidurals widely available and manage pain for women in labor. Now we have swung the pendulum in the opposite direction in many hospitals. We need to balance this some how and continue to meet each individual’s needs. LikeLiked by 1 person July 17, 2015 at 8:41 am Cynthia says: I don’t know how pain or the discomfort of labor is handled at hospitals anymore; in the early 80s, the anesthesiologists I worked with would be called to Labor and Delivery to administer the epidurals — and they often returned to Surgery after coaching and educating the laboring mother, who then chose to not have the epidural. I was happy to observe that process. I had read somewhere that remaining mindful of others during labor was a path (or perhaps a challenge) to maintain dignity — and remain better connected with my husband and midwives during my labor. I never felt shushed for my first labor in hospital, or pressured to act in a certain way. I believed at the time that my energy would be best spent staying out of the way of my body and allowing it to do what was necessary…..so I remained quiet. I remember yelling quite loudly when my doctor pulled on the forceps to assist my son’s birth. Once that discomfort was over, I was quiet. For my other two births, my children were present. I refrained from making any sounds that could be interpreted as pain, I didn’t want to scare them. They seemed to have no problem with all they observed, as their reaction was wonder and joy. It was important to me to remain grateful for every thing that was done to help me birth my children, so that my caregivers knew that my courage was in direct proportion to their reassurance, which was very true for me. On the culture of silence in hospitals: It seems possible the Labor and Delivery Units are separated from other wards due to the noise that often accompanies childbirth. I remember my mother telling me that during the Baby Boom, the hospitals were so crowded that she labored in a hallway on a gurney, with women screaming all around her. Nobody thought to tell her that everyone labors differently, and that loud vocalizations are normal. LikeLiked by 1 person July 18, 2015 at 1:01 pm I love your post. I’ve had three natural births. The first started at home but ended in hospital. The second and third both in birthing units and were fantastic and very much led by me. I was very lucky to be present at three of my sisters five quite wild births (home birth, mountain community in Spain and in a bus in Portugal) Be free in birthing LikeLiked by 1 person October 24, 2015 at 2:41 am I thought I was the only one who read “Hard Labor”. I felt like Susan Diamond was secretly recording my story and it led me to believe I wasn’t crazy after all. Bring on those birthing sounds…or not. Whatever it takes to get you through your labor is fine with me! I had one woman who was a theatre major. She sang Broadway musical show tunes while pushing – she felt like she could control and coordinate her breathing/pushing easier. It worked! I just wish I had photographed the looks on my coworkers and the residents faces whenever I stepped outside my room!	25,430
A Life Protection Association of practitioners dedicated to continuing the legacy of their instructor OyataTe is a Life Protection Arts Association that descended from the teachings of Taika Seiyu Oyata. Taika did not refer to his art as a 'Martial Art' as he believed what he taught was not about war, but saving the lives of yourself, family and friends. The group has descended from the original Kansas City Shihan Dai that trained at Taika's home and dojo. The Shihan Dai was established many years prior to Taika's death while training directly with him, and our chief goal has been to continue the teachings and research that Taika dedicated his life to. We stay true to the teachings and philosophies of Taika Seiyu Oyata, continuing to carry the torch as he gave it to us. The five founding members all began training with Taika as far back as 1979, We continue down the path he led us on utilizing the principles, philosophies, scrolls and other recorded resources in an effort to retain the knowledge he gave us as well as continue to push our understanding of his art. In his final 10 years of teaching, during the genesis of our shihan dai with its current members, he taught us principles and philosophies so that we could continue to grow without him once he had passed away. This was much similar to the method his original instructors used with him as they were already in their 90's when he began to train with them. By using these tools, you are not limited in your growth. The main goal is to train in Taika's arts, without the interference of ego and politics. There are typically 10 kyu ranks in the system so that instructors may keep their early students organized, but individual dojo organize their curriculum as they see fit. Each dojo decides its foundational set of requirements before yudansha, though the twelve foundational kata developed by Oyata are recommended. In keeping with Taika's philosophy that we should treat each other the same, there is no tier of yudansha. Once black belt is achieved, there are no further rankings other than simply Yudansha (black belt). The intent is to remove the ego from the training. The goal is knowledge. The sharing of knowledge in many other systems is often stifled by the politics, ego, and the quest for higher rank. The learning does not stop once yudansha is reached, there are a myriad of upper level topics to train in for an entire lifetime of learning. In a conversation with Taika just prior to his death he stated that he wished he hadn't had to rely on ranks and titles as these were seeds of discontent, but the art was his only source of income. He attempted in several ways over the years to get rid of ego. He first stopped the wearing of colored Dan belts. Later he forced all students into set uniforms that made everyone a black belt 6 months of the year and a white belt the other 6. Due to the financial tie to his source of income he was never able to completely remove the temptation of rank in relation to ego. Titles are additionally disposed of. We teach respect for your training partners, not their title. First names are encouraged. We believe that students and peers can be respectful without fancy titles. One of our favorite expressions of Taika's was to not let pride settle in the back of your head, allowing your nose to rise in arrogance of others. The core sub arts of this system are: Kyusho Jutsu, Tuite Jutsu, Atemi Jutsu and Kobudo. There is no emphasis on Okinawan Kenpo style Bogu as Taika separated himself from this more than a decade before his death. Though it is occasionally trained by some members still, there is no emphasis on it for anything more than fun, as Taika believed it emphasized bad habits as a true encounter would have no rules. The gear is instead used for other drills that are much more productive. Most public content is hosted on our youtube site as well as member only facebook sites. To strive to further knowledge and understanding, with suppression of the ego. To strive to continue the art as Taika left it, and continue down the path he set us upon with the tools he left us. Quebec Poland AR, GA, FL, KS, MO, NC, NE, SC, TN OyataTe International has students in four countries currently and nine states as well as numerous other locations that virtually train and host seminars with us. For information about checking out online Zoom coursework or hosting a seminar contact us at one of the links below. Due to COVID-19 Travel Restrictions, OyataTe International instructors have in 2020-2022 remained within the United States conducting training and seminars in AR, GA, IN, FL, KS, MO, NC, NE, SC.	4,727
PGA Tour officials today vowed to get to the bottom of why thousands of golf fans were able to storm the 18th green at the PGA Championship on Sunday, and whether Phil Mickelson played any role in the melee that ensued after he hit his final approach to that green. Moments after Mickelson hit his approach shot to 18, thousands of fans broke through police and security lines and stormed the 18th green. Officials want to determine if the siege was in any way coordinated, and if eventual winner, Phil Mickelson, possibly encouraged the mob’s behavior through his play or his actions. “All I know is after he hit that approach he started walking toward the green and gave a ‘thumbs up’. That’s when all hell broke loose. You tell me whether or not he was giving the ‘green light’ to the mob to do its thing,” said one anonymous official. Another avenue of investigation will involve what, if any, role social media played in what seemed to be a highly coordinated siege of the closing hole at the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island. Some have pointed to Saturday night chatter on Reddit and Facebook as proof that the storming of the green was preplanned and highly coordinated. At this time, authorities are reviewing tape in an effort to identify some of the principal offenders. One individual of interest with whom authorities would like to speak is identified only as Beer Can Hat Dude. He is visible in much of the footage handing out beers, cheering vociferously and inciting the crowd’s raucous behavior. After the match, Mickelson playing partner, Brooks Koepka, who at one point became engulfed by the frenzied mob, had little positive to say about the chaotic scene on the 18th hole. “It would have been cool if I didn’t have a knee injury and got dinged a few times in the knee in that crowd because no one really gave a s***, personally,” Koepka said. Indeed, another avenue of investigation will almost certainly look at why so few in the excited gallery were thinking of Koepka’s knee at the moment a 50-year-old Mickelson was on the verge of golfing history. Related Author sguipePosted on May 25, 2021 Categories Mostly bullshitTags 18th green, Brooks Koepka, Kiawah Island, mob, Ocean Course, PGA Championship, PGA Tour, Phil Mickelson, riot, siege, thumbs up	2,329
The natural and agricultural landscapes that surround Silicon Valley are much more than pretty hills and hiking destinations. We can thank those hills, valleys, and creeks for the many “ecosystem services” they provide that touch each and every one of us—fresh air, drinking water, healthy food, tourist attractions, educational opportunities for students, carbon sequestration, flood protection, and the list goes on. How do you put a value on these goods and benefits? For the first time ever, Santa Clara County has calculated the economic value of its natural capital with help from the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority and Earth Economics. The Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District and Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County also participated in similar studies in their respective counties. The report, Healthy Lands & Healthy Economies, Nature’s Value in Santa Clara County, estimates that Santa Clara County’s natural capital provides $1.6 billion to $3.9 billion in benefits to people and the local economy every year. And unlike built capital (e.g. roads, bridges, and buildings) which depreciates over time, natural capital is mostly self-sustaining and its ecosystem services appreciate over time. “If we actually had to pay for these ‘free’ services, the price tag would likely be out of reach,” says Andrea Mackenzie of the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority. “When we measure the dollar value of Santa Clara County’s natural capital assets and related benefits, we see how nature provides the foundation for a thriving local economy.” Even a small investment in land conservation can produce a high rate of return. For example, in 1997, New York City was faced with a choice: spend nearly $10 billion to build a water filtration plant or protect the city’s drinking water at its source for a fraction of the cost. The City chose the latter, and has protected nearly 70,000 acres of land in the Catskill/Delaware Watershed while New Yorkers enjoy the largest unfiltered water supply in the country. Read more about New York here. Santa Clara is the fastest growing county in California and demand for housing far outstrips supply. We are experiencing the effects of climate change in the form of the ongoing drought and increased wildfire risk. All of this puts pressure on our natural and agricultural landscapes, threatening the goods and services they provide. By putting a dollar value on these benefits, we can make smarter decisions and do more to protect and steward these lands. And this November, we have the opportunity to do so. The Friends of Santa Clara Valley Open Space, which is co-chaired by Greenbelt Alliance, is leading the campaign for Measure Q, a $24 annual parcel tax measure that would fund the preservation of natural and agricultural lands, increase in public access to open spaces, and protection of county water supplies. Now that we know how much our open space is worth, Santa Clara County can use preservation funds more strategically and efficiently. So vote yes on Measure Q this November. Learn more about Measure Q. Share this post KEEP READING Related Posts In the Bay Area, we’re no strangers to wildfires. Year after year we are forced to reckon with staggering statistics Nate Huntington November 15, 2022 A Defining Election: Bay Area Residents Vote Climate Resilience In our nearly 65 years of experience, Greenbelt Alliance has seen a lot, especially when it comes to local elections	3,592
Wanda Cinemas has been given the OK for an IPO in China in its second attempt. So much for all of our conspiracy theories that it would list elsewhere. Wanda Cinema Line Co. Ltd., a movie theater company controlled by Chinese real estate mogul Wang Jianlin, has received approval for a share-offering in China in which it hopes to raise up to 2 billion yuan (US$325.6 million). The listing approval was announced late Friday by China Securities Regulatory Commission. It comes as Wang, who Forbes magazine says is China’s fourth-richest man, prepares a huge initial public offering in Hong Kong for his real estate unit, Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties Co (IPO-DWC.SS). The two listings, expected to be completed before the end of the year, would raise capital to accelerate Wang’s expansion in property and entertainment. LINK The NYT has a good thumbnail sketch of Wanda’s Chairman Wang Jianlin, who does not sit on the board of any of the soon-to-be-four listed companies that he controls. Investors in Chinese companies are accustomed to founders having controlling stakes and wielding enormous power. But Mr. Wang has no official role in Wanda’s commercial property division, which is planning to list a minority stake in Hong Kong, or in the upcoming offering of its mainland Chinese cinema business. He is also absent from the American theater chain AMC Entertainment, which Wanda bought in 2012 and refloated a year later, and from its Hong Kong-listed hotel unit. Wanda executives hold various board seats, including the chairman’s role at all four companies. Yet the tycoon’s lack of direct involvement is unusual. LINK Vista has completed a major roll-out with one of China’s largest cinema chains – in record time. Cinema software company, Vista Entertainment Solutions has finished what they describe as one of the hardest projects the company has undertaken, rolling out 230 cinema sites across China in just six weeks. Vista chief executive Murray Holdaway said the project, which involved total travel time of 2,376 hours had gone extremely smoothly and he was proud to have set a new “global benchmark”. “To embark on a project of this scale within such a short time frame was something that as far as we know, has not been achieved before in our industry, and I’m delighted that our teams – Vista people assisted by Dadi people – have executed so brilliantly. They have re-set the global benchmark for the speed at which installation projects such as this can be carried out and we are proud of them,” Holdaway said. LINK SAR Hong Kong – Cinema has been in decline in Hong Kong, mainly due to rocketing rents, but legendary actor/producer Raymond Wong is changing that with his cash injection into upgrading the Cinema City complex, run by his daughter. Cinema City Langham’s managing director , with more than 12 years experience in the film industry – Raymond Wong’s daughter – Miss Huang Yijun, said “the film is a creative industry, and the theater needs to bring creativity to the audience, who today don’t just go to the theater to “see” movies. There is also the three-dimensional nature whereby they must “enjoy” the movies. So our Flagship Studios by landmark environmental design, advanced projection equipment, a comprehensive computer system, and even theater food have spent a lot of efforts to improve the such as the award-winning architect Wang Shiwei invite the theme of “science fiction opera” to create a unique environment avant-garde design, in cooperation with the international trend of fashion brands iiJin unique style design staff uniforms. designed by Cheng Korea introduced the latest big ball popcorn machine, broke Hong Kong’s unique large popcorn balls, spherical popcorn flavor to a variety of features to attract spectators: corn soup, cheese corn, popcorn and other super caramel taste. In terms of tickets, at a plurality of electronic platforms can also be purchased on their own, such as online ticketing platform 1. 2. smartphone offer program (Apps) platform 3. theater lobby electronic ticketing machines. We highlight the creativity and service new era theater should have, for the customer to bring freshness. In addition to a variety of hardware support, but we also paid great attention to staff training, and hire a smile ambassador initiative to improve service to further enhance good corporate image. ” LINK Seat selection and online ticketing is about to enter its “golden age” in China, according to this article. And it is attracting interest from a lot of major player keen to tap into the O2O (offline-to-online) market. Continuously appear on the market recently made two related financing transactions: June 16, Huayi Brothers announcement that is going to spend 266 million yuan, through its subsidiary Huayi Brothers (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. acquired blockbuster interactive entertainment network 51% stake . And by the end of June, Guevara also re-financing of 200 million yuan, and its C round of financing received nearly 400 million round of financing led side to the Chinese Cultural Industry Investment Fund. Huayi Brothers to spend 266 million yuan to acquire 51% stake grossing network, which estimated the market value of the latter is about 522 million. And since listing, Huayi Brothers has been concerned about the development of the Internet field. In recent years, companies in the field of mobile games and other new media have continuous acquisitions. Huayi Brothers has also repeatedly claims that: traditional business, entertainment and the Internet is the real future of enterprise development Troika. LINK There can be no doubting the growth of the online ticket field. According to the well-known investigative body art advisory survey data show that in 2013 Chinese film market grossed 21.7 billion yuan, the total turnover reached online buy movie tickets 3.64 billion yuan, accounting for 16.8%; movie tickets online seat selection size of the market broke through the 1.2 billion yuan, accounting for 5.5% of the overall market size. 2013 National viewing trips 620 million, of which up to 129 million people online ticketing, accounting for 21%. At the same time, the country has opened the online election seat theater features close to 30% of the national theater of the data. Insiders predict that the next three years, the national online tickets in the domestic film grossed share, or more than 50%. LINK But there continues to be a fierce price war to attract buyers to particular online seat selection vendors. “19.9 yuan grab tickets to see Zhou Xun spoiled”, “100 000 10 yuan grab movie tickets to see Jiang masterpiece”, “buy one get one movie ticket free” Although the major online booking platform has been “occupied” cinema, but to each other the competition is fierce, most consumers ought to benefit from “cheap” strategy. Traditional buy movie tickets in different ways, another big advantage is that movies online ticket cheap. To currently released “Interstellar” for example, if the tickets through the traditional way to the scene, a 3D movie ticket price is about 120 yuan, and by the way movies online ticket purchase may be cheaper by half, only about 60 yuan . Now, open a variety of online ticketing website, the director Jiang Wen’s Lunar New Year blockbuster “step away” has become their competing to attract members of the latest “magic.” Guevara movie launched the “20 yuan IMAX gold field, 100,000 movie tickets waiting for you” campaign at home. LINK This article on the growing appeal of ‘private cinemas’ highlights the fact that most of the films on offer are illegally downloaded from the internet and have not been certified for official release in China. Interview that almost all of these hundreds of thousands of private theater department sources, but without exception, are the main foreign films, many can not be seen in the traditional cinema blockbusters can watch here. Turning to the source of the film, love vip screen cinema operators revealed that the film is basically a website and then download the video to play, mainly because some have not yet ratified the domestic theatrical release or not publicly released movie, including foreign countries has been offline and not yet released movie. The operator also admits that the movie source is in the “nobody” status, he introduced the first of this model appeared on the Internet movie player, is from the Internet cafe owner beat down on the platform where the cafe for customers to watch, not extra charges. With the Internet more and more, this kind of model for commercial viewing began with specification. “It was not much open private cinema, someone will surely be more open pipe.” LINK In THR’s roundup of the Mainland box office “Interstellar” continues to perform strong, having crossed USD $100 million, but local films are snapping at its heels. Roy Chow’s Rise of the Legend added another $12.21 million in its first full week to bring its cume to $25.69 million, while DreamWorks Animation’s Penguins of Madagascar added another $8.22 million to bring its cume after 17 days to $32.58 million. In fifth place was Brad Pitt’s Fury, which took $7.73 million in its first full week for a cume of $15.04 million after 10 days. The movie is unlikely to have been very much affected by an online screener leak following the cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment. Pirated copies are already widely available in China and people tend to go to see a movie for the theater experience, then watch it again on their tablets or cellphones later. The leak is, of course, still hardly welcome news for a film debuting in China. LINK Not a week seems to go by without an article about upset cinema patrons being barred from bringing outside food into the cinema. This man with three children was stopped from bringing in fries and burgers from a nearby fast food restaurant, despite having also bought popcorn at the cinema, on account of the smell of the fries. The article ends, as always, with a lawyer interviewed about consumer protection rights. Mr. Zhang said that he was very understanding: Why can enter with popcorn, and chips can not take into account, “said tellers fries smell too, affect other customers, said fries bigger than popcorn smell? , he is working to mind the provisions Studios! “For this approach Studios, Mr. Zhang some angry, let tellers to find the person in charge. Soon, a man and a woman to two young people in charge. Upon learning of the situation, that male officials, who said it was Studios provides out to buy food can not be brought in, “he said from the beginning of the film as well as eight minutes, let the baby who ate french fries and then go outside to see movie. “Mr. Zhang was very angry, but I did not expect that male heads in order to prevent them from entering the body will actually block the auditorium with sliding doors. In desperation, Mr. Zhang had to let a friend put the bag of chips on the table in front of the theater, this into the auditorium. At noon yesterday, the reporter went to Qujiang International Studios geese outanane Square. In Studios hall, the wall is a row of stalls selling food, popcorn, drinks and so on. Wicket placed in a prompt card that says “declined takeaway food.” A man claiming to be the duty manager Studios Ms Lau said the incident the same day she was at the scene, “Studios provision can not take away the food, but the actual operation is the smell of food can not take into account the large, like water, drinks can bring, The durian, hamburgers, French fries are not bands. “She said the smell of food is big by tellers to judge. LINK An impressive new five star cinema from Poly Films. (Win Business Network Yunnan station reported) at the end of this year, Chun Fat Land’s Riverside Plaza Chun Fat officially opened its doors, this is Chun Fat property opened in the year’s first commercial projects. As one of the major anchor stores of the project, as early as 2012 had been signed settled Poly International Studios , is still in renovation, according to the staff of Riverside Plaza Chun Fat introduced Studios is expected to be in April 2015 to May to opened. It is understood that occupancy Chun Fat Plaza Riverside Poly ( thematic reading ) International Studios , is Poly Films second five-star theater company in Kunming, the layout, the area of 4400 ?, with seven viewing rooms, occupied Riverside Plaza Chun Fat entire five-story space. Prior to the opening of the first city in the South Asian style Poly International Studios, a total of eight rooms, 1888 seats, was once the largest building in Yunnan, the largest number of seats, the most luxurious Studios. LINK Finally He is an American actor whose films have outperformed those of Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise in cinema in China, though chances are you’ve never heard of him. Jonathan Kos-Read, or “Cao Cao,” came to Beijing after studying acting and Chinese at New York University. After a stint as an English teacher, he saw an ad in a magazine for a foreign actor and replied. Although actors create illusions, there’s one thing he couldn’t fake — fluency in Mandarin. Over the last 15 years, he has performed in more than 100 Chinese films and TV shows. “There aren’t a lot of people who can play the white guy in a Chinese movie. You know, there are guys who are much better looking than me. There are guys who are better actors. There are guys who have better Chinese, but it’s hard to have a package. So I work a lot,” Kos-Read said. LINK Author Recent Posts Patrick was a Senior Analyst at Screen Digest, went on to launch the digital cinema operations of Unique and Deluxe Europe, then digitised Bollywood at Adlabs/RMW, and now writes, consults and appears on panels about cinema all over the world. Latest posts by Patrick von Sychowski (see all) Chinese Cinema Openings Below 60% - October 27, 2022 The Rise of J-Culture and Anime in Today’s Movie and Entertainment Industry - October 19, 2022 Comments Celluloid Junkie is the leading online resource dedicated to the global film and cinema business. Join a growing community of film and cinema industry professionals from around the world who rely on CJ to provide the latest news, insights, analysis, interviews, and research on the motion picture industry.	14,691
Here are a few images from one of my many visits to Phnom Krom, Cambodia. I hope you'll enjoy them - these boys, their leaps, cannonballs and laughter certainly made my day - let's never forget to play!!! -mp. Recent Posts Delving back into the mind I thought I’d lost… A side of me that I never knew before, appeared about two years ago. I felt confused and lost…navigating through a world I never chose to be a part of.... [Engaging Hermit Mode: Doc/In Progress.] -mp	490
“Pomp and Circumstance” is streaming throughout the auditorium. You beam with pride as a dean confers a degree upon your child, and you watch her move the tassel from one side of the mortarboard to the other. Congratulations. Your baby just graduated from college. With any luck, she already has a promising job in her chosen field, and she’s all set to start paying her own bills. Your financial obligations have suddenly diminished. Now what? Well, you just got a raise, so to speak. The money once reserved for your child’s needs and wants is once again available to fulfill your own. While you may be tempted to splurge on a pricey vacation, consider these other uses first. You’ll never stop caring for your kids, both emotionally and financially. Many parents want to continue offering their children extra support, whether it’s a down payment on a house or college funds for future grandchildren. If you’d still like to help out financially, talk with your financial advisor about the most efficient way to accomplish this without losing track of your financial goals. This is also a good time to update your will. Chances are the previous iteration named guardians for your minor children, which may not be necessary now that they’re young adults. If you’re inclined to charitable giving, the extra money that once went to college tuition could be reallocated to a cause that’s near and dear to your heart. You may also want to make one of your children the executor of your estate. And if you haven’t already, you should designate your spouse or one of your grown children to have powers of attorney for your healthcare and finances in case of incapacitation. Of course, whenever there’s a change in circumstances, you should review the beneficiaries on your retirement, savings and brokerage accounts, as well as your insurance policies. Speaking of insurance, you may be over-covered as an empty nester. Take the time to review your policies now that your children are no longer financially dependent on you. If you’re overpaying for life insurance premiums, you may want to cut back on coverage and pocket the savings. You’ll need some professional guidance here to make sure you maintain adequate coverage going forward. Your child can stay on your healthcare policy until the age of 26. But if your child is eligible for his or her own employer-sponsored coverage and leaves your plan as a result, you could save money. The same holds true for auto insurance. Removing your child from your policy could lower the cost as much as 50%, according to the Insurance Information Institute. Regulations may prohibit medical providers from sharing information with you about the health of your now-adult child. Ask your child to carry a signed document that authorizes healthcare practitioners to discuss relevant information with you. This is also the time to think about long-term care insurance, if you haven’t already discussed this with your planner or purchased a policy. Studies show that long-term care, which generally is not covered by Medicare, could deplete your retirement savings. Buying a policy in your 50s and 60s when you’re in good health will be easier than trying to purchase one as you get older. When there’s newfound wiggle room in your finances, it’s tempting to want to splurge a little. Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research found that spending on non-durable goods, the fun things, jumped more than 50% per person for empty nesters. That’s understandable after years of paying for dance lessons and soccer dues. So if your budget allows, make plans to travel, return to school, start a business or do whatever you’ve dreamed of. Ask your advisor to help you set aside a certain percentage for the fun stuff. Next, consider where you’d like to live. Would you prefer a smaller house or a beachfront condo? Would you rather move to a less expensive home and invest the difference? If downsizing frees up some equity in your home, you could reallocate that money to other goals like starting a new career or funding retirement. Moving to a smaller home might provide additional resources for your later years, which could make up for a less-than-stellar savings track record. In addition to using that home equity to bolster your retirement savings, you could also benefit from lower cost of living, maintenance costs, property taxes and insurance premiums. Now that you have more time and resources, you can prioritize your future. Talk about this life change with your professional advisors and make sure your financial plan reflects your new circumstances. For example, you may want to adjust your asset allocation to reflect your new goals or use the extra money to step up investments in your overall portfolio, potentially increasing your net worth. Next Steps Consider making a catch-up contribution to your retirement savings Update your will and other beneficiary accounts Review your insurance policies Discuss long-term care coverage Content created by Raymond James for use by their advisors. Raymond James financial advisors do not render advice on tax or legal matters. You should discuss any tax or legal matters with the appropriate professional. Strategies mentioned may not be suitable for all investors. Please consult your financial advisor about your individual situation. Investing involves risk and investors may incur a profit or a loss. Asset allocation and diversification do not ensure a profit or protect against a loss. Post not marked as liked © 2022 Securities offered through Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., member FINRA / SIPC Keating & Associates is not a registered broker/dealer, and is independent of Raymond James Financial Services. Securities are offered through Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment Advisory Services are offered through Raymond James Financial Services Advisors, Inc. and Keating and Associates, Inc. Raymond James financial advisors may only conduct business with residents of the states and/or jurisdictions for which they are properly registered. Therefore, a response to a request for information may be delayed. Please note that not all of the investments and services mentioned are available in every state. Investors outside of the United States are subject to securities and tax regulations within their applicable jurisdictions that are not addressed on this site. Contact your local Raymond James office for information and availability. Links are being provided for information purposes only. Raymond James is not affiliated with and does not endorse, authorize or sponsor any of the listed websites or their respective sponsors. Raymond James is not responsible for the content of any website or the collection or use of information regarding any website's users and/or members.	7,008
Here is an email I sent off to my university’s main student association about a student-run writing skills co-op: I am a casual tutor and lecturer at UWS in the humanities and I had an idea that I thought might be useful for the association and for the student body in general. A serious problem we are facing is with general literacy levels. We basically don’t have enough time to help every student who needs it, and there are quite a number of mostly first year (but also higher level) students who need it. I know the university apparently runs sessions through student services helping students with their writing but I thought a more flexible approach would be better suited. This is because students often need help at specific times during the semester (i.e. when assessments are due), not when student services are able to run sessions. The basic idea is to run a writing services co-op through the association and staff it with older second/third/honours year students. Students would pay some nominal amount (maybe $10 for a 30 minute session) for another student to read over their work and go through it with them. I imagine most students would require 2 or 3 sessions per assessment. Space to have such sessions would have to be negotiated with the university. The university could also be approached for some seed funding to run it on a small scale at one of the campuses. If you set up an online booking system, then students could book a place ahead of the day. It would give the other students employment that is worthy of being put on a CV. Various protocols would have to be put into place regarding how much ‘help’ can be provided as you wouldn’t want situations where students expect their assessments to be written for them or the like. Maybe you have thought of such ideas in the past, if you have then I encourage you to implement them as there are a number of students who need help (and others possibly that need work!). Previous Post Previous post: careers Next Post Next post: 5 replies on “writing skills co-op” JC says: November 2, 2008 at 10:14 pm I am a student at ND that you taught last semester. I just wanted to say that I think this is a brilliant idea and that I would be extremely interested if this sort of program was offered at ND – I hope it works out for you at UTS. Do you have any suggestions on how I could propose this to ND staff without sounding like I was undermining other students? I think the issue of student literacy is extremely important and that students would really benefit from some guidance from older students. I feel that sometimes students dont feel like they can talk to the teachers about their writing skills. I know that our “essay workshops” are only attended by a few first year students and are generally percieved as “kinda lame”. Maybe they would feel more comfortable talking to someone who is younger, arguably more approachable, and doesnt control what grade they get at the end of the year! JC says: November 2, 2008 at 10:16 pm glen says: November 2, 2008 at 11:06 pm Well the student association at UWS has responded very positively to my suggestion and they are going to bring it up at the next meeting. I suggest you write up a proposal and submit it to Gerry Turcotte. I think he will be responsive to such a proposal. You can take the above text and modify it to suit your purposes if you like. What you may want to do is to propose it first as a test and then if it is successful, to expand. You will need a room (easy enough) and a few willing students with the competency to teach others. You might be able to discover who these students are through the various lecturers and the like. For the test it wont matter so much, but for the co-op you may need to set in place protocols for hiring (ie standards for application, availability, contact information, and how much work they would like). You may need to develop protocols for what sort of assistance is required. At the planning stage, research stage, writing stage? I suggest for the test it stay at the writing stage. A very useful text that I suggest all potential student writing co-op staff should read is Bate, D and Sharpe, P 1996, _Writerâ€™s handbook for university students_. Let me know how it goes. JC says: November 2, 2008 at 11:21 pm Thank you for all of your suggestions. This will definately be an area that I will propose to the staff and I cannot imagine why it has not been dreamt up already! I will keep you posted on my progress. Thank you for sparking a fantastic idea and congratulations on your new appointment and renewed career prospects. I wish you the very best of luck.	4,743
One of our Momma Bear bloggers was flattered to be invited to speak at the State Education Editors convention in Denver, Colorado last week. You'll never guess who she sat next to on the flight home... a charter school teacher who just quit! Divine intervention? You decide. Here is her blog about the trip: Thursday, I was cleaning up macaroni and cheese noodles. 24 hours later I was in a 4-star hotel giving a speech to a convention room full of really important people. I kept thinking "somebody pinch me" so I would wake up. All these people seemed to want to hear what I had to say (or if they didn't, they were really good at hiding it). My speech was called "Listen to your Mommas!". This was my first real public speaking engagement. To say I was nervous is an understatement! Even though my presentation was an hour and fifteen minutes long, I didn't see anyone's eyes glazing over or notice anyone playing candy crush on their phones. The audience members were all smiling and nodding along with the things I said. Since technology and I sometimes have issues, I was thankful that my PowerPoint presentation worked flawlessly. I don't think I stammered or said "like, um, like, uh, ummm..." (I was like really scared I would umm like end up like doing that like some people do when, uh, you know, they like get nervous). I made it through my presentation and was flabbergasted to receive a standing ovation. So, what did I talk about? I told them about the magical way that some ordinary moms in Tennessee came together and how we started Momma Bears. Less than one year ago, we launched our Momma Bears website & blog. The first month, we were ecstatic to reach 50 readers on our blog... Now, 11 months later, we are amazed to have had over 800,000 readers! Seriously, we're just moms who have no clue what we're doing. We've spent a whopping $17 total for the website domain name. That's it. I also spoke about what we've accomplished through our blog and social media... how we've educated parents on many issues and forced inappropriate surveys to be stopped in school districts. We've encouraged parents to take action with easy steps and links to contact elected officials. We've supported teachers and shared their voices when they do not have the freedom to speak up. We've been a voice for students, parents, & teachers. (*I'll post a link to my PowerPoint presentation at the end of this blog so you can see my mastery of PowerPoint. If you want, you can click through the slides and pretend you were there.) A few were astonished to learn that Momma Bears are opposed to Common Core, so they asked quite a few questions about why. They seemed surprised that we're not extremist, radicals, Tea party, crazy, misinformed, or ignorant like the politicians portray opponents of the core to be. We just don't fit in to that stereotype that Arne Duncan and the reformers have labeled us to discredit us. We're normal moms concerned about our children's education. I supported our positions against common core with evidence and facts. And I told them, "Don't believe me: read the Race to the Top agreement (and especially Appendix C) and decide for yourself." One person joked that I knew more facts and information than their company's research department, and asked me how on earth I knew all of this. I told them it was because the Momma Bears research and share information. We read a lot of other bloggers, too, and I told them about the many awesome ones out there (they are listed on the PowerPoint). I even quoted some of our favorite bloggers including: Diane Ravitch, Mercedes Schneider, Mother Crusader, Edushyster, and my new personal favorite: Curmuducation. I couldn't talk about the Momma Bears without talking about the BATs. If you don't know about the BATs, you should. Don't let the name scare you, BAT is an acronym for "Badass Teacher Association." The BATS are a force to be reckoned with and they won't be ignored. The BAT movement started about the same time as Momma Bears last summer and has since grown to nearly 50,000 members! There are now groups for special BATs, State groups, secret BATs, retired BATs, and even BAT Parents! Like the Momma Bears, the BATs have advocated with little or no money. Our success has come thanks to the power of social media and people who put their foot down and said "Enough!" Warning: if you see a teacher with a BAT symbol in her classroom or on her clothing, you know she's committed to fighting for her students and her profession. Momma Bears have the utmost respect for the BATs. I also talked about bad teachers. I asked the audience to think of the worst teacher they ever had. Did you learn something from him/her? Did you learn how to deal with difficult people? (because we're all going to have to deal with a difficult person at some point in our lives whether it is a teacher, boss, family member, neighbor, IRS agent, 3 year old toddler throwing a tantrum, etc.) Did you learn patience, tolerance, compassion, or that you're not as smart as you thought you were from your "bad" teacher? Was your worst teacher someone else's favorite teacher? (mine was). You just can't put a numerical rating on the worth of teachers. I spoke about how teachers are unfairly targeted and blamed in our society, and how we need to elevate and respect the teaching profession. We need to give them the support they need to teach. Lots of heads nodded, so I am pretty sure I was preaching to the choir. I think someone even said "Amen!" (or maybe it was a cough?) To close out my presentation, I quoted one of my brave BAT friends who said, "We enjoy the shade of trees that we did not plant". The public schools are our trees. They were created before we were born with the intention of them lasting indefinitely for future generations. The reformers are chopping down those trees, though. When you chop down trees, you can't just put them back and have shade again. We must protect our public schools for our children. Don't let the reformers chop them down to make a quick buck. Public schools belong to the public. So, after nearly missing my flight home because of the crowded airport and, of course, being selected for a random security check (because I guess I looked like someone who builds bombs?) I rush like a BAT out of youknowwhere to get to the plane (because the gate is of course at the very end just my luck), and made it in the nick of time only to find out our flight was delayed due to thunderstorms. We eventually took flight and, of course, the plane started bumping as it went through turbulence. Now, I'm not fond of roller coasters, but I am usually okay if I keep my mind on something else. The young woman next to me seemed to be a little worried, though, so I struck up a conversation with her to get her mind off the flight. Lo and behold, I find out she is a teacher! or, she WAS a teacher. Sadly, she burned out after 5 years of teaching, some in public schools and some in charter. She did not seem to mind that I asked her a bunch of questions. She even said I could blog about her if I didn't use her name. So, here is the sad, but hopeful, story of the teacher I flew with. Picking her brain... Why did you leave teaching? Is there anything that would convince you to stay? What would you change if you could? "Support" was her answer. She told about having virtually no support, from administrators in the building or from the program she went through to get a job (TNTP). She said she broke away from the teacher placement agency as soon as she could, and continued to teach for several years. She told of the bad leadership at the charter school she worked for, and the extremely strict discipline. She said she tried to talk to students, to relate with them on a personal level, and she believes that because she did that, she didn't have the behavior problems like other teachers seemed to have. Even so, she said students at that charter school were not allowed to talk, it was like they were little prisoners. She told me how kindergartners in the charter school were held back a grade level due to mediocre test scores, but how those kindergartners were really ready for first grade. She suspected the charter school just did it to boost their test scores. Her eyes lit up when she talked about wanting to help students with special needs, just like her nephew. I felt her pain when she told about how frustrated she was that she couldn't get the help for students that she knew they needed. I wanted to give her a high-five when she told me how she secretly talked to parents after IEP meetings and told them they needed to keep fighting and what to do to help their child... because parents just don't know the system or what their child is entitled to. After 5 years of teaching and high evaluation scores, she was just burned out. She was moving north to accept a job working as a consultant, and she was also seriously considering returning to law school to become a lawyer to fight for SPED students. I hope she does. They need her voice. And I hope our paths cross again someday. I believe it wasn't a coincidence that she was on that flight in that seat next to me. If you'd like to see the Powerpoint presentation, here is the link to download it: These two videos were embedded in the presentation: Update: Inappropriate Climate Surveys in TN Our website has been on fire! With over 55,000 views in less than a week, parents are spitting mad about the inappropriate Climate Surveys we blogged about (Click HERE to read that blog). We've been swamped trying to respond to all the comments, media, and elected officials. Here's the update: Here is what we found out about the Climate Surveys: They have been given since 2010 in TN. Some schools gave them in the fall. Some districts may have notified parents, but most did not (note: we haven't heard from any parents who were notified about these surveys, and we've heard from a lot of parents. We don't think they intended to notify parents until parents got wind of what was going on.) Principals and school districts are being blamed for not notifying parents before the surveys were given, but that does not change the fact that it was still an inappropriate survey created by and given by the TNDOE. "Active" consent is different than "passive" consent. "Active" consent means you have to opt-IN. "Passive" consent means you have to opt-OUT. Momma Bears has identified a new kind of consent: "Sneaky-passive consent" = parents aren't even told that these surveys are happening until our kids tell us they already took it. SCARY TRUTH: Parents don't know they can refuse these surveys because they aren't ever informed they are happening. There are so many new mandates coming from the top (TN Department of Education and from local districts, too) that Principals and teachers are giving surveys & tests that they've never seen before. And with the volatile environment and job insecurity, they are afraid to speak up. It is all coming too fast and without parental input. That's a problem. A big problem. We are glad that some legislators agree with this. Momma Bears hopes that there are some swift changes with the TN Commissioner of Education and TN Board of Education (they are appointed by the Governor) because they are getting too big for their britches. There are way too many business and unqualified Teach For America people being paid huge salaries in the TNDOE, and not enough real teachers and educators in those roles. Follow up to what happened when Mom met with the Principal: I met with my child's Principal, whom I hold in high regard, and he told me his hands were tied on the Climate Survey. It was easy to see that he was upset about it. After a little prompting, he has decided to put upcoming tests and/or surveys in the weekly school memos. I am really excited about that. More opportunity to opt out if needed. He didn't bat an eye when I told him I didn't want my child to take the TRIPOD (another survey with demographic questions. Click HERE to read a previous Momma Bear blog on TRIPOD). He said he is tracking the number of hours spent on tests and prep for tests, because he wants to put the focus back on learning, not testing. I mentioned there was a kid in my child's class who told the teacher he thought the questions were inappropriate and the teacher AGREED, but told him he needed to take it anyway. The principal looked disturbed by that. I think he is going to rattle a few cages and is thankfully one of the best middle schools in TN, so maybe he won't get axed. Is this Common Core??? The TNDOE will, of course, say that the intrusive collection of student data is not common core. They will then try to hypnotize you with this chant until your eyes glaze over: "Common core is just rigorous standards... Common Core is just rigged (oops) standards... Common Core is just rigorous standards..." Namaste. Then, they will pass the blame on one of these scapegoats: poor implementation of common core, teachers who aren't yet trained in the common core voodoo magic, dumb parents who are too stupid to understand the new mysterious math methods (because they prefer the simple old ways that worked) the companies that make the new common core curriculum Pinch yourselves, people, and wake up! Momma Bears has read the Race to the Top Application and Appendix C. You can't argue with the facts. Common Core is inseparable from the testing and data collecting. Don't believe us, read it for yourself. See how TN plans to create a "360 degree view of each child." Read how they plan to collect all sorts of information on every child (including information that spans other agencies like social services and welfare). Then read how the FERPA law was changed to allow 3rd parties to be able to access all this personal data without parental permission. Still in the La-La-Land of Denial??? There's more: Parents were surprised to learn that their children answered some personal questions on the TCAP Writing Assessment this past week (these questions were separate from the Climate Surveys. Students couldn't skip them and they were not anonymous). Parents had no clue. These questions were tied to our children's names and ID numbers so they weren't anonymous. The questions seem harmless enough (Do you have a computer at home? internet? How often do you write? etc.), but the fact that our children were asked questions without our knowledge makes the Momma Bear fur stand up on our necks yet again (especially after reading Appendix C of the RTTT Application). How far will they push with asking our kids personal questions without telling us??? They've lost our trust already with the Climate Surveys, Tripod Surveys, Gaggle, and PLAN assessments they didn't tell parents about. Plus, the fact that Momma Bears has contacted the TNDOE 3 times and still not heard any response makes us even more apprehensive and suspicious. One Momma Bear asked her child's principal about these surveys and this was the conversation: Mom: "My concern is about the survey that my son had to take this week, can I get a copy of that?" Principal: "I don't think that will be a problem, the questions were just about writing." Mom: "My concern is that you had my son take a survey without parental consent." Principal: "I can tell you this is the same survey they have taken for years." Mom: "So, you are telling me for years you have had children do a survey without parental consent?" Principal: "Can I contact the district office about this?" What can you do? Check with your school district to see what surveys are being given. Opt your children out of surveys. Opt your children out of standardized tests, pretests, and assessments. Ask your elected legislators to get rid of common core. Ask your elected legislators to vote to support these bills Sign this petition to get rid of common core in TN. Sign this petition to get rid of the appointed TN Commissioner of Education What's next? Some parents have spoken with attorneys and are pursuing legal action. If you feel your rights have been violated, contact us and we'll put you in touch with that group. Representative Sheila Butts just introduced a bill in TN that would require that parents be informed of all tests (and she says the bill will be amended to include surveys) before they are given to their children. Contact your legislator and ask them to support it. HB2167/SB2404 is the Bill. Click HERE to find your legislators and their contact info. They need to hear from Momma Bears and Daddy Bears in TN. Not with my kids, you don't!!! Some parents in Tennessee were SHOCKED to hear what their 5th grade children were asked at school. And it wasn't asked by another student. It was asked by the STATE of TENNESSEE! A furious TN mother tells this story: My 5th grader took the PARCC practice today. Then she said they logged out of the PARCC writing and opened up a survey that asked if they have ever done drugs. One question we all were puzzled with - and I keep thinking- maybe she remembered wrong... "Have you ever been bullied for being nonsexual?" She did not even know what that meant. It was awful. Our mouths were wide open as she poured out these grave details at dinner. The kids were all laughing and giggling and the teachers had to keep redirecting them to the survey. One girl was so struck by this question she fell out of her seat and rolled on the floor with giggles. They did not know what it meant. They thought it was funny. Then the questions - did you smoke pot? Do any drugs? Drink? They were all giggling and wondering what would happen if they all answered yes. My husband and I were horrified. There were questions my child did not want to answer and tried to skip. But, the computer made them answer something before moving on. This is troubling to me as well. So WHY were children asked these questions??? Well, the Tennessee Department of Education was awarded a discretionary grant from the U.S. Department of Education to "support district and school measurement of, and targeted programmatic interventions to improve, conditions for learning." (Note: Momma Bears have come to realize that a "Government Grant" ALWAYS has strings attached. It means they will do things that we wouldn't allow them to do without the grant money as bribery, like Racing to the Top, common core, and paying outrageous salaries to "consultants"). Tennessee is one of 11 states that were awarded this grant, but Tennessee is the only state that has developed its own survey to determine conditions for learning and that intend to "connect academic data to the conditions for learning data." Anyway, this grant awarded by the US Department of Education (that's important to note, file that in the back of your head) paid for a slick website, some people to create invasive surveys to anonymously collect personal information about our children, and staff to run the program. Government wastefulness and invasion of privacy at its finest, ladies and gentlemen! (Click HERE to see the website for yourself) What were those questions that had students giggling in embarrassment and parents blushing in horror? Momma Bears found the surveys. There are 2 different surveys (Middle School & High School), each containing 88 personal questions. We couldn't really tell a difference between the 2 surveys, other than the title page. Asked of 5th graders: "During this school year, how often has anyone called you an insulting or bad name at school having to do with... ...your religion?" (None of the government's business!) ...your weight or physical appearance?" (Are you trying to give the kids an inferiority complex?) ...how much money your family makes?" (Again, none of your beeswax, government!) "In the last 30 days, I... ...used or tried tobacco products" ...drank five or more servings of alcohol in a row" ...used or tried maijuana" ...used or tried other drugs or substances to get high" "I think that... ...students are sometimes distracted in class because they are drunk or high." (some children don't know what "high" means!) ...it makes me uncomfortable when other students bring drugs or alcohol to school or school-sponsored events." (really? well, let's just plant some ideas in their young minds!) And, in case students don't know what these terms mean, they go ahead and educate them by including all sorts of examples at the top of the survey. If your child didn't know they could sniff products to get high, they sure know now... Thank you, government! NOTE: Not every school district in TN is giving these climate surveys (Click HERE to see if your county does) This climate survey is NOT a part of the common core PARCC testing. It just happened that this school gave both the climate survey as the same day as the common core writing assessment. Click HERE to download the Middle School Climate Survey Click HERE to download the High School Climate Survey Did we mention that PARENTS WERE NOT NOTIFIED OR EVEN ASKED FOR CONSENT BEFORE THEIR CHILDREN WERE GIVEN THESE SURVEYS? Sorry, Momma Bears isn't yelling (although, we're pretty steaming mad over this!). That part in capital letters is very important. Because, you see, the State of TN and that school have broken a law. (Note: The Mom above is unsure if she or her husband gave permission at the beginning of the year with all the registration forms they signed. If they did, they certainly did not understand the types of questions that would be asked of their child.) The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) clearly states that parents must give WRITTEN consent BEFORE any surveys funded by the U.S. Department of Education are given to minor children: The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232h; 34 CFR Part 98) applies to programs that receive funding from the U.S. Department of Education (ED). PPRA is intended to protect the rights of parents and students in two ways: It seeks to ensure that schools and contractors make instructional materials available for inspection by parents if those materials will be used in connection with an ED-funded survey, analysis, or evaluation in which their children participate; and It seeks to ensure that schools and contractors obtain written parental consent before minor students are required to participate in any ED-funded survey, analysis, or evaluation that reveals information concerning: 1. Political affiliations; 2. Mental and psychological problems potentially embarrassing to the student and his/her family; 3. Sex behavior and attitudes; 4. Illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating and demeaning behavior; 5. Critical appraisals of other individuals with whom respondents have close family relationships; 6. Legally recognized privileged or analogous relationships, such as those of lawyers, physicians, and ministers; or 7. Income (other than that required by law to determine eligibility for participation in a program or for receiving financial assistance under such program). Parents or students who believe their rights under PPRA may have been violated may file a complaint with ED by writing the Family Policy Compliance Office. Complaints must contain specific allegations of fact giving reasonable cause to believe that a violation of PPRA occurred. U.S. Department of Education 400 Maryland Avenue, SW (click HERE to visit the US Department of Education website where we found that law) Okay, so some parents may be thinking... "What's the big deal? It is a rough world out there. Those kids will learn about illegal drugs and sex soon enough." Well, some parents have conservative values and we don't want our children exposed to these topics at this age or in this manner. Parents should be the ones doing the educating about those issues, not the government. Parents should be the ones to decide when that time is right for their child. And some parents may be thinking... "What's the big deal? Those were anonymous surveys so they aren't really collecting personally identifiable data on my child." Someone is collecting that information to use for some purpose. And the time spent taking the 88 question survey is time that our kids could be learning. Anonymous or not, Momma Bears are suspicious of surveys given to our kids. Momma Bears has another personal Demographic Survey that we bet you didn't know about, and this one has each student's name directly tied to their answers: The PLAN PRE-TEST is given to 10th graders in TN to predict how they will do on the all-important ACT college entrance exam. These are definitely NOT anonymous. When students take this PLAN test, they are asked about an hour's worth of demographic questions. Parents aren't allowed to see those questions, but our children told us there are questions about: religious denomination, class schedule, address, GPA, Honors, if your parents are divorced, who do you live with, ethnicity/race, etc. Like the computerized climate surveys above, students could not skip questions they didn't want to answer. Not only are there personal questions, districts can also develop up to 30 local questions to add to the demographic survey part. (Click HERE to read more about the PLAN). It is important to note that: A business could never ask those questions of someone applying for a job. Adults have more protections than students do. The penalty for breaking the PPRA law is a slap on the wrist. Where is this information going? Who knows. Is it safe? Nothing is safe these days. Even major retail stores, like Target, and major Banks can't keep personal information secure. In fact, click HERE to see some scary security violations with students' personal information recently here in Tennessee schools! Yes, prisoners had access to private student information. Another thing Momma Bears needs to warn you about is something called "Gaggle." In some districts, students in TN are required to sign up for a Gaggle account. This sounds like a neat program for safe online learning, but it gets a bit suspicious when they won't allow parents to have their child's password to see what is going on. Even creepier, Gaggle has a "Human Monitoring Service." Its website says that Gaggle's HMS team has "uncovered bullying, drug use, threats of school violence, teen depression, suicidal intentions, and abusive domestic situations." So, strangers are snooping on our children's private information, but parents can't see it? Unless a formal Law Enforcement Request is made, HMS data will be released only to the district contacts, and not parents. (Click HERE to find out about Gaggle) What can you do about it? Be vigilant, Momma Bears! Send a letter to your child's teacher and principal stating your child is not to be given any surveys or sign up for any online learning programs without your written permission. Ask to see the survey or program before you give permission, and be sure to ask who has access to the information. Before you sign anything, read the fine print. Momma Bears, protect your babies! It is a scary world out there!!! Added 1/30/14: Has your child been given an inappropriate survey without your consent? or required to join websites that parents are not allowed access to? If so, Momma Bears wants to hear from you. Please contact us privately through our website's contact form: http://www.mommabears.org/contact-us.html A group of TN parents are considering a class action lawsuit. January 2021 March 2020 January 2020 August 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 January 2019 November 2018 April 2018 March 2018 November 2017 September 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 November 2016 September 2016 August 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 Just some moms who realize their children's public school systems in TN, as well as public schools across the country, have major threats to their survival. We research, we write, we share, and we advocate.	29,017
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Merrick, Inc., will be closed on Thursday, November 24, and Friday, November 25, in recognition of Thanksgiving. Normal hours will resume on Monday, November 28. Annual Report Leadership Employment Self-Advocacy Transportation Get Involved Advocate Volunteer What's New Events Staff Directory Admissions Careers Written by John Wayne Barker on July 11, 2012 . Posted in Barks Bytes. Like the invasive milfoil that clouds our lakes and zebra mussels that kill our native species – Bob Shaw’s article ‘Is it exploitation of disabled, or a lifeline” (St. Paul Pioneer Press 7/8/12) makes our pond murkier and diminishes the progress made in the last decade by people with disabilities. Mr. Shaw’s article had three critical flaws that destroyed a potentially good story and I will try to correct each for the record. First, we are not “segregating a minority class” as Scott Schifsky, Program Director of The Arc of Minnesota, is quoted as saying in the article. Integration has become a hot topic recently and, because misguided zealots don’t seek reasonable consensus, it is unlikely that we will have an agreeable definition anytime soon. Moreover, in a very real way integration is a choice. For example, a retired couple that chooses to live in an assisted living complex with their same-aged peers would not think of themselves as being segregated. Therefore, if integration is chosen by the individual, perhaps defining segregation would be helpful in this discussion and I offer the following – “Segregation is the forcible separation of a group or class from the rest of society”. From my view “segregation” does not apply to the nearly 16,235 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) served by Day Training & Habilitation (DT&H) programs in Minnesota because their placement was chosen by an interdisciplinary team that included themselves, their guardian/family, and an independent county case manager. Therefore, if people with I/DD are not segregated, they must be integrated. End of story. Second, and perhaps forgivable because even Mr. Shaw’s expert sources don’t report the numbers correctly, the unemployment rate for people with I/DD is not 77 percent. To begin, it is important to remember that the employment goal is not 100% as, according to the StateData Book 2011 published by the Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI) at the University of Massachusetts, only 75% of all Minnesotans of working age (16 – 64) are employed. Now to the numbers (updated on 7/12/12 with new MDE data). The ICI reports that Minnesota has 131,744 citizens with a cognitive disability of working age and 75% of that number is 98,808 of which 48,705 are reported as employed. The Minnesota Department of Human Services reports that in 2009 DT&H programs served 16,235 people with I/DD of which only 1,677 were not pursuing work with 14,588 either hired by an employer, working on a crew, or completing facility-based work. In Minnesota most students with I/DD enter a transition program when their peers graduate until age 21. For school year 2010 – 2011, the Minnesota Department of Education website reports 127,863 unduplicated special education students of which 24,129 are ages 16 – 21. Consequently, of the estimated 98,808 working age people with I/DD, 32,470 (48,705 – 16,235) are placed into jobs by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development or others making at least minimum wage, 14,588 people with I/DD in DT&H programs are working, and 24,129 people with I/DD are 16 – 21 year olds still in school. As a result 71,187, or 72% of our citizens aged 16 – 64 with I/DD are either working or in school compared with 75% of all Minnesotans. So, Minnesota has done a great job of providing work to people aged 16 – 64 with I/DD and their unemployment rate is not 77 percent. End of story. The third flaw, and what I was most disappointed in, was Mr. Shaw’s decision to highlight the differences in the people with I/DD he met instead of recognizing the vast majority of sameness with the non-disabled population. I am certain that if I visited Mr. Shaw’s office I would observe unshaven men, women with a bad hair day, people dressed slovenly, messy work areas, and some eccentric behaviors. Still they are people doing their job and evaluated by their performance not solely their appearance or character traits. Why is it that Mr. Shaw chose to describe people with I/DD as though he was explaining to his children why animals in the zoo look and act differently than us? His comments were disrespectful and only reinforce the stereotypes that self-advocates, families, and providers have been trying to change for many years. I am privileged to be around over 350 people with I/DD on a regular basis and I mostly see individuals who want to be respected, given choices in their lives, and valued in their communities. Isn’t that what most of us want? One of the clients at Merrick is quoted as saying “We do have disabilities, but we’re capable of doing pretty much anything we want to do. Just like you. We work really hard. We have our goals and we want to make our dreams come true.” What constitutes fulfilling work is an individual choice and can be found as an employee of a business, a member of a crew, or in a facility-based setting even if that doesn’t jive with a fictional book someone is writing for self-aggrandizement. If you want a good story, read “Hiring People with Disabilities” written by Maura Keller in the February 2012 Minnesota Business and then call a DT&H in your area to talk about options to provide meaningful work to people with I/DD. By the way, Mr. Shaw, I sleep with my mouth open too – what does that mean? You missed a great chance to promote people with I/DD as valuable workers. End of story. Previous Next Our mission is to empower adults with disabilities through vocational and social opportunities, and to guide them toward realizing their goals and dreams.	6,405
We are using Orange 252 Kids Pre-School Children’s Curriculum. It is a wonderful curriculum created for kids ages 3 through 5. We are teaching exciting themes and concepts surrounding God’s love, creation, and worship, as well as important Kingdom values. With each lesson is also a take home page that allows parents to reinforce the ideas learned on Sunday every day of the week! If you have any questions regarding our Pre-School class, please feel free to contact us through the contact form below. Email Address Who We Are We are a community of people who are committed to following Jesus Christ with our whole lives and who are called to love and serve each other and the city around us. We currently have no set church building hours. Please contact us if you would like access to the church building or to meet in person.	871
It has become quite common for people in the third world countries to seek and work abroad to gain a better life for themselves and for their families back home. They would often send money to their families to meet their needs. In some cases, however, this has led to overwhelming pressures on the ones working abroad to satisfy the increasing monetary expectations and demands of their families. A woman came to share how she had been burdened by the monetary demands made upon her by her family back in the Philippines. Indeed, her mother, in particular, was always wanting money for what seemed to be an unending string of needs. Even when all her needs were met, instead of being grateful, new needs would be made up -- and she would then proceed to complain that any money sent to her was not enough. The monetary demands did not rest just with the woman's mother, but they had also spread to her siblings. The woman's sister, being addicted to borrowing money from various places, found herself always needing money to pay off her debts. By way of manipulation, she would often use her own children to ask for money. And the woman, hearing the pleas of her nieces and nephews, just didn't have the heart to say "no", and so would always feel obliged to give as much as she could. In the end, this pressure of monetary demands caused the woman to be resentful towards her mother, her sister, as well as her nieces and nephews. Her heart became burdened whenever she had to send money home. The family had become "pests" and a bother to her. As the demands grew, the woman found herself asking for more hours at work, but often she would only be given 10 to 20 hours a week, which was just not enough. Most of the money she earned would be sent off, leaving only very little for herself and her own daughter, who was equally demanding about money. The resentment grew deep, as was revealed one day when she found herself resenting a $20 cake for her niece's birthday. To add to all this, whenever she didn't feel like giving, a feeling of guilt would come over her. So in one way, she felt sorry for them, yet in another way she was immensely annoyed by them. Such were the complexity of her feelings for them, and her sinful responses towards them, that she felt trapped not just monetarily speaking, but emotionally too. This had become an issue of the heart. As we talked about this issue, the woman saw that she had developed some bitter root judgments against her mother and sister. She judged her mother to be: Exaggerating and even lying about her need of money A complainer -- always saying that the money given was never enough As for the sister, the woman judged her to be: Manipulative in using children to ask for money Addicted to borrowing and always being in debt Not a good sister These bitter root judgments were sown as seeds from which the woman would reap. Such reaping usually comes in one of the following ways: She would become like the people she judged and do the things they did -- OR -- She would draw onto herself people that would do (or be) those things she had judged -- OR -- Both of the above Thinking this through, she realised that she has indeed been reaping, as follows: She had been asking men and boyfriends for money throughout her life. Consequently, she became greedy, manipulative, materialistic, placing high importance on money. She had also been living in a neighbourhood where the women were having many children without carefully considering the costs of bringing them up -- and she had also judged them for it. It appeared that she had become just like her mother and sister -- such is the law of sowing and reaping! In helping her family in the way described, the woman had come to believe the lie that she is responsible for her family and that she had to fulfil all their needs. She also proceeded to place these as expectancies upon herself, which defiled her. This meant that she would always be compelled to follow those expectancies, and would never be able to break out of them. Inner Vows Moving on, I then asked how she had protected her heart from being hurt by the financial situation with her family. The woman replied: I will never trust my mother with money. I will save money for myself, so that I will never be in the same needy situation as my family. I will always be strong and look strong. I will never be like those women who have many children that they can't afford to provide for. And further, I asked the woman how she protected her family, to which she replied: I will ensure that my family will never die poor. I will do everything to support my family. I will be the one to whom everyone comes to and looks to. These are called inner vows. Inner vows are strong and destructive. They come from our God-given free will, and for that reason Jesus cannot violate them. Our body will seek to comply with any inner vows that we have made. Whether the inner vows are positive or negative, they seek to destroy us. We become the people they dictate us to be, not the people God wants us to be. Dealing with the Strongholds We dealt with the issue by breaking the strongholds that she had created around her heart: Firstly, through repentance of the bitter root judgments she made against her mother, sister, and the women in the neighbourhood. Secondly, repentance from placing bitter root expectancies upon herself, repentance from her own sins of asking, and manipulating men for money. Finally renouncing and rejecting the inner vows she had made, and coming out of agreement with the lies that she had come to believe about herself. We took all these to the Cross of Jesus Christ, asking Him to break their power over her life -- body, soul and spirit -- past, present and future. We then asked the Lord to take the reaping from her, and to strengthen her spirit to give new responses. I also asked the woman to forgive her mother, sister, nephews, nieces, and even her daughter for what they had done to her, and for her to bless each one -- which she did with so much grace. A couple of months passed, and I then went to see the woman again. I asked how things were with her family, to which she reported, with a huge smile, that her family had been quiet. They'd stopped bothering her for money. And her mother actually said "thank you" to her the other day; no longer complaining. The woman continued that she is now the one who asks the family if they needed any money (rather than them asking her). She even asked her own daughter who had also gone quiet regarding money, only to discover that her daughter has started to save money, so that she didn't have to ask her mother for any! The woman also found that when she would send money back to the Philippines, she would send it out with a glad heart, a heart of love and care, with no trace of reluctance or resentment like before. Indeed, this is evidence that her spirit is now operating on new responses! Praise God! To add to all this, her hours at work have been increased, she is now doing 45+ hours a week, which meant that she now has ample money left over for herself. The blessings are coming through...! Finally, in celebrating her birthday a few weeks ago, the woman received many surprising birthday greetings from her family: Her nieces and nephews wrote, "You are the best auntie". Her second sister wrote "You are the best that could ever happen to the family". And many others wrote, "You are a person who has a good soul. We are lucky to have you". They had never appreciated her like this before. What wonderful acknowledgements, and compliments could she ever dream of receiving! All because she has repented of her resentment and has forgiven much. The dark things have shifted away in the spiritual realm, and love and unity manifest in the physical realm. All glory be to our Triune God -- as only He can heal and make these things happen! Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help.	8,784
I've been on a personal and spiritual journey over the last decade and everything came to a head with the approach of my 30th trip around the sun this past year. I believe in living in true alignment with my core values: radical self-love, genuine human connection, real authenticity and living a conscious and purpose-FULL life. This site encompasses my two passions in life: yoga + writing. Below you will find my blog posts on topics from motherhood, my fave sustainable products, and funny life stories.	513
Hong Kong is now one of the most densely populated cities in the world. Every square inch of the island is made use of and valued like gold. High-rise blocks are squeezed in everywhere, dotting the landscape, that makes me of think of rows of x-rayed teeth – long, close together, uniquely stained but uniform. It is easy to think you are still in the airport when surfacing via the Express train at Hong Kong station. A vast, multi-leveled shopping mall welcomes you – that looks just like the one you left at the airport. There are rows of expensive boutiques interspersed with ubiquitous phone and electronic goods shops. All enticing and packed with wealthy shoppers. I had arranged to meet a couple of friends, who are currently living here, outside a Prét-a-Manger (that ready-to-eat sandwich shop with the same fillings everywhere). Rather than drink their frothy coffee from a brown polystyrene cup we chose to go upmarket to a Tea Boutique (sic), called TWG further down the mall (there is also one in the UK based in Harrods). They claim on their website that they “will carry you away on a journey of sensations, spiced with elegant samovars, brass weighing scales, Italian marble floors and hard wood tea counters.” We discovered from the menu that they also serve over 800 different types of tea from all over the world. How surreal is that? I thought there was only posh tea, builder’s tea and herbal tea. It made choosing just one from an endless list of exotic sounding teas nigh on impossible. I was tempted by ‘sexy tea’, ‘desert mirage tea’ and ‘dancing tea’ but in the end selected a Jasmine tea (being in China) that had a few other nice sounding adjectives added to it. Someone in the marketing department must have had a field day. After drinking our fine Grand Crus tea we walked out onto one of the many ‘walkways in-the-sky’ – that provide covered spokes to other neighboring high-rise buildings. It was mobbed with Philippine girls, huddled together in small groups, sitting on the concrete, demarcated by makeshift walls made from cardboard boxes. These are the maids of the wealthy and the middle classes. At first glance, it looked like they had set up market stalls but, on closer look, it turns out they have colonized the concrete paths, turning them into temporary living/dining rooms. In each one, you can see them chatting, laughing, sleeping, reading, texting, playing, eating, drinking and grooming – as if in their own homes. This is how they spend their one day off from serving the natives and the ex-pats, bringing with them their umbrellas, blankets, food, drinks, magazines, Scrabble sets, iPads and mobile phones. Because they live in terribly cramped apartment spaces – barely enough room for a bed let alone a kitchen – they decamp to the shopping Mecca’s many arteries to socialize and relax with their fellow maids, against a backdrop of Gucci shoppers and gourmet tea drinkers traversing from one tower block to another. What struck me, was how they had appropriated the cardboard boxes to make their living spaces; the flimsy barriers providing them with just enough height for a level of dignity, privacy and territoriality whilst low enough to be seen and to see. A creative way, indeed, of horizontally inhabiting a vertical city, whose earthly goods are mostly out of their reach. Tags: cardboard homes, city living, high rise buildings Posted in Food, Shopping, Travel Comments are closed. Musings and reflections by Yvonne Rogers on food, aging, cooking, creativity and technology in her everyday encounters as part of her dream fellowship. 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Just thinking about the wake of destruction left behind by tornadoes is enough to make some people worry about the safety of their families in the event of a storm. Windstorms and tornadoes are capable of stirring up massive destruction. So how can you protect your home and your family? We've compiled safety tips to help safeguard you and yours. If a tornado is spotted or the sirens go off, take cover immediately. Find an area on the first level of your house with no windows. This may be a bathroom or closet. Crouch down and cover up with a blanket or jacket for protection from flying debris. Bring your pets with you if you must take cover. Do not emerge from this safe spot until you are certain the threat has passed. One way to monitor the situation is to bring a cell phone or weather radio with you. Make sure your safe spot is not directly under heavy objects on the floor above. You wouldn't want a piano or bed frame falling through the ceiling and landing on top of you. If the storm is predicted in advance, you may wish to prepare or even evacuate. Pack up essentials like clean clothes, non-perishable food, bottled water, medications, first aid supplies, a phone and charger, important paperwork, cash and other necessary items. If you're in a car during a tornado, pull over, get out of the vehicle and lay face down in a ditch or low area. Avoid overpasses or areas with lots of trees. The goal is to quickly find a place to wait out the storm with a low risk of falling objects. Talking about tornado safety with your family can help protect everyone if a tornado does tear through your neighborhood. And remember, the protection of home insurance can help you financially recover from such an event. Are you covered? Call Heritage Insurance Ltd at (800) 667-7640 for more information on Moose Jaw SK home insurance. Tags: home insurance, tornado, safety, protection, advice, tips, weather, insurance, coverage, heritage insurance Required E-Mail Required (Not Displayed) Required All comments are moderated and stripped of HTML. NOTICE: This blog and website are made available by the publisher for educational and informational purposes only. It is not be used as a substitute for competent insurance, legal, or tax advice from a licensed professional in your state. By using this blog site you understand that there is no broker client relationship between you and the blog and website publisher.	2,486
If you are an employee of a Griffin-Spalding member company, we invite you to set up an online account to: Access the Member Directory Register for Events Receive Member Updates View & Pay Invoices Applying for Membership? Griffin-Spalding invites and encourages you to become a member! By working together, we can achieve our mission to maintain and enhance our community as a better place to work, play and live.	432
Does LG succeed in their attempt to offer consumers a device that provides everything they may want? We find out, in this in-depth review of the LG G4! By • June 15, 2015 With a unique and attractive design, great performance, and a fantastic camera, while also being the only current flagship to feature a replaceable battery, LG is attempting to provide users with a phone that offers literally everything you may want. In today’s landscape, we are seeing more and more OEMs push away from the less premium designs of old, electing for slim, great-looking devices that are unfortunately not without their compromises. LG has decided to go a somewhat different route with their latest flagship, in an attempt to provide users with a phone that offers literally everything you may want, from a great design to power user features like removable battery and microSD. What does the company’s latest high-end offering bring to the table, and how does it stand out from the crowd? We find out, in this in-depth LG G4 review! In terms of design, what worked with LG’s last two high-end releases, the G Flex 2 and the G3, are brought together to create this new device. Curves, a variety of back cover options, and a large form factor are all par for the course here. The presence of a 5.5-inch display dictates the overall size of the phone and the resulting handling experience, but as always, LG’s penchant for slim bezels on the sides of the display does make for a pretty narrow device. The G4 is slightly taller than its predecessor, but that is mitigated by a very subtle curve. Speaking of which, the curve of the G4 display isn’t as pronounced as what was available with the G Flex 2, and unfortunately, does not offer the immersive quality of the latter. The benefits are felt in terms of durability though, with even this small curvature resulting in 20% more resilience when compared to any regular slab smartphone. The sides remain quite thick, with the phone measuring 9.8 mm at its thickest point, but there are no buttons on these sides, with LG’s signature rear button layout returning, found below the large camera optics. The power button is quite small, but offers a different feel from the volume rocker that flanks it to make it easy to identify the right area to press. This button layout falls squarely in the region where the index finger would lay when holding the phone, a design choice that continues to make sense, apart from just being aesthetically unique. What curves may be lost in the subtlety up front are best felt on the back. This is all for the sake of handling, and there’s no doubt that the LG G4 offers one of the best handling experiences around when it comes to large form factor device. For a lot of users, there is an obvious preference for at least some form of one-handed usage, and the G4 manages to just toe the line of comfort. The device rests nicely in the hand and in the pocket, and while hand gymnastics are of course necessary to reach across it, it’s not too bothersome. Back covers of the LG G4 are available in a couple of different styles, with a slew of color options across them. This particular review unit is the titanium version, which comes with a metallic feel, with the other plastic iterations, the white and gold, coming with a ceramic finish, and all coming with a subtle diamond grid pattern. However, the fashion statement LG is making with the G4 comes in the form of the leather backing, with a variety of textures and color options available. We did enjoy our time we had with these back covers during the launch event, but it might be a point of contention for some though, as the leather is actually sourced from cows and vegetable tanned. What might be the biggest selling point of the LG G4 is the fact that the back cover is removable, something that no other current flagship offers, giving users access to features like expandable storage and replaceable batteries. The LG G4 is certainly a lot like the G Flex 2, with a design that is further refined and with a less severe curve overall, and does raise the question as to whether the presence of leather backings is a way to prevent this release from seeming too incremental. That said, LG’s design continues to be distinctive and therefore, recognizable, and the G4 is still quite an attractive phone. LG ups the ante in the display department with an ever better iteration of the Quad HD display from its predecessor, now boasting the Quantum Display moniker. Flashy names aside, the 5.5-inch IPS+ LCD screen comes with 2560 x 1440 resolution, resulting in a pixel density of 538 ppi. What makes this display different is the Quantum Dot technology behind it. LG’s presentation during the launch event focused on how the actual molecules are being manipulated as it passes through a phosphor layer, the result being an even better color gamut than typical IPS screens can provide. What is probably easier to understand is their philosophy on displays this time around, with the company looking to adhere to the DCI standard normally reserved to television and cinema with the G4. Whereas the Samsung Super AMOLED displays of the world go past this standard with its overly saturated colors, the G4 stays 98% within the parameters, to provide the proper experience. Now, without some real knowledge of film standards, it is hard to really tell if LG has hit that mark, but the difference can be seen in a comparison shot, with the Samsung phone definitely being a little more saturated. What matters most of all is that the display of the LG G4 is still powerful and pleasing to the eye. Blacks are adequately shown, colors are definitely very vibrant, and all tasks look great on it. A couple of small nuances from its predecessor return however, like a smoothening of the screen elements, that can be observed mostly when viewing and scrolling through text, likely a result of the device lowering sharpness on these types of areas to lower power consumption. Knock On and Knock Code also return, so double tapping the screen to turn it on or tapping a pattern at any time are available. Big words and scientific language aside, the display on the LG G4 is worthy of a high-end flagship, and there certainly have been no complaints from us. While we might expect the latest and greatest processing packages to be found in today’s high-end flagships, LG decided to take a somewhat unconventional route in this regard. On paper, it looks like LG has taken a step back, with the G4 packing a 1.8 GHz hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor, backed by the Adreno 418 GPU and 3 GB of RAM. Thankfully, the overall experience is better helped with more optimization, as opposed to just sheer power. Thanks to this optimization, the still bloated LG G UI manages to move along with a speed and smoothness that might be a bit surprising. In my daily usage, there have been no hiccups or instances of stutter throughout, with there being a negligible pause only when applications needed to be loaded from the Recent Apps screen. Unlike what is the case with some other flagships, this smoothness isn’t a result of a stripped down and lighter software experience. In fact, much of what was found with G3 and G Flex 2 make a return here with even a few more extras tacked on, and whatever close relationship LG has with Qualcomm is what has paid off here. Browsing among applications is a breeze, even when using the Dual Window functionality, and intensive gaming is also not hindered by the two core shortage, with the Adreno 418 doing an admirable job in the graphics department. Despite many of the elements remaining in the latest iteration of the LG UI, the snappiness of it all makes it feel otherwise. It all makes a case that taking great care in optimizing the processor to the needs of the software, and vice versa, can often be a better recipe for success. As already mentioned, and something that LG will most certainly heavily market, the main cornerstones of the LG G4 is the availability of expandable storage and removable battery. The expandable storage will be most useful for photographers looking to take advantage of the RAW capture ability of the souped-up camera of the G4, but most everyone will agree that it’s always nice to have a buffer for space regardless. It’s important to mention here that this review unit is the Korean edition, and as usual, LTE connectivity in the US wasn’t possible. While HSPA+ connections were still adequate for daily usage, I relied mainly on Wi-Fi for internet connectivity. Connection on the T-Mobile network was still quite good, including during calls, and the subtle curve of the phone is felt when holding the phone up to your ear. The rear facing speaker does sound better than previous iterations, with more body and richness to the sound, but unfortunately, the general issues with this positioning of the speaker do return. Qualcomm and LG did work together to create a more accurate location algorithm in the G4, but without the benefit of full mobile network connectivity, this is something that I will have to follow up on with a local version of the phone. Nonetheless, this accuracy is achieved using a combination of all sensors available in the phone, rather than just Wi-Fi and general global positioning. During a day heavy with GPS navigation, it seemed to do its job quite well, positioning me in the right direction even at the start of each trip, which isn’t always common. Battery life will also have to further tested with a US version of the device with LTE connectivity. In this case, primarily using Wi-Fi and HSPA+ where required, the G4 did do very well in terms of daily battery usage, with up to 3 hours of screen-on time possible during a total usage of 16 hours. A few hours of screen-on time was also possible even with heavy usage, including once that included almost a full hour of GPS navigation, which did seem to provide the kind of accuracy LG and Qualcomm claim the G4 has. Of course, power users will be happy about the fact that you always have the option to carry around spares, which is something that might need to be taken advantage of, with any quick charging capabilities being noticeably absent. In my observation, I did find the phone to charge quicker when using something like the Motorola Turbo charger, but definitely nowhere close to the speed that Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 provides. It might be a game of one-ups-manship for LG as it tries to provide more than the competiton, and specifically, their Korean brethren Samsung. Ultimately though, it’s the consumers that are the winners, as LG introduces yet another high quality camera to this year’s Android smartphone space. Te larger camera package on the back is very noticeable, and bigger than anything we’ve seen so far. This larger sensor comes with a f/1.8 aperture lens, flanked by laser autofocus, a flash, and a color spectrum sensor. LG made a lot of sense in their launch that a large aperture opening doesn’t make much sense if the actual sensor itself is really small, so the G4 has quite a bit going for it physically, as the larger sensor will also benefit from better optical image stabilization. Up front is an 8 MP unit, providing a larger photo than many competitors, but also comes with a few gesture-centric features. Bring a hand up and close it to trigger a countdown, or do the gesture twice to take four pictures in succession, and then bringing down the phone immediately after the shot lets you automatically review the selfie. The last one might be the more useful feature, because we think that just hitting that shutter button on the selfie cam is just as quick, and requires less effort. We might put the front facing camera as one of the better iterations in Android now, as it has good detail and a wide enough perspective for group shots. When it comes to the camera interface, there are a few different modes available. The Simple mode allows for tapping on subjects for quick laser focusing and immediate snapping, the Auto mode opens up a few more possibilities which are easily seen via the controls, and then there is the Manual Mode. It’s here that the budding photographer will have a great many tools at its fingertips, including everything from a histogram for accurate levels, to shutter speeds as long as 30 seconds, to a full white balance kelvin gamut that allow you to cater the shot exactly how you want it. All of the changes will show in the viewfinder, so there is little guess work to be had in this manual mode, and even then, if you are not happy with the JPEG that comes out, shooting simultaneously in RAW format opens up the possibilities even more, as the photographer can take the RAW capture and mess with every setting available in a program like Lightroom. Of course, the RAW files will be huge, so expandable storage will definitely be required in this case. White balance is a very important aspect of this camera, as the IR backed color spectrum sensor works to analyze the entire scene and get accurate color reproduction, and of course, the very act of taking pictures is still a breeze here because of the laser guided autofocus. Indeed, using this camera in either the Auto or Simple modes brings one of the easiest picture taking experiences available, and the resulting pictures still happen to be quite great. In good lighting, the 16 MP photos are very pleasing, especially with the low aperture lending to nice depth of field perspectives for close or far focus. When zooming in, one can find that a noise reduction is still at work here, as the grain is smoothed out. This does detract just a little bit from the overall sharpness of the image though, but doesn’t do so to a large degree. This is better seen in lower light situations, where the camera also seemingly opts to have a slower shutter speed instead of higher ISO, making clear shots a bit tougher to capture. Finally, in lower light, prominent light sources are a little bit blown out, but again, not to a terrible degree. We give the LG G4 high marks for having a great camera interface and a fast picture taking experience. It’s pictures are ultimately quite great, but fall just short of being the best in Android today because of the post processing that results in smudgy shots sometimes. That said, the G4 camera is definitely one of the best companions a user can have in the pocket. Moving on to the software side of things, easily noticeable is the speed of the familiar user interface, but there are a few new additions this time around as well. Mainly, the calendar app has been updated to use just about any captured area of the phone as reminders on dates. It takes away from having to fill in a lot of information, but those who prefer high organization might still opt for the textual elements. The gallery has been given categories for The gallery has been given categories for easy look back at one’s memories, and is generally better organized overall. If the hand gymnastics need to be helped, changing the button layout on the softkeys is possible in the Settings. Finally, the phone can now perform a number of actions based on location cues. LG’s continued relationship with Google is easily seen here, with Chrome being the default browser, and integration with Google Drive baked in, which also includes an additional 100 GB of storage for free for two years. The UX largely looks the way it did in the G Flex 2, with new Lollipop styled elements and plenty of features all around. Dual Window adds to multitasking and plenty of contextual features include the Smart Notice widget. Now there are more reasons for the widget to tell you pieces of information, as it will give suggestions not only for current weather conditions, but also warn the user of when applications in the background are continuously draining battery. These suggestions aren’t bad, but they might not be as useful for everyone as LG thinks. QSlide apps also return, so if you do need to have a floating window for things like a dialer or calculator, the line of applications will add extra girth to the notification dropdown. There is also the Smart Bulletin, which is a second screen to the far left that brings information from a number of sources, including LG Health and tips for better usage. It’s a better way of showing these features than before, but thankfully it can also be easily turned off. The LG UX offers quite a lot without overcrowding the experience, which has been a gradual but welcome change. As a daily driver, it’s hard not to be impressed with the speed of this operating system, and the G4 manages to deliver a user experience that keeps up with some of the best out there. Battery 3,000 mAh, user removable, wireless charging, quick charging Colors and finishes Pricing and Final Thoughts The LG G4 will come in at the premium price for a flagship on carriers, and as we have been told, will be the same price unlocked as the LG G3 when it was first launched. Obviously, the main competitors in the space include Samsung and HTC, who have released their flagship devices earlier this year. So there you have it – an in-depth look at the LG G4! It’s been a great year so far for flagships. With every phone bringing different offerings to the table, the LG G4 is trying to bring the most. A great camera experience is backed by yet another speedy iteration of Android, in a body that remains recognizable and attractive due to LG’s signature design language. If what are missing in other flagships kept you from buying them, the G4 just might be the phone that you’re looking for. It isn’t a big leap from previous generations of the series, but that is true for most of this year’s releases as well. If you want something unique, the G4 is among the best choices you have today, with its leather backings, and expansion options only sweetening the deal. If we had any doubt that LG was falling behind in the competition, the G4 is surely an example that they haven’t lost the touch yet.	18,801
Life is increasingly on the go, placing a greater emphasis on mobile trading apps and technology. Indeed, users are demanding more from these apps than ever before, placing a greater premium on such technology. Many brokers have struggled to effectively satisfy these needs. However, EuropeFX has met the challenge head on, culminating in the launch of eFXGO!, an intuitive trading app for FX and contracts-for-difference (CFDs). Traders demand more from their brokers, and by extension the technology they have at their disposal. In an increasingly competitive field, users want to feel greater agency over their trading, along with access to the same tool suite available at traditional desktop trading desks. This is no easy feat, though eFXGO! has managed to check off all the right boxes. For starters, eFXGO! isn't simply a scaled-down desktop platform. Keep Reading Instead, the app operates as a sovereign advanced trading technology that is engineered for mobile devices only. The entire framework of eFXGO! is tailored specifically for mobile trading, which allows it to perform a range of specialized functions. The native Android and iOS app are fully compatible and streamlined to work with all existing EuropeFX systems, including MT4. Modern day traders rely on a basket of different assets. eFXGO! offers access to upwards of 100 tradable assets, including major, minor, and exotic FX pairs, commodities, and CFDs covering shares, indices, and spot metals. Users of MT4 and other existing platforms will feel right at home with eFXGO! The difference lies in the flexibility and fine-tuned feel the app provides while trading on mobile devices. Thanks to its dedicated mobile design, users are able to take advantage of improved trade flexibility and order execution. This extends to trades directly from chart viewing, saving users the trouble of sorting through multiple pages. Moreover, trade alerts help keep all users abreast of any developments and updates, placing them in greater control over their positions. eFXGO! is also built on offering precise entry and exit points on all your positions. One of the biggest strengths of eFXGO! is its ease of use for first-time users. The app has an extremely familiar feel and traders both advanced and novice can take advantage of an optimized and clean interface. Unlike many other platforms, eFXGO! is backed by in-app support that is available around the clock, five days a week. The app is also defined by its flexibility, syncing directly with the EuropeFX client area as well as its supported platform variants. This is instrumental in ensuring a smooth trading experience between multiple accounts so you can spend more time trading and less time figuring learning the interface. eFXGO! also has made security protocols an area of emphasis. This includes relying on encoded and encrypted data transmission to give you more piece of mind. Find out today what eFXGO! can do for you by downloading it today to your Android or iPhone! EuropeFX is a global leader in Forex Forex Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest trading market by volume. According to the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) latest survey, the Forex market now turns over in excess of $5 trillion every day, with the most exchanges occurring between the US Dollar and the Euro (EUR/USD), followed by the US Dollar and the Japanese Yen (USD/JPY), then the US Dollar and Pound Sterling (GBP/USD). Ultimately, it is the very exchanging between currencies which causes a country’s currency to fluctuate in value in relation to another currency – this is known as the exchange rate. With regards to freely floating currencies, this is determined by supply and demand, such as imports and exports, and currency traders, such as banks and hedge funds. Emphasis on Retail Trading for ForexTrading the forex market for the purpose of financial gain was once the exclusive realm of financial institutions.But thanks to the invention of the internet and advances in financial technology from the 1990’s, almost anyone can now start trading this huge market. All one needs is a computer, an internet connection, and an account with a forex broker. Of course, before one starts to trade currencies, a certain level of knowledge and practice is essential. Once can gain some practice using demonstration accounts, i.e. place trades using demo money, before moving on to some real trading after attaining confidence. The main two fields of trading are known as technical analysis and fundamental analysis. Technical analysis refers to using mathematical tools and certain patterns to help decide whether to buy or sell a currency pair, and fundamental analysis refers to gauging the national and international events which may potentially affect a country’s currency value. Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest trading market by volume. According to the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) latest survey, the Forex market now turns over in excess of $5 trillion every day, with the most exchanges occurring between the US Dollar and the Euro (EUR/USD), followed by the US Dollar and the Japanese Yen (USD/JPY), then the US Dollar and Pound Sterling (GBP/USD). Ultimately, it is the very exchanging between currencies which causes a country’s currency to fluctuate in value in relation to another currency – this is known as the exchange rate. With regards to freely floating currencies, this is determined by supply and demand, such as imports and exports, and currency traders, such as banks and hedge funds. Emphasis on Retail Trading for ForexTrading the forex market for the purpose of financial gain was once the exclusive realm of financial institutions.But thanks to the invention of the internet and advances in financial technology from the 1990’s, almost anyone can now start trading this huge market. All one needs is a computer, an internet connection, and an account with a forex broker. Of course, before one starts to trade currencies, a certain level of knowledge and practice is essential. Once can gain some practice using demonstration accounts, i.e. place trades using demo money, before moving on to some real trading after attaining confidence. The main two fields of trading are known as technical analysis and fundamental analysis. Technical analysis refers to using mathematical tools and certain patterns to help decide whether to buy or sell a currency pair, and fundamental analysis refers to gauging the national and international events which may potentially affect a country’s currency value. Read this Term, CFDs, stocks, commodities, Cryptocurrencies Cryptocurrencies By using cryptography, virtual currencies, known as cryptocurrencies, are nearly counterfeit-proof digital currencies that are built on blockchain technology. Comprised of decentralized networks, blockchain technology is not overseen by a central authority.Therefore, cryptocurrencies function in a decentralized nature which theoretically makes them immune to government interference. The term, cryptocurrency derives from the origin of the encryption techniques that are employed to secure the networks which are used to authenticate blockchain technology. Cryptocurrencies can be thought of as systems that accept online payments which are denoted as “tokens.” Tokens are represented as internal ledger entries in blockchain technology while the term crypto is used to depict cryptographic methods and encryption algorithms such as public-private key pairs, various hashing functions, and an elliptical curve. Every cryptocurrency transaction that occurs is logged in a web-based ledger with blockchain technology.These then must be approved by a disparate network of individual nodes (computers that maintain a copy of the ledger). For every new block generated, the block must first be authenticated and confirmed ‘approved’ by each node, which makes forging the transactional history of cryptocurrencies nearly impossible. The World’s First CryptoBitcoin became the first blockchain-based cryptocurrency and to this day is still the most demanded cryptocurrency and the most valued. Bitcoin still contributes the majority of the overall cryptocurrency market volume, though several other cryptos have grown in popularity in recent years.Indeed, out of the wake of Bitcoin, iterations of Bitcoin became prevalent which resulted in a multitude of newly created or cloned cryptocurrencies. Contending cryptocurrencies that emerged after Bitcoin’s success is referred to as ‘altcoins’ and they refer to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Peercoin, Namecoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Stellar, and Dash. Cryptocurrencies promise a wide range of technological innovations that have yet to be structured into being. Simplified payments between two parties without the need for a middle man is one aspect while leveraging blockchain technology to minimize transaction and processing fees for banks is another. Of course, cryptocurrencies have their disadvantages too. This includes issues of tax evasion, money laundering, and other illicit online activities where anonymity is a dire ingredient in solicitous and fraudulent activities. By using cryptography, virtual currencies, known as cryptocurrencies, are nearly counterfeit-proof digital currencies that are built on blockchain technology. Comprised of decentralized networks, blockchain technology is not overseen by a central authority.Therefore, cryptocurrencies function in a decentralized nature which theoretically makes them immune to government interference. The term, cryptocurrency derives from the origin of the encryption techniques that are employed to secure the networks which are used to authenticate blockchain technology. Cryptocurrencies can be thought of as systems that accept online payments which are denoted as “tokens.” Tokens are represented as internal ledger entries in blockchain technology while the term crypto is used to depict cryptographic methods and encryption algorithms such as public-private key pairs, various hashing functions, and an elliptical curve. Every cryptocurrency transaction that occurs is logged in a web-based ledger with blockchain technology.These then must be approved by a disparate network of individual nodes (computers that maintain a copy of the ledger). For every new block generated, the block must first be authenticated and confirmed ‘approved’ by each node, which makes forging the transactional history of cryptocurrencies nearly impossible. The World’s First CryptoBitcoin became the first blockchain-based cryptocurrency and to this day is still the most demanded cryptocurrency and the most valued. Bitcoin still contributes the majority of the overall cryptocurrency market volume, though several other cryptos have grown in popularity in recent years.Indeed, out of the wake of Bitcoin, iterations of Bitcoin became prevalent which resulted in a multitude of newly created or cloned cryptocurrencies. Contending cryptocurrencies that emerged after Bitcoin’s success is referred to as ‘altcoins’ and they refer to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Peercoin, Namecoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Stellar, and Dash. Cryptocurrencies promise a wide range of technological innovations that have yet to be structured into being. Simplified payments between two parties without the need for a middle man is one aspect while leveraging blockchain technology to minimize transaction and processing fees for banks is another. Of course, cryptocurrencies have their disadvantages too. This includes issues of tax evasion, money laundering, and other illicit online activities where anonymity is a dire ingredient in solicitous and fraudulent activities. Read this Term, and more. The company utilizes STP trade execution, offering live webinars and education sessions and an extensive lineup of tradable assets, markets, platforms and trading options. Risk Warning: CFDs are complex instruments and carry a high risk of losing money quickly due to leverage. 78.94% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. Life is increasingly on the go, placing a greater emphasis on mobile trading apps and technology. Indeed, users are demanding more from these apps than ever before, placing a greater premium on such technology. Many brokers have struggled to effectively satisfy these needs. However, EuropeFX has met the challenge head on, culminating in the launch of eFXGO!, an intuitive trading app for FX and contracts-for-difference (CFDs). Traders demand more from their brokers, and by extension the technology they have at their disposal. In an increasingly competitive field, users want to feel greater agency over their trading, along with access to the same tool suite available at traditional desktop trading desks. This is no easy feat, though eFXGO! has managed to check off all the right boxes. For starters, eFXGO! isn't simply a scaled-down desktop platform. Keep Reading Instead, the app operates as a sovereign advanced trading technology that is engineered for mobile devices only. The entire framework of eFXGO! is tailored specifically for mobile trading, which allows it to perform a range of specialized functions. The native Android and iOS app are fully compatible and streamlined to work with all existing EuropeFX systems, including MT4. Modern day traders rely on a basket of different assets. eFXGO! offers access to upwards of 100 tradable assets, including major, minor, and exotic FX pairs, commodities, and CFDs covering shares, indices, and spot metals. Users of MT4 and other existing platforms will feel right at home with eFXGO! The difference lies in the flexibility and fine-tuned feel the app provides while trading on mobile devices. Thanks to its dedicated mobile design, users are able to take advantage of improved trade flexibility and order execution. This extends to trades directly from chart viewing, saving users the trouble of sorting through multiple pages. Moreover, trade alerts help keep all users abreast of any developments and updates, placing them in greater control over their positions. eFXGO! is also built on offering precise entry and exit points on all your positions. One of the biggest strengths of eFXGO! is its ease of use for first-time users. The app has an extremely familiar feel and traders both advanced and novice can take advantage of an optimized and clean interface. Unlike many other platforms, eFXGO! is backed by in-app support that is available around the clock, five days a week. The app is also defined by its flexibility, syncing directly with the EuropeFX client area as well as its supported platform variants. This is instrumental in ensuring a smooth trading experience between multiple accounts so you can spend more time trading and less time figuring learning the interface. eFXGO! also has made security protocols an area of emphasis. This includes relying on encoded and encrypted data transmission to give you more piece of mind. Find out today what eFXGO! can do for you by downloading it today to your Android or iPhone! EuropeFX is a global leader in Forex Forex Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest trading market by volume. According to the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) latest survey, the Forex market now turns over in excess of $5 trillion every day, with the most exchanges occurring between the US Dollar and the Euro (EUR/USD), followed by the US Dollar and the Japanese Yen (USD/JPY), then the US Dollar and Pound Sterling (GBP/USD). Ultimately, it is the very exchanging between currencies which causes a country’s currency to fluctuate in value in relation to another currency – this is known as the exchange rate. With regards to freely floating currencies, this is determined by supply and demand, such as imports and exports, and currency traders, such as banks and hedge funds. Emphasis on Retail Trading for ForexTrading the forex market for the purpose of financial gain was once the exclusive realm of financial institutions.But thanks to the invention of the internet and advances in financial technology from the 1990’s, almost anyone can now start trading this huge market. All one needs is a computer, an internet connection, and an account with a forex broker. Of course, before one starts to trade currencies, a certain level of knowledge and practice is essential. Once can gain some practice using demonstration accounts, i.e. place trades using demo money, before moving on to some real trading after attaining confidence. The main two fields of trading are known as technical analysis and fundamental analysis. Technical analysis refers to using mathematical tools and certain patterns to help decide whether to buy or sell a currency pair, and fundamental analysis refers to gauging the national and international events which may potentially affect a country’s currency value. Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest trading market by volume. According to the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) latest survey, the Forex market now turns over in excess of $5 trillion every day, with the most exchanges occurring between the US Dollar and the Euro (EUR/USD), followed by the US Dollar and the Japanese Yen (USD/JPY), then the US Dollar and Pound Sterling (GBP/USD). Ultimately, it is the very exchanging between currencies which causes a country’s currency to fluctuate in value in relation to another currency – this is known as the exchange rate. With regards to freely floating currencies, this is determined by supply and demand, such as imports and exports, and currency traders, such as banks and hedge funds. Emphasis on Retail Trading for ForexTrading the forex market for the purpose of financial gain was once the exclusive realm of financial institutions.But thanks to the invention of the internet and advances in financial technology from the 1990’s, almost anyone can now start trading this huge market. All one needs is a computer, an internet connection, and an account with a forex broker. Of course, before one starts to trade currencies, a certain level of knowledge and practice is essential. Once can gain some practice using demonstration accounts, i.e. place trades using demo money, before moving on to some real trading after attaining confidence. The main two fields of trading are known as technical analysis and fundamental analysis. Technical analysis refers to using mathematical tools and certain patterns to help decide whether to buy or sell a currency pair, and fundamental analysis refers to gauging the national and international events which may potentially affect a country’s currency value. Read this Term, CFDs, stocks, commodities, Cryptocurrencies Cryptocurrencies By using cryptography, virtual currencies, known as cryptocurrencies, are nearly counterfeit-proof digital currencies that are built on blockchain technology. Comprised of decentralized networks, blockchain technology is not overseen by a central authority.Therefore, cryptocurrencies function in a decentralized nature which theoretically makes them immune to government interference. The term, cryptocurrency derives from the origin of the encryption techniques that are employed to secure the networks which are used to authenticate blockchain technology. Cryptocurrencies can be thought of as systems that accept online payments which are denoted as “tokens.” Tokens are represented as internal ledger entries in blockchain technology while the term crypto is used to depict cryptographic methods and encryption algorithms such as public-private key pairs, various hashing functions, and an elliptical curve. Every cryptocurrency transaction that occurs is logged in a web-based ledger with blockchain technology.These then must be approved by a disparate network of individual nodes (computers that maintain a copy of the ledger). For every new block generated, the block must first be authenticated and confirmed ‘approved’ by each node, which makes forging the transactional history of cryptocurrencies nearly impossible. The World’s First CryptoBitcoin became the first blockchain-based cryptocurrency and to this day is still the most demanded cryptocurrency and the most valued. Bitcoin still contributes the majority of the overall cryptocurrency market volume, though several other cryptos have grown in popularity in recent years.Indeed, out of the wake of Bitcoin, iterations of Bitcoin became prevalent which resulted in a multitude of newly created or cloned cryptocurrencies. Contending cryptocurrencies that emerged after Bitcoin’s success is referred to as ‘altcoins’ and they refer to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Peercoin, Namecoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Stellar, and Dash. Cryptocurrencies promise a wide range of technological innovations that have yet to be structured into being. Simplified payments between two parties without the need for a middle man is one aspect while leveraging blockchain technology to minimize transaction and processing fees for banks is another. Of course, cryptocurrencies have their disadvantages too. This includes issues of tax evasion, money laundering, and other illicit online activities where anonymity is a dire ingredient in solicitous and fraudulent activities. By using cryptography, virtual currencies, known as cryptocurrencies, are nearly counterfeit-proof digital currencies that are built on blockchain technology. Comprised of decentralized networks, blockchain technology is not overseen by a central authority.Therefore, cryptocurrencies function in a decentralized nature which theoretically makes them immune to government interference. The term, cryptocurrency derives from the origin of the encryption techniques that are employed to secure the networks which are used to authenticate blockchain technology. Cryptocurrencies can be thought of as systems that accept online payments which are denoted as “tokens.” Tokens are represented as internal ledger entries in blockchain technology while the term crypto is used to depict cryptographic methods and encryption algorithms such as public-private key pairs, various hashing functions, and an elliptical curve. Every cryptocurrency transaction that occurs is logged in a web-based ledger with blockchain technology.These then must be approved by a disparate network of individual nodes (computers that maintain a copy of the ledger). For every new block generated, the block must first be authenticated and confirmed ‘approved’ by each node, which makes forging the transactional history of cryptocurrencies nearly impossible. The World’s First CryptoBitcoin became the first blockchain-based cryptocurrency and to this day is still the most demanded cryptocurrency and the most valued. Bitcoin still contributes the majority of the overall cryptocurrency market volume, though several other cryptos have grown in popularity in recent years.Indeed, out of the wake of Bitcoin, iterations of Bitcoin became prevalent which resulted in a multitude of newly created or cloned cryptocurrencies. Contending cryptocurrencies that emerged after Bitcoin’s success is referred to as ‘altcoins’ and they refer to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Peercoin, Namecoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Stellar, and Dash. Cryptocurrencies promise a wide range of technological innovations that have yet to be structured into being. Simplified payments between two parties without the need for a middle man is one aspect while leveraging blockchain technology to minimize transaction and processing fees for banks is another. Of course, cryptocurrencies have their disadvantages too. This includes issues of tax evasion, money laundering, and other illicit online activities where anonymity is a dire ingredient in solicitous and fraudulent activities. Read this Term, and more. The company utilizes STP trade execution, offering live webinars and education sessions and an extensive lineup of tradable assets, markets, platforms and trading options. Risk Warning: CFDs are complex instruments and carry a high risk of losing money quickly due to leverage. 78.94% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. brokers About the Author: Finance Magnates Staff Advertise with Us Write for Us Market News by Forexlive Events We can help Finance Magnates is a global B2B provider of multi-asset trading news, research and events with special focus on electronic trading, banking, and investing. Copyright © 2022 "Finance Magnates CY Ltd." All rights reserved.	27,469
This is what happens when you have your wedding at a beer joint. It's fun, but they don't actually provide a traditional religious wedding contract. \| Do Try This at Home: This is what happens when you have your wedding at a beer joint. It's fun, but they don't actually provide a traditional religious wedding contract. Other Writing Food & Recipes Sunday, September 26, 2010 This is what happens when you have your wedding at a beer joint. It's fun, but they don't actually provide a traditional religious wedding contract. For a Jewish wedding you're supposed to have a ketubah, or a wedding contract. It reads sort of similar to wedding vows, with promises to cherish and honor and all that stuff. At least, our ketubah says we're going to cherish and honor. And then you sign it during the wedding and the rabbi signs it and two witnesses sign it and THEN you get to cherish and honor and stuff. My friend said that when she got married, the temple gave them their ketubah. But apparently the honky-tonk bar and grill where we got married does not provide a ketubah, so we had to buy our own. And since we were buying our own, we figured we'd buy this one, because it was pretty: Our wedding was very funny (apparently): And it was very serious (apparently): And it was fun (apparently): And the ceiling was interesting (apparently): I say apparently. All I really remember was being happy. Because even though I always said I would never, ever, ever get married again, that was only because I didn't know there was The-Guy-That-Knows-A-Song-About-A-Chicken. And we belong together. With a bunch of beer advertisements. Thanks again for the photos, Jeff! I loves them! at 2:35 AM Labels: wedded bliss or was that wedding bliss? 14 comments: Mz-Cellaneous said... apparently it was fun!! Looks like it was a great time, and very cool wedding. 9/26/10, 10:47 AM Unknown said... Apparently it was a great day of apparent fun. 9/26/10, 11:20 AM Sharla said... You look happy and apparently everyone had a good time!! Congrats! Jill said... Thanks Mz-Cellaneous! SJ - Yeah, apparently! Arizaphale said... Best post evah! :-D 9/26/10, 6:43 PM Jill said... Tracy said... Your wedding photo's are beautiful. Looks like my kind of wedding :) Slyde said... i had no idea you got married in a bar.. that so cool! p.s. you made a beautiful bride :) Marlene said... Fantastic photos! It sure looks like you had a great time! Bruce Johnson said... Having a Jewish wedding in a Texas Honky-Tonk might show a bit of Hutspah.....but we sort of did you one better. Drove to Vegas in the middle of the night in an exotic sports car and on 2 hours sleep got married at the Excalibur Casino (the one that looks like a castle) dressed as a Sir Lancealot and Maid Marion. Hey, we even got a free bottle of champagen, a wedding video AND the marriage contract. .... all for less than $500. Beat that! (but that said, looks like you had a kick ass wedding) Jill said... Thanks Tracy! Slyde - Yes, it's sort of a long story, but we felt a traditional wedding in bar would...ummmm...well...I can't remember exactly why we decided it would work perfectly. I think The-Guy felt that it would be good if the guests had the option of playing pool. But it turned out that the tacos were actually served on top of the pool tables. Luckily there was also shuffleboard. Thanks Marlene!!!! It was a great time (I've been told! :-) ) Bruce - Yes, well...I was all for going the eloping route, but, y'know, my aunt would have been angry at me if we eloped...as opposed to getting married in a bar, which totally didn't upset anyone (or anyone that told me about it at any rate).	3,879
I am a 22 year old male with a longstanding history of acne dating back to when I was 15 or so. I had effectively managed my acne for the past few years on Dan's Regimen on Acne.org using benzoyl peroxide until about a year ago when my acne started to flare up again. I think the only difference in my life since then has been the addition of a full time job so it's likely that stress is a contributing factor. I regularly exercise, however, so I feel like I manage it pretty feel. My acne is moderate in degree I'd say and it is primarily on my chin, nose, upper lip, and (only within the past year) my anterior neck. I also suffer from mild back acne as well. Anyways, about 2 months ago, I gave myself a week or 2 off from the acne.org treatment and then I started the Coral Kavi bar. I immediately noticed that my oily skin was less oily, which was nice, but the acne persisted, albeit slightly improved. I tried using only the Coral Kavi and the weekly Salicylic Acid 15 for about a month and then I decided to just use the Anti-Acne System System III. I haven't really noticed any notable improvement since the addition of the new items. My regimen has been: What would you recommend at this point? I am considering switching back to the Acne.org regimen but I have heard such great reviews about this product so I wanted to give it a try. I was also wondering how much of the SPF we are we supposed to use at a time. I usually use a quarter's size amount each time to cover my neck and face but it seems like a disproportionate amount because the bottle is only 2 ounces. The SPF seems to get depleted much more quickly than the toner and HA 95 so I wasn't sure if I was maybe using too much. THANK YOU so much for your help! I look forward to hearing back from you. Link to comment Share on other sites Posted September 24, 2012 Posted September 24, 2012 One change that you may wish to consider would be to switch use of the KAVI Salicylic Acid from a weekly peel to a daily spot treatment. After cleansing, a small dab with a cotton swab to the affected areas (be sure to not expose healthy tissue surrounding the lesion to the salicylic acid) once per day for two to three days should yield significant improvement to the recovery process. Regarding SPF30, you should use it sparingly at a dispensing rate equal to or only slightly more than what you employ for the Hyaluronic Acid 95. If you find a different rate of application to be more effective for you, you always have the option of purchasing it separately from the anti-acne systems so as to keep stock between the different products in the system more equivalent.	2,840
nine People Inform us The way they Came across The Future Spouses – Society of Clinical Microbiologists home about us Members Activities upcoming Events Become a Member nine People Inform us The way they Came across The Future Spouses nine People Inform us The way they Came across The Future Spouses There are so many incredible lovers trailing most of the pictures within our genuine wedding parties gallery, and sometimes when we see the brand new stories of how they satisfied, we simply must express him or her. Now, we have rounded upwards some of the cutest “How exactly we Satisfied” stories, away from freshman dorm move-inside the go out to seriously nosy aunts and you can adorably awkward were unsuccessful select-upwards outlines. I challenge you to search through this type of nice stories and not smile regarding ear-to-ear towards the end! “We truly don’t contemplate why I thought it absolutely was an excellent tip to drive 45 moments anywhere into the good snowstorm to go out having men you to definitely my personal aunt explained I merely needed to fulfill. I’d forgotten trying to find their apartment, thus Jeff bundled up-and concerned choose me. Regarding headlights I am able to select their blond locks, form larger blue eyes and red face. Which have a giant look for the their deal with, the guy jumped into car and you will told you ‘Hi! So nice to help you finally satisfy your.'” – Believe & Jeff, OH “Ross and i also satisfied for the Chi town compliment of common family members (a couple – in the wedding party). Several you decided to go to eating one-night, and you may Ross sat across of me. 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Derek with his friend was in fact scoping out of the female in our hallway while they got on campus for a time to own sporting events. I was updates using my friend and you can roommate in the opposite end of hall enjoying and you can laughing in the them. After they caused it to be to your stop of your own hallway we put ourselves and chose to all go out you to definitely night. The remainder are records!” – Brittany & Derek, OH “The 1st time We placed vision on her behalf are throughout the this lady scientific college or university positioning. First thing We noticed was exactly how cute she is actually, as well as how much the lady laugh reminded me personally out of Julia Roberts! Seem to, I found myself perhaps not the first one to actually notice which – it will be wasn’t new to the girl. A whole lot for making use of one given that a collect range!” – Stephanie & Gayan, MO Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. 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To introduce this conversation, I’d like to use the one of skin. If an adult man’s first clothing is skin, then we find “private” items of clothing, then various articles. So then the bed, certain furniture, rugs, the space of an apartment with floors and ceilings and walls. The mysterious sum of linings form a wrapping that we receive in part without being able to modify it, and in part we construct and modify without stopping. This represents the last “private clothing” of man before exposing himself in the public sphere. You have designed many interiors with clients: different architectures and needs. For you, has this sequence and stratification emerged? That is, of living first in oneself, one’s own body, and then the various spaces and wrappings that each one of us develops? What are the constants? The house tells a lot about a person, more than clothing can. Even though the walls and the structures do not adhere to the skin, they are very important clothing. There are people who show themselves through the clothing they wear, but are reluctant to let anyone into their own home. Instead, architects and doctors are allowed, or even requested. And it is when the person thinks that a layer must be changed. A wall comes down, another is added, it can be covered or colored. Or you decide to pass to completely new layers and change homes. When we begin, the house presents itself in a certain way and when we leave, it is entirely different. During the time of remodelling, many people experience the transformation intensively together with us. The most exciting and childish is the conversion to color, because a very thin layer really changes the usual way of living. The first meeting with a client is often a mix of mystery and revelation. Doing a project for someone means this person becomes a person or family with stories, passions, doubts. Trying to understand a person where maybe they don’t know themselves, how perceive certain desires. It is always a new adventure. And you are the guides. When clients look for you, do they know what they want, do they have a precise idea, or do they delegate it to you? The client comes to a professional to create order and give concreteness to ideas. When he wants to have new ideas or it looks like he doesn’t have any idea, the job of the architect is to make them emerge. Therefore, what is fundamental for a project to turn out right, not only and not so much from an aesthetical point of view, is to understand. Are there questions that you always ask when you meet a client or is it a free conversation? It is very important to know what is the favorite place in the house, where you go to read the newspaper or a book. How do you proceed? Where do you meet, in the house to be re-modeled or in your office, and while you talk, do you make drawings? I must see the home, its light, the transparency, the points of view, and then within one day, I elaborate more or less, three different solutions. The one I instinctively feel, because the geometry that comes out of a floor plan is very strong. The second one is closer to the expectations of the client and the third one is contradictory, the opposite compared to the first on so that I can test it. This is the fundamental phase of the job. Seeing the houses in which contemporary architects live, I am really surprised by the discrepancy. Do people look to give an image of themselves in furnishings, comfort aside, or of what they would like to be, between nostalgia and hope? Is the house the parade, the show, as Mario Praz used to define it? That is to say, private and privileged spaces, a theatre for life. Can the house be the last refuge of intimacy but also a place for a parade? I believe that people want more and more a home that is ‘nice and comfortable’ with an inclination to take part in it, to transmit affection. The home of today should be a refuge and at the same time spread out and open itself to guests. Thanks to a certain subdivision, with mobile walls and other technological help, a house could function as an accordion – that thanks to its bellows, it contracts and spreads itself. Homes of the past worked this way, alternating rooms of different dimensions and new uses. There were always doors and secret passages and therefore it was able to convert and change to something new. Then there are people who, with a little bit of shame, say I live in a beautiful and elegant home made by an architect, but I don’t feel so great here. Perhaps these people reveal a banal reality: a desire for minimalism, high tech, elegance and other labels leave people dissatisfied because they are not sufficiently modeled on their personal needs. Walter Benjamin said living leaves an imprint, specifying that “interior” is not only what encases the private but it is also a universe. Developing this line of thinking, we could add the public and private history of the client or even of the architects. I have in mind a conversation with Luigi Snozzi, in which he stated that the inhabitant needed to be able to modify his space. Whether light or invasive, how is it that these traces, connected to who lives inside the home, are never shown in magazines? It’s the result of an ambiguity in the work of architecture. On the one hand you try to bring out the personality of the man who will live in that house, however, the project follows a n autonomous path and discipline: sometimes the schedule is tight and you cannot balance the two components. And so, when I see something coming into the house that is not part of the choices o f the project, I h ave a temptation to detach myself and in the end, I do not allow myself to censure an accessory that comes from the emotional sphere of the person who lives there. So if the client tends not to separate himself from this, I am willing to take a step back from my convictions. In “Philosophy in the Bedroom”, there are objects that tell personal stories. How do you behave faced with the “stories from a drawer” that tell of loves, lives, deeds, defeats? There are two distinct houses within the same house. The one before moving day and the one the day after. The first one is made of conjecture, a good part of the choices were made with an understanding. But once the job is finished the client has chessboard and he can have fun moving the pieces and anything can happen. We lived in those houses with a virtual decoration during the work, developing a sensitivity of an imaginary inhabitant. We tried to imagine in every room the sensations to be activated and the decoration that corresponds to them. It’s a beautiful game. It’s the job of every responsible architect not to be always at the center of what he/she does. Sometimes there is a meeting/challenge between architect and client where the architect is defeated. When the architect ends up the victim of his own narcissism. I was shocked when I saw and understood the Müller House in Prague and the Jaoul house in Neuilly-sur-Seine, close to Paris. The first, designed b y Loos, is certainly one of the emblems of pure rationalism. So, he represents the first to represent the hard and pure rationalism. It is surprising to see that in t he master bedroom Loos chose the toile de Jouy which is one of the most traditional fabrics imaginable. For the Jaoul house, designed by Le Corbusier, the strength of the spaces is such as to demonstrate that being orthodox to live there i s useless: a good project goes beyond a formal way of decorating. Today the houses are inhabited by two sisters with their respective families. And inside you can find an orthodox house and the other one is a freak house but both are very beautiful. On the Threshold of a House In the contemporary world of architecture, something important is lost more and more often, which is the notion of threshold, as Aldo van Eyck defined it. Benjamin comes to mind again, when he said at the end of the ‘20s that we were getting poor in terms of the threshold. You give a very large importance to the entrance, is there a threshold in particular to which you give great importance, is it the entrance or the first place that welcomes you to a home? The entrance is a room that I love very much, for how I live. I remember that in my parents’ home, the greetings and the last conversations moved pleasantly outside. The last conversations were on the doorstep, standing up or sitting on the couch, we continued talking. The entrance is a room where you stay, almost in suspension, it is not a space to be crossed quickly. Some of the qualities that you are talking about are also the qualities of the apartment where you have been living for the past twenty years. Can we say that your apartment is a matrix for the houses you design? It is the attempt to remake a situation, maybe improve it, something already tried and in which I still believe, that I need and I like to share. A font of inspiration, are also the houses in which we lived as children. Not because they are a model, but because in those houses you thought many times how the ideal home might be “when you grew up”. And at the same time how that first home was expressing some relationships inside the family, with neighboroughs, with the world, with the sea. And your travels as inspiration? The development of a design is influenced by the experience of travel and is constantly updated with images that come from various places. We have always tried to personally see the works of the great masters. We have really spent our lives visiting perhaps a thousand works. Observing for a long time each detail and trying to live the atmosphere – elaborating some variations, so to be able to reproduce them in our designs. Specifically in Villa Spinola Carrara in Quarto, the entrance is a special room where the presence of the books seems to whisper “welcome”. Yes, it is a good beginning. Hospitality shows itself through shared readings and trips, souvenirs in a real and mental sense. In this sense the trip we made to the Charles Moore h ouse i n Los Angeles in 1988 was fundamental. You’ve done interiors in other countries. Does the sense of entrance adapt to specific cultural or geographic questions? In London t he entrance became a sort of Italian piazza, with a high table, two stools, a large clock, a blackboard on which to write, an informal space. It is a transition space, you can eat and chat. Much livelier t han t he living room. A place to be together like in an Italian square. Also in the Sant’Ilario house, the entrance shows different influences. Yes, one influence arrived from a small and pure work o f Carlo Scarpa, a true paradigm of threshold. So we tried to connect the entrance to the vastness of the sea, this is the fundamental idea of the project. It w as s o beautiful to look outside that we delineated the entrance axis with two splayed walls pointing them toward the window, which is slightly lateral and creating a sort of oculus. It was a moment of suspension in which you could be projected toward the outdoors. From that window at any hour of the day, the light shines on who enters: at times the light shining on the sea is an intense light and there w e understood that in Liguria, light enters the room like crazy and those two walls, like wings, in those moments marked deep chiaroscuros, defining the main axis of the house. The other axis, the longitudinal one, runs parallel along the windows and goes all the way through the home creating some niches of light along the way. I had noticed that you always work on axes on the inside of the house that give the impression that an interior is bigger than it is really. Almost always we try to hinge the new way the house looks on two perpendicular axes. In Sant’Ilario, the second axis, the one along the corridor, concludes with a scaled backdrop, sensitive to light that shines. We were happy to use an element dear to that man, an important “neighbor”, Carlo Scarpa who right in Sant’Ilario designed his last work (Galli Tomb, 1978). Even in the Zoagli house there is a strong relationship between inside and outside. There is almost a double perception. Is this a house introverted or is it open to the vastness? It is decidedly open to vastness. Originally, it was the sub-structure of a Nineteenth Century belvedere. It is a house that is totally dedicated to looking outside, half grotto and half facing the wooden terrace and the horizon. In your houses, the interiors are joints between contiguous spaces. The trail inside an apartment is for you very important matter, calibrated to the smallest detail, with the goal of enlarging perception of space and dilating distance. Moreover, it allows circumnavigating volumes, as if there were houses inside the house. The free circulation in a house is one of our constants. There are only a few houses where we were unable to do it. It is a sign of great ability because at times you are able also to reproduce it in small/tight spaces. Starting from our first home (house 3), and then in house 57, we used a simple trick, other times it took a little structural work. Gadamer with accents from Heidegger, observed that, when art organizes space, the architecture works to give shape to the space as well as to liberate it. Do you see the inside of your houses like a continuous space where you carve out spaces to liberate them, or is it a “house” in the house, alternating the thresholds? The tension toward the continuity of the space exists, but since we are talking about a home that needs to distinguish types of spaces, to use the language of music, you can use agogics, making spaces that are more dense first and then open them up. Spaces become more specific according to function, for example a recess becomes a closet, but in a fluid way. The perception of a house is amplified thanks to light variations on doses and passages of light, thanks to reductions or increases in height. Everything has the purpose of going beyond the space of the house. What does it mean to go beyond? It means to lay out an easy relationship with the outside from the inside. The relationship can be with a tree, with the shingles of the church across the street, or with the cars that are passing in the distance. About Gadamer, I really like the intuition that architecture can be a filter to be able to see the vitality that is beyond the architecture itself. Room by room, we look for the sensations and visuals that can accompany the person who lives there. Before and during the work, we enter a room, and turning over a couple of buckets to sit on, we study the position for breakfast, lunch, or other domestic activities. We simulate living inside there. We look for the best point, and comparing with each other, we challenge our feelings. This is an analytic procedure through simulation that has also to do with internal and external trajectories and the quality of light. The building site is a moment of testing out and verifying. Or do you consider it a moment in the process? Recently it happened to me, to go to a construction site at a certain time and notice that you could see a tree with a certain light, unusually illuminated. So I built from this feeling a place to stop and sit. They are casual realizations, that to realize them you have to be “distracted”. It is u seful t o go to t he j ob site without any particular need, without anyone asking you anything. Silently looking for space. We were talking about Luigi Snozzi and changes: does the house accept or put up with change? The house is conceived to be open to changing w ays of living. Cutting the different environments, in a certain way. Separating the room from its accessory elements allows the room to make itself available to be used in a new way. For example, the kitchen almost always has a pantry on the side, the bedroom has a closet, the bathroom if possible, is in or next to the bedroom, and is subdivided. The whole is made of larger units next to smaller units. So an order decides the shape and hierarchy, often starting from an axis. Moreover, we almost never use curved walls or sine curves, because we have noticed there are limitations in future transformations. Many houses on which you have worked are from the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries. House 11 located at Forte Sperone is one of the oldest ones. You met with the strong presence of the existing old fortification walls. On one hand, this was a rather tense confrontation. On the other, you danced a tango with this house, approaching and rejecting, adapting to a partner, using force or inertia. There are functional elements like stairs and fireplace presented as independent objects. Should these plastic presences be read as real sculptures in space? he floor plan of the house was a wonderful rhomboid: on the inside six cross vaults. Implacable, very strong, and far from being livable. We intervened with connecting (stairs and bridges) and steady elements (fireplace) in order to keep the character of the ancient munitions storage room where the material of the walls was of extraordinary depth and exuberance. And at the center among the great pilasters we built the stairs. It seemed right to do work among the great spaces, so that they remain so. We had to p lace objects and materials of the present without detracting from the sobriety of the structure of the past. It is an attitude that you develop also in other architectures. Elsewhere it is more ordinary and discreet. The spaces tend to be apparently disjointed and then re-joined. It is an architecture for living made of rooms, but also of passages, antechambers, corridors, recesses, stairs and shortcuts. If a home does not have good small surfaces, it reduces some of the rooms to the status of service areas, in fact you gain fullness in the remaining rooms that breathe with greater volume like in house 62. It a lesson that comes from Soane and his house museum in London, where he scans different room, never dropping the tension. There is a house from the inside and a house from the outside. When the walls have different thicknesses, and are quite thick like in old homes, when for example external and internal spatial logic does not coincide. Modernism proposed thin walls both inside and out. Your interiors are prevalently with old homes with imposing thick walls, sometimes with niches carved out. Working on these architectures, have you noticed the “two houses” and the role of the wall as an arbiter, or is the interior for you such a pregnant condition as to exist on its own? It is true that the outside is different from the inside, but the historic architecture with its secrets and its camouflage conveys solutions in these situations. Sometimes it transposes everything to a surreal level with invisible doors, false perspectives, secret rooms. Then the principle of the accordion for the walls seems, again, useful to us, compacting or stretching as it follows the functions. The inside wall may be treated with maximum thickness, making it the lining for a piece of furniture. And in those cases, when the wall is so reduced that looks like “a piece of paper”, we prefer to work with a wooden wall. You pay great attention to integrating furniture with architecture in the tradition of Wright, Aalto, etc., so that the furniture does not appear individually as an added, extraneous presence. Do you make an exception for objects with sentimental value? It is very stimulating to be a public architect, busy doing buildings for the benefit of the community, like the Maritime Station, the sports center and various museums. At the same time, it is also stimulating to take care of a single individual with the problems of a residence, remaining faithful to a single idea of architecture. There is a considerable discretion in your work. Sometimes however we can find unusual appearances, metaphysical and even a little surrealistic, such as the giant clock and a blue dome. There are explicit citations of Robert Venturi. How do you behave faced with history, both ancient or recent? On the one hand there is the attempt to discreetly make an operation that is a “poetic reaction”. On the other, we enter a field of language which we have developed in a crucial period of our work. There was a time, from 1990 t o 2000, w hen we worked with old houses, where we worked with a language that was somewhat “postmodern”. The reference to Venturi was the most refined way for us. Trying to be “contemporary” in homes with traditional customers who wanted a strong theme of the traditional. We needed to use a language “in fashion” – coherent with the walls and furniture – without being banal in the contrast between old and new. The post-modern, as we have known it in a trip to the U.S. in t he ‘80s, through the Michael Graves exhibition, was the beginning. From there, we took a step back to Lou Kahn and then made one “forward” toward Charles Moore during a long meeting at his home in Sea Ranch in 1988. We started thinking about a new key for working in a context like Italy, with clients fond of that language. What quality did you take from postmodernism, an ambiguous term? Post-modernism was honest in recognizing in cities and generally in our culture, permanent elements, the so-called constants of history. A lot of work can still be d one on permanent e lements: Leon Battista Alberti, John Soane, Plečnik, among others, have intercepted those elements and have known how to renew them. In this sense, the key to interpret the modern home is the Anglo-Saxon one. In ‘88 at Harvard and Berkeley studying how Wright, Sullivan and some California architects were working on the classical repertoire, I was convinced that the Anglo-Saxon culture expresses a greater freshness in translating constants. More recently, Moore and Venturi were i deal architects, because they knew the repertoire well, interpreting it effectively and with great respect for livability. Aldo Rossi in Europe and the trend did the same but in a too intellectual way, with exploitation of the function. The architect normally engages in a lot of experiences and many jobs, but few people have the opportunity to work in such diverse fields: for example interior fittings on ships. Are there differences and parallels between the inside of a ship and that of a home? Yes, in the “Costa Victoria” we created micro homes for sailors. Almost everyone had a minimal cell, typically 2×2 meters with all kinds of equipment to be able to stay in his/her world. I remember that the idea started out with the room of Van Gogh. And you have also done public spaces on ships… The differences between a public space on the ship and one on land is that on the ship we tried to provide spaces for escape. For example we had a dining room for 300 people where we put two wide painted panels – about 7,50 x 1,70 meters – inspired to Henri Rosseau representing the Jungle. As if to say, do not put pictures of the sea in the marine world, but images of the earth, in a most archaic and savage way. Working for a ship, in a sense it’s almost easy due to the fact that the organization of work and space becomes more ordered. And then in naval design, architectural design is highly assisted by those who make the ship. It is a very well organized world. Obviously when you start working with them, you have to be efficient and aware of the technical knowledge that you must work with. You have to be very flexible and quick to understand how your proposal might fit into their system. From the outside you can imagine that the work of an architect is much more limited on a ship than in a house, especially on the rationalized use of space, or commercial exploitation of certain spaces. No, because in a house you do the design but, due to a lot of interactions with builder, owner and burocracy, you play multiple roles. On the ship it’s easier, even if you deal with higher tehcnology. When you hear the phrase “a beautiful home”, what do you think? A place to feel good. It is a very concise definition, but really right on. It is the result of a composition where the visuals, the arrival routes, the interior paths, the proportions and rhythm of the environments have been taken care of: high, low, wide, narrow and the colors. The limit between architectural space, furnishings and design is less and less clear. Do you sometimes hear that decorators know better how to design interiors? I think in many cases yes, because they have a stronger sense of how to feel good, although sometimes it is a bit superficial. For me, feeling good is deeprooted and cannot be ignored: if I go to a hotel, I do not hesitate to change the room, even for one night. I move the bed and other things. Sometimes clients call me to discuss possible further changes in their home and it makes me immediately want to move the furniture. I involve the client, we do it together. In those cases I feel the urgency to act. How do you acquire this technique? The sense of comfort in a home responds to a series of mental exercises that we do among spatial perception, fabrics, colors and memories. Memoirs of architectural tours, films seen, houses visited. Slowly a reservoir has been accumulated from which to extract with great rapidity what the client needs in that moment. Your mind is inhabited by images of affection, recurrent architectural forms or fragments or by many obsessions from which you liberate yourself designing projects? I would say small obsessions. Affection is maybe a better definition. There are constants in domestic life: you can wait years before proposing a certain atmosphere that comes from who knows where: Strehler’s Cherry Orchard or Beatrix Potter’s scenarios. Your mind is inhabited by images of affection, recurrent architectural forms or fragments or by many obsessions from which you liberate yourself designing projects? Having your “dog house” to return to, the home is a place where you relax, regenerate and depart again. And in t his Mariri is very determined, that is, to offer through the home through “little nooks” of well-being, and she does it with great attention to detail, to adhere to that model she has in mind. It’s her constant attitude, 24/7 for 35 years, linked to her own personal history. She goes for a short trip by car and makes her own little house inside the car. What stands out in the value of how to live is this idea of living well in daily life, starting with, for example, the fireplace. We have had one in our house in the city for 20 years, and we believe that it is good for you and we try to convince our customers to do have one too. Just like we think that a dining room, however small, but close to the kitchen allows for always eating comfortably without having to settle for a frugal meal at a counter. They are devices that work and as such are proposed to clients. What do you think of architectural experience to the effect that the world is in motion? The world is transitory, in the world everything changes, then the home should reflect this instability in the world? I am fascinated by changes and at the same time, I need to have stable points ‘to catch my breath’. And then the home is like a body or, as Auguste Perret said, architecture is the skeleton of a human body. Starting from here, one could say that it is not made for echoing external suggestions. It has to simply welcome, like a womb. How do you imagine the home of tomorrow? Maybe tomorrow our homes will flake off and we will have only simple rooms spread over the territory, where we will perform specific activities in various hours of the day or night. Or maybe the home will never change. The home as factory, in a negative sense. There is a home made of industrial materials. It is a changing house, also transparent, open to the outside and inside, an extroverted house. It appears mechanical. But it is also welcoming. The house built by Chareau in Paris. It is a house from the ‘20s, all metal, glass, wood and cement. It has stability, it is comfortable and reassuring… These things amuse me a lot. I try to do this in my own small way. But this sense of movement is essential in the play of daily life. Like c hanging scenes in theatre. We are intrigued by becoming more skillful in giving form to change. In other words, we have become more sensitive in putting together elements that have multiple uses and meanings. The Home of the Artisans: Wood, Marble, Iron, Plaster, Fabric, Color. Regarding remodeling work, years ago Andro Corboz published an essay, “Old Buildings and Modern Functions”. The book identified three different strategies of projects: one was the legibility of intervention, the second was reversibility, the third was contemporaneousness, that is, a project’s ability to exploit what the age offers. Is there resonance for you in Carboz’s criteria? Why did you put a white wood floor covering on the original flooring in Villa Rusca [house 105]? The same thing happened also in house 90 where there is artisanship, it is difficult to makeover and I do not feel like demolishing it. There is always something to learn from works that were done 100 years ago. It is low tech and you have to respect it. And so, the solution is not erasing something that has a value in and of itself, even if only for the trials and tribulations of the craftsman who made it. The home speaks about individuals who live in them for months or years, but the materials that we find inside speak about entire On the subject of artisans and materials, the interiors of a few of your houses appear like treasure chests, with great care to details. There is wood, treated with paint or reflections, some rooms have the impression of being a great big piece of furniture. In house 57 like in house 80, there were so many functions that were supposed to insert, that we couldn’t lose space in centimeters for the thickness of the walls. So only the wood allowed us to make spaces with dividers 3 centimeters thick. Each room grew out of another like an interlocking game managed in the end by four assemblers, almost like circus performers. Let’s observe another house where there is great attention, and complexity, where various linings and wooden items are used, that mutate mysteriously into spaces to be discovered. It is a home built for a family and the daddy is one who loves every detail. It was a home that was deeply desired and we had to put together comfort and technology. It was the first “smart house” that we did i n 2000. In the bathroom of house 57 there is a lot of attention to marble covering, especially the floor where you inserted a staggered sheet, almost out of scale with the dimension of the room. Perhaps we wanted a rug of marble as large as the entire bathroom. It was a pink from Portugal that we sought for a long time, because it had to be unique. The different layering allowed us also to link the axis of the window with that of the door because they were not completely aligned. By doing so, we created that movement that when repeated in the other direction became a game. Aside from the best intentions, these are things that happen when you draw. Going back to house 105 in Villa Rusca in Genoa, there you framed the doors of the hall with double edges. An elegant and refined detail. What was the problem underlying this detail? It came from a problem of interferences between cables and beams, together with a fact of minimum height of things in the hall. We sought a solution that was able to create harmony and unity through an architectural motif. Is it possible that the solution to problems like this can become an element that is taken up in another home where there is no technical matter to be solved, in other words, that it becomes a stylistic element that characterizes your work? In the specific case the cable coverings pronounced in house 105 were already used in another house. In this case too the presence of very thin walls was annoying. It was to counter these walls that we proposed a thickness that almost like a powerful blade cutting, to oppose the walls with strength. In some houses, you worked with fabrics. This happened for example in the home in the Villa of Quarto, where it was the covering of a cushion of an armchair. Is this something you propose, or do you wait for your client to ask? Together we felt this need, so we did it. Sennett said that a well-woven fabric and a well-cooked fish allow us to imagine wider categories of goodness. Why did you decide to substitute the fabric of a chair from the 18th century with a fabric imported from Africa with a design like Paul Klee? The point is to understand the right level of affinity between the two materials: the woodwork done in the 18th century and the chromatic work and geometry of the fabric made today. In a glance, you can see that in the end, space and time work together, compressed into one object. The chair and its fabric bring together for a moment the manual skill and thought of two artisans who lived two hundred years and 6000 kilometers apart (animal laborans and homo faber). How do you find fabric for the upholstery of an 18th century chair? It is not a predictable research: if someone sets out to find a specific item and doesn’t find it, let’s say that running around, at times, certain things jump out at you and you like them. The right thing to do is leave without the urgency of finding just that thing, because you do not know if it exists or where. When you finish a house, are there surprises or does what you planned come true? We are always amazed, going back to the initial sketches: what we had imagined is exactly there and in those proportions. As if the beginning and the end match. And in Villa Spinola Carrara you had a star made on the floor to give some light to the room. Is it unusual to find formal or decorative elements in your work? Why did you chose exactly that sign in that case? There were two options: either an eye or a star. Now I do not remember why we chose the star. But we liked that shape at the base of the fireplace and it worked with the “starry” ceiling. And after the star of the bath at Portaluppi’s Villa Necchi I was reminded of the master’s ease, which is linked to the freshness of certain “homes without architects”. In home 84 you inserted a blue cupola. Other places you used sails as false ceilings. Any link? The vault is not a theme that is developed in contemporary architecture. It is a topic we developed in 2005 in house 84: a house that was designed on the interior by Luigi Carlo Daneri. Here we have created a dome. The dining room had a table that could not be at the center. It was slightly eccentric because you had to leave space on t he side. So the physical / geometrical center of the room didn’t correspond with the point where the table is. The dome was used to provide a new center for the eating area restoring its dignity. A few months later, we met Makovecz in Hungary and found a certain similarity and resemblance with a dome that he had in his studio, and it made us laugh. Still on the subject, we did work at Villa Rusca and house 66 i n Milan: i n the latter the clients were sailors and we thought the image of the sail could attract them to their passion for that sport. When you use a solution like this, we feel the person who lives there might like to find a simple and plastic form of their own life. It is like when you make a gift to someone hoping they like it. Also there was a strictly compositional reason: the vault was spread over three rooms in a line (the dining room, living room and TV area) and served to unify them. They communicated in the center through wide gaps in the walls and open sliding doors. There was a beautiful communion between the three environments. What connection can there be between a sail and a veil of cement? The tension. In fact, drawing something so it looks like something else, is slippery because of an underlying ambiguity. But we believe that this is the challenge, or rather, a typical content of architecture: to resemble or refer to something else. From the Apollo’s walls in Delphi simulating the most archaic stones, to Renzo Piano, often proposing natural affinities for his details. You can make a false vault of very tense shape. There is always a transmission of meaning: the language of a growing tension and thinning of the material thanks to technological progress, passing significantly from one century to another. From human skin to a home’s skin… What is the final layer? How is the fabric or color? The choice of the final layer with which you dress the walls – the color – goes back to a visual archive of one or two lives. Sometimes entire backgrounds other times just fragments from Seventeenth centur y frescoes in the palaces of our city come to mind. The irresistible temptation to transfer them into the houses we design. In some occasions even the colors of the clothes from Renaissance paintings. And they are also the colors of souvenirs that we take with us as tourists: the lilac of the Royal Academy in London by Norman Foster, the white on the heads on the beams in traditional Japanese homes. Up to the periwinkle shirt of Peter Smithson. And when the opportunity presents itself finally the obsession is satisfied. I’m kidding but it is part of us and our Italian-ness. We want to include, to save, to accumulate. And the house – in spite of minimalism – is the ideal place of stratification, of ritual and strangely even of memory. Speaking of color, there is another large interior where you used a lot of color and I mean the work at Ponte Doria. Is there a parallel or an influence in the use of color in homes and the use of color at Ponte Doria or can they be considered two completely different things? Color is one of the ingredients to use, like in cooking, and we use it both in homes and in public buildings. There are those who express themselves using a white background; this could be a characteristic of the Le Corbusier style purism of Richard Meier, especially in the Decorative Arts Museum in Frankfurt, but also more recently in his Barcelona museum. We have always used the color. We love color: at times we like to paint the entire room or, like in Ponte Doria, only one pattern. There the intention was to underscore the geometric design. The assumption was that rationalist architecture was icy outside and colorful inside. Here I remember, above all, the Villa Müller in Prague by Adolf Loos. Patterns of a different color that we vary from room to room bring out the depth in visual perception. A dark pattern in a room may serve to enhance something in perspective in the next room. In reinforced concrete houses, for example, you could have more freedom to overlap surfaces, color helps mark the diversity. We don’t always use the same range of colors. It depends on the situation: for example in our first house there was a large window looking out onto the port through which beautiful red sunsets reverberated. So we decided to “extend” these sunsets, making them enter the house and painting the ceiling a warm red and the doors of three different shades of green. The house was in the hills and the colors that came in from outside, from the sea and the sky, could not be separated from the interior space. These situations might well have seen only ten days a year, but those days are well worth waiting for.	40,603
He lets out a low laugh, soft and deadly. His tongue darts out to wet his lips, tempting my eyes to follow his movement and I cave in. “ Interesting. ” He whispers under his breath, his breath fanning my face. “ Next time you try to test me, you must remember one thing…” He lets out, his voice an exotic caress. Unconsciously, I want to press my thighs together, but I can’t. He is keeping them parted, his body just inches away from pressing against mine - crushing and weighing me down. I take in a shaky breath, looking deep into his coal eyes. “ If I lose any more of my men to clear your stupid doubts…” A wry smile curls his lips. I can tell he is not going to say something good. He leans in, breaking all codes of professionalism like he always does. I squeeze my eyes shut, the sheer intensity of his ga Locked Chapter Continue to read this book on the APP Previous ChapterNext Chapter Related chapters She's Mine Chapter 11 VALENTINAAgent Vitali takes the notepad from the table and looks down at it. I watch him, my chest refusing to heaving up and down for a moment.“ This is enough for now. ” He whispers to me, to himself.Then, Agent Vitali picks up his head and looks directly at me just in time I loose the breath I held back for a while.He knows I didn’t tell him everything still, but he thinks it’s enough for now. Why? I don’t know and for now, I don’t want to find out either.Just a little time, that’s all I want besides the death of Nico and destruction of the Thorn Clan.“ You can go to your room now. ” Agent Vitali takes his piercing eyes off me and tears the pages from the notepad, all the while I continue watching him.I want to look away, but I can’t. I am caught up in his eyes which are cast down and his lips that are pressed together firmly.What it might f She's Mine Chapter 12 MATTEO~A LITTLE WHILE EARLIER…I am sitting on my bed in my own room. Darkness and silence are my companions right now. The usual thing.My eyes are fixed on the darkness clouding the wall in front of me.My mind keeps drifting off to Valentina. She is refraining from revealing everything to me. She gave me the necessary information earlier, but she kept all the good, important secrets to herself.The barbie doll thinks she can fool me and hold everything back. She thinks she is a good liar and I won’t understand what she is trying to do, but she is so very wrong about this.I know all the what, why, and how when it comes to Valentina Morgan.She wants time and reassurance and a little support.And I? I just want to know where Nico must be hiding and where he is keeping our f She's Mine Chapter 13 VALENTINAI don’t know for how long I cried and tried to pull myself out of the effect of that nightmare, memories.I lost track of time and my brain also gave up on me, sending me into a deep slumber where memories once again came back to haunt me.I wasn’t dreaming about these memories for so long, but now I think I am starting to fall into the abyss of PTSD once more.The time when I wake up, I find myself on the bed and alone in the room. My puffy eyes search the room, recalling what had happened earlier.Inhaling deeply, I ignore the ache I feel in my head, throat and heart.I can’t believe I held him and cried like a clueless child. He could be laughing at me for all I know.‘ It’s alright. It was just a nightmare. ’ His deep voice whispers in my ears, making me gulp my saliva.He comforted me even if it felt like he didn She's Mine Chapter 14 MATTEO Valentina was going to ruin the whole thing for me by telling Caelum that she had already revealed many things to me. I got here in time. I should Thank the Devil because God is never on my side. “ Get the fuck out. ” I stand in front of Valentina, hiding her from Caelum unconsciously as I hiss at him. “ Why are you getting so angry? I came because you asked me to come. ” He shrugs his shoulders, making me grit my teeth. If my goal was not stopping me, I would have shown this bastard how getting on my nerves can affect him. “ This is my job, Caelum. Don’t fuck with me. Get out of here. ” I stand tall, my eyes drilling holes in Caelum’s head. His eyes squint, making my jaw tick. The asshole is really suspicious about me and he wants to poke his nose in my business…This won’t end good for him if he continues getting his ass in my way. “ Relax. I was just having a harmless conversation with… ” He le She's Mine Chapter 15 VALENTINA“ Thanks…for uh - last night and I am sorry…I didn’t want to wake you up. ” I whisper in a timid voice, forgetting about what just happened for a brief moment.His wrist is in my hand and the warmth radiating off his skin is seeping through mine. My fingertips are tingling and itching to be dragged over his skin which feels a little rough against my soft skin.This is a different kind of feeling, nothing like the disgust I felt whenever any man in my life touched me.Agent Vitali turns around to face me all of a sudden. His coal globes lift to mine and I cease breathing for a mere second.“ You can wake me up every night if you want. I won’t refuse to come. ” He replies seductively, the killer tempting smile lazily stretching across his thick lips.There is a hidden meaning behind his words this time and for once, I think it’s more than just a dirty offer. It&rs She's Mine Chapter 16 VALENTINAMy smile falls off my lips after a while and I make my way to my bed.What am I thinking? I think, sitting down on the bed.Did Agent Vitali really manage to get my mind off the main topic? We were talking about Caelum.Caelum said that I haven’t told anything to Agent Vitali when I have already told him many things. What’s happening? I don’t understand.As I think about it too deeply, I can only think of two reasons for Caelum to be behaving this way.Number One. Caelum and Agent Vitali are playing games with me so they can confuse me and eventually make me talk about all the other things that I know.And Number Two. Agent Vitali kept all the information to himself instead of reporting it to the Agency.The second option is absurd. Agent Vitali works for the Agency…Why would he hold off information?I shake my head to my She's Mine Chapter 17 VALENTINASuch a tempting offer. As usual.Just stay put and everything will be over soon, he says. I can’t tell what the hidden meaning behind this offer is.“ Okay. ” I nod my head in a trance.He watches me until I leave the bedsheets and place my hands in my lap. I realise how hot my face is and it must be turning red, giving away every emotion he made me feel just now.“ Good. ” He smiles lazily and gets up from the bed before walking out of the room that I call mine, temporarily.Just as he leaves, I take in huge intake of air. Then, I release the breath through my nose slowly.Something is wrong with him and it’s confirmed now. Everyone is playing their own games here and they all have their own goals to achieve just like me.What do I want in all this madness going around me? I have to make it clear to myself.Agent Vitali made my heart flutter today. Even if I She's Mine Chapter 18 VALENTINA“ I want to go outside. ” I let out and his eyes narrow down, observing me, wanting to know my reason behind this demand.“ What are you planning? ” He asks, just like I expected.“ I have lived in a cage my whole life, Agent Vitali. I want to see the outside world. ” I gulp and reply, my eyes still staring in his.It’s not completely a lie, but it’s not the whole truth either.His grip on my waist and then hair loosens up. In his eyes, I see a unique emotion which can easily pass as pity.My gut twists, but I don’t back down. I can’t let his pity get to me when I am so close to getting what I want from him.“ You just want to run away, Valentina. But, you can’t. ” He takes a step back from me and his hands leave me at once.I loose the breath I held back for a while.H	7,843
Give Now Comments It is an amazing experience to watch someone break a mustang. When a three-year-old wild horse, who has never had a saddle on his back, feels a saddle, for the first time, it must be frightening. Some horses react with anger, rearing back and trying to get away, even striking out with their forefeet at their trainer. Their nostrils flare, their eyeballs roll, and they panic. Others will just stand there trembling, shaking like a leaf. They won’t move because they are bound with fear. They don’t know what’s happening. Many immature Christians respond to pressures like a wild horse. Some panic and cry out to God, “What’s wrong?” Others may just freeze up and do nothing. But, mature Christians are like the horse that has learned from experience to trust its trainer. They sense what is happening and respond by submitting to their master’s hand. They understand that God is preparing them for something good. We must realize that tests and trials are not to our detriment but for our perfection. Here’s another good example to compare with: the kite-flyer. He must take in hand and hold tight the string of his kite then run until the kite lifts up into the heavens. But he knows that he cannot reach his goal if there is no wind. A kite-flyer knows that wind is very essential. But note: kites do not rise with the wind but against it. So listen, Christian: that’s what trials and troubles are all about. We cannot ascend to higher heights unless we are facing pressures. Now look inwardly and be honest with yourself. Ask yourself: Do troubles make me soar high or do they make me sour? The answer will depend largely upon your level of maturity. Let me share with you what a mature Christian leader said. “We glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation works patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope; and hope makes not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Romans 5:3-5). Did you notice the step by step development of a trial? Each level moves us up to perfection closer to God. A man told me that he doesn’t go to church because people don’t accept him and they look at him weird. He decided to shrink back instead of soar to a higher level. My response to him was that when Jesus preached His first message the people were filled with wrath and rose up to kick Him out of the city and were about to cast Him headlong off a cliff, but He passed by them and went on to the next city and preached to them. He didn’t let their rejection or weird looks keep Him out of God’s house. He didn’t change His mind about going to God’s house because people had a bad attitude. Jesus is our perfect example of maturity to follow. He kept His focus and He never stopped going forward. He soared so high that He became the only way to the Father. We must be obsessed to go all the way to the finale. For more you can visit us online at www.JoyChristianMinistries.com. Comments Comments An eighty-year-old couple was worried because they kept forgetting things all the time. The doctor assured them there was nothing seriously wrong except old age and suggested they carry a notebook and write things down so they wouldn’t forget. Several days later the old man got up to go to the kitchen. His wife said, “Dear, get me a bowl of ice cream while you’re up.” “OK,” he said. “…and put some chocolate syrup on it and a few cherries on it and some whipped cream too.” Then she added, “You’d better write all this down.” “I won’t forget,” he retorted. Thirty minutes later he came back into the room and handed her a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon. She glared at him. “Now, I told you to write it down! I knew you’d forget.” “What did I forget?” he asked. She replied, “My toast!” Of course this is a funny, but in reality there are things that we need to let go of and forget, especially bad memories, hurts, offences, and not write them down. We need to bury them in the bone-yard of the past so we can move on with our lives. It amazes me to see how many people are being controlled by bad experiences that hold them back from living their full potential. Listen, the enemy knows that if he can keep us dwelling on the past we will be locked down. His objective is to steal our personality, kill our destiny, and destroy all of our dreams. It appears to me that one of his most effective weapons against us is called bitterness. This weapon gives him the ability to manipulate and control us. It is haunting. It is mean and unforgiving. We must be aware of his tactic of waging war against our minds. Also, commonsense tells us that we are the gate-keepers over our minds and that the enemy cannot put anything on us that we will not allow. Nobody can make us think badly about someone without our consent. The choice is ours. The Word of God says, “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners” (I Corinthians 15:33). By hanging out with negative talkers we are influenced to think like them. Negative thinkers gravitate to themselves negative thinkers, but on the other hand, positive thinkers are influenced by positive thinkers. We can’t complain about what we allow to influence us. We must choose to set our minds on high things. So, no matter what we are going through, we have the ability to persist keeping the right attitude and finding something good to say. Our lives always move in the direction of our most dominate thoughts. So, if we care about our future, our family, and friends, we must choose the right influences. It is imperative to surround ourselves with honesty, morality, praise, thanksgiving, and wholesomeness. These help us to not dwell on the hurtful things in life. Yes, the influence of God’s Word directs our forward movement in a most productive way. If we fill up our minds with His Word we will think the way He wants us to. Yummy! For more information you can visit us online at www.JoyChristianMinistries.com. Comments Pastor J.C. founded Joy Christian Ministries in 1992. He was Sr. Pastor at Joy Christian Ministries in West Sacramento, California from 1992-2016. He was succeeded by his 2nd son, Pastor Brandon Myers who had been under his father's ministry and teaching for 39 years. February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 April 2014 Joy Church is a Jesus loving church in West Sacramento, California. We exist to 'Lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.' We believe in connecting with people, growing together, and reaching out into community to serve. We're a non-denominational, family friendly church.	7,463
With extensive insurance property law and litigation knowledge and experience, Cummins & White successfully represented a group of insurance companies on appeal, obtaining affirmation of the insurers’ denial of a $37.5 million claim for repairs to cracked marble flooring installed in a new high-rise in downtown Los Angeles. Attorneys Larry Arnold, Margaret Miglietta, and Annabelle Harris successfully argued against the insurers’ claims that their builders risk policies’ faulty workmanship exclusion, including ensuing loss, did not apply. The California appellate court ruling, currently unpublished, reinforces the principal that builders’ risk policies are not intended to cover costs to repair or replace a contractor’s defective work, or the costs to replace or repair a contractor’s satisfactory work that is damaged by defective work. Larry Arnold, Margaret Miglietta, and Annabelle Harris of Cummins & White, LLP, successfully obtained affirmation by the California Court of Appeals of a summary judgment in favor of a group of insurance companies, upholding their denial of a multi-million dollar claim by the owner and builder of a new high-rise condominium for repairs to cracked marble flooring caused by the defective design and construction of the floor systems. The primary coverage issue was whether the builder’s risk policies’ exclusions applied and whether there was an ensuing peril that resulted in a covered loss. The appellate court ruling absolves the insurers of asserted claims for breach of contract, bad faith, and fraud. The owner developer (an LLC) of a luxury high-rise hotel and condominium built as part of the L.A. Live complex in downtown Los Angeles obtained builder’s risk insurance policies from a consortium of insurance companies. When cracks appeared on some of the marble flooring, the developers filed a claim with the insurers for the cost of replacing the flooring in all 180 condominium units even though just a small percentage of the flooring had fractured. The insurance companies’ adjuster estimated the cost of replacing that flooring to be approximately $7.5 million, while the LLC calculated those costs to be more than $37.5 million. The insurers denied the claim citing defective design and defective workmanship in the construction of the floor system as the causes of the fractures. More specifically, tile and construction consultants retained by the insurers had opined that certain types of marble were more prone to fracturing and such propensity combined with the overly thickly applied mortar resulted in the cracked tile. The insurers asserted that the cost of replacing the flooring fell within the policies’ exclusions for the: Cost of making good faulty or defective workmanship or material, and/or; Cost of making good fault, defect, error, deficiency, or omission in design, plan, or specification. The LLC then sued the individual insurers in the consortium for breach of contract, bad faith denial of coverage, and fraud. A number of the insurance companies retained Larry Arnold, Margaret Miglietta, and Annabelle Harris of Cummins & White, LLP, to represent them in the litigation. The trial court found based on the LLC’s own evidence that the overly thick mortar bed was the primary cause of the cracking of the natural stone laid by the tile-setters who both placed the wet mortar bed in place and then placed the natural stone on top of the wet mortar bed. The court further found that the LLC’s re-design of the floor system for the repairs, which included replacement of the marble with more crack resistant tile assemblies and thin mortar application specifications further supported the primary causes of the cracking, thereupon, concluding that exclusions for the cost of making good defective design and defective workmanship applied. The trial court also concluded that the “ensuing loss” exception to those exclusions did not apply, and granted summary judgment against the LLC on all of its claims. The LLC then filed an appeal. Court of Appeals Affirmation The Cummins & White team continued with representation on appeal, defending the trial court judgment and arguing against the LLC’s claims that the builder’s risk policies’ exclusions did not apply. The court agreed, finding that: Applying the preambles to exclude only loss caused by the “costs of making good” would have the absurd result of negating the application of the exclusion for the cost of replacing the defective mortar, something the insureds recognized and conceded. There was no “peril separate and independent” from the initial excluded peril (defective design and workmanship when the flooring was installed) as required by Acme Galvanizing Co. v. Fireman’s Fund Ins. Co. Rather, the cracked flooring was the very loss or damage resulting from the excluded perils. The appellate court also affirmed the lower court’s ruling on the fraud cause of action, which was based on alleged misrepresentations made by a broker and an independent adjuster. The court found there was no detrimental reliance by the insured on the representations made by the broker in deciding to purchase a permanent property insurance policy. The court further found that a failure to disclose additional provisions that may have applied and citations to an inapplicable policy in a reservation of rights letter did not result in any damage to the insured. Ultimately, the claim was denied on the basis of the policy provisions correctly cited to the insured. Concluding there was no error, the California appellate court affirmed the trial court’s decision and upheld the insurers’ denial of the claim by LLC. Mr. Arnold said the court’s ruling, currently unpublished, reinforces the principle that builders’ risk policies are not intended to cover costs to repair or replace a contractor’s defective work, or the costs to replace or repair a contractor’s satisfactory work that is damaged by defective work. “Our clients are happy with this appellate court victory. Ensuing loss provisions present a multi-step analysis that is often confusing, so we were pleased to see from an insurance coverage perspective, reinforcement and clarification of these issues.” Previous Project Next Project Cummins & White, LLP, is one of Southern California’s premier business transaction, business litigation, and insurance law firms, successfully serving clients for more than 65 years.	6,473
Introduction: This is the second installment in our ongoing overview of anarchist economic ideas. (For an outline of the project, see the introduction to “Proudhon’s Economic Legacy” published in LLR #10.) As noted last issue, we welcome contributions of articles and letters to this discussion. Peter Kropotkin devoted a major part of his prolific anarchist writings to two related themes: examining the actual workings of capitalist economies and developing the broad outlines of an anarchist-communist society. Kropotkin was not satisfied to merely assert that’ a free society was possible, he sought to show how such a society could be constructed from the materials at hand-realizing that a revolutionary movement that failed to consider the problems of production and distribution would quickly collapse. This installment outlines Kropotkin’s critique of capitalist political economy; next issue will turn to his positive economic program. This distinction, however, is somewhat arbitrary, as Kropotkin always preferred to illustrate what might be by pointing to what already was. For Kropotkin, the purpose of political economy was to study society’s needs and the means available (either currently in use, or which could be developed with present knowledge) to meet them. It should try to analyze how far the present means are expedient and satisfactory … [and] should concern itself with the discovery of means for the satisfaction of these needs with the smallest possible waste of labor and with the greatest benefit to mankind in general. [1] It was this task that Kropotkin took on. Rather than engage in the abstract theorizing that dominated, then as now, the field, he carried out detailed studies of the agricultural and industrial techniques practical in his day (whether they were in general use or not) and their capacity to meet human needs. Unlike most economists, Kropotkin insisted on subjecting economic theories to the same rigorous inquiry he would apply to any “scientific” theory: When certain economists tell us that “in a perfectly free market the price of commodities is measured by the amount of labor socially necessary for their production,” we do not take this assertion on faith …. We not only find most of these so-called laws grossly erroneous, but maintain also that those who believe in them will themselves become convinced of their error as soon as they come to see the necessity of verifying the[m] … by quantitative investigation. While there certainly was a relationship between the price of commodities and the amount of labor necessary for their production, Kropotkin argued, they were by no means proportional to one another (as the Labor Theory of Value would imply). Nor had socialist economists troubled themselves to investigate whether or not the theory was true by actually gathering data to test the alleged relationship. Anyone who took the trouble to engage in such an investigation would quickly learn that the theory was false. We need only consider the price of oil or gold to realize that these prices are set not by the amount of labor power required to extract and process them, but rather by external market and social conditions. Most so-called economic laws, Kropotkin concluded, were mere suppositions. And although socialist economists “criticize some of these deductions … it has not yet been original enough to find a path of its own.” [2] Thus, when Marx argued against Proudhon that all products exchanged at (or, at least, fluctuated around) their labor value, he was implicitly arguing for what has been called the Iron Law of Wages (though Marx later refuted himself by conceding that union activity could decrease the level of exploitation). The Socialist Party of Great Britain and similar tendencies are wholly correct when they maintain that a Marxian analysis ,requires that all commodities– including labor power–are valued under capitalism at the cost of their reproduction, which in tum is determined by the most-productive available methods. (Thus a shirt that take 60 minutes to make by hand or five minutes to make by machine sells for the same price on the world market.) There is, of course, an element of truth to this–which is why the theory was widely accepted by the labor movement. But, as we shall see, it mistakes an association for a causal relationship. The commodity theory of labor would indicate that only by increasing productivity can workers make possible an improved standard of living, and only through socialist revolution can those possible improvements be actually realized. (Otherwise, the benefits merely accrue to the capitalists and their underlings.) This doctrine leads inevitably to the conclusion th.at wage struggles are essentially a waste of time and energy (though workers, through hundreds of years of struggle, have proved the opposite), and that the only alternative to competing against each other into ever-greater immiseration is a state-managed, planned economy which can determine labor values and ensure their equitable distribution. But this doctrine is wholly false. I tum, below, to Kropotkin’s proof that wage levels have nothing to do with the cost of reproduction. But the essential point is that wage levels, like the price of all commodities, are set not by their cost of production or the amount of labor they require, but by the relative economic, military and social power held by the respective parties. Monopolies, cartels, police clubs, prisons, labor organization, co-operative associations–these and other power relationships skew the relative “value” of commodities, or at least of the price that can be gotten for them. (And it really matters very little whether a canteloupe has a theoretical, labor-derived value of 25 cents if all the stores charge a dollar.) Like most socialists, Kropotkin initially assumed that an abundance of goods was being produced–and thus that the primary problem facing socialists was arranging their distribution. But when Malatesta suggested that this could not be true, Kropotkin investigated the matter, and found that (quoting Malatesta): this accumulation of products could not possibly exist, because the bosses normally only allow for the production of what they can sell at a profit … Some countries were continually threatened by shortages. In fact, there was only enough food on hand in most major cities to sustain the population for a few days. Yet upon further investigation, Kropotkin established that the shortages, economic crises and general distress endemic to his age (and which continue to this day) did not result, as was widely believed, from overpopulation, poor soil, or other such material causes. Rather, they resulted from a failure to utilize the means already at hand to meet society’s needs.[3] Kropotkin presented his findings in Fields, Factories and Workshops—an anarchist classic that proved that people using then-existing technologies could meet all their needs with just a few months of labor per year. Space precludes anything more than the briefest summary of a volume with which every anarchist should have long since made themselves familiar. He demonstrated that the technical means then existed to produce abundant and healthful food with relatively little effort or expense (a vision quite distinct from today’s factory farms—the precursors of which already existed, but which, he noted, destroyed the soil for generations to come, as well as displacing people who might otherwise derive a comfortable living from the land). Contrary to many economists, Kropotkin argued for decentralizing agriculture and industry, noting that huge industrial establishments were both less common than generally believed, and established less to realize largely dubious economies of scale than to facilitate managerial control. The doctrine of national specialization or competitive advantage±then coming into prominence, and which has since been used as an excuse to ravish “third world” economies—was demonstrably harmful to the interests of the population. (As is well known to peasants compelled to grow coffee beans and sugar cane on land that could otherwise feed their families.) If the debilitating influences of capitalist control and ignorance could be ended, abundance for all was well within reach. All this has been proved … despite the innumerable obstacles always thrown in the way of every innovative mind …. For thousands of years … to grow one’s own food was the burden, almost the curse, or mankind. But it need be so no longer … To grow the yearly food of a family, under rational conditions of culture, requires so little labor that it might almost be done as a mere change from other pursuits … And again, you will be struck to see with what facility and in how short a time your needs of dress and of thousands of articles of luxury can be satisfied, when production is carried on for satisfying real needs rather than for satisfying shareholders … [4] And yet, everywhere workers lived in misery. Contrary to the teachings of every economic school, Kropotkin argued that overproduction was far from a problem: Far from producing more than is needed to assure material riches, we do not produce enough …. If certain economists delight in writing treatises on over-production. and in explaining each industrial crisis by this cause, they would be much at a loss if called upon to name a single article produced by France in greater quantities than are necessary to satisfy the needs of the whole population …. What economists call over-production is but a production that is above the purchasing power of the worker, who is reduced to poverty by capital and State … [5] Only exploiters, he concluded, were in abundant supply. Today, 94 years later, there may well be overproduction of some goods (nuclear weapons, toxic chemicals, and products that must almost immediately be replaced)–but it is just as obscene today to talk of, for example, an overproduction crisis in agriculture when millions face immediate starvation. Thus, rather than celebrating capitalism’s development of society’s productive capacity, as Marxists do, Kropotkin demonstrated that capitalism resulted in chronic underproduction and deprivation. Capitalists not only do not equitably distribute the fruits of our production, the entire development of technology is distorted by their short-term profit calculations. Employers faced with the possibility of new labor-saving technologies, for example, often move to drive down labor costs rather than invest in developing the means of production (their historic role, according to Marx). The Social Revolution, then, would not merely expropriate the means of production developed by the capitalists–it would be forced to rapidly develop those means in order to meet even the most basic social needs. Fortunately, the means for doing so have long been in place, and workers are more than capable of meeting the challenge. Like all socialists, Kropotkin recognized the self-evident truth that workers work for the employing class because they are forced to—without their weekly wages they and their families must starve. Whence come the fortunes of the rich[?] A little thought would suffice to show that these fortunes have their beginnings in the poverty of the poor. When there are no longer any destitute there will no longer be any rich to exploit them … [7] If people had the means to support themselves—if they were capable of meeting their daily needs without hiring out their labor—no one would consent to work for wages that must inevitably be (if the capitalist is to derive any profit) a mere fraction of the value of the goods they produce. Even an independent artisan, the labor aristocracy of Kropotkin’s day, could not hope to do better than to support his family and put together an (almost certainly inadequate) pittance for his old age, should he rely on his own effort and diligence: Assuredly this is not how great fortunes are made. But suppose our shoemaker … takes an apprentice, the child of some poor wretch who will think himself lucky if in five years time his son has learned the trade and is able to earn his living. … Meanwhile our shoemaker does not lose by him; and if trade is brisk he soon takes a second, and then a third … If he is keen enough and mean enough, his journeymen and apprentices will bring him in nearly a pound a day over and above the product of his own toil … He will gradually become rich … That is what people call “being economical and having frugal temperate habits.” At bottom it is nothing more nor less than grinding the face of the poor.[8] Today, to be sure, workers have after a hundred years succeeded in improving their condition–and the apprentice system, already declining in Kropotkin’s time, has all but disappeared. But saving one’s earnings is no more the route to real wealth than it ever was–at best workers can hope to buy a house, afford some time off from the hated job, and put a little money aside for retirement or hard times. To become wealthy, in economic term, requires exploitation—either directly, from workers’ labor, or indirectly, by exploiting workers’ need for the necessities of life. Under capitalism, “the harder a man works the less he is paid.” But the solution to this manifest injustice could not be found in reversing this equation–in payment according to the service each renders to society. For who is to determine the value of another’s service? We know what reply we shall get … The bourgeois economists–and Marx too–will be quoted … to prove that the scale of wages has its raison d’etre, since the “labor power” of the engineer will have cost society more than the “labor power” of the laborer … [But] the employer who pays the engineer twenty times more than the laborer makes the following simple reckoning: if the engineer can save him a hundred thousand francs a year on his production costs, he will pay the. engineer twenty thousand. And when he sees a foreman, able to drive the workers and save ten thousand francs in wages, he loses no time in offering him two or three thousand .. He parts with a thousand francs where he counts on gaining ten thousand, and this in essence is the capitalist system. So let no one come up with this talk about production costs of the labor force, and tell us that a student who has cheerfully spent his youth at a university has a “right” to a salary ten times that of a miner’s son who has been wasting away down a mine from the age of eleven. [9] Wage differentials, whether under capitalism or in some future “socialist” society, must be condemned as unjust. Nor is it possible to determine a “just wage” based on an individual’s contribution (even if such a system could be tolerated on ethical grounds, which it cannot).[10] Production is Social Production is not carried out by isolated individuals whose economic contribution can be isolated from that of each other worker so that its value can be determined. To illustrate this, Kropotkin turned to coal mining. (At that time, miners worked either individually or in gangs at the coal face, and were paid piece rate. In today’s coal mines, of course, the issue of individual production would never arise.) One man controls the lift, continually rushing the cage from level to level so that men and coal may be moved about. If he relaxes his concentration for an instant the apparatus will be destroyed, many men killed, and work brought to a standstill. If he loses as little as three seconds at each movement of the lever, production will be reduced by 20 tons a day or more. Well, is it he who renders the greatest service in the mine? Or is it perhaps that boy who from below signals to him when it is time to raise the cage to the surface? Is it instead the miner who is risking his life at every moment of the day … Or again is it the engineer who would miss the coal seam and have the miners dig into stone if he made the smallest error in his calculations? … All the workers engaged in the mine contribute within the limits of their powers, their knowledge … and their skill to mine coal. And all we can say is that everybody has the right to live, to satisfy their needs, and even their fantasies, once the most pressing needs of all have been satisfied. But how can one estimate their labors?[ll] Obviously you can’t–no one but a Marxist would attempt such an absurdity. And yet we still have not identified everyone who contributes to the production of that coal. What of the construction workers who built the railways to the pit head, without which the coal would sit useless. What of the farmers, who raise the food the coal miners eat? What of those who build the machines that will bum the coal–without which coal is merely a rather useless dirt. There was a time, Kropotkin concedes, when a family could support itself by agricultural pursuits, supplemented with a few domestic trades, and consider the com they raised and the cloth they weaved as products of their own, and no one else’s, labor. Even then such a view was not quite correct: there were forests cleared and roads built by common efforts … But now, in the extremely interwoven state of industry of which each branch supports all others, such an individualistic view can be held no more. If the iron trade and the cotton industry of this country have reached so high a degree of development, they have done so owing to the parallel growth of thousands of other industries, great and small; to the extension of the railway system; to an increase of knowledge … and, above all, to the world trade which has itself grown up … The Italians who died from cholera in digging the Suez Canal … have contributed as much towards the enrichment of this country as the British girl who is prematurely growing old in serving a machine at Manchester… How can we pretend to estimate the exact part of each of them in the riches accumulated around us?[12] And if there is no individual production, then how can private ownership of property be justified? Just as it is impossible to argue that anyone person created a lump of coal or a bolt of cloth, so it is impossible to justify private ownership of buildings or land. Homes, after all, are not built by their owners. Their construction is a cooperative endeavor involving innumerable workers in forestry, timber yards, brickyards, etc. Moreover—and it is here that the enormity of the whole proceeding becomes most glaring—the house owes its actual value to the profit which the owner can make out of it. Now, this profit results from the fact that his house is built in a town … which the work of twenty or thirty generations has gone to render habitable, healthy, and beautiful. [13] Like the ground they stand upon, buildings are a common heritage. For instance, take the town of Paris—a creation of so many centuries, a product of the genius of a whole nation … How could one maintain to an inhabitant of that town who works every day to embellish it, to purify it, to nourish it, to make it a center of thought and art—how could one assert before one who produces this wealth that the palaces adorning the streets of Paris belong in all justice to those who are the legal proprietors today …. It is by spoliation that they hold these riches! [14] That this remains so can readily be seen by examining the value of today’s office buildings and shopping complexes. Without even the slightest improvements their value rise so long as the local economy prospers. But no sum of money invested in maintenance or beautification is sufficient to maintain their value when the local economy fails. For their value is not derived from the money invested, or from the bricks and mortar (and plastic, steel and cement) of which they are constructed. Not even the labor of the workers who build and maintain these modem temples to capital determines their value. Their value, in the final analysis, depends almost entirely upon the wealth and prosperity of the greater society. The most luxurious hotel built in a dying city will soon fade with its surroundings, while the meanest hovel increases in value as surrounding properties are developed. We enrich each other–not only spiritually, but materially as well—as we work, contemplate and play together; and without the efforts of society as a whole, no one prospers. Private Ownership Absurd Private ownership, then, is not merely unjust±it is absurd. As early as 1873, when he was only beginning to become active in revolutionary circles, Kropotkin recognized that true equality was impossible under capitalism. It is desirable that a person beginning to work not enslave himself, not yield part of his labor, his strength, his independence … to private individuals whose arbitrariness always will determine how great that part should be, then it is necessary that private persons control neither the instruments of labor … nor the … earth … nor the means of existence during work … Thus we arrive at the elimination, in that future society whose realization we desire, of any personal property … [16] All property, no matter how it was created, must become the property of all, available to all who contribute to society through their labor. This was, and remains, necessary not only on grounds of social justice, but because all production is necessarily social. Kropotkin refused to separate his analysis of what was from what could be. He insisted on asking not merely if the present economic order worked on its own terms but whether: the means now in use for satisfying human needs, under the present system of … production for profits, [was] really economical? Do they really lead to economy in the expenditure of human forces. Or are they not mere wasteful survivals from a past that was plunged into darkness, ignorance and oppression, and never took into consideration the economical and social value of the human being? [16] The “economical .and social value of the human being,” for Kropotkin, was the key to anarchist economics–to the building of a free society. I will turn to that question in the next issue. 3. Errico Malatesta, “Peter Kropotkin—Recollections and Criticisms.” In: V. Richards (ed.), Malatesta: Life & Ideas. Freedom Press, 1977, p. 266. Malatesta went on to argue that Kropotkin’s revised view was also wildly optimistic in its assessment of what could be realized. History, however has confirmed that agriculture can indeed produce much greater yields than was generally believed at the time–yields that in fact exceed those Kropotkin discussed. 4. Fields, Factories and Workshops Tomorrow edited by Colin Ward. Freedom Press, 1985, pp 194-97. (This is an abridged and annotated version of Kropotkin’s second edition, eliminating whole chapters of statistical data eclipsed in the 91 years since this work first saw print.) 6. See, e.g., The Great French Revolution. (Elephant Editionsm 1983) Freed from the landlords, peasants dramatically Increased production. “A new France was born … For the first time in centuries the peasant ate his fill” and the country was immeasurably strengthened. (p. 594) 10. Many Marxists, and even some who consider themselves anarcho-syndicalists, continue to argue for maintaining the wage system in such a guise. Their arguments will be presented, and refuted, in the next installment. ‘ ASR is an independent syndicalist magazine, published since May 1, 1986 (originally as Libertarian Labor Review). We are an independent forum for critical, informed and constructive discussion of anarcho-syndicalist theory and practice. We are not affiliated with any organization. We take as our starting point the Principles of Revolutionary Unionism adopted at the 1922 conference of revolutionary unions that relaunched the International Workers Association, and the Industrial Workers of the World’s Preamble. Our outlook is internationalist. We stand in solidarity with working people everywhere, and in particular with those who, rejecting both state capitalism and state socialism as proven threats to the health of people and planet alike, seek peace and justice for themselves and their fellow workers through international labor solidarity. You can set up a subscription or order specific issues through our Subscription or Store tabs. We can be reached at anarchosyndicalistreview [at] gmail.com, or PO Box 42531, Philadelphia PA 19101. Belarus: The trial of the leaders of the BKDP starts soon Australia: Decades of progress for?women?s workplace safety in one week Korea (South): International outrage at South Korea?s illegal, heavy-handed attempts to break strike Belarus: Four Jailed Trade Union activists served their sentence and were released Korea (South): Striking truckers ordered back to work Support ASR’s publication Anarcho-Syndicalist Review is published by dedicated volunteers, often at considerable personal expense, and requires a lot of time to produce. Currently we face a deficit of $1,162.63 (US) as of Aug. 1, 2021. To help meet our publication costs, you can make a one-time donation below, or enter a monthly subscription to our Sustaining Fund. 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It’s tempting to divide U.S. lenders into two distinct groups. On the one hand, you have the New Lenders, fintech offerings like Quicken Loans’s Rocket Mortgage, P2P lenders such as Prosper and Lending Club, and student loan products by companies like SoFi and CommonBond. All of the above are careful to brand themselves as nothing like the incumbents. SoFi, for example, is adamant that in spite of the many bank-like services it provides, it is not a bank. On the other hand, there are the Old Lenders, U.S. banks and traditional mortgage lenders like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, who may be using fintech but who aren’t yet defined by it. Of course, the imaginary line drawn in the sand between New and Old Lenders is just that — imaginary. In reality, fintech lenders and incumbent lenders are realizing the benefits of partnering up. SoFi and Fannie Mae’s full-on relationship is a good example of how the two camps are finding out each others’ good qualities. The two first publicized their budding romance in May 2016, when Fannie Mae approved SoFi as a seller and servicer of mortgages. More recently, on November 2, SoFi and Fannie Mae announced a joint program to refinance mortgages to pay down student debt. Dubbed the Student Loan Payoff ReFi, homeowners can refinance mortgages at a lower rate and pay off existing student loans. “SoFi is a new customer of ours and we approached them to learn about student debt refinancing and the student debt market in general,” said Jonathan Lawless, Fannie Mae’s vice president of product development and affordable housing. The idea for the Student Loan Payoff ReFi evolved out of those discussions. “We saw this as a good time to partner on solutions given the increasing focus on student debt as an obstacle to homeownership and an overall weight on the economy,” he said. On the micro level, SoFi and Fannie Mae are undoubtedly addressing a real need. Experian data found that the average homeowner with outstanding cosigned student loans has a balance of $36,000 on those student loans, and those with outstanding Parent PLUS loans have $33,000 in student debt. On the macro level, however, SoFi and Fannie Mae’s romance is a reminder of the benefits that both incumbents and upstarts derive from the partnership economy. Fannie Mae gets access to and builds awareness among U.S. millennials, at least 30% of whom are outside the traditional banking system to begin with. SoFi, on the other hand, gets to expand even further into the mortgage market. It’s a win win situation. “The Student Loan Payoff ReFi is a great first product that combines SoFi’s experience in student loans, as a pioneer and leader in the industry, with Fannie Mae’s commitment to supporting homeownership,” said Michael Tannenbaum, svp of mortgage at SoFi. For upstarts, even ones that’ve raised over a billion dollars in capital like SoFi, the partnership economy is essential to growth. “For now, there’s very few options other than to partner,” said Ash Shilkin, CEO and founder of digital banking service provider ChimpChange. “It kind of has to be a partnership today. So long as each one of those partners recognizes the other’s skills, it can be quite a happy relationship.” Still, partnering with traditional lender Fannie Mae has its branding risks for SoFi, which risks losing its alluring New Lender title and at least seeming more like a traditional finance company. For now, however, SoFi and Fannie Mae’s partnership could be tagged with the newly available hashtag #StrongerTogether. 0 comments on “SoFi, Fannie Mae, and the fintech partnership economy” You must be logged in the post a comment. 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Description: Mom and Dad start watching porn to rekindle their sex life. Once they find incest their fantasies go wild. Mom sets her husband up with their 16 yr old daughter and her 14 yr old son was Mom’s unexpected bonus! It is amazing what a little bit of porn can do for you. Yes, there are the short term benefits everyone knows about but there are also the long term changes it can make. Pornography has changed my life. Let me explain. My wife Pam and I have been married for seventeen years but have been together for twenty-one and have two beautiful teenagers. Nate is fourteen years old and Megan is sixteen. Like all married couples, our sex life got pretty rusty and vanilla. You have to expect it. Seeing the same exact person ALL THE TIME can be tiresome. Please don’t get me wrong, I love my wife and think she is the most beautiful creature in the world, but it’s always just the same. Also sex seemed to take a back seat to everything else in life. We were down to once a month if we were lucky. A friend of mine had lent me a porn tape about a year ago. It was the usual recipe of couple, threesome, lesbian, and then group. I thought I could pull it out every once in a while for a little self relief when I could find the time. Everything was great for about a month. Then I got stupid. After leaving work a little early on a Tuesday, I dug the tape out of it’s hiding place and using the VCR in our bedroom I enjoyed myself for a half hour. As I finished our daughter arrived home. No, she didn’t come barging in but I did forget the damn tape! I didn’t realize it until that Friday night. As my wife and I were slipping into bed she asked if I would like to watch TV for a while. Sure, we weren’t going to do anything on a Friday night anyway. It took me a couple of seconds to realize what I was watching after she turned everything on. It was my porn tape!! It turns out that my wife found it the next day in the VCR. She tapes one of those damn afternoon soap operas and I hadn’t changed tapes back. She had certainly gotten a surprise. As I started to stammer excuses and apologies, she placed her finger to my lips and told me to be quiet. What she did next floored me. She snuggled up to me and started to play with my flaccid cock through my pajamas as she watched the screen. She explained to me that when she first found it she was stunned, then mad, and then turned on. She had watched the whole thing. After a few scenes we ended up fucking like teenagers. And it didn’t stop there. It got to be a ritual that when the kids would go out with their friends on weekends we would go to bed early to watch porn. After watching the original tape several times I started to venture out to one of ‘those’ stores to rent new ones. My wife finally started to join me as well and we became aficionados of pornography. Our sex life went through a renaissance. Because we were exposed to so many different scenarios and types of sex in the movies, we experimented – a lot. It turns out that my wife and I can be very adventurous. Anal, food, light B/D, toys; they were all great. We also got to know each other’s fantasies. It’s hard to hide the fact that you become incredibly wet watching a woman being gang banged by five guys or a hard-on watching a male bi scene. We just didn’t know what our limits were because I guess we had been pretty naïve. Things were great but this was not the big change that I alluded to earlier. That was yet to come and I had no idea. My wife and I eventually ran into a problem because we didn’t keep up with the times. We only had a VHS player in our bedroom. There was a DVD player in the great room attached to the big screen TV but not in our room. We had been going to the video store for the last eight or nine months and had been like kids in a candy store. Now we were running out of things to watch because the store wasn’t ordering video cassettes any more and hadn’t been for a while. Late one Saturday afternoon, we hit the store and split up to search the shelves. I couldn’t find anything that I liked (which wasn’t much) or hadn’t already watched. After sixteen minutes of searching, my wife tapped me on the shoulder and handed me a tape. “Taboo II? That’s an incest flick.” My wife replied “Yes, but it’s only actors. They aren’t really related. We’ll watch a couple of sex scenes between actors and then you can fuck my brains out. What’s the big deal?” As there wasn’t anything else to watch I figure why not. Later that night, after the kids had left for their Saturday night activities, my wife asked me to get some wine while she got ready in the bedroom. With vino and glasses in hand, I grabbed the movie out of my briefcase and headed up stairs. My wife was leaning against the en-suite doorway wearing a new full body-stocking and high heels. Another benefit of watching porn with my wife is that Pam knows that I have a fetish for lingerie, especially nylons. She glided across the room and gave me a deep kiss, her tongue probing my mouth. “Wow, what’s the occasion?” “I have a great husband and I feel very horny tonight. What better way to insure that I receive what I need than to put on some lingerie. Now pour me some wine, put the tape in the VCR and get naked.” Who was I to complain? I jumped to do my wife’s bidding. After everything was set, I climbed up on the bed beside my wife who proceeded to wrap me around her body. By the time I hit play on the remote my wife’s ass was snuggled against my crotch, our legs were intertwined and my arm was draped over her, cupping her breast. The movie started out tame enough. One of the main characters, ‘the son’, ended up sleeping with a friend’s mom and another woman. Through it all they discussed the fact that the friend’s mom had fucked her son which blew him away. It was a hot scene and I started to stiffen. When Pam felt me poking into her backside she pushed back commenting “See, I told you it’s just people fucking and you’d like it.” The next couple of scenes were hot! Again ‘the son’ was featured fucking his girlfriend and recruited her to help him seduce his sister. Considering the topic of the movie, of course she agreed and the next shot was of them convincing his sister to do it. As it played out my wife untangled herself from me and grabbed her wine glass. With her other hand she ran her fingers along the shaft of my now hard meat. “Obviously the subject matter doesn’t bother you. Look at how hard you’ve gotten.” She settled back down beside me while still fondling my cock. I ran my hands all over her body as we continued to watch. By the time the guy had finished fucking his sister, my fingers had ventured down between my wife’s legs. She was SOAKED. Through the hole in the body stocking, I started to alternately rub Pam’s clit and slide into her opening. Up on the screen the son and daughter were sneaking around the house after everyone else was asleep and started at it again. Watching his large cock slide in and out of his sister’s pussy really turned me on. As the siblings were in mid stroke, my wife startled me by pausing the movie. The TV showed a close-up of his cock half buried in her body. Before I could ask her what she was doing, she rolled tight up against me and continued to stroke me. She whispered seductively in my ear “I told you that you would like it Jim. Look at them being bad. They aren’t supposed to do that.” Both that comment and her squeezing my penis caused me to grunt in pleasure. “Have you ever thought of being bad Jim? Have you ever thought of being with someone you weren’t supposed too?” I was a little stunned. “Of course not!” “Never Jim? I thought every man at some point in his adolescence dreamed of his mother. I have a secret. Girls think about their daddies too.” This caused me to turn and crank my neck so that I could look down into my wife’s face. She was looking up at me with lust written all over her face and a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “You seem surprised.” She shifted around a little and nestled into the side of my neck again so she could nuzzle my ear. She knew that every time she did that it drove me insane. “Every little girl at some point starts to think of her daddy that way when they are lying in bed alone.” After a pause she added “And some don’t stop.” My head spun. My wife had just told me that she still fantasizes about her father! I had to make sure. In a quiet voice to match hers I asked “You still do?” “Uh huh. Every once in a while when I have some time to myself.” My hard-on got stiffer. “It’s only natural. Daddy was the first real ‘man’ that I knew and felt safe with so he was my first real fantasy.” Pam rolled over on top of me in one fluid motion and slid me into her opening. She was so wet that she sank down onto me with no resistance until I was fully inside her. “It was one of my favorite fantasies for so long it’s just hard to stop; besides, it’s bad. And you know how I like to be bad now. Tell me Jim, have you thought of being bad?” She felt my cock twitch and that’s what gave me away. Her eyes flashed in recognition. How in the hell else was I going to admit that I had fantasies like that. Watching and talking about mainstream porn was one thing, but incest? She ground her crotch down on to mine and started gyrating in slow circles. “Tell me Jim. Tell me that you’ve thought about being bad.” “Yes” I mumbled. This caused Pam to groan and push her pubic bone hard onto mine, mashing her clit. “Tell me Jim. I told you about daddy. Tell me who.” This was said with a little bit of urgency. Pam was becoming very hot and was working her way up to an orgasm. I hesitated for a minute trying to work up the courage to admit to one of my darkest fantasies. “My mom.” She looked down at me with an evil and lustful smile. “I knew it. You liked thinking about fucking your mommy didn’t you? Did you cum inside of her? Did you make her feel good in your fantasies?” Her movements had sped up as she fucked me. Her muscles contracted and relaxed around my shaft. “Yes. God, yes.” She moved her arms and laid down on me fully, her breasts were mashed onto my chest and her hips were going a hundred mines an hour on my crotch. “Bad… boy….unnhhggg. Jimmy’s such…..a bbbbaaaddd boyyyyy.” I grabbed her hips and thrust upward as hard as I could. I was about to have a huge orgasm, as was my wife. Just before she came she again put her lips up to my ear and in a panting whisper she haltingly told me to look at the screen. As she started her long orgasm she groaned “I wonder if Nate and Megan have done that……oooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh.” Pam started to convulse on top of me. My eyes were riveted to the TV screen of a boy’s cock half embedded inside a girl’s cunt. The thought of my son Nate and daughter Megan doing the exact same thing was more than enough to drive me over the brink. I bellowed like a bull and flooded my wife’s cavern with jism. It felt as though someone had reached deep within me and was ripping the seed from the pit of my being. I hadn’t cum like that in a long, long time. As we both came back down to earth my wife kissed and nuzzled my neck, telling me how much she loved me. It was her way of letting me know that everything was all right and no judgments were to be made. Within ten minutes we were both in the deepest sleep we had had in ages. The next day my wife was up and out of bed before me. As I wandered down stairs I was hit with the aromas of bacon and coffee. Pam was bustling around the kitchen when I entered. The kids were sitting at the island watching her create. When she saw me she gave me a great big kiss and hug. They were passionate enough to make the kid’s bitch and moan ‘gross’. “Good morning magnificent husband, sit and I will feed you as well as your children” Megan had a smirk on her face as she commented “Someone did a good job last night and is getting rewarded.” Nate replied with a “Huh?” I shot her a look. The rest of the day I tackled jobs that had been on my to-do list forever. Sometime in the afternoon while passing through the kitchen I got a little flustered. The video that we had watched last night was just sitting there. I figured that Pam was returning it today as we wouldn’t have time to watch the rest before it was due; to bad. I put the movie in a plastic bag to maintain at least a modicum of discretion. I had no clue to where the kids were. When I went by again later the tape was gone. Over the next three weeks we didn’t rent anything. We didn’t need to. We fucked like rabbits telling each other our old masturbatory fantasies involving our parents. I find that getting to know how a sex partner’s fantasies work is the most incredibly erotic thing. We progressed from sharing old fantasies to creating new scenarios where either Pam or I got involved with our respective parent. As the novelty wore off I suggested we go out this coming weekend and pick up another movie. Unfortunately my wife had made plans for us with friends. It would be another two weeks before we could watch something. When my wife arrived home at noon on Saturday from running errands all morning she surreptitiously told me that she had managed to stop by the video store. She slipped me the package and told me to take it into the office for safe keeping. When I was away from prying eyes I took out the box and I became semi-erect. ‘Family Tree’. Reading the back blurb confirmed that it was an incest theme. And then I realized she had made a mistake. She had brought home a DVD. What a disappointment. I stashed it away and went out to tell her. I found both Pam and Megan walking out the front door. They yelled at me that they were going shopping and would be back later. Great, when the women in my life went out on an all afternoon shopping expedition it usually cost me a hefty sum. I kept myself busy by making dinner until Nate cruised in just before the girls did. There was a huge flurry of packages and chatter between Pam and Megan until they both disappeared into my daughter’s room. After dinner both of the kids went out; Nate to a friends and Megan to the movies. Once they were out the door, my wife sidled up to me and kissed me deeply. “Well my husband, are you ready to be evil?” As she asked she ran her hand over my crotch. I told her about the mix up and that we couldn’t watch the movie she brought home. Her reaction was “So what’s the problem? The kids aren’t home and won’t be for hours. We’ll just play in the living room. Go find a blanket to lay on the floor and something for us to drink. Take your time; I won’t be ready for about an hour.” I raised my eyebrows quizzically. “I want to make myself beautiful for you. Trust me; I’ll be worth the wait.” With that, she turned and disappeared up the stairs. I quickly jumped into the downstairs shower and then threw on a robe. After grabbing the movie, throwing a bottle of white wine into an ice bucket and putting together a cheese tray, I headed for the living room. I moved the coffee table and spread a comforter across the floor before going around the room lighting as many candles as I could find. When done, I sat on the floor leaning against the couch sipping wine while I waited for Pam. It wasn’t long. I nearly dropped my glass on the floor when she arrived. As she came towards me I drank her in. She wore a beautiful matching fine see-thru lace bra and thong panty in a deep plum color. Her legs were incased in black opaque stay-up nylons. Billowing behind her was an open gossamer floor length robe of the same color as the lingerie. It hid nothing. To complete the look, she had three inch pumps on her feet. My manhood started to harden. Once she reached the blanket she struck a pose and that’s when I noticed. Through the lace of her panties I could tell that she had shaved herself. I had been at her for years to try it and her retort was always “someday’. My erection was complete. “You like?” she asked. All I could do was nod. She draped herself across the blanket beside me and asked for a glass of wine. As we drank she told me that she had picked up her new outfit today. She felt that she had made the right choice by my reaction. “Hey, wait a minute” I said. “You were out shopping with Megan today.” “You picked that out with our daughter?! Honey, let’s face it, there’s only one reason you would buy that complete outfit.” “You think our daughter doesn’t know that her parents have sex? Don’t be so naïve Jim. She helped pick it out with me and she wasn’t weird about it. Things are fine. Let’s watch the movie.” Before we could discuss it further, she grabbed the remote and hit play on the DVD. We settled in and started to watch. Like the previous one we watched, they took their time working their way into the family. After 2 glasses of wine and several fuck scenes later, a mother started to seduce her son on screen. By this time I had removed my wife’s robe and bra and I was naked. We were lying side by side and stroking each other. As the mother on screen started to run her hands up and down her son’s shaft my wife started whispering in my ear like the first time. “Look at how hard he is Jeff. He’s hard because it’s his mommy that’s touching him. See how she gently strokes up and down? She wants to make her boy feel good and she wants him very hard. That way, when she fucks her son later, it will go into her as deep as possible.” I couldn’t believe how nasty my wife was becoming but I wasn’t complaining! On screen the boy had worked his way between his mother’s legs and was eating her snatch. My wife disengaged herself from me and sat up on the edge of the couch. Without taking her eyes off the screen and after removing her panties she spread her legs wide moaning “Eat me Jim. Eat me like that.” I dove in. For the first few minutes Pam was silent while my head was buried between my wife’s thighs. She then started to give me a running commentary on what was happening in the movie. “He’s licking his mommy Jim. He’s started to slide his fingers up into her as he is sucking her clit. What a good boy, looking after his mother like that. She’s lifted her knees as far back as she can so her son can get even closer to where he came from. “Oooohhhh!” a close-up of his tongue on her clit. She’s going to cum for her boy. She’s cumming on her son’s tongue.” Pam grabbed the back of my head and jammed my face deeper into her. “She’s going to suck him. She’s going to put her baby in her mouth and say ‘thank you’ for the orgasm he gave her. Oh Jim, his cock is so hard and wet from her mouth. I bet she’s preparing him. She’s going to put her own son inside of herself and fuck him! Ooohhhhh! Ooohhhhnnnnnn! AAAAUUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHH!!” Pam’s legs clamed down on my head and her pubic bone slammed into my face. Her orgasm rippled through her in waves and her essence leaked out onto my tongue. She had two consecutive orgasms before she let me go. Once released from her grip I tenderly licked the juices from her slit but avoided her sensitive clitoris. “Oh sweetheart, that was magnificent. Watching a mother lick and fuck her son while being eaten is amazing” she sighed. And then her tone changed and she said something that made no sense to me “Don’t you dare put that away.” I glanced up at her to figure out what was going on and realized that the comment wasn’t directed at me but towards the doorway leading to the hall. There stood my son, his fly open and his flaccid penis hanging from it. My blood turned to ice. How much did he see??! And then she did the unthinkable. “Come here Nate!” she commanded, pointing to a spot on the floor beside the couch. What in the hell was she thinking??!? Here she was virtually naked except for her stockings, knees spread, feet firmly planted on the floor and me kneeling between them. He hadn’t moved yet. “I… said… come… here!” With his head hanging down so he wouldn’t have to look at us, he came through the door. As he did, he started to stuff his limp dick back in his pants. “I told you not to put that way; leave it.” Our son came to stand beside his mother and me. “How long were you watching your father and I play??” He said nothing. “Answer me Nate, how long?” she commanded “Just a couple minutes” he timidly whispered. “Don’t lie to me. You were watching long enough to get hard and pull it out” she indicated his limp penis which was rapidly shrinking and disappearing into his jeans. “Did you see mommy have an orgasm?” He nodded yes. “Did you see mommy take her panties off?” Again he nodded yes. “So, you heard everything that mommy said?” Another nod. “Is that why you got hard Nate? Did you like your mother saying bad things?” “Yah.” “Tell me Nate, was it me saying bad things or was it specifically what I said that made your cock hard?” Her referring to my son’s anatomy in that manner caused my eyebrows to shoot up. Nate’s breath caught in his throat. “Both.” Pam grabbed the remote for the TV and turned it off. “What you are telling me is that you got hard and started to jerk off to me talking about a woman letting her son lick her? And then you kept masturbating as I told your father about her sucking him into her mouth?” Nate could only nod. “Is that it, or did the fact that I was naked have anything to do with it?” I say Nate swallow hard. “I expect an answer son!” “Yes Mom.” “Yes, what?” “I liked looking at you too.” Then why aren’t you looking at me now sweetie? I’m still nude except for these lovely stockings.” “You’re my mom, I’m not supposed too.” “So from a doorway it’s OK but not right here? I don’t think so.” Pam stood up and all but knocked me out of her way. She stood in front of our son with all of her intimate places exposed. “I’m disappointed in you.” This caused Nate’s shoulders to slump and hang his head lower. “I am standing in front of you virtually naked and your penis is trying to hide inside your fly. Don’t you think mommy is pretty?” This comment made Nate’s head snap up and look at her. Pam placed her hands above the slope of her breasts and started to slide them down over herself. She caressed all the way down to the junction of her thighs and then out over her stocking tops. My son followed the progress of her hands like radar. “I thought you’d gotten hard looking at me and listening to me talk about someone sucking their son’s cock. I’m still here and if you want, I can start talking again about how mommies sometimes want to suck their son’s cock.” Nate’s member started to reverse its retreat. Pam sunk to her knees and undid Nate’s belt. “That’s a little better. Let’s see if we can’t bring it back to where it was before.” As she said that, she pulled our son’s jeans down to around his ankles and helped him step out of them. She then stood and pulled his t shirt over his head. By the time she had stripped him his penis had reached full hardness. As a fourteen year old he had neither a little boy’s penis nor a man’s cock but a combination of the two. He was about four and a half inches long but was very thin. There was a small tuft of pubic hair above the base and light peach fuzz covering his sac, which hung down surprisingly far for someone so young. I sat naked on the floor in total amazement and awe. My wife had just stripped our son naked and stood in front of him just as exposed as he was. Watching actors in a movie was one thing, but to actually touch a member of our family; my God! And all the while my meat was so stiff I could feel it pulse with every heartbeat! It was probably that I hadn’t cum yet. There was no way I would have let this continue if I hadn’t been a little drunk and incredibly horny. I let my ‘other’ head do the thinking. My wife reached out and ran her fingertip along the underside of his shaft. “That’s much better. It makes a woman feel good when she can make a man she cares about hard.” She grasped his slender manhood between her thumb and first two fingertips. Very slowly she started to slide up and down, gently jerking off her boy. “Were you hard because of mommy baby?” she asked in a cooing voice. Pam led him by the cock over to the couch where she again sat down on the edge. With Nate in front of her, she became more aggressive stroking him and then leaned forward to lick the tip of his penis. He gasped at the contact. “Has anyone ever touched you before sweetheart? Has anyone made you feel good?” Nate hesitated for a moment and then stammered a ‘no’. We both knew he wasn’t telling the truth. “It’s OK baby, you can tell mommy. I won’t be mad. Who has made you feel good before?” Our son became shy again very quickly. Under his breath he mumbled “Garrick”. I shouldn’t have been surprised. Garrick was our son’s best friend. All kids that age experiment with each other when their hormones kick in, even me. “Oh sweetheart, it’s OK. See, I’m not upset. Did you and Garrick touch each other?” As she quizzed her offspring she continued to manipulate his small cock. Nate could only nod and stare at his mother’s fingers stroking his member. “Look at me Nate, look at mommy. Did you and Garrick do anything else, like lick each other?” My wife’s eyes were on fire with lust. Her chest rose and fell with her increased breathing. “Yah.” “I bet you it felt good, didn’t it baby?” Again the nod. “That’s great. Two more questions. If you had to choose either Garrick or me to touch you, who would you pick?” Without hesitation Nate stated “You.” Even as my wife is sexually interacting with our fourteen year old son, she is still being the parent and trying to figure out if our son was gay or not. How screwed up is that? “Good boy, last one. Would you like it if mommy put you in her mouth and sucked on you until you came?” “Oh yes please!” My wife leaned forward and slid her son’s cock all the way into her mouth. As he was not very big, she managed to take him in one mouthful. Once she had him all, her cheeks started to hollow and relax. She reached her hand up and with her fingernails she scraped lightly over his balls. In typical boy fashion, he came within seconds. With a thrust of his hips and a squeal, he filled my wife’s mouth with his spunk. My wife lapped at his little mushroom head to collect all of it and through it all kept moaning “mmmmmmmm…” “Thank you baby, that was wonderful. Now that you got to cum, I bet you can stay hard longer.” Pam moved down off of the couch and got on all fours over the blanket. I knew what was coming next. My brain screamed at me to stop it and at the same time begged me to help them. I was incredibly conflicted and incredibly hard! “Move behind momma baby,” she directed. Once Nate was in position behind her and between her knees Pam looked over her shoulder at me. For the first time in ages she acknowledged my presence and it was by telling me “Put him in Jim. I want you to put him in me.” With a trembling hand I reached out and made contact with my son’s soon to be manhood. His skin was so soft. I lined him up with his mother’s opening using my right hand and with my left on his ass, pushed him slowly forward. Both Pam and Nate gasped at the initial contact and groaned during the penetration. I had helped my wife and son commit an indecent and unholy union. “Oh baby, you feel so good inside of mommy.” His mother dropped her head down to the blanket and thrust her ass back at her son. “That’s it sweetie, fuck momma.” I indicated that Nate should grasp his mother’s hips and then let nature take its course, although a perverse form of nature. My wife and son started a rhythm and were soon fucking up a storm. All the while Pam kept a running commentary and praise for Nate’s actions. “Oh fuck me baby. That’s my boy, make me feel good. I can feel all of you inside me. Yes, back inside me. Good boy.” Her tone changed as she demanded “Jim, get over here.” “Nate is going to cum in me. I think you should feel that. Why don’t you wiggle under me and suck our son’s balls until they empty into me?” It wasn’t really delivered as a suggestion. The idea caused a strand of precum to leak out of me onto the blanket. I slid under my wife and between her legs in a 69 position. Looking up I could clearly see my son’s slender rod plowing in and out of his mother’s opening. Before doing anything else, I admired the sight before me. I could tell that he was close to an orgasm. His thrusts were becoming more sporadic. Above me his grunts had risen at least an octave and were turning into a whine. When I recognized the short strokes, I lifted my head and captured my son’s testicles in my mouth. The soft downy hair felt wonderful on my tongue as it swirled around his twin orbs. Gently I pulled down with my mouth to tug them lightly. My contact must have sent him over the edge. I could feel him constrict while my lips encased him and he started to scream. Each spurt was translated to my senses through his balls. As his orgasm tapered off I lifted myself higher, engulfing his entire sac and my nose pushed up against his asshole. I very subtly nursed on Nate’s balls as he traveled through post- orgasmic bliss, not wanting to be too aggressive during this sensitive time. My wife started to praise our son’s performance in a soft voice. “Oh honey, that was wonderful. You made mommy feel so good. I can feel your cum inside of me. It makes me feel so special to have your essence in me. Nate finally couldn’t take any more and fell out of his mother and onto the floor behind me, his balls pulling out of my mouth with a pop. “Clean me up Jim. Taste him” her soft voice gone and her direction more a command. I pushed my wife’s hips up to where they were originally so I had access to her gaping cunt. Before diving in I could see her lips still separated and my son’s jism sitting just inside. I ravished her like never before. I simultaneously tried to make her cum again and suck all of my son’s cream into my mouth. “That’s it Jim, suck me. Look at my big strong man, licking a boy’s cum out of his wife. Does our son taste good, especially now that it is mixed with me? LICK ME!!!!” She pushed herself up off the floor and sat on my face which helped Nate’s fluids slide into my mouth. This also allowed her to guide my actions and make her peak for the second time tonight. She placed her hands on the middle of my chest for support and ground her cunt into my face hard. “Lick where your son was. Oooooo. Taste the juices Nate and I made. AAAHHHH. Lick me where my son has been. Suck… mmmmyyy… cummmmmmmmmmmmmm.” Pam just about suffocated me at this point, hunching against my face. I loved every second of it. She finally let me live by flopping down onto my body and legs again as her orgasm finished. She was like a rag doll with no muscle control. As she lay on me I could see her opening and asshole pulse with post orgasmic shocks. God, she was one incredible woman. She finally started to come to her senses. As she had collapsed onto me her head had come to rest on my left thigh, right beside my throbbing cock. Throughout this whole portion of our adventure she hadn’t touched me. Being so totally involved in what Nate and Pam were doing I hadn’t noticed until now. I was so fucking hard!! “Mmmm…” she moaned as she started to kiss my shaft. “Jimmy is still hard. I guess you’re not upset with what we just did.” I expected her to start sucking on my cock at this point. Was I wrong. She rolled off of me and sprawled out on the floor. “Jim, what time is it?” I glanced over at the cable box. “Ten after ten. Why?” “Oh, no real reason. Come here Nate, cuddle with your new lover.” My son stirred for the first time and crawled between us over to his mom. She curled herself around him. “That’s my boy. You made mommy feel wonderful. Did you feel good?” Nate nodded his head in the affirmative as she cradled him to her bosom. “You know that you and mommy are linked together forever in a new way. I made you a man and no one can take that way from us. I’m yours forever baby.” She kissed the top of his head. Pam scanned her surroundings and a smile spread across her contented face. She first looked at my crotch and then into my eyes. “Your hard-on seems to have relaxed a little darling. Would you like it fully hard and looked after?” “God, yes!” I started to stroke myself slowly. I guess I had started to relax and got caught up in the post climax cuddling of my wife and son. “I have someone in mind,” she replied as her gaze shifted over my shoulder and behind me. September 20, 2021 September 18, 2021 April 18, 2022 October 22, 2021 November 26, 2021 October 22, 2021 Newlyweds have sex on stage Wendy sometimes would counsel students at home We use cookies to enhance your browsing experience, serve personalized ads or content, and analyze our traffic. By clicking "Accept All", you consent to our use of cookies. 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With much of the focus on these injuries and the potential impact they could have on this Central Division playoff series and beyond, some verbal jabs have been thrown, the reputation of one of the main fighters was questioned and Colorado Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri had a water bottle thrown at him as he gave a postgame interview on TNT. Oh, and did we mention that the individual who allegedly threw the aforementioned water bottle in his direction was none other than injured St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington? With so much going on off the ice, it’s important to remember that it was the Avalanche who found the final roundhouse in this Western Conference heavyweight battle, taking a lead of 2-1 in the series after a 5-2 triumph Saturday night at Enterprise Center. In the Burgundian corner, Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar announced that defenseman Sam Girard was lost to the remainder of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a broken sternum, the result of a jarring check by ‘Ivan Barbashev which happened less than two minutes into Game 3. In the blue corner, Blues head coach Craig Berube said it was too early to say when – or if – Binnington would be able to return from what appeared to be a knee injury after a collision involving his teammate Calle Rosen and Kadri at only 6 years old. :45 in the first period. But that didn’t stop Berube from throwing a not-so-subtle shot at Kadri when asked for his opinion on the play in question. “Look at Kadri’s reputation,” Berube told reporters in St. Louis. “That’s all I have to say.” Berube went on to say that Binnington was being evaluated and wouldn’t know much about the severity of the injury until at least Sunday, saying only it was a lower body issue. . Was he surprised that there was no call for Kadri for goalkeeper interference on the play? “I don’t know. It’s not up to me,” Bérubé said. Are the rules of the game not established to protect the goalkeeper? “Yeah, they are,” said Berube, who clearly wasn’t interested in saying anything that could result in a fine. “Look. Obviously nobody likes what happened. It’s part of hockey and you have other people who have to step in and step in and do that job. Based on how Binnington went onto the ice after Kadri chased a rebound near the blue paint – and how his right knee bent when he tried to work his way through his routine. warming up when Blues head athletic coach Ray Barile came on the ice to check on him – it’s probably safe to assume the net belongs to Ville Husso for the foreseeable future. As for the blow that knocked Girard out, Bednar confessed he didn’t like his real-time appearance, but his opinion changed after seeing him again. “You know, I didn’t like seeing him live. Come to think of it, it’s a heavy collision, (Barbashev) kind of comes in and he just catches him in a bad place,” Bednar told reporters. “He sort of comes in from the head side, but he has a lot of body there. (Girard) was turned the wrong way and he entered awkwardly. It was a big check. Too bad, but to be honest, I think it was a legal check. Bednar was caught a bit off guard when Bérubé’s comment about Kadri’s reputation was relayed to him on the podium. “Reputation means nothing. It’s either legal gambling or it’s not, you know. We spoke with Naz (Kadri) about it and how he is trying to change his reputation,” Bednar said. “Their D (Rosen) and Naz, they’re both going for a loose puck that’s on top of the crease. (Kadri) came downhill as hard as he could. Both guys go in there, they both go after the puck the same way and they collide before going in. Again, unhappy, like Girard for me. It’s a legal game and you know, it’s unfortunate, but it is what it is. Kadri is no stranger to being Public Enemy No. 1 in a series and he’s already not popular with Blues fans, thanks in part to his illegal bodychecking at the head of defenseman Justin Faulk in the 2021 playoffs which led to an eight-game suspension. “Obviously there’s some animosity between the Blues fanbase, maybe the team, and him. But he definitely elevates his game in those environments,” Avalanche forward Logan said. O’Connor, who was inserted on the fourth line and scored an important goal that tied the game in the first period: “He kind of relishes it. When the whole arena is booing you, you suddenly improve your game.” safe. As for the topic of Water Bottle Gate, Kadri didn’t seem bothered by it at all. “Yeah. I think it was Binnington, but I was kind of stuck, so…you should ask him,” Kadri said. “I was doing the interview, so I wasn’t quite sure. But yes, I think it was him. I don’t know. I don’t know for sure. “From my point of view, it’s nothing personal. I just go out there to try and win and compete and if people take it personally, it’s on them. For me, what happens on the ice kind of stays on the ice. I’m a competitor, I want to win and that’s it. Kadri didn’t know why some people suggested he intentionally met Binnington. “I just see a loose puck, really. He was kind of just sitting behind him and I just tried to push him with my stick. I think their defender (Rosen) collided with me and pushed me towards (Binnington),” said Kadri, who added an assist on an Artturii Lehkonen goal and had six points in seven games. . “If it hadn’t been for that, I don’t think I would have hit him at all. It’s a loose puck, I’m just trying to push it down. » Losing Binnington is a blow for the Blues as he had been brilliant in this series, stopping 84 of 88 shots on goal for a .955 save percentage. Not only did he look like the guy who led the Blues to the first Stanley Cup in franchise history in 2019, but the scary thing is you could argue he was playing even better until that he gets hurt. “Obviously Binner is heart and soul, playing amazing,” Blues captain Ryan O’Reilly said. “I think (the injury) kind of took the momentum away and took us a little too long to get it going again. Things like that happened. We are a deep team and we could have done a better job of regaining momentum and adjusting. Husso’s stat line wasn’t flattering (four goals on 21 shots on goal) in just over 51 minutes of relief, but that last scorer he allowed came after he rushed to return towards the goal as he went in favor of an extra striker late in the game. Husso, a pending unrestricted free agent, has had a great season and will need to play like he did when he took the starting job for the Blues after Binnington went through a rough patch. As for the Avalanche, they survived an uneven start where nervousness seemed to be a factor according to Bednar, but they got an exceptional effort from the five defensemen who remained after Girard was eliminated from the contest. All of Devon Toews, Josh Manson, Bowen Byram and Erik Johnson did their part, but Cale Makar really made his presence felt in this one – and not just because he picked up his first point of the series, assisting on fire green goal from Kadri at 13:38 of the second period. Makar found his skating legs and had a huge impact on the result, jumping in the rush on numerous occasions, finishing with a shot on goal and nine shot attempts while logging just under 29 minutes of ice time . “Cale doesn’t need his legs. He has his head and he has his hands,” Kadri said. “Obviously he’s a miracle skater and he who skates at 50% is probably better than most. He’s such a mature kid at his age and whether he feels it or not, he’s going to get the job done. That’s just the kind of person he is. Related posts: Families and Winter Olympians put on skates in Docklands Prev Post Next Post 10-year-old skateboarder from Mumbai scales Everest Base Camp You might also like More from author Ice skating The Christmas tree lighting at the Fountain Plaza Rotary Rink is scheduled for… Ice skating Ice skating and illuminations: Hampshire events this weekend Ice skating Glide at Battersea Power Station offers festive skating Ice skating Canadian ice dancers Lajoie and Lagha win bronze at MK John Wilson Trophy Prev Next Comments are closed. Ice skating figure skater figure skating gold medal high school holiday season ice rink ice skating rink open short program skate park skating rink speed skating united states winter games winter olympics	8,588
We the People have spoken, and according to the White House’s citizen-driven petition site, the most important issue in America is: the legalization of marijuana. The White House launched We the People last month as a way to provide commoners like you and me a “direct line to the White House on issues and concerns that matter most” to us. So far, a petition to legalize pot is the top performer, according to The Hill. The call for decriminalization has attracted over 50,000 signatures. It also illustrates nicely why the site is such a waste of time for serious advocacy campaigns: [National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws Executive Director Allen] St. Pierre said online petitions help spread the word and generate supporters who can call and write Congress, but they have not translated into the real-world pressure — and money — needed for his side to win. St. Pierre is right: online petition campaigns are an excellent way to find and recruit audience. So how many supporters did this online petition generate? None. To sign the petition, site visitors had to create an account on WhiteHouse.gov. That means that the White House has their contact information (along with whatever issues are important to them) but NORML gets nothing. Had NORML hosted the petition on their own site, they might have been able to collect signers’ contact information and email address, which would have allowed them to go back to those folks later with calls to action – such as calling or writing Congress. At least NORML got some good press out of it, which could indirectly recruit grassroots support. But if NORML – or any other issue advocacy group – wants to generate real impact, pointing people to the White House’s petition platform isn’t going to work. Online petitions can recruit and mobilize supporters, but they’re better as a starting point, rather than a finish line. Since We the People doesn’t allow for the next steps, NORML’s apparent success is actually a wasted effort. @Tiller56 No one? The Giants are going to go 7-10 with a roster of 2-15 talent. Turner deserves a lot of credit but… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 9 hours ago @JLasagna43 Everybody wants a Toronto/Atlanta bidding war for the dueling "North Correa"/"South Correa" headlines, obviously. 9 hours ago RT @rickklein: And the committee that can do right by @DaleMurphy3, Fred McGriff and Don Mattingly 20 hours ago @DailyCaller It probably has less to do with the protagonist and more to do with moviegoers' habits. I think Encant… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 1 day ago @PoetRose @clhubes I think they just got amicably divorced. I... I was overreating to the Jersey Mike's commercials. I'm sorry. 2 days ago Connect and Follow Share with others \| RSS \| Twitter \| LinkedIn Join my Email List Subscribe and receive new posts by email. Email Address: Sign me up for some of that! Old Posts Old Posts Select Month January 2021 May 2019 January 2019 December 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 July 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 July 2012 June 2012 October 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008	4,291
““A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad. You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.”” This is my journey to strengthening my relationship with Jesus Christ & to discover the true purpose of my life. According to my Mother, I have always been a spiritual person. However, when I look back in my life, I didn’t follow God’s word. A few years ago, I had an eye opening experience that lead me on this path to grow closer to Jesus. During this time, I went through a traumatic divorce. I felt like I lost the respect of my son & daughter. I lost my career. I lost most of my materialistic, worldly items. BUT GOD! I didn’t lose Jesus. I actually found Him. I found the person that had always been there for me. In the past 5 years, I have been healed from so many things when I gave my life to Jesus. He blessed me with a husband I never thought I would deserve. My kids tell & show me that the love & respect me. I was giving the responsibility of helping raise 2 beautiful daughters. Plus, I was blessed in so many other ways, as well. In the midst of my blessings, I have been tested & attacked. These things have weakened & distracted me from my relationship with Christ. I have been backsliding in my relationship with God, almost to the point of being double minded. For 3 years I have heard that I must write. This confused me so much because I did/do not know what to write. So I put it off, I procrastinated, I just ignored what I heard from God. I would create FB pages & write what I believed He wanted me to write but it still didn’t feel like I was listening to God. This blog feels right. I have prayed about it. I have given it to God. So we will see what He allows me to share on this journey. Enjoy my journey with me!!! View all posts by myspiritualjourney	2,375
Christopher had been going about his home DIY as any good Kiwi bloke does – and was drilling a bracket off a yacht when suddenly things took a turn for the worse. The drill bounced back and before he knew it, had ripped into his arm, even though he had been sure to keep it a distance away. “Something went wrong,” he says of the February incident. The drill bit had pierced the artery in his arm and blood was “squirting everywhere – and I knew I was in trouble,” he says. “I yelled out to my flatmate to find something to use as a tourniquet, and ran to the neighbours in search of someone who could drive me to help. I was putting pressure on it but it wasn’t enough so I ran home and my flatmate had a belt ready,” he says. They fashioned a homemade tourniquet to stop blood flow to the wound, with the neighbour adding pressure on the tourniquet with two hands, and blood flow just kept coming. Chris had his hands on the wound and was adding pressure. Everything was slippery with his blood. “I was just lying there with blood still going everywhere. I just kept pressure on it as much as I could,” he says. By now, an ambulance had been called and on their arrival from nearby Kerikeri, it was announced the Northland Rescue Chopper was on its way. “My neighbour was busy helping me save my arm so couldn’t drive me anywhere. “The details are still a bit of a blur,” says Christopher. “They told me the helicopter was coming and I remember feeling relieved. There had been so much blood. “The laceration ran from inside his elbow and “ran for about 5cm centimetres to near my funny bone. “The helicopter lands about 100 metres down the road from where I live, at a local school, so it was a quick trip down to them.” With a fresh tourniquet on his arm – his homemade blood-soaked one had been removed when the paramedics had applied a new one – the blood flow had stopped to his arm and the injury could be seen more clearly. The race was now on to get him to hospital before “my arm died and had to be amputated. “I was bloody lucky as I had only nipped the artery, and the tourniquets meant it had naturally started to clot by the time I was flown to Whangarei Hospital.” Stitches and a good clean up was needed, with an overnight stay for precaution due to the level of blood loss he had suffered, and Christopher was on his way back to Paihia, with his arm still attached. “Those rescue helicopters really do save lives. When time is of the essence, they make it anywhere quicker. Time can be so crucial and they make all the difference. I make sure I donate now – it is the least I can do. I more than appreciate the job that they do for us and donating money to them is the least I can do to say thank you. I am forever grateful.” Author Sarah More posts by Sarah Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ about us The Northland Emergency Services Trust (NEST) is a charitable trust established to provide a dedicated emergency rescue helicopter service for the people of Northland. We are a registered charity CC10801.	3,207
To be thorough and open to new possibilities at the same time requires discipline: embracing ‘two sides of the same coin.’ In the PPLI structuring of wealthy international families’ assets, Advanced Financial Solutions, Inc. strives to achieve this aim. For each new case we exam similar PPLI cases that we have handled in the past. For the specific knowledge that we will need for new cases which we might lack, we have an excellent resource of professional advisors worldwide that can be easily contacted to supply this missing knowledge for a successful PPLI structure to be created. For our analogous examples we have one from the area U.S. tax planning and how it affects U.S. beneficiaries of Foreign Grantor Trusts, and strangely enough, one from high-fashion. This example shows us what happens when the ‘two sides of the same coin’ turn out to be the same thing, and–to change this analogy–the coin loses its luster by turning out to be a copy. In a humorous vein, you can view this also as social media bringing transparency to haute couture. Before we share the above material, we are pleased to give you this description of PPLI from International Life Insurance edited by David D Whelehan, JD in the chapter, “International Life Insurance An Overview.” “This product is for the wealthy, “accredited” investor. They are usually very large single premium structures. It is classified more as an institutional product, as the charges and fees are quite low in comparison to retail products described above. Another advantage is investment flexibility as they generally can be invested in things not permitted in a general account retail product, like hedge funds and private equity. Premiums and benefits can also be paid in “kind,” as opposed to in cash. In addition, the policyowner can select his, or her, own Investment Manager for just the single policy to invest according to the policyowner’s general directions. The Custodian of the underlying assets in the fund can also be selected by the policyowner. Private placement products are tailored to meet specific objectives of the client, but are carefully designed to be compliant with local tax laws, so as to enjoy the tax treatment desired.” In the STEP Journal Melvin A Warshaw and Lawrence M Lipoff discuss a key change to the US Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, and assess what it means for advisors to trustees of foreign grantor trusts. They conclude that due to recent changes in U.S. tax law that a properly structured PPLI provides an excellent solution for U.S. beneficiaries of foreign grantor trusts. “In a previous two-part article,[1] we presented US tax advisors with our highly technical analysis of a key change in the foreign tax provisions of the US Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the Act) impacting how trustees of foreign grantor trusts (FGTs) traditionally hold US-situs portfolio assets that potentially benefit both US and non-US heirs of a non-citizen, non-resident (NCNR) of the US.” Trustees must analyze whether their existing single foreign corporation (FC) strategy is still viable and, if not, what steps they should take to address this US tax law change. Some advisors suggest a second FC and others a two-tier or three-tier FC structure. Leaving aside that planning variations relying on different entity structures may be one option, we believe that offshore[2] private placement life insurance (PPLI) may offer a far simpler and safer strategy. Under pre-2018 US tax law, trustees of FGTs generally relied on a single non-US holding company to shield the NCNR grantor of an FGT from US estate tax on US-situs portfolio assets. Following the death of the NCNR, the trustees would effectively eliminate this FC by filing a post-death, retroactive (so-called ‘check-the-box’) election within 30 days of such death. Gain recognition would be avoided on the historical pre-death unrealised appreciation of the US portfolio assets, prior to elimination, i.e. liquidation, of the FC, as well as pre-2018 controlled foreign corporation (Subpart F CFC) passive income tax and related tax compliance. Plus, the US heirs would achieve a basis step-up in the underlying US portfolio assets equal to their fair market value (FMV) on the date of the election. The Act repealed the 30-day retroactive election for tax years after 2017. Under current US tax law, a post-death ‘check-the-box’ election for the trust’s FC could cause US beneficiaries of the trust to inherit the historical pre-death unrealised appreciation in the US-portfolio assets and incur cumbersome US tax compliance. Further, if an FC is a CFC for even one day during the tax year, there could be potential phantom income for the US beneficiaries of the trust now encompassing the new US ‘global intangible low taxed income’ (GILTI) regime. Continuing a single FC The single FC structure continues to be effective in preventing imposition of US estate tax on the US portfolio assets held by the FC. If most of the NCNR’s trust beneficiaries are US persons (citizens or residents),[3] the trustees and US advisors must anticipate that there will now be US income tax and US tax reporting on historical appreciation of the assets held in the single FC that would eventually be recognised by the US beneficiaries after the NCNR’s death. If most of the trust beneficiaries are not US persons, it may be possible that the single FC will lack sufficient beneficial ownership by US persons to qualify as a CFC. Another approach suitable for families with both US and non-US persons as beneficiaries is to have the trustees of the FGT create a second FC, which would own only non-US-situs assets. The original FC would own only US securities. The non-US portfolio assets owned by the second FC would be earmarked to benefit solely non-US persons as trust beneficiaries after the death of the NCNR. The US portfolio assets owned by the existing FC would be earmarked for the US beneficiaries. There would be no US estate tax on the non-US assets owned by the second FC. A retroactive check-the-box election could be filed for this second FC effective on the day before the NCNR’s death. Some US advisors advocate relying exclusively on entity structuring to convert a single FC into a multi-tier FC structure involving at least three FCs. Prior to the NCNR’s death, the trustees of the NCNR’s FGT would create two FCs. These two FCs would then together equally own the shares of a third lower-tier FC. The US portfolio assets would be owned by the lower-tier FC. Following the death of the NCNR, the lower- and upper-tier FCs would be deemed liquidated for US tax purposes (by filing check-the-box elections) in a carefully scripted sequence as follows. First, the upper-tier FCs would each file a check-the-box election for the lower-tier FC, effective one day prior to the death of the NCNR. This results in a taxable liquidation of the lower-tier FC without current US income tax on the historical pre-liquidation unrealised appreciation inside the FC. However, the upper-tier FCs’ basis in the underlying US securities held by the former lower-tier FC will equal the FMV of such assets on the date of the deemed liquidation of the lower-tier FC. Second, two days after the NCNR’s death, both upper-tier FCs will make simultaneous check-the-box elections. The inside basis of the US portfolio assets previously held by the lower-tier FC prior to its deemed taxable liquidation would be stepped up or down to the FMV of such assets on the day after the death of the NCNR. Advocates of this highly complicated, carefully scripted entity structure and serial liquidation strategy for US portfolio assets indicate that, if successful, the results should be comparable to the results under prior law. However, this is not without some new tax and reporting risks, as noted above, nor does it address the question of what the independent significant non-tax business purpose for ‘each’ of the three FCs would be. Assuming the NCNR is insurable, advisors should seriously consider the possibility of their NCNR clients, with significant US portfolio assets, and US persons as potential beneficiaries investing in certain types of offshore PPLI policies that in turn invest in US assets. Purchasing an offshore US tax-compliant PPLI policy will result in no US income tax recognition in the annual accretion in the cash value growth of the policy. Holding the policy until death is equivalent to receiving a US basis step-up at death on the death benefit that is payable in cash. In planning for the US beneficiaries of the NCNR, if the revocable FGT were named as owner and beneficiary of the PPLI, this trust could be structured to pour over at the death of the NCNR to a US dynasty trust organised in a low-tax jurisdiction with favourable state trust laws. This structure will ensure that the death benefit pours over to a US domestic trust that will not become subject to foreign non-grantor trust (FNGT) tax rules. A non-admitted offshore carrier obviates CFC status for the policy and policy owner by making a certain special US tax code (s.953(d)) election to be treated as a US domestic carrier. Aside from avoiding CFC status for the policy and its owner, making this special election causes the carrier to absorb US corporate income tax and administrative costs to comply with US informational tax reporting. The hidden benefit of an offshore carrier making this special US tax election is that it enables such a carrier to claim a special deduction of reasonable reserves required to satisfy future death benefits. The offshore carrier simply absorbs the cost of US income tax compliance including its responsibility for CFC and passive foreign investment company (PFIC) reporting. There is no look-through of an insurance policy to its owner for the purposes of applying the PFIC rules. So long as the NCNR avoids any control over the selection of specific investments made by the policy owner for the policy, investor control should not be a concern. Our conclusion is that current US tax law provides clear support for the proposition that the PFIC and CFC rules should not apply to a US tax-compliant policy issued by a foreign carrier that files a special (s.953(d)) election with the Internal Revenue Service. This will result in the tax-free inside growth in the PPLI policy that, if held until the death of the NCNR, will result in no income tax on the death benefit. We believe that purchase of an offshore PPLI policy by the NCNR through an FGT that pours over to a US dynasty trust is an efficient, safe and simple solution that allows an NCNR to invest in US portfolio assets, and leverages that investment and all subsequent growth tax-free into policy death benefit available to US beneficiaries after such death.” “Shortly after designer Olivier Rousteing showed his fashion collection for Balmain in Paris last September, French designer Thierry Mugler posted on Instagram. Mr. Mugler, famous in the 1980s and early ’90s for power suits and the George Michael “Too Funky” video, posted a series of side-by-side images comparing his past ensembles to Mr. Rousteing’s new looks. Next to a Balmain black, one-shouldered jacket-dress with white lapels, Mr. Mugler posted his own similar design from 1998 with the comment: “Really?” Along with Balmain’s dress featuring a graphic, webbed print, Mr. Mugler, who now goes by the first name Manfred, attached his own webbed design from 1990. “No comment!” The episode surprised Mr. Rousteing. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry for him, seriously,” said 33-year-old Mr. Rousteing about 69-year-old Mr. Mugler in an interview. He denied copying the designer. In the past, copycat allegations rarely reached beyond fashion industry gossip—or sometimes courtrooms—and rarely made it to the wider public. Now with Instagram, fashion’s favorite app, accusations spread much faster and to a wider audience. Eagle-eyed accusers can post comparison pictures and add arrows and circles to zero in on the alleged offense immediately after a fashion show, now that runway images are beamed out in real time. High-end fashion labels are increasingly being called out on social media for copying other designers or designs, leading to back-and-forth exchanges, lawsuits and expensive apologies. Instagram accounts, including Diet Prada, have formed to focus on designers and retailers whose creations some feel look too much like other designers’ past work. Since its 2014 launch, Diet Prada, which isn’t affiliated with Prada, has amassed more than 960,000 followers. The Fashion Law blog and CashinCopy Instagram feed also name and shame copying.” If you are looking for a bespoke solution to your asset structuring needs, we welcome you to contact us. You will also benefit from our conservative and fully compliant methodology of using PPLI as the centerpiece of the structure. You will be pleasantly surprised to experience ‘two sides of the same coin.’ [1] M. A. Warshaw and L. M. Lipoff, ‘How to Navigate the Choppy Seas for Foreigners With U.S.-Based Heirs: Part I’, Trusts & Estates (June 2018), and ‘Non-Citizen, Non-Resident Options for Life Insurance’, Trusts & Estates (August 2018) [2] All uses of ‘offshore’ and ‘foreign’ are given from the perspective of the US. [3] All references to ‘US persons’ in this article refer to citizens and residents only. by Michael Malloy CLU TEP RFC, @ Advanced Financial Solutions, Inc Posted in Advanced Financial Solutions Inc, Asset Protection, Private Placement Life Insurance, (PPLI), Tax compliance, US Planning \| Tagged Foreign Grantor Trusts, high net worth investor, Private placement life insurance, single foreign corporation, trustees of FGTs, Wealthy \| Leave a reply	13,990
Our series of professional messenger bags are designed to keep up with the fast pace of the city, while remaining strong for years. For all you night riders out there, the 1611 comes complete with two reflective stripes that'll make sure you always stand out. Large opening to access main compartment Strong hook and loop closure along with two buckle closures Interior zippered compartment to separate smaller items One large zip pocket below flap for accessories Indestructible metal strap adjuster makes sure that you can adjust the strap for years to come Vinyl lining makes this bag 100% waterproof 1000D CORDURA® Classic fabric Width: Bottom 47 (top 57.8) cm \| Bottom 18.5 (top 22.75) in Height: 29.2 cm \| 11.5 in Depth: 19.1 cm \| 7.5 in Volume: 1778 cubic in \| 29.1 L Weight: 1.10 kg \| 2.4 lbs Manhattan Portage Messenger bags were designed with three things in mind, to be durable, functional, and last a lifetime. We were the first company to use military grade 1000D CORDURA brand nylon (the highest grade of nylon available on the market) to make the original one strap messenger bag, creating a new, urban lifestyle and changed the face of fashion forever. From those humble beginnings our line has expanded to offer a variety of messenger bag styles from our clastic vintage messenger bags to laptop messenger bags, bike messenger bags, and even waterproof messenger bags. Located in Links Two red clay-colored PAC Designs courier bags soon on their way I was pretty sure that Pat from PAC Designs had retired from the messenger bag-making game but the only good thing about the global Coronavirus pandemic is that she got cabin fever and decided to make some bags. I have been conspiring with her for months and even ordered 2 yards of 1000D clay red CORDURA and mailed it to her so that she could make my handmade, bespoke, courier bags. Here are some photos you can enjoy of the bags in the process of being made. Can you pick out my bags? Located in Blog Good luck and please keep the rubber down — I am proud and happy to have so many of you all around me on the city streets. Every day, my D.C. is feeling more and more like my Berlin did.	2,199

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